Transformers: Power of the Primes Blackwing

 

It has been a long time since we’ve taken time for any official Transformers product, so let’s break that streak with Blackwing here. Warning: it’s not going to be pretty.

Transformers: Power of the Primes Dreadwind

 

Power of the Primes Dreadwind is a pretty extensive reworking of the Combiner Wars Sky Dive figure, which has never been featured on this blog by itself, but is a part of the G2 Superion boxed set, the Unite Warriors Grand Galvatron boxed set (as the Ghost of Starscream), and the Platinum Edition Liokaiser boxed set, as Fellbat. After so many reuses as different, remolded characters, it seems fitting that the mold pulls a Titans Return Chromedome and is employed yet again at the start of a new, different toy line.

Grave Considerations: Transformers Titans Return Final Thoughts/Power of the Primes Pre-Thoughts

In keeping with the age old tradition established at the end of Combiner Wars, I wanted to take some time and give a closing thought on the current Transformers toy line before its successor, Power of the Primes, launches . . . whenever it’s going to launch. Like its own predecessor, Titans Return has been a line of good things, and a line of infuriating distribution.

Transformers: Unite Warriors Megatronia

It seems like it was forever ago, but Takara’s Unite Warriors line once released a completely random, out of left field box set of repaints in the form of the bizarre and wonderful Grand Galvatron. Several subsequent sets have passes and there was nothing else quite as strange. Until Megatronia came along.

Megatronia is a totally strange combiner team consisting of five of the six members of the Victorion team, and exists, it seems, solely to allow Takara to get some mileage out of the new heads and parts that were used in that set. The team is comprised of leader, torso, silver firetruck and “Empress of Destruction” Megaempress, built from spare Megatron parts and basically being a crazed girl version of Megatron; pink helicopter and Starscream fangirl Lunaclub; blue helicopter and Soundwave disciple Moonheart; purple sports car and former spy in the employ of Shockwave Flowspade; and yellow sports car and black market Swindle associate Trickdiamond. The four limbs serve as the royal guards to Megaempress, and could conceivably be seen as female versions of the male Decepticons they admire or were associated with.

Transformers: Platinum Edition Liokaiser

 

 

The Platinum Edition series of Transformers toys is a loosely organized series of collector-focused, collector-grade, mostly reissued figures. In spirit, it finds its origins in the beloved G1 book-style reissue figures that first began appearing in 2004/2005 area. Those were, and would largely continue to be, Toys R Us exclusives, and were the first domestically available presentations of G1 figures like Ultra Magnus and Starscream and Grapple since the 1980’s. This line, then titled the Commemorative Series, would eventually provide reissues of Soundwave, Perceptor and the original three Insecticons before morphing into the Platinum Edition line, which would spread its label over a vaster array of toys: G1 reissues like the Predacons; special editions or packagings of existent and current figures like Fall of Cybertron Grimlock and the Combaticons; and even new, otherwise unattainable figures like the Weaponizer class Ultra Magnus from Transformers: Prime. G1 reissues would continue, including another Perceptor as well as Coneheads and Trypticon, along with random Bliztwing and Astrotrain recolors. Platinum Edition essentially means toys with a gussied-up paint job and manufactured exclusivity, kind of a retail-level Botcon piece, I suppose.

Transformers: Unite Warriors Computron

Right now, I’m unsure about a lot of things. Things aren’t making sense the way they should. I don’t know what to do, or where to start doing things I that I know I need to do.

So I figure Unite Warriors Computron might be a good review to work on. This review is long overdue, as this isn’t even a new release any more, having been in my possession since September. I don’t know, even as I sit down to write this, how I want to proceed: should I do individual figures; should I just do the whole thing as a whole? I didn’t know; I don’t know even as I sit to start working on it. I think I’m just going to wing it. I'm just going to sit down and try, because that is how I figure things out.

Unite Warriors Computron is another entry in the long list of toys in the “That Figure Will Never Happen” Hall of Fame. Like two years ago, a Combiner Wars Scattorshot was announced at SDCC, and the idea immediately took hold that Combiner Wars Technobots were on the way. By Botcon of that year, Hasbro had denied this idea, citing the ever accurate, iron clad “No Plans At the Moment” defense. Naturally, a portion of the fandom took this to mean Never. Of course, there are two Computrons on the market currently.

Transformers: Combiner Wars G2 box sets

 

Theoretically, we are deep into the first wave or two of the new Titans Return toyline at this date in late August. Theoretically. I have yet to see anything more than the $5 head robots in stores, and I’m certainly not buying those; although, the single time I did see them in store, I legitimately gave a relieved exhale that they were priced at the low price they are, and not attempting to masquerade as $10 toys, in this day where Deluxes are trying as hard as they can to stay under $17: and by ‘trying to stay under,’ I mean the $16.99 I saw them listed for at Target. Anyway, we are supposed to be well on our way into the new line, but I’ve not seen them at all in stores. So, I’m choosing to stick with happier, more plentiful times and lines, and am going to retreat once more (at least) into Combiner Wars.

Transformers: Combiner Wars Sky Lynx

Here we are in July, the summer in full swing. Initial sightings of the new Titans Return line are popping up on the various fan sites, so I thought this would be a good time to finally get a review done for a figure that, like the aforementioned Titans Return toys, I have not yet seen at retail.

Back in April, Combiner Wars Sky Lynx was starting to show up randomly in the wild across the country. Reports that people were finding it at random Targets or Toys R Us’ gave hope to what at the time was a spreading belief that Sky Lynx was going to be that end of a line toy that no one ever found, following in the footsteps of so many really cool figures that are released in the dying light of a series that never makes it to shelves because the new series is being rolled out. At C2E2 I found one vendor with a Sky Lynx, but at the chuckle inducing price of $45. 

Transformers: Unite Warriors Grand Galvatron

  

Here’s something that’s pretty interesting.

Unite Warriors is the Takara version of Combiner Wars, and is responsible for bringing us in the US the left out combiner team members like Slingshot, Wildrider and Groove. Essentially, Unite Warriors is only releasing box sets of full combiner teams, generally with improved or ‘more accurate’ paint schemes. The general release schedule has been following the US releases or announcements of teams, so there is something of a 1 to 1 ratio between Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors. Hasbro does Superion; Takara does Superion. Hasbro does Defensor; Takara does Defensor. Hasbro released a seemingly random and superfluous Cyclonus, serving as the torso of a limbless, teamless combiner called “Galvatronous”; Takara releases….Grand Galvatron, the Cybertronian Haunt Commander.

What?

Transformers: Combiner Wars Defensor and Protectobots

Heavily armed to protect the shit out of you.

This set has been a long time coming. Two days before my wedding almost one year ago, I bought Streetwise and Blades. One of the only times I saw Hot Spot in a store was last August on my honeymoon, in Germany. I don’t remember when I got First Aid, and didn’t find Rook until September. Groove – real Groove, Deluxe Groove- arrived Tuesday. So it took a year, but I’m finally making time to talk about Combiner Wars Defensor. He’s been on my to-do list, but I kept putting him off for reasons unknown, and then when preorders for Groove went up, I figured I’d wait until he came in, so I could do an overall Defensor entry. 

Transformers: Combiner Wars Groove

"Never."

 

One thing that I absolutely love about toy-based fandoms is the quickness with which some members rush to yell from the highest mountains that a figure will never, ever be released because the producing company says that they aren’t releasing one right now. As an unrelated reminder, there is still plenty of time to decide which of the two Combiner Wars Computrons you want, and . . . . wait, is that a Deluxe class Combiner Wars Groove? As in, original G1 Protectobot Groove?

It certainly is. Preorders for it went up like a month ago, all from overseas dealers, as Groove is some kind of Asian exlcusive. Then, not long after that, news leaked that Hasbro would be releasing Groove domestically at some point in May, but orders for that have yet to go up online.

Grave Considerations: Transformers Combiner Wars

It has been known that the Combiner Wars line would be ending at the end of 2015, and that 2016 would see the start of a new toyline. I have written on a lot of the Combiner Wars figures, and while there are still a few coming that will no doubt be covered before things are really over, I wanted to take a bit of time and discuss the line as a whole.

This was a line that gave Transformers fans and collectors an opportunity to get updated versions – quality updated versions – of G1 combiner teams. In many ways, it was a continuation years later of the “Classics” line, that one which has been resurrected on and off if not officially then in spirit for certain, from 2007. Combiner Wars carried that torch by providing representations of G1 characters in as close to G1 as possible of a fashion, and the results were generally terrific. On the whole, figures were posable and detailed, and were very good looking. The Deluxe class worked great for the limb bots and the Voyager size allowed for large, imposing looking combined forms that captured the proportions of a five robot combo so well. 

Transformers: Combiner Wars (and Generations) Trailbreaker(s)

  

Damn it Combiner Wars, stop making me buy you.

The second set of Autobot repaints yielded two good figures and two boring figures. Smokescreen and Trailbreaker are colorful and interesting looking toys; Wheeljack and Hound are boring as all get out. I knew from the moment I saw Trailbreaker in a store that I would be waging a war against myself until I bought him, and I think I did a good job of holding out for a while. Had I not bought him now, I’d have picked him up on the secondary market at some point.

Transformers: Combiner Wars Starscream

I’ve already talked about this mold, and I’ve spent a lot of time talking about various Starscream figures, but I want to hit both topics once more here. 

The Leader class Jetfire/Seeker mold is now one that has certainly shouldered its share of reuses. Such is life for any figure that is going to represent any of the main Seeker trio, and there is probably a sigh of relief let go by the mold when the third use is done, knowing that a Conehead can’t easily be made from the same steel plates. “Three uses. . . and now my time is ended,” the mold whispers, before it probably just gets thrown away. This particular mold was used four times, and it was only while taking these pictures that I remembered Jetfire came first. Upon initial news that Jetfire was to be dressed up as Thundercracker, many were skeptical that such a reuse of the figure would be successful, but it really was. The Jetfire and Seeker variants of this seem in places like completely different figures, despite being one of Combiner Wars less intensive reuses.

Transformers: Combiner Wars Shockwave

At C2E2 I found a guy who said he’d bought the inventory of a toy store and had basically set up a booth to sell as much of the merchandise as he could. It must have been a Toys R Us, because he had several of the Toys R Us Masterpiece Bluestreaks on hand. Everything he had was listed at below retail prices, except for things he knew were going to be in demand due to newness, and those things he only marked a few dollars higher than similar items. He had Combiners Wars Scattershot for like $22, while Cyclonus was $18. The booth was a goldmine. . . mainly of toys I already had. But, he had the newest wave of Combiner Wars Legends figures, and from that selection I obtained Chop Shop and Shockwave.

Shockwave is the Legends class partner for Bruticus, and his card bio claims that he created the Combaticons. Lol, no. This egregious blasphemy aside, Shockwave doesn’t have a third mode like the other Legends lil’ buddy figures: his alt mode is his usual and proper space gun form, which then Bruticus wields, just like in that one episode of the G1 cartoon. Bruticus can hold Shockwave in hand, or he can be mounted on Bruticus’ back, but that doesn’t really add anything to the combined figure. 

Transformers: Combiner Wars Onslaught and Bruticus

Finally, after all these years. I finally, thanks to Amazon, finally got an Onslaught, and so my Combiner Wars Combaticons are complete. I want to do two things in this entry: talk about Onslaught, and then talk about Bruticus. But, thanks to a C2E2 buy, there will be more Bruticus talk later, but I can’t write about that part until I get this part out. Heavy lies the head, right?

The "Right" Way

The "Also OK" Way

Onslaught is a repaint/mold of Hot Spot, and in vehicle mode is some kind of military truck. The entire central part of the truck is the Bruticus chestplate and head. Hot Spot, being a fire truck, worked a little bit better in terms of incorporating the combiner elements into vehicle mode, but

Transformers: Combiner Wars Chop Shop

The first of my C2E2 gets is the brand new, never-before-seen-in-stores-by-me Legends class Chop Shop, a repaint of Generations (I think….?) Shrapnel sans Minicon Reflector. Chop Shop is the same figure as Shrapnel, but with a new head, which is pretty amazing, given that this is a Legends class figure.

The mold itself is a pretty good one, and I often find myself fiddling with Shrapnel, even after all this time. The insect mode and robot mode are both perfect for Shrapnel, and both work terrifically for Chop Shop as well. I find this a little surprising, as the standard reuse plan for the Legends class seems to be just repaint this into somebody else, and don’t worry about it. Thus, that Legends Optimus Prime because Nemesis Prime, and then Huffer, and then Pipes. Essentially because they’re all trucks. Huffer got a new head at least, which then also became Pipes.

Transformers: Combiner Wars Rook

 Rook is another of the new characters and designs for the Combiner Wars line, along with Off Road and Alpha Bravo. Rook is the replacement for Groove among the Protectobot ranks, swapping out a police motorcycle for some kind of police/SWAT transport. I find him to be a strange addition to the team, vehicle wise, and while I do see him being a member of a search and rescue team, I think large, armored police vehicle in the world of 2015/16 USA is a choice that comes with a little more subtext than Hasbro may have intended.

Transformers: Combiner Wars Smokescreen

We have had a full-on toy draught in my area, seemingly for months. Whispers and rumors of both Onslaught and Sky Lynx showing up in my area have sent my wife and I on more than a few frantic Target runs, only to find shelves empty save for a Motormaster. And it has been this way with Star Wars figures as well. I feel my heart skip upon seeing a fresh set of Black Series boxes hanging from pegs only to get close to them and see rows of jacket Finns and that constable guy. Combaticon Deluxes are showing up more regularly now, but I don’t need those; twice I’ve seen the second batch of Autobot repaints, the Sky Reign team, but don’t have any interest in them. At all. I don’t want a super plain Wheeljack, and had I not bought Ironhide, I’d probably go for Trailbreaker, and may if there’s ever a real good sale, but otherwise, no. And I’m not a real fan of the Rook/Swindle mold, so Hound has no real appeal for me. 

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Combaticons

Yeah bro, I love combining robots, they're so . . . AAAHHHH!!!!

Early in January, interesting news began to pop up regarding future Combiner Wars releases. Images, incomplete and unofficial at first, began appearing that seemed to be showing parts of two new combiner figures, Computron and Liokaiser. The Technobots have been a terribly kept secret, as there is a Scattershot figure coming to mass retail, and one of the Botcon toys for 2016 is Brawl with a drill. Really, only Hasbro brand hyper loyalists, the kind that religiously repeat mantras of Hasbro being some infallible entity, denied the eventuality of Computron, mainly because a year ago Hasbro said they weren’t planning one right now, which, in Hasbro sycophant, translates into ‘guaranteed, never, ever ever.’ 

Liokaiser is a surprise, the Japanese only gestalt that lots of fans love having zero American presence whatsoever. The leaked photos of box art got me ramblin’ at the wife again, this time about the interesting elements the original Liokaiser figures introduced to the world of transforming, merging robots. Things like the integrated hands and feet, elements that are always bemoaned by fans and collectors for having not been included in other combining figures, Combiner Wars included. People often cry out, “Liokasier has integrated hands; why can’t Hasbro do that? It was possible in the late 80’s; why not in 20**?” 

Hasbro did try it once. It was Fall of Cybertron Bruticus.

Clearly the most ambitious figures of the Fall of Cybertron line were the Combaticons, and their combined form of Bruticus. This was to be the first combiner toy following the bizarre and generally disliked Power Core Combiners line, which hadn’t really worked out as well as it sh/could have. But, that’s another story for another time. Prior to Power Core, the live action Devastator was the most recent combiner, and before that, the Unicron Trilogy featured a lot of combine-ing, but only Energon had actual combiners. FoC Bruticus was greeted with optimism, but almost as soon as pictures began to surface, that optimism faded. 

Oh boy. 

I almost don’t know where to start.