Enter the Nightbird

Here's a figure that came out of nowhere.  Nightbird isn't someone that I really felt needed a figure, but I guess I was wrong.  I've run across countless fan drawn art on the Internet depicting Nightbird as Megatron's consort, so I guess Takara is giving those fans something that they're always wanted.  Even though I wasn't expecting Nightbird, I'm glad that she was released.

Nightbird is a redeco and retool of Legends Arcee.  I really like the paint job Takara did with her, especially in vehicle mode.  The colors are highly evocative of Psycho, from the GoBots.

I know that it isn't obvious on first blush, but the sleek lines and all of the black and silver just shout "Psycho!" to me. 

At any rate, the details with the paint applications are just fantastic.  The purple seats and yellow windshield are fantastic.  Yes, this is just a redeco of Arcee, but it looks incredible.  I really cannot get enough of those purple seats.

Nightbird comes with Arcee's full complement of weapons, plus two sais.  To be perfectly honest, I could care less about the swords and the guns.  They looked funny with Arcee, and I believe they'd look even worse with Nightbird.  The stock photos showed Nightbird with weapons that are solid gold in color, but the release version features translucent yellow.  I like the translucent yellow, but the solid gold looks better.

The sais fit on Nightbird's wrists when not in use, and it's a nice look.  I prefer keeping one on the wrist, and one in hand.  The only down side is that Nightbird cannot hold a sais upside down, or at least I couldn't get her to.  I really like it when figures can hold sharp instruments upside down in a stabbing motion - it looks better that way. 

I realized that Masterpiece Track's flight stand worked well with Nightbird, so I snapped a few pics, trying to get some nice action poses.  I failed. 

I've seen some tutorials online showing how to take off the backpack kibble, but I think that's unnecessary.  The constant tinkering of toys is a tad annoying. 

Takara really knocked it out of the park with Nightbird.  The purple of the waist and mouthpiece really stand out.  So does the yellow on her waist.  For my last CHUG purchase, I think I could do a lot worse than Nightbird.  I'm actually a bit sad that I'm giving up CHUGs, but I have my priorities. 

Unite Warriors Devastator

Facing one's mortality can sometimes make a person act strangely.  Some may withdraw into themselves and become depressed, while others may become overly jubilant.  Or there could be a mixture of the two.  I was definitely a mixture of the two and the result of the jubilation is Unite Warriors Devastator.  About a month before my heart attack, I made a conscious decision to sell off my CHUG collection, with the exception of  a few figures that I really liked, and just focus on Masterpiece and G1 only.  This meant cancelling the preorder that I made for Takara's Devastator, which I did in earnest.  Then the heart attack happened.  During the euphoric, glad-to-be-alive phase that I was in, I reinstated the preorder on Devastator, which then came instock something like two hours later.  After waiting for the guy to show up, I was pleased with myself.

I'm not going to go into a ton of detail on each of the Constructicons.  The Hasbro versions have been out for quite some time, and I'm sure that everyone is familiar with the re-tooling that Takara did with each figure.  What I will do is give my impression of the individual figures and then go on to Devastator.

Hook was always my favorite Constructicon as a kid.  Then again, I also broke every Hook I touched back then.  The G1 version was just not built to hold up to rough play.  2015 Hook?  This guy is a dream.  He looks very close to the G1 animation model, and he features the articulation that my old toy never had.  Knees that bend!  Elbows that bend!  His head turns!  One thing that the G1 figure has over this newer version is the telescoping crane arm.  Small gripe, I know.

Up next - Long Haul!  Through the years, I've seen different interpretations with this guy in regards to size.  Since he's a dump truck, I never had a problem with him being the same size as the rest of his team, but he's apparently been upgraded to a mining dump truck because he's freaking huge now.  In robot mode, he's pretty stocky, but it's a look Long Haul wears well.  Looking at him, you can definitely tell that he forms Devastator's waist.

Even with the bulk, Long Haul is able to pull off some nice poses.  As a matter of fact, he's one of the two Constructicons to feature waist articulation.  And behold - walking pose!

As a kid, Bonecrusher was my favorite Constructicon.  The bulldozer mode just did so much for me back then.  I remember running him through dirt and Play-Doh and then having to spend a good deal of time cleaning him up every time I played with him.  This new version is quite possibly my favorite of the set, and I'm sure that nostalgia plays a pretty good sized role in that.  I really like the purple fists.

The ankle tilts and improved knee joints do wonders for Bonecrusher.  And I'm really liking the purple on the legs/treads.  I'm not 100% sold on the kibble hanging off the back, but overall, this is a great figure.

I was never fond of Scrapper, and I don't think I ever will be.  He looks cool, but he just always grated on me in the cartoons.

I love this pose, however.  Scrapper's been lifting weights.

Hey, it's that guy that shot Prowl on the shuttle!  Purple treads look so much better than black.  Also, that gun looks better than the missile pod or whatever Devastator's hand is supposed to turn into.  There's still something about Scavenger that doesn't sit too well with me, aesthetically.  After spending an inordinate amount of time staring at Scavenger, I still can't put my finger on it.  Is it the face?  The fact that he seems to be a literal translation from AutoCad straight to plastic?  I'm not sure, but the more I look at him, the less I like him.  Oh, well, on to other things. 

 My only quibble with Mixmaster is the drum on his back.  It is so honking huge.  But those elbows, though.  Who doesn't like elbows?  The ankle tilts are an amazing touch. 

Group Shot!

Ok, now that all of that is out of the way, let's get to Devastator.

I knew that he was going to be big, but I didn't realize just how big.  When I assembled this behemoth, I was taken aback by his size, and not just the height.  Devastator is bulky.  He's massive.  He's freaking imposing.  I didn't think he'd be so - so damn wide.

He's pretty poseable, to boot; certainly more than the other Combiner Wars guys.  Stability isn't even sacrificed for the added poseability.  I'd show that, but the pictures I took turned out horribly.

The eye gimmick pretty neat.  I had assumed that it would work like Metroplex's, but I find what Takara did much better.

Devastator's forehead flips up and the visor just folds into the forehead.

Once that is accomplished, simply push Devastator's forehead down and you now have a Devastator with two eyes!

I'm still trying to decide which look I prefer, but I am leaning towards the visor.

Do you know what I find amazing?  That people are spending money on 3rd party upgrade kits for this guy.  Is that really necessary?  Do people really think that Prowl's head looks better up there?  As far as I'm concerned, this is the perfect Devastator and the extra's aren't needed.  Not even to cover Mixmaster's foot.


Next up - Something new!

MP-25 Tracks

So, I've had Masterpiece Tracks for a bit, but I haven't had a chance to snap any pictures of him due to several unforeseen circumstances.  Around Halloween, I was given the task of taking over a store temporarily in the fine town of Monroeville, Alabama, home of Harper Lee.  Harper Lee is the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, a book that I'm told everyone in Alabama had to read at some point in their life.  Since I'm not originally from here, I can say that I've never seen it, nor have I seen the movie.  At any rate, the town was a 2-hour drive from my house each way every day that I worked, and I worked about 6 days a week from the week of Halloween until two days before Thanksgiving, leaving me little time for anything other than work and sleep.  Then there was the heart attack that I suffered two days before Thanksgiving while at work; bad timing, I know, in the retail world, but my heart just felt the need to attack me.  It's a really interesting story that I'll tell one day when I feel like it.  At any rate, I'm feeling well enough to do a very late review of the newest Masterpiece figure before we're inundated  with more releases over the next few weeks.

I'll start with car mode, and what a car mode it is.  Takara has made a recent habit of making the side mirrors on their cars a separate deal where they have to be taken off a sprue and then attached to the car.  In a way, it evokes the sense that I'm putting the finishing touches on a very nice model kit, but I always hem and haw over actually putting them on.  The mirrors didn't go on until just before I took these pictures, meaning that Tracks was in my possession and out of the box for a few weeks incomplete, as it were.  I just really love the curves on Tracks in this mode and I'm not a fan of Corvettes.  The flames just jump out at me.  Seeing Tracks' head in the front seat is a little off putting, but I can live with it. 

A great feature that I instantly fell in love with is the opening hood, or bonnet if you're reading this in the UK.  This is supposed to be an reference to the episode "Make Tracks", but it really just brings to mind the fun feature that Binaltech figures sported a decade ago.  Has it really been a decade since Binaltech was a thing?  Now I'm nervous about Masterpiece figures suffering the same fate.  Crap, best not to think about it.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of Tracks for me is the flight mode.  I was never really enamored with the G1 version's flight mode.  It just always looked odd and out of sorts to me as a kid.  The huge missile launchers on top never did anything for me.  The Masterpiece version?  It's the bee's knees, man, the bee's knees.  The small tail fins are what really do it for me.  The front bumper gun also adds a nice touch and furthers the cartoon inspired design.

Here's a front shot showing off the blaster.  It just looks marvelous.

I've read many things online about Tracks' robot mode.  Most quibbles seem to be about his backpack, and I can sort of understand where the complaints are coming from, but I'm fine with it.  The loose ratchets at the knees don't seem to be a problem for me, either.  My knees appear to be perfectly tight.  I will say that the inability of the forearms to move up more at the elbows is a tad frustrating. 

Upon first seeing pictures of Tracks months before he was released, I wasn't exactly sure how I'd feel about the smaller, cartoon accurate pistol that would be included.  While I'm all for cartoon accuracy, I can't help but be a little biased towards the larger gun that the original toy came with.  Tracks also continues the Bumblebee tradition of having an insignia that flips around so it can be hidden.  It's a nice touch.

I really enjoy Tracks' head sculpt.  The lines coming down from the eyes took some getting used to, but the face looks great. 

I didn't have the energy to try a lot of poses with Tracks, so I can't really vouch for poseability.  I can say that the few poses I attempted were easily held by Tracks. 

Anyone else have trouble with the wings?  I can't decided on the best angle to display them in, and I can never be sure that the angles are exactly the same for both wings.  The missiles are a tad smaller than I would have envisioned, but they still look fairly decent.  Overall, this is a solid figure, and I can't wait until Road Rage releases later this month.  She looks fantastic.

Just...ugh

The above picture just turned out all sorts of wrong, but I'm including it anyway.  I couldn't figure out the right composition of the figures, and I couldn't get the focus solely on Tracks.  I will definitely work on this type of shot more, given time and energy.  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that this means that I can get back on a regular schedule again.

Takara Legends Arcee

This is one of those figures that I kicked myself for not getting, but fortunately, Takara did another run of these figures and I was able to snag one.  When I got the Generations version, I was pretty impressed, but then Flywheels, from the Random Toy Review blog, pointed out all of the black that was on the figure and that the Takara version had a color scheme that was dead on to the animated model.  I can't believe that I didn't pick up on that, but I'm not the most observant person.  Well. at least I got my hands on the Legends version.  Spoiler warning: If you're looking for cheesecake style poses and pictures of a toy, you've come to the wrong place.

I was going to do this whole thing about how great the packaging on the figure was and all of the paperwork, but Random Toy Reviews does a much better job of it.  Check out his review here.  Instead, I'll just get into the figure itself.  There is so much pink on this figure!  I was really expecting the pink on the Takara version to be different shade than the Hasbro, but they're the exact same.  The grey wheels caught me off guard, for some reason.  It never dawned on me that the wheels are cartoon accurate.  It's still a bit jarring, however.  I mean, when was the last time that you saw a 2005 model pink car with grey tires?  Tires should be black!

Here's a shot of both the Legends and Generations version side by side in vehicle mode.  The differences are pretty striking.  The Generations version features blue headlights  and black trim whereas the Legends model has silver headlights and all of the blacks have been replaced with either pink or white.  Some of the pink highlights have been changed to pink for the Takara release as well.

The color palettes of the weapons have been changed as well.  Takara went with a pink large pistol, and a grey small gun.  Small changes, but pretty potent.

One final comparison shot of the two different figures.  Can you guess which one is which?  I have to say that not having the black on the joints for Arcee's hips seems to make a world of difference.  There's a subtle shade of pink on Arcee's hair buns on the Takara version, and a grayish color on the Hasbro one.  Other differences on the Legends Arcee include : grey instead of white on the torso, light pink forearms and hands, red on the torso that is otherwise left completely white on Hasbro's, pink kneecaps, grey ankles, white feet, an insignia on the chest, and redder lips.  The Takara version is a much better looking figure.

Like the Generations figure, Takara's Arcee cannot fit the handles for her weapons completely.  There was apparently a running change with the figure starting with Hasbro where Arcee's thumbs were shortened for unknown reasons.  The Legends figure is based of this version.  I completely forgot about the swivels in Arcee's thighs until I was taking pictures.  They really allow for some good poses.

Man, those guns sticking out of her hands are really off-putting.

I've never been a huge fan of figures wielding two guns at the same time.  Ever see someone in real life dual-wield a weapon and be effective with both of them?  Didn't think so.

I suppose a sword is a weapon that you can duel-wield, but Inigo Montoya only ever used one sword, and that's good enough for me.  Besides, I like the look of one sword in this pose.

Finally, a shot of the Genertions/Legends version of the Transformers: The Movie main cast.  There should really be new Deluxe versions of Hot Rod and Kup.  Just not based on Combiner Wars molds.  If you don't have a Legends Arcee, run, don't walk, to your nearest computer and order one.  What are you waiting for?

G1 Blurr And What He Means For My Future

Please, bear with me.  I'm going to break this post down into three sections: past, present, and future.  I have quite a bit to discuss with this figure, and I figured that this would be the best way to do it.  There really won't be a lot of pictures until you get to the "Present" portion of the post, so I apolgize for that.  Enjoy the post!

The Past

The year 1986 was a momentous year, not just for me, but for Transformers om general.  That was the year that The Transformers moved away from Takara's Diaclone figures and began their transition to new molds that were designed by both Hasbro and Takara.  For me, 1986 meant that I finally got Sunstreaker!  What does this have to do with Blurr?  You'll see.

Picture from tfwiki.net

I turned 9 in May of that year, and I collected enough money from my party to earn a trip to Toys R Us directly after the party was over.  Browsing the aisles, I noticed Hot Rod, Scourge, and other figures from the upcoming movie.  Sunstreaker was the figure that caught my eye, and he came home with me.  Fast forward a few months, and I was at the movies watching Optimus Prime die.  During the movie, I was enthralled with Blurr, and I had to have him.  Luckily, the movie was released just as I found out that the Navy had transferred my father from Long Beach, California to Norfolk, Virginia, the state of my birth.  Moving meant one thing - a trip to Toys R Us for crayons, coloring books, and a toy to keep me, and my brother, busy on the cross country ride.  I realized my opportunity and grabbed Blurr as soon as we walked to the Action Figure aisle.  Happy, I made the cross country trip to my Aunt's house in Norfolk where we stayed until we could get a house of our own.  It was here that I made a grave mistake.

Once we arrived at my Aunt's house, I proceeded to show off some of my Transformers to my cousin.  Among the treasures that I proudly displayed were Sunstreaker and Blurr.  My cousin immediately remarked that it would awesome if I could somehow combine Sunstreaker and Blurr together to create a really fast car.  That's all I needed to hear.  I quickly disassembled the two bots and tried...something.  All I really remember is that Blurr's torso was glued onto Sunstreaker's car body, minus Suntreaker's roof.  It was, it was a nightmare.  In one fell swoop, I had managed to destroy two incredible figures, and create a monstrosity.  Sunstreak and Blurr were over, finished!

The Present

I've been searching for a replacement for Blurr for a couple of years now, but I just haven't forced myself to pull the trigger.  Sunstreaker was replaced a few years ago, but Blurr was always a hard proposition for me.  I wanted Blurr, but I didn't want to pay that much for him.  I'm sure that everyone has had this problem before.  It's isn't that Blurr is an expensive figure, really, but the prices still seemed silly to me.  Besides, most of the specimens that I managed to run across had fading, loose arms (not a big deal breaker thanks to nail polish), and shields with broken tabs.  After much moaning and complaining on the Internet about it, I finally managed to find what I was looking for - Blurr, in great condition, and at a price I was comfortable with.

 Thanks to the TFWiki, I discovered that there were two versions of Blurr, which I kind of suspected because there were two versions of most of the 1986 figures.  Thankfully, I managed to snag the first release version, with the "V" cut stickers.  When I picked up Blurr from my mailbox, I opened up the package immediately and began playing with him, while I was driving home.

My Blurr came with a misplaced decal.  The sticker that should go on his antenna was instead placed on his forehead, giving Blurr a Bindi, I suppose.  I could move it, or I could just get a new set of decals from Reprolabels, but I kind of like this look.

Thanks to his transformation scheme, Blurr features a bit of leg articulation.  Only his knees bend, so a running pose is not possible.  Still, it looks like Blurr is taking a bit of a stroll, or possibly limping. 

Blurr transforms into a Cybertronian race car, which, I'm told, is very fast.  Also in this picture, you can see the "V" cut out decals on the arms.  Later runs of Blurr do not have this cut and instead the "V" section is filled in.  Amazingly, Blurr's arms are very tight, and there isn't any real fading on the figure.  I really lucked out on this guy.  Thankfully, I was able to right a mistake that I made 29 years ago for a decent price.

The Future

It's funny how just getting one figure can induce a sense of euphoria.  And it isn't always what one would consider a "holy grail" - your Overlords, Black Zaraks and what have you.  Sometimes, it's just a common, everyday figure that can do the trick.  In a way, it was 1986 all over again.

The sense of calm that washed over me was a bit astounding as well.  I actually think that if I never got another vintage figure, I'd be okay with that.  My appetite for new G1 figures is so sated, that I haven't even really looked for any other figures.  Getting some Decepticon Targetmasters has certainly crossed my mind over the last couple of weeks, but I'm in no rush.  This creates a bit of a problem for this space since this is the last G1 figure that I have in reserve to review.  I have a Takara Arcee to still open and write about, but that's it until Nightbird and the Masterpiece figures for the year release.  Don't worry, I still have other things that I can put up here, like pictorials or something.

You know, when I first started doing this, it was with the intent to just get myself to do something creative and possibly interact with the fandom.  This is certainly a lot easier than getting on the boards.  After awhile, I somehow got a big head and thought that one day my collection would be featured on some site, and maybe I'd answer some questions.  That lasted about a week.  Over the last couple of months, I've come to realize that the size of my collection isn't important, but enjoying it really is.  I've even started trying to offload the vast majority of my CHUG, Binaltech, and Alternator figures.  The realization that there's just so much out there has necessitated a laser-like focus in my head.  The only reason I still have figures like Nightbird or the Takara Devastator coming is that I've already paid for them, so why not enjoy them?

Life can bring all sorts of headaches and tribulations, there isn't any need to add to them.  Just have fun and pass that joy along.  Next week - Legends Arcee!  For real.