A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Shockwave In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Legend, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Spaceship, Combiner Gun.

Transformation Style: CW legend, simplistic triplechanger.

Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, “sixth member” combiner to Onslaught, 5mm weaponry, targetmaster.

Points of Interest: Homage to the G1 episode “The Revenge of Bruticus”. Rare new mould in Combiner Wars.

The Good

Nearly everything. The ship mode is very close to his original gun form, while the robot is a more of modernisation via the video games. Both look great, and the robot is almost ideally articulated for the size. There's a balljoint for the head, great motion in the shoulder through a balljoint/swivel combo, similar in the hips, and better knees than me. Joint count is 14, the neck being above and beyond the call of duty, so making natural poses with the gun arm is easy. He operates excellently as a big gun for Bruticus, being able to store on his back too.

The Bad

To emulate the G1 toy, translucent plastic is extensively here, most worryingly in the elbows. Breakages will be a thing to watch for. The forearms are a weak point, generating kibble in all modes. Achieving the gun mode is a matter of flipping a handle down, and while this can store on Onslaught's altmode, it doesn't sit well. There was also a tiny spot of misapplied paint on my example.

The Mediocre

Shockwave is specifically designed to work with Combiner Wars gestalt hands, and a bar of plastic before the peg will interfere with many regular hands, not to mention the weight.

The Alternatives

As a distinctive G1 original, Shockwave is extremely well supplied for toys, most recently with a Masterpiece release. Within Combiner Wars, the most obvious alternative is the Powerglide mould, specifically the Viper repaint. This would arguably fit the Combaticon theme better, BUT that's a weaker toy with tabbing issues. There is also the Botcon 2016 Relector pack remoulded from this, which I have, and adore, but its going to be expensive.

The Verdict

Shockwave is an unabashed success. Its difficult to image a version of the character at this size and price done better. As a partner mould to combiner, he's the best example of the concept. Yeah, he's basically a targetmaster whereas the other toys tried something new, but its a tried and true gimmick executed well. I would personally prefer that translucent plastic wasn't so big a feature, but its early days, and it makes the toy look good in a 1984 sort of way. Pick him up.

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Cyclonus (And Galvatronus) In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Voyager, 2015.

Modes: Robot, Cybertronian Space Fighter, Combiner Torso.

Transformation Style: CW voyager, Silverbolt style.

Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry.

Points of Interest: Extensive retool of Silverbolt. Combined mode looks suspiciously like Starscream in purple.

The Good
As remoulds go this is a quite comprehensive one, and Sliverbolt was a highlight of wave 1. The altmode is surprisingly close to the animation model, giving it a rather different feel than the original, while the robot mode gains a new head and chest. Articulation remains solid at 21 joints. Both forms benefit from two completely unnecessary, but very welcome, wings with 5mm pegs. These add some play value as improvised knives, and further reinforce this is Cyclonus. The combined mode has been reworked too, with a new head and chest.

The Bad
Cyclonus shares the weak vehicle transformation of Silverbolt, with almost the entire robot on the underside of the fighter and a notable backpack in other modes, but there's a new problem. The new head is limited at the neck and there is no panel to conceal the head in other modes, resulting in a hysterical case of Visible Head Syndrome if you neglect to turn it. This toy also comes misassembled, with the vertical fins facing the wrong way, but that's an easy fix. The tolerances seem a bit off on my example, with a removable wing a hair too loose in the ports.

The Mediocre
Cyclonus retains the ungainly gun/shield combo, and has a slightly harder time with it due to the new parts. The shield can't fit on the back with the wings fully folded, and using it as an arm mount requires a tail-fin be removed. I also managed to scratch the right forearm during transformation, but that might just be me being heavy handed. Galvatronus arguably suffers for the lack of a dedicated team. Noted pain to photograph due to the purple.

The Alternatives
Cyclonus has two high profile rivals, the Universe mould and the TakaraTomy version. The Universe mould was specifically designed to be Cyclonus, and is well-liked, if a product of its time. The Japanese iteration however comes in a highly desirable if expensive boxset with four other toys, two of which with exclusive head sculpts. 

The Verdict
Silverbolt was my #10 of 2015, and Cyclonus is a comprehensive reworking, that seems ill-fated to end up on sale. The reason for this has less to do its weaknesses, of which there are a few, but more with the concept. Nobody really wanted a combining Cyclonus, but it seems they did it because they could, and it would be fun. He is therefore quite nice, but completely optional in a line that encourages you to buy six toys at a time. If you like what you see, Cyclonus/Galvatronus definitely have merit, but feel free to skip this one otherwise.

Prototype Watch: Wonder Festival Febuary 2016

So, it was just Wonder Festival, a Japanese convention, and TakaraTomy attended, so its time for another episode of Prototype Watch! Yet more opinions, speculation, and premature evaluation based on pictures other people took. Let's start off with the Optimus Primal prototypes.

The buzz on this is pretty good. Fidelity to the animation is desirably high, and the gimmickry fits the on-screen action, with the possible exception of the light up eyes. I think they put that sort of thing in because they feel they need it to justify the price, not because the character really demands it. Anyway, the only cause for concern here seems to be that the Gorilla mode may not have articulation in the knee, but this is more immediately appealing than Ironhide was. One hopes for a Megatron sooner rather than never. The meat of TakaraTomy's display was however dedicated to the Unite Warriors Combaticons, and therefore giving us our first proper look at Blast Off. A.K.A the toy that inspired this series and I didn't like the look of.

Yeah.......

I'm not seeing a vast amount of improvement here. He looks okay as a limb, but has the proportions of Eggman in robot mode. Its a shame the shuttle mode wasn't on display, or the leg mode. We also got to see Vortex with his retooled rotor blades, which is nice I suppose, but exacerbates the kibble problems of the base mould.

We also found out that these will be in G1 cartoon colours, which was obvious, but not so much in how far they've gone to do it. The combiner guns for Brawl and Swindle are painted to match their bodies, to better replicate the cartoon model of Bruticus. Blast Off also looks a bit off in shuttle mode, colours favouring the robot mode.

It gets odder if you zoom in on the robot modes and look at Brawl. A big chunk of his head seems to have been painted yellow/orange, as he did appear in the cartoon, although he was inconsistent in his regard. Sometimes its his whole forehead that's orange, others its a Gundam style sensor.  Its worth pointing out that there is a bit of detailing on the sculpt that would have done for the latter, but doesn't really allow for the former. Combiner Wars moulds are just are likely to be based off comics and the actual toys as the cartoon, and Brawl is not strongly cartoon. This was so baffling to me, not having seen the show for a while, I thought they'd deliberately invoked a colouring mistake, until someone corrected me.

To each their own, I suppose.

Image Source: Type-R of TFW2005.

Prototype Watch: Unite Warriors Blast Off

Today, I introduce a new, irregular format. I've done various news-related articles in the past, often based on leaks or suddenly revealed images of unfinished toys at news events. I tended to comment on such things as alternative to writing reviews, as while they age badly, its often more interesting than the old toys I tend to talk about. "Prototype Watch" will comment on newly announced toys, leaks, in so far as it can reasonably be made. With lots of speculation, and opinions. Expect the next one just after New York Toy Fair.

Now, let's talk about Blast Off. As you may recall from my recent review, there was some controversy about this guy in Combiner Wars. The original toy was, for reasons lost to time, a space shuttle in a team of military vehicles. Think about that for a moment: Tank, Jeep, Helicopter, Anti-Air Vehicle, and then fricking Orbiter. Spot the odd one out. Hasbro seemingly had an attack of common sense, and made him a Harrier Jump-jet, but were lazy with with the execution. TakaraTomy decided to do a new Space Shuttle mould in the name of G1 cartoon accuracy. This is laudable, here's how it turned out.

Source:  @nakigao_san, taken from Figure King magazine

Yeah. I don't have nostalgia goggles thick enough for this one. Compare and contrast the grey prototype with the animation model they helpfully provide. Making allowances for size, combination, and budget, they missed their target. They got the thruster feet, but the proportions are terrible otherwise, with a huge chest, huge feet, thin arms, and a tiny head. He's also go thruster hands, a major deviation from the animation, but more on that in a minute. The shuttle mode is no better, and quite unconvincing. Like Alpha Bravo, there's exposed arms, although the attempt to conceal these as thrusters is much less successful than Bravo's missile racks. These are meant to be external booster rockets, I think, but look like what they are, angular robot arms. It doesn't help they are on top of the wings, and seemingly vent an inch before the actual engines. Said engines are also massively out of scale with the rest of the vehicle, and there's only two of them, rather than three. One hopes he plays better than he looks. Maybe he just photographs badly, but then again, aren't these meant to be the best possible images for advertising purposes? Right?

Source: Knoted of TFW2005.

Still, a new mould is nice, right? Maybe not. There's some speculation as to the originality of the design, and while probably not a retool, elements of engineering seem familiar. The leg and thigh components seem similar to Rook, a feeling reinforced by the thruster hands. That may explain how his chest ended up so bulky, as Rook had a big shell backpack, just mounted on the front here. We won't know for sure until someone does a comparative photo shoot, and these moulds have to be similar for combination purposes, but would not be a surprise he resembled another toy rather closely.

I could be wrong. He may turn out to be awesome in hand. But unless you absolutely must, and really must, like take insulin or I go to hospital “must”, have a space shuttle in the Combaticons, I don't see the appeal here. If anything, you'd think more people would be complaining that they fumbled the ball on this one.

Damn shame.

Looks like you are safe in my house, mate.

A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Onslaught (And Bruticus) In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Voyager, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Anti-aircraft Vehicle, Combiner Torso.

Transformation Style: CW voyager, expanding backpack style.

Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry, partner legends mould.

Points of Interest: Extensive retool of Hot Spot with an inverted vehicle mode.

The Good

Onslaught retains most of what was good about Hot Spot, and gains a few articulation related refinements. He has 21 joints, gaining a heel spur, adjustable toes, and a smaller backpack. This allows for easy posing, gun-fu being very much a strength. Visually, the robot mode is a good interpretation of the character, a new head, chest, and shoulders going a long way. The transformation has been reworked, giving us a completely different altmode, and its possible to change between all three modes without removing the guns. Bruticus meanwhile has a gorgeous head sculpt, a balljointed neck, reduced kibble at the knee, and a rather impressive silver chest plate. More importantly, as rubberised plastic has been removed from the mix, he's a more solid torso than Defensor. Its a nice looking combiner too, with effective use of grey on all five main components, and the limbbots pair so well.

The Bad

Onslaught inherits Hot Spot's myriad of vehicular sins, and warning lights, while displaying Bruticus' scalp. The new parts look nice from many angles, but all those gaps still remain, it doesn't roll that well, and some play value went with the ladder assembly. There are some slight tolerance and tabbing issues, notably with his neck and the front end of the truck. Bruticus ends up with wheel assemblies on the shoulders. You can fold these down, with the instructions indicating this, but this affects stability. Bruticus also has a slight tendency to lean forwards.

The Mediocre

Both Onslaught and Bruticus are characterised by the twin back cannons, which in this case are Hot Spot's weapons in grey. As no other accessories are provided, using them spoils the look of the toy, but Shockwave would compensate for this. Be aware: his knees are mistransformed in box.

The Alternatives

Onslaught is relatively well-served with alternatives, as not only did he get a non-combing version for Universe, he's remained a constant in the team. While most of these are worth considering, his TFSS remould Bludgeon has swords, the FOC version is pretty bad. A running change will bring a tan combiner chestplate to this toy in wave 6.

The Verdict

Onslaught typifies the Combaticons as a whole, capturing the character, but with a questionable altmode and a feeling we've seen this all before. He's basically the same as Hot Spot, with a great robot mode, but with a flawed vehicle mode. Bruticus however shines brightly, and I expect him to shine more once I get my hands on Shockwave. It makes up for all mould reuse. Long-story-short: buy this guy for the combined mode, but he's not without his own charms.

A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Swindle In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Jeep, Arm, and Leg.

Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, hollow legs.

Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, modular 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA.

Points of interest: Extensive retool of Rook, A.K.A the best Combiner Wars Deluxe.

The Good
Swindle builds on an exceptionally solid base, retooling almost everything. The robot mode has unmistakable head sculpt, and chest detailing evoking the original toy. Articulation is amongst the best in the line, 16 points with ankle tilts and free moving balljoints. The humvee-like vehicle mode is covered in ammo pouches, rivets and other gubbins, with the steering wheel even visible beneath the roll cage. Its impressively beefy, like the robot mode, and sidesteps the Visible Head Syndrome of the original by detailing the back of the head like an engine. Both forms also benefit from the accessories, the combiner piece in that nice Combaticon grey, and triple-barrelled gun painted in that black gunmetal. These both have a 5mm port built-in, allowing you to stack and combine them a variety of ways, Swindle inheriting Rook's 5mm peg and shoulder ports into the bargain. Limb modes meanwhile continue the beefy theme, the leg mode retaining the 5mm ports. As a side effect of the remoulding, the big backpack shell is gone.

The Bad

While there is an attempt to work them in as seats, the fists are very obvious in Jeep mode. Said vehicle also is lacking in paint to bring out that detailing. The retooling has resulted in the loss of some 5mm ports compared to Rook, 2 less overall., while tabbing the legs together is an annoyance.

The Mediocre

Swindle has conventional hands, as opposed to Rook's distinctive fist ports. On the plus side, this means he can hold regular weapons, but on the downside, no hulk hands. Some may find the mould to be too bulky for Swindle too.

The Alternatives

Swindle is actually better off than his teammates when it comes to substitutes, Off Road or the TFSS 4.0 version of Ruckas not being bad stand-ins. There is also the Fall Of Cybertron and Energon moulds, but they have some issues, the Energon version lacks a direct equivalent. If all you want is a really nice, characterful, Decepticon armsdealer, consider Animated Swindle. He has a bolo tie.

The Verdict

In a strange twist of fate, Swindle ends up being the best deluxe in his wave. This is despite a problematic vehicle mode, a remoulding job that actually takes away some functionality, and that doesn't reflect that well on his teammates. Swindle is better than any other Combaticon on an individual basis, and of real use for the combined mode, but he's a step below Rook in terms of overall awesome. If you only ever buy one Combaticon, buy Swindle.

A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Blast Off In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Missile Helicopter, Arm, and Leg.

Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, collapsible legs.

Play Patterns: Robot and aircraft, combiner, 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA.

Points of interest: Redeco of the limited release Quick-Slinger toy, A.K.A the missing Aerialbot.

The Good

Blast Off retains all the strengths of the Aerialbots, and feels slightly nicer in hand due to plastic changes. The colour scheme is nice, the head having some nice paintwork and a grumpy expression. Robot mode articulation is typically solid, with 14 assorted joints, a flamer-thrower, and combiner gun. The flame-thrower is painted a gunmental black, with the combiner piece left unpainted grey, but both highlight detail the original obscured. His jet mode is similarly competent, with a 5mm port under each wing, landing gear, and nice wing decals. Limb modes meanwhile are functional if thin, and joint tolerances seem slightly improved.

The Bad

In addition to an absence of retooling, the designers probably used the wrong head here, Blast Off having a faceplate in all other depictions. As an Aerialbot, there's also a lot of exposed robot pits in jet mode, but colour choices downplay this. His tailfins also reportedly interfere with Shockwave's gun form.

The Mediocre

Blast Off was in his original form a space shuttle, hence the name, while this is a harrier jump jet. While I would say that this makes a great deal more sense in the context of a tank, anti-aircraft gun, jeep and helicopter, this will bother some.

The Alternatives

Blast Off is shaping up to be a repeat of the Groove controversy, with Takara doing a Space Shuttle version which makes this toy redundant, although details are unclear. Otherwise options are bit thin on the ground, with the all choices being essentially the same as the other Combaticons, the less than ideal Energon or FOC moulds. The Energon version lacks a direct equivalent, his FOC mould is however one of the nicer examples and a spaceship.

The Verdict

Let's not kid around here, even if you can get over the lack of a space shuttle mode, Blast Off feels a bit phoned in. He needed a different head at least, and if I was gonna re-purpose any Aerialbot, it would have been Air Raid, because he's the pick of the litter. All that being said, he does all of his modes well enough, and that's more that can be said for some Combaticons. Consider him a necessary and competent part of the team, but only buy him as part of the team.

A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Brawl In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Tank, Arm, and Leg.

Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, collapsible legs.

Play Patterns: Robot and aircraft, combiner, 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA.

Points of interest: Only original deluxe in Combiner Wars Wave 5, suspected Technobot in waiting.

The Good

Done up in olive drab, lots of detailing and with integration of both weapons, Brawl looks pretty good in tank mode. The combiner piece attaches in a way that evokes the G1 toy, and there's three 5mm ports in useful places. Brawl also makes for a very beefy leg or arm, matching Swindle well, with those ports still being convenient. The robot mode has 16 points of articulation, happily including ankle tilts, and uses the tank gun as a rifle, or an arm cannon. It engineering meanwhile attempts to replicate the G1 toy in terms of transformation, while the smoke launcher in robot mode evoke the old Marvel design.

The Bad

Brawl is infamous for his waist, which does collapse fully or securely, drastically affecting the appearance and the articulation. While I took steps to minimise this, careful use of glue and fiddling with the combiner post, Brawl has other design flaws. The turret is fixed, an almost unforgivable sin on a tank of this size, and there's a minor case of Visible Head Syndrome. His combiner piece suffers from an over-large fist hole on one side, and things don't peg together as they should. Robot mode proportions and cavities are also iffy. He also has loose shoulders.

The Mediocre

While the transformation is obviously new and therefore interesting, but fiddly.

The Alternatives

Due to a quirk of fate, the Combaticons struggle for legitimate alternatives within Combiner Wars, but is well-served elsewhere. Putting aside the unreleased Takara and G2 versions, there's the Energon era toys, the Fall of Cybertron toys, and the upcoming TFSS 4.0 Mayhem Attack Squad. The Energon toys are popular, if having their own repaint paint issue, but the FOC toys aren't. The TFSS toys are based off known Combiner Wars moulds, made a bit nicer, at a bigger price. Brawl lacks convincing alternatives in either, so I'd point you towards Generations Warpath instead.

The Verdict

Brawl makes for a sharp contrast between himself and any other CW deluxe, demonstrating how good the line actually is, by being one of its few misfires. I'd personally rank him above at least two of the Constructicons, but the designers clearly bit off more than they could chew, and I feel we'd all have been better off if they had just turned Rook into a tank. Then again, he wouldn't be as G1 that way, and the tank mode looks nice. Long-story-short, he's not as good as he should be, you wouldn't buy him if he hasn't needed for Bruticus, but you're gonna combine him anyway, so whatever.

A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Vortex In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Missile Helicopter, Arm, and Leg.

Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, collapsible legs.

Play Patterns: Robot and aircraft, combiner, 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA.

Points of interest: Redeco of wave 1 Alpha Bravo, and suspected original for the mould.

The Good

Coming across as much more sinister version of Alpha Bravo, has a nice colour scheme and lot of guns. The robot mode has six decorative missiles, a machine gun, and twin gatling gun as a combiner accessory, and this fits the Combaticon theme. His face looks surprisingly evil given only colours have changed, and articulation is above average with 16 points. The helicopter mode retains the missiles, can use the combiner piece as a de facto stand via a port on the underside, and has two 5mm ports worked in as mechanical detailing. His limb modes meanwhile benefit from those ports, the underside port being handy, and matches well with Blast Off.

The Bad

Vortex retains all the problems inherent kibble problems of Alpha Bravo, with the most of the robot mode visible on the rear/underside of the helicopter, and the arms not going anywhere. Colour choices unfortunately highlight this, with four different tones on the head and chest area. The blades tend to get in the way for robot mode, mine got slightly bent. Arm mode also requires a slight mistransformation to get full use of the elbow.

The Mediocre

Vortex is a potential concern with respects to mould degradation. My example leans towards being over tight with joints, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'd advise caution with the elbows.

 

 

 

 

The Alternatives

Due to a quirk of fate, the Combaticons struggle for legitimate alternatives within Combiner Wars, but is well-served elsewhere. Putting aside the unreleased Takara and G2 versions, there's the Energon era toys, the Fall of Cybertron toys, and the upcoming TFSS 4.0 Mayhem Attack Squad. The Energon toys are popular, if having their own repaint paint issue, but the FOC toys aren't. The TFSS toys are based off known Combiner Wars moulds, made a bit nicer, at a bigger price. Vortex has worthwhile alternatives in each.

The Verdict

With Combiner Wars being what is it, you probably already own this guy, and know exactly what you are getting. I personally would have preferred some remoulding here, such as by changing to a more angular helicopter form, but on its own terms, its okay. And the mould really suits the heavily armed Combaticon theme. Alpha Bravo was one of the better things about wave 1, and an evil version of him is welcome. While you probably won't buy this guy without the rest of the team, if you did, there's things to enjoy here.

Blog Watch: New Years Hangover Edition

Hi there, loyal readers. I trust you all had a pleasing crimbo or the equivalent winter festival to which you partake. It has been pleasant for me, accounting for the fact I work in retail. I almost feel refreshed.

So, what about the blog? Well, having thought things through, I've decided to limit myself to three posts a week, the Caturday posts being retired. Its daft bit of fun, but it was shallow clickbait too, and prefer my clickbait to be deep. I also have a secret project in the works, which is gonna take up some time. Its not blog related, and I don't want to describe it lest it fails, but it does get somewhere, you'll know. The new plan is to do two transformers themed things a week, Tuesday and Thursday, with a youtube highlight article on the Sunday. I will of course chop and change a bit, and in January, I'm doing something of a theme: Concise Combaticons. Yes, the image above is representative, I got the new Combiner Wars Combaticons, no they didn't arrive soon enough to get in my Top Ten. You'll have to wait until next week to have some idea how they actually are, and I am hoping to source a Shockwave to go with the team soon. I had wanted to get him, but I only ever saw him for sale in a case with three other toys I'm really not interested in. Now, I can't find him at all, so this theme will last for 2.5 weeks or 3.

Hope to see ya back here soon.