I first talked about how I acquired this Dino-cassette here - The full story (Part 3) - So rare they ought to be extinct. These cassettes have also variously been called "W-Cassettes".
Now, it's time to showcase these little gems, one by one. This is the second cassette, C-122: Noizu (aka Noise).
Thoughts:
The first thing I thought when I said Noizu was that 'I like his colour scheme'. There is something about this shade of blue he is in that works for me, somehow. To be honest, I think his transformation sequence from cassette to dinosaur is highly reminiscent is not substantially similar with Overkill's transformation. Even his dino-saur mode looks like Overkill. The similarities, of course, stop there - Noizu has additional engineering and can further transform to combine with Gurafi to form Decibel. In dino-mode, I'm not like the after effect of parting the legs for stability - it results in Noizu having '2 tails', which is weird. Noizu is otherwise my third favourite dino-cassette and I give him a rating of 7/10.
Thoughts:
The first thing I thought when I said Noizu was that 'I like his colour scheme'. There is something about this shade of blue he is in that works for me, somehow. To be honest, I think his transformation sequence from cassette to dinosaur is highly reminiscent is not substantially similar with Overkill's transformation. Even his dino-saur mode looks like Overkill. The similarities, of course, stop there - Noizu has additional engineering and can further transform to combine with Gurafi to form Decibel. In dino-mode, I'm not like the after effect of parting the legs for stability - it results in Noizu having '2 tails', which is weird. Noizu is otherwise my third favourite dino-cassette and I give him a rating of 7/10.
Noizu bio from TF Wiki:
"Noise (ノイズ Noizu) is one of the Autobot Cassettebots. A 'forest investigation' bot, he is their most violent member, and his fangs and claws are the strongest out of all of them. Noise idolizes his fellow dinosaur, Grimlock. As a member of the W Cassettebot sub-sub-group, he can combine with his partner Graphy to form the robot Decibel."
Further description: "Noise is a mini-cassette that transforms into what appears to be a blue Allosaurus. In tape mode, he fits into the chest compartment of Blaster or Soundwave (and their retooled reincarnations). Two silver "Fire Blaster" guns plug into the faux cassette tape holes by his arms. Noise combines with Graphy to form the top half of the humanoid(-ish) robot Decibel. Noise's cannons become over-shoulder cannons for Decibel."
Further description: "Noise is a mini-cassette that transforms into what appears to be a blue Allosaurus. In tape mode, he fits into the chest compartment of Blaster or Soundwave (and their retooled reincarnations). Two silver "Fire Blaster" guns plug into the faux cassette tape holes by his arms. Noise combines with Graphy to form the top half of the humanoid(-ish) robot Decibel. Noise's cannons become over-shoulder cannons for Decibel."
C-122: Noizu MIB
Box = C9.5
Toy = C9
Inserts = C8.5
Accessories = complete, C9
(C-122: Noizu, combines with C-121: Gurafi to form the robot Decible)
Box front
(C-122: Noizu, combines with C-121: Gurafi to form the robot Decible)
Box front
Close up of the beautiful box art
Bottom of box - the tech specs are here
Back of box
Noizu out of box - Noizu bio card, instructions and Noizu cassette and 2 weapons in insert tray - I like the large chunky weapons.
Close up of bio card and instructions
Close up of Noizu in cassette mode
With instructions opened
Noizu transformed
Gurafi and Noizu MIB
According to TF Wiki, Noizu is 'vanishingly rare'.
I know, it took me ages to acquire it. Here is the quote from TF Wiki: "As one of the vanishingly few toys unique to the Headmasters toy line and something of a tail-ender within the line, Noizu and the other three "dino-cassettes" command ridiculous sums on the secondary market. Their actual rarity is questionable, though; similar "exclusive holy grails" Stepper, Artfire, Twincast and Soundblaster were uncommon, but not vanishingly rare, yet still commanded top dollar due to overseas perception (until they got reissued, at any rate). As there appear to be no plans to reproduce these cassettes, their high-price status is unlikely to change."
BEWARE - At this point, it is the fan-dom's understanding that KO-Toys, the 'company' that makes unauthorised (illegal) copies of Transformers toys, is being shut down. However, despite that, they appear to still be planning to release KO versions of Gurafi and Noizu. Do watch for KO / illegal / fake versions of these especially on online stores.
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I love these guys; they are some of my favorite G1 figures. Although I really don't like the combined modes, the dino modes look so much better. How do you feel about the recent KO's that came out a little while ago? I know only Dial & Saur have been released so far but as far as I can tell Noise & Graphy are still up for release even with KO toys closing down.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, I love these guys too, they rock! I'm with you there in terms of their combined mode. Its a little strange, but I think this was Takara's first attemp at combining cassettes, which they much improved on with the 1988 combining cassettes. The other thing is that is much harder to made dinosaurs combine as compared to more generic stuff like a plan and a tank (Slamdance), where the designer can actually tweak stuff more liberally to make it combine better.
ReplyDeleteI heard that the quality of the recent dino-cassette KOs is appallingly bad. Don't know more than that, but I do know a few guys who bought them. I think that the cassettes being what they are require pretty precise engineering, which a KO company is unlikely to be able to achieve, so I suspect it'd be pretty easy to tell a KO and genuine one apart when holding it physically. From photos, it'd be hard to tell....