Transformers: Titans Return Astrotrain

 

 

Now that the semester is finally over, I can get caught up on some toys. I have had things sitting around for months now, and just had never had the opportunity to take pictures of them. Every review posted between the start of November and the Star Wars figures yesterday were all done from pictures I took one day in October, when my wife and I called off sick from work. I spent an entire day taking pictures, and still didn’t finish everything I had at the time; and then, as happens, new toys were added, and my list was really starting to get out of control. I took some new pictures earlier this week, and now have new old things I can finally write on. And oh man, do I have some brand new stuff, which will all be old by the time I finally get it on here.

The first of these old new toys is Voyager class Astrotrain. This is only my second dip into the Titans Return Voyager class, as I passed on the “original” use of this mold, the blazing orange Sentinel Prime, and laughed my way right past that hideous Alpha Trion. Astrotrain is a good figure that has some real strengths and some real weaknesses.

Star Wars: The Black Series Imperial Deathtrooper Specialist, Captain Cassian Andor and Sergeant Jyn Erso

One more set of Rogue One figures before I go see the movie. It is currently 3.24 pm in Chicago, and we’ve got 7.30 tickets. 

This trio of figures is the Target exclusive for the movie, and, just as last years’ Target exclusive pack did, contains a Trooper and some actual characters. Two this time, both of whom in this present moment we still know little to nothing about: Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso, who has always been the main character of the movie, from the very first second of the very first teaser. And again, a slightly modified Trooper, so that the ‘battle in a box’ format is maintained. It should come as no surprise that my interest in the set was the Deathtrooper, but, just as was the case last year, I’m sure that once I’ve seen the movie, the other figures will become more significant to me. 

Star Wars: The Black Series Scarif Trooper Commander, Scarif Stormtrooper and Imperial Hovertank Pilot

 Oh boy! The day has finally arrived! Tonight, we are going to see Rogue One, the first Star Wars spinoff or standalone movie, after over a year of waiting and hype! What better way that to kick off the big day than with a review of some Rogue One figures?

This trio of figures is getting a single review because, aside from some paint, belts and helmets, they are the exact same toy. Two of them are store exclusives, while the one that would have made the most sense to be a store exclusive is the mass retail release.

Transformers: Titans Return Weirdwolf

 

 

Weirdwolf is a character and toy that will always, always have a real special place in my heart. Originally characterized as just a strange dude who spoke in bizarre, rhythmic phrases and as a result was disliked by comrades, Dreamwave’s stellar More Than Meets The Eye guidebooks established Weirdwolf as a poet back in the old days on Cybertron. He has always been a strange, offbeat characterization, although never much of a character. I think the last fiction he appeared in was the Botcon comic from 2007, because a Botcon Weirdwolf was one of the “Games of Deception” set add-on figures. I remember, in 2006 or 2007, when the G1 Decepticon Headmasters were the figures I was actively hunting for, Weirdwolf was the last one I acquired, and was super excited to have finally done so.  Titans Return Weirdwolf, or “Wolfwire” as they have now branded him, was an anticipated figure here at the Coffin, and is maybe the one figure from Wave 2 that is good and fun and exciting from start to finish.

Transformers: Titans Return Brainstorm

 Brainstorm is a Walgreens exclusive. That just never sounds right to me. 

A reworking of the totally outstanding Titans Return Blur, Brainstorm is a really gorgeous figure that does all the same things well that Blur does well. The face sculpt is terrific, the remolded front end piece for the vehicle mode is great, the overall appearance is great. 

Original and mint flavored.

Transformers: Titans Return Highbrow

 Highbrow is the second use of the basic concept of the Scourge mold. The two share a general transformation pattern, although it is pretty hard to tell that just by looking at the two of them. The main similarities end up being the extending waist part and the general way the arms connect to the side of the body for transformation.

Aside from that, the two figures are pretty different, and that is good on some ends nad not so good on another. Let’s start with the good things.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise Starscream

My general unfamiliarity with this line makes me uncertain how to title this entry. I’m pretty sure the toyline is called Robots in Disguise, but I could be mistaken. The line is connected to the current cartoon, which by most accounts is good if you can find a way to view it. This toyline gets a lot of love on the fan boards, but it isn’t much of an interest to me. I bought this figure because it is a Starscream, and a pretty darn good one. So, without any strong attachments to the line or the fiction it represents, how do we feel about this Robots in Disguise Starscream?

Star Wars: The Black Series Boba Fett (Prototype)

 Not many Star Wars fans need any introduction to Boba Fett, Exhibit A in any argument that deals with the development of an utter icon that began its life as a throwaway. 

So, now that that introduction is out of the way, the design for Boba Fett was originally supposed to serve as armor for some kind of super Stormtrooper, a commando of sorts. Designed by total legend Ralph McQuarrie, Boba Fett underwent some design changes and ended up as the cool, silent bounty hunter everyone loves, and then later was saddled with backstory that was unnecessary by the prequel movie Episode II: Attack of the Clones. This figure, one of the ever-puzzling Walgreens exclusives of recent years, is a representation of Boba Fett in that prototype Stormtrooper-ish armor.

Star Wars: The Black Series Death Trooper

Here we are again, all of this familiar territory. It is December. The semester is ending. A new Star Wars movie is coming in three short weeks – Rogue One, the first of the standalone, anthology movies – which means that while my students are frantically trying to appeal to me with harrowing tales of why they were slacking for the first fifteen weeks of a sixteen week semester and thus, deserve some mercy, my mind is drifting ahead to a new adventure in a galaxy far, far away. Toys for Rogue One began showing up over a month ago, and I made a preliminary foray into writing about them, but decided to hold off with the rest until December came and the movie was closer at hand. That way, I’d get to spend some time right before the movie releases focusing my hype attention on the new movie. 

Rogue One is set before A New Hope, and so for the first time in forever we have a generally known quantity going in. We know that this will be a story of the Empire vs. the Rebellion, and that means one very important thing: new Stormtroopers.

Coffin Shaker: Metallica – Hardwired…To Self Destruct

Here we go again with Metallica. Once such a cornerstone outfit in heavy metal music, Metallica has certainly undergone their mutations over the last twenty six years. While a lot of this was covered in my review ofSt. Anger, I find it necessary to revisit for their newest offering, Hardwired…To Self Destruct, an album I greeted with great caution and am so far immensely puzzled by. I can’t help but feel confused by this album as a whole, all twelve songs of the two-disc arrangement. Unlike fuller, more oppressive two-disc albums like Iron Maiden’s Book of Souls, Hardwired isn’t more than 80 minutes long, but rather is a 77 minute affair purposely broken up onto two discs, an odd move in the current time where music can be digitally acquired and stored, which makes the two discs, even if done for some kind of thematic reason, totally unnecessary. This isn’t the days of tapes, where too long a tape was more prone to breakage over time, and there is absolutely not enough content here for two CDs, which hold 80 minutes of music apiece. So, what the fuck, Metallica?