Transformers: Generations Insecticons: Kickback, Bombshell and Shrapnel

 

 Ah, spring. That magical time of year when the weather begins changing and a man’s thoughts turn to being on the lookout for bugs to squash in the apartment. It has taken quite some time, but we’ve finally got a complete trio of the G1 Insecticons, all in the same size class and generally similar appearance. I’m not sure if we want to call them “Classics” Insecticons, but they may be as close as we’ll ever get from Hasbro.

Ah, Insecticons. Some kind of special forces saboteur specialist bounty hunter covert operations team, apparently capable of handling any role the Decepticon cause asked of them. They were the first of the subgroups, and as I recall were meant to oppose the Dinobots for a while, until the Constructicons appeared.

So, how to proceed? Do we start with the best one and work our way down the line? Do we start with the new guy, and then work backwards in time?

No. We’ll begin with the oldest and work our way to the present. Shrapnel, rechristened as “Skrapnel,” was released in the Generations line in 2014, and was repainted and rereleased as Combiner Wars Chop Shop just last year, in the final wave of Legends class figures for that toy line. Since we’ve already taken a pretty good look at Chop Shop, I’ll only need a few moments to comment on the differences found with the original use of the mold. As I had noted in the article on Chop Shop, Shrapnel has a different head, which is pretty incredible for a Legends scale figure. Generations Shrapnel was part of the brief incarnation of the Legends class that paired the Legends figure with essentially a Targetmaster partner, as they all came with tiny companions that in theory had three modes themselves: robot, weapon and alt mode, such as they were. At their size, the companion figures transformed by standing up and/or flipping one or maybe two panels over, and were not real successful at any of the three attempts. “Skrapnel” came with Reflector, a single robot that turned into a large camera and an unwieldy blaster that is intended to evoke memories of the blaster G1 Shrapnel had. It is mostly unsuccessful, although the camera mode does look decent, and can peg into the underside of the fuselage of the Combiner Wars Leader class Seekers, which is kind of cool. It is limited by the fact that it basically has to be underslung when mounted, as the robot form is 100% visible if not done this way. Shrapnel is overall a good figure, and looks good in the black, purple and yellow Insecticon uniform.

Bombshell was released as part of the Combiner Wars line and “featured” a third mode, that of a large, beetle-shaped weapon, to be incorporated into a larger combiner-based play pattern. The mode was not listed or advertised on any of the official material, so the instruction sheet and card back didn’t list this, but it was figured out fairly easily by fans. Bombshell wasn’t officially partnered up with any group or team, but for a brief time I had him with Menasor, for his lack of blaster weaponry. It was ok.

Robot mode for Bombshell hits all the right marks, and overall the figure is a very strong, very faithful update of the original toy. The transformation sequence is pretty much the same as that of the original figure, and apparently, although I’ve never done the work to check this, the Generations Insecticons are the same size as the G1 Insecticon figures. How that works out, I don’t know, because when I was a kid (get ready for a long, pointless story here). Man, when I was a kid this one guy at school had Kickback and I remember asking him if I could see it one time. Boy, I was careful as hell with that toy, partially because I’d been taught well by my parents and didn’t go around purposely trying to break other people’s things, and also because even as a kid I had a bit of the collector in me. I was more interested in checking Kickback out, like seeing how he transformed and everything, than anything else. But I was always pretty careful with my toys. I remember borderline panicking, literally a panic, if I couldn’t find all the missiles for my G.I. Joe vehicles, and one distinct memory of trying to psyche myself up so as to crash a Transformer into a wall as part of an adventure they were on, and not being able to bring myself to do it. When I was a little older a new family moved in next door and they had two sons, both younger than me. I remember absolutely cringing because they were slamming Pretenders into the dirt in their yard. I could not believe anyone would do that to their toys.

 

Now, where was I? Oh, right. Apparently the new Insecticons are the same size as the originals, which is kind of mindblowing, because these guys are so little, and the originals always seemed so big. And for Bombshell to have the same general transformation scheme, well, I think one of two things: either the G1 figures weren’t that great, or the new figures are nice looking but overall lazy updates. We all know that the first idea is absurd, and in truth, not just as some fanboying. The original Insecticon trio comes from late 1970’s or early 1980’s engineering, and for their size and complexity they are pretty awesome. If you’ve never experienced the G1 Insecticons before, I really recommend them. They can be hard real cheaply on eBay, and have been reissued a hundred times by now if you’d prefer fresh, new ones. The second idea is probably but misleading: don’t think these are lazy updates, but rather that they fit the general pattern of several Titans Return figures in that they are trying to return to the G1 transformation schemes, and in that, Bombshell is a great success. He’s got some pretty good poseability for a Legends sized figure, but that’s a line we really ought to retire. The Legends class is traditionally a torso with a bunch of ball joints attached to it, so as long as there’s not any parts hanging off or panels that don’t move enough, there’s very, very little that will impede motion. Shrapnel and Bombshell both have issues with the insect legs, because they are constantly in the way of motion, and are attached to the robot arms and legs respectively, so they do get in the way of all kinds of poses. Bombshells’ do fold into the hollow legs somewhat, and he does manage the bug legs better than Shrapnel does, for sure. Also, the bug horn head piece is like one joint too short, so it can’t really be angled over the head in robot mode, instead working best when it’s just sticking straight up behind. This is not really an issue, but I just thought I’d mention it. Bombshell has no accessories.

Bombshell is also the beginning of the problems with the trio. The yellow paint used on Bombshell is a darker, more orange shade of yellow than that on Shrapnel, and so for some people, this ruins the group look forever. Forever. Man, that sucks, doesn’t it? He’s also a slightly different shade of purple, a bit darker, but to be totally honest, I only notice that under certain lighting conditions. And besides, I don’t find the differences to be all that horrifying, but maybe that just means I have low, low standards.

If anyone messes up the group look, it would be Kickback. Part of the Titans Return line, Kickback has to incorporate some playability for a Titanmaster, and does so through his best visual feature: a translucent chestplate that opens to fit a Titanmaster cumbersomely inside. It is ridiculous. A Titanmaster sits on Kickbacks’ back and the plastic cover is unable to close, so it looks like a child riding one of the large animal-shaped cars on a carousel. Assinine. Anyway, the translucent plastic is the best thing about the look of this figure, but it is also unique to this figure, as the yellow chests of the other two Insecticons are both solid plastic painted over. A real bummer, as all three of the G1 Insecticons had that translucent chest, and that would have been a real strong look for these three new ones. Personally I’m torn over how severe this is in a group shot: sometimes, I look at all three and barely notice; other times I’ll glance at them and it’s all I can see, and it makes me upset.

Kinda had to get a picture after I talked about this.

 

 

As an individual toy, Kickback is ok. I really liked him initially, but as I’ve had more time to spend on him, things start to bug me more. While he does manage to get the insect legs out of the way, the robot arms are long, too long, and the shoulders don’t tab in securely or at all on my figure, so the robot arms are basically posed by holding the shoulder in place to swing the arm in whatever direction is desired. Oh, I get it, I just got it now. It ‘bugs’ me lol. The rear insect legs fold out from tucked in positions inside the robot calves, and they are fairly neat because they do have a swing out lower grasshopper leg part, which is cool. The insect mode looks good in general, as it even manages the large bug head without it being the robot head as well. That was something that I was real keen on the first time transforming him. Robot arms wing beneath the body and form an abdomen, which is actually pretty neat. The insect wings are mounted on ball joints and can be positioned in a variety of ways, but they are attached to the insect legs, and in robot mode, the arrangement just sticks off the back. The wings can be positioned upwards, like the original cartoon look for the character, but I totally forgot about that when I was taking pictures. While my initial reaction was something more like a “wow” than a “meh,” Kickback has cooled off in my estimate, now settling in to his role of “getting the job done.” He also comes with no accessories.

As far as the group works together, the Generations Insecticons get the job done. In the days since I learned that these figures are the same size as the originals, I’ve warmed up to the group a bit more. Which is not to say that I disliked them before, because I was pretty impressed with Chop Shop last year, and I really did like Bombshell from the very beginning. These are good figures when you consider what they are: they’re Legends class toys. I am not trying to wave that around like an “everything is accepted” flag, but if you think of them for their size class and the inherent limitations that that means, I think you’re left with few valid complaints. My big one is the insect legs on Shrapnel/Chop Shop simply do not go anywhere in robot mode, and they get in the way. Kickback’s shoulders are another real big problem, almost enough to sink the figure for me, because it does not stick together as a robot. Kickback in robot mode is also a bit too lanky for my personal aesthetic taste, as I prefer the chunkier nature of Bombshell. While I can’t say anything too terrible about the trio, I do feel the need these days to mention that there are a number of third party Insecticons on the market these days, so if these guys don’t do it for you, there are other options. But the Generations Insecticons will certainly fill a space in your collection, and I think they do it well enough to be happy with them.

Apparently, according to rumors online, the final three Deluxe Insecticons (Barrage, Ransack and Venom) are coming either at the end of the Titans Return line, or in the next one, which we now know will be called Power of the Primes. The current idea is that Barrage will be a Bombshell remake and Ransack a Kickback do-over, with Venom probably being that as well. I’m not sure how I feel about this, as if they are merely Chop Shop level repaints, I think they’ll be easy to pass on at the store. Also, it appears that the aftermarket prices on Shrapnel and Bombshell are going up, and I read someone on one of the fansites postulating that Hasbro may rerelease the three as a set or something, something that sounded pretty unlikely to me, unless it were to come in the form of an overpriced Platinum set. In order for that to be true, Hasbro would probably have to figure out a way to include “Classics” Hot Rod again, as he seems to be a part of every second boxed set since 2010. And then, an image of “Classics” Hot Rod and Generations Kup flashed through my mind, recreating the scene from Transformers: The Movie when Insecticons are eating through the door and the Autobot duo jumps the gap to squish them. Suddenly, I felt an interest in such a boxed set, despite owning all the figures involved, and feeling no need to purchase them again.

See, this is how Hasbro gets you.