Transformers: Masterpiece Ramjet

If you’ve read my Ghosts of Christmas Presents series of reviews from last December, you’re probably aware of the tendency my wife has to buy me really awesome and occasionally really rare Transformers figures. My birthday was a few weekends ago, and I turned a spry 38 years old. My wife got me a really excellent two part gift: the first part is the Takara Mall exclusive Masterpiece Ramjet.

Ramjet is the first (we now know) of the Coneheads released in the Masterpiece line. Starting from the MP-11 Starscream body, Ramjet is a heavy modification that makes a lot of improvements to that figure, and has one of the most satisfying transformation steps that I’ve come across in some time. I took a picture of it, so don’t worry. Just try to process your excitement, and we’ll get to it soon enough. 

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. 

Coffin Shakers: Metallica – St. Anger

There is a moment in the making of video for The Phantom Menace where, considering young actors to portray childhood Anakin Skywalker, George Lucas decides on a particular youngster that I am not going to rag on here, but was clearly not the best choice. After making this proclamation, yes man Rick McCallum opens his mouth and a stream of congratulations and agreements pour out, while a

Transformers: Generations Brainstorm

  

With the imminent arrival of the Titans Return line which will focus exclusively on the Headmaster gimmick, I thought this might be a good time to write up Generations Brainstorm, the first in the new generation of Headmaster.

In case anyone doesn’t know, the Headmasters are one of the stranger G1 concepts. Speaking only for the American branch of the fiction, the *-masters were full-fledged Cybertronians who took on a symbiotic partnership with residents of the planet Nebulous, whose indigenous Nebulons were engaged in a generations-long civil war themselves. For some reason, certain Nebulons offered their services to the Cybertronians, becoming tiny exosuit wearing partners that transformed into the heads (Headmasters), weapons (Targetmasters), or most puzzlingingly later on, engines (Powermasters) for the larger robots, approximating the “two heads are better than one” approach to life. With this development coming post-’86 movie, the robots had sleeker, more futuristic and abstract vehicle modes, and somehow that kind of made this wacky concept work. The Autobots entries in these three categories were generally cars, while the Decepticons got a boost to their air force as well as an assortment of animals.

Transformers: Collectors Club Depth Charge

In 2006, Botcon had a pre-Beast Wars focus, imagining the crews of the Axalon and Darksyde prior to their rough landing on prehistoric Earth. The resulting boxset, the generally highly regarded Dawn of Future Past, gave five takes on Cybertron-mode Beast Wars characters. The core Maximal cast of Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Cheetor and Rattrap, along with then-Predacon Dinobot, were all repainted from Cybertron toys, complete with Cyberkeys painted like the Golden Disks. This pre-Beast Wars  idea, like the similarly excellent Shattered Glass storyline, became a concept that FunPub and the Transformers Collectors Club would return to seemingly whenever they had no strong idea for the coming convention or subscription service, producing some winners and total duds along the way. So, if you’re really invested in this concept, there are Tigatrons and Airrazors and Waspinators and a fantastic Megatron and multiple Tarantulus’ among others to help fill out your displays.

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.