Generations Chromia

I'm a horrible, horrible Transformer fan when it comes to knowledge.  Back in my younger days, I knew everything (or at least I thought I did) about the Transformers.  Then things happened - like the advent of the Internet - and I realized that I don't know anything about anything.  Even what I used to think I knew, I forgot about.  Case in point: Chromia.  For some reason I thought that she was introduced in the IDW series.  My 8 year old self would kick me for forgetting that she was really first introduced in the G1 animated series.  I was happy to have a Chromia figure to begin with, now I'm ecstatic to have realized that this is a bit of a make-up for her not having one in 1985.

I'm an idiot.  Pic from TFwiki.net

Whatever my ignorance means for me as a person, I wasn't as excited for Chromia as I was Arcee when they were announced in the first part of 2014.  Arcee was the headliner, and Chromia was the supporting act, paying her dues and destined to be booed off the stage.  As it would turn out, I actually like Chromia a bit more than Arcee.

Here is Chromia, straight out of the package.  Well, she's using one of Arcee's guns.  I really liked the look on the back of her package showcasing the two guns.  Chromia has an outstanding robot mode, more so than Arcee and Windblade.  She's sturdy and I don't feel like she's going to fall over if a slight breeze comes by.  That sturdiness comes with a price, however, as she isn't exactly poseable.  Chromia's arm articulation is is decent, but she doesn't turn at the waist, and her legs are limited by the back of her robot mode.

I really enjoy her motorcycle mode.  It has a TRON feel to it.  What's more, you really can't tell that she's just a mass of folded limbs in this mode.  The kickstand isn't really helpful, in my view.

Her gun can be added to this mode, but I prefer to use it like this:

It works so much better as a kickstand than the actual kickstand. 

Again, I'm an idiot for not realizing that Chromia had been around for 30 years.  She's an amazing figure, no matter how faulty my memory.  Please Ironhide, don't kill me for forgetting your girlfriend.

Generations Arcee

So I've had Arcee for quite a bit, but sickness, and then other figures prevented me from talking about her.  Time to rectify that, I suppose.

TFWiki.net

I've always been partial to Arcee, for reasons that I've never been certain of.  Maybe it's the Princess Leia hair.  Perhaps it's that she was never issued as a toy, an issue that I noticed even as a kid.  Whatever made her stick in my head all of these years, it worked.  Sure, Arcee isn't the first female Transformer to ever grace the screen, but she had the most impact. 

TFWiki.net

There have been several attempts at Arcee toys over the years, most never made it past the concept stages, and the most notable one that made it through, in my eyes, was the Binaltech version.  Still, this isn't a G1 Arcee.  Finally, after 28 years, the toy gods have blessed us with a G1 rendition of a fan favorite character.

What Hasbro has given us is a nice looking figure.  The first thing that I noticed when I opened her up and placed her on my self was that she is a lot more sturdy than Windblade.  Even with the backpack, she just feels like a much more solid figure.  Her accessories are also better.  Arcee comes with two pistols, one of which is featured on Chromia's package art (more on this in another post).  The guns fit in well with how I like to picture Arcee nowadays:

A hacked off killing machine.  It's really hard to think of the Generations Arcee figure as a stone cold killer when she has a smile sculpted onto her face.  But, this Arcee doesn't seem to based on IDW's version.  However, Arcee comes with two more accessories that help with the IDW look.

These are energy swords.  Or maybe they're rifles.  I've seen people use these as rifles.

I don't like that look.  Before I go any further, I'd like to point out something about the pistols.

The pistol grips are really big.  I find them unsettling, for some reason and I'm not entirely sure on what the designers were thinking with this.

Vehicle mode is really where Arcee stands out.  How freaking awesome is this thing?  It's almost as if she popped out of my TV screen and into my collection.  Flory Dery must be grinning somewhere.  The great thing about this mode?  It also doubles as a tank.

Adding all of Arcee's weapons to the vehicle mode gives you a very, very heavily armed futuristic car.  Or would that be a 10 year old car since this would be a 2005 model?  At any rate, I think Daniel would be pretty secure riding in this.

Twenty-eight years is all it took to get an Arcee.  Twenty-eight.  All it took was for her popularity to be at an all-time high thanks to a comic book.  And for social mores on female action figures to change.  Now someone get James Roberts to make Devcon popular enough to get Hasbro to issue him.  Please?  Pretty please?

30th Anniversasry Hoist!

Picture from TFWiki

See that picture above?  That's usually what I think about when I think of Hoist.  Well, that and the time he wore a goofy alien mask, but I couldn't find that screen grab.  Hoist is not a character I've taken very seriously.  Ever.  His G1 Toy is even worse.

I hate that figure.  Which is odd, because I really like Trailbreaker.  I think it all boils down to the head.  It's too big.  Sure, it doesn't look like it's too big in the picture, but in person it's honking huge.  Luckily, the new Generations version doesn't have this problem.

See that head?  It's proportional.  Hoist is a redeco of Generations Trailcutter, as the G1 Hoist was a redeco/remold of G1 Trailbreaker.  He looks magnificent.  Gorgeous, even.  The rear wings are missing from the back, but I believe a 3rd party company is taking care of that.  They take care of everything.

Hulk?

One of the nice advantages of modern toy engineering is increased articulation, and Hoist is a good example of a former brick who's been redefined.  His legs turn at the upper thighs, wrist, forearm, elbow, shoulder and waist articulation.  That's a good bit or movement.  Whereas Trailcutter featured a battle shield as his weapon, Hoist comes with a gun.

"You will come in for your checkup."

Hoist's transformation is identical to Trailcutter's.  The one difference is that instead of attaching the rear roof, you get to attach a tow arm.  The gun unfolds to create the tow hook.  Mine is rather floppy, but I think that it's that way with all of them, from what I've read online.  Still, it's not bad looking alt mode.  How about some comparison photos of G1 and Generations Hoist? 

It looks like they kept the color scheme's about the same.  The greens may be different shades, but their placement pretty much match up.

G1 Hoist has a lot more orange in truck mode, but I like the balance on the Generations version.  Then again, it could be that my bias against OG Hoist could be the deciding factor.

Man, what's next - Generations Skids?  What's that?  Well then.

Orion Pax

Picture it - millions of years ago on Cybertron, a young dock worker is introduced to a charismatic Decepticon named Megatron.  Megatron duped this young 'bot into giving him a tour of the dockyards.  As thanks for the tour, Megatron did extensive damage to the 'bot, nearly killing him, his best friend, and girlfriend.  Thanks to the timely intervention of a kind tinkerer, the young 'bot was reconstructed into a new, more powerful body - Optimus Prime.  Megatron had just created his own downfall.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Optimus initially looked like this in his former life:

Perms aren't just for women...

Picture it - millions of years ago, on Cybertron, a young police Captain made a name for himself by battling corruption and standing up for what was right.  One of those acts was releasing a falsely imprisoned Megatron and telling him to keep up the good work.  After raising the ire of the corrupt Senate, this young policebot was befriended and mentored by an honest Senator, given an upgraded body replete with a Matrix cavity.  This would prove to be fortuitous, as this policebot would become Optimus Prime.

Riding dead comrades is one way to battle corruption

 Did you know that both of the above 'bots are one and the same?  The name of that robot who would one day rise to become Optimus Prime?  Orion Pax.  The first version of Orion Pax was introduced in the classic G1 cartoon "War Dawn" episode.  As you can see, he looked nothing like Optimus Prime.  Other than the rockin' 'do, the most obvious thing about Orion Pax is that he has a mouth.  After his evolution in to Optimus Prime, he would get a faceplate.

The funny thing about the IDW version of Orion Pax is that he starts out with a faceplate, but after some modifications by Senator Shockwave, he's given a mouth.  And then he becomes Optimus Prime and gets the faceplate back.  For reasons.

Faceplate

Upgraded with new and improved mouth!

Which, when you think about it, is pretty funny.  He went form looking like Optimus Prime, to getting upgraded to new body with a Matrix cavity that looked nothing like Optimus Prime to yet another upgrade that made him look like his older self.  The reason for this is, of course, is artistic gaffe or decision by IDW.  Still, I kind of chuckle when I think about it.

So, thanks to IDW and Hasbro, we know have a figure based on the middle version of Optimus Prime's evolution - the Orion Pax with a mouth.  Honestly, I had a few reservations about this figure once I saw preview pictures of him online.  For starters, he looked so small.  Frail, even.  To top it off, that head!  It was tiny!  It was as though a kid had put his dad's suit on.  Would this figure be released with such a tiny noggin?  Would Hasbro actually release a sickly precursor to the great and powerful Optimus Prime?  In short, yes, yes they would.

Here's Orion Pax as he is in package - robot mode.  You can see the similarities to Orion Pax and Optimus Prime in this figure.  First you have the obvious red and blue color scheme.  There's a window on his chest to boot.  Hmm...that rifle looks familiar as well.  Prime doesn't carry an axe, so that's Pax specific.  As are the blades on the side of the arm.  Note the miniscule head.  Still Hasbro did an amazing job of capturing the comic version's likeness. 

I did have some reservations about this figure's ability to strike a pose, as I've had with every other figure from this assortment.  After some fiddling around, I was able to get some fairly decent poses out of Orion Pax.

They aren't perfect, but I like them. The head is still a little jarring, but I can live with it.  Like the rest of his assortment cohorts, Orion Pax's head does not look up or down, only left and right.  As evidenced by the photo above, the axe that he comes with features an extremely long handle.  Apparently, like Drift, Orion Pax can hold the axe with both hands.  However, I could only get it to look like he was swinging a bat or something, not like he's about to chop off an opposing criminal's arm or head.

Awkward...

Did you know that Orion Pax transforms into a truck?  I find it hard to believe!  A version of Optimus that's a truck?  Innovative and out there, I know.

Here's a bit of a top-down view for your enjoyment:

I really do like this mode.  It's a reminiscent of the War for Cybertron truck mode.  Man, is it sharp.  In the included Spotlight: Orion Pax issue that accompanies this figure, Orion at one point hauls a trailer.  This has, naturally, led to a 3rd party company creating said trailer.  I'm good with just the cab.  I think that the trailer will also come with a new head of ol' Pax as well. 
See the hole on the side rear of the truck?  There's another one on the opposite side.  Unlike when I was a kid, Hasbro has been kind enough to incorporate weapon storage in vehicle mode for most of it's figures.  The rifle and axe can attach to these ports for an attack mode.  I'm not too fond of how the axe looks when it's attached, but that's just me.

When I first saw the preview pictures of Orion Pax online, I was troubled with a lot of things about him.  Small head, articulation, mouth, and figure size all made me doubtful that this would be a decent figure.  After playing with him for quite a bit, I think that he may be my favorite figure of the assortment.

Thrilling 30 Bumblebee

Not to sound like an old curmudgeon, but Bumblebee is a tricky character for me nowadays.  Being a 36 year-old collector means that I grew up with a Bumblebee that was a Volkswagen Bug.  Sometimes he's a variation of a small, compact car, but Bumblebee was always a small car of some sort.  His personality has always been that he's affable and eager to prove his worth to the larger Autobots.  Good ol' 'Bee.

Fast forward to 2007 and Bumblebee is now a Camaro, the complete opposite of a small car and he's ready to fight at the drop of a hat.  Look, I'm not a G1 purist, but that isn't Bumblebee.  As such, I've pretty much refrained from purchasing any of the post-movie 'Bees unless they've been in the Generations line.  Then Hasbro went and put a Camaro Bumblebee in the Generations line.  Then again, it could be a Dodge Challenger.  I'm not a car guy.

I'll be honest, I would have skipped this figure if I hadn't decided to just order the entire wave from BigBadToystore.  It wound up being cheaper to order the entire wave than just ordering everybody separately minus Bumblebee.  As it it, I now have my first Camaro 'Bee.  This Bumblebee isn't the same character from the movies, rather he's from the IDW Transformers comic.  He was a Camaro for about an issue during the Police State storyline, if I remember correctly.  To be honest, I really don't remember, and I don't want to re-read all of those Mike Costa issues because I can't stand them.  Then he went back to his regular body, which suited me fine.

Taking my lack of interest in a Bumblebee that isn't a nice, small car into account, this was initially going to be a figure that I had, but wouldn't cover.  Or I was going to give him to my son.  Then I opened him up and fiddled with him a bit.  He's actually better than I had thought he could be.  The car mode is kind of sleek, for starters.

Transformation is extremely simple on this figure.  It almost has a G-1 simplicity in the transformation scheme.  Once you get him into robot mode, he looks like this.

If you're looking for a short, compact 'Bee, this is not the figure for you.  This Bumblebee, while the same size as the War for Cybertron Bumblebee, the Thrilling 30 version is leaner than bulkier War For Cybertron figure.

The twin blasters that are mounted to Bumblebee's car mode combine to form a larger gun in robot mode.  I actually kind of like the gun when it's combined.

One of the main drawbacks to this figure, to me, are the shoulder pads.  The shoulder pads make it difficult to do any kind of great poses.  Most of Bumblebee's poseability seems to be located in the arms and legs.

Dynamic?

Lack of posing options aside, I'm really digging the head sculpt.  It's perhaps the best sculpt of Bumblebee I've ever seen.

I just dig that head sculpt.  It's pretty much the main reason why I like this figure.  Now I'm left wondering if Hasbro is going to release Cliffjumper as a redeco of this figure.  Cliffjumper gets no love nowadays.  It's all about Bumblebee. 

Thrilling 30 Megatron

That's a horrible title, but it can't be helped.  There have been so many different versions of Megatron released just in the Generations line that merely titling this Generations Megatron would have been woefully insufficient.  Really, I had no idea how many iterations of G1 Megatron there have been since his debut in 1984.  Seriously, there have been a ton.  While I thought that the Thrilling 30 version of was unique, I was proved wrong.

If there's one thing that can reliably be counted upon in the world of Transformers, it's that Megatron is always a gun.  Unless he's a tank.  Maybe a T-Rex.  One thing Megatron has never been?  A plane.  Well, at least that's what I thought until I looked at TFWiki.  Well, there goes my entry into the discussion of the newest release.  I'm still going to try.

Fine, Megatron has been a jet before.  It was only once, as far as officially released toys go.  Here is Megatron's first release as a jet.

Picture from tfwiki.net

That is from the Machine Wars line.  As everyone knows, Machine Wars was a line introduced in 1997 and carried exclusively by Kay-Bee Toys.  It was such a huge success that one wave of figures was ever produced.  Can we say success?

Regardless of this minor setback, I'm still determined to discuss Megatron as a jet.  Besides, have you seen the Thrilling 30 Megatron?  He's sweet.

He's a stealth bomber.  In a way, I guess that this is a callback to an unreleased Generation 2 version of Megatron that was itself a redeco of Generation 2 Dreadwing.

Picture from tfwiki.net

 The new version of Megatron was designed by artist extraordinaire Don Figueroa, who is the second greatest artist to ever draw a Transformer.  The greatest is, of course, Andrew Wildman.  Back on track, I originally thought that this figure was designed by Nick Roche, perhaps the third greatest artist.  It isn't hard to come to that conclusion since this Megatron first appeared in Transformers Spotlight: Megatron which was written and drawn by Mr. Roche.  Roche also designed Sandstorm/Springer, so I had just assumed that he had designed Megs as well.  All of that was put to rest when I read this article on Bleeding Cool.  I should have known that Figueroa had a hand in the design based on just the fusion cannon.  It's pure Don.

Here's a closeup of the front of the bomber mode.  The canopy is very reminiscent of a classic 1940's style design.  That could be just me.  This is a very compact toy, as it isn't immediately visible that the bomber will unfold into Megatron, mightiest of the Decepticons.

After removing the wingtips and doing a little unfolding, the bomber is in robot mode.  Megatron, being a Deluxe, isn't that tall, but he's still a nice looking figure.

Even at the Deluxe size, Megatron is pretty imposing.  I think it's the broad shoulders.   The black and purple look sharp.  I'm not a big fan of purple, but it looks pretty good here.  Megatron's head is a little small for my tastes, but it's still a good sculpt.  There is a 5mm hole on either arm that you can attach the fusion cannon to.  I opt for the normal right hand placement.

I really like the look of the new cannon.  In the comic, it's referred to as a rail gun, but for the figure, Hasbro has decided to stick with tradition, I suppose.

Due to the nature of his size and transformation scheme, Megatron is kind of hollow.  This leads to some difficulty with posing.  The shoulders on mine don't really want to stay at the most upright position.

I love the look of that fusion cannon.  It looks like it could double as a melee weapon as well.

When I first heard about this newest iteration of Megatron, I was unsure.  Megatron as a plane?  That's not something that I'm used to.  However, Don Figueroa just knocked this out of the park.  Add in the bonus trivia surrounding the concept, and I think it's a great design.  The hollowness of the actual figure coupled with the small head leave a little something to be desired, but overall I think that this is a great figure.  Still, I think I'd to see this as a voyager.