Transformers: Rise of Tyranny 2-Pack Miner Megatron is Something That Exists

Bloody hell. It was difficult to just stop writing this one.

A panel from Megatron Origin #4

Recently released as part of an exclusive twin pack, thanks for splitting with me, mate,  Miner Megatron as a concept originated in the comics series Megatron Origin, circa 2007. Said comic does largely what you'd think. It was intended as the origin for Megatron, the original big bad of the Transformers brand. It was penned by Eric Holmes for Dreamwave originally, although IDW scooped it up when they got the licence. Holmes built on some earlier ideas from comic continuity, seemingly drawing on the very influential prose story State Games by James Hill, which featured megs' early days as a gladiator in a declining city state. Holmes added the details that Megatron worked as a miner before he was a gladiator, that the Decepticons grew out of a disaffected underclass, and ended the story with Megatron's first major victory. Later on, James Roberts would greatly expand on this period of Megaron's life with his Chaos Theory story circa 2011, and later still with the More Than Meets The Eye  ongoing series. Roberts added further nuance to this depiction of Megatron, or soft retcons if you're feeling unkind, as the despot renounced the Decepticons and did the whole Magneto-joins-the-X-Men bit for a while. There's a lot of political theory and historical allusions tied up with this take on Megatron, and this undoubtedly has influence on more recent versions, like the one in Earthspark.

A panel from MTMTE #34

Now, I'm glossing over some things above, but its fair to say that this take on Megatron wasn't for everyone, and maybe had a few problems. With several different writers and interested parties involved over several years, the concept of Miner Megatron runs into some unfortunate implications and a bumpy character arc. I think the Alligned continuity and Hasbro lore bibles maybe played a part in that, but I don't know enough about the timeline here to be sure either way. I also have this suspicion that as all three of the writers I've mentioned are British, there may be a cultural lens of some kind being applied that needs to be unpacked, as an obvious connection can be drawn to the Miners Strikes of the 70's and 80's. I almost want to describe this interpretation of Megatron as "Spartacus basically became Lenin and then Stalin in sequence, only to regret the Stalin phase much later on.", because that's the influences I'm recognising as a fellow brit. I've also not mentioned or discussed Functionism, the whole your-vehicle-mode-dictates-your-job-forever-and-ever caste system that Megatron was rebelling against. That was pretty horrific, as was the Decepticon's subsequent application of Technoism to the wider galaxy, aka genocide of organic species. Regardless, if you apply the imagery discussed above to the Decepticons and Megatron, it can be read as "downtrodden masses should remain downtrodden, lest they become militant communists, and the Autobots are warriors for the status quo." . That's not great, as unfortunate implications go, although as suspect the actual intent was more like "If you keep abusing people, they might eventually do it right back to you and everyone else, but worse.". I suppose that's what happens when you have an 80's toy franchise, and attempt to add more shades of grey. You can fumble the execution as creatives cycle in and out.

.A better writer than me needs to take a swing at all this, but its something to think about... 

A sequence of panels from The Transformers #22, Chaos Theory Part 1

Having put politics right in your Transformers: Miner Megatron. Young Megatron. The working class man whom wrote political treatise on the horrible caste system he was born into. The intellectual whom liked poetry and hung around with Impactor. The Megatron whom was mostly OK, until the state took issue with him. Mostly OK until, finally, Whirl beat it out of him. Dammit Whirl. Megatron before the Decepticons. What's he like as a toy? Well, he's a retool of a mould we've seen about ten times now, the Siege Megatron toy. That was a pretty decent voyager, but not top tier. I'd probably say it was "good enough" capturing the essentials of the character, but otherwise having OK articulation and an OK-if-rough-around-the-edges tank mode. As the mould has probably been used more than its merits actually justify, its use once more is probably not a plus for people at exclusive prices, but at least the basics are there. Mind you, it doesn’t feel great. I had the bad luck of getting one with the incorrectly swapped knee joints, something that took the shine off things for me, I do admit, and transforming the thing feels more of a nuisance than it was previously. So, assuming you have a decent one, let's talk about the changes made.

First off, the accessories are new. How new is open to debate, it's possible this one was on the blueprints from the start, but this is the sort of change I like. Adding or otherwise changing accessories adds play value and meaningfully changes the experience. Miner Megs goes full melee, with a pickaxe and drill that combine. I feel these fulfil the brief very well. These are tools first and foremost, although not something you'd want to be hit with, with the drill foreshadowing the fusion cannon, but also putting me in mind of the Impactor connection. The pickaxe has a lovely purple blade on it too, a flash of a colour otherwise absent. Visually, the robot mode gets the natural focus for the retooling, with a very Alex Milne head and a general reworking of the chest. It's a mix of both the Origin and Chaos Theory character models,favouring the latter, cast in dull metallic colours with hazard stripes. The general vibe is one of industrial machinery, which is largely how the Functionists viewed him, or the before picture used in an advert for a personal fitness program. He's not the silver toned tyrant yet, he needs to get some actual armour on him, a new paint job, and the fusion cannon, but you can see that potential. It is perhaps the most successful of the Rise of Tyranny toys for that, which which is why I suspect they might have been planning this from the start. It's not without issues though. While a great look, this retooling has resulted in the shoulders gaining a tab and slot arrangement for storage/integration in tank mode at the cost of two 5mm ports. Said tank mode is... Well... I want to say it's alright. As you might expect, it's a cybertronian drill tank, and it looks like what it is, a military vehicle repurposed to have alleged applications in mining. Mind you, the drill extends outwards far enough to be useful, and thanks to the fact the colours of the accessories match the main body, its more coherent than it might have been. I suppose you aren't really buying this for the altmode, and the axehead just kinda pegs to one side, but they gave it a proper go.

My point? Only that Miner Megatron is something that exists. As you may gather from the immense amount of waffle versus plastic above, I do find this version of Megatron to be  fascinating, and its nice to have a toy of it, especially one this pretty. That said, you are paying a premium for something we've already seen an awful lot of, and maybe the Quality Control is an issue. Don't overpay.

Scratchbuild: Another Ork Battlewagon

 Yes, I sometimes repeat myself.

With the new edition, I inevitably began thinking about modernising my forces. And how certain units seem to have been reshuffled Given my specific cocktail of neurodivergence and neurosis it's very hard to put things like that aside, so once I did those Grot Tanks, I decided to take a swing at doing another battlewagon.

The weird/annoying thing about battlewagons just now is how they interact with the "exactly what's in the box" design philosophy found in the index lists. This is because the kit spent two editions representing 3 distinct variations, one doing the classical 'wagon, one being about the deathrolla, and an unpopular cannon one. (There's also Forgeworld units, but honestly I don't care.) Putting guns on one wasn’t usually viewed as an especially practical option given A) ork marksmanship, and B) how these act as an ork party bus. With this in mind, creating and pricing the unit on the assumption that people would build one with all possible options is daft. Experienced players wouldn't have done that under the previous points systems, as the options are contradictory in purpose to an extent, while beginners would have to look up the difference, and thus likely came across the opinions of the former. So, for this new project I took a "can't beat 'em, join' em" approach. I'd build a wagon with all the guns, and most of the melee options. The Wrecking Ball option is not actually in the kit, I assume that was a concession to kitbashers, so I skipped it. The choice between Firing Ports and Ard Case meanwhile is still largely a matter of side grades and what dakka if any the passengers have. I went for Ard Case as it simplified the build. As to how practical such a battlewagon is, I'm unsure. Putting a lobba, kannon, and 4 big shootas on a single platform means it can unleash 40 odd shots in a single volley. I dunno if that's good on something that carries troops and likes to pancake people. You'd be looking at 14ish S5 hits, which isn't bad, but it's the sorta thing you can get elsewhere. I see this as a tactical battering ram and distraction.

 

 

Having done… frankly too many such modelling projects, this thing went together with relative speed and a lot of hot glue. I decided on a wheeled design fairly early on, first going for eight wheels, and then realising that was far too big even by my loose standards. In terms of techniques and materials used, I’d call this a “pragmatic” scratchbuild. The wheels, weapons, and details like exhausts were pre-existing bits, either plastic or resin. That’s the sort of thing I could try doing myself, and have done, but I have the bits, so why not? The majority of the hull however was more mixed material; bits of toy, flatpackers, chipboard, scrap plastic, and EVA foam. The curved shape comes from what remains of a fork-lift toy. It was then painted in my obsessively rusty style.

I’m very pleased with one. I’ve been grinding away at lot of rusty projects over the last year or so, and it seems to be paying off. I should probably stop putting off the infantry though.

 

 

 

Transformers: Legacy Evolution Armada Universe Optimus Prime is Something That Exists

Goddammit, why is this so good?! Everyone knows that glowing reviews make for dull reading... 

 

The 2002/2003 Armada Optimus Prime toy, Superbase version

Anyways. I'm not going to talk about Armada Prime too much as a character. Partially because Optimus characters tend to follow a well-known archetype, and if you've spent any time at all with Transformers, you won't need that introduction. But also because I'm slightly more of a toy guy in this instance. This version of Prime was a showpiece for his toyline, and also a response to the Optimus of the previous line, Robots in Disguise or Car Robots in its native Japan. Like that toy, it had a super robot mode, was promoted primarily by a low budget anime, which received a rushed dub and a bunch of name changes when brought over. This new Prime, while having a clear lineage to the past versions, took an entirely different approach to the matters of play and transformation. He was stuffed with electronics, with the cab functioning as a wireless controller to the trailer, which had a motorised transformation and too many other things to quickly summarise here. Posability and general complexity were greatly reduced however, especially in comparison to the Beast Era which had only just ended. Armada's overall design philosophy was more like late-G1 and Micromasters, just with a lot more electronics and geared action features. It probably didn't help that Armada Prime was the first actual, no qualifiers, attempt to remake Optimus Prime. Many vocal collectors were put off, although actual children and their parents loved it. At the time, it wasn't for me either, and largely still isn't. I was still getting back into Transformers, and I have the probably autistic trait of not liking noisy toys. So I never rolled the dice on that mould. But I did get the smaller "supercon" release, which favoured articulation, and has aged very well.

The other 2002/2003 Armada Optimus Prime toy, the supercon version, AKA "Bendy Prime".

Now, I could do a mode by mode breakdown, but that's not what's really important here. We've had one deluxe Armada revamp, one voyager, and one leader, so the trend should be fairly obvious at this point. I.e. a toy that evokes those early 2000s pieces, with influences from the animation, but one with a significantly different design philosophy. While mini-cons seem to be coming back for exclusives, they aren't present here, and neither are the vast majority of gimmicks or play features. Rather, you get one or so extremely characterful gimmick, to go with Legacy's general baseline of articulation and 5mm port functions. This makes the resulting toys better as actual transformers and action figures than their source material, if being less fun on the "listable features" level. It's just the numbers, Armada toys had a lot going on, whereas Legacy toys don't usually. Thus, Armada Prime is a decidedly more po-faced and collector-oriented than the original, discarding basically everything vaguely gimmicky in favour of looks and meaningful articulation. Despite that, it did please my inner child immensely, with that joyous feeling of things tabbing solidly into place, clicking of big ratchets, thinking that you don't need instructions, then you actually do, and you think, yeah, I see what they mean now. You know, that "Christmas Morning" feeling when you've been looking forward to something for ages, and it's actually better than you thought it would be. And I admit I was looking forward to this. But I think my enjoyment, and indeed the positive reaction from the fandom, goes beyond it's self-evident merits. This is not merely Armada Prime as we remember him, nor as he actually was. This is something better, and something the 2002 toy could easily have been in the first place.

.

 

As mentioned, the original toy was characterised by having a lot of electronics and a motorised transformation. There's nowt wrong with that as a concept, there is more than one kind of fun after all, but compromises were made. The trailer amounted to a set of panels that stood up to create an immobile set of legs, while the cab was simple and not especially posable. If we consider the tactile act of transforming a toy to be an important part of the experience, and most of the time it is, the original was lacking in execution. It didn't lack for ambition, and it certainly wasn't lacking for creativity, but maybe they looked at the famously fiddly Car Robots moulds and over-corrected? This new toy almost feels like something that could have been made back then, and despite lacking in play features, the amount of fun remains high. This is because, when you get right down to it, having a Prime combine with his trailer to make a bigger robot mode for improved arsekicking is pretty fucking awesome, especially when everything else about the toy is on point. This toy simply feels as good as it looks.

Is this a perfect toy? No, there's a few odd places where omissions become very notable in contrast with the high level of quality otherwise. He has a matrix for example, but the inner robot mode lacks a means to hold it. It's base mode is fine, but like most such things is kinda forgettable. You might want to change the eye colour and there's the occasional hollow bit, but usually in places where it doesn't hurt. But the fact of the matter is that, as far as mass market releases go, it's not being bettered any time soon. Think of it like the average Combiner Wars team right? It's took a while for them to do it, expectation was high, and you can certainly nitpick or get 3rd party add-ons. But even so, they nailed it, and attempts to do the same since have felt like a sidegrade rather than an upgrade. Or however you want to qualify the Legacy Stuntacons. I would not be surprised if something similar happened with this chap.

 

 

My point? Only that Armada Universe Optimus Prime is something that exists. I kinda want to call it Transformer of the Year, but I'll hedge my bets and not do so. Because if they do put something better than this at retail? Goddammit I want that too.

Kitbash: Deathskull Grot Tanks

I will admit that I am just as prone to passing fads as much as anyone else. The 10th edition buzz has carried me through a large number of modelling projects, and increased my interested in related Facebook groups. One fad within this fad is the recent discovery of new proxy models and or kitbash fodder for Grot Tanks. Such things are usually of much interest to Ork players, as finding cheaper alternatives to official models, especially those by the Forge world sub-brand, is of use when you have to build 3 million of them. Oh, and Orks don't mass produce their kit anyway. The thing about this is, I like Grot Tanks. I don't necessarily need easy conversion fodder, I've built entire tanks from scratch, but sometimes it's nice to have a good foundation. So I rolled the dice on the item, and following an inexplicably trouble-free Yodel delivery, I got them in hand. 

 

The toys in question were a pack of pull-back Tanks in what I assume to be Chinese packaging. They feature die-cast in their construction, and the listing gave their scale as 1/64. This puts them in the rough bracket as my Gaslands projects, although the styling is more akin to the Tank Alliance set or World War Toons. That meant a quartet of WW2 vehicles with exaggerated/cutesy proportions. Unmodified these are too big for Gaslands I feel, and some quick research indicated that these were a touch small versus the Forgeworld originals. A comparison with an Ammo Runt model however indicated the size was close enough, so I decided to replace one turret completely, build them up, and put them on some cheap 60mm bases.

While the methods I used for this project are much the same as my recent works, i.e. rust to hell and back, I did try a few different things. First off, I took a swing at scratchbuilding rokkits, something I've struggled with in the past. Obsessive perfectionism is kind of a bugger when you struggle to cut straight, but after a certain amount of trial & error, I produced some passable ones. We're talking a lot of tubes and green stuff, and in the process I chanced upon a method for an RPG or panzer faust style of rokkits. The tips of cheap felt tip pens, minus the felt, have a good shape, you just need to put a cone on the thick end. I can see that working well for Tankbustas and such. I also experimented in adding texture otherwise smooth panels with Mod Podge. I stippled the glue on, and while it's probably too subtle for the pictures, it shows promise for future projects. 

 

Other things I did? Well I didn't just want them to look the Grots had discovered a buggy STC system that only made historical artefacts. This meant switching the turrets, putting a toothy ram upfront, exhausts out back, and assorted plates wherever they fit. These where mostly scrap plastic and bit box affairs, although some resin bits were from Ramshackle Games. I then proceeded to do the metals, the blue, and to weather them within an inch of their life.

 

These came pretty well. I’m very happy with them.

 

 

Post-TFNation Ramble Post

 

Well, TFNation is over for another year. For the unfamiliar, TFNation is the main British Transformers convention. While frequented by increasingly large numbers of people, the Transformers fandom tends be rather close knit. Its the kind of event where you can run into somebody famous in a lift or at breakfast, although its still considered impolite to bother someone with their morning coffee. As a fan, I’ve been a regular, tending towards being a person on the other side of a stall. I traded there, and now find myself helping the charity institution that is Toy-Fu. I kinda drifted into this as I have a few friends in that group, and I like to help, but its good work to be doing. As a convention, I found myself immensely enjoying my company, but less the actual events on offer. I don’t get out much, and I was actively trying to break some habits, and on that level? A success. I got to meet many people in person, met a few new people, while having a good time. I however largely forgot about the panels and such. Something I realised recently was that I tend to view all things as a task to be completed, and that’s not a clever way to live. Its a habit I’m still trying to break, and the TFN weekend was a test for that, and an attempt to refine my social skills. The panels fell by the wayside, but I’m very happy with the social side. But let’s be honest, you’re probably here for the toys pictured above, so let’s talk about those.

 

 

Holy Grails: Macross VF1J & G2 Hooligan

The thing about Toy-Fu is that they keep on getting stuff I never expect to see in person for a sensible price. It would be my favourite stall even if my friends weren’t there. The VF1J is a reissue of an early 80’s toy, and one that was way ahead of its time when it came to engineering. Its a big boy with a lot of metal in it, and as a Macross fan I couldn’t say no. Special thanks to my friend Karl T. On the other end of the size and material spectrum, there’s Hooligan. The thing about the G2 Transformers line is that people tend to focus on the colours. Colours which often put me in mind of what happens after a toddler eats some crayons. What the line actually did though was was popularise balljoints and light-piped eyes, something which the Cyberjet group did very well in miniature. Hooligan personifies both aspects, and is an utter joy in tiger stripes.

 

 

Retool Menagerie: Medix, G2 Universe Cybertronian Trooper, & Miner Megatron

A bit on an odd mix here, these guys were purchased because I hadn’t had the mould before bad/or would represent good blog fodder. Medix is a Rescuebot, whom through the wonders of mould reuse, ends up with enough dakka to satisfy your average ork. Miner Megatron is an “origins” spin on a mould we’ve all seen before, which I have a few things to say about. And the Trooper is based off Legacy Skullgrin. Now, Skullgrin is possibly the worst Decepticon deluxe of recent times... but I did find this compelling. Possibly a superior retool, but not much in it.

 

 

Oddball: Gundam Universe non-scale OZ-06MS Leo

This oddly swole depiction of the otherwise svelte Leo was acquired from Gundam Mad, whom I somehow avoided buying actual gunpla from. As you may have observed, I kinda love the Leo, so I grabbed it. Its pretty good. Nice accessories, is better than the GU Tallgeese, but it doesn’t have literally everything.

Little Bits & Stickers  

The stickers are by my talented friend Claude, and the mini-con was from fandom legend Mellowshade, whom was handing them out. Matt the ToyFu customiser was also giving out things, here the cyber key and decoy. Finally the blast effect was by @theGlaug. Thanks lads.

Favourite Purchase: Legacy Armada Universe Optimus Prime
I don't know if he lives up to the hype. But if he doesn't, he's damn close. Serious ratchets, good looks, and surprisingly good engineering touches. I can nitpick here, and maybe its the new car smell, but this is nice.

Expect further commentary on some/all/none of the above in the future, but with more Orky projects already in the pipeline.

Cheers!

Lego: Super Robot

Assuming that I've set this up right, this post will go live as I begin day 3 of TFNation. This will entail mild exhaustion, socialising, charity work, poor financial decisions, and, of course, the buffet breakfast.

 

As such, I decided to go for a lightweight article today, and something outside of my usual fare, as future weeks are gonna be a bit transformery or orky. So, what's the story here? Well, the shop where I work was marking down Lego, which obviously included today's subject matter. While I'm not hugely into Lego, my dabbling in the MyBuild notwithstanding, this attracted me for reasons that should be fairly obvious. Lego has done it's share of Mecha over the years, usually under a licenced IP or whatever Ninjago is doing this week, but when the shelf edge label refers to the box simply as "Super Robot", that got my attention. Otherwise referred to by the number 31124, this box is part of the "Lego Creator 3 in 1" imprint which seems to a setting agnostic bit of the brand. As a 3in1, you get three sets of instructions for different builds, in this case a jet and dragon, and while I didn't bother with those, I will say the jet would be quite appropriate as a Super Robot's vehicle mode.

As projects go, this was brief, but fun. I put it together in about an hour. The instructions present are big, colourful, and accessible. The Lego lads and laddettes clearly know their market, so things are always clear. As a point of interest, I was a little surprised to find that the robot is built 90 degrees from the ground, as it were. You'd think, or at least I thought, that the underside of the brick would flat against the ground, but instead the bricks are turned so the pegs face forward. Put another way, the details on the legs and body are built up, literally. There are no angled pieces. Possibly that was a cost and/or parts count decision, but I will give credit for creativity.

As a completed thing, the Super Robot is immensely charming, suggesting the designer knew their robots. The wings and colour choices suggest Mazinger Z, with nice use of detail pieces. The head is perhaps not on brief though, as its not got many pieces, and ends up with a bit of a Johnny-5 thing going on. This is however completely adorable, so no harm done. It also features 9 ball joints, so it poses OK, but you'd need to add knee joints yourself. 

 

I don't know if I'll do anything more with this, but he's just fine as is.

Kitbash: Another Deathskull Ork Trukk. Plus Nobz

Well, here we are. Trukk #5. Like the last one, this is a modernisation/repair job, although the first I've made in the 10th edition environment. I made it because a) trukkz seem pretty useful just now, and B) it would be handy to have some "official models" in the event I somehow end up playing in a GW shop. Time for a ramble.

 

 

With this one, I had slightly less material to reclaim, but all the essential worky bits were there. This required a new flat bed, and frontend. The latter ended up with a resemblance to a piece of farm equipment, which wasn't quite what I was aiming for, but OK. Of note is the gunner and wrecking ball. The gunner had previously had a rokkit launcha converted from a big shoota, which I would now convert back. Full circle, and all that. And yes, as I initially suspected, its very much a “present” weapon in 10th. Meanwhile, the wrecking ball is something I absolutely would not have added in previous editions, as it is physically fragile and had some mediocre rules. Right now? Its a freebie that works very well with the tankshock stratagem. I will possibly add similar gubbins to my other trukkz, but it's not a priority. Painting proceeded in my usual rust bucket style. This generally came out OK and up to my usual standard, people seem to like it a lot, but I will admit that the big shoota looks a bit off.

 

This trukk was attempted concurrently during something of a hyper fixation, where I had decided to paint some more infantry because I had the models,  I needed something to do and I’d probably need them eventually if I ever decided to actually play. This, to be brutally honest, is the drudgery of liking orks for me. As my recent Iron Brothers detour proved, its entirely possible to do humies with a low effort colour scheme. With Orks, you’re looking at a lot more bare skin and colour variations, and that’s before you get into the GW penchant for over-complication. This was not fun, but I think I’m getting close to a refined technique that works OK and doesn’t bore me. As they say “Good enough is perfect.”. So I did a bunch of Boyz like the last lot before onto some Nobz. Wielding some Big Choppas.

These were a selection of models that I’d had in storage or in pieces for a long time, a roughly 50/50 mix of 3rd ed metals and 5th ed plastics, with bits from more modern plastics, like the Ammo Runts. These were fairly uncomplicated as a project, although I was painting these in groups of six so I could see results sooner. Getting there… I think. What’s interesting about these guys is how their equipment was amalgamated for the new edition, with a few edge cases dropped completely. Previously, Nobz had the option for regular choppas, and the two-handed big version. The regular version was unpopular as much better weapons were present and often were better calls, with the big version eventually joining the ranks of “better”. Now the models for both get the same statline, which I suppose is fair enough given that the regular choppas Nobz tended to use feature blades about as large as your average human torso. This has allowed a lot of otherwise redundant parts to be used here, and in a way that seems to be mechanically useful. Big Choppas have S7 and D2, making them valid against a lot of targets, if not excelling at anything specific. This ties into some synergy with Warbosses, which possibly makes them more appealing than Meganobz just now. Meanwhile, the Ammo Runtz were holdovers from previous editions, its not something the squad needs, but they are free, so why the zog not?

If I’m totally honest though, the real reason I made these is so I can say “My nob has a big choppa.” in absolute seriousness.