Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Tecprot 01

I will admit to having a bit of a streak of disappointing/troubled mecha projects of late. Nothing terrible, but little that provided a sense of achievement or therapeutic relaxation. So I thought, fuck it, back within my comfort zone for a pallet cleanser. Just before I moved on to other things.

 

The Tecprot 01 is yet another 30MM mecha, so you probably should know what to expect by now. Especially as it features the first generation joint sprue and a very Alto look to it. It's a touch less technically impressive than the Iglight, but it's notably bulkier without noteworthy loss in articulation. The vibe is muscular rather than just big, an important distinction as this 01 variant is very cop coded. It's a two-tone blue riot cop, with a transparent riot shield, and some plugin armour bits. The proportions suggest all-round fitness rather being top-heavy or security guard fat. It's not dissimilar to the Alto, and not as heavy as a Rabiot, think a slightly rounded middle ground between those two. It also features grenade launcher, hinting at tear gas, and an additional visor which folds down, but no Roy Roy sadly. A truncheon would have helped with the vibe TBH. It's 02 variant by the way is in military green with a sniper scope, and trust me I could talk for days about the politics of that comparison, but let's stay on topic. I really like how the shield is executed, it's easier to pose than the Levinix shield as it has a handle, although the weight of the shield proved troublesome during photography. Maybe thicken that handle and wrist joint? The translucent aspects in general work nicely, although I'm less fond of the grenade launcher being cast in blue. All in all? A pretty good, no fuss robot kit.

I did my usual weathering job here, using a selection of metallic paints. I picked out the grenade launcher, assorted vents, and thrusters, before applying an ink wash. I avoided the translucent segments where possible, people would be more inclined to clean those. Turned out pretty good. With a rather noticeable backside.

I will admit to moving that later on...

My Time at TFNation July 2026

 

OK, maybe this is gonna be a bit different. At time of writing, its Monday, not long back from Birmingham, and I’m thinking how I should write up this convention. I've been back and forth; I actually rewrote this at one point. Normally I do a paragraph summary or similar, mentioning what I did each day, and how my travel was. Maybe I would make references to (attempted) socialising. And maybe I talk about how it was on the Toy-Fu table. And all those can be easily touched on, and fit previous patterns. But mainly what happened was that I was both very-very preoccupied, and very-very busy. There’s an ongoing real life thing that I can’t really go into just now, a family matter. This was playing on my mind for most of the Saturday, despite my best efforts to not to let it spoil the event, and pull my weight. What also happened on the Saturday was that Toy-Fu had the best day ever, at the busiest TFN ever. So, very busy, stressed, and distracted, all while trying to do a good job. What helped with all that was friendship. Thank heavens for my friends, especially those that I shared the matter with, and the generally good vibes of the TFN crowd. Ultimately though, my convention experience largely was the stall experience. Not the first time that happened, now that I think of it, but between the demand, we were a person short, and my own feelings, I was more aware of it happening. So, I’m not going to go into the convention experience here, as most of it for me was either trapped-in-my-own-head or doing my bit for charity. If you took at look at the Unicron Trilogy or Beast Wars sections, the odds are I served/loomed-over you. Or tried to sell you that Beast Machines Cheetor. A net positive on the weekend though, and we did some good on the Toy-Fu stall/aisle/annex/Solemnace Galleries. And people were generous too, with their donations.

As is traditional though, I got stuff, and I will now give a few comments on my haul. Definitely more cars and actual Transformers than I was expecting...

Upper/center: Transformers Energon Landmine. Yes, Transformers Energon now counts as retro. Why this guy? Well, A) he turns into a combat engineer vehicle, and B) look at him. 

Center-left: Transformers/HotWheels GT-Scorcher. Probably the best of the 2nd wave of these collaborations, although I’m not sure if he’s Bone Shaker good. 

Center-right: Transformers/HotWheels El Segundo Coupe. Not bad at all, but undermined by some Q.C issues. Named for a city in California, apparently.

Center: Transformers Age of the Primes Sureshot & Spoilsport: I’m not gonna say the set is that bad, but its not selling really the deluxe pricepoint. I got them cheap though.

8 O'clock: A decoy Galvatron gifted by a generous and talented person whom does not use social media.

7 O'clock: A Skywarp badge gifted by the generous and talented @jakelab.bsky.social.

6 O'clock: An adorable sticker by the talented @claudovel.bsky.social, themed around chili sauce and Ratchet.

5 O'clock: An extremely adorable Grimlock key-chain, also by the talented Claude.
 

Some of these may end up as blog articles, I’ll see how I go. I am running a bit behind. On that subject: HOUSEKEEPING.

Due to the aforementioned prolonged real life matters, I will shortly will be pausing blog updates. An article will go live on Sunday the 16th as usual, after-which updates will halt, and regular service will resume on September the 6th. Hopefully things will have stabilised by then. I need to take some pressure off from somewhere.

Cheers for now. 

Transformers: Energon Tow-Line is Something That Exists

 Hey, its TFNation weekend! Here's a Transformer.

 

While I will no-doubt be buying more this weekend, I've been considering a clear out of my Transformers collection. A modest downsize. I’m trying to be more financially responsible, and my interest is on a bit of an ebb. That said, such an exercise is always good for reminding you what you actually value in your collecting. These days I find it's not so much the characters, as the toys themselves and a sense of novelty. You have to have a very good writer and a very fresh take for me to latch onto a specific iteration of a Transformer, and that hasn't really happened since Siege started. That's probably indictment of the state of transformers media, but truthfully, some of the toys I've enjoyed the most spring from lines with terrible media. Or toys that frankly have no media presence to really speak of. Like Tow-Line. Tow-Line is a weirdo.
 

 

Tow-Line, he of the inconvenient hyphen, hails from Transformers: Energon, the 20th anniversary series. He didn't appear in the famously awful cartoon, the comic was canceled, and had only a token Japanese release, so he's largely a blank slate. Tow-Line is a homage to some 80's concepts, but like a lot of his line, it's not a direct interpretation. There was always some remixing going on, as opposed to today, where apparently everything must be screen accurate at all costs. Here we have the play pattern of the Diaclone vans that became Ironhide and Ratchet, while also taking visual elements from Skids, a less well known minvan dude. But it also has the visual stylings and line wide gimmicks of the time. Preempting the Missing Link releases by two decades, Tow-Line separates from a TV van into a robot and a battle platform, a feature so rare as to be basically unique. And obviously it led to a couple of G1-inspired Botcon releases. But he can also do the Energon Star thing, Mini-Cons and binary combination common to Autobots of his time. Including, with himself, becoming some kind of a robotic centaur. Like I said, Tow-Line is a weirdo. But this is something so often absent from more modern toys, not merely replicating, but adding.

Does this make Tow-Line a great toy, or failing that, a good one? Well, I would point to some weaknesses in the execution that suggest this may have benefited from a second pass or a larger price point. The accessory isn't great, it's a translucent block that when unfolded looks more like a metal detector than an actual weapon. It got posable sensor dishes, although the translucent material is a worry there, and this dates from a time when missile launchers were standard issue, so it's not great. Its also worth saying that you only get the one accessory, meaning one half of this affair can go looking a little plain. Granted, this is from a toyline that's big on interactivity between releases, but it would have helped if there was was two, more conventional, guns instead. The robot mode isn't bad, but has odd proportions, and omits the waist joint for combination purposes. It is otherwise a pretty decent deluxe equivalent with a lot of character, functional articulation, and memorable play features, like combining with himself. It doesn't quite match your typical Siege style deluxe when it comes to posing, but it is not as limited as some of it's kin, and has nothing to apologise for when it comes to visuals and paint.  My example is play worn, dusty, and is starting to demonstrate the downsides of translucent plastic, but has a presence. Because he’s a weirdo.

All in all, Tow-Line is an interesting deluxe, made charming in spite, and because of, it's flaws. There's clearly something in there for the Geewunners, but it's not chasing Sunbow. There's new ideas. Are all of these ideas flawlessly executed? No, but nothing that counts as a net negative. He's good on his own terms, and he gets better if you've got other Energon toys. He's a weirdo, but he's my weirdo, and you don't get many weirdos these days. I mean, the Thirteen Primes tried, but they didn't pull it off. So I'm probably not parting with this one.