MP-20: Wheeljack and other Wheeljacks (Generations, Japanese Takara MIB, USA MIB, G1, SCF and Hard Hero)

Once again, what's worth doing is worth over doing.

Took a shot of my Wheeljack family after I transformed MP-20: Wheeljack, which is an awesome mold by the way.

Pictured with: 03 - Takara boxed Wheeljack (2 pcs), USA box pre-rub Wheeljack MIB, Generations Wheeljack, loose G1 rub-sign Wheeljack, SCF Wheeljack and Hard Hero Wheeljack.
(acknowledgements - Takara boxed Wheeljack from jgon, Hard Hero Wheeljack from Fatbot)

Generations (2013) Blitzwing - this is not a review

The other day, I was rearranging my CHUG shelf because I needed to make space for this-super-duper-awesome-new-Generations-figure...

I cleaned the shelves out a lot, meaning I transformed and kept a number of pieces so that I had space to display new pieces.

Then I came to Generations Blitzwing. Yeah, he was on the shelf too. And I wanted to transform him into tank mode to keep him. In the process, I re-discovered, all over again, what a piece-of-fecal-matter-toy Generations Blitzwing is.

I don't think I want to waste more cyber space talking about this toy sucks giant slick beef balls, so I decided to take some shots and show them here.

Here comes Devastator (a third party toy)....

"Take that, you piece of fecal matter!" *stomp!*

"... and that and that and that..." *stomp stomp stomp!!! crush, crush!*

Next, Devastator stabs Blitzwing with his own Electron Scimitar *scene too gory and is censored*

Hasbro Generations Skids (#009) - A Review, Part 2 - sizes, weapons, QC fixes

This figure is so good, I had to do another part, while having coffee... (I think of the Gassy Autobot too).

For this post, I'm going to focus on (A) simple size comparisons; (B) some QC issues and (C) the weapons that the toy came with. 

For the size comparison section, I will simply compare Skids with some recent and past releases. 

For the QC issues portion, I hope to address a number of common issues that I have seen other post about online - (i) balance issues because the toy is back heavy; (ii) the legs cannot bend forward at the hips.

For the weapons segment, I want to talk about just how refreshing it is for Hasbro to finally give us a modern day toy with a sizable compliment of weapons.

Hasbro Generations "More Than Meets the Eye" Skids (#009) - a review

I picked up Hasbro's IDW Generations Wave 3: Skids today.

This is the story...

Today, I sold off my TFC Uranos set. Yeah, I know, its all the rage for some, but for me the TFC stuff just does not do it. The design for Uranos was better than their previous combiner, Hercules, but the materials and the construction just leaves too much to be desired. After awhile, I could not tolerate this piece in my collection anymore and sold it on Yahoo HK.

I met the buyer at the toy shop area to pass him his loot, collect my money and then just proceeded to walk around the toy shops.  I know that MMC's Feral Rex parts and also FansProject's not-Brianstorm were still not released yet, so I really was not expecting to find anything.

I walked into one of the trustiest and best shops at In's Point, Action Robo, and saw that they had the next Hasbro Generations wave in stock - Skids was part of the assortment, Skids!!

Wave 3 consists of Goldfire (who cares), Dreadwing (who?), Waspinator (yucks) and Skids (woo hoo!). Well, you can tell I really couldn't care less about the other 3 toys in this wave - I only wanted Skids.

So it was done, shop owner was kind, I got my Skids!

Here is Skids with his other incarnations - Skids USA box, Encore Skids, VSZ Skids (the only way one could get Skids in Japan back in the 80s), USA Skids (loose) and Generations Skids.

A close up of his Generation One incarnation with his most recent iteration. Generations Skids is based very much on Alex Milne's rendition of the character in the popular IDW series by James Roberts, More Than Meets the Eye. Skids just happens to be one of my favourite characters in MTMTE and I am so glad that Hasbro decided to make a toy of him.

Next thing I'm going to do is open Skids and play!

'ta
~ HD

***

UPDATE AT 6PM TODAY....

Charticon 2013 exclusive - Get Right Robot's Landshark MISB

A couple of days ago, I received a surprise package from a buddy collector friend. It was a good surprise for a weekend and I talked about the contents of the package in my post here.

These were the contents.

For this post, I want to focus on a particular item in the package - the Get Right Robot Charticon exclusive Landshark.

What is Charticon you might ask? It is an unofficial Transformers themed convention organised by fans, for fans. It took place in Charlotte, NC, USA from 9 to 11 August 2013. The next Charticon, as I understand it, will take place sometime in 2015. I am looking forward to it!

So now, on to Landshark. This is the description and intent behind this figure from the Charticon site "Our friends over at Get Right Robot have let us know they will be offering an exclusive figure of their own at Charticon: LANDSHARK! Landshark will come with a brand new head and new custom weapons not to mention an awesome paint job! These awesome Gnaw homages will only be available in very limited quantities at the show and will not be sold online. "

The moment I saw promotional shots of this guy, I knew rightaway that I had to get it, somehow.

OKC - shelves update

Over the weekend, E was at work, and it was so hot outside that I decided to stay within the safety confines of home, and beneath the cool breath of my air-con.

The sunlight and daylight was too strong for me to take photos of toys, so what I did was rearrange the top two levels and bottom most shelves of my display (and also to make space for the many pieces of MIB Japanese G1 that is going to reach me soon).

Here is the result.

What did it look like before? Good question. That can be seen here and here.

For the top 2 shelves on the left, I rearranged for my Autobot MIB items to be there. This is to match the middle part of this shelve which has loose G1 Autobots. 

See on the top shelf are things like the Japanese exclusive Godmaster Engines, Diaclone black Countach, USA boxed Pointblank, 'blue' Optimus Prime (from Maz), Diaclone Swoop (from RM), Ultra Magnus MIB (from Valkyrie_76).

Below that, we have C-121 to C-124 the Dino-cassettes Gurafi, Noizu, Dairu and Zauru (from RM), VSZ giftset (from EH), C-301: Go-Shooter, C-302: Carb (displayed loose below), C-303: Minelba, C-108: Artfire (from RW) and C-109: Stepper (from TF Source).

The next thing I rearranged were the top two shelves on the right. These were Decepticon themed, to match the Decepticon loose display pieces below.

Hasbro Transformers Generations Wave 2 Triple-Changer SANDSTORM review

Here's my review of Hasbro's Transformers Generations Series 2, figure #003 (Wave 2), Voyager Class SANDSTORM.

I don't usually do reviews, but this figure is just too awesome and so I decided to do a review.

Sandstorm is from Wave 2 of the 'relaunched' Generations Line and it is the only the figure in Wave 2. The assortment is something like 2 pieces of Sandstorm and 1 piece each of Springer and Blitzwing, where the latter 2 are from Wave 1.

I'm just going to say here that Generations Blitzwing is a huge disappointment and what I term a 'crappy' figure. Sandstorm on the other hand has far exceeded my expectations.

Here, I have pictured Generations Springer and Sandstorm with their G1 Japanese counterparts C-83: Sandstorm and C-84: Sprung. I think they look awesome together. After 27 years, finally, worthy homages to these 2 characters that are not forced or repurposed from existing molds.

Generations Springer and Sandstorm side by side, both still MISB.

A shot showing the 'box art'. I do like the box art, its larger and better than most previous releases in the Generations line and also has a hand painted quality to it.

The back of the box. Layout is pretty decent and shows each characters' 3 modes. There is also a profile write up and tech specs thrown in for good measure. Sandstorm registers as "10" for both Courage and Skill... really? I just did a quick check and guess what? The Tech Specs for Generations Sandstorm matches that of G1 Sandstorm!

Review - Dr Wu Vanguard upgrades for Classics / Henkei Seekers - Starscream,Thundercracker and Skywarp

I bought these together with a number of other things week before last. To be honest, I don't know what they are called and really cannot be concerned enough to find out.

So, I will just call them Dr Wu Vanguard upgrades.

What they actually are, is in fact more interesting than what they are called. From the photo below, it can clearly been seen that these upgrades were meant for Classics / Henkei seekers - it is meant to be their arm lasers. What also stands out is the nice illustrations on each individual card - obviously meant to be Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp.

The back of the packaging also has bespoke art.

Had to be Henkei!!!

Was looking through my picture archives and thought this was a very cool photo, which I had never posted online before. Well, it's just a lot of Henkei (and United) figures. So it'd depend on personal perspective whether its cool or not.

For more Henkei (and United and Classics figures), see my other post here or just click on the Henkei label here.

BotCon 2012, TFCC, Runamuck MISP

I have ever been fond of the Battlechargers since the 80s. I clearly remember one particular interaction, where I pointed to the 'white car' on the catalogue and asked my sister how to pronounce his name. Her answer was "This robot is called 'Runamuck'."

Years later, I acquired the vintage versions Runamuck and his partner in crime, Runabout both MOC.

Goes without saying that when TFCC announced that they were repainting the Generations: Wheeljack mold into Runamuck and Runabout that I just cannot resist. In fact, the 'free club figure' Runamuck was the only reason I decided to join TFCC for the first time ever.

On 10 May 2012, 'Classics' Runamuck arrived! Woohoo!

Runamuck MISP with bio card

Close up of bio card

TFCC "empty box" Over-Run has been replaced

Remember the TFCC Over-Run (aka Runabout) debacle from a about 10 days ago?

The one where FunPub mailed me 4 Over-Runs, but 1 box was completely empty? I called them and told them about it and they promised to mail out another one to me.

Well, I'm glad to report that they did indeed mail out another one to me and that I received it on Friday last week (23 March 2012). Looking at the dates, I'm impressed that they actually got the toy to me in about a week only, which is very fast and shows that if they wanted to, can actually ship items quickly.

Kudos and thanks to Karen at FunPub!

~ HD

TFCC Over-Run (aka Runabout) debacle

I wanted to give them a chance to prove that I have been hearing over the years were nerd-rage type exaggerated discontent. I was hoping the nay-sayers would be proven wrong about TFCC (Transformers Collectors' Club; aka FunPub).

However, this latest debacle was the straw that broke the camel's back, and, after 2 days of deliberation, I decided to say something about it in an objective manner (as much as I am able).

The debacle is this: I tried to order Over-Run from the TFCC website (after their servers crashed and came back online) and couldn't do it. Tried a few times. Then 2 days ago, I received 4 boxes of Over-Runs of which 3 were fine and there was 1 empty box.

Yes, one box was completely empty. Devoid of contents. Nada. Zilch.

That's pretty slack, really.

Then the lead up to this boiled to the surface and I thought I should really record this somewhere.

Joining TFCC

In mid Jan 2012, I decided to join TFCC to obtain the exclusive Runamuck figure. This was too good a homage for me to miss.

Tried to register a number of times and just could not get confirmation. Called FunPub in the US from HK 2 times to get it sorted.

BotCon Box Set

In late Jan 2012, I tried to purchase the BotCon box set. Went through the same exercise as above. As before, transactions appeared to have gone through, but there was no email confirmation and my CC was never charged, which again meant that the transaction did not go through.

Again, I had to call the US from HK (and Singapore) on 3-4 occasions where they tried to bill me unsuccessfully on my HSBC, then AMEX, then E's HSBC card. All the transactions couldn't go through (on CCs that are perfectly fine to use and far from overdrawn). On hindsight, it was probably a grievous mistake to provide details of 3 of the family's credit cards!

Few days later, bing!, the transaction went through, I don't know how.

This above recounted here 'live' on the OZ Formers Boards.

Ordering Over-Run

Tried to order Over-Run in early Feb 2012.

First, their servers completely crashes. As reported and documented here (OTCA), here (TFW2005) and here (Seibertron).

After they are up again, I experienced more of the same as recounted above. Again, I had to call the US from HK another 2-3 times to sort out the order (which was not sorted).

In a panic, I asked a friend in Australia and another friend in the US to help me order Over-Run. They kindly agreed and I am very touched. Such was my dismally low confidence in FunPub that I needed to hedge my bets to have peace of mind that if something else goes wrong with either one's order, I might still end up with at least 1 Over-Run.

Like I said above, in the end, these came.... ?

Credit Card Fraud

So after all that, I finally secured my Runamuck, Runabout and BotCon set and all's well with the world, yes? No, not really.

In mid Feb 2012, I got a call from my bank to inform me that 2 fraudulent transactions have been made on my CC and they would like to confirm whether I have made them.

These were the transactions:

[1] "Strawberry.net" - USD$417

[2] "Merchandise" - USD$589

What in the world are those. Nope, I didn't make them.

I talked about it here. And for a more holistic account of how many other people has had their CCs hacked and defrauded after purchasing from FunPub, see here.

Bank has to cancel my CC and reissue a new one and we all know how much of a hassle that is (to eg redirect payments, renew standing instructions, put it on file with eBay, PayPal, Yahoo, etc, etc).

I subsequently found out that every-single-person that I personally know and who has ordered something from TFCC this year has had their CCs hacked or defrauded, some with items as colourful as 'Barnes and Noble purchase'.

***

All the above is almost too much excitement for me and right now, I have decided to jump on the boat with all the other collectors who will not renew their membership next year... 

... unless TFCC comes up with exclusive that are as kick-ass as this year's. I know, I'm a bitch for punishment, yeah?

Post V-Day toy shopping and HK Market Watch

It's the day after V-day, but actually this post has no co-relation to V-day, heh.

My buddy from Singapore told me that he's now into the early year G1 Autobot cars, he'd only 'just' realised how awesome they were. Well, better late than never!

He requested that I try to hunt down some for him and didn't mind that they were reissues. Vintage would be difficult, but reissues is pretty easy to find in HK. So off I went to look for stuff.

In a day, I found the following...

From ToyZone16 a TFC reissue Prowl and a eHobby exclusive blackhooded 'Silverstreak', both MISB

From Sino Centre, Encore reissue Trailbreaker and Hoist

Later that night, I went toy hunting with UM from the Oz Boards and managed to snag myself 2 Junkheaps at an okay price - HKD$178 each. I want to army build these, so the cheaper the better.

This is a shot of all the acquisitions.

***

HK Market Watch

As many would know, TFC's Hercules (not Devastator) is now fully released. UM and I snapped a quick shot of the giant monstrosity at one of the shops.

Personally, I'm still not interested to fork out the cash for this piece and am adopting a wait and see attitude until the MakeToys Giant is out.

Heroic's acquisition tally for 2011

At the end of every year, I traditionally try to cap the year off with a special post. 

Usually, its a tally of some kind, or other. The year 2011 has been a 'big' year for me, where I acquired a number of rare items that I had been after for some time. It is also noteworthy because I finally managed to obtain the final Japanese exclusive (elusive) Transformer that I needed - Blue Bacchus MIB.

In terms of acquisitions, this year has been massive. I think I acquired more figures in 2010, but in 2011 I acquired more MIB pieces - almost every piece in the list below is either MI(S)B or MO(S)C.

(Re)introducing... the entirety of my acquisitions this year... (very impressive if I do say so myself, heh).

Here's wishing you a great new year's eve and a very happy New Year!

~ HD

***

THE TALLY FOR 2011

Pre-Transformers

1. Car Robots No. 3: Police Countach (aka “white Sunstreaker” or “police car Sunstreaker”)
2. Car Robots No. 7: Fairlady Z, blue edition (aka “blue Bluestreak”)
3. Car Robots No. 18: Lacia Stratos Malboro edition (aka “Malboor Wheeljack), unused - here + here
4. MC-05: MicroX Camera Robo (aka Reflector)

Lucky Draw

1. Transformers: Generations lucky draw God Primus MISB

G1 Autobots / Cybertrons (all MIB / MOC unless stated otherwise)

1. Bluestreak MISB (USA box)
2. Hot Rod (USA box)
3. Doubledealer (USA box)
4. Optimus Prime, Powermaster
5. Ultra Magnus (USA box)
6. Goodbye Convoy giftset MIB #2 - here + here
7. Goodbye Convoy giftset MIB #3 (unused, complete with poster)
8. Headmaster - Kaku / Kirk (loose)
9. Headmaster - Loafer (loose)
10. Headmaster - Rodney (loose)
11. Headmaster - Trizor (loose)
12. Headmaster - Lione (loose)
13. Micromaster Transport - Missile Launcher
14. C-38: Broadblast (Blaster) (unused)
15. C-47: Grapple
16. C-60: Pipes MOSC
17. C-76: Guardian giftset (sold)
18. C-83: Sandstorm (unused)
19. C-108: Artfire MISB
20. C-112: Autobot Clones
21. C-116: Twincast (unused)
22. C-121: Gurafi (Graphy)
23. C-122: Noizu (Noise)
24. C-123: Dairu (Dial)
25. C-124: Zauru (Saur)
26. C-303: Minelba / Minerva (unused)
27. C-308: Doubleclouder (sold)
28. C-310: God Ginrai giftset
29. C-319: Landcross (unused)
30. C-334: Race Track Patrol (sold)
31. C-335: Off-Road Patrol (sold)
32. C-341: Grease Pit MISB
33. C-342: Air Wave, unused, sealed paperworks
34. C-343: Hot House, unused, sealed paperworks
35. C-344: Iron Works MISB
36. C-345: Landshaker (unused)
37. C-346: Sky Hyper (unused)
38. C-350: Rabbicrater #1 (unused)
39. C-350: Rabbicrater #2 (unused) (sold)
40. C-362: MT-02 (sold)
41. C-366: MT-06 (sold)
42. C-369: Jet Tank Team, MT-09 (unused) (sold)
43. C-370: Sixliner (unused)
44. TF-02: Sixwing (unused) (sold)
45. TF-03: Six Turbo (unused)
46. TF-04: Guard City (unused)
47. TF-05: Sixtrain (unused) (sold)
48. TF-05: Sixtrain (unused)
49. TF-07 (unused)

G1 Decepticons / Destrons (all MIB / MOC unless stated otherwise)

1. Shockwave (loose; incomplete)
2. Triggercon – Crankcase MOSC
3. Triggercon – Ruckus MOSC
4. Triggercon – Windsweeper MOSC
5. Goodbye Megatron #2, unused (sold)
6. D-16: Megatron (sold)
7. D-17: Soundwave
8. D-73: Razorclaw, unused (sold)
9. D-74: Rampage, unused (sold)
10. D-75: Divebomb, unused (sold)
11. D-76: Tantrum, unused (sold)
12. D-77: Headstrong, unused (sold)
13. D-87: Wipe (Mindwipe)
14. D-98: Sixshot
15. D-99: Apeface
16. D-100: Snapdragon
17. D-101: Soundblaster
18. D-307: Overlord MIB #2 (unused) - here + here
19. D-313: Overbite (unused) (sold)
20. D-309: Black Shadow
21. D-310: Blue Bacchus #1
22. D-310: Blue Bacchus #2 (unused)

Henkei! Henkei! – all MISB / MOSC unless otherwise stated

1. C-04: Mirage (sold)
2. C-09: Sideswipe x 02 (1 sold)
3. C-14: Ratchet, loose (sold)
4. C-18: Mini-bot Attack Team (sold)
5. D-03: Astrotrain (sold)
6. D-04: Ramjet x 04 (3 sold)
7. D-06: Galvatron

Gentei! Gentei! (Henkei! Henkei! exclusives) – all MISB / MOSC unless otherwise stated

1. Dark Skyfire MISB
2. Electro-disruptor Mirage
3. Ghost Starscream #1 and #2

Transformers: United (Takara’s continuation of the Henkei! Henkei! Line; all MISB / MOSC unless otherwise stated)

1. UN-01: Cybertronian Optimus Prime
2. UN-02: Cybertronian Bumblebee
3. UN-03: Cybertronian Cliffjumper
4. UN-04: Cybertronian Megatron
5. UN-05: Cybertronian Soundwave
6. UN-08: Drift
7. UN-10: Straxus
8. UN-11: Autobot Grapple
9. UN-12: Autobot Jazz
10. UN-13: Autobot Tracks
11. UN-15: Perceptor
12. UN-16: Blurr
13. UN-17: Kup
14. UN-18: Wreck Gar x 02
15. UN-19: Wheeljack
16. UN-20: Rumble and Frenzy 2-pack
17. UN-21: Scourge
18. UN-22: Laser Optimus Prime
19. United exclusive Fracas and Haywire MISB - here + here

Transformers: Generations (Hasbro’s continuation of the Classics line; all MISB / MOSC unless otherwise stated)

1. Headhead, Universe version, WalMart exclusive
2. Kup
3. Scourge x 09
4. Solar Storm Grapple
5. Thundercracker x 03 (2 sold)
6. Wheeljack x 03 (2 sold) - here + here

Japanese Art Books / Books / Pocket Books

1. Transformers pocket book #53 (featuring series 1 to series 3 Transformers)
2. Transformers pocket book #57 (featuring Masterforce)
3. Transformers TV Art Book #69 (featuring Masterforce)
4. Victory: The Movie animated comic
5. Victory character book

Other Transformers Toys / Merchandise

1. Awesome, Mr
2. Brave DX: Dug Base MIB, unused (sold)
3. Decoy Collection No.1 (22 piece Cybertrons set)
4. Decoy Collection No.2 (22 piece Destrons set)
5. Decoy Collection No.3 (9 piece Cybertrons set)
6. eHobby: Bluestreak, chrome version, MISB
7. eHobby: Garboil and Howlback
8. eHobby: KISS Players Position multipack MISB
9. eHobby: Skids and Screech MISB (Generations exclusive)
10. Encore #04: Starscream MISB
11. Encore #19: Skids MISB
12. Encore #20: Devastator giftset
13. FansProject: City Commander upgrade kit
14. FansProject not Bombshell
15. FansProject not Kickback
16. FansProject not Sharpnel
17. G1, 1985, Transformers "Original T-Shirt" released by Takara
18. G1, 1987, Headmasters Board Game (unused)
19. G1, 1987, Headmasters Card Game set (unused)
20. G1, 1989, C-327: Victory Leo promotional flyer
21. G1, 1990, C-360: Sky Garry promotional flyer
22. G1, VSL laser discs x 10
23. G2, Go-Bots, Megatron MOSC (sold)
24. G2, Go-Bots, Optimus Prime MOSC (sold) 
25. G2, Go-Bots, Soundwave MOSC (sold)
26. G2, Terradive MOSC
27. HeadRobots: Cobra, green MOSC
28. HeadRobots: Cobra, black MOSC
29. HeadRobots: Hardhead upgrade kit (Head Robots)
30. History Collection (Prime, Megatron Bumblebee, Soundwave, Jazz, Starscream)
31. LP, Fight! Super Robot Life (1985)
32. MakeToys not Powerglide and not Seaspray MISB
33. MP-10: Rodimus Convoy MISB
34. Optimus Prime and Megatron speakers MIB
35. Perfect Effect not Reflector
36. Perfect Effect not Rumble and Frenzy
37. RTS – Backfire MOSC
38. RTS – Firetrap MOSC
39. RTS – Megatron MOSC (legends class)
40. RTS – Optimus Prime MOSC (legends class)
41. RTS – Windcharger MOSC
42. SCF – Black Zarak
43. SCF – Fortress Maximus
44. SCF – Grand Maximus
45. SCF – Minelba
46. SCF – Soundwave
47. Suntory BOSS figures (all unused) – Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream, Shockwave, Astrotrain
48. Transformers: Generations 2009 (vol 1)
49. Transformers: Generations 2009 (vol 2)
50. Transformers: Generations 2009 (vol 3)
51. Transformers: Vault
52. 2010 Special: Unicron MISB

Review - Maketoys "Microbots" Bomber (not Powerglide) and Hover (not Seaspray)

Went down to YMT after work today and discovered that the Maketoys "Microbots" Bomber and Hover MIB has been released (aka not Powerglide and not Seaspray respectively).

Thought they looked interesting and would fit into my Henkei collection, so I bought a set. Price? HKD$250 (USD$32.10).

Some quick thoughts and shots.

Front of box - featuring some pretty attractive original art. This is the side where not Powerglide is facing front and not Seaspray has his back facing us.

The 'back' of the box is the reverse of the front - where not Seaspray is facing us and not Powerglide has his back to us.

Top of box features different art and is coloured. These guys are called "Microbots", probably used as an alternative to "Minibots", or maybe as a reference / allusion to the G1 Episode Microbots?

Bottom of box with Maketoys' details. They appear to be a Japanese company or at least have their website with a Japanese domain.

Side of box featuring a full frontal image of not Powerglide.

Side of box featuring a full frontal image of not Seaspray.

I think a great deal of effort has been spent on the artwork. Looking at the box again, no 2 faces actually uses repeat artwork - the artwork for each face of the box is unique to that face. Kudos to that.

Box with Commander Class: Powerglide. To be honest, I think the Maketoys Powerglide looks nicer.

These are the contents.

The plastic tray is simple and effective, but does seem to contain more air than solid matter - much like Hasbro type boxes.

Coloured instructions printed on glossy thick stock paper - I'm impressed!

Here are the 'Microbots' out of the insert. They are very very good representations of their G1 designs. I certainly have no complains here.

Not Powerglide. The design is very reminiscent of G1, but some of the parts do not seem to click together in place no matter how I try, making it not very enjoyable in plane mode. It's still an above average experience, but not stella.

The underside of not Powerglide.

Not Seaspray. Compared to not Powerglide, this is a much better vehicle mode - every part fits together snugly.

The underside of not Seaspray.

The plastic quality of these 2 pieces are actually quite good. Certainly not as dense and high quality as early year G1 plastic quality and has a certain roughness (ruggedness) to it, but is highly acceptable and certainly no poorer than the current type of plastic used by Hasbro in recent releases.

Here they are transformed. The transformation for both are actually fairly simple but yet effective. I didn't need to refer to the instructions at all and transformed both in under a minute. This is actually a good thing because it economises playtime - complex transformations are actually less desirable (ie: think Commander Class Powerglide or Guzzle).

Full body shot of not Powerglide. I like the robot mode. It's a very good representation of its G1 design and has superior articulation. The head sculpt is also amazingly detailed for its size.

Close up of not Powerglide. Like I said, nice head sculpt - good move having the screw on the forehead like his G1 toy.

Full body shot of not Seaspray. My thoughts on him are very much along the lines of not Powerglide above - an excellent G1 reminiscent representation.

Close up of not Seaspray. The detailing is excellent. The head-sculpt is amazingly detailed, even more so than Powerglide - it is a very accurate representation of his G1 self. The eyes are also painted blue and the paint job is excellent. One thing though, I wonder whether Maketoys considered making not Seaspray slightly "fat" like his G1 cartoon design? heh.

Size comparison with Generations Warpath who is almost twice each of their heights. It's okay, I can live with that.

Size comparison with Encore #20: Devastator (just cos its conveniently on my table, heh).

Overall

Generally, I think both are very enjoyable toys and nice to play with. Both are accurate to their G1 designs as well. I would rate them each 8.5 out of 10.

For the price vs their roughly Scout class size, I think they're just a tad expensive, but worth it due to the really superior articulation (ie: better than Scout class Windcharger at least), their quality and their sheer G1-ness.

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[update] Additional size comparison pictures.

Left to right: TF United: Jazz, RTS Windcharger, MakeToys not Seaspray, Maketoys not Powerglide, Cyberverse Guzzle.


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