Random: Mecha Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog toyline, Jakks Pacific)

Mecha Sonic concept art, sourced from a wiki

I suppose not all childhood obsessions are remembered equally. Sonic the Hedgehog was something I had a fixation on as a child turning to teenager, hitting about the time Transformers was out and the console wars was in. As the typical content of this blog would imply, it wasn't something that stuck, and I think that's true for a lot of people. Sonic was a full-on zeitgeist moment, and one seemingly nailed to the 90's video game scene. Sega eventually crashed out of the console market, Sonic struggled to adapt to 3D, and thus the franchise became something of a joke for multiple console generations. He was a mascot without a console, one with a famously fractured, often strange, fanbase, and seemingly no good games. Still, as deeply weird as it is to my eyes, the wheel of nostalgia seems to be turning in the blue Hedgehog's favour. And Sega seems to have pulled this off by making the games less and less central to their efforts, in favour of films, cartoons, and merch. That makes a lot of sense for something with so many cartoon animal tropes, and with Sonic's origins as a marketing mascot, but honestly I don't think I'm in that target market. And that's fine, its something for actual kids, and maybe their parents. I think my connection is more of the time, and the playing of the 16 bit games, than anything recognisable as character or narrative. I did read a lot of comics back in day, but that didn't stick. But clearly, there is some connection for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this.

Mecha Sonic sketches, sourced from a wiki

So, what's a Mecha Sonic then? Besides an obvious overlap with my other fixations? Well, its the penultimate boss enemy of the Mega Drive/Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog 2. As the name implies, its a robot duplicate, one of a surprising number there of. One factoid I turned up during research was that the teams working on three different Sonic games, Sonic 2 16 bit, Sonic 2 8 bit, and Sonic CD, basically didn’t communicate and this some how resulted in three different evil robot versions of the hedgehog. Sources differ on specifics, but Segas America and Sega Japan were often at odds, and the Sonic games have had some well-documented drama, so its not hard to believe. Today’s is patterned after Mecha Godzilla, but is overshadowed by Metal Sonic, the more colourful one from the CD version. Anyways, Sonic 2 was arguably the absolute peak of the franchise in terms of sheer clout. It was more of an iterative sequel than anything, think Doom 2, offering more levels and gameplay improvements. The game also had the barest hints of a story, something which later games in the series would do better, but what it did do was effective in context. So, rather than actually talk about the merits of this toy, I'm gonna first spend a paragraph putting the experience of Mecha Sonic into words.

 

 

Its the last few levels of Sonic 2, and you are feeling it. Metropolis Zone was an endurance test, but at least that was followed by a breather level, wing-walking on a biplane. The penultimate level raises the stakes, your biplane immediately gets shot down with your little fox buddy Tails on it. You're on a flying fortress, and there's less and less margin for error. You encounter another boss, beat it, and the antagonist Dr Robotnik flees in a spaceship. Tails returns to help you catch up, and you enter a new level, the delightfully named "Death Egg Zone". There are no rings. There are no power-ups. There is no margin for error. There is only this fucker. A metal parody of your player avatar in silver. Twice the size, with not so much hedgehog quills and spikes on it as an audibly revving chainsaw. Its a rocket-powered bulldozer of a challenge. And after that, its the final boss, and he's worse.

I remember using cheat codes a lot.

 

So, about the toy? Well there wasn’t much on the box, so I had to do some digging. This is made by Jakks Pacific, whom seem to have the Sonic licence on lock, along with the Mario one too. While handling this toy, its articulation reminded me of the phrase “Springfield 5”, and yes, Jakks do the Simpsons too. Jakks stuff tends to get the look right, but articulation is a secondary concern. M.S here is therefore a bit basic in its posability, but that’s more acceptable on a 6cm toy with a neutral pose. The paintwork is bright and attractive, with the toy in general being big for its price point. It also amuses me that this design has a monoeye, I hadn’t quite realised that before, but in my defence, the classic Sonic design has weird conjoined eyes. A slight downside however is that the feet are slightly angled so you have to finagle it a bit for balance. There’s holes in the feet for a stand, but that seems to have been budgeted out. That said, its also an item I never really expected to exist...

If you’re looking for consumer advice? Well, its a fun little nostalgia hit, an inexpensive desk toy. Its not got a huge amount going on, and you could probably leave it in the package, if that’s your thing. Its got a nice window box. Still, six quid. I’ve spent a lot more to to get less.

 

State of the Blog post December 2024

Well, its that time of year again, when I ramble a bit about my mental state, and announce any changes to update schedule.

 

To start with the first one, there’s been some bumps, but I continue to be in a largely good place. Geopolitics makes me avoid the news at the moment, but I’ve felt good enough to start addressing bigger personal issues. I have changed my meds and I am currently reducing the frequency of my counselling sessions, feeling steady with both, and that’s good. Its continuing the trend of last year. I recently received the happy news that I would soon be someone’s (mad) uncle, so this made me think about careers and life in general. I'm trying more seriously to address the job situation and socialising, although I must admit a certain degree of flapping-about-aimlessly about both. I don’t know what I want. I’m trying to figure that out. And I’m trying not to get too angry with myself for not having done that already. My tastes and hobbies meanwhile have seen some substantial shifts. Project Chemdogs was a total success, which has actually got me playing 40K again. Its been a great creative thing, and its got me out of the house. One issue that has occurred with that however is how a new Astra Militarum codex is set for release early next year, and I’ve wanted to keep expanding my army. A new ruleset largely guarantees that something will be made obsolete, so I’m best off pausing until I know more. And from what I’m hearing, it might well be February before the new book is “live” for competitive play. I haven’t totally stopped, as you may have noticed, but I hope to do so in December. Come the new year, I plan to pick it up again with a modernisation/expansion, currently named “Project Draft-dodger”. My interests in Transformers has ebbed by comparison, which is odd as we had a rather good film this year. I’m not sure if that’s natural variation, the ageing process, or the brand itself. I’ve done plenty of Transformers posts this year, its just I’m not feeling it in the winter…. So we’ll see about that. I’ve also seen a declining interest in Orks and BeastBox, but I think that’s less concerning. I’ve taken those quite far, as is.

As for the blog? Well, I do like the structure it provides, and the creative output it allows. I’m not quite writing enough to sustain two posts a week, but I’m running a month ahead currently. Once Project Draft-dodger gets going, I may go twice weekly again, but its hard to say. You will notice some variation of subject matter as I’ve tried to ease off on the armydudesmen, but hopefully that’s of interest for people. There will however be the usual chrimbo holiday. To summarise:

Sunday updates to cease on December 15^th.

There will be a New Years Special on January 1^st.

Normal Sunday posting resumes January 5^th.

See you soon.

Kitbash: Heavy Weapon Teams

OK, let me tell you how this blog works currently. I normally like to run a buffer of 4 weeks, alternating topics where possible. Circa October, this was looking more like 6 weeks, as I prepared to wind things down over December, my busy period at work. I mention this because A) it means I have a lot of inertia, and B) I don't try to be topical any more. That's why don’t see me writing much about GW's periodic Balance Dataslates, as I’m just not nimble enough to match a newscycle. With today's subject though, I have to acknowledge such things.

Heavy Weapon Teams are something I enthusiastically built when starting my Chem-Dogs, but slowly went off as I learned more and the rules changed. Running these in dedicated units of three was manifestly unwise, as not only were they priority targets, they had the durability of wet cardboard. The only time that worked was as mortar units, but that ploy lost some utility when the rules for indirect fire got overhauled. Most of my heavy weapons were then shuffled into regular infantry squads, not necessarily because this made for a brilliant ranged unit, but because it gave the infantry options and made killing the guns harder. Over time, this tactic became less of a mainstay for me as I experimented with other battleline units and enjoyed tanks. I still had a stockpile of guns awaiting assembly and/or kitbash, but no real inclination to use them. Then the October Dataslate and points changes landed, and this changed the equation. A squad of three guns was now 50 points, and its hard for anything to be cheaper than that in 40k currently. You can just throw them into the list, and as long they do their job adequately or otherwise add an element you lack, its worth it. That’s how I use my Scion units currently; bare-bones and disposable to do secondary mission objectives. So, I decided to build a few out of what I had spare. No rush, and even if the forthcoming codex changed how they worked, GW was unlikely to retire a unit with a kit they made for 9th edition and was still actively selling. The worst case outcome would be that I would have more options. And bar the bases, it was money I'd already spent.

 

This build was mainly a combination of three different kits, the old school plastic heavy weapons, the Cannon Fodder kit, and the Stargrave Mercenaries. Its basically the same job as those Cadians I did recently, just with kitbashed carriages for the guns, often featuring wheels off toy cars. In the name of simplicity, I went for pre-existing helmeted heads, but I still did green stuff rags and tarpaulins. The crew were painted separately before affixing them on to the bases, the colours slightly remixed. I was kind of burnt-out on infantry and had a few things on my mind, trying to stop myself from buying more models without finishing some others first, when there’s a new codex around the effing corner, so it took a while to get motivated, but once I got going the process was fairly quick.

The weapon selection here was dictated mainly by what I liked the look of versus what spares I had. This meant five lascannons and a heavy bolter, to be combined with existing models to make two anti-tank, and one anti-infantry squad. The rational here was to pair the lascannons with something scary to force dilemmas on people, while the heavy bolters could make good use of the unit's overwatch bonus. I did consider more mortars and missile launchers, but I'm not hugely into either, and I'm holding onto my spare autocannons for now. Actual gameplay performance? Well… in the first game, one died horribly without acheiving much but blocking, and the other over-performed against a land raider. The second saw them sniping the odd Custodes.

So, maybe there's something in it?

My Time at the TFNation Reading Mini-Con

So things started out with a decision not to repeat my previous mistakes with trains, I'd get an off-peak ticket and aim for an early train. Then it snowed the Monday before. Fearing further snow I watched the weather reports like a hawk, and even left early for the station, jumping on an earlier train. Then my 13:03 connecting train was delayed and then cancelled, prompting a stampede for the next train, which I couldn't board. I eventually escaped Birmingham New Street, but delayed by two hours and in an absolutely foul mood, trying desperately not to have an autistic meltdown. Fortunately, things improved once I arrived at the Premier Inn, where I recognised fellow fans. Thanks to those whom chatted with me, it salvaged my evening.

The actual day was a lot of hard work, preceded with a buffet breakfast. I'd volunteered to help out the Toy-Fu team on their stall again, its for charity and I know people there, which ended up being my main experience of the event. It was a productive day of fundraising too; it was very busy and we shifted a lot of Masterpieces and such. TFN itself? Well, its fine, but its an inherently small scale event, and they say so in the name. It all took place in the same hall, so it always felt a bit noisy. I think I would have liked to either explore Reading more, and might have been better off staying for two nights, just to be sociable, but it didn't work out that way. I'll have to rethink my next trip. Travelling back wasn't exactly fun either, there was a fricking storm. And it was a Saturday night. Delays, packed trains, mad dashes to connecting trains, drunks, and I lost a cagoule on the way. I should probably have stayed for two nights... Not the same mistakes as last time, just new ones. Fuck trains.

 

Anyways, my haul this time was somewhat light. Part of that was the absence of the usual big online Transformers retailers from the event, but honestly its not that long since August and little new had grabbed me since. I picked up some stickers from Claude, and some very obscure Gundam fridge magnets from Toy-fu. Neither is really blog material, but the one actual Transformer, Alternators Ravage, probably is. I can probably ramble about this.


All in all? A far from terrible event, but with the shit weather and trains, the shine was taken off it.

Transformers: Kingdom Warpath is Something That Exists

OK, I went to TFNation Reading yesterday, and in all probability, I am dead right now. I'll try to have a write-up done for the end of next week, but in the meantime, here's a Tranformers review.

 

The 1985 Transformers Warpath toy.

In spite of myself, I've been belatedly drawn to the modern batch of deluxe Minibots. It must have been Beachcomber and Gears proving to be actually kinda good. I don't think I'll be a completionist or anything, but if the price is right, I'm certainly not opposed. Hence, Warpath. And who is Warpath? Well, blah blah blah blah G1 tiny dude. Diddly-do diddly-do diddly-do and so on; shallow tier 3 character with a distinct manner of speech. Tourette‘s syndrome, but with gunfire onomatopoeia. Blah blah blah, Sunbow cartoon appearances, fairly unique altmode, goto Autobot tank guy. Yada-yada-yada, memorable, but is basically a seat-filler. Look, if you've read my writings on similar vintage characters, which I admit is unlikely, you know where I stand. But is this toy any good? Let's find out.

 

At the risk of repeating myself, Warpath's altmode is a tank, although ran through three different filters. This version is aping the Sunbow Animation model, if adding more modern detailing. That model was an interpretation of an 80's toy done in the same penny racer style as the other Minibots, meaning it somewhat cutesy and simple rather than a scale model or owt. You know, the whole Super Deformed thing, but applied to a vehicle. So, peeling back those layers like an onion, what tank is it? The M551 Sheridan AA/ARV. An odd choice, even back in the 80's. Its not a tank in way as a layman might expect; its a light tank with an odd missile armament, designed to be easily transported by air. Its not really there to take hits or slug it out with other tanks, and its debut in the Vietnam War was not a glorious one. As a point of interest, the Sheridan had been retired from frontline service about 5 years before this toy was designed. One wonders if this choice of altmode was thematic in some way, given how the other Minibots are, but I suppose we'll never know. 

 

 

The real tank, as seen on Wikipedia.

I may have got sidetracked there. Moving onto the actual merits of the toy, Warpath does one very important thing right, which is have a functional turret. I.e. one that rotates. This is a pet peeve of mine; if the tank has a turret, it should turn. A lot of Transformers toys get that wrong. Warpath avoids that annoyance, and due to his character design, said turret is not an accessory either. Meanwhile, it rolls on tiny castor wheels, and has some down-played 5mm port and blast effect compatibility. Now, Warpath neither needs or likely wants additional firepower, but not putting in a few explosions or muzzleflashes was a missed opportunity. That aside, this mode's only overt flaw arises from the desire to be as Sunbow accurate as possible: the white tracks. OK, if that's what you want, I get it, but it prompts colour matching issues and reports of photo degradation. Doing them in dark or metallic tones would have made more sense and saved a lot of trouble. This complaint is however on the nitpick end of the scale, and otherwise this tank mode is on point. It looks good from most angles, does what it should, and has no small amount of surface detailing if you care to look.

 

The actual conversion process invites another tangent. As you might imagine, this isn't Warpath's first remake or spiritual successor. There's been a few prior to this, including a well-liked Generations deluxe, but none have really nailed a G1 style transformation. This one has, with the turret becoming the chest, the front of the hull becoming the legs, and the back becoming the arms. There's a lot of folding panels going on here, focused mainly on the legs, but the point of contention here is the partsforming. Like a lot of the modern Minibots, Warpath has a large removable panel that completes the vehicle mode and is used as a shield in robot mode. While not exactly a plus, I do feel this is a notably subtle and inoffensive example, and nowhere near a Huffer situation, let alone Cliffjumper. This panel tabs into the underside of the tank, finishing it off, but its not actually mandatory. Its not so much an obvious cut corner, and possibly more something they added because they had room in the budget. Plus it helps that you get a Zaku II style shoulder shield out if it, which actually suits the robot mode quite well. Even with that, when it comes to complexity, Warpath is making a good case for his pricepoint.

 

Warpath ends up on the chunky and dense side in robot mode. He's not without the occasional hollow bit, and purposefully on the short side for a deluxe, but they have nailed the look. Its not purely Sunbow, the sculpt is too detailed, but I do find myself liking how the track kibble has been retained on the forearms but has been used intelligently, folding up to minimise itself. Niceties like Siege era articulation and 5mm ports are here, and thus the robot mode approaches an almost optimal of balance of form and function. Warpath looks maybe a bit dorky. Maybe a bit chubby and friend-shaped. That's the point though, that's what the previous revamps didn't really get. He's just a little guy, whom happens to be a tank. And not just any tank, a notably small and light one that was maybe a bit rubbish. So yes, the robot mode could pose a bit better. Is that something you'd really expect or need when he's built like Santa? Yes, he could have more accessories. Does he need more though? He's got his chest cannon. Its a good robot mode that does all its supposed to.

This guy could have very easily been in Earthrise, but he may very well have benefited from that extra time in the oven. Warpath has flaws, certainly. Reports of yellowing are not welcome, while the shield piece avoids strong criticism by being quite optional. Everything else though is good to great. I am not usually a fan of attempts to slavishly match the 80's cartoon, I wrote about it, but things clearly worked out here. And it does the tank bit very well. Its possibly the best of the modern Minibots. It will likely remain so until they take another swing at the character. Whatever happens: Kingdom Warpath is something that exists.

And now, Blast Effects!

 

Resin: Battle Cat by Ramshackle Games

 

So, it's early October, and I'm thinking I need to ease off on the armymen for a bit. Not only did I need to start on an Orktober project, there had been a new Astra Militarum codex announcement. A vague and undetailed one, but still an announcement. Hopefully we'll know more on Tuesday. Its set for early 2025, but its never a good idea to invest heavily in a 40k army immediately before a rules refresh. Hell, given how the recent Ork codex went from hype-to-nerf-to-obscurity, you could argue against buying for the quarter thereafter. It might end up with us all playing a slightly updated Index detachment. Or we might end up with a situation where everyone needs three units of Tempestus Aquilons and three of Ratling Snipers because they are the only units that work. Who knows? That said, I also had this tank. I like tanks, most Guard players do, its hard to be one if you don't like tanks. This had been ordered from Ramshackle Games prior to the announcement, and truthfully had arrived a few weeks later than I might have liked. But with my first 1500 point battle planned, I pushed on to get it vaguely presentable.

As I've built two of these previously, I don’t have a huge amount to say here. Its a cheap resin model, requiring a non-trivial amount of prep-work, which was then painted by the spraycan method. Two new observations I’d make are that A) Ramshackle seems to have changed its resin mix, and B) pinning the lascannon on was a bit of a nuisance which required fixing twice. (And then again, after a few games.) I primed it to reveal imperfections, fixed them, sprayed it green, and then blocked out the exposed metal bits in black, a bit sloppily if I'm honest, before drybrushing. The cupola gunner was painted separately. I kinda rushed to get this (largely) done for the game, I probably should not have given some of the mistakes I made, but hopefully you can’t tell. Weathering covers many a sin. On the plus side, new model syndrome did not really occur in the game in question, I won actually, and it generally turned out OK. The theme here is an unwanted vehicle and neglected vehicle handed over to convicts for use in the GRIMDARK future of 40K. Certainly looks like it.

 

With respects to rules, I'm fielding this as the basic Leman Russ Battle Tank, my third. I may swap the turret, but I like its rerolls for now. Its not considered the optimal choice in competitive play, though, the current fave is the Vanquisher variant. That's cheaper and better at killing other tanks, so I see the appeal of it, but I think the stock russ will last better. Whenever the tournament crowd fixates on something too much, it gets more expensive, look at Bullgrins, but we'll see. At present, the vanilla Russ is a consistently reliable damage dealer that punishes an enemy for trying to take objectives.

Not bad, but I need something else to do.

Transformers: Legacy United Energon Universe Megatron is Something that Exists

OK, in the 40th Anniversary line, we have a tribute to a toy made during the 20th Anniversary. I am suddenly acutely aware of my own mortality. Sorry, this is gonna be both fairly brief and fairly negative.

 

The 2004 Transformers Energon Megatron toy (leader class)

Lets try to unpack this. This version of Megatron appeared, obviously, in Transformers Energon. I wrote a retrospective on that yonks ago, but it was notable for being the 20th anniversary series. It didn't do many direct tributes, more remakes and name reuses, but the influence was felt in more than a few toys, which is why this Megs looks a lot like the original Galvatron. As Energon was also a direct sequel to Armada, this makes the toy a representation of the same guy we saw as a leader class recently, which also explains his famous tank/sword accessory. That's a weapon either referencing his previous form, or made from his own corpse following his resurrection. Was it a good toy? Well, for its time it was pretty memorable, but not one that aged well. It wasn't a toy that especially prioritised articulation, it was more about gimmicks than leg joints, more so than most of its time, but it had a lot of style. I liked how it looked, but never how it moved or felt. Definitely a design that would benefit from a do-over. So, with this new Core Class toy we have a toy that's a homage to a homage. And one that you'd suspect would be at best a tenth the size of the original, but with hopefully more useful articulation by a country mile. Then again, its in the consistent disappointment that is the Core class. Is it any good? Well, not hugely.

Starting with the robot form I find myself feeling oddly nostalgic, while also debating how much I can file under "acceptable for the price". Visually, it looks like a scaled down version of the original, with a few things understandably omitted, and the materials changed, but no shortage of paint. Good, that's what basically we're here for. Its nicely presented, swapping out translucent for opaque plastic, and retaining some elements of the old gimmicks. The tank/sword is present, as are the shoulder cannons which now work on 3mm peg. Articulation is also dramatically improved; this toy features ball joints rather than a spring-loaded conversion. Where the weaknesses start to occur is in the shoulders. There's a tab there for the purposes of the altmode, which is fair enough, but this ends up limiting the range of motion. The cannons can get in the way too, bumping into the wings. Now, this isn't a problem if you position them forwards, but why wasn't this just pinned in the first place? I mean... yes. You can have megs gunfighter things up now, but this feels like a life and lemons situation. Also, while this toy really isn't lacking in plastic, this is one where they've had to make compromises and hollow things out. Like the back of the head, the tank/sword, nosecone, forearms and legs. Classy. Given the sheer mass of the altmode, I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed. All that being said, its not actually a bad robot mode, sitting on the good side of average for a core overall.

 

The same general vibe continues into gunship mode, although it is perhaps a touch worse as the robot form was given priority. On the one hand, the look is definitely there, and its doing a better job hiding the head than the much larger original. Its also pleasently chunky and big for a toy in the Core slot. On the other, the hands don't collapse and so stick out under the wings, while the hollowness and such are more obnoxious. Case in point: the tank/sword, which just ends up pointing the blade backwards. Now, given that the tank itself is hollow, could we not have it fold up? Or possibly evoke the original gimmick, and stow the blade in the big empty front end? As small altmodes go, its not bad. Its certainly not bad. But it so easily could have been better.

 

Now, I have some very mixed feelings about this toy, and I have been back and forth with my editing. Part of that's the whole "jeebus, twenty years" thing, I admit, and I’m glad it it exists. But a lot of it is the toy being frustratingly close to being good, but not. It feels like an earnest attempt to modernise an older design, but its also feels like every cost-saving trick they could have used, they did. Some designs just don't work out when scaled down, and while its not without its merits, this was too much to ask of a core class. I got this for £3, so I really shouldn't complain, but this would have felt bad value at RRP. Otherwise, there isn't a huge amount to say. It does what it needs to, it is something that exists, but it exists in a sub-average size class. In the meantime? I’m just gonna have a brief midlife crisis, see you soon.