Combiner Wars Bombshell

Funny what happens when you aren't looking for a figure: it generally just pops right into your life.  I had to make a stop at a store when I got off work one day to pick up some ink for my printer and I wandered over to the toy department and lo and behold!  Bombshell! 

Combiner Wars Bombshell is a spot on upgrade over his original incarnation.  I'm really impressed with his rhinoceros beetle mode.  It retains that old school look, but with modern flourishes.  Gone are the wheels and odd insect legs.  In their stead are actual legs!

Here's an overhead shot of Bombshell.  I'm still working on my black background photography, but I think I've gotten better with it.  I certainly like the results more than the white background.

Robot mode is where Bombshell stands out.  Waist and arm articulation are just outstanding on Bombshell.  He isn't as fiddly, if that makes sense, as Combiner Wars Powerglide and certainly much more sturdy than Tailgate/Windcharger.  The head cannon is at a much better proportion than the G1 version.

Bombshell's new found ability to pose allows for a Maz-styled running shot.  It also allows me to point out the cannons on Bombshell's knees.  Certainly, this is an Insecticon I wouldn't want to run into.  My only complaint with Bombshell is the lack of a hand-held weapon, but I can't really be too upset about that.  According to the TFWiki, Bombshell has a third mode.  Just what it is, I couldn't tell you, since it isn't included in the instructions.  Maybe one day intrepid scientists will discover this mysterious third mode, or I could Google it, but I'm a bit lazy.

Deluxe Insecticon Barrage

Image from www.botchthecrab.com

Well, 2014 is closing out pretty quickly, and I still have yet to fulfill my goal of finishing off the 1985 line of Transformers.  With just a couple of weeks left, I'm still short 4 figures - Barrage, Chop Shop, Downshift, and Overdrive.  Sadly, my time and purchasing power were used in other areas.  As such, I'm not entirely sure I'll make it to my stated goal.  Still, it's worth a try.

While searching for a suitable Barrage, I ran across an intriguing listing on eBay.  The seller wanted $20 less than what the average seller asks for Barrage, and he had the "Best Offer" option.  There was only a couple of things holding me back: he only had a feedback rating of 1, and when I asked him questions about the joints, he stated that he was pretty sure that they were tight, but he wouldn't transform Barrage to check because he had a habit of breaking Transformers.  Oh boy.  Nervously, I went ahead and sent him an offer for $10 cheaper than what he was asking and he accepted.  Meaning, that I got a great deal on Barrage.  The results?

Well, the results were pretty good, in my opinion.  Barrage's beetle mode, designed by the good people at Takatoku Toys, is in great shape.  The front insect limbs aren't as tight as I'd like, but they do the job. 

Here's something that I really enjoy about Barrage: his robot mode doesn't have freaking insect leg showing.  It's amazing!  Takatoku really did some ingenious stuff to get the legs completely hidden.  The insect theme is still present with the wings on the back, however.  Perhaps the only complaint that I might have would be the sword.  It looks like someone created it from a paperclip. 

I still need to do some cleaning on the figure, and add some new decals, but I think I really came out with a steal on this one.  Hopefully, I can find a Chop Shop in this fashion, but it's not likely.  Lightning usually doesn't strike twice, but I can always hold out hope.  Now, I only need to to track down three more of the 1985 figures to close out the year.  I...might be able to do that.  Maybe.

Ransack

www.botchthecrab.com

Continuing with the overall goal for this year, I have yet another Transformer from the 1985 assortment.  This time, we're going to look at Ransack, the Deluxe Insecticon warrior.  I purchased him with his box and an unused set of decals for what I consider a steal at the first part of the year.

 

Being a figure that was imported by Hasbro from Takatoku Toys, and not Takara, Ransack was not featured in either the animated series or the comic.  This seems to be a running theme of the 1985 assortment.  Like many of the non-Takara produced figures, Ransack didn't start making appearances in fiction until Dreamwave decided to use him.

Ransack and his fellow Takatoku brethren in Micromaster #1 by Dreamwave.  tfwiki.net

Once that happened, Ransack started to show up all over the place.  He's shown up in the Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs the Transformers series, 3H comics, and multiple issues of the IDW comics as well as the Regeneration One continuity.  This is one in demand bot!

Ransack's alt-mode is a locust.  It's a fairly good looking mode.  The black, yellow, and orange make for a good grouping of colors.  His antennae are moveable, for what reason, I'm not entirely sure.  The wings move up and down as well to simulate a flying action.

I do have a few issues with Ransack once he's in robot mode, however.  If you notice the box art at the top of this review, Ransack is holding his shield in a way that might actually be useful.  He's doing the same with his gun.  Try that with figure and prepare to be disappointed.  Unlike the other Deluxe Insecticon that I currently own, Venom, Ransack is unable to move his arms up and down.  His arms move to the side, and that's about it.  As a matter of fact, that's the only articulation Ransack has besides the wings that flip up, which is a shame, really.

Lack of articulation aside, Ransack is a very nice figure to look at. 

This is the box that I got with the Ransack.  I didn't get the insert, but I'm not really concerned about boxes or inserts.  The price tag from Kay Bee stores is still on it, and I find that more fascinating than the box itself. Seeing price tags just reminds me of the good old days, I suppose.

My particular Ransack box has an "AM" sticker on it.  Some boxed samples had this sticker, some didn't.  I used to know what that meant, but I can't remember now for the life of me.  If anyone has any info on this, please let me know.

Back of the box.  Sadly, the Robot Points were cut out, but I still have the tech spec, and most importantly, the awesome box art showing a red Tracks gunning for Jetfire.

The seller did include a tech spec decoder, the instructions, and an unused decal sheet, however.  As you can see, they're in rough shape.  It's still nice to have them.

Well, that's two Deluxe Insecticons in the collection, and another 1985 figure added.  There are only a few left for me to get, and only 7 more months to get them.  Will I get them all before the year's up?  Most likely, but it's always fun to add a little suspense.  Next week, we change things up a bit by reviewing a Transformer that I purchased.  Hope everyone's okay with that.

Venom

Box scan from Botch the Crab

What's the first thing that comes into your head when you hear the name "Venom"?  Do you picture a certain symbiotic suit?

Maybe a certain group of masked individuals bent on taking over the world?

Or, how about a metal band from England that coined the term "Black Metal"?

Coulda picked a cooler photo, but why bother?

All of these things are associated with the name "Venom" and it's generally what pops into my head when I think of the name.  Most of the time, I don't even think Venom as a Transformer.  As a kid, I would always obsess over the catalogs that came packed into the boxed Transformers scheming on how to make them all mine.  I always passed over the Deluxe Insecticons.  They were never in any fiction that I could get my hands on as a kid, so they weren't really Transformers in my head.  I even had a chance to get all three of them at a liquidation store in Niagara Falls back in 1988, but I still passed on them.  Something about them just screamed "FAKE!"  Many years later, and I now know why.

It turns out that all of the Deluxe Insecticons, and the Deluxe Vehicles and Jetfire, were originally produced by a company known as Takatoku Toys.  The company was later bought out after bankruptcy by Bandai who in turn licensed these figures to Hasbro.  Because Bandai was in direct competition with Takara, the toys were not released in Japan under the Transformers brand.  The Transformers was a joint collaboration between Hasbro and Takara, so to appease Takara, the Bandai licensed figures were not featured in any fiction.  Well, until recently.  And in the U.K. issues of the Marvel run.

Armed with this information, I've rectified my stance on the Deluxe Instecticons.  Now, I just needed to get them.  I try to pretend to myself that I'm going in some sort of order or that there's a rhyme or reason to my purchases, but there really isn't.  I just get what's available when I feel like it and I run across a good deal.  After quite a few searches, I finally came across an auction that I won at a decent price for Venom.

On first blush, it's obvious that neither Takara nor Hasbro had a hand in this figure's design.  His color palette is definitely different from anything else released at the time.  The orange, cream, and charteuse really go well together.  It's a welcome relief from the mostly black and silver of the regular Insecticons.

Venom's alt-mode is a cicada, which aren't terrifying insects.  I know what you're thinking - they're not locusts.  Different species and all that.  While locusts are known to swarm and destroy crops and are portents of famine, the most a cicada will do is maybe try to poke your arm of you let one sit there for a prolonged period of time.  That's only because the cicada thinks your arm is a delicious branch.  Anyway, that's enough science, time to get back on track.

The cicada wings have a very nice range of movement.  They're great for posing in various stages of flight.  The translucent orange is very pretty.  I'm also a fan of the large eyes in this mode.  Venom's proboscis gave me call sorts of OCD fits, however.

Shown here, I have Venom's insect head transformed incorrectly.  Even after actually reading the instructions and looking at various photos online, I was somehow convinced that everyone was wrong and I was right.  My evidence?  Venom's very own tech spec!  According to the tech spec, Venom has a stinger which can penetrate 1/4" steel!  That means that I have transformed correctly, right?  Turns out I was wrong and everyone else was right.  Again, I have Wikipedia to thank for that.

 I don't see a stinger, do you?  Underneath the cicada's head is a proboscis and that's how the cicada eats.  Notice how the eyes on the toy are very close to looking like the real thing?  Ok, seriously, enough science class.

Venom in robot mode is packed full of pleasant surprises and a few things that aren't so pleasant.  The first thing that I really liked about the robot mode was the articulation in the legs.  They rotate and bend.  A G1 figure with legs that move and allow for poseability?  Impossible, but true!

That's kind of an awkward pose, but it demonstrates what I'm talking about rather nicely.  The real surprise was doing the next pose.

Legs that bend at the knee and hip!  That's G2 levels of articulation right there in 1985!  This is a tell-tale sign that Venom wasn't a Takara/Hasbro design.  As much as I love what Takara did back then, their figures just didn't have this kind of articulation.  His head even looks up, even if it's only because of his transformation scheme.

There are a few things that I'm not fond of with Venom.  I'll start with the arms.  Owing to the wings folding back behind the arms, they have a weird range of movement.  The wings actually prevent the arms from assuming any kind of natural resting position; Venom's arms are always up.  This is just an odd look to me.  Secondly, I'm not a fan of the axe.  The blade is a pretty nifty size, but the handle is ludicrously short.  Maybe it's meant to be a throwing axe?  I'm not sure, but I think that if Venom were to have an axe, it would be prudent to have a longer handle for hacking.  Not that I think about using axes that often.

I'm extremely glad that I got over my snobbish attitude towards the Deluxe Insecticons.  I still feel kind of silly for never regarding them as official Transformers and I'm not sure that my reasons were all that well informed.  Imagine that, a nine or ten year old making decisions that weren't well informed!  Now that I've broken the ice on the Deluxe Insecticons, I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the crew.