Friday 30 March 2012

ENERGON STARSCREAM

This figure is from 2004. He is a Decepticon. He appeared in the Energon cartoon. After Starscreams death in Armada at the hands of Unicron he was resurrected in Energon by Alpha Q. He was brought back as a fuse of Energon and metal. Alpha Q brought Starcream back as an assassin to kill Optimus Prime. Starscream is kind of a ghost but it more substantial at times. He is able to turn invisible. He eventually captured by Megatron who used his connection to Unicron managed to convince Starscream to join the Decepticons.


FUNCTION- Air Commander?

MOTTO;  Unknown

TECH SPEC; Unknown


Jet mode hyper mode


Jet Mode


Jet mode side view


Jet mode with weapons


Robot mode hyper mode


Robot with Energon Star


Robot mode with combined gun


Robot mode with combined sword


Robot mode with gun


Robot mode with sword and gun



Instructions


He is a great figure. Everything a Starscream figure should be. He has got a very classic Starscream look about him. His weapons can be used in multiple ways. he can hold his sword as a gun or he can combine it to form a giant combined sword or a can be used on his shoulder as a bazooka.
His hyper modes are pretty good. They allow him to fire missiles. He is not really a symmetrical figure . His right arm is green translucent plastic and his left arm is just normal blue plastic. he has battle damage which is a little strange as he is supposed to be a new upgraded form of Starscream.
It would be nice if he had battle damage on his face like the cartoon.
His arms can be difficult to get out of the jet mode for transformation. On some figures apparently the hinges that the arms are attached to are prone to getting stress marks then breaking. But this problem does not seem to be present on my one so I must have been lucky.
if you don't like the colours on this one then there are some repaints of this figure. In 2005 there was a G1 colour of this guy and was also repainted at Botcon 2009 for Wings of Honour Skyquake and Leozack. There was also a yellow repaint as well in the Wings of honour comic.
Overall he is a great toy and a must have for your Energon collection.















Thursday 22 March 2012

2007 MOVIE LEADER OPTIMUS PRIME

This figure is from 2007. He is the leader of the Autobots. He appears in the 2007 movie. In the movie he is not really like G1 Optimus Prime. G1 Optimus is a really powerful robot but he would not kill Decepticons unless absolutely necessary. He was soft that way but this movie based Optimus is all guns blazing.


FUNCTION; Autobot Leader

MOTTO; " Freedom is the right of all sentient beings"

TECH SPEC;  His origin has been told in several different ways. In the G1 cartoon series, ("War Dawn") he was a young power-plant worker named "Orion Packs" who went on to become the great Optimus Prime. A slightly contradictory story was told of Prime's origin years later (2003) by Simon Furman, in the Dreamwave comic series, "The War Within". However he came to be, there is little disputing, that Optimus Prime is the greatest leader the Autobots have ever known. The following text is from the Marvel Comic series, "Transformers Universe."
If he had been on Earth he would be a doctor, a mechanic, a scientist & a warrior. But on Cybertron there is no difference between these professions. So Optimus uses his skills to heal and repair which are the same things to Autobots -to improve the world around him and, if necessary, to fight. Both in power and intelligence, he has no equal. He has the personality of an Abraham Lincoln. He can be immensely kind and his compassion extends to all that lives, including the creatures of Earth. Yet he will battle unceasingly to protect the weak and defend what he believes in. To accomplish this Optimus knows that the Decepticons must be defeated for all time.

SPEC; Unknown


Robot Mode


Robot Mode with cannon


Truck Mode front


Truck Mode Side

Very good figure. The Revenge of the Fallen leader Optimus may have a more accurate robot mode but this one has a more accurate truck mode. This truck is lore fun as he is not as complicated and is easier to transform. I have spent hours trying to transform the other one.
He has lights and sounds. His head reveal to finish off his transformation to robot mode is a clip . When this is released the level lifts up and so does his head. the panels on his chest also move apart. The eyes and the panels light up and there is a power up sound.
In truck mode there is a button on the cab roof which when pressed the windscreen lights up and the horn sounds.
The truck mode has a very nice and accurate insignia on the front grill with some red outlining which is much more accurate than the red one that Revenge of the fallen Optimus has.
He has blue translucent headlights and windows that is not realistic but looks good.
The truck mode also has rubber tyres which helps him roll very nicely. Whilst the Revenge of the fallen Optimus has plastic tyres.
In robot mode there is a lever on his right arm that when it is pulled forward his gun flips over his arm and also an extra pair of guns slide out form inside his arm. This looks like his gun is replacing his hand. The gun is not well hidden however and hangs on the side of his arm. The gun fires one translucent blue missile.
He has great articulation including individual posable fingers.
For the gun gimmick to work the gun must be in his closed hand .

Overall he is superb figure and definitely one to get for your collection.




Tuesday 20 March 2012

2007 MOVIE DELUXE SCORPONOK

This figure came out in 2007. He is a Decepticon. I am not sure if he is a proper Transformer because I think he might be more of a drone. In the movie Scorponok is almost like a pet to Blackout. He is programmed to hunt down and eliminate anything that survived Blackouts attack.


A movie image

FUNCTION; Hunter

MOTTO; Unknown

TECH SPEC; Scorponok is what other Transformers would even call alive. His core programming is only a tiny bit more complex than pure instinct. In most things, he acts almost entirely as an animal. He never speaks and lives only to hunt and destroy. Unlike most of his fellow robots he prefers his alternate mode with its energised stinger and drill  claws to his robot mode. Capable of drilling through solid earth at nearly eighty miles per hour. He can be a terrifying opponent as he springs suddenly upon his target in a shower of dirt from the ground.

SPEC; Strength 5, Intelligence 2, Speed 6, Endurance 8, Rank 3, Courage 6, Fire blast 5, Skill 3


Robot mode


Scorpion front


Scorpion side


Tail fork


Action pic- Drill claws

He is a uniquely designed figure. His robot mode is not much to look at and neither is the transformation so it is the scorpion mode that this toy is all about. His scorpion mode is quite a good representation of him from the movie but the colour is wrong on the figure as in the movie he was grey but the figure is gold and silver.
He has some writing on him in certain areas. On his claws it says " "danger "with an arrow pointing towards his claws. On the other side it says "keep away". On either side if his Decepticon  insignia  it says "no step". On the panels that his legs are attached to it says " "Rescue" and then 0360. He also has " Caution Fuel Explosives" written on his ears.
All the random words on him make me think maybe he is made out of different parts of scrap for a scrap yard. Maybe the all spark brought some of the scrap to life in the shape of a scorpion. That's my theory on how he was created.
He is a very good figure with lots of gimmicks. When you roll him along the floor his claws spin and also a drill in the middle of his body spins
There is a trigger on his tail which when pressed the fork in his tail shoots forward like it is going to sting something.

Definatly one for the collection.









2007 MOVIE STOCKADE

This figure is from 2008. He came out as part of the Movie all spark power line. In the comics he is the leader of the new Decepticon . His alternate mode is a Cadillac Escalade but in the movie Stockade's alternate mode is based on an SUV used by Sector 7.
Stockade was an enforcer back on Cybertron; threatening neutral Cybertronians to stay neutral or punishing them. He was one of the Decepticons who was brought to Earth by Starscream & the other surviving Decepticons. He was in the Comic transformers Robots in Disguise.

 Picture from my comic book

FUNCTION; Decepticon Military Commander

MOTTO; Unknown

TECH SPEC; Unknown


Robot mode


Robot Mode power Punch Gimmick


Car Mode Side


Car Mode Front

I love his character in the comic and the toy is just as good. His colours are really good and quite accurate to the comic. He does have a blue translucent visor but I would have preferred it to be red. His gimmick is OK. He has levers on his arms which when pulled he does the power punch but I think they would have been better spring loaded.
His car mode is pretty good and I like the decepticon insignia he has on the front grill. His transformation is quite easy but you must make sure that the panels are lined up and the windscreen clips into the correct place.
He does have a bit gibble hanging off his arms. Bits of the windscreen and also off his shoulders which is a shame.
Overall he is a great figure with decent articulation and defiantly a good one to get from the all spark power line because of his significance in the comics.




BEAST MACHINES BUZZSAW

This figure is from 2000. He is a Maximal. He did not appear in any comics or cartoons that I know of. He is a techno organic wasp. I like to think that this is Beast wars Buzz saw reformatted as a Maximal.

FUNCTION; Aerial Reconnaissance

Motto " I float like a butterfly but sting like a bee"

Tech Spec; Saved by rattrap from the effects from the conversion freezing virus. Buzzsaw is grateful to the Maximal cause. Impressive aerial abilities and tendency towards gossip make him an excellent reconnaissance scout-Likes to be the buzz about town. Multi function stinger can pierce even the most impenetrable armour and functions as a highly sensitive receiver/transmitter. Slightly proud. Often heard referring to himself as the "Bees Knees" a statement none of his Maximal colleagues can discern.

SPEC; Strength 5, Intelligence 6, Speed 8, Endurance 8, Rank 7, Courage 4, Firepower 5, Skill 9


Robot mode


Wasp mode side


Wasp mode front


Maximal Spark Crystal


Box

I really like the way his wasp mode looks. I think that it is weird that his abdomen is on a spring. He would not be able to fly in robot mode as his legs are his wings and they are rather flimsy to hold his weight.  At first glance in robot mode he appears to have no hands but on his right arm he kind of has a hand there but holding the front legs of his wasp mode. Is this a weapon?
You can open the abdomen in robot mode to give him a pincer. I like the way that you can make the sting as long as you want it to be from a sword or a little sting.
His transformation is not really that hard but the first time you have to fiddle around a bit before you figure it out.
Overall I think that he is a good figure and one to collect from the beast machines line.








Monday 19 March 2012

BEAST MACHINES MIRAGE

This figure is from 200. As far as I know his only appearance was in the Botcon 2001 exclusive comic. He is a Vehicon General.

FUNCTION; Warrior General

MOTTO; "Eat my dust"

TECH; Mirage is a real trickster and like most practical jokers loves being devious. An experimental high speed weapon created by Megatron to breach the intelligence gap between vehicon generals and their drones. Still not very smart and would be useless without Megatrons supervision. Enjoys playing tricks on fellow vehicons. Can appear out of nowhere to attack Maximals. He is the sneakiest of all the Vehicons. Top speed of 300 miles per mega cycle. Can instantly teleport 200 yards. Weilds plasma mine blaster and dual missile launchers. Unpopular amongst fellow warriors.

TECHSPEC; Strength 5, Rank 5, Intelligence 4, Courage 6, Speed 8, Firepower 7, Endurance 7, Skill 7


Robot mode


Car Mode Front


Car Mode Side


Vehicon Spark Crystal


Box

He is a good little figure. He has a good colour scheme with translucent plastic. I don't know why they used translucent plastic on so many of these Beast machines toys but in this case it works with Mirage.
His car mode is very sleek and rolls ok. But the rear spoiler can take a while to line up to the rest of the car mode without it splitting apart.
He is quite posable and you can get some nice poses out of him.
The cannon in robot mode can be folded back on to the back of his head for storage.
He has a translucent missiles which you fire by skewering your fingers. The missiles look like hockey sticks.
He is a really good figure and definatly one to get out of the Beast machines line.
It is a shame that he never appeared in the cartoon.