M'Kyuun

LEGO Ideas has the second fan vote up for a 90th anniversary set. The four themes that made it through the first round are : Bionicle, Classic Space, Pirates, and Castle, and the anniversary set will reflect whichever of these four receives the most votes. As it stands, Bionicle seems to be getting the lion's share of support. My vote is for Classic Space, but in truth, I'd rather see any of the System themes win over Bionicle, which IMHO, shouldn't have even been in the running with all the classic themes of the 70's-90's. Anyway, just thought I'd make folks aware that the vote is live.

Comparing XTB's Savant, the G1 Skids, and Takara's art, I like XTB's feet and Takara's arms. Takara's feet look wonky, like he's walking on platform shoes. I kinda wish they made them look like the original box art: Ever since first laying eyes on Prowl's boxart, I've been enamored with glass enclosed innards on the legs of Transformers, and Skids is no exception. That just looks awesome to me, as well as just the general shaping of the foot, with the nice gently flaring taper. XTB's Savant resembles this art: Here's what I believe is the Sunbow model: And here's the original toy: G1 Skids definitely did not enjoy one of the better robot modes. His arms were the worst, but the placement of the feet on the original and on Savant look much better to me than Takara's art: I'm sure opinions will vary, but, the feet just bug me, even if they do help the proportionality of the design. If I had my druthers, he'd look as close to the OG box art as possible.

A dick move like that seems more likely purposefully inconsiderate than just merely thoughtlessly incompetent. I'm sure delivery drivers, regardless of the corporation/agency they work for, have to deal with stressful/annoying situations. Hell, the the odious driving habits of the indigenous population here in Spokane would have me wanting to invest in a minigun with several barrels of ammo if I had to contend with it every day as part of my job. Fortunately for me and the population at large, I'm retired and a homebody, so my outings are minimal. Anyway, as a pro delivery driver, one expects a little more care as a matter of courtesy and professionalism. Man, I'd forgotten about MP Skids. Given the number of more prominent characters that have yet to receive the MP treatment, Skids seems an odd choice. Nonetheless, if the final product has all the detail of the concept, I'm interested, as I skipped XTransbot's version. Too, I liked the look of the original toy, even though I never had him, so hopefully this'll be worth the wait.

Good review, Mike. I haven't messed with my PotP P/CP for awhile, and honestly, I couldn't remember whether or not I'd had issues pegging the arms in as you described. After transforming mine, my copy's arms stay pegged without my having had to change anything (I may have made the change back when I first got him and just don't remember). Anyway, those tabs on the arms are pretty small to start with, and getting them to align even on a functioning copy requires care to ensure the shoulders are in place. As I said, it's been awhile, and my first attempt to put him in car mode resulted in the bottom bulging due to my having forgotten to close the center chest tab so the Autobot symbol is showing on the bottom of the car. Fixed, it went together much more smoothly. The ball joint for the head on mine is tight but free moving, so I'm able to get a decent range of motion. Sorry to hear that yours sticks. A bit of sanding will likely remedy that. I still have my G1 P/CP, and it's a fig for which I'd hoped for an update until the PotP version was released. I was a little bummed that they didn't replicate the double set of arms, which helped differentiate the looks of the bot modes a little more on the original toy, but overall, I was pretty happy with how well it turned out. I wish now they'd done it for ER or Kingdom, as the articulation and possibly the engineering would have been improved, but for a very minor character, it does the job. I'm also happy with the new car mode; while I liked the look of the Fiero back in the day, the modern, albeit fictional, car mode is fitting and looks really nice to my eye. I'm also expecting the new version of P/CP along with Barricade, who's the real draw for me for that particular two-pack. Since the PotP version captures the look of the G1 toy better, with more accurate coloration and paint apps (love the darker blue and the red rims), I'll likely leave the new P/CP in storage. Concerning Fed Ex, your experience with projected delivery dates getting shuffled and delayed echoes my own. Generally, though, my Fed Ex packages come intact, but last week I got a couple large LEGO sets in, and while I built the one, I kept the other put aside. I finished the first and was opening the second yesterday only to discover that the bottom had been impaled by god knows what, and said instrument of destruction penetrated not only the cardboard box, but also the main box and a secondary box within (It's a large modular building set, which often have half the bags contained within a secondary box or boxes within the main box, probably for ease of factory sorting). Anyway, I was dismayed at having the thing punctured, as I may have lost bags of parts, and because I keep the boxes to the majority of my sets. I'll likely go through and do an inventory this week to make sure everything's there. It's a first, and hopefully a last, especially with a $200 set.

Funny- I just watched Buck Rogers this evening with the wife. I grew up watching Gil Gerard and the lovely Erin Gray bring the adventures of Buck Rogers to life on tv, and it's still a fun show to watch almost 40 years later. Clooney wouldn't have been on my radar to revive it, let alone play the character; I'd prefer to see Buck and Wilma played by younger leads; Clooney could play Dr. Huer if he intends to star in it. I'm curious how they'd approach Twiki- another short fellow in a suit, or a more CG def-not a guy in a suit look. My preference would be the latter, kinda like the Cylons in the updated BSG. I wouldn't mind seeing Buck Rogers brought back, but yeah, I'm not sure Clooney's the guy to play him. He can produce all he wants, though, as he's got the clout to make it happen and attract actors to the project.

I just ordered the metallic version of this guy. I have the New Age Megatron, but this just smokes it as far as aesthetics; I daresay, this looks better to my eye than MP-36, especially the chest, which is actually the gun slide rather than a bunch of origamied panels. It also has the removable front chest panel to simulate the battle damaged look from the Movie. It's just better executed than MP-36 IMHO. I so, so wish they'd blow this up to voyager scale. I also went in on MS' Soundwave and four cassette pack. I prefer the look of NA's Soundwave, but MS' version is still well done, and their cassettes are far better than NA's, IMHO. Since MS' cassettes are larger than NA's, there's no cross compatibility, and Ocular Max cassette argument aside, where's the fun in having cassettes that won't fit in Soundwave's chest? I wasn't going to buy any more legends figs, but man, these things are done so well that I know I'd regret not getting them down the road.

I agree that NA's Soundwave looks great, but their cassettes pale in comparison to MS's, which themselves aren't the greatest at pulling off the cassettes modes, but do a far more respectable job in their bot modes, especially their Rumble/Frenzy. It's a shame that MS and NA build their not-Transformers to different scales; I would have been tempted to get NA's Soundwave with MS' tapes. I'm still slightly tempted just to go ahead and get MS' Soundwave and cassettes, and their Megatron, which makes NA's , which I already have, look not so great, even if it is a fun little Megs toy. I'm trying to swear off buying more legends figs, as I've practically no room left for the figs I collect regularly (mostly Generations and MP), but it's hard to steer clear when they're done this well. Too, I've got Haslab's Unicron coming, possibly releasing next week, and I've procrastinated on getting a shelf installed for him, so that's one more huge lump of plastic for which I have no space. Oy vey... What I really wish is that MS would upscale their Megatron to voyager scale, as he'd be a perfect G1 Megatron to fit in with CHUG. We all know that, unless US gun laws change radically back to pre-1980's standards, we'll never again see a G1 Megatron on US shelves, so it'll take a third party effort to provide it for us. IMHO, MS' take would do the job nicely. The Kalavinka's an interesting design, but ultimately I passed on it, and the Lumitent J-20, which appeals to me more, honestly. I'm waiting to see if they bust out a toy of the Flanker, or a close approximation thereof, as concept art has already been shown, and it looks amazing in bot mode. I'm also flirting with getting the Apache-look-alike, for which grey-scale protos have been shown. I've always liked helos, so it's tempting. Edit: so tempting, I PO'd it. Gawd, I'm such a sucker for this stuff. Edit2: broke down and ordered MS' Comic Color Soundwave, Cassette pack, and Metallic Megatron, as well as POing Iron Factory's take on Huffer and Kagami-Shishimaru Lio Convoy. I've never bought any Iron Factory stuff before, but I've admired pics of their stuff courtesy of Kuma and others for years. Guess it was time to finally take the plunge. I so don't know where I'm going to put all this stuff, but it all looks too amazing to pass up. As a fan of transforming robots, there's so much more I'd like to buy, and the options available to us are well beyond what I could have ever hoped or dreamed as a kid, but I need to exercise a modicum of restraint, even if I did crack a bit today. There were still more things I would have liked to pick up, but as I said earlier, space has become my greatest hindrance in this toy collecting habit of mine.

Amazing paint job on Houquet, Tekering. Looks beautiful. I'm with 505th- she should come like that OOTB. It's nice to see Sentinel addressing some of the weak points of Stick's Legioss. I noticed he didn't show the shoulders, so I wonder if they're still as scary tight as Stick's. It's nice to see the pilot not fall apart with a whisper, or floppy ankles, which were two of the biggest issues with Stick's. Hopefully they'll continue the trend as they work on Yellow's ride. All things considered, it's still the best Legioss toy ever made, and I love my Stick Bernard version; other than the Toynami, I've passed on every other Legioss toy until Sentinel's, as I knew the next one I bought would probably be the last one, and I wanted it to be a well done fig. Sentinel went beyond well done, IMHO; it's a thing of beauty, both aesthetically and engineering-wise. Not perfect, but light years ahead of its predecessors, and just a fine attempt at a challenging design.

Cool toy, and def in the top ten best jetformers. The VF-1 influence is obvious for anyone in the know, but that's a good thing. It's not a direct copy, which is also good, b/c it's a thumbed nose at HG.

At least your Walmarts have evidence of having had some of the newer releases; my Walmart has been empty of all Transformer toys except a single Cyberverse Shockwave since December. I've been in the store when they were stocking toys, and I'm that weirdo that hovers about the pallets of boxes looking for some hopeful sign of Transformers, but nope. Same for 2021 LEGO, but I digress. Not sure why they're not prompt with stocking toys, especially new stuff, but they're not, and haven't been for nearly a decade. It's supremely frustrating, especially since they're only two miles down the road, and I go there at least once a week to take my mother-in-law grocery shopping. That said, I haven't had luck at the second closest Walmart, which is usually prompt about getting new stuff out, but the story's been the same over there. So I'm not sure if it's a distro issue here in Spokane, or some other factor, but I've seen none of the Kingdom nor Netflix stuff locally; I had to travel three hours west to find them in a Wally there. I'm hoping as we move closer to February, some of this stuff will finally start showing up locally. Digits crossed. I wish Pulse would carry the store exclusive stuff. The Walmart online store has been weird with their pricing of late. Case in point, they've been showing Netflix Bumblebee available, but the price fluctuates between $40-50, and reflects a different price every time I check it. I got it for $20 in store. I've been waiting for Brainstorm to become available, which was reflecting a price of $22; I just now checked it, and for the first time, it's available, but the price is now $49.99. Again I've got Walmart selected, so this shouldn't be a scalper price (I detest the fact that Wally and Target both allow outside sellers to sell on their sites, as both have become Meccas for scalpers) Anyway, I'm not sure what's going on with their pricing shenanigans, as every other Wally exclusive fig I've bought online from their store has been sold at the MSRP. Bumblebee was the first fig whose price soared well above, and now Brainstorm, so there's something amiss, and it's not good for us collectors. Edit: After checking the Wally site again for Brainstorm, I was incorrect in my earlier statement; it's being sold by a third party seller instead of Wally.com. I can't get it to even show up when isolating to Walmart exclusive. So much for that avenue.

Man, I hope so. That's the UCS I've been waiting for since they started the line. However, to @ErikElvis, the System set you saw at Walmart, 75288, is pretty well done, and definitely has the best head, so far as accurately accommodating the two drivers and Gen. Veers. The original 4483 from 2003 still looks the best proportionally to my eyes, and it had that lovely printing on the dishes. The new set's legs are too thin, and the hip dishes are the same size as the knees, where they should be slightly wider in diameter, and it throws the look of it off. I own two copies; one to keep as designed, and a second to mod, if I ever get motivated enough to do it. However, on the whole, 75288 does a good job of capturing the look, has a cool internal winch to reel Luke up to the underside, has a Snowspeeder ensconced in the back, and has the strongest and most flexible neck connection yet on a System AT-AT. IMHO, It's worth the $160. I'm expecting my Ninjago City Gardens and '89 Batwing sets today. I'm excited for both. I have the first Ninjago City set, and it definitely left an impression as one of the most fun sets I've ever built, and at this point, I've built likely a couple thousand, no hyperbole. I skipped the Ninjago CIty Harbor set, as it didn't look as engaging to me, but this Garden set looks to capture once again a variety of structural designs, colors, and commercial Asian flare that the original did, and it sings to my soul. My biggest conundrum is where I'm going to put it. The '89 Batwing is just cool, if a bit inaccurate to the original movie model. I think the designers did a better job on the '89 Batmobile, but it's still pretty cool, and the ability to hang it on the wall will prove useful, as that's likely how I'll display my copy.

So did I, actually. While I fervently hope the final choice is Classic Space, I also voted for Blacktron and M-Tron as my second and third choices. Blacktron was my second favorite Space subtheme, and M-Tron had a cool gimmick and some cool sets, especially the Mega Core Magnetizer. I'd be happy if any of these got chosen, but man, I'd love an updated wedge shaped ship in the vein of the old Galaxy Explorer. Ultimately, though, I just hope a space theme is chosen, even if it's not one of my picks. My greatest fear is that Bionicle will win. There are a lot of Bionicle fans, and it did help to save LEGO's bacon back in '03, but as an anniversary themed set, I think it ought to be something harkening back to those early sets from the late 70's that introduced the world to the minifig and sooo many possibilities. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for Creator to touch upon Space at some point, as last year they made a really nice looking Pirate Ship, this year they're supposedly making a nice Castle set (not to mention that last year a really nice classic Pirates IDEAS set was released, and they're getting ready to release a Blacksmith shop through IDEAS very soon, so that's two of the classic themes down. We're due some serious CS representation in Creator and IDEAS).

LEGO is offering fans a chance to choose a classic theme for a LEGO IDEAS set due next year to commemorate their 90th anniversary. Classic Space all the way!!!

Good reviews, Mike. This is definitely a good Primal update, and again, I like that they decided to skew more towards a real world looking ape than the slightly more toony looking version. I assume , in order to recoup the costs of the molds and such, that a later reissue of these figs with their toonier beast modes will happen. But, I like this direction as it gives fans something different from the MP versions. As for nitpicks, I also wish wish his hip joints were red rather than the dark blue they used. I'm also not much of a fan of his gorilla apron/butt flap. I think it would have looked better had it had more of a taper? I dunno. It just looks to my eyes like a furry apron, as if he's about to bake up a banana cream pie. It's a very subjective nitpick, I'll admit, and I think they did an overall good job of giving him pretty decent articulation in his ape mode. I do however wish they'd made all his weapons integrate seamlessly into his beast mode like the original toy, which was amazing for its time, as well as the MP, which did a good job of integrating the majority of his weapons in beast mode. At least they managed to tuck his Prime cannons into his back. Since he used those quite often, but his swords rarely, if ever, it doesn't hurt my feelings to leave those in the box when I eventually get him. Reading through your Warpath review, I realized I totally missed that partsforming shield, so I had to go fetch the box, and fish it out. That should eliminate the gap on the front of my copy's tank mode. I took a serendipitous trip with my wife and friend to go to Wenatchee, WA, about a three hour drive from Spokane, to look at antiques yesterday. I managed to find a mostly intact and fairly new looking and functional M.A.S.K. Condor, a toy I've regretted not picking up as a kid all my life, in one of the antique stores we visited. Brad Turner and the handlebar piece were missing, but otherwise, for $15, I was happy as a hog in a cool puddle to find it in as good as shape as it was. But the goodness didn't end there. We decided to stop at Walmart on the way home to get a charging cable for my wife's phone, which we were using to navigate, and I, given my proclivities, headed straight for the aisles of pure plastic joy. I mean, who cares if you know where you're going when there are toys to be appropriated, right? Anyway, after locating the Transformers aisle, I came upon a gentleman holding a particular red and white box. When I got closer, I realized he had the elusive and much sought Netfix Generations Bumblebee in his hand. He was looking at it rather thoughtfully, and assuming he was going to buy it, I asked him if there were any more Bumblebees on the peg (there looked to be about four more Netflix styled boxes on the peg), and he said no. Then, miracle of miracles, he handed it to me. I was taken aback, and asked him if he wanted it. He said no, so I floated away with Bee firmly in hand. So elated was I to find this most elusive of figures that I neglected to look and see what other hard-to-find-treasures the shelves may have yielded. After all, the TR Headmaster rereleases in retro G1 styled boxes have been confirmed to be out at retail as well, and I'm after Brainstorm to complete my HM collection. It's a small regret, however, and somehow I have a feeling they'll be easier to find once the stores in my area actually deign to stock them. But on to the star of the show, Walmart Exclusive Netflix Generations deluxe Bumblebee. Bumblebee is, as most of you are aware, a retool of WFC deluxe Cliffjumper. They share the same arms, legs, crotch piece, and lower internal waist piece. The head, wheels, front fenders, doors, back fenders, roof pieces, and detachable rear end piece are all new for Bee, which makes him a pretty extensive retool. I'm not a fan of the partsforming car rear end, but I will say it tabs into Bee's back more firmly than on my Cliffjumper. So, Bee's car mode is an officially licensed classic VW Bug. I tried to capture the official emblem , which sits rather high up on his hood (bonnet for our British friends). His trunk, or boot, has unpainted vent detailing and an unpainted license plate with the plate light housing all sculpted well. The tail lights are painted red, and the rear bumper is a separate bit of black plastic. Unlike Cliffjumper, whose detachable rear section was red plastic with the windows painted, Bee's rear section is made of a yellow bit for the frame with a transparent light blue plastic insert for the windows. Also unlike Cliffy, the roof of Bee's car is yellow plastic with a trans-light blue insert, with yellow paint apps to complete the look. the paint here is very well matched to the plastic, unlike other figs we could mention here (cough, cough, Sunstreaker). Already, it's apparent that this fig benefitted from a slightly higher parts count than his mold mate, Cliffjumper. Moving on, the windshield also has wipers picked out in silver paint. he also has the suggestion of a driver's side mirror poking out on the left side of the driver's cabin. The door handles are also picked out in silver paint, and on his front end, his headlights are painted silver, his bumper is made up of black plastic inserts, and he has an Autobot logo on the driver's left side of his hood, which in turn becomes his left foot. I just noticed that Cliffy lacks a faction symbol in his bot mode; the Autobot logo is on the tuck-away flap that forms the car hood. Shame they didn't emblazon it on his roof/chest. Finally, Bee's wheel rims are also picked out in silver and are sculpted to reflect official VW Beetle wheels, complete with molded VW logos. As you can see from the pics, Has/Tak did a fine job capturing the look of the classic Beetle for Bee's alt mode. Of course, there are some of us, myself included, who would like a more Choro-Q styled chibi-Bug mode for him to relfect the G1 toy, but it's a rare occasion when Hasbro licenses anything official for the Generations main line, so I consider it an interesting anomaly. It doesn't hurt that it was well executed, and I wouldn't blame anyone for getting this guy confused with MP-21 Bumblebee. So, here's MP-21 on the right and Netflix Generations Bee on the left. MP-21 is noticeably bigger, and of course, his engineering is far better than the Generations figure. However, just looking at the car modes, the sculpt work on both is very crisp, with minute details picked out on both. It's a good use of the long sought VW license. Now if only Porche would relent, but I digress. So I figured I'd post this new Bee alongside some of his previous incarnations. From l-r: Classics Bee, MP-21, Generations, and Titans Return. The right pic shows Generations Bee next to his mold-mate, Cliffjumper. Moving on to bot mode, there are no notable changes in his articulation or transformation from Cliffjumper, who @mikeszekelyreviewed last year. All changes were cosmetic in nature to give him a VW Beetle alt mode. he also comes with the same accessories as Cliffjumper. A new gun, specific to Bee, would have been nice, but given that the budget was probably stretched to use the license, as well as a few additional parts , I'm ok with it. Third party, or one of Hasbro's bundle packs, will likely come to the rescue for those who feel the need to arm their bots with more accurate hardware. Some shots with his other minibot buds in this new deluxe scale. Hope to see this lineup continue to grow. So many bees. L-R: Classics, MP-21, Generations, and TR That's just Prime.... Final thoughts: While I'm not a big fan of the parts-forming aspect of this mold, I have to say that it was used complementarily to both modes; one need look no further than ER Ironhide or Ratchet to see a poor example of the practice. While some might object to a real world classic Beetle alt mode rather than his more chibi G1 car mode, I feel it noteworthy that this is an officially licensed alt mode in a line that generally eschews them in favor of non-licensed likenesses. I don't mind it, and it makes him unique. In terms of articulation, I think the general mold, both Bee and CJ, embody the new standard, which is basically ankle tilts for all. It's an improvement over past figs, and hopefully a harbinger of more improvements going forward. Finally, he's arguably the most accurate G1 Bumblebee to date in the main line, based more on the toon than the toy, for obvious reasons. It's an excellent update, and a must for your Earthrise/Kingdom collection. Recommended, and I wish you all the best of luck finding him.

Kingdom Megatron is a fig I'm looking forward to. I've watched a few vid reviews and read @mikeszekely's, and as Mike said, this is the best organic T-Rex mode we've ever gotten in terms of articulation and the overt attempt to make him look as accurate to what current science believes a T-Rex would have looked like, color notwithstanding, but who knows? Would it have made sense for an apex predator to be purple? Probably not, but the green on his back makes sense in a world that was likely flush with all sorts of plants. Anyway, unlike MP BW Megatron, which is a neat fig, but a pain to transform, I'm looking forward to this simpler version, as Has/Tak nailed the main cues of BW Megatron's bot mode, while giving us a T-Rex mode that's actually poseable for a change. That's a beef I've long had with beast modes, especially the organic ones, as they're generally statuesque, looking the part but practically immobile, except perhaps an opening mouth or maybe a hinged foreleg. To that end, I'm pretty pleased with the majority of the Kingdom BW figs, as, other than Rattrap, Hasbro tried to imbue most with a fair degree of articulation, which makes the alt mode much more fun, as it should be. Some of the back kibble is unfortunate, but a worthy concession to achieve the articulation of his T-Rex mode. I've never been a fan of having his dino head as a hand or his tail as an arm, but I am glad that, unlike his original toy, they gave him a full left arm and hand within the tail as he had in the show. I can live with the tail being an extension, although this is one instance when it'd be nice if it was detachable as it was in the show. As for lack of accessories, I'm ok with it, but a rubber ducky would have been great just because. Anyway, I think using this mold, at least the T-Rex part of it (I'm sure they'll do some retooling of the bot mode to give him some semblance to Dr. Grant, or maybe Owen) as a Jurassic Park crossover is too good an opportunity to pass up. I'm not sure I feel the need to have two copies of this toy, but then again, seeing that T-Rex mode looking like he does in the JP films, it might be too hard to pass up. The thought of it kinda makes me wish there had been more organic dinos, besides Dinobot, who could also see a crossover from the films. I'd love a Triceratops, for one.

My guess is yes, as they're likely going to go the cheapest option possible. Either that or it'll be a very slight retool, as you said, to make the side panels more reminiscent of the actual Lambo. I think they made the Siege as close to source as possible to make any potential earth mode from it as economical as possible, so whatever they do to it to effect the change, I expect it to be minimal. It's already a good mold, so even if they just repainted the roof and windshield to make it more like the Lambo, I'd be fine with it, honestly. It would be nice, however, if they tried to make it look more like Sunstreaker's car mode. This is Hasbro we're talking about, so I'm keeping my expectations low.

Y'know, looking back, I'm not sure now, as the box's window mostly showed the upper portion of Prime, and I don't recall the branding. The pics on the box showed him with all blue legs, and I can't remember if I was able to look down into the box to confirm it. My short term memory is rather poor, and I can't honestly be sure. The impression I had when I got home was that he was the version with all blue legs. I forgot to mention yesterday that Target had two copies of Ecto-1, but the price was $60 or $70 (I don't recall which, just that it was grossly overpriced), but secondary is up around $80-nearly 100 range, so it's still the better option, I guess. Gamestop has it on sale for $27.98, so if I had any interest in picking it up, that's who I'd get it from. Not really, man. Most of the time, I'm sitting here in envy of all the stuff you're finding on that side of the country. Yesterday's findings were a temporary oasis in an otherwise generally barren Transformer wasteland. Target seems to be better than Walmart about getting stock, though. I paid visits to my local Wally, for which empty pegs in the TF section is more a norm than not, and to another Wally that generally is far better at keeping the shelves stocked, and they too had little to offer, at least in the Generations stuff. Well, he has a fugly misshapen cab with a big white tumor, comprised of his non-integrated arms, just hanging off the back and gaps on the sides. The cab can't turn independently of the trailer. The trailer has no functionality as a car carrier due to how the legs were designed and due to the stowage of his arms inside. The only positive thing I can say about it is that the bot mode looks good. But, I believe Has/Tak can do better, and since UM's kind of a meh character to me anyway, I'm willing to wait for a better version, should it come. If the rumor's true that the team at Hasbro wanted to use ER Prime for the core, and seem dissatisfied with the current offering, then I suspect we'll see an improved version in the future. Hmm, I like the dark blue, but I wish they'd done the whole car in that color. I've not really double dipped this mold much, although I like it. I like the colors though, so I may consider it depending on the price. My CHUG shelves are beyond capacity at this point, so I'm already struggling to find places to put the latest figs I've been buying, not to mention I have Haslab's Unicron to prepare for yet. So many toys, so little space. I'm curious as to whether there's indeed an earth mode Sideswipe coming; they got pretty close with the Siege already; all he needs are a few cosmetic changes to the windshield and a spoiler. Guess we'll see.

Thanks, Mike! The Target I went to also had Kingdom Optimus Primal, Cheetor, and the deluxe dino skeleton dude. They had a bunch of Cyberverse stuff, Kingdom Opimus Prime (the one with all blue legs), a number of SS Bayverse deluxes and MPM Bumblebee Movie Bee. I don't own a single version of Bee Movie Bee, so I thought about it for a second or two, but ultimately passed. I may come to regret it, but not today. I passed on the BW figs, as I have them all PO'd, and, having the MP versions already, I can wait. It gives me something to look forward to. I even thought about leaving Cyclonus at first, but no. My anticipation for this figure was just too great, and then I saw Warpath, and then SS Hot Rod. Suffice it to say, it was a gratifying day. I actually went to Target to see if they had the newest set of LEGO Collectible Minifigs, which they didn't. But finding those Kingdom figs more than made up for it. Had I known that Kingdom OP was going to be a thing, I may have held out and saved myself the time and effort to paint my ER version. Alas, what's done is done, and I don't feel the need to double dip on ER Prime unless he's issued as a new Ultra Magnus down the road. Speaking of UM, after watching a vid review of Kingdom UM a day or two ago, I canxed my PO. It's just not good. I hope that the Hasbro folks who wanted to use ER Prime as the base get their wish at some point, and we get a much better Magnus down the road. 'Til then, CW UM is my placeholder, and for now, I'm fine with it.

So, I just got back from target, where I picked Kingdom Cyclonus!!!!, Kingdom Warpath, and SS Hot Rod. Starting with Hot Rod, I vehemently echo Mike's comments on the crappy shoulder articulation. A similar mechanism as Cyclonus' would have allowed for natural lateral movement of the shoulder instead of having to rotate the shoulder to the top of the body in order to allow lateral arm movement. Another example of this is Runabout/Runamuck, whose shoulder joints are attached within the body rather than in the arm. It's crappy engineering, and severely limits the arm articulation. The inclusion of all the accessories and effects parts is nice, but I have little use for most and would also have traded the extras budget for better shoulder joints. I also agree, and think that it's likely going to be the consensus among fans, that this is the best looking, most accurate G1 Hot Rod to date, at least officially. I would have said FT's Hoodlum was the best, but I think the chest proportions, due to the chest cheat, ultimately benefits the SS figure and gives him a more appealing look. Hoodlum, though, does have the benefit of having better overall looking lower legs, as the backs of the SS fig's lower legs are compromised by some very well compacted, yet still obviously non-matching, car bits. To some small degree, it may have actually helped the look of the fig had they given him red boots, as it were, as the car kibble would have matched better from all angles. Nevertheless, I'm personally glad they went the direction they did by making his boots grey to match the animation. I'm also glad his hands are grey, and that they can open. I wish fervently that that would become a standard. Maybe in another decade, perhaps. If I have one other nitpick, I wish there was more of a tab to help align the little fold-out front fender bits that sit in front of his shoulders in car mode. They basically free float with little to hold them in place and shore up the gap. Still, it's not egregiously bad on my copy, and on the whole, I think this is an excellent take on the character. I also like the spinning mechanism for the arms, which mirrors the one transformation scene from The Movie. I also wanted to mention how well intgrated the little visor is, at least on mine; it form fits his face perfectly when extended, and folds seamlessly into his nugget when not in use. It looks good, too; a lot of times, features like this, due to fit or what have you, come off looking cheesy and just don't work as well practically as they may have sounded on paper. Good execution here. Glad I got him. Warpath, at least my copy, is a mixed bag. He has a surprisingly complex transformation, especially the legs, that took me by surprise. I expected it to be very straightforward, but there's a fair bit of manipulation necessary to get him transformed. Warpath doesn't come with a gun for his bot mode, but since he turns into a tank, I guess it's moot. I suppose the argument can be made that he can just fire his cannon from his chest in bot mode, but to be honest, I'm not sure if he ever actually did that in the toon, or comics. So here he is in his tank mode, and despite being red, which is toon accurate, he bears a resemblance to the General Motors M551A1 Sheridan, after which the G1 toy was also modeled. As with the majority of tank Transformers, his treads are static, and he rolls on four small wheels underneath. The turret can rotate 360 degrees, and the cannon can rotate up and down, with about 30 degrees of movement. The pic above is the cannon fully down (note that it sits a little above parallel to the ground), and below is the cannon at full height, which is about 45 degrees to parallel. It's a good bit of range, and I'm just happy that they made it rotate at all. The only issue I have with my copy, and judging by the build of it, it will likely be an endemic problem, is that the panels on the upper front end of the tank lack any kind of solid tabbing or latching ability, so the whole endeavor relies on friction to keep it all together. As such, mine has a rather noticeable gap for which I see no ready way to remedy. It's a small misfortunate bit of design that mars what is otherwise a very well designed figure. here's a bottom shot of tank mode. The front of the tank is towards the bottom, and you can see the interlocking tabs that keep the panels straight. Unfortunately, none of them have any clasping ability which allows that whole front section to separate. Bad Hasbro, bad! Bot mode. Kingdom Warpath benefits from a very clean design. Much of the filler panels fold into the legs and are virtually unrecognizable as such. On his back, there's a wedge shaped panel with yet another hinged smaller rectangular panel that form the aft upper deck and back portion of his tank mode that, due to the tight tolerance where it has to pass through the rotating frame to which his arms attach, can be a bit challenging to move into place when transforming him to tank mode. It's something to be aware of. His head is on a ball joint and he can get all of about 2-3 degrees of up and down movement- not a lot. His shoulders are pinned and offer 90 degrees of lateral swing, 360 degrees of fore and aft rotation, his bicep swivels offer 360 degrees of rotation, his elbows bend to 90 degrees, and his wrists swivel 360 on a mushroom peg. He has 360 degrees of waist swivel but no ab crunch. His hips are on universal joints which swivel a little over 90 degrees fore, about 80 aft due to hitting back kibble, and can swing laterally on pinned joints to 90 degrees. The thigh swivels are on mushroom pegs and swivel 360 at a point just south of the 'hip skirt', which is actually the hip joint proper. I love this design, and I hope they stick to it as a norm going forward. The knees bend to just under 90 degrees. The feet have no up or down movement, but the ankles can tilt 90 degrees, as it's necessary for transformation. Mentioning his feet, this guy has some serious clodhoppers on him. I submitted a profile shot below. There should be no stability issues with this guy. Although he comes with no accessories, like most WFC figs, he has a number of 5mm ports: one on his back, outer biceps and forearms, outer lower legs, and one on the bottom of each foot, for a max total of nine. He also has pegs for attaching effects parts on his left forearm, right lower leg, just below the knee, and the tip of his cannon barrel. I thought I took a back shot of his bot mode, but apparently I forgot. Apologies. s The profile , while calling attention to his rather sizeable feet, also shows just how clean he is. the tread detail on his forearm is about it for vehicle kibble, and that's canon to his original toy and toon depictions, so not much to say beyond his being a very sharp update to the classic G1 character. Some comparison shots: First and foremost, the fig that most folks are going to want to see him compared with is the previous Generations deluxe class Warpath from 2011, who transformed into a Cybertronian H-tank. IMHO, this was an excellent Warpath figure that had a fun transformation, a clean bot mode, and a good tank mode, despite its not being the classic Sheridan. I believe this was also one of the first minibots, who generally only appeared in legends scale, to be made as a deluxe figure with all the bennies that accompany the size upgrade. Until this new Kingdom fig, I'm sure he's been the placeholder for Warpath in many a CHUG collection, and I think he bears hanging on to for how well of a designed toy he is. As you can see from the pics, Generations Warpath is a full head taller than his Kingdom counterpart, reflecting Hasbro's continued production of smaller deluxe minibots in lieu of legends scale. I'm all for that decision, and I continue to hold out hope that all the minibots will eventually get deluxe updates. It does, however, draw into question why they decided to make the cassette bots undersized compared to the realistically scaled G1 and MP cassettes. But that's a discussion for another day, or another review, as it were. Here's Kingdom Warpath with ER Prime, and ER Bluestreak. The scaling looks good to this fan's eye. Wrapping my review up, I think this is a really good take on classic G1 Warpath, and one that's been 30+ years coming. the inability of the front panels to close up tightly by some sort of mechanism, the tight tolerance for the back panel, and a potentially frustrating leg transformation are mild detractors from what is otherwise arguably the best official Warpath toy to date. Recommended. As an aside, if you look closely at the bottom of the underside tank shot above, there are two slots under the front of the tank, and it would be nice if a third party produced a weapon or such that could tab into those two slots thus bringing the front halves together securely and eliminating the gap. Lastly, Kingdom Cyclonus. As most of us here are toy collectors, we know that the impression one takes away from even a comprehensive review is still not the same as actually holding the thing in your hands, putting it through its paces, checking all the angles. That's my feeling as I freed Cyclonus from his cardboard prison, posed him, transformed him, and just gazed lovingly at this marvelous figure. All the reviews I've watched and read had me convinced this was going to be a good figure, but in hand, I can think of no better descriptor than the oft overused 'masterpiece'. Short of a few paint apps that would help complete the look and perhaps some double-jointed elbows, this is such a strong entry in this line, with an accurate bot mode, and a jet mode, with tricycle retractable landing gear and wing flaps no less, that's cleaner than 98 percent of what HasTak produce. There are bot parts visible on the bottom, but they're integrated in a way that's complimentary to the jet mode. The armatures for the arms are cut such that, when moved for transformation, the remaining chest area is angled to favor the taper of the fuselage. It's good attention to detail in the design, and I applaud Hasbro and Takara for it, for making this such a standout figure. Both modes are solid, i.e., no falling apart at the merest wiggle. If anything, the tab/slot connections between the forearms and lower legs in jet mode are quite tight and difficult to separate once pressed flush. I had to use a LEGO brick separator and really pry to get those things apart. Be wary. I've gushed enough over this figure. Needless to say, I love it unabashedly. Like many fans, I've waited 30+ years for a proper G1 Cyclonus, and HasTak finally delivered the goods. Highly recommended.

Good rundown, Mike. Up front, I've never liked Scourge's odd space hovercraft alt mode. I think it's probably because I've always equated it, at least subconsciously, with being more of a terrestrial vehicle, or a bar of soap with engines stuck to it, and it just didn't really appeal to me nearly as much as Cyclonus' far cooler jet mode. I love aircraft, particularly fighters and x-planes, so my bias certainly informs my opinion. I will say I dig Scourge's bot mode; the 'bat wings' give him a distinctive look. Anyway, this is the first review I've looked at, and I must admit I'm a little disappointed that he's mostly another shellformer. But, I guess traditionally that's fairly accurate to the original toy. I liked some of the innovation with the TR toy, but the look of the alt mode suffered noticeably from bot bits ruining the flow of the lines. So, shellforming was the tradeoff to create a much smoother streamlined alt mode, which does look good for what it is, while also giving us a pretty accurate bot mode. You really can't ask for much more in a retail figure. It looks to be another winner in the WFC line.

As Macross heroes go, Basara's not very memorable except as a pacifistic douche. He had a moment here or there, where he acted nobly, but his impact was mostly lost in his whole misunderstood artistic loner routine. Gamlin was a better hero, if a bit too stereotypically militaristically stiff. The relationship between Miria and Max was interesting, fun at times, but also a little bittersweet. Having seen them fall for each other in SDF: Macross, you want them to work well together, both as spouses and in their duties.

Yeah, I'll concur with what the other guys are saying. I watched it last year for the first time, and I didn't find myself really getting into it until somewhere in the 30 ep point. I absolutely hate "Planet Dance" and they played the ever living crap out of that damned awful song. I kept hoping Mylene would take over as lead singer, as I tended to like her songs better. By the end, I got what Basara was about, but I still thought he was a bit useless, and the VF-19 Kai wasted on him. Still, I watched the M7 movies after finishing the series, and I enjoyed those more, I think, than the whole of the series. Anyway, slog through and you might find yourself enjoying a little more, as I did.

I noticed the rounded, barrel-like look of the chest, too, but I didn't equate that with the old shampoo bottles until you said that. But yeah, he almost looks plushy on top, then he has those weirdly long thin thighs. It just doesn't appeal to me, and the F-15 mode is a travesty. Overall, I prefer the look of Maketoy's Seekers, which aren't perfect, but better in most regards than this to my eye.

Congrats on scoring Star Convoy, Mike. Always nice to find that one elusive figure. For me, that's probably Animated Blackout. I keep hoping Hasbro will release him like they did the Flying Vehicon and Breakdown. Fingers crossed. I'm hoping Maketoys will rerelease their Thundercracker. I've got their Starscream PO'd, and I already have their Skywarp. Still waiting for their Coneheads to release- I've had a PO for their version of Thrust for a year or so. Hopefully, it's still coming. I wasn't sure what line the projected Blaster fig was going to belong; thanks for the clarification. I appreciate info on Dr. Wu. Think I'll go ahead and order their combiner cassette dudes. I always wanted a version of Beastbox that actually had articulation, and I passed on the KFC cassettes, as they just didn't look that great to me. I keep hoping MMC/Ocular Max will do the rest of the cassette figs for MP. Their Ravage and Rumble/Frenzy are amazing, and their condors decent, but not quite as good, IMHO, as the others. I'm chomping at the bit for them to release the Autobot cassettes that they showed off, what, over a year or so ago? Hope they're still coming.

I was thinking that the previous release of Evasion Prime was a Studio Series release. I didn't get him, although I was a little tempted, but my interest in Bayverse toys was already waning at the time. Since then SS leader class Blackout and SS deluxe Dropkick (helicopter) are the only Bayverse figs I've bought, IIRC. It just doesn't have the same appeal to me as other lines, especially the G1 stuff. A little enthused by a Kingdom version of Blaster; the TR version is a nice figure except for his crappy "cassette" and the angled storage method. I'll never understand why they didn't design his chest to accommodate both the crappy TR cassettes and the G1 cassettes, as his chest was big enough had they made the clearance. Anyway, I'm not a big fan of the WFC cassettes, although I own a slew of them; after seeing what New Age and Magic Square were able to accomplish with cassettes about half the size of the WFC cassettes, it's hard to feel anything but overwhelming disappointment in them. The thought of getting Autobot cassettes with Blaster would normally be an exciting prospect for me (I LOVE the cassettes), but the current spate of lackluster WFC cassettes leaves me feeling rather meh about it. Moreover, I have a feeling that Blaster's minions will just be recycled versions of the terrible Ravage mold and the better-but-still-lacking humanoid cassette dudes. Who knows if they'll even attempt Ramhorn? Although, they did do Ratbat, so I guess the possibility is there, but I don't hold out much hope of it's actually being that good. Speaking of cassettes, Dr. Wu has an ER Soundwave compatible Beastbox and Squawktalk set up for PO that features all the articulation and intricate design that the official cassettes should have had. Thinking about getting them, as I doubt Hasbro will do them, and I still have my G1 set around here somewhere. I've never bought anything from Dr. Wu- anything I should know? I will say, just from the promo shots, I wish he'd make versions of all the cassettes, especially my favorite, Ravage. As for MP Thundercracker, the paint looks nice. That's about the only compliment I have. For me, this toy is a swing and a miss.