Triple Takeover Part II - Plastic Toe Sandstorm

Image from www.botchthecrab.com

Let's get this out of the way: Sandstorm is my favorite Triple Changer.  Ever.  There, I feel much better now that I have that off my chest.  My love of Sandstorm can be traced all the way back to Christmas of 1986 when I received him under the Christmas tree. 

He's behind Matt Trakker's Thunderhawk

I still own that Sandstorm, and he's still complete to boot!  The only issue is that time has not been kind to his legs as they will not stay locked in robot mode, giving him a bit of a lopsided walk, even with the 20 year old masking tape on the legs.  Also, there's old, decayed rubber band on the gun and it will not come off.  Seeing as how I still have so many figures left to get, it may be a bit off to buy another instance of a figure that I already own, but I just felt the need to get a better version.

Image from www.TFWiki.net

One of the reasons that I love Sandstorm so much is that I was always puzzled by his personality.  His tech spec bio mentioned that he loved the heat of battle so much that he could count the rivets on the Decepticons that he was fighting.  Surely Sandstorm is a warrior of great standing.  Then again, on the third season of the show, he was a freaking pacifist.  A pacifist that would pal around with a Decepticon deserter.  They...they tried a few different things that season, and not all of them made sense.  However, this dichotomy of personalities with Sandstorm stuck in my head for a long time as a kid, and the more I thought about, the more I grew to really appreciate the character.  Eventually, I reached the age where I could care less about discrepancies between the show and the figure's bio, especially once I discovered the comic. 

If I had never watched the show, Sandstorm would still be my favorite Triple Changer of all time, especially when compared to the rest of the Triple Changers.  Most especially when compared to the Autobot Triple Changers.  Those guys are hideous.  Look at Sandstorm's dune buggy and then look at Springer's car mode:

God that thing is ugly.  Springer doesn't even look like a wheeled vehicle.  Disgusting.  Most of the helicopter mode kibble is hidden in Sandstorm's dune buggy mode, with the exception of the rear propeller. 

Helicopter is my favorite of the three modes.  I've always been fascinated by helicopters since childhood, and Sandstorm's is a thing of beauty.  I didn't know what kind of helicopter this was when I was a kid, but it looked like it could carry a lot of personnel or cargo.  It turns out that this is a Sikorsky S-62 amphibious transport chopper.  Looks like I was correct in that assumption.  When looking at this mode, I immediately want to start spinning the rotor and make chopper noises, you know the sounds I'm talking about.  Seriously, this is my favorite helicopter mode in all of the Transformers.

There are two versions of Sandstorm out there - metal toe and plastic toe.  Like every other figure in 1986, the metal version was released first and then a running change introduced a plastic version.  My childhood version is a plastic version.  I really wanted to find a metal toe version, but I never could find one that met the criteria that I was looking for.  When one pops up, I'll snatch it up.

In my mind, I had always associated Sandstorm with surf culture.  The part of the chopper that folds up on Sandstorm's back always reminded me of a surfboard.  Couple that with the dune buggy, something that I assumed was used on the beach, and it just stuck.  Now that I've put that out there, I'd like for someone to use that in fiction.  I feel as though Sandstorm should be using surfer slang.

It took me 28 years, but I was able to get the band back together with the addition of Springer.  Thanks to a Sandstorm that can stand without looking like a pimp, I can take a group shot with pride.  Compare Sandstorm to the rest of his Autobot Triple Changer brethren and tell me that he isn't the best.  Is it a contest that he won by default?  Nah.  Sandstorm is just gorgeous. 

Chainclaw!

Picture from www.botchthecrab.com

This blog is run with a buffer of posts.  I usually like to do about a month or so ahead of time so I can concentrate on real life issues, like the kitchen remodel that I'm working on.  Sometimes I forget just how many posts I have left in the buffer, and that leads to a gap in posts, like last week.  Whoops!  No matter, time to start another run of posts.  What better way to start that with a Pretender!  A Pretender Beast at that!

Chainclaw popped up on eBay not long after my infant son had surgery during my string of cheap finds.  If memory serves, I paid $30 for him shipped, which is a good deal.  I've always wanted Chainclaw since I was a wee 5th grader, but it just never happened for me.  Something about bears just really get me excited.  A robot that transforms into a bear that then hides inside another bear?  Sign me up.

Where the regular Pretender shells have articulation in their arms, the Pretender Beast shells feature no articulation whatsoever.  Chainclaw makes up for the lack of shell articulation with a helmet.  A helmet that makes him look like he belongs in the Masters of The Universe line.  Seriously, it's not hard to imagine He-Man, or Stratos, riding Chainclaw into battle. 

Crack the shell open, and you'll find Chainclaw's inner robot.  He's smaller than the main Pretenders, but he's a good looking bot.  My specimen has stickers that are in great shape, and the dark grey really goes well with the yellow of the main body.  For some reason, Chainclaw's head rotates.  That's something I'd expect from the regular Pretenders, and Carnivac's head did not rotate.  My guess is that the rotating head is to compensate for Chainclaw's tiny, tiny hands.  Figures that can't hold their own weapons in their fists always tend to annoy me.  Certainly there are figures that are the exception - I couldn't imagine a Seeker without the arm cannons, and Bomb-Burst looks magnificent with arm mounted lasers - but when there's only one weapon, it looks funny.

Chainclaw in his "action pose".  This guy is certainly a prototypical G1 brick. 

Fold a couple of pieces, and you have yourself a...bear?  Maybe?  Chainclaw looks more like a dog in this mode. 

Maybe it's a bear.  Whatever.  Here's Chainclaw with his Solid Sonic Energy Blaster attached.  This is one bear-dog that I wouldn't want to cross if I was a Decepticon.  Well, that's two Pretender Beasts down, and two to go.  I wonder if that's what my next vintage post will be about?  Who knows?

Monsterbot Grotusque

www.botchthecrab.com

It's been a bit since I got something vintage, what with all this new stuff coming out.  What better way to go old school than by finally completing my Monsterbots?  Grotusque is here and it's time to celebrate. 

Before I get into the review, I'd like to relate a story.  When I first got back into collecting G1 figures way back in 1999, I felt that the prices were outrageous on eBay, the only way I knew to get older figures, so I never really bought that many figures.  I think I may have bought one figure a year, maybe two.  At any rate, in 2005, I found an auction for a Doublecross with box working spark, stickers not applied, tech spec, unused decal sheet, and paperwork that I won for a whopping $25.  At the time, I felt it was ridiculously high price.  But, it got me on a tradition of getting Monsterbots for cheap.  I got working Repugnus a couple of years ago without stickers and gun for $17; I already had somehow managed to get his gun at some point in my childhood and managed to hang on to it.  Getting Grotusque brought about a lot of trepidation simply because I wanted to keep this tradition going.  Would I?  You bet you Aunt Sally I did.  One day I got a coupon from eBay for $20 off thanks to their security breach or whatever, plus I had some eBay Bucks that I had acquired.  All in all, I may have paid $30 for Grotusque.  The tradition continued.

Grotusque's alt mode is a griffin?  A liger?  A gargoyle?  I don't know.  It's cool looking, however.  A distinguishing feature with Grotusque is that in his monster mode, he's able to mount a weapon, in this case on his back.  Neither Doublecross nor Repugnus are able to do this.  Once they're in they're monster modes, the guns go in storage.

There are apparently two ways of transforming Grotusque into creature mode.  There's this way, which is depicted in the instructions, and the way where his back isn't completely curved.  The second way supposedly looks better, but I'll just stick with this way.

Another unique feature with Grotusque is that his wings are removable.  This is to help with transformation into robot mode, but I've been able to keep them mostly on during transformation.  They just wiggle off a bit.

Here's a side shot of Grotusque.  Like most figures of his day, the only articulation is in the arms.  I'm really impressed by how majestic Grotusque looks.  He's barrel chested.  Looking at this pic, I'm not 100% sure that I have his monster legs in this mode.  Oh well, it'll suffice.

Finally, a shot of all three Monsterbots.  All had for under $100.  Not bad.  Now, if only I had thought to include Kup and Rodimus Prime in this pic, then I could recreate the commercial...

Bad Luck, or The Ghost of Starscream?

I've been working on completing the Starscream that I found in one of my storage totes. I should be done by now. I'm not.

It's not like I've been procrastinating about finishing him. I've stripped all of the old decals off and cleaned him. This guy's ready to go for detailing.

I'm still missing his launchers and long missiles. I ordered each weeks ago. I ordered the launchers on the 7th of May. They shipped the 9th. Lost in the mail. During the two weeks I waited to contact the seller, I had received multiple parts that I ordered after the launchers. Damn. But that happens, right? At least the seller was awesome and refunded me quickly.

Next, I ordered a pair of long missiles. They shipped on the 20th. Still haven't gotten them. Just contacted the seller, and he's looking into it, but I'm confident he'll make it right. I've dealt with him on numerous occasions. In both instances, neither was shipped with tracking. I think next time I'll just ask the seller to tack on tracking.

When the launchers didn't arrive, I just thought it was bad luck. Then I started to suspect my wife after the missiles failed to arrive. But after careful consideration, I think the ghost of Starscream may be meeting the mail person at my mailbox and taking the parts so he can return to exact vengeance. After all, only his parts haven't made it to me.

Pathetic fool!  You'll never complete me!

Me, Grimlock, Feel Funny

I never owned the original Grimlock as a kid.  I never actually got one until a few years ago on eBay. I did, however, own a Pretender Classics Grimlock.  I got him at a mall in Niagara Falls, New York when we lived there.  My parents tended to buy my brother and me toys when they went shopping for stereo equipment or whatever to keep us busy while they shopped all day long. 

When I finally decided to bring out all of my Transformers from my parents' attic a few years ago, I found Grimlock minus the shell.  Bummer.  Since I'm still technically banned from purchasing whole Transformers for a bit, I decided to look on eBay for his shell.  Lo and behold, I found it.  Finding Pretender shells is pretty easy.  A lot easier than I would have imagined.

I love how chubby the Classic Pretender shells are.  It's like Grimlock got a little crazy at the all you can eat Energon buffet.   Still, it's nice to complete him.

My Name is Chase...

Ah, the Throttlebots.  Little Autobots with no articulation whatsoever, but with kinetic motors.  They're, well, they're around.  And they found a cure for Scraplets! Which segues into me getting Chase.  I'm good.

I'm a Ferrari!  Really?

I'm not even sure why I'm making a post about Chase.  I guess because he adds to my total?  I don't know.  Here's a picture of him on robot mode.

Poor Chase, no legs, huge feet, short arms.

Another one down, 41 left to go.

I'm From Another Universe, You Don't Know Me

I've gotten really indecisive over what to buy.  I really want to get the rest of the Dinobots, but I'm so freaking worried that I'm going to get a knockoff.  One day, one day.  Anyway, while looking for my latest purchase, I just said to hell with it, and bought Camshaft.