Toy Purchases May 2012

The month of May has become my traditional Botcon toy month since I started collecting Fun Publications Transformers releases. While I did not attend Botcon 2012 this year since it was held Dallas, Texas (no offense but yucky heat). I did preorder the Botcon 2012 Set dubbed Invasion. Since I preordered the set I eagerly awaiting the release news of the new subsets that would be available at the show for attendees and I was pleasantly surprised at the mix of molds and themes. While I originally only wanted to pick up a few straggler pieces for my collection the completionist in me won over the more prudent part of myself I decided to opt to hunt down the entire collection. Additionally, I picked up a Chinese bootleg CHMS version of the Fun Publications 2010 release of Punch Counterpunch and another addition to the Transformers Prime Takara Tomy exclusive set, Breakdown, in May.

SG Treadshot, SG Soundwave, Metail Hawk, SG Ultra Magnus, Overloard, SG Tracks *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

The Invasion box set comes with the following figures, including Shattered Glass Treadshot (reissue/recolor of Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz with a new head), Shattered Glass Soundwave (reissue/recolor of Generations Ironhide with a new head), Metal Hawk (reissue/recolor of Generations Thunder Wing with a new head), Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus (reissue/recolor of Reveal the Shield G2 Laser Optimus Prime with a new head), Overlord (reissue/recolor of Return of the Fallen Bludgeon with a new head), and Shattered Glass Tracks (reissue/recolor of Reveal the Shield Turbo Tracks).

For the most part, each figure is basically the same as it's progenitor counterpart except in color scheme and sometimes the  head. It's rumored that most of the alternate heads with the exception of Overlord, Soundwave, and Metal Hawk were already designed and created when the original figures released and held back for future use. This is due to the fact that some of the original figures illustrated the alternate heads in their instruction papers. And it goes without saying that Overlord, Soundwave, and Metal Hawk's heads were designed by someone different than the original figures designer as these heads look out of proportion and comic book-ish. Over all the set has some hits and misses. Most of the figures look great but Overlords head is a little ... horrible with his goofy grin and extended chin. For Soundwave, the Universe Ironhide mold has always been pretty bad. Plus Soundwave's head is pretty much the most crappy Soundwave head ever made for Transformers. Metal Hawks look is ok but his paint app for his eyes are horribly applied. Most figures are like snowflakes and unique in eye locations. Some look passable, some look like retarded cross-eyed down syndrome babies (again no offense).

Kickover and SG Optimus Prime *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

The 3 additional sets that accompany the Botcon Invasion set and make up the Botcon 2012 collection are, Kickover (reissue/recolor of Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz with a new head different than SG Treashots) and Shattered Glass Optimus Prime (reissue/recolor of G2 Laser Optimus Prime with new head that is same as SG Ultra Magnus), Spinister (reissue/recolor of Hunt for the Decepticons Tomahawk with new head) and Octopunch (reissue/recolor of Hunt for the Decepticons Sea Spray) , and the Shattered Glass Junkion 3-pack which consists of Wrek-gar (reissue/recolor of Reveal the Shield Wrek-gar), Junkheap (reissue/recolor of Generations Junkheap), and Scrapheap (reissue/recolor of Japanese Takara Tomy exclsuive United Scrapheap). 

Easily the the strongest set out of the periphery sets is the Kickover/SG Prime set. The Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz mold is one of the better molds in the last 5 years of Transformers toys and it's used to good effect with both Kickover and Treadshot. SG Prime has a more powerful color scheme than SG Ultra Magnus or the original Lasrer Optimus Prime and is more imposing with the dark hue of the purple redeco.

SG Wrek-gar, SG Scrapheap, SG Junkheap *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

The Junkion set is a close second. Each of these Junkion figures was released within a good 2 year span within separate toy lines but they have never been collected into a single set such as this. It was a excellent choice to release this set and the Shatter Glass theme of coloring them like Insecticons works really well here. It's a little sad though that the SG Scrapheap is easier to get than the original Japanese exclusive Takara Tomy United Scrapheap.

SG Octo Punch, Spinister *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

The loser in this series by miles is the Spinister/Octopunch release. I'm not sure why they opted to release this when they could have gone with a more G1 route. I think this set was released as a token to appease any Bay-verse toy mold fans. It is a nice homage in some respects to the Seacons but this set is totally out of place with the rest of the released 2012 Fan Publication collection.

Bard of Darkmouth *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

Out of all the Fun Publication toys that released this year, the only toy I missed out on and have yet to obtain for a decent price is the Botcon 2012 attendee figure Bard of Darkmount (a reissue/recolor of Generations Darkmount). I had him on preorder at both BBTS and TFSource and both stores let me down. By the time I got the notification that they had cancelled my order, the ebay prices on this figure jumped to the "umm god no, are you serious?" level. I still want him but I'm content to wait it out until the market stabilizes. I try not to spend more than $80 on any of these figures. $100 is just ridiculous.

Breakdown *Image Courtesy of Takara Tomy

Finally, I can get to the regular stuff, ha. The one Transformers Prime Takara Tomy figure that I knew I had to get because it was not making it's way to the US was Breakdown. At the time he was a prominent figure in the Transformers Prime animated show and a chief loyal enforcer for Megatron. Partnered with Knockdown, the pair was a formidable team in the show. I can't believe Hasbro opted to skip out on releasing him. [Spoiler Warning] I think they knew beforehand that he was going to die in season 2 and opted to skip out on his release. If you look at the pattern of Hasbro releases, they tend to skip characters that will die soon, First Edition Cliffjumper, Sky Quake, and Breakdown.

Overall Breakdown is a awesome figure. He's bulky and a good rival to Bulkhead. Transformation is about medium level complicated. The sticker decals for this mold are fairly hard to apply though. The bumper, side detailing, and knee guards all require expert skill to apply correctly. Breakdown's Arms Micron Zamu is a Rhino that transforms into his trademark hammer. My only complaint is that Breakdowns forearm guard has to rotate to attach Zamu to Breakdown and the rotation of the part leaves the forearm guard rather vulnerable to snapping. Otherwise, this figure is probably in the top 3 molds of this line and it's a shame Hasbro opted to skip it. It's worthy of noting that the trademark copyright on the figure only has Takara Tomy info. I don't think the US will get this guy anytime soon. ) =

Punch Counterpunch *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

The last figure I purchased for May is the CHMS Punch Counterpunch bootleg. I really wanted to get the original Fun Publication Transformers Club Exclusive figure back in 2010 but I passed on subscribing to the club at the time since I was not in to the Botcon sets and all the club figures did not appeal to me at all. Once this figure released, the aftermarket asking price sky rocketed to upwards of $300. So when I heard that CHMS was bootlegging this figure I jumped at the chance to own it. While the figure is a fairly accurate representation of the original it is a bootleg. It's missing the rub signs of the original and the paint apps are a little off. Also the figures transformation is not smooth like the original. This is definitely a cast off mold or the original figure. But I'm glad I got this since I would not ever pay $300 for a deluxe size figure. Shit, I would not spend more than $80 ever. Even saying that makes me shutter.