I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

[Team Jetfire]

226-2
Hasbro- Transformers Generations 30: Sky-Byte




Rating of worst to best of the Transformers movies continued; see review 208-2, 213-2, 217-2 & 223-2 for previous instalments:

Transformers Movie Rating #6: Transformers: The Last Knight.

The Bad: Story- I’m sure I have said it before and I will surely say it again, I wish that they would spend as much time on the story of a Transformers movie that they do on special effects. I’m not wanting anything special or Oscar worthey, but something that can be understood and followed after the first viewing. Hell, I’ve seen it a number of times and I’m still not sure I could explain it; remember it involves the Knights of the Round Table partnering with actual Transformers Knights (missed Headmaster opportunity), a special staff, once belonging to Merlian (a drunk Wizard) that needs to be used to defeat Quintessa who is bent on destroying Earth, who apparently was always Unicron in hiding, for reasons unknown. Jeez, that’s going off memory, but I have seen it a few times... The Last Knight also does a poor job in maintaining in in series continuity, that is, all five movies have a different Transformers backstory, with this one taking place in medieval England; at least it tried to explain why the Transformers keep coming to Earth.

Pros: Full disclosure, this was never going to be a negative review as regardless of its flaws I was always going to love this figure. Why? Well, despite its silliness, Robots in Disguise (or RID) is probably my favorite Transformers Cartoon series, well next to Transformers Animated that is and I am apparently hardwired to like any character featured and Sky-Byte is no exception. Thankfully for my reputation of being a impartial toy reviewer, he’s actually a super fun figure. Robot mode has a nice look sculpt, fantastic head sculpt and good amount of articulation. The transformation to animal mode is interesting as it's not entirely symmetrical so different robot parts aline with parts of the shark and takes a bit of fiddling to line up, but one it does looks pretty great.

Cons: While his hand/tail weapon is cartoon accurate, it’s a bit cumbersome and large for robot also the curved body of Sky-Byte makes display all be impossible if you don’t have a stand. Given that Sky-Byte spent most of the show in his shark mode, it would have been nice if they included something.

[Team Jetfire]

[Robimus]

Cool. I just sold him to a friend, now maybe I should have kept him

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Robimus

Cool. I just sold him to a friend, now maybe I should have kept him

He’s a bit of a surprising figure given how different, but the same he is from the Cyber Shark mould used for the initial RID version of Sky-Byte. That said, I’m not sure rhTvhe would survive a collection purge for me.

[Team Jetfire]

227-2
Disney- Toy Box- Pixar: Elastigirl / Mrs. Incredible



Way back on review 202 for Mr Incredible I started reviewing Incredibles 2 with some positive and negative things that I felt about the film. Truth be told I have not really watched it since, so I’ll have to re-familiarize myself as these reviews continue for the rest of the family, but I think I’ll be ok for this one and this was one of the more disappointing things that I took away from the movie.

Now before I get too far in, i just want to say that I am 100% supportive of girl power and appreciate strong female characters in all media, but that said, as a father of 2 children whose wife worked out of the country since the kids were 8 and 10, felt that Bob / Mr Incredible was shown as a bit of a buffoon when it came to raising his kids, all for comedic effect. He was around when they were born right? The supers were outlawed before the kids were born, so was he really that hands off during that time? I know hundreds of Dads that are plenty involved with their kids so helping with relationship advice, homework and baby rearing (perhaps not super baby rearing) should not end in the way that it did. I feel like there could have been a way to make Helen/Elastigirl a badass while still showing Bob as a competent parent, but they went the lazy route for easy laughs instead.

Pros: Another great representation of the Pixar character with Infinity style sculpting, good articulation and comes with little Jack-Jack figure. Also check out that perfect face sculpt, I can almost hear here say “Let all the men have all the fun? I don’t think so, I don’t think so” out of the side of her mouth.

Cons: She’s a bit difficult to stand up and pose. I also would have hoped for some type of “Elastic” type accessory. There's also writing all over her butt which is kinda weird.













.

[Team Jetfire]

228-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends- Marvel Cinematic Universe 10 Years: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1- Ronin



I think I was too harsh on Thor from the beginning and after another watch can appreciate it much more. Well its not without its faults, it does something that only a few years prior would seem impossible: bring the world of Thor to the masses and not completely butcher the source material. Well, not that I was ever much of a fan before the MCU, but I know enough about the comics that I could spot a terrible live action version of a character (Green Lantern anyone??). For me, Thor really captured the look and feel of Asgard as well as the characters that live in that world. Not to mention that the casting of Hemsworth and Middlestin were down right brilliant given how they have both become two of the best parts of the MCU. That doesn’t even included Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Idris Elba as the bifrost guy and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster; those are some pretty big names for a comic book movie at that time. The story is a bit of a yawn, but works well enough to establish the characters of Asgard and perhaps more importantly, how they fit into the MCU with various SHIELD agents and the addition of of other Avenger alum like Hawkeye. That said, I think the most glaring fault with this movie, and trust me I am NO film buff, was the way it was shot. THor was directed by Kenneth Branagh, who by all accounts is an accomplished film maker with great credits, and I just can’t help be feel that he was trying a bit to hard with making a live action comic what with 50% of his camera shots on a 45 degree angle; was he trying to emulate a panel from a Marvel comic book? Check it out next time you watch it, but be warned, once you see it, it’s the only thing you’ll focus on. The last thing that I’ll mention and this was something that I felt even after my initial viewing when it first came out is that the move as a whole feels a bit cheap. Perhaps this was more due to a smaller budget for a new franchise, or because I’m now used to the current marvel films with massive budgets, it's just odd how they spend the bulk of the movie in a fake looking, nondescript small town.

Pros: Fantastic detailing and sculpt on the figure overall and I really appreciate how his leg articulation is not hindered by his robe. His hammer also looks nice and he can hold it in a few different poses.

Cons: Because the headdress is one big plastic piece you can’t turn his head without moving his connected shoulderpads. Perhaps they could have made a portion of it out of cloth or soft plastic, but i’m sure that would have been in the budget. In any case It’s not a big deal as I’m not sure that Ronin is big into turning his head.

[Team Jetfire]

229-2
Playmates/Spinmaster- Nickelodeon- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Baby Raphael and Michelangelo




When I saw these little guys I could not pass them up; who doesn’t love baby turtles dressed up as ninjas? I have hardly watched the older Nick series so I’m unclear as to the connection, but If I had to guess it would be some type of mix up where the turtles get zapped with a anti-aging ray or chemical and have to figure a way to fix it. Not sure I’ll ever know if that was the case as I doubt I’ll ever watch the whole series, but I’ve seen enough cartoons to put this stuff together. That said, maybe they can just be fun baby Turtles.

Pros: Unique color and sculpt that maintains their “teenage” features, some poseability and included little (hopefully training) weapons.

Cons: These are basic figures that are more cute than anything. If you are expecting anything more, that’s on you.

[Team Jetfire]

230-2
Hasbro- Transformers- Power of the Primes: Snarl




Rating of worst to best of the Transformers movies continued; see review 208-2, 213-2, 217-2, 223-2 & 226-2 for previous instalments:

Transformers Movie Rating #6: Transformers: The Last Knight.

The Ugly- I’ll try to keep this to a minimum as everyone knows the faults of these movies and it’s almost not fair to kick it while it’s down, but hell, there was literally hundreds of millions spent making this movie, they brought this on themselves.

Why are the Autobots such dicks? It really bothers me that they act like jerks to one another. I get that they are without their leader and they are hardened soldiers at this point, but they shouldn’t be fighting with each other ALL THE TIME.
That freaking kid at the beginning asking if that girl had a boyfriend; jesus christ Bay, not everyone is a horny middle aged man- stop it.
Cogman; I wanted to like him, but he was way to crazy and over the top. I really only laughed at the scene with him playing the organ.
The whole seen introducing Nemesis Prime was terrible. Didn't make sense, was over the top and somehow made Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the darkside seem reasonable by comparison.
How the hell did they miss the Wreck-gar connection with the junk sales guy.
All the silly sexual innuendo throughout the movie was totally unnecessary for a movie geared towards children.

That’s all I can think of at this point, but I’m sure there it so much more. Overall the movie was bad, but had some small redeeming factors and despite the BAD and UGLY parts I will play it in the background when I’m working. Thankfully with the success of Bumblebee it looks like the

Bayverse might be folding and I could not be happier; bring on the reboot.

Pros: For some reason Dinosaurs had a very big impact on kids growing up on the 80’s and 90’s; even pre Jurassic Park it was clear that these prehistoric reptiles had a massive allure and were part of many pop culture touch points, included their introduction into the Transformers franchise. As the Stegosaurus was my favorite I lived Snarl from the beginning, but always felt that he got the shaft in as far as new dinobot lines were concerned so when I saw him on the shelf I instantly picked him up; regardes of the fact that I have pretty well stopped collecting Transformers. Overall I think they did a good job on incorporating a G1 design with modern articulation and styling and I love the gold accents. The transformation is pretty simple which is ok in my book and he comes with a G1 on-brand sword.

Cons: As good as the robot mode it, the Dinosaur mode suffers a bit with really limited leg movement. To be honest i’m not sure if having fully articulated legs would have made a big difference, but there are just very little options for completing poses. Also I’ve never really figured out the gimik for this line and wonder the benefit of having a big hunk of plastic included; Perhaps it's for the combined mode?

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

231-2
Thinkway Toys- Pixar: Wall-E



Rating of worst to best of the a the Pixar movies continued; see review 205-2 & 219-2 for the previous instalments:

Pixar movie rating 18: Monsters University- “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade, pal” – Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. 12 words that made me dislike this prequel from the start. Yes, it is a fun movie and I have a special spot in my heart for Mike and Sully, but someone down the line made a story decision that just drives me crazy.

Pros: Overall a good representation of Wall-E with articulated hands (flippers), arms, neck and eyes. The “garbage packing” feature is a nice touch, but I would never use clay or playdough on my figures, even as a kid, so the gimmick would be lost on me.

Cons: Compared to Eve, Wall-E is a but underwhelming. I would have hoped that the figure would have been built with the ability to “transform” in to box mode, but with the gimmick I’m not sure that would have been possible. Also could have had a few more accessories than the included 2 garbage blocks.