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

[Team Jetfire]

274-2
Hasbro- Transformers- Combiner Wars: Offroad



Rating of worst to best of the Transformers movies continued; see review 208-2, 213-2, 217-2, 223-2, 226-2, 230-2, 234-2, 239-2, 243-2, 246-2, 249-2, 252-2, 257-2, 260-2, 264-2, 268-2, 269-2 & 271-2 for previous instalments:

Transformers Movie Rating #2: Bumblebee

The Ugly: For the most part Bumblebee steers clear of the “ugly” issues that I have noted from the other Transformers, but still have some things that I could do without. Firstly, why are the mean girls so mean? I get that you need to make Charlie an outcast and teenagers can be jerks, but bringing up a dead Dad repeatedly makes no sense. My other issue is around the whole “diving” subplot and feel that it could have been removed entirely from the story as it serves little purpose to Charlie's character development. Yes she gave up on it when her Father died, but does this mean that she will have the courage to dive once again after this adventure? Honestly I don’t think it matters as a better storyline would be Charlily actually finishing up the old car that she worked on with her dad as that is what this entire movie was predicated on, but I guess they needed some silly big dicing scene at the climax to should here overall growth..

Pros: Like other Combiner Wars sets the Stunticons have a redesigned member that differs from the original G1 set and unlike the others (Blast Off and Blades from Bruticus and Superion respectively) I feel that Offroad is actually a decent new addition and seemingly not a repaint or repurposed mould of another random limb. I suppose if you were a big fan of Wildrider you might be a touch bummed out that there was no updated version but it’s it clear that Offroad has substantially similar design elements, so perhaps that softens the blow? Outside of that the figure looks great in both modes, has a good amount of articulation and a really nice head sculpt.

Cons: Obviously the biggest issue it that this is decidedly not Wildrider, but as mentioned, I'm not terribly bothered by it. Also, as with the other Stunticons, he also comes with the hybrid melee weapon / gun that looks a bit goofy and I feel that one or the other would have been more favorable.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

275-2
Hasbro- GI Joe Renegades: Duke.




I know what you are thinking: what other media can he possibly review in an effort to keep these posts semi-interesting? And let me tell you that thanks to some somewhat questionable cartoon streaming sites there is no shortage of stuff to watch and write about. In this case, to match all the GI Joe Renegades figures that I have coming down the pike, I thought I would take another look at the short lived, but surprisingly decent GI Joe Renegades Cartoon series. Before we jump into the first few episodes here are some details on the series for those who don’t want to go to Wikipedia: First premiered on the Hub network November 26, 2010 in the US and (finally) January 9th 2011 on Teletoon in Canada, Renegades followed a select group on familiar Joe characters in an A-Team style adventure pitting them against COBRA, now portrayed as a seemingly legitimate community minded pharmaceuticals company/ front for an evil terrorist organization, and the Military who thinks they are fugitives due to some sneaky tactics employed by Cobra to effectively frame them. The new series, released around the same time as Transformers Prime, also borrows heavily from the recent live action release, but stops short of being a direct sequel or continuation. The players, also most of the toys that I’ll be reviewing, should be familiar to anyone even remotely aware of what Gi Joe is and include: Duke- No nonsense leader of the group (apparently regardless of actual rank), Scarlett- Female version of Duke, Roadblock- The muscle/mechanic/apparent chef (nice touch) of the group, Tunnel Rat- The sneaky/ wisecracking guy of the group, Ripcord- The chatty wildcard of the group and of course Snake Eyes- the non-chatty ninja of the group. There are also a few supporting Joes that will show up throughout the series, but these 6 seem to be the core group. As for Cobra it looks to be Cobra Commander, The Baroness, Dr Mindbender, Firefly and Storm Shadow. I would assume that Destro would be in there somewhere, but they never produced a toy of him so I’m not entirely sure.

Just for everyone to get the flavor of the series here is the Intro on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/t6rLJyVFckw

As with all reviews these are my thoughts and will probably differ from yours, which is fine, and I’ll be spoiling the heck out of anything so, if you are really worried about the resolution of a Cartoon from 9 years ago, I would steer clear.

Pros: While I am all but over the 3 ¾ size class for figures, I still don’t mind the Hasbro keeps the fire burning for them; I just wish that they would give us some 6” figures already. I mean with Star Wars Black Series, Marvel Legends and now Power Rangers, they have the ability… In any case, Hasbro has done a decent approximation of a realistic sculpt of Duke from Renegades and matched both armor and accessories. I also appreciate the GI Joe level articulation on a figure of this size and as always love an included stand.

Cons: I think Hasbro has an opportunity with this figures and kinda messed it up. Sure they tried something new with Sigma Six, but while some people hated it, it was something new and different and led the way (in my opinion) to the now standard 6”, fully poseable action figure. I’m not saying that there is not space in the market for a 3 ¾ size class, but if there ever was a reason to push a 6’ line, this new cartoon would have been it. I also would have preferred that these figures match the animation style of the cartoon, but I’m sure that was not in the budget. Lastly I’m not entirely sure why Duke was packaged with so many of the “futuristic” laser blasters. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of accessories, but don’t bother if you are just going to throw in random stuff that he can’t even hold.

[Team Jetfire]

276-2
Hasbro- Transformers- Thrilling 30: Roadbuster.



Rating of worst to best of the Transformers movies continued; see review 208-2, 213-2, 217-2, 223-2, 226-2, 230-2, 234-2, 239-2, 243-2, 246-2, 249-2, 252-2, 257-2, 260-2, 264-2, 268-2, 269-2, 271-2 & 274-2 for previous instalments:

Transformers Movie Rating # The Transformers: The Movie.

Well, here we are, top of the pile. and was anyone really that surprises that the original Transformers theatrical release would not get top billing? Is it perfect? Far from it, but from a nostalgic standpoint I really checks a lot of boxes that I love about the Transformers. Now, even though I was the perfect age when the movie was released, I never actually saw The Transformers in the theater so I missed, or spared (depending on your version of events) the impactful, life altering events of the movie. And to be honest I’m not sure that when I finally saw the movie on VHS that the death of all the G1 characters really affected me that much. I mean, I never had Optimus Prime or Megatron as a kid so their departure was not a big deal and I actually liked the designs of the new characters, especially Hot Rod so what was the downside to this movie again? Hell, at this point I WISH they would have some balls and kill off Optimus for real as the same schtick is getting real old.

Pros: Roadbuster is the natural partner to Whirl, who we found out way back in review 252-2, was also part of a different toy line prior to being repurposed as a North American Transformer as we know him as today. As a modern figure it is somewhat difficult to see how they could possibly be different, but the giveaway is the single eye ball head that evokes, in my mild anyways, a more robotic, sentry type feel over a sentient being as with most of the other Transformers. In any case the Robot mode is great, has decent articulation and is packed with multiple weapons and the vehicle mode has a fun, rugged look to it.

Cons: This is possibly a first for me, but I feel that the transformation is a bit too basic? I suppose it works for what it is, but just surprising on a figure of this size to not make it a bit less simple.

[Team Jetfire]

[sixshot1981]

Originally Posted by Team Jetfire

Really? I thought he was more of a Avengers/Captain America villain? That said given that DP3 is in production there could be a chance!


For this movies sake I hope they bring you on as a consultant because that is a level of detail that is surly lost on me and the general public! Nicely done.

Any reference all I've ever seen with Taskmaster is with Deadpool (I don't follow Avengers/CA comics tbh). But you are probably right. For me it came around to noticing him because of the Marvel Deadpool/Taskmaster 2 pack they released ages ago and the Spiderman Deadpool episode. The chaos of Deadpool meeting the calculated Taskmaster, great matchup.

Haha...to be fair the Iron Man 1 connection I only noticed after IM 3 and was angry at myself for not noticing.

The Ant-Man one all credit goes to Google, a random picture I saw while searching something.

But I give mad props to those doing the movies to put stuff like that in there to be noticed much much later lol

[Team Jetfire]

I really guess time will tell on the next phase of Marvel movies to see if they still have the touch after Endgame. Personally I think there is a MCU w/o RDJ and Evans, but only if they stick to what made them good movies in the first place.

[Team Jetfire]

277-2
Disney Toybox- Pixar: Dash, Edna and Metal JackJack,





Way back on review 201-2 for Mr Incredible I started reviewing Incredibles 2 with a positive thing that I liked about the film and later followed that up with Mrs Incredible on review 227-2 with a disappointing thing I felt about the movie and will continue good and bad until all the Incredibles cast are opened. Last positive opinion was for Violet back on review 253-2

So I’ll just come out and say it, I don’t like the new super characters; like at all. I suppose that Void (the girl who can create portals) is fine, but the others including Reflux, Krusinator, Brick, Screech and He-Lectrix are just kinda lame and I really feel that they could have done a bit more to create some unique and interesting characters. I suppose you could say that there was already lots going on in the story and to take time on these characters would be a disservice to the story in general, I just was maybe excited at the potential for new characters in the superhero world.

Pros: All look great with excellent sculpting, decent articulation on Dash and quite a bit included in the package.

Cons: This is one of those “be careful what you wish for” situations as while I want to LOVE that they gave us a fully articulation Dash, he’s really too small and top heavy to really do anything with. Perhaps if they included a stand of some sort?

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

278-2
Hasbro- Marvel Studios- First 10 Years: Tony Stark & Iron Man MARK 1




Given all the new details that have emerged from SDCC and D23 I thought I might be fun to give some thoughts on all the new announced projects. Check out review 267-2 for details about the new Disney plus shows and 273-2 for thoughts on the Phase 4 MCU Movies.

New Marvel Legends Figures:

Marvel legends have been amazing these past years with a bevy of amazing figures released in the past few years and more on the way. But as with anything else, I’m getting a bit burnt out due to cost and sheer frustration with exclusives and swappers..While I’m not sure what I’ll pick up going forward, I figured that I would simply say if i’m interested with a “buy on site”, buy on sale, or not with a “pass” on each of the reveals with some reasoning. This is not an exhaustive list as I’m probably missing a bunch and if you want to see what these look like check out toyark.com for pictures.

Cosmic Ghost Rider- This will be pricey and I have no connection to the character: Pass

Squirrel Girl w/scooter- I like unique new characters so this is interesting: Buy on sale

Giant Man- Cool packaging buy already have the BAF: Pass

Deadpool and hit monkey- Interesting set and I do not have Hot Monkey: Buy on (big) sale.

Jean Grey, Cyclops and Wolverine: “Love triangle 3-pack”- I’m a fan of all these figures and need that Jean to round out the classic X-Men; plus I already have it pre-ordered so… buy on site

Havok and Polaris- Unlike the love triangle 3-pack I don't really care about these two: Buy on sale.

Strong Guy- Apparently the BAF of an unannounced line so difficult to say. Looks cool though: Buy on sale.

Dani Moonstar (new mutants pack)- It;s an EB Games exclusive so I’ll have to see: Buy on sale.

X-Man- Chaulk with 90’s goodness, how could I resist: Buy on sale.

She Hulk- Not sure if the figure was a prototype, but looked kind of meh: Buy on sale If needed for a BAF

AOE Wolverine- I loves me some unique Wolverines so: Buy on sale.

Classic Vulture- Like the other classic Spider-Man characters I assume this will be a hot seller: Buy on site.

Morph- Such a weird choice: Buy on sale for the BAF.

Shang Chi- No doubt to create some buzz for the movie. If I like the move, buy on site, if not buy on sale. .

Random Spidermen (x2)- Meh- buy on sale for both

Superior Octopus- A unique design: Buy on sale.

White Rabbit- What is this? I dunno as its a unique figure: I guess buy on sale for the BAF.

Alpha Flight Box Set- This is a tough one but the price tag is really steep for a bunch of repaints. I suppose buy on sale.

Overall I look at the future releases and I’m not entirely pumped for what is on the horizon so hopefully they will add some more ‘flavor” to the waves. I will also put this out there that if they do not produce a “SleepWalker” in these next few waves I will be VERY upset; especially since White Rabbit is a thing…

Pros: It’s honestly crazy how I spent money on an action figure that is basically a guy in a suit. Granted, this is no ordinary guy and it’s probably the closest approximation of what an action figure of me would look like (when I wore a suit for work that is), but still, Hasbro sure knows how to get us. That said, it’s a nice looking figure and when talking MCU, there is a good chance that Tony spends more time on screen in a tailored suit over a metal one, so us fans really should have been clamoring for this. Fortunately it's the MARK 1 that really makes this pack worthwhile as I’m almost positive that we have not gotten a version of this in Marvel Legends form, from the MCU that is. I really like the overall sculpt and detail that was put into this figure and appreciate having a figure of the suit that really started it all.

Cons: Sometimes accessories can really help a release and I feel that Hasbro dropped the ball as aside from a flame effect, what you see is what you get. I also feel that the MARK 1 should be about 25% bigger as it’s pretty clear that there is no way Tony could really fit into that suit. I’d love to know if that was a deliberate decision for budget reasons, or if the designer just messed up and they had no choice but to run with it.