Monstructor Part VII - Monstructor

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Finally, we're at the "big" guy, Monstructor, which if you've seen him before or if you already own him, you know that he's not that big.  In fact, he's woefully small.  Still, I have him, and I'm pretty pleased with myself.  One quick note, however.  The box art that I'm using for Monstructor isn't his actual box art.  Monstructor was never released as a giftset anywhere, so he never actually received box art.  What we see above is a recolored Dinoking.  It was all part of a project to get Monstructor some box art.

I'm not going to go into Monstructor's history in the fiction, because as I've stated before, I don't really like him as a character anymore.

I don't care how cool he looks

What do you get when you combine six small Pretenders?  A gestalt!

Here's Monstuctor in all of his glory.  It's funny how Slog's arms are still visible, but everyone seems to use those as extra T-Rex like appendages, so I'm good with that.  If you could distill the early 90's into one figure, Monstructor would be that distillation.  Notice the color blocking on each figure?  Or the outrageous, almost garish choices of colors?  This is truly a product of it's time.  Yes, I know that he was actually released in 1989, but this was truly a precursor of things to come.

One thing that may shock some of you is that Monstructor really isn't a brick - he actually has some articulation!  His head doesn't turn, and his arms can only move up and down at the shoulders, but he does have some hidden articulation thanks to his combination scheme.

Run, Monstructor!  Run!

That's right, Monstructor has leg articulation!  I've officially decided that he is now the Forrest Gump of the gestalts, running everywhere.  Don't expect to see any shots of Monstructor's arms moving.  GPS prevents that thought from even entering my head.  I'm surprised that I had the courage to move his leg into the above condition.

Have you ever noticed how short Monstructor is?  I've been told before that he's short, but I never really appreciated just how small until I compared him to some other figures.

Here is Monstructor with the grandfather of all combiners, Devastator.  Monstructor comes to Devastator's waist.  That's pretty small.  What about in comparison to a Scramble City type fustilateral quintrocombiner, you make ask?  Take a look for yourself.

How about that?  He's at Menasor's waist as well.  He's just a puny guy.  I feel bad putting in my gestalt cabinet.  Still, he is a combiner, so that's where he will stay.  Say, I wonder how he fares when compared to the Micromaster combiners?  I'll have to get one of those and check it out.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with myself for getting Monstructor.  He was the last US G1 combiner that I needed, and now I have that category completed.  Thanks to the constant stress I'm under over the ticking clock of crumbledom, I can definitely state that I will no longer buy any figures that I can't pose or touch thanks to GPS.  I just feel bad that I have something that I can only stare at, and not touch.  It makes me feel like I'm a kid again and looking at my dad's stereo.

There you have it, after nearly two months, Monstructor is done.  And thus ends the first set of figures that I bought thanks to the influence of someone else.  One thing that I realized while doing all of these Monster Pretenders is that I don't think I'll be doing individual posts on fusilateral quintrocombiners again unless they've done something in the fiction.  I'd really like to thank flywheels for his input on this purchase.  I wonder what the next figure will be?

Monstructor Part VI - Icepick

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Icepick, he who appreciates recycling.  Apparently, Icepick became a demolitions expert solely so he could destroy the old and make it into something new.  That's awfully green of the Decepticons.

I have no idea what Icepick's shell is supposed to be.  Some sort of stabby thing?  Part lobster?  Whatever it is, it's the tallest of the Pretender Monster shells.  I'm not very sure what the command structure of the Pretender Monsters is, but I've made him their de facto leader based on his appearance in "Rhythms of Darkness!" since he, you know, threatened to kill Wildfly for opening his mouth.  That's Decepticon leadership material right there.  And who says that the head/torso always has to lead?  Scrapper is always depicted as the bot in charge of the Constructicons, after all.

Sorry the pictures are so dark, I was trying to get some black background shots.  That's an experiment that failed miserably.  Anyway, here's Icepick with all of his accessories attached to his back.  It looks like he's going for a hike.

Icepick looks pretty much exactly like Scowl, that probably has something to do with the fact that they both form Monstructor's legs.  I'm not really sure what his alt-mode is supposed to be.  It looks like a bipedal Iguana-type creature to me.  His transformation scheme is pretty much exactly like Scowl's.

Side view of the stumpy one

 I really like the ridges on the top of the head.  As I've said, this really reminds me of a bipedal Iguana.

For some reason, Icepick looks like he's always looking down while in robot mode.  His color scheme is highly reminiscent of Perceptor.  Articulation is limited to bending at the elbow.

Icepick is a pretty nondescript figure, to be brutally honest.  There isn't anything about him to make him really stand out.  His appearances in the fiction are limited and mainly restricted to Monstructor related activities.  Still, if you want to have a Monstructor, you need this guy, or else you don't have a leg to stand on.  Get it?  I'm hilarious.  Oh well, up next we'll finally have a look at Monstructor!

Mostructor Part V - Scowl

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Look, it's an adorable little werewolf!  How cute!  I think I might just pet him - Oh Primus!  That's a mistake!  My hand!  My hand is gone!  Why?  Why did I do this?  My freaking hand!

After reading Scowl's profile on TFWiki, I imagine that the above scenario is what would happen if anyone actually ran into Scowl.  He apparently is a very cute psychopath who hates his alt mode.  As such, he spends as much time in his shell as possible.  How fortuitous for Scowl, and Hasbro.  I will say, looking at his box art, that he doesn't look scary at all.  Or monstrous.  I attribute this to his primarily yellow color scheme.  Anyway, since Scowl hates his alt mode so much, I figured we'd look at that first.

Scowl's alt mode is pitifully small.  It seems smaller than the rest of his teammates.  Perhaps that's why he hates his alt mode?  The yellow and purple are truly 90's themed colors, but they work well together.

Flip Scow's head up and flip the legs down and you have yourself a robot!  A robot with a a huge crest or something on his head.  For some reason, only his right fist has a hole for his gun to peg into.  The weapon displayed on his box art isn't the one that he comes with either.  At first I thought that I had used the wrong weapon, but after some searching online, I discovered that I had in fact used the correct weapon.

Scowl's shell is some sort of rock or ice creature and I only say ice creature because the blue makes me automatically think of cold.  I suppose that it's scarier than his inner robot's alt mode.  As it is, his pose looks like he's gathering himself for a high jump or something.  He's just squat.

He does have ginormous feet

Like the rest of the Pretender Monsters, the accoutrements peg onto the back of the shell.  As you can tell, Scowl's part of the combiner is that of a foot. 

That's five Pretender Monsters down, and one to go.  Next up, we'll be covering the other foot - Icepick!  And then it's on to Monstructor!

Monstructor Part IV - Birdbrain

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We're at the halfway point!  Which better part of Monstructor to talk about than his midsection?

Birdbrain has the distinction of being the one Pretender Monster to appear in the Dreamwave comics.  He was in the Age of Wrath  mini-series that turned out to be a single issue.  According to his TFWiki profile, Birdbrain was a member of Ratbat's Ultracons.  This was surprising to me, as I don't remember this at all.  I mean, who show's Pretender Monsters any kind of love?  Other than that, Birdbrain was only ever featured in the Marvel issue "Rhythms of Darkness!" and all of those IDW issues where Monstructor showed up.  Like the rest of his team, there were no speaking lines.  Naturally.

Have you ever seen the movie Labyrinth?  Birdbrain's outer shell reminds me of a creature from that movie.  Maybe more of a creature from The Dark Crystal; definitely a Jim Henson creation.  I think it's just a stupendous design.  For some reason, I keep picturing Birdbrain waddling around chasing Jennifer Connelly and singing.  Maybe I have issues.  Or have a thing for Jennifer Connelly.

Obligatory junk in the trunk reference.

Birdbrain's torso accessory stores on the back of his shell.  I didn't think to look up his instructions before the photo shoot, so it's on incorrectly.  Don't worry, some Sharkticons showed up at my door and, uh, "showed" me the error of my ways.  It will never happen again.

Things go a little south when Birdbrain is separated from his outer shell.  He's, naturally, tiny.  Because of his alt mode, his arms are permanently bent.  The black and purple color scheme works really well.  Speaking of alt modes...

I have no idea what that is.  For some reason, I want to say it's a rhinoceros.  Birdbrain's box art suggests something more bird-like.  Wow.  His name is Birdbrain, so that should've clued me in.  I can be slow at times.  According to his TFWiki profile, he's an alce; something I've never heard of.  An alce is apparently some sort of wingless Griffin.  See, Transformers can teach our children new things.  I still say it's a rhino.

All that remains to be covered are the lower extremities and then we're on to the combined form of Monstructor!  Will the following posts continue to veer into oddball territory, or will I be able to pull it back together?  Check back next week to find out!

Monstructor Part III - Wildfly

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So far I've covered Slog, Monstructor's chest, and Bristleback, who forms an arm.  Let's look at another arm - Wildfly.  This is actually my second Wildfly.  Since I bought the Pretender Monsters as a set, I wound up with a second one.  I've had 24 years to formulate a review on him, so we'll get started.

Like every other Pretender Monster, Wildfly hasn't done anything in fiction.  Here's the sumary:

"Rhythms of Darkness!" TFWiki.net

He was apparently so much of a jerk that Icepick threatened to kill him in "Rhythms of Darkness!", so Wildfly has that to be proud of.  And then in the IDW comics, he was driven insane by Jhiaxus's machinations to create the first ever gestalt.  So yeah, these late in the line guys get all of the love.

Wildfly is red and yellow, which somehow works.  His gun is longer than his arms, which means that when his arms are posed straight down, the side with the gun is lifted up a tad.  The unique thing about Wildfly is that while the other limbs and Birdbrain are essentially based on two molds, Wildfly is not.  He's unique!

Looking at these pictures, I'm fairly certain that I have his legs transformed incorrectly.  No matter, it still works.

A vast, predatory bird

Flip up the bird face, push the legs up and fold the talons down and you have a...something.  It's a winged creature, that's for sure.  With tiny wings.

Judging by his profile art, I'd suggest that he's a demonic falcon, but what do I know?  All I know is that his tech spec doesn't say what his alt mode is and I've been thinking about it for over two decades. 

Just as Wildfly's alt mode is ill-defined, so is his Pretender shell.  It's a winged ghoul of some sort.  There is a downside to this newer figure that I didn't notice until after I had started taking pictures.  Wildfly's shell features numerous spots from degradation, I suppose.

If you'll click on each picture, the spots are really noticeable.  And all over.  I have no idea what caused them, but there you go.  It's a shame because I was actually thinking about flipping this Wildfly and keeping my original so that I might get a figure that I didn't currently own.  C'est la vie.

Up next, we'll look at Monstructor's torso - Birdbrain!  In the meantime, if you know what Wildfly transforms into, let me know.  Please.  I really want to know.

Monstructor Part II - Bristleback

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Welcome to Part II of my seven part series on Monstructor.  This time I'll be covering Bristleback, the other part of the GPS Pretender Monster duo.  There's so much gold plastic on this guy.  Without further ado, let's get on to Bristleback!

Bristleback, like the rest of his Pretender Monster brethren, has pretty much had zero presence as an individual in fiction.  I'm sure that there is fan fiction out there featuring Bristleback, but I'm staying away from it.  His only Marvel appearance was in "Rhythms of Darkness!" and I can't even remember if he had a speaking part!  He'd been featured in the IDW comics, but he still didn't speak.  However, at least he was shown as an individual.  Kind of.  His role in the IDW comics is to basically be there and then form Monstructor.

www.tfwiki.net

 Man, looking at Bristleback's box art, I can't help but feel a little gypped by the actual figure.  That monster mode is sweet looking.  Here's what the actual figure looks like.

Not awesome

Yeah

Does anyone know what Bristleback is supposed to be?  If you do, please tell me.  Judging by the box art, I'd say some sort of winged wolf.  Judging by the figure, I'd say a flying pig with a fin on it's head.  Either way, he has an alt mode.  I just wish I knew what it was.

You know, I know that the Pretender Monsters are "small" Pretenders, but the other "small" Pretenders such as Bludgeon, Longtooth and the rest all have somewhere for their weapon to attach while in their alt mode.  It's a feature that I wish the Pretender Monsters had.

Want to know how brittle Bristleback is?  Even the TFWiki's picture of Bristleback is suffering from GPS!  As much as I tried, mine has a few side effect of GPS.  There are some cracks on the hind legs, right where the rivets are.  They appeared after I moved them too much.  Guess who's not getting touched ever again?

"Freeze!"

Bristleback has a very simple transformation, thank goodness.  The great thing about G1 figures that suffer from GPS is that they all feature the simplest transformations imaginable thanks to their being so late in the line.  Anywho, Bristleback is armed with an electrostatic pulse rifle and he can only hold it in an upright position.  His arms will only lower if he's not holding that gun, which was a surprise.

Squirtle?

 Here we have Bristleback's monster shell.  It's kind of a turtle monster.  Actually, it's reminiscent of something from the Power Rangers or a Godzilla movie.  Bristleback is not in the shell.  For some reason, the seller packed Bristleback in his shell and I was desperate to get him out to inspect him.  Once out of the shell, there was no way he was going back in.  Like the rest of his crew, Bristleback's accoutrement can store on the back of the shell.  The fist becomes another cannon.

I will say that the person that designed this shell did a fairly remarkable job.  Bristleback's shell is perhaps my favorite of the Pretender Monsters.  It's just a great sculpt.  I can actually picture this thing crawling (well waddling) out of the ocean to kill me.

Rear View

I've read reports about these shells getting slimy over time, and I'm happy to report that I have yet to run into that issue with any of my Pretender Monster shells.  Although, I'm sure that eventually they'll get slimy.

Thus concludes our look into the Pretender Monster called Bristleback.  Join us next week at the same Trans-time on the same Trans-blog for continued coverage of the Pretender Monsters.

Mostructor Part I - Slog

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Welcome to my first post that was influenced by what I read and see!  And as I stated towards the end of last year, the first three months' worth of posts would be dictated by my influences.  The decision to go ahead with Monstructor stems from flywheels doing his reviews on the Dinoforce figures, which are just recolors with different shells.  I've always wanted to get the rest of the Pretender Monsters, but I've just kept putting them off.  Reading flywheel's reviews gave me the push I needed to get off my duff.

Once I had the idea to complete the Pretender Monsters, I just kept an eye on eBay.  Generally, I'll find complete Monstructor's for closer to $350 or more, but I already owned a Wildfly, so I wasn't sure if getting a complete Monstructor would be necessary.  Then I started looking at prices for the individual figures.  Holy crikey!  Guess complete Monstructor it was going to be!  Besides, with the fact ol' Slog here is notorious for suffering from the ill effects of Gold Plastic Syndrome, I'd be getting a second one of him anyway.  You know, one to keep in Monstructor head form and the other to display in monster/robot mode.  Probably.  Enough of this.  Let's get to Slog.

TFWiki.net

 Here is Slog in his one fictional appearance in the Marvel comic, an issue titled "Rhythm of Darkness!".  Notice how he's still a short guy?  Then again, Jose Delbo didn't do Slog any favors with his art, but I digress.  "Rhythm of Darkness!" was just a plot device to get Galvatron to the present and took place in an alternate reality.  Which means that Slog wasn't even in the proper Transformer universe.  Does that make his appearance any less significant?  Was this appearance significant?

Slog has fared a lot better since those ignominious days at Marvel.  Slog has been featured quite a bit (some would say too much) as part of Monstructor in the IDW Transformer books.  I don't recall him having anything resembling a personality in the books, much less saying anything, but he's there.  Other than that, Slog hasn't gotten any recognition or favor from anyone.  

Like Arkvander, I had been toying around with the idea of using black backgrounds on my photos.  I got the inspiration from brr-icy.  His Flickr page is just chock full of beautiful portraits of Transformers and they're all on a gorgeous black background.  Turns out he's better at this than I am.  Figures.  Anyway, the Pretender Monsters will be the only shots I do on a black palette because I lack the time and let's face it, skill, to do black photos justice.

Above, you'll find Slog's Pretender shell.  I don't know what it's supposed to be.  A chibi demon?  No one seems to really be sure.  It is actually reminiscent of a Todd McFarlane design.  He'd be right at home with Clown in the Spawn comics.

Turn out the lights, it's time for Slog

As evidenced by the picture above, Slog's accessories peg neatly into his backpack.  I'm not so sure that I have the head on there correctly, but it works.  It's a nice feature.

"Why is everything upside down?"

When I got Slog, he was inside his shell and I had a helluva time getting him out.  I was super worried that the seller would ship him inside his shell, and he did.  Talk about frustrating.  I eventually got Slog to come out of his shell (hah!) without any breakage or too much cursing.  Slog will not be going back into his chibi demon shell.  Ever.

What is this?

If I didn't know what Slog's Pretender shell was supposed to be, I certainly don't know what the inner robot turns into.  It's a short boxy thing with long arms. 

This ill-defined, squat thing just demonstrates his real function - forming Monstructor's chest and head.  There really isn't anything to add about the monster mode, so we'll go into the robot mode.

I still can't get over how small this guy is.  Really, how small all of the Pretender Monsters are.  At least things are a little more defined in robot mode.  You can tell that he's actually a robot, so that's good.

There are a lot of pictures in this post, but flywheels suggested that I take lots a pictures as I probably won't ever touch these guys again due to the GPS issues.  And it was a good suggestion.  So far, Slog doesn't have any GPS breakage that I can see, but we all know what's going to eventually happen.  The clock is ticking it's slow tick of death.  If only there were a way to fix GPS.  Telethon, anyone?

So concludes the first chapter of my Pretender Monsters reviews.  Next up, Bristleback!  Huh, I just realized that I have a theme month going.  I'll think of a title later.