The Loyal Subjects Transformers and G.I.Joe Vinyl Figures

The Loyal Subjects Transformers Wave 1

Launched around late June 2013, The Loyal Subjects vinyl Transformers figure line burst on to the collectible  vinyl scene like a super nova but somehow didn't really make a huge mark in the Transformers toy collector world. Initially I wasn't a fan. I admit I was pretty biased toward Transformer merchandise that didn't transform. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a toy line titled "Transformers." Reading the online comments was a litany of negative opinions ranging from too cartoony, too expensive, and the randomness of the blind box release left the main focus group of the figure series in the lurch. Transformers collectors just weren't excited.

The Loyal Subjects 8-inch Dead Prime

Despite this, I thought the designs were rather clean. It so happened that my buddy Shanti picked up 3 figures on his break during Botcon and he brought them back to our booth. We opened 2 of them and saved the third for his girlfriend to open. It turns out I got Optimus Prime and he got Soundwave. Knowing that he collects Optimus Prime figures we traded and that's how I got my first The Loyal Subjects figure.

Coming back from Botcon 2013, I didn't think much about Soundwave. He was on my table. Then I moved him to my desk. I picked him up and played with him a bit. Having very limited articulation and being 3-inches tall, there isn't much you can do with these figures. But still, he was cool. The super deformed art style was cute and the fact that he came with a weapons was a plus.

BAIT exclusive 8-inch Bullet Prime

It wasn't until several weeks later at San Diego Comic-con that Shanti asked me to visit The Loyal Subjects booth and pick up their exclusive 8-inch Dead Prime figure. I put it on the list of things to get in line to pick up. After researching the release time at the Loyal Subjects booth, I came to discover they had a horde of SDCC exclusive figures at multiple retailers. In addition to the 8-inch Dead Prime, there was the BAIT 8-inch Bullet Prime, Toy Tokyo 3-inch Sunstorm, and The Loyal Subjects had 3-inch Cybertron Megatron, 3-inch 2 pack Radioactive Snake Eyes and Camouflage Storm Shadow, and 2 pack Iron Grenadier Destro and Gold Cobra Commander. Additionally, they would have the new G.I.Joe wave 1 line for sale. Holy crap.

Exclusive Iron Grenadier Destro and
Gold Cobra Commander

I was already tasked to pick up Dead Prime for Shanti and I also planned on picking up the Bullet Pirme from BAIT's booth since one of my coworkers knew them and was going to head over there to pick up some stuff for himself. After the first day, I walked the floor with our management team and we ended up passing by The Loyal Subjects booth. I headed over to talk to them to ask when the Dead Prime would be released and when should I come over to stand in line. Since I was there I picked up 6 blind box figures (3 Transformer, 3 G.I.Joe) and their exclusive 3-inch Cybertron Megatron to show a little support.

I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of figures I got from the blind box. In my opinion they are all winners. I got Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Grimlock for the Transformers blind box lot. I got Snake Eyes, Duke, and Destro for the G.I.Joe blind box lot. 

The Loyal Subjects G.I.JOE Wave 1 (minus Storm Shadow)

The following day I headed over to pick up the Dead Prime figure in between business appointments and I picked up another 2 blind box figure. If you can't tell I'm hooked by now. I got a duplicate Optimus Prime and Snake Eyes.

After coming back from SDCC, I did a little research on the rare figures, and also was lucky enough to stumble upon both rare figures from the Transformers Wave 1 series for cheap. I picked both of them up for $5 over their retail price. Score!  Welcome Illest Jazz and Cybertron Bumble Bee.

The compulsion continues. Since my first Soundwave, I have picked up both 8-inch Primes (Bullet Prime and Dead Prime) and I own 15 of the 3-inch figures now. After my initial skepticism, I've become a big fan of this series. Yes, they are expensive for what they are but the artistic aesthetic they exude and the limited nature of their production runs really resonate with me as a collector. I'm hoping to see wave 2 soon. Gah, plastic crack. Crack, crack, crack.

Botcon 2013

Botcon 2013 was the second Botcon I attended, the first being Botcon 2011 in Pasadena. 2013 was held in sunny San Diego, 9 hour drive away from the California Bay Area where I reside. Early on, a few friends and I decided that if Botcon was going to be held in California again we would attend. Low and behold, the San Diego location was announced and we were on our way. Initially, the group I was planning on going with were my 2 friends, Grant and Randy, who attended Botcon 2011 with me. However, one of my super hardcore toy collecting friends, Shanti, decided to attend as a dealer. He wanted to bring some of the doubles from his vintage Transformers and Pre-Transformers collection to trade or sell.

Product for sale at Botcon

Having had a ton of experience selling at collectible toy conventions, I decided to help him out and work at his booth. Selling solo at a convention is a major pain with no one to offer breaks for restroom or food. In return Shanti offered to allow me to sell some of my stuff too. Seamed like a great experience, a good way to meet other collectors, and a awesome way to offset the cost of the trip by selling some of my unwanted toys.

Prepping for the show was a little hard since work has been hectic lately. I waited till a few days prior to the trip to really start sorting out what to bring to sell. In the end, I decided to bring a slew of Transformers G1 Encore figures, a few extra carded and MISB Transformers from Beast Wars, Energon, etc, and a smorgasbord of random anime toys I had laying around in storage. Over all I brought what amounted to 8 boxes of toys to sell with a value of about $2,500.00. I hoped I could sell half of them if possible.


Registering for Botcon 2013 was a little hectic. I was returning from a business lunch in San Jose when I randomly checked my email while stuck in traffic. I happened to see the Fun Publication email while I was in traffic and started cutting in and out of lanes to get to my exit. While I was racing home to get to my computer I also called both Grant and Randy to let them know to jump on their computers to register. I got home and registered for both the Primus pack, custom class, and extra custom figure. Grant was able to register for the same load out as well but Randy did not get in the custom class unfortunately. I felt bad so I decided to sell Randy my extra custom figure so at least he would have something.

Generations Sand Storm

Grant and I decided to rent a car and head out Wednesday, June 26 and drive down to San Diego. We would meet Randy who flew down Thursday, and Shanti who was driving down Thursday as well. Grant picked me up and passed off a Transformers Sand Storm he had picked up for me the day before. Oh, what a awesome toy. While reusing the Generations Springer mold, Sand Storm is a totally different beast. I don't think he's superior to Springer but I do think there are enough remolded parts on him to make Sand Storm stand out on his own in a major way.

Frank & Sons Loot

On the way down south, Grant and I decided to make a pit stop a Frank & Sons collectible show. Having been to Frank & Sons previously, we knew there was a Korean vendor that sold Sonokong toys for super cheap and we both wanted to stop by and see if there was anything interesting for sale. Grant picked up Sonokong Car Robots Rail Racer set MOSC for pretty cheap. I picked up 3 Beast Wars II Sonokong Auto Rollers (Auto Jetter, Auto Launcher, Auto Crasher) and a Sonokong Microman Reissue Cassette Copter Spy Heli. All 4 toys are pretty good and the total was $26. I wanted to complete the Auto Rollers for a while and missed out on the clearance sale at Big Bad Toy Store several years ago. Spy Heli also puts me one toy closer to completing my Microman Reissue collection.

Custom Class Blast Charge

Once we got to San Diego, Grant and I checked in and called it a night after grabbing some Vietnamese food. Thursday we got up and headed straight for the Town and Country Convention Center to attend the Custom Class. The custom figure was revealed as Blast Charge, a orange and brown camouflaged Warpath with the new Strika head (super similar camo to G.I.Joe Tiger Force). The figure is a dull choice for me. I was not excited at all but I wanted to make the best of the experience since I already paid for it. I was surprised that the class was so basic. We were handed a set of tools that we had to share and the figure kit which is basically a set of parts on sprue with hardware. The instructions were not very intuitive and I actually made 2 mistakes during assembly. I've put together a ton of plastic model kits, fixed and modded transformers before and I found the only challenge with the class revolved around confusing instructions and the fact that certain steps had to be done by the class staff. I found it strange that the pin holes were all too small and our hand drills were a millimeter too small to provide clearance. Additionally, we were not given the opportunity to glue parts together or hammer pins into place. 

Overall the class attendees were either close friends of each other, who stuck to their own groups, or socially awkward. I have to say it was a unique experience but I do not know if I would attend the class again, especially if I have the ability to just buy the figure separately. 

Botcon 2013 Set

By the end of the class Randy had flown in and I met up with him to grab some food. Grant stayed behind to finish his figure and also planned on attending the unofficial Encline Customization Class afterward. After grabbing a quick bite, Randy and I got in line to pick up our show badge and figure sets. This was actually a pretty easy experience than the long drawn out debacle that Botcon 2011 badge pick up was. I had a little snafu with my badge pick up (I was given a different persons badge by mistake, Steven Ng from Seattle), but after returning to the line and fixing the situation I was off to the Club Store to pick up this years club figure sets. I picked up 2 full sets of the show exclusives, one for my friend Justin who could not attend this year. Overall badge pick up and store purchases totaled 2 hours! My 2011 experience totaled 6 hours and I still had to get a ticket voucher to go back to the store the next day because it was too late. I guess Fun Pub is actually learning how to run a convention. Ha. 

Termination Box Set

Reviewing the toys that night I found I had a broken Obsidian which would need to get replaced the next morning at the trade in booth. This years Botcon set is a hit and miss for me. The Termination Machine Wars Box Set has a few winner and a few big question marks. I love Megaplex, Strika, and Hoist. I think all 3 figures are pretty good. I'm not a fan of the Movie-verse figures so Obsidian, with his awkward designed head and arms, and Skywarp with his action boobs really left me scratching my head. Additionally, I don't understand why they did not group Obsidian and Strika as a separate set and put in some of the other Machine Wars specific character in the box set. As it is, the box set is a Machine Wars / Beast Machines mix. I also do not like the window box which has paint smudges on the window. I also think having the foam showing in the window looks bad and the joke KB price tag makes the set look cheap. An additional note, I learned several days later that there was a misprint on Skywarp which Fun Pub printed the wrong emblems on his wings and also that Hoist is miss-assembled and his shoulders are backwards.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

The remaining other sets are also hit and miss. I love the Rainmakers set which consists of Sunstorm, Bitstream, and Hotlink (Hotlink still sounds like a 1-800 sex line). The Classic Seeker mold still retains it's classic sleek style and adding 3 more characters to the Seeker Armada is a godsend. The other set includes Electron and Sand Storm. Electron is a gold recolor of Hoist (with his shoulders assembled correctly!). I like him but i wish he had a baton like his G2 original counterpart. Sand Storm is a recolor of Movie-verse Skyhammer. And again, I'm not a fan of the Movie-verse design aesthetic. His Mech-tech type weapon has no lock to extend the blade gimmick out for display and I just can't get over his copter blades wrapping around his chest. To me, he's just a poorly designed mess and a waste of a good slot for a more interesting designed Transformer figure. The show figure is Star Scream based on Movie-verse Terra Dive. Meh. It;s a nice figure and probably one of the better Move-verse figures but he really does not do much for me and does not even look like the original Machine Wars Star Scream figure at all. I sold both my Kreon sets to my friend, Justin, so I don't have an opinion on them.

e-hobby Insect Clone Army

Friday morning, I met up with Shanti in the morning and started set up for our booth. After setting our toys up we chatted with other dealers and I sold a few things early to interested parties. Overall I believe I sold $700 worth of items on my first day. On Saturday I worked at the booth for most of the day. I took a break to attend the Hasbro Brand Panel which unveiled some interesting direction changes for the toy line. I have to say I'm not a fan of their size problem fix. Enlarging the figure and dumbing down the transformation complexity and design will definitely alienate me as a consumer and collector. Also, adding the Lego Bionicle type figures does nothing for me as a collector. I know they are trying to aim for the kids market which is the backbone of profits for Hasbro and their retailers but this new direction will probably help me save money ... which is a good thing I guess. I was excited to see some of the new figures like Skids, Whirl, Gold Fire, and Double Dealer though. Also, Shanti picked up a Loyal Subjects Soundwave figure for me, super nice of him. 

Botcon Loot

On Sunday, I decided to do a little shopping. Overall my sales were pretty steady. A bunch of my high ticket Robotech Toynami and Yamato Veritech / Valkyries sold and I felt like I had money burning in my pocket. Previously, I had talked to Shanti about getting first dibs on some of the toys he was selling and I was able to pick up some pretty choice items, including a slew of Kronoform sets and a loose e-hobby Insecticon set (Minus Energon Cubes). The Kronoform sets included Togor, Modulator, and Invaceptron. Taking a break late in the day, Grant and I walked the dealers room and I picked up Transformers Galaxy Force Blue Ramble (the last regular Ramble figure I was missing from my collection) and I slapped down the $320 and finally picked up Encore Fortress Maximus! Overall Sunday was pretty exciting. I met both Ryan Yzquierdo from Seibertron.com and Jack Hurwitz from Tformers which was a treat for me since I follow both of their sites religiously. Also Jack helped me out a long time ago when I bought my Brave Maximus and it was missing his head master. He emailed Big Bad Toy Store on my behalf which was truly a stand-up move for a website owner to do for a reader.

Now totally tapped out, it was time to pack up. Overall, it was crowded but not insanely so like my past experience in 2011. I was left feeling like there was less attendees this year for some reason but I can't be sure and this is only a feeling I had. Plus I was mainly in the dealers room for most of the time. After it was all said and done I sold about $1454 in products, came out paying for the show and all my new acquisitions with $104 to spare! I brought back a single box of toys that I was unable to sell and a additional full box of new toys. It was totally fun. I have to think about if I ever want to attend the custom class again. I'm not sure it's worth it. The show figures were hit and miss with a ton of factory flaws but some grerat stand out figures. Selling at the show was totally awesome and it was great to meet a lot of fans and also hang out with my good friend Shanti. Hope to do this again sometime soon in the future.

Togor says "Sayonara"

2012 Year in Review (Part 1)

Wow, where has the year gone. Originally I wanted to get my entire backlog of 2012 toy journal entries published but by the time December rolled by things just got a little too hectic with the holidays and work travel. Oh wells. I'll continue trotting through my journal in 2013. For now, here's my 2012 year end toy review. Since I didn't get past July 2012 some of this is pretty much band new.

Here are my top 10 toy purchases for 2012:

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#10 Transformers RID Vehicon - This seemingly simple deluxe class figure wowed me over time. Initially I thought RID Vehicon was overrated with his spindly elbow articulation and anorexic build, but this guy has out-shined most of the figures released in his class in 2012. Even his more deluxe and exclusive First Edition cousin pales in compassion to this little simple guy. With a slim build and extremely show accurate design, RID Vehicon made my top 10 list for 2012. It's a little ironic that his First Edition cousin is now easier to purchase in the store aisles and online than the RID version. More for you guys as I'm not about to army build. That's a whole other kind of toy collector crazy zone I am not about to approach.

*Image Courtesy of CollectionDX.com

#9 MOSPEADA 1/8 Ride Armor - While not a new toy, this vintage specimen of the wonderfully designed Artmic Mecha is a site to behold. This toy brings back a lot of memories since my dad originally purchased one for Christmas for me when I was little. This mecha bike and figure set is the original toy that sparked the entire transforming bike into armor genre and led to Bubble Gum Crisis and Mega Zone 23. One can even argue that Keneda's bike in Akira was directly inspired by the MOSPEADA design. Wonderfully simplistic in design yet complex in transformation this mecha toy combines the tactile play of action figures with the complexity of transforming robot toys. Now, where are those click pen springs? I need to mod mine to shoot missiles!

*Image Courtesy of TFW2005

#8 Transformers Prime RID Dreadwing - Arguably one of my favored characters due to the yin yang opposite nature of his personality (an extremely loyal Deception who puts personal righteousness, loyalty, and his own warriors code over power ... cough <Beast Wars Dinobot> ...cough. It's too bad his character was underutilized and ultimately served as plot fodder. Dreadwing's toy however is a wonder of ingenuity and playability. Everything about this figure is pretty cool from his articulation, design, and near perfect vehicle mode (well he does have hands sticking out of his thrusters in jet fighter mode). Overall, Dreadwing is a pretty imposing character with a really solid toy. Now if only they could get rid of the Mech Tech weapons ... sigh.

*Image Courtesy of TFW2005

#7 Transformers Masterpiece Thundercracker - Finally, North America gets the newly redesigned and augmented Masterpiece Seeker Jet figures. Thundercracker takes everything great about the progenitor Masterpiece figures and adds lessons learned in transformation, figure accuracy, and toy engineering. By deleting the waist tail fins and shoulder bits while correcting the head and arms lends to a near perfect representation of the original Seeker Jet design for the classic Sun Bow G1 cartoon. This mold is the definitive mold for the Seekers and a great work of toy engineering.

*Image Courtesy of TFW2005

#6 Transformers Masterpiece Sideswipe - Sideswipe is notably a return to the super deluxe accurate car robot formula that Takara Tomy / Hasbro started with the Binaltech / Alternator toy line (but in a non-diecast affordable way). While there were reported quality control problems with this release, my toy was superb. This is how Sideswipe should be in all his classic G1 Lambor greatness. He's perfectly to scale with the new Masterpiece scale and just a very solid Transformer toy. I'm happy they are releasing Red Alert but I hope Takara Tomy are planning to expand the line with other G1 characters (Please sign a license with Nissan in 2013 and get the rights to the Datsun 280 ZX, we need Prowl, Silver Streak, and Smoke Screen!).

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#5 Transformers Botcon Shattered Glass Junkions - As a whole, this set is probably one of the best toy sets to come out in a while. Offered at Botcon 2012, this set includes Wrek-gar, Junk Heap, and Scrap Heap. While Wrek-gar and Junk Heap were available domestically in their regular colors, Scrap Heap was only available as part of a Transformers Untied Japan only e-hobby exclusive set so the character and toy mold is super rare among western collectors. Also, the recoloring from the normal Transformers Movie color scheme to the Shattered Glass purple, black, and yellow Insecticon color scheme is a stroke of genius. All in all, a very exceptional set of toys.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#4 Transformers Prime First Edition Optimus Prime - Considering this excellent toy might not have even made it to a US release, this iteration of Optimus Prime is ridiculously cool. He's definitely more show accurate in my eyes and also designed more aggressively than his Transformers RID Voyager counterpart. Also his weapons are traditional weapons designed to look like they are transforming out of his arms like the show (not like the retarded light box that the RID Voyager's Mech Tech gun and gimpy sword are). It still baffles me that this figure was released in North America an entire year after he was released worldwide. What a cluster f*ck your product planning and distribution has become Hasbro. I guess that's what happens when you triple production and distribution since the Bay movies came out. Overall, the definitive Transformers Prime Optimus Prime figure and a must have for 2012.

#3 Macross 1/55 VE-1 Elint Seeker Valkyrie - Another vintage goodie purchased in 2012. Arguably the most rare and sought after Valkyrie from the original Takatoku design era of the 80's, the Elint Seeker takes the standard Valkyrie toy and adds a bunch of unique bells and whistles to make it a one of a kind toy. Featuring a new head sculpt, altered super armor parts and AWACs radar dish, this toy is super special in the eyes of Takatoku Valkyrie collectors and the last piece I needed to complete me collection. This toy is also probably the one toy purchased in 2012 that I am most proud of from a collector stand point. 

#2 Make Toys Green Giant - This thing is a beast. I mean BEAST! The engineering and planning to design, produce, and assemble this third-party set is astounding. While smaller and less expensive than the Hercules figure put out by TFC, Green Giant also does not suffer from balance issues or production defects. In my opinion, Green Giant is the superior toy. Design wise, he fits in more with the other third-party produced combiners by rival company Fans Project and his design is more anime style and less western comic style. Overall a really great set which rises above and beyond the expectations on all fronts from individual robots, vehicle modes, and combined form. This set seriously cements the foundation that third-party companies are here to stay especially when they are producing gems like Green Giant and all Takra Tomy / Hasbro can come up to compete is the atrocious FOC Bruticus set in 3 god awful color scheme flavors.

*Image Courtesy of Seibertron.com

#1 Transformers Masterpiece Optimus Prime (TRU Exclusive) - Last but also the number one on the best of 2012 list it Transformers Masterpiece Optimus Prime (TRU Exclusive). It really goes to show you how much the insane markup is on toys these days. The original Takara Tomy toy MP-10 went for around $200 give or take the international exchange rate. The release of the TRU figure online one year later was $100 (although Toys R Us did raise the price to $120 despite the fact that the shipping cartons of the toys were still marked $100, yeh you know you either messed up or are greedy TRU). While not the size or build of the original Masterpiece Optimus Prime MP-01, this little guy en-capsules all the articulation and design learned from the previous release like the before mentioned Masterpiece Seeker mold. This Optimus is the perfect representation of the G1 character per his scale and comes with his trailer, roller, Energon Axe, Ion Blaster Rife, and a little spike mini figure with 4 points of 6 points of articulation. Definitively, the best toy released in 2012 per price point, accessories, design, and motif.  

Happy New Year all. Hope 2013 will be a even better year for everyone. Putting toy collecting aside, let's all give thanks for what we are blessed to have (loved ones, family, and friends) and work harder for the future. Cheers!

Happy New Years!!!

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 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.