Toy Purchases August 2012

Whelp, I'm still a whole year behind chronicling my collecting habits, lol.

Thinking back, I remember August 2012 being a very slow purchasing month for me. I think that after the insane experience of trying to tackle San Diego Comic-con and grab the SDCC Bruticus set, I was a little burnt out on toys. That being said, I picked up a few things that I had preordered at Big Bad Toy Store and also took one last stab at grabbing some vintage toys from TFSource so i could send some of the Source Points I had accumulated.




The biggest thing I picked up was the release of Maketoys Green Giant (the second 3rd-party Devastator). I specifically went for Green Giant instead of TFC Hercules because of 3 main points. The first was the design. I loved the more anime streamlined design of the separate robots as well as their combined mode. The vehicles also had a certain uniformity that really resonated with me. My second reason for picking up Green Giant over Hercules was quality. While Maketoys was a relative new comer to the scene, TFC has been around for a while and the quality of the plastic and designs are hit and miss. Additionally, TFC released their figures separately over 6 months prior to Green Giant being released and it was reported that Hercules had numerous design and assembly defects, including bad joints and miss assembled figures. The third reason was pricing. At over $100 a figure, the TFC set would set a collector back $650. Green Giant was $360.

While Hercules is a larger figure, in both combined and separate robot modes, I stand by my choice that Green Giant is the better toy. In addition to the standard accessories and combiner parts, he comes with an alternate head that lights up. Also the separate guns from the individual robots combine to become the larger combiner robots main gun. He's a great toy and I dare say probably the best 3rd party robot made to date. He feels and looks better than Fansproject's Corss Fire robot set. Green Giant is a must for any serious Transformer collector.

I also picked up two Japanese Arms Micron Transformers in August, including  Autobot Swerve and the Tokyo Toy Show Exclusive Terrocon Bumble Bee. Both of these purchased were a little frivolous and impulse buys to be honest. Autobot Swerve was purchased because I loved the Arms Micron Breakdown figure that he is based on. They swapped out the head and changed the color palette to Swerves G1 colors, dark red and white. Overall, he's a pretty good figure and I decided I wanted to collect all the Transformers Prime characters, even the non show cannon ones. The only bad thing was, as I described in some of my earlier posts, his head actually broke right out of the package. His neck joint snapped off when I separated him from his zip tie inner cardboard backing. I was pretty bummed out about this and I decided to put him down and leave him where he lay for a night before returning to try and either fix the problem or return him to Big Bad Toy Store.

After a good nights rest, I picked him up and decided I could fix his shattered neck joint. Using a pin and a ton of glue, I refashioned a new neck and securely reinforced the joint. I crossed my fingers and snapped his head back into place. After letting the glue dry, I did a few test swivels and the head was as good as new, probably better considering that new meant broken in this case. Also, his Arms Micron partner is a pretty sweet chain saw weapons too. ^_^

Terrorcon Bumble Bee is a weird oddity. He was a Tokyo Toy Show 2012 Takara Tomy Show Exclusive and the figure I believe references a episode of Prime where Bumble Bee was taken over by the consciousness of Megatron. The packaging make reference of Soundwave somehow converting Bumble Bee into a Decpeticon. Either way he's a black and purple repaint of the regular Prime Robots in Disguise Bumble Bee with the auto transformation gimmick. I think this figure looks pretty cool. It takes on of the most iconic Transformers and literally changes him into a pretty badass looking Decepticon. Terrorcon Bumble Bee comes with Soundwave's Arms Micro partner, which transforms from scorpion to some laser whip weapon. Final word - impressive.

Other than that I picked up a the Kabaya Fortress Maximus set and assembled him. Judging from the assembled figure, he's a pretty good approximation to the original G1 gigantic robot. The Kabaya version stands about 6 inches tall and can fully transform from city, to ship, to robot mode. He comes with both guns and the god sword. Additionally, he has a mini head master that forms his head and a mini Wind Charger and Power Glide figures. These mini figures measure less than a inch high and can limitedly transform from robot to vehicle. Pretty cool miniaturization in this set.

From the TFSource haul, I decided to pick up a few vintage figures which included a mint in box Beast Wars Thunderwing, Transformers Cybertron Overhaul (which I forgot I actually already owned, ugh), 2 Transformers Universe mini bots, Brawn and Beachcomber, and a G1 Deluxe Insecticon Chop Shop. Out of all these bots, really the only one of consequence is Beast Wars  Tiger Hawk. I missed out on him originally when he was out in the stores back in 1999. I finally decided to pick him up and scratch him off my to get list. It's kind of weird to look back at a Beast Wars era Transformer. At the time, Tiger Hawk was one of the most sought after figures in the last wave of toys. He and Transmetal 2 Black Arachnia demand top dollar on the secondary market and they were both extremely hard to find in the stores. I think I saw him a few times but at the time, he was a pretty expensive figure at retail and I believe I had a  ton of my money tied up with the Mobile Suit Gundam In Action figure line that just launched. In the end I'm glad I picked him up but opening him and looking back in time to a 13 year old toy is a little hard to take in. While he was state of the art then, he's a total crappy happy meal type toy now. Ah wells, now I just need to get Beast Wars Scorponok and I can finally close the door on this collecting chapter.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

2012 Year in Review (Part 2)

Here's part 2 of my 2012 year in review. While I did

Here are my top 5 Stinkers for 2012:

#5 Transformers Kre-O Collection - Yeah the entire collection sucks. From the confusing ill conceived premise to poor design, this entire initiative by Hasbro has been a huge debacle. I can see why someone in marketing would think that combing Lego type sets with their out performing Transformers line would be peanut butter and jelly time but it is not. It takes hours to build, deconstruct, and rebuild these sets to transform them from vehicle mode to robot and back. Do you think kids have the attention span to do this? Do you think adults do? No one does. The sets try to recreate the characters from the classic Transformers series (be it G1 cartoon, Movie-verse, whatever) but with the absence of abundance of specialized block pieces the Kre-O design sets fail. It was no wonder when these sets started going on clearance halfway through the year. It's baffling to me that they have considered continuing to produce a wave 3 of this toy line, albeit with an emphasis on the Kreon mini figures as opposed to full on deluxe building sets.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#4 Transformers Prime RID Airachnia - By far the worse Transformer to come out of the deluxe line in a while is Airachnia. I admit the original Transformers Prime character design is really complex since she is technically a triple changer and super slim but what we got was a rigid brick with the same articulation as a 70's Kenner Star Wars figure. While her helicopter mode looks well and her robot mode kind of represents the character, they failed to give her any articulation of playability. There is absolutely no way she can assume her spider mode transformation without buying 2 or 3 of the same toy and augmenting the chopper blades for extra elongated spider legs. Her gun accessories are also horrific in design. Absolutely the worse toy I've seen in the deluxe scale figures in a long time (not counting the horror of the Bayverse deluxe toys).

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#3 Transformers Arms Micron Autobot Swerve - This toy is not that bad but the fact that his head broke off seconds after I untied this figure from his plastic tray gives him a place on the 2012 fail list. Quality control has been horrible lately with Takara Tomy / Hasbro figures and Swerve is on this list to represent this fact. I paid $50 for this import figure and his head snapped off out of the box with no pressure applied at all. I expect this will happen more and more and we are all f*cked for collecting Transformers.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#2 Transformers Arms Micron Unicon - While the figure looks TV show accurate, his transformation into a rock ship with his face on it and the really lame battle suit mode for RID Optimus Prime and Megatron was really poorly designed and executed. Surprise to me, the figure I got has a small tear in the rubber horns on his head. It looks like his horn was assembled wrong and when the rubber was glued to the PVC plastic base someone tried to adjust the horn to point in the right direction which tore the rubber horn. The horn is pretty secure in its glue and the tear is not loose at all. However whomever tried to adjust the position failed and promptly tied the figure down into it's packaging and moved on with their lowly life, thanks for the defective figure mysteriously incompetent factory worker.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#1 Transformers Generations SDCC Bruticus - The worse disappointment in 2012 is SDCC exclusive Fall of Cybertron Bruticus. There was so much anticipation for this set. The first combiner Transformers set in years and we got a very poorly engineered misformed hodgepodge of deluxe figures that mangle themselves together into a Frankenstein monstrosity. The set contains 5 combaticons representing a updated version of the classic G1 progenitor combaticon team. While each figure range from average to above average in vehicle mode, robot mode, and transformation, every single figures combining transformation is a compromise which leads to a misformed mess. With uneven limbs, awkward articulation, and a hollow center mass, Bruticus is a unanimous mess. This toy is my #1 failure of 2012 because it has the most promise to be a centerpiece must have toy of the year but sadly a series of design failures and compromise  hampered it's true potential.

Toy Purchases July 2012

Wow, where did the time go? I blinked and 4 months passed by. Back to catching up with this blog.

July 2012 was a pretty big month for purchasing toys. While I'm usually on the road in June and July, mostly for work, I managed to pick up a bunch of stuff, mainly due to preorders and San Deigo Comic-con. July 2012 is noted for the release of the first wave of the Fall of Cybertron toys, final completion of my Transformers Animated toy collection, and a few Transformers Prime toys.

*Image Courtesy of Tformers.com

Top of the list is the notable SDCC Hasbro Exclusive Transformers toys for 2012. They were the early bird "Rust in Piece" Transformers Prime Terror-con Cliffjumper figure and the Fall of Cybertron Bruticus Set in G1 color scheme. First off is the Terror-con Cliffjumper figure. This figure has a dubious origin as it was originally announced in 2011 under the Transformers Prime First Edition toy line. When that line sputtered out due to what really is considered a mismanagement of channel marketing and sales by Hasbro, the figure was shelved for future release. At the time most Transformers toy collectors did not know if the figure would ever see the light of day until Botcon 2011 when collectors found out the figure was going to released not once but twice. The first release is the SDCC 2012 exclusive figure. The second would be the re-release of the Transformers First Edition Prime series in Fall 2012.

The origins of this figure is also quite unique as well. Spoiler alert, in the first episode of the Transformers Prime animated series, Cliffjumper is killed by Starscream. In the following subsequent episode, Cliffjumper is resurrected as a zombie Transformer by Megatron using a fragment of Dark Energon. Poor Cliffjumper has become the first Transformer zombie in the 30 years of Transformers fandom!

Regarding the figure, "Rust in Piece" Transformers Prime Terror-con Cliffjumper, comes in a special box and insert. The box is created to mimic the characters torso and the inner plastic carton that holds the figure is molded and painted in the colors of Cliffjumper's head. Essentially, this give the collector a mini bust of the character to display.

For the toy, the figure takes the First Edition Cliffjumper mold and adds a new damaged paint scheme with a new zombie head. Additionally, the "Rust in Piece" Transformers Prime Terror-con Cliffjumper comes with 2 exclusive accessories, including a clip on shard of Dark Energon that attaches to the figures chest and a separate larger Dark Energon shard piece that the figure can hold. It's important to note that this is the same exact figure that was released earlier in April 2012 under the Takara Tomy Arms Micron Transformers Prime toy line. The only difference is that Japanese exclusive released figure was molded in Translucent Purple, did not come with any accessories but came with his own Arms Micron mini-con. Overall, I like the more show accurate figure than the Japanese version but this figure is not overly necessary for someones Transformers Prime collection unless you think Transformers zombies are cool.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

The second SDCC 2012 exclusive release is the Fall of Cybertron Combaticon team which combines to form FOC Bruticus. The set includes Blast Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, and Vortex in what is considered the game accurate G1 color scheme. This massive 6 figure box set was much anticipated and sadly sorely disappoints. While the individual figures are great representations of their in-game selves, the color schemes lack a certain authenticity with the original G1 color scheme. Additionally, the combined form of Bruticus is probably one of the most awful combiner Transformers to be released in some time (that's saying a lot considering the horrible Energon/Super Link combiner era). Sadly, Bruticus' arms and legs are disproportional to his body. Some of this is due to the fact that every single Combaticon figure are deluxe class leading to Onslaught (who forms the torso and chest of Bruticus) being too small and thin for his position on the team.

Another issue that exasperated the above situation is the fact that all the other Combaticons are too big when they transform into their limb forms. The original G1 Transformer Scramble City Transformers were made up of what we can consider a single Voyager class figure and 4 scout class figures which lends the size deferential to a perfectly proportioned combiner Transformers for Menasaur, Superion, G1 Bruticus, and Defensor. It's sad that the lessons learned in 1985 have been completely forgotten in 2012, 27 years later.

*Image Courtesy of TFW2005

On top of that, the set was a limited exclusive that many had to stand in line for up to 6 hours for and shell out $100. AND ... the one I got was defective!!! Yup. My Brawl figure has a huge chunk missing from his head where one of his horns would be. It looks like a piece of plastic was removed from his head while the part was being taken off the plastic sprue during assembly. What a pile of poo.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

Moving on, I picked up 2 Transformers Prime figures in July. I preordered The Takara exclusive Jet Vehicon and also picked up Airacnid at SDCC. I was surpirsed that Jet Vehicon was so similar to the Robots in Disguise Car Vehicon. He's basically the same figure, with wings and a Arms Micron accessory buddy. Overall, this figure is a good toy though and I'm super happy to add another Vehicon to the Decepticon Army. 

Airachnid on the other hand is pretty horrible. She has a great helicopter mode, no arachnid mode at all, and a basic articulated robot mode. Her robot form is more basic than most of the Cyberverse 2-inch figures that price range easily half as much as this figure's MSRP. While my previous rant about FOC Bruticus was bad, Airachnid should not have been released with her crappy articulation and bad engineering. This figure is probably the worse deluxe class figure, per value and design, that has been released in the last 15 years. Wow, what a turd ... and sadly my dumb ass paid $20 for her at SDCC. Damn my completionist impulses.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

I also finished up my Transformers Animated collection by purchasing on eBay the last figure I needed Black Arachnia. I have to say this figure is pretty good and probably the best representation of the Black Arachnia character to date. The original Beast Wars figures were either too skinny or way to fat and top heavy. You've read my opinion on the Prime figure in the paragraph above. The Animated figure has a great transformation sequence, a awesome spider mode, and a very well engineered and sculpted robot mode. Over all, pretty top notch for a deluxe figure. 

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

Additionally I picked up Transformers Generations eHobby Scrapheap on eBay. This figure is only available in the eHobby exclusive 3-pack that comes with Battle Damaged Kup and a transparent blue Matrix Hot Rod. Scrap Heap is the rarest of the Junkion warriors and pretty had to come by on his own. I was lucky enough to outbid my competitors and paid $80 (including shipping) to get him. Overall, he shares the same body as Junk Heap and Wrek-gar but comes with an exclusive retooled head and is molded in a darker brown color scheme. I am super happy I got him and he is by far my favorite of the Junkion figures, including the Maiden Japan and Jolly Rodger add on its. 

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

My last eBay purchase for July is Transformers Cybertron Ramble (AKA Transformers Galaxy Force Scrap Heap). I really did not want this guy other than my compulsion to complete my collection. I had previously purchased the Yellow Japanese Scrap Heap at Mandrake Akiba late last year on my trip to Tokyo, Japan. I decided I should collect all the Ramble / Scrap Heaps and took the plunge to pick up the red version. This figure is actually pretty decent for a scout class figure. He has the Force Chip action gimmick which springs out a hidden blade from his barrel and a decent walking tank vehicle mode. I wish he had a little pilot inside his cockpit but for a scout class figure, he's quality. Now I need to keep an eye out on the last blue colored figure. Then there is the infamously difficult to attain Cody Ramble which as a TRU Gift Set Exclusive. Ugh.

The last trio of purchases in July is the first wave of Fall of Cybertron figures, Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Shockwave. I was excited for these figures and they kind of disappointed me. Optimus Prime was very small compared to the War for Cybertron Optimus Prime. The scale comparison was jarring. While I really liked the mold, simplified transformation (because face it the WFC Prime figure was insanely hard to transform right the first few times around), and a competent robot mode, the small stature of the figure really set the product back. when you think of Optimus Prime, you think heroic leader, brave, strong, large and in charge. This guy looks short and lacking. 

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

The same principle goes for Shockwave. He's a great figure. Good transformation. But his short stature and skinny limbs just make him look diminished. This is definitely not the same G1 Shockwave that stands close to 12-inches tall and towers over all other Transformers. Lastly, Jazz. Poor, poor Jazz. Easily the worst of the trio. His huge chest (man breast hood area) stands out like a sore thumb. Transformation is on the level of a Mc Donald's Happy Meal toy and his gun is more of a pistol. 

Well at least I got my eHobby Scrap Metal this month.

Arms Micron - Infinite Possibilities!

Transformers Prime Arms Micron toy line released in March 2012 in Japan and while the toys are relatively identical to the international Hasbro versions of Transformers Prime Robots In Disguise toy line, Takara Tomy offered an alternative accessories for the Japanese version of the toys, Arms Micron mini-cons.

Specifically designed and produced in conjunction with decal sheets for the Japanese Transformers Prime toys, Arms Micron mini-cons were aimed to get Japanese kids and parents to play with the toys together. Parents would help decal the figures and assemble the Arms Micron mini-cons which were included on unassembled sprues. It's a pretty neat concept and as a toy collector and a adult, I admire Takara Tomy for this unconventional, by western standards, approach. Additionally, Takara Tomy added mini-con ports to the action figures to allow the Arms Microns to dock with the toys.

Obviously not every one is happy about this. Many in the international Transformers toy collecting community have bemoaned the Arms Micron, decal features, and added Arms Micron ports. Comments included the difficulty of putting together the Arms Microns, the length of time it takes to apply the fairly complicated decals to the toys, and cluttering of the toys original design with port sockets. While the easiest solution is to tell the complainers to just not buy the toys. They are not meant for you. If you don't like them, don't buy them. But Hasbro decided not to release certain characters internationally so there has become a sizeable contingent of Takara Tomy exclusive Japan only released figures. Again, I still believe if you don't like it, don't buy it.

To me these complaints equate to someone saying a Japanese version of a Transformer is inferior because the owner could not figure out how to transform the toy and blaming the Japanese language instructions, "Can't they make the instructions universal just for me?" Again, these toys were not meant for you. If you want this toy of this particular character, suck it up. Pay your secondary market import fee and be happy you got it.

Additionally, Takara Tomy has invested a considerable amount of time and money into the customization messaging. They want kids to think of these toys as limited model kits (very similar to the mid-80's Votoms/  Dougram boom when Gunpla got huge and toy lines started messaging the customization and scale features of their mecha toys). Check out this toy developer video below featuring their own customization including recycling plastic bottles, forks, and printing and cutting their own sticker sheets. You have to admit, this is pretty cool and again please remember this is geared towards kids. How fun would it be to customize your own Transformers with your parents? I for one think it's ingenious and adds a new dimension to the toy line. ^_^

Toy Purchases June 2012

My purchases in June 2012 were a mix match of stuff since June is usually a pretty crazy month for me professionally. With travel for work, Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and San Diego Comic-con prep, there's not much free time to do a lot of collecting. I picked up a few odds and ends including the first wave of Transformers Prime Arms Micron trading figures, 2 Transformers Animated figures (Swoop and Waspinator), Transformers Botcon 2010 Galvatron and Shattered Glass Thundercracker 2-pack, and a MOSPEADA 1/8th Stick Ride Armor. Oh la la.

Transformers Prime Arms Micron Set 1 *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

First up would be the Transformers Prime Arms Micron Wave 1 Set. The set includes a mini version of Optimus Prime that transforms into a blaster, a mini version on Bumble Bee that transforms into a bladed forearm gauntlet, a Decepticon snake named Gob that comes in 2 colors (black and pink) which transforms into a chain axe, and a Decepticon named Zod that also comes in 2 colors (black and pink) which transforms into a blaster.

Transformers Prime Arms Micron Set 1 Combined
*Image Courtesy of TFW2005

Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee are solid figures. Bumble Bee in particular has both a female and male mini-con port on him so he can be attached to both First Edition and Robots In Disguise Prime Bumble Bee figures. I really like that a lot. As for Gob and Zod, they seem like throwaway figures. Both figures don't really look good in either beast or weapon mode, although at least the black versions make good weapons for the Decepticon Vehicon figures. Overall, The primary figures are worth getting, the black versions of Gob and Zod are also good as accessories for other figures. The pink versions of Gob and Zod are pretty horrible. Additionally, there is a weird alt mode that combines all of the figures into a single standing figure. I'm not sure if this was intentionally designed to combine since the mini-con ports that connect the pieces are either really loose or too tight. This mode is not worth trying to combine after the first try. It has no articulation and is pretty much just a novelty feature. 

Next up is Transformers Animated Waspinator. I have to admit the only reason I picked up this figure is because he was one of the last I needed to complete my Transformers Animated collection. His name pretty much describes him to a tee. He's a anime version of Beast Wars Waspinator. I admit I began collecting the Transformers Animated series after the show was cancelled and I jumped on board due to the unique designs and re-imagined characters more than the story of the animated show. I've seen the show in it's entirety but the shows plot and back stories don't really resonate with me. Hence my lack of excitement for this figure. I got him loose for cheap to fulfill a empty spot in a collection.

Transformers Animated Swoop *Image courtesy of CollectionDX.com

The second Transformers Animated figure I picked up is Transformers Animated Swoop. While I'm indifferent to the Animated series, Swoop has a pretty neat redesign. I like his re-imagined shape and the articulation for this figure is excellent. Additionally, he comes with a ball and chain accessory with real plastic chain links. Animated Swoop rates pretty high with Animated Grimlock. A must own for any Transformers Animated collection.

Botcon 2010 SG Thundercracker and Galvatron
*Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

My next purchase was something I passed on last year. While I was at Botcon 2011, I opted not to get the Galvatron and Shattered Glass Thundercracker 2-pack. At the time I picked up all the Botcon figure sets, I-Gear Dirge, and a Macross 1/55 Milia Valkyrie. I think I tapped my budget and something had to give. Originally, I really was not impressed by this set. The Galvatron was a recolor of Transformers Cybertron Evac (Galaxy Force Live Convoy) and Shattered Glass Thundercracker looked garishly awful in his hyper glow color scheme. Overall, Galvatron is a nice recolor figure. He's done pretty well and one can hardly imagine the figures design was originally for a Autobot. SG Thundercracker is still pretty horribly colored though. He reminds me of the 80's, Trapper Keepers, and skateboards. My confession is I still think this set is mediocre but I was compelled to pick it up to complete my Botcon 2011 set. I feel like a addict.

Henshin Robo MOSPEADA Armor Bike
*Image courtesy of CollectionDX.com

Last up, and the most exciting, is the MOSPEADA 1/8 Stick Ride Armor I purchased MIB. I had this as a kid but somehow the complicated locking mechanism for the bike struts broke over the years. I still have my original one form childhood but ti's in pretty bad condition. Many will know this toy as the Cyclone from Robotech.

I remember getting this for the first Christmas my dad came back into my life and was living with my mom and I back when I was in eighth grade. I remember sneaking around my house when my parents were out and finding this wrapped up in my dads closet. Ha ha. I could totally make out the orange color of the box under the holiday wrap and I was so excited. I also remember getting pink eye a few days after Christmas and lying on the sofa int he living room trying to transform this toy while my eyes were all gunked out. 

This toy is the seminal transforming motorcycle. It was pretty much the first of it's kind and in my opinion the best still. There have been a few updated versions of this toy including Toynami and CM's Corps figures but like I said this one is the best. It's old school charm, bulk, and 80's design ingenuity lend to a figure without equal. This particular version is the later Gakken version which unfortunately does not have the missile springs. I love this toy. It has many memories attached to it and I'm happy to own a pristine version in it's original packaging. This purchase also happens to complete my Gakken MOSPEADA collection. Yay!

Henshin Robo MOSPEADA Armor Bike

Transformers Quality Control Issues and Customer Service Woes

Bumble Bee, Why You No Have Head?
*Image courtesy of Planet Iacon - Singapore Transformers Fans Unite!

Any Transformers collectors run into quality control issues with the recent toys? I've actually had a bit of bad luck lately with some of my purchases. I've been collecting Transformers for the better part of 13 years now and I have never run into this amount of defects and quality issues with the toys until now. I suspect my own increase in defective or imperfect figures has to do with the fact that I rarely purchase figures at the retail brick and mortar stores anymore so I can't inspect the figures for flaws. Despite this, the number of incidents has occurred alarmingly frequently lately. I have purchased a defective officially produced figure 7 times this year, with the last 5 happening once per month in a row.






December 2002

Car Robots Brave Fortress Maximus *Image courtesy of TFW2005

This happened a long time ago and my memory is a little hazy on exactly when I purchased my Sonokong Car Robots Brave Fortress Maximus from Big Bad Toy Store. I remember this was the largest purchase I had ever made up to that date and it was a big deal for me. Once the toy arrived, I was super sadden to search the box and to realize he was missing his head master. After silently sulking in sadness, I contacted BBTS and their customer service department. Thankfully they sent me the part I was missing from a sealed set. I will always be loyal and thankful for BBTS's service and dedication to their customers. Their online retail store is a godsend to the toy collecting community and I have been a proud customer of theirs since 2001 (that's 12 years as of this article). In short, BBTS is awesome and this incident was isolated since I have purchased a horde of Sonokong Transformers, Microman, and Yuusha Brave figures since then and they all seemed perfectly fine.

September  2006

Classics AstroTrain *Image courtesy of cliffbee.com

The next run in I had with a defective product is when I purchased a Hasbro Classics AstroTrain, He came with 2 right shoulder joints. Sure the figure came in the package in space shuttle mode but I failed to notice the flaw when I grabbed the figure off the peg at Target. Sadly, I figured out the assembly mistake after I broke open the toy. I really should have returned him but at the time, I just accepted the flaw and moved on with my life. He looks fine in bot mode and train mode but the shoulders do not lineup correctly in shuttle mode. Eventually I picked up the Takara Henkei AstroTrain figure with the cartoon accurate color scheme and my Hasbro White AstroTrain has been at the bottom of a storage bin ever since. 

August 2011

Animated Bulkhead *Image courtesy of tilallaremine.wordpress.com

I really didn't have any other problems with defects for while until last year. I purchased a Transformers Animated Voyager Bulkhead (2008) sometime last summer MISP and his shoulders were miss-assembled.  His right shoulder was his left and vice versea which lent to a bot mode miss-transformation. Unfortunately  there is not a way to correct this assembly defect as pulling the shoulder pins will most likely stress the hinges to the point of shattering. Bulkheads vehicle mode is fine though. I've been content to keep him as placeholder figure for now until I feel compelled to replace this factory reject. Thanks Hasbro, your suckage traveled 3 years into the future to suck.


February 2012

SG Drift *Image courtesy of TFW2005

In February this year, I purchased Shattered Glass Drift from the Official Transformers Collector Club run by Fun Publications. As with many of the figures sold, mine came with mix matched pistol set. I believe I received 2 right side pistols. This really didn't bother me as SG Drift does not come with the companion sniper rife that combines with the pistols like the original Transformers Generations Blurr (2010) figure. The mix matched pistols really do not have corresponding negative effect other than the fact that the set is mix matched. Still, it is rather disturbing that no one caught this at the factory level and that the frequency of the mix matching was throughout the entire product line for this figure. It should not be up to the end consumer to have to contact each other on forum boards to trade parts to get a set that is complete and matching. This shows very poor project management on Fun Publication's part (but of course Fun Publication has become a joke of a organization with leaked credit card information, defective products, and general mismanagement of events, seriously it's like they can not do anything right at all). Fun Publication Majorly Sucks.

May 2012

SG Wrek-gar *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

Coming off of Botcon 2012, I purchased the Shattered Glass Junkion Set from TFSource. Lucky me. After opening the set I discovered Shattered Glass Wrek-gar was missing his head entirely. I contacted Fun Publications (yup them again) and they told me since the set was sold to a wholesaler I had to contact the retailer I purchased the set from and file a claim through them. Now on a wild goose chase, I contacted TFSource and filed my claim. They told me they submitted the claim to Fun Publications and they were awaiting a reply. It was communicated to me that there were multiple claims through TFSoruce and Fun Publications wanted to sort through them all together at one time. So I waited. I emailed a few weeks later. I waited. Etc, etc. THREE MONTHS ROLL BY. It got to the point were TFSource was not even replying to my emails because they were attending conventions during the summer. I happen to rant about the situation to a friend who knew some of the people at TFSource. I was then contacted by them and the situation was finally resolved. Apparently, Fun Publication reversed their stance and were taking claims directly from consumers with the end product in hand. Fun Publications failed to contact me about this. TFSource failed to followup with my claim because they assumed I was contacted by Fun Publications. Thank you both for a epic failure in customer service. Granted, I got Wrek-gars head after 3 months of waiting. But when you buy a car, do you expect to get the steering wheel 3 months after purchase and when you ask about it do you expect the mechanic and the car dealer both to point at each other? Sigh, EPIC FAIL.

July 2012

FOC SDCC Brawl *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

During Comic-con this year I purchased the Hasbro SDCC 2012 Exclusive Fall of Cybertron Bruticus Set (2012) through a friend who stood in line for me. The set included a Brawl figure that was missing part of his head. Yeah, he was missing a chunk of his upper head. It's not really noticeable but one of his ornamental horns on his head is missing and it looks like he might have lost it when the part was removed from the sprue after the molding process. I keep the set in Bruticus mode so it really doesn't bother me but still that is a really crappy thing to happen for a set that retailed for $100 MSRP. I'm just glad a friend stood in line for the set and purchased it for me. I would be super duper pissed if I stood in line for 6 hours, paid $100, and found out I got a defect after coming home from the show. Yeah, you suck Hasbro.

August 2012

Arms Micron Swerve *Image courtesy of  Hobby Search

I picked up the Takara Tomy Transformers Prime Swerve in August 2012 and his head actually broke off straight out of the package. I literally took him out of his package and rotated his head 30 degrees and it snapped off. There's nothing worse than  opening a toy and having the figure break in your hands as you take him out of the package. It takes that euphoric moment of joy and dumps it in a toilet bowl full of stagnant putrid crap. I remained composed and put the figure down and did not return to him until the next day. I drilled a pin in his neck base connected to his broken neck ball joint and super glued the pieces together. I then used a X-Acto knife to clean out the glued neck joint of any excess glue. I crossed my fingers and snapped the head back onto the joint. Ultimately  the neck joint is sufficiently reinforced to allow full 360 degree articulation without any undue stress. So, the figure is fixed but that really sucked. This is the first time a Takara Tomy figure failed for me but not the last.

September 2012

Generations Junkheap *Image courtesy of Wikia.com

In September 2012, a friend picked up a Transformers Generations Junkheap figure for me. This was my second Junkheap. I wanted to get him to properly display the Maiden Japan B-01 King Tiger third-party accessories pack that I recently purchased. Sadly, his right bike handle fell straight off the figure when I opened him. It seems the rubber part cracked when it was snapped into place on the securing peg of the figures body. I glued it back in place since I did not want to return him and try to hunt down another one (the figure is a year old after all and not widely available for the MSRP price anymore). The base figure works well displaying the Maiden Japan parts for King Tiger but essentially the Junkheap is broken out of the package. Hasbro Sucks.



October 2012

Arms Micron Gaia Unicron *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

In October I picked up Takara Tomy Transformers Prime Gaia Unicorn. I know a lot of people had mixed feelings overall with this toy. While the figure looks TV show accurate, his transformation into a rock ship with his face on it and the really lame battle suit mode for RID Optimus Prime and Megatron was really poorly designed and executed. Surprise to me, the figure I got has a small tear in the rubber horns on his head. It looks like his horn was assembled wrong and when the rubber was glued to the PVC plastic base someone tried to adjust the horn to point in the right direction which tore the rubber horn. The horn is pretty secure in its glue and the tear is not loose at all. However whomever tried to adjust the position failed and promptly tied the figure down into it's packaging and moved on with their lowly life, thanks for the defective figure mysteriously incompetent factory worker.

November 2012

GDO Asia Wheelie *Image courtesy of cooksux.com

This month, I picked up Transformers Asia Exclusive GDO Wheelie. Based on the Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz mold, Wheelie has a new unique head, sling shot weapon, and sporty orange color scheme. Unfortunately for me, he was also miss-assembled. After trying to transform him I realized his head was not elevating out of his chest cavity fully. His eyes and head visor barely cleared his chest. After comparing him to my other Jazz mold figures (Special Ops Jazz, Kick Off and SG TreadShot, I deduced that the auto transformation mechanism in his chest was misaligned by 2 to 3 teeth. I had to disassemble him and adjust the figure manually to get the head to fully deploy from Wheelie's chest. Anyone seeing a pattern here?

So, if we review the tally, I've had a Transformer purchase failure once a month for the last 5 months straight with 70% of the defects happening this year!!! The big question to ask is, why is this happening so frequently now, especially when they are increasing the MSRP on figures globally. Each of these figures specific issues have marred my collecting experiences  What should be a happy occasion turns into a problem to be solved or an headache to be trudged through. Purchasing products or a service should not be like this. You should not purchase food and get poisoned. You should not purchase a Transformer figure and get something broken or incomplete out of a factory sealed box. 

Hear this Hasbro, Takara Tomy, Fun Publications, your product quality is getting worse. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.

Any of you guys out there have defect stories about Transformers? Please chime in. I'd love to compare notes.

You make Optimus Prime Cry.

Toy Purchases April 2012

Skywarp *Image Courtesy of  Takara Tomy

April's toy additions turned out to be a major Transformers Prime month with 7 Prime additions to the collection. I also picked up a few odds and ends including the 2 Kabaya Gashapon sets, the Transformers Collectors Club Runamuck, Botcon 2009 Razor Claw and Elita-1 2-pack, and Fansproject War Cry and Flame Blast. Phew, buying toys is exhausting. ^_^

First off is the 2 Takara Tomy Japan exclusive Transformers Prime figures, Skywarp and Terrorcon Cliffjumper. Skywarp is a recolor of Transformers First Edition Prime Starscream with added Bombs on his wings that are not removable. Overall it's a decent recolor of the Starscream mold. The toy doesn't come with Starscreams arm missiles though. Instead, Skywarp comes with a Arms Micron named Balo, which is a Bull who transforms into a Drill or a Shield. This is the first Takara  Tomy Prime toy I bought so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Arms Micron unassembled on a sprue. Additionally, the foil stickers add a nice G1 touch to these toys. I heard that the stickers and unassembled Arms Microns were part of a brand marketing message for the parents and children in Japan. Takara Tomy wanted parents to play with their children and help assemble the toys which makes a lot of sense to me. While this is a great branding activity for Prime in Japan, there was a lot of backlash from internet trolls in the west (Lazy, ha!). Overall, I love putting on the stickers and assembling the kits but I think it's because I have extensive plastic model building experience. 

Terrorcon Cliffjumper *Image Courtesy of  Takara Tomy

The second Takara Tomy toy I picked up is Terrorcon Cliffjumper. This guy is a clear purple First Edition Cliffjumper with a new molded undead head. He looks pretty bad ass  I missed out on the First Edition Cliffjumper, since he was not even released in the US, thanks Hasbro, LAME, so this was the first time I got to check out this mold. I love the fold out hidden tri-blasters in his arms. Also, his chest seems more robust than the RID Cliffjumper figure. Terrorcon Cliffjumper comes with 2 Dark Energon accessories. A clip on shard that mimics the shard that Cliffjumpers husk was impaled on to reanimate his dead corpse and a separate Dark Energon shard that can be held by any of the Prime figures. Terrorcon Cliffjumper comes with Arms Micron Jida, a Puma or Panter animal that transforms into a multi-blade chainsaw. Overall, a impressive figure that strikes a unique pose in the collection.

Arcee *Image Courtesy of  Seibertron.com

The next purchase was Prime RID Arcee from Prime RID Wave 2 and Prime RID Wave 3 (Knockout, Hot Shot, and Vehicon). I originally was reluctant to get RID Arcee. I purchased the First Edition version last year and I really liked that figure. However after getting a hold of RID Arcee I have to say it's simplicity and show accurate back wings really won me over. My only complaint is that she doesn't come with 2 forearm blades like the First Edition figure and I also wish she had a smaller gun. The gun she has is a huge cannon compared to the smaller arm pistols she sports in the animation.

Knockout is very a underwhelming figure. His paint job is really lackluster and his design really seems more of a stop gap than a finished toy. His angular chest doesn't even remotely look like the rounded design of the show. Also, his staff weapon was really flimsy on the toy I got. Not sure if this is the same for everyone though.

Hot Shot is a recolor of RID Bumble Bee with a new head. While he has the same body as RID Bumble Bee, Hot Shot really stands out with his blue paint job with red flames. 
Also the new head with adjustable goggles really differentiates the character in this set. 
I really like him a lot despite the legacy auto-morphing mechanism in his chest that 
has the teeth stick out of his neck in robot mode.

Hot Shot, Vehicon, Knockout *Image Courtesy of  Seibertron.com

The last deluxe Prime RID figure is the Decepticon Vehicon. Having not owned the First Edition Vehicon, because it was also not released in the US at the time, thanks LAME Hasbro, this figure enjoyed the same reaction as the Takara Tomy Terrorcon Cliffjumper. While drastically different in body design than the First Edition version, this figure is really cool. His black color pallet and silver highlights on his head accurately translate the shows character. My only initial complaint was his bow arms which were a little weird to pose as far as getting a full range of articulation from them. But after a few hours I got used to it and I don't really think of the designed joints as a negative thing anymore.

Bulkhead *Image Courtesy of  Seibertron.com

The last Prime RID figure I purchased this month was Voyager Bulkhead. Again, another First Edition figure I never got because it was not offered in the US, wow there's a pattern of LAME HASBRO behavior, LOL, RID Voyager Bulkhead is pretty ... bulky. He's smaller than the previous voyager Bulkheads however. The Transformers Voyager Animated Bulkhead and the First Edition figure are both slightly bigger in comparison to the RID version. Overall a good figure with basic transformation. The one thing this figure suffers from is the Mech Tech weapon which is a horrible carry over from the movie figures. Both RID Voyager Optimus and Megatron both have the same problem also. Bulkheads weapon looks really brick-ish when not unfolded and activated. However the weapon has a spring and can not stay unfolded which is a huge design flaw as far as displayability. Also because of the battery compartment for the weapons light up feature, even having the weapon unfolded looks awkward so it's better to just throw the accessory 
away.

Over Run, Runamuck *Image Courtesy of  Seibertron.com

I also picked up Transformers Collectors Club Runamuck which is basically a white version of Over Run (AKA Runabout). It's a good representation of the character using the Transformers Generations Wheeljack mold. As with Over Run, I wish they could have done something to remove Wheeljacks wings though. I also think they should have used different weapons. Having the same shoulder missiles, gun, and tools as Wheeljack kind of makes both of these guys generic. Also the white plastic used on the figure does not match the white paint used on the figures canopy and is a little jarring visually. I'm glad I picked up the the 2 figures but there really isn't anything extra special about them.

Razor Claw, Elita-1 *Image Courtesy of TFW2005.com

Next up is the final 2 figure set for the 2009 Wings of Honor Botcon collection, Razor Claw and Elita-1. I really only purchased these 2 figures to complete the set. Both figures are kind of lackluster and both were easily available for under their original release price from 2009. Razor Claw is a recolor of Leo Breaker (Cybertron) or Liger Convoy (Galaxy Force). Recolored to look like the leader of the G1 Predacons, Razor Claw is a decent figure but nothing special. As with the original figure he has a Galaxy Force Chip or Cyber Planet Key  that activates his claw weapons.

Elita-1 is a recolor of Thunder Blast (Cybertron) or Chromia (Galaxy Force). The original toy was kind of a dud and this toy is the same. She's a shell-former with her limbs extended out of the boat shell. She also has a Galaxy Force Chip or Cyber Planet Key that activates her over sized missile launcher weapon. Awkward and unbalanced this figure has a lot of things going for it that are just plain wrong. Her small form is overshadowed by the giant boat shell attached to her back. It's just a failure on all fronts.

G Guardian, Defensor *Image Courtesy of theinfozombie.com

The last official Transformers products I purchased in April were 2 Kabaya Gashapon figure sets. The first set is G Guardian which is a combiner set with 6 figures. The set comes with 4 familiar G1 Protectobot characters, Blades, First Aid, Groove, and Streetwise. The other 2 original characters in the set are Sky Feather and Heat Rock. Over all the set was a joy to put together and sticker. Individual transformations are pretty solid. The combiner form is a little loose though. But the best is yet to come (See paragraph below).

The second Kabaya Gashapon set I picked up is Wave 5 of the Transformers Gum Collection featuring War for Cybertron Convoy (Optimus Prime), Deathsaurus, and ...gasp Protectobot Hotspot! Yes, Protectobot Hotspot can replace Heat Rock and G Guardian can become DEFENSOR!!! Pretty cool cross interaction with the 2 sets which came out about the same time. Individually, Hotspot is a pretty good figure on his own. Defensor combines way better than G Guardian too.

WFC Convoy, Hotspot, Deathsaurus *Image Courtesy of theinfozombie.com

Deathsaurus is a neat little guy also. He's a pretty accurate representation of the G1 Transformers Victory character with his chest eject mechanism. Also, both WFC Convoy and Hotspot come with alternate chest parts for Deathsaurus which enhance him with a full transformable Eagle Breast and Tiger Breast minions.

The last figure in this set is WFC Convoy. This is the downer figure, ha. He's pretty plain even with stickers applied. His transformation is simple and he really looks drab. I also think his head is way too small for his proportioned body. Ah well. DEFENSOR! Yay.

Flame Blast, War Cry *Image Courtesy of Fansproject

The last 2 toys for April are Fansproject War Cry and Flame Blast. To be honest, I'm not sure why I purchased these. I think it was a impulse buy based on a very bad day. Overall they are pretty much the same as the Fansproject Cross Fire and Munitioner figures that make up the "Not-Bruticus" set. Both figures do have alternate weapons that do not form the body parts like their predecessors. They are decent figures but I don't really have much to say about them. It was just a off day I guess.