Transformers: Kre-O Battle Changers Wave 1 (Bumblebee, Grimlock, Optimus Prime, Starscream)

In Hasbro’s infinite idiocy, it appears that none of the 2015 Kre-O toys will be available in the USA, but are available in Canada.  Canadian ebay sellers are loving it, jacking up prices on them, but it sucks shift for the rest of us.  If the stores don’t want to sell them, then either cancel them completely, or sell them through their web site.  Hasbro’s inability to use their web site to sell things that stores don’t want is mind boggling, truly idiotic.  There is no excuse for not releasing an entire line in the USA.  Fuckheads.

The real sad part is that Hasbro has finally figured out how to make Kre-O toys that don’t suck (for the most part).  No more big clunky sets where you need to build your vehicle then take it apart and build your robot.  Battle Changers now actually transform, and the RID construction sets are mostly vehicles being used by the Kreons, as they always should have been.  Though let’s not talk about the Kreon Warriors.  Someone was on an awful lot of crack when they came up with those.

Anyway, I managed to get my hands on the first series of Battle Changers.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee looks awesome in robot mode.  He’s clearly meant to be a cross between G1 (with that helmet) and movie Bumblebee (Vehicle Mode).  His car mode isn’t great, but it’s not terrible.  He looks more like a Humvee than a Camaro.

The only minor design issue, and it’s on three of the four, is that the halves of the front of Bumblebee’s car don’t clip together.  The leg joints keep them pushed slightly apart.  It’s not awful, but it is something they should have addressed.  Interestingly, they do have clips to hold the front and back of vehicles together.  They should have done the same side to side.

Grimlock

Wow.  Grimlock was the one that I thought I wouldn’t like, but he looks awesome in both modes.  He even transforms like G1 Grimlock.  He only problem is that they gave him an Age of Extinction paintjob.  I would love to have him in G1 colors.  In fact, I would love it if they did all the Dinobots and then did a G1 set.

Optimus Prime

The only problem with Optimus Prime’s robot mode is the lack of windows in his chest.  It’s not a major thing, but it would have been nice if they could have done that.  I know why they didn’t.  In vehicle mode, his robot chest sits below the windows, so it would have been a problem in vehicle mode.  His vehicle mode isn’t bad, but his cab is shorter than it should be and doesn’t really have a back on it.  At this scale, I’m not sure they could have done better, and he looks okay.  He, has the same problem as Bumblebee.  His legs in vehicle mode don’t stay together.  Too bad they didn’t fix that.

Starscream

Starscream is my favorite of the four.  He looks awesome in robot mode.  He has the red vents on his shoulders, and his cannons on his arms.  He just looks great.  His is also the best vehicle mode by far.  He’s awesome.  He too has the same problem as Prime and Bumblebee.  His legs won’t stay completely together in vehicle mode, but it can’t take away from how amazing he looks.

Overall: It’s hard to recommend these, since they are so expensive to get in the USA, but the Starscream is a must.  Grimlock is awesome as well.  I like the other two, but they are clearly the weaker ones in the wave.

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This sucker was crazy expensive at $270, but he’s well worth it.  The Asia Premium Series Ultimate Optimus Prime has virtually every accessory you can think of accept for the Dark of the Moon Ultimate Optimus Prime Trailer.  Would have been kind of crazy if they’d been able to integrate that too, but I don’t want to think about what it would have cost.

As you can see, there are a few major accessories that he includes.  He’s got the fuel tank gun, weapons from Striker Optimus Prime, Jetwing Optimus Prime, and more.

As this is an Asia release, it has English text.  This blurb gives a little bit of an overview of the toy.

Here we have him in vehicle mode with every accessory.  I’ve put his fist accessory on the hood.  I didn’t see anywhere in the instructions that says where to put it in vehicle mode, but this sees to work best.  He looks pretty bad ass.

So, here we see Optimus Prime, and his hand weapon from Dark of the Moon.  Unfortunately, he only comes with one of these. It would have been nice to have two.  You can also see the mold change that was made to him.  He has new hands with moveable fingers.  Frankly, I think it’s going backwards, as it’s hard to get some of his weapons in these hands, and they don’t stay in very well.  The real unfortunate part is that they did all this engineering to make him have moveable fingers and they move in groups of two, so you can’t even pose him flipping off Megatron.  :-)

Here he has his fuel tank weapon that first debuted on Buster Optimus Prime, a second version of the Japanese Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime that removed the old fixed fuel tanks and created a removable set that turned into this gun.

I believe these accessories themselves are new molds, but of weapons seen on other versions of Optimus Prime.  The swords and hooks are both from Revenge of the Fallen, at least I’m 99% sure they are, I haven’t watched in a while.  He later used the blades again in Dark of the Moon.  Not sure we’ve ever gotten hard plastic ones before.  I think they’ve always been soft plastic flip out weapons.  The hooks are actually hinged so they can be opened and closed.

Also included is the awesome Jetwing Optimus Prime backpack.  We did get this one in the USA with a repaint that was better than the Japanese.  This one might be the best.  The wings are silver, like both previous versions.  It lacks the blue and white G1 trailer stripes on the wings of the USA release.  This one has the engines painted blue, and have a nice bit of detail with the silver tips and red fans.  This looks really sharp.

Here he is with the weapons from Striker Optimus Prime.  This toy was released in Japan only for Revenge of the Fallen.  Now, this might be the only unfortunate thing about this toy.  The original Asia Premium Series Optimus Prime was a repaint of Striker Optimus Prime that came with the extended grill chromed.  When I first heard about this, I had hoped they would include that, but it is painted up to match the toy.  It’s kind of disappointing (since I never bought that version as it was just paint differences), but I suppose it’s more accurate this way.  He has his striker weapons as well that can be used in different configurations.

Here he is in all his glory.  Optimus Prime, armed to the teeth.  There are all kinds of configurations for the weapons.  One thing I had a problem with is the storage for his fist weapon.  The instructions show it being stored behind his head, but I can’t figure out any way to plug it in.

Overall: If you are a lover of the Bay movies, as I am, then this is the final most perfect version of the first trilogy Optimus Prime, but it is crazy expensive, as all Asia series toys seem to be.  It is kind of unfortunate that they didn’t give him a shield and sword and clip on “knight” chromed forearm covers from Age of Extinction.  My guess is that down the road we’ll get a Prime like this for the second trilogy, probably based on the Leader Class toy from TF 5, as the one from Age of Extinction is nice, but not perfect.  This one was good enough to keep using long after Revenge of the Fallen.  Hopefully we get a mold like that for TF 5.

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All Transformers: Age of Extinction Toy Reviews

Transformers: Movie Advanced Deluxe Sideswipe

This was a surprise.  The last Movie Advanced toy released was Stinger back in January.  Out of nowhere, Robot Kingdom announced Sideswipe was coming out just a day before it did last month.

Sideswipe is a repaint in silver of the Dark of the Moon Deluxe Sideswipe with Age of Extinction Deluxe Crosshairs’ weapons.  He looks great in silver, but there are better Deluxe Sideswipe molds they could have used.  I never liked this one, as it has no floorboards, a problem being that it is a convertible, making the toy look kind of like Fred Flinstone should be driving.  The weapons don’t stay on very well.  As you’ll recall, Dark of the Moon toys had the spring loaded flaps that filled in ports from the inside.  This was a fantastic bit of engineering for that line, but the small guns have very shallow pegs, and the spring loaded flap on mine pushes the weapon out on one side.  It’s a nice enough toy, but I wouldn’t call it a must.

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Transformers Artifact of the Week: Construct Bots Target Store Display

I’ve been trying to get my hands on one of these for a long while.  This particular Construct Bots display was from a Target store.  Toys R Us and Walmart both had there own versions of it with different pictures and a different colored face.  One of them I believe was vertical instead of horizontal.  Not sure if Kmart or any other stores had their own.  Still looking for the others.  I think it would be a stretch to call the Construct Bots line successful, but this is a really cool artifact of that line that did have a few interesting toys.

You can find over 13,000 Transformers merchandise items and collectibles at TFMuseum.com.

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Transformers: Kre-O Elite Optimus Prime

After years of searching, I’ve finally acquired the last Kre-O toy I didn’t have.  The elusive Elite Optimus Prime was released is 2015 with the Age of Extinction sets, but like the Grimlock Unleashed set does not carry the Age of Extinction logo and is G1 based.

I can safely say that Elite Optimus Prime is one of the rarest Transformers from the last ten or fifteen years.  Until not long ago, I had never seen one on eBay.  I couldn’t bring myself to spend $225 on the first one that came up, and I missed out on the second, but another one came up at $75.  I couldn’t hold out for a better deal.  As to why it’s so rare, I have heard different things about when/where it was released.  I know that for one day it was given out to kids at Canadian Toys R Us stores.  Prior to that it was either released in small quantities in some Asian countries, or was given out at a toy show somewhere in Asia.  I’ve seen different info in different places.  In any case, it was crazy rare.

Yeah, I know.  Kind of underwhelming.  It’s basically a Prime body with fancier arms and legs.  This is by no means a great toy, but I’m a completist so I had to have it.  This is only the second figure like this from the Kre-O line.

Here Optimus Prime is next to the Galvatron from the Age of Extinction Galvatron Factory Battle set.  Galvatron has a little more to him, especially in his legs, which makes him look less spindly than Optimus Prime.  If the line had been better received and continued, I wonder if we would have gotten more like this.

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Transformers: Studio Series Voyager Class Galvatron (AOE)

Galvatron

Vehicle Mode: Galvatron looks great in vehicle mode. He has perfect paint apps. Only minor thing is the kibble on the rear of his vehicle.

Robot Mode: Galvatron’s robot mode is okay, but I hate how boxy is torso is, though the original was similar. Not sure why they are bothering making new toys if they can’t make them any better than the originals.

Overall: If you have the original AOE Galvatron, you can probably skip him, but he’s no worse than it, so if you don’t, this is a reasonable substitute.

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Transformers: Studio Series Core Class Wave 4 (Laserbeak and Rumble)

Laserbeak

This is something of a first. Have we ever had a movie Bumblebee mold used for something other than Bumblebee before being used for Bumblebee? I would have expected this to come up down the road, but I’m not complaining. Bumblebee looks great in pink as Laserbeak.

Rumble

Finally, Hasbro makes Rumble in the right color. FIRRIB FOREVER! Rumble is awesome. He’s tiny, but that’s okay. He has his weapons, which Hasbro has omitted on more than one occasion, and even comes with his piledrivers. His cassette mode actually looks like a cassette! Okay, it kind of looks like a cassette, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the recent WFC animal cassette, which turn into squares.

Overall: Rumble is a must have. I recommend Laserbeak as well.

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Micro Machines Transformers 4-Packs Series Two

Jazwares has resurrected the Micro Machines brand under license from Hasbro. Target is the only place that seems to have them, but it seems to take forever after they are released to actually show up in stores.

When the Series One 8-Packs came out, I did not realize they would also be available at retail in 4-Packs. At least that made finding the Chase Bumblebee’s slightly less hard, though I still ended up getting two of each on eBay, I did later find the Series One Chase at retail, for all the good that did me.

Each 4-Pack comes with a decoder with an Autobot symbol on one side and a Decepticon symbol on the other. Each vehicle includes a decodable logo on the bottom of the vehicle. I would like it better if they had just done rub signs. For me this really adds nothing to the toys.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon #05

The display backgrounds in series one were clearly scenes from the movies the vehicles were from. I can’t be 100% sure, but I think they swapped the background for the AOE #08 set with this one. This one looks like a scene from Lockdown’s ship from Age of Extinction.

I really like Meagtron’s design. Optimus Prime and Ratchet are repaints. Sideswipe is now a convertible.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon #06

This background appears to show a scene of Chicago after the battle. Hard to be sure if this one is actually from DOTM, but I think it is.

Hooray, another Bumblebee. Leadfoot is awesome. Since these are primarily at Target, it would have been nice if he had the logo on his hood. Sentinel Prime looks great. Topspin is awesome. WTF, no Roadbuster?

Transformers: Age of Extinction #07

I am 99% sure this scene is actually from AOE.

Hooray, another Bumblebee. Crosshairs, Drift, and Lockdown all look great.

Transformers: Age of Extinction #07 Chase Version

Hooray, another Chase Bumblebee. It would have been nice to make Optimus Prime the series 2 chase. Doing another clear Bumblebee shows a Hasbro level lack of imagination. Feel insulted, Jazwares? You should.

Transformers: Age of Extinction #08

This scene looks like DOTM Chicago to me. Pretty sure it was swapped with the background from #05.

This Bumblebee is awesome. Galvatron looks amazing. I like this Optimus Prime mold better than the first. Stinger looks awesome. I did not bother include a photo, but I did find an AOE #08 set with Stinger packaged backwards. I haven’t seen another. Yes, I know I may have a problem, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Overall: These are really cool, but I hate that we are missing Roadbuster. In series 1 we were missing one of the motorcycles. Lots of others are missing too. Not going to bother make a list. I really want G1 Micro Machines, but I also really want all the missing movie vehicles too.

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Metagate Haiku (Transformers Dark of the Moon Drift)

Drift

Car Mode: Drift is awesome in car mode. He’s big, Masterpiece scale. He does not have a lot of paint apps, but he has enough. I love the paint on his hubcaps.

Helicopter Mode: This is a situation where they made a car turn into a robot and then folded the robot into something that vaguely resembled a helicopter. It’s not great, but I’ve seen worse, and it does have the general look of his helicopter mode from the movie. I had a hell of a time getting all his connection points connected. After two hours I gave up (first photo above). Zabgoth, who is more patient than I am, got him mostly connected, though he’s still not 100% tabbed in. They needed to spend some more time designing those connections. You connect one and when you go to connect the second, you undo the first, and there are a lot of connections.

Robot Mode: In robot mode Drift looks fantastic. He has lots of silver and gold paint, and his face sculpt is fantastic.

Overall: I wish his helicopter mode was a little better, but this is the best robot mode version of Drift in robot mode I’ve seen.

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