POW!

I got Generations Warpath today!
Quit happy with this guy, they managed to perfectly capture the essence of G1 and added that Generations flavor.



We've already seen the instruction scans showing the new head (presumably giving us Hardhead), but so help me there better be a little something like *this* in the works.


C'mon Hasbro, make me happier!

Generations Jazz, Tracks, and Lugnut

Tracks and Jazz from the TF:Reveal the Shield arrived tonight courtesy of Hasbrotoyshop!I also received an advanced copy (so to speak) of Lugnut.


They are awesome. Tracks I have to give some extra credit to because it's not often I need to refer to the instructions to get those last few steps when changing a TF back from robot to car.
Tracks-overall a solid toy I think. Would I like larger wings? Sure, but considering the 'flight mode' of the G1 toy looked like a silly afterthought anyway, I'm not going to complain. The web feet are only really noticeable if you stare at them, but they serve their purpose-keeping the figure upright. If I have any complaint about this figure, it would be that I wish the arms could shift down a little more at the shoulder. Right now his shoulder joints are almost above the neckline, which bugs me. Shaving off a little plastic should do the trick though.
Of course what really excites me about Tracks is my plan to repaint him into Road Rage-and the inevitable repaint/release from Takara, Hasbro, or FunPub. But until then, the next Tracks I get is slated to go on the slab for the the operation.

Jazz
The first thing I noticed about Jazz is that the boy's got the proportions of a body builder! He completely SHAMES the placeholder Jazz custom I made out of Prowl back in 2008... which by proxy means that he shames Prowl.


Great sculpt, a transformation that takes a little bit of thought, and great poseability. I'm really loving the new open hand design the designers have been implementing. Not everyone needs to be clench-fisted and ready for some fisticuffs.
I am looking forward to seeing this guy repainted into Stepper. Yes indeed.

If your nitpick senses are tingling, it's probably because of what I think is the only noticeable flaw on Jazz. The center strip of plastic that his head rests on rotates up as you move his chest piece down. Unfortunately, there's nothing that pegs into place on the torso or this strip which means the whole setup relies on friction. This could lead to some droopy noggin syndrome down the line as the plastic wears, something that could be avoided if there was a peg or notch that secured the parts into place.
But that's something easy to overlook when you have Jazz in all his robotic glory.


Lugnut.
An amazing leap from Animated to the more modernized Generations look. Though I do have a bit of an issue with his noggin looking like an egg on a stick, I've modified his robot mode a bit to leave more of the canopy leaning forward. It may look silly to some, but I wanted *some* semblance of a thick neck, which is what I always thought Lugnut should have.
I'm looking forward to the more purple-hued TF: United version that's coming out in Japan.

Generations Breakdown

I know Hasbro's giving us all kinds of awesome and amazing things, and I love it.... but...I'm just sayin'... is this too much to ask?


Give us Generations Breakdown dangit!

New Finds

I just found Generations Red Alert and WFC Soundwave at Toys R Us!

I’m not surprised by this, having JUST ordered them both from TFSource because I didn’t think I’d see them until October. Arg. But I did find Banzaitron as well, so that was a neat little surprise. Sadly they won’t be opened until sometime next week after I’m done moving. Then they can join their robotic brethren.

More customs for my Generation 2 shelf

Oops, forgot to post these bad boys.

Combat Convoy!
This actually turned out better than I hoped!

I varied the color placement a bit from my initial digibash (see earlier posts) and kept a little more blue to make him look more like his G2 counterpart.

Decepticon Rage

Leader of the Decepticon Stormtroopers (no, I’m not making that up), Rage is one bad mofo. So bad in fact, he seems to have that Motormaster relationship with his teammates. The funny thing about not only Rage, but his comrades, is that their stats are ridiculously high. Of the four, Rage is technically outranked by two his own troops, and I think all of them have stats that rival Megatron… very interesting. It almost makes me want to see something done with Rage that made him into more of a headliner.

Scram
Scram really seemed the prefect repaint for the Classics Silverstreak mold!

There really wasn’t a whole heck of a lot that needed to go into this aside from laying the base coat, adding lots of blue, silver and orange. The hardest part was laying out those dang pink squiggles! I puzzled over how to create them and wound up just doing it manually. Not as clean as I would have liked, but I’m happy with the way they came out overall.

Generation 2 Ramjet
Way back in 2007, I thought it would be a good idea to try to create my own Dirge and Thrust. Things didn’t turn out too well, so I wound up stuffing the failed attempts in my duplicates bins until I could figure out a worthwhile use. Cue this year’s Botcon theme! Now what was once a failed attempt to create Botcon Thrust is remade into Generation 2 Ramjet! Of course, this will wind up just being a placeholder, as the TF Club announced at Botcon that one of the upcoming club exclusives will be none other than, wait for it, Generation 2 Ramjet. Arg.

Straxus arrives! Also, PowerCore Renegade

Straxus, er, Darkmount has finally been freed from his Post Office prison. I like this guy-a lot. The helmet isn’t quite as feline as I thought, and the lower legs are actually a lot better than a lot of reviews I’ve seen made them out to be. He has waist and ankle articulation, take that Drift!


He is now free to terrorize anything that resembles Blaster.


PowerCore Renegade:
I’ve had the PowerCore character Searchlight in my possession for a few weeks, but never actually picked him up until yesterday and realized that he’s a dead ringer for the Renegade Twin Spin. I’m sure other people have noticed this as well, but it’s the first time I ever took a good look and came to the conclusion myself. It’s striking, right down to the colors and having propeller blades on his forearms. Replace the gray with some beige and you’ve got yet another slot in the Renegade Ranks being filled.


Man, good job Hasbro! I’m anxiously awaiting the upcoming Highbrow-who will be repurposed into Bolt, as well as Tomahawk, who locks right into place as Wrong Way.

Black Animated Prime!

Black Animated Optimus Prime arrived today! Woo!

I thought I was done with Animated, having sold off most of my original collection-then they had to go and release Arcee and that delectable crystal ‘Sons of Cybertron’ set! This however, trumps everything else in the line, even ShadowBlade Megatron.


Love the way the window detailing looks in red. And because Japan loves to torture me so, how much do you want to bet there will at some point be a release of this guy with a Decepticon insignia?


He fits right in on the Black Shelf, now I’m hoping for a Black Animated Arcee. Oh who am I kidding, that’ll have to be another custom in the queue.