Monthly Archives: February 2017

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Titans Return Kup, Perceptor & Topspin

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Here we are – up to Wave 4 of the Titans Return toys already!  Today we will be looking the Autobot Deluxe figures from that wave; three figures which featured heavily in the IDW comic ‘Last Stand of the Wreckers’ – namely Perceptor, Kup and Topspin.  The two former will be known to fans of the original 86’ move and associated cartoon but for those not in the know, this is a Topspin based on the 1985 G1 toy rather than the DOTM movie version.  As you will see, he is awesome!

Wreck and Rule!

 

Kup – Robot Mode

“Did I ever tell ya about the time someone turned my head into a little robot?”

No backpack, hollow arms and his colour scheme is too light.  He is a lot more G1 accurate than the previous Generations Kup toy but looks inferior in every way.  His Titan Master (Flintlock – originally a name given to one of G1 Landfill’s Targetmasters) partner is sculpted well to look like a grizzly old coot and the cockpit on the chest and proportions aren’t bad.  It’s just had to get past those awful arms and the substandard colours.  He is just… just too plain.  That said, if the arms were grey he would be an almost perfect representation of how Kup looked in the old Marvel comics!

 

Kup – Vehicle Mode

I’m haulin’ Cyber-Hay to the market!

Very faithful in shape and style to the G1 concept.  It’s a shout out to your nostalgic membrane to see Kup done like this, much in the same way that TR Blurr gave us that same tingly feeling (for a review of Blurr see HERE).  His guns can be placed in the tray of his Cybertronian-ute mode (that’s what I’m calling it anyway) much like the 87’ Targetmaster version of the toy did.  His Titan Master partner fits snugly inside the cab. I would have liked the cab to be a whiteish-opaque rather than clear but what can ya do – at least the cab seems to be on the requisite angle.

 

Perceptor – Robot Mode

I may speak softly, but I carry a BIG sniper rifle!

Nicely proportioned and well articulated.  The microscope cannon on his shoulder is a tad big but t’was the same with the original toy and for the required alt-mode there is nothing much you can do about it.  The colour scheme is spot on as is the transparent plastic on his chest.  He has the hollow forearms which is a shame but what I really like is that he comes with his sniper gun that he toted for a while in the IDW All Hail Megatron comics – very cool!  One minor flaw I found with mine was the socet to attach his Titan Master was very stiff – quite hard to connect and disconnect.

 

Perceptor – Microscope Mode

You don’t need a funny caption – you just need to appreciate that this is cool!

Yeah maybe the Generations version had a bit more playability with a firing missile and a vehicle mode, but for those purists it’s great to get another Perceptor that turns into a microscope!  The proportions are great but a real letdown is that the  the microscope lenses barely work in comparison to the original toy and it’s a shame that its 32 years later and the new toy actually has less functionality than the original, though at least the knob is useable.  Still, a nice looking Perceptor for the purists.

 

Perceptor – Cybertronian Tank Mode

I’m not in the instructions – that’s because I shot the editor!

Was never shown in the cartoon and rarely in any comic but the original Perceptor could turn into a weird tank (hence the tank tracks on the back of his calves) and this one is no different.  Though it’s not listed in the instructions, if one examines the toy you will find some black tank tracks that serve no purpose in his microscope or robot modes.  It looks kinda cool and you can attach his sniper rifles on the side as well as giving Convex somewhere to sit, rather than him just being a specimen for study in the microscope mode.

 

Topspin – Robot Mode

I finally got a cool toy!

Bloody excellent!  What a great looking robot!  Colour scheme and proportions are a big shout out to the original toy whilst making him look as cool as he did in the comics.  The Titan Master head is great – everything about this toy is great, including his two guns (though they could have stood to not be hollow).

 

Topspin – Cybertronian Hovercraft Mode

Who knows what vehicle this is – and to be honest if you like bitchin’ alt-modes you just wont care!

There are not many Generations characters where you think ‘this is all the original toy should have been’ but Topspin encapsulates this sentiment.  They have taken the essence of the original toy and expanded it to be a brilliant looking alien vehicle repleat with guns, cockpit and a bunch of huge thrusters on the back.  This is to my mind the definitive Topspin – certainly makes me glad I skipped that awful FOC version of him released a few years ago.

Flintlock, Freezeout and Convex

“Three Headmasters are better than one. Wait… we are TITAN Masters? OK, disregard”

All do their job well as Headmasters (sorry – Titan Masters).  Each looks sufficiently like the heads of their counterpart robots to complete their assigned task.  Convex looks like Perceptors cartoon model rather than his toy model, Flintlock looks old and grizzled for Kup and Freezeout has a great  sneer going on for Topspin.  Like the three main toys, I find Freezeout to be my favorite the same as Topspin is.  I would put up photos of their robot modes but its not worth it – very little detail and the faces are the same colour as the rest of the body so you can’t even see any definition.

 

Overall

Not a bad wave at all.  I haven’t touched on the Titan Master component of these figures much as it’s all par for the course now – you can swap their heads.  I will say that Kup is worth getting if you want a new version of his G1 alt-mode. Perceptor is worth getting for pretty much the same reason but Topspin is an absolute must have!

Got an opinion about these three Autobots?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Hobby Farming

Sustainability Tip: Get your mulch for free – from the tip!

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Mulch – wonderful stuff!  Serves three main purposes around your garden:

  • It keeps the moisture in the ground by preventing direct sunlight hitting the soil
  • It helps to prevent weeds growing by covering bare earth
  • It beautifies an area by putting down a layer of woodchips rather than looking at either the ground or weed matting

And of course you can pick mulch up most anywhere.  If you have a tiny garden, then maybe it’s economically feasible to just grab a bag or two at Bunnings or your local garden center.  But what if you have a big garden, or even like me a hobby farm?  Suddenly a few bucks a bag doesn’t seem so cheap when you would need about 50 of them!

Well, good news!  There is a place you can go where you can not only get as much mulch as you want for free, but you will be helping the environment by doing so.  That place is your local tip.

The majority of tips practice recycling in a big way.  Our local one has bays where you can drop of cardboard for free, aluminum and glass for free and has some absolutely huge bays for green waste which can be dropped off for a relatively modest fee.

What happens to all that green waste?  Well all the wood and huge tree branches get taken out, put through giant chippers and become great big hills.  And in order to keep those hills from becoming mountains, the majority of tips will let you come and take as much as you like for nothing!

 

So here are some tips for using the… er…. tip.

You will need:

  • A ute or trailer
  • A pitchfork
  • A tarp and rope

When you go there the staff will direct you where to go.  When you reach the mulch hills you need to look for the freshest looking piles.   Because some of these piles sit there for so long in the elements, they might seem fine on top but dig underneath even a few inches and what you will find what was once mulch has turned to compost.  Usually this will be a black or dark grey colour and will smell pretty pungent.  You do not want this stuff.  It’s useless as mulch, lacks the nutrients of regular compost and all it will achieve in your garden is to make it ugly and smelly.  So look for the freshest heaps.  Even these heaps will probably have been poured upon older heaps so as soon as you get deep enough that you hit the grey and smelly stuff, move to the next area.

Magnificent Mulch!

After you have loaded up your ute or trailer with mulch using your pitchfork (shovels are useless for mulch) make sure you tie a tarp over the top.  Most councils will fine you if you have stuff flying out the back and it will defeat the purpose of getting it for free if you subsequently get pulled up by a copper and get handed a massive fine.

Once you get it home, how you use it is up to you.  To stop weeds you usually want your mulch to be at least an inch or two thick on the ground.  Make sure when placing it around plants you leave a bit of space around the base of each plant or the trunk of each tree.  It allows the soil at the base of the plant to breathe and otherwise when your mulch eventually does rot it will be rotting against your plant.  This could cause damage to your plants or even kill them.  But used properly, mulch can turn an area of your garden from this:

 

Ew!

To this!

Ah!

So take the tip and get your mulch from the tip.  You are helping the environment from doing so by using mulch that would otherwise rot and eventually go in to the landfill and more importantly you will be getting as much mulch as you want, for free!

 

Got any other mulching tips?  Would love to read them in the comments section below!

Meaty Goodness!

Burger Review #4: Pulled BBQ Wagyu

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Spoons.  Not just a catch cry for the superhero ‘The Tick’ but also a riverside restaurant to be found in sunny Swan Hill.

My wife and I have been eating at Spoons a few times a year since we moved to the area back in 2011.  What I’ve always liked about the restaurant is the majority of what is on the menu are meals that you would never cook yourself or have little idea how to. I remember years ago when there eating slow-cooked pork belly  on a bed of popped barley and warm grapes!  While not the cheapest restaurant in town, you usually get value for money and rarely walk out of the place disappointed.

 

Today for my meat review I will be looking at their latest offering: Pulled BBQ Wagyu on soft pretzel bun with slaw and fries.

Tastier than I look!

Yep, it’s just a fancy beef burger.  But a damn fine fancy beef burger!  The meat was indeed very tender and unlike some restaurants (I’m looking at you Cactus Jam) they did not rely on the meats succulence alone to sell the meal.  This had a mild BBQ flavoring which was very pleasant; it may surprise many that I’m not a big fan of BBQ sauce on the whole – I find it too strong and it overpowers the flavor of the meat.  This BBQ flavoring served to enhance the meat rather than overpower it, something you don’t find too often.  Whilst the slaw seemed more like something you would find at a backyard barby, in this burger it served as a crisp counterpoint to the pulled Wagyu.

I gots to get me one of those little baskets!

The meal came with a little cage of fries, designed to look like a deep fryer basket which was cool.  What was disappointing was that they came out stone cold.  However when I brought this to the attention of a waitress she whisked it away and in quite literally under a minute I had a new cage of fries before me, lovely and warm and overflowing.  This is impressive from Spoons, their speed has really picked up over the past 12 months; my main gripe about them used to be you would on average wait over an hour for your food but that seems to thankfully be a thing of the past.

 

My wife had the Spoons prawn and avocado salad with mustard and dill dressing.

The detail is in the de-tailing

It was quite nice and what I liked was that the prawns had been de-tailed.  I find it really annoying when a restaurant leaves the tails on when there is sauce everywhere, making you get your hands sticky and filthy just to eat your meal (something I have known another Swan Hill restaurant – Quo Vadis – to do more than once).  Washed down with a couple of glasses of sparkling wine and both meals were delightful to have for a Valentine’s Day lunch.

 

So overall I heartily recommend the Pulled BBQ Wagyu burger and indeed Spoons in general.  It may be the most pricey place to eat in town but it is not ruinously expensive and you always feel like you get value for money.  Try the Mallee Tasting Platter while you are there – Manangatang rabbit terrine, kangaroo chipolatas, Spoons picked pear and Chillingollah pheasant farm paté.  I’ve known the guy that owns the pheasant farm for years and he is a gun at grinding up a bird!  This combined with the rabbit and kangaroo equates to an entrée you are unlikely to get anywhere else.

 

Have you eaten at Spoons yourself?  Will you eat there after reading this review?  Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

Random Rants

Big Romantic Trev’s Valentines Day Advice!

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Valentines Day.  The cynical see it as a day invented by the greeting card companies.  The sleazy see it as a day to prey on lonely, drunk, single people in bars.  For those of us with partners it can often seem a bit of a chore, as if like Christmas we are supposed to drag our sorry butts out there yet again and rack our brains for something to give our significant other in order to fulfill this yearly obligation.

But nay, these are all the wrong ways to look at this day of romance.  Yes it may be a bit cheesy, it may be a bit stereotypical, but Valentine’s Day really can be a day to enjoy and show the one you love that you actually do care!

Now, there are few that have met me that could deny I am a romantic soul.  I have romance drippin out me various pores I do!  When it comes to wooing the fairer sex there is me, Don Juan and Donald Trump.  So here are Big Romantic Trev’s tips for romancin the arse off your beloved!

A charming look to get even the iciest maiden peculating in the nethers

 

Lovin’ for the Ladies

Guys (and lesbians – excellent taste shown there girls!), it really isn’t that hard.  Go with the stereotypes.  You know why they are stereotypes?  Because everyone does them.  You know why everyone does them?  Because they work!  I always go the full gamut:

  • Flowers: If you know her favorite type of flowers that’s a definite plus!
  • Chocolates: If she has a real sweet tooth, get a great big box!  If not so much, a nice little box of Belgian chocolates goes down well.
  • Jewelry: No tiaras or belly-button rings (unless dating a hippy).  A nice pendant on a chain or a pair of earrings.  If you know her style, so much the better.
  • A card: Just a sweet one from a cheapy shop. Don’t waste $6 on something that she will go ‘oh isn’t that nice’ at and then put in a draw forever.  She will value the message you write more than the quality of the cardboard.
  • Food: Want brownie points?  Take her out to a fancy restaurant for a lovely candlelit meal for two.  If you have kids book a babysitter well in advance.  However if you want to score big points, cook her her favorite meal!  My wife loves Thai food so for example this year I will be taking her for lunch at a nice restaurant and then cooking her up some green curry for tea.
  • Wine: Doesn’t have to be champagne, just a nice bottle of whatever she likes.  Not a $200 bottle but don’t grab some eight-buck plonk from the gas station either.  Make sure that you actually know what she likes – no point in getting a dry white when she is a sweet red gal.
  • A massage: Got kids that refuse to fall asleep till late?  A nice shoulder massage while you are watching TV is good.  No kids or the kids went to sleep before midnight?  A nice long back massage with some proper oil will give her the best ending she could hope for that day.  And who knows – maybe she will be that appreciative she might rub something of yours in return so you get a happy ending too!
  • Lingerie: Hmmm… tricky.  You both know that it’s really for your own benefit.   I have known very few women who really dig expensive lingerie.  But on the other hand you don’t get many excuses to buy her a pair of fancy knickers so it’s hard to bypass the opportunity when it arises.  My advice – stagger it out.  Only get her some every second or third Valentines day. Otherwise she will see it that your opinion of Valentines is ‘I want a shag day’ and the romance will soon vanish.

 

Mush for the Men

Men are simple creatures; we don’t need a lot of romancing.  However even we appreciate the odd gesture to remind us that we are loved.  Luckily these gestures, like every girl I dated at Uni, are cheap and easy:

  • Food: Wanna make your man feel loved?  Cook him a big breakfast!  Doesn’t have to have everything but a generous helping of eggs, sausages, bacon, beans and toast are a must with a strong cup of coffee.  No need to give it to us in bed, that’s a Fathers Day thing.
  • Nookie: Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day so your man is going to be hoping for a bit of action.  If it’s a weekend and you’ve got no kids, well there are certain ways of waking up your man that will make him feel very loved indeed!  Otherwise a romantic liaison between the sheets at evenings end, perhaps wearing that nice lingerie he bought you that you pretended you liked, should make him a very happy chappy.

And that’s it for romancing a guy – told ya we don’t need much!

 

So this Valentines Day, don’t treat it as a chore.  Treat it as a chance to show that special someone that they mean the world to you.  And don’t forget to fill your bellies, your hearts and yes, your beds, with love!

 

Got some more Valentines Day tips?  Would love to read them in the comments section below!

 

Hobby Farming

Permaculture – treating mite infestations in chickens

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Some of you may have read in the ‘Ask Trev’ section some tips I gave long-time reader Maddy in regards to caring for her new chickens.  Some of these tips revolved around stopping her chickens getting mites.

Well it shows that one must have constant vigilance as I had not recently enacted some of my own advice and two of my chickens got infested with mites.  This combined with a 45+ degree day lead to the demise of one of our dear chookies.

Since then I have been on the mite-attack!  Getting rid of them and making sure they do not return.  So today’s advice is on how to get rid of mites once you have them and how to do it without resorting to harmful chemicals.  Everything you need you can make at home the permaculture way!

Signs of mites

 

Getting rid of the mites

Step 1: Cleaning the coops

Get rid of all straw and bedding.  Then spray the coops out with White Oil thereby suffocating the mites.  I make this in the following way:

  • 2 cups of vegetable oil
  • Half a cup of dishwashing liquid
Homemade white oil – do NOT mix up with the coconut milk when making a curry

Simply pour these into a sealable jar and give them a good shake!  The resulting liquid should indeed be white.  Now add 10ml of your elixir to one liter of water in a spray bottle, shake again and spray out your coops, killing the mites.  Note, I also use method to get rids of the aphids that occasionally infest my curry tree.  Now replace their bedding with fresh straw and you are set to go!

 

Step 2: Cleaning your chickens

Mites can show up in different ways on your chooks.  On my Frizzles they turn up on their bellies and the backs of their heads.  Only about half my chickens developed these symptoms but after losing a chook I decided to treat my entire flock.   I do this making up some Garlic Juice Spray.  For this you need:

  • 30ml of garlic juice
  • 300ml of water
  • 1 teaspoon of lavender oil

Now garlic juice can be hard to come by and what I found works just as well is to dump a bunch of juicy crushed garlic into your mixture then put it through a strainer before you pour it into your spray bottle.  Mix up the above ingredients, give it a good shake and then spray directly onto your chickens, avoiding their faces as best you can.  Spray your chickens all over, paying special attention to the backs of their head, their bellies and under their wings.  For chickens with no symptoms just a light spray should suffice. For my chook who did survive the hot day but was showing mite symptoms, we sprayed her until she dripped and smelled like an Italian restaurant!

What you can also do is provide an Ash Bath.

A bath where your chooks come out filthier yet healthier

Some people actually recommend rubbing your chickens down with ash but I find this works just as well.  Make a little hollow in the dirt somewhere in your chook yard and fill it with ash from  your fire (if you don’t have a fire, just watch the news for arson reports then do a quick drive by with a bucket and spade).  The chickens will pop themselves in of their own accord and ruffle their feathers, giving themselves a little coating of ash which drives away mites.  Note your chooks probably do this anyway in the dirt and dust, but ash is much more effective at getting rid of the creepy crawlies.  If you keep your ash bath topped up the chooks will use it as needed.

 

Keeping the mites away

Now that you’ve treated your coop and your chickens you want to stop the mites coming back and here is how:

Step One: Your coops

  • Gather up a few fistfuls of fresh wormwood plant and throw them into your coops amongst their bedding and laying boxes. This should drive away any mites that may have survived your white oil purge. If you suspect they may be returning, change their straw and give a white oil spray to the coops.
Wormwood – not just for magic spells anymore

 

Step Two: Your chickens

  • Drop a couple of cloves of garlic into their water and replace when necessary. Live by this saying: A bit of garlic a day keeps the mites away.
Not as refreshing as a twist of lemon but more effective

 

And that’s pretty much it.  But I must stress vigilance.  I had been doing the ‘garlic in the water’ and ‘wormwood in their nests’ thing for the past year and had nary a problem.  Due to being so busy around the farm keeping everything alive in summer I had become lax and as a result I learned my lesson the hard way by losing one of our dear chookies; it’s a lesson I don’t wish to learn a second time.

 

Got any permaculture tips for treating mites in chickens you would like to add?  Would love to read them in the comments section below!

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Unite Warriors Megatronia

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Earth, fire, wind, water, heart – go planet!  By your powers combined I am cap…. er… Megatronia!

Yes, the Planeteer’s are all either in prison or selling their bodies on the street and Captain Planet himself is dead from taking a swim in the Yarra River, but a new team wielding all their powers has come along, and when they combine they don’t become a blue guy with green hair and red undies – they become a gigantic female robot bent on her enemies destruction!

 

Monstructor in drag

With the Combiner Wars over to make way for Titans Return, the Unite Warriors line is also coming to a close with only two figures left.  Today we will be looking at the second last one, a reimagining of the fan-created female Autobot team – the Torchbearers.  While this new team has yet to be given a name, they have a pretty nifty back story and are made up of some great looking figures! So let’s take a look at Unite Warriors Megatronia!

Note: Due to each of these toy molds having been used and reviewed a copious amount of times already, I will be focusing more on the new colour schemes and the characters themselves.

 

Trickdiamond  

Weapon: Quake Shield

Robot Mode

Earth…

A little blocky for a Femmebot but considering the mold used not too bad.  I like that she has little scars on her face, very befitting a character who has spent time in jail and now even has dealings with the Chaos Bringer.  The shape of her head is interesting too, almost like an American football.

 

Vehicle Mode

Knightrider for the ladies

Too much black.  But then according to the comic on the back of the instructions Trickdiamond is worried about her weight and since black is slimming maybe that’s why she chose it. Despite this terribly stereotypical paranoia, I think some yellow highlights on the bonnet would have spruced up the look of her sports car mode that bit more.  Otherwise good.

 

Lunaclub

Weapon: Flame Sword

Robot Mode

Fire…

Quite a nice robot mode and the red goggles work surprisingly well on her.  The pink peg does not stand out as much as the blue one on her sister and her weapon suits her more than any of the other limb figures.

 

Vehicle Mode

Combat Barbie’s Dream Chopper

Once again quite nice.  I’m trying to figure out if we’ve ever had a Transformer this shade of pink before.  It’s not the generic ‘girlie’ pink of Arcee or the eye-searing pink you find on say the G1 Seacons.  Whatever shade it is it works and makes her my favorite vehicle from the team after Flowspade. Speaking of which…

 

Flowspade

Weapon: Tornado Cutter

Robot Mode

Wind…

Probably my least favorite robot out of the five, simply as she looks too much like Nightbird from the Legends line.  Certainly could have used a new head.  Like Trickdiamond I feel the mold is a little too blocky for a Femmebot, especially after we have had toys like Windblade and Black Arachnia in recent years. According to her character bio she was swayed by Megaempress’ charisma.  This must be true considering the artwork on the instruction manual shows her soaping up her leader in the shower!

 

Vehicle Mode

Dontcha wish your sports car was hot like me

Conversely, whilst Flowspade is my least favorite robot out of the five she is also my very favorite vehicle.   They really got the colours spot on, it’s a very sexy sports car and I think the best use of this overused mold to date!  Really looks like an evil Con Femmebot in alt-mode should look.  The purple is also possibly a shout out to the fact she used to be an agent of Shockwave.

 

Moonheart

Weapon: Blizzard Blade

Robot Mode

Water…. (er, I mean ice. Bah, same thing!)

Not bad, is very lithe which suits the character.  The colour scheme is a bit too Chromia for my liking, though she has more black then Chromia does.  I think bottom half of the connector peg could have been coloured black so it did not stand out so much, as it is being in blue cast against the black on either side it is very obvious.  Her weapon also does not suit her, neither matching her colour scheme or the fact that it is supposed to create blizzards.

 

Vehicle Mode

Sisters are doing it for themselves

A nice chopper and the silver, blue and black all work well together.  The colour scheme could be indicative of that she used to work for Soundwave as a trainee medic.

 

Megaempress

Weapons – Rail Fusion Cannon and Judge Pickel (funniest TF weapon name ever!)

Robot Mode

Heart…

I’m conflicted about this character.  On the one hand I think it’s a bit lazy for them to just do her as a female version of Megatron, colour scheme and all.  On the other it makes for an interesting back story; she was created out of Megatron’s spare parts and now rules the Female Decepticons.  She also has the power to seduce any Transformer, the naughty minx! The silver on her is stunning and I particularly like her face, imperious yet feminine.  Definitely could steal your heart and then cut it out.

All shall love me and despair

 

Vehicle Mode

Made out of Megatron’s spare parts. When the hell was Megatron toting an extension ladder?!

The paintwork on her is great and the silver is flawless.   Considering her ladder is supposed to be a rail cannon I would have liked to see some modification to it to seem more weapon like.  Otherwise very good.

 

Megatronia

By your powers combined…

Again, I’m conflicted.  Megaempress makes up the torso and is the female version of Megatron so the name makes sense, but it feels lazy to me.  However this is a really great looking combiner, all the colours work together despite the fact they should clash, thanks to each characters paintjob containing a healthy dose of black.  The chest works too, the striking purple providing a counterpoint to the more subtle colours.  There is no sixth character here like with the Protectobots and Torchbearers so no motorcycle on the chest which helps differentiate her a little from the competition.  I would have liked to see a new head too, I was never a fan of Victorion’s even if I did have to concede it was novel.  I do like Megatronia’s blue goggles but to me overall her head still looks like  parody of a Native American Feathered War Bonnet.

 

Destopia Sword

Suck on this every other edged weapon ever!

What a friggin kick arse sword!  Looks awesome!  The fact it can split into five separate weapons for each of the 5 characters makes it even more impressive.  I think it is the coolest looking weapon I’ve ever seen a Transformer toy wield, certainly in my collection anyway.

 

Comparison between Victorion and Megatronia

There is always an evil twin, just one of those laws of the universe

There are pros and cons here.  Victorion has one of the most consistent colour schemes of any Transformer combiner toy ever, but they are pretty ugly colours.  She also is made up of six characters instead of five.  Megatronia’s colour scheme clashes but looks pretty cool despite she is one character down.  Victorion also was way cheaper and came with a poster and trading card.  Combine that with having six bots and she certainly seems better value for money.

Yew stole ma man! I kill you you bitch!

But I believe Megatronia is undeniably cooler.  I like the individual bots a lot better – both as toys and as characters and her sword kicks Victorions swords arse!  I also found that all figures had nicely tight joints and it’s always telling just how much better the Tak/Tom paintjobs are than Hasbro’s.  It’s just a shame about the price tag – this is a damn expensive Unite Warriors toy compared with most of the rest of the line due to it being an exclusive.  If it wasn’t the last Unite Warriors/Combiner Wars gestalt I am buying I may have skipped it.  As it is I’ll be keeping Victorion in her combined mode and using Megatronia for her individual bots.  Either way, it’s been great to finally get some female combiners in the overall Transformers toyline and if you are a big TF nut you will probably want both these hefty gals in your collection.

Oh those wacky Japanese artists, bless’em all!

 

Got something you would like to add to this review?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Transformer Toy Reviews

Legends ‘LG35 Super Ginrai’ vs Titans Return ‘Powermaster Optimus Prime’

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Super Ginrai.  Not just the Japanese version of Powermaster Optimus Prime but a character unto his own right.  Finding himself to be not just an ordinary human but to be an actual Autobot Godmaster (how’s that for a bitchin subgroup name!) who could bond with a Transector in order to don the visage of legendary Autobot leader Optimus Prime and fight the evil Destrons…

… or so the story goes.  It may be a different character technically but in reality it’s pretty much the same damn toy.  The G1 Super Ginrai and Powermaster Optimus had very few differences, even if one was a little Japanese dude obsessed with his big hair in a mech suit and the other was Optimus Prime on steroids.

Here we are 30 years later and we have a similar thing happening.  The (US) Titans Return toy is ‘Powermaster Optimus Prime’ whilst the retooled (JP) Legends version is ‘LG35 Super Ginrai’.  Both toys have their pro’s and cons.  Six months ago I reviewed the Optimus toy (which can be read HERE); today I’m going to give a quick overview of the Legends Super Ginrai version and then most importantly engage in a comparison.  This way you, my loyal readers, will know which to shell out your hard-earned money on.

 

First off – Super Ginrai!

I’m not Optimus Prime, I swear!

Truck Mode

No, I’m not Optimus I said!

Very nice and solid.  Unbeknown to most there is a small screw between the cab wheels you can loosen so that the cab does not have to sit flush with the trailer.  The trailer is very reminiscent of the original toy and the trailer has all the armament that the G1 version did.  The end result is a Mad Max’esque tractor trailer in a world gone mad – nice!

 

Robot Mode

Look, I’m not f*cking Optimus Prime OK!?!

Instead of Ginrai turning into the engine of his Optimus (but not Optimus) mech he now turns into the head. While still a cool concept I liked the engine gimmick better simply as it was that bit rarer.  Very nice proportions, decently articulated and a nice paintjob.  Good overall.

 

Base Mode

And no, I’m not ‘Optimus who got stuck in a particularly challenging yoga pose’ either you f*cking smartass!

Really does not stand up to the original G1 toys base mode.  There are some gun turrets that Ginrai can sit in and all the guns from the other two modes are useable here.  But it looks sparse and everything looks a bit flimsy – like he got stuck in mid-transformation.

 

Comparison between Legends LG-35 Super Ginrai and Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime

Vehicle Mode

Ginrai looks a lot more similar to the original toy whereas Optimus looks like an updated version, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The black guns on the top of trailer work a lot better on Ginrai and his robot feet sit a lot more flush at the back.  I have to give points to Optimus for a new style and Ginrai for a more balanced look.

Base Mode

6 of 1, a half dozen of the other.  Both don’t look flash to me.  There are a few differences with the different chest pieces that come up to be the central seat for the Headmaster. The towers on Ginrai work being put higher due to you being able to place the black guns half way up, something you cant do with Optimus due to his robots hands not rotating.

 

Robot Mode

‘One of these bots is not like the other…’

One of the most significant differences are the ankles.  Ginrai’s have been extensively retooled in order that they pivot better and provide more height.  This makes Ginrai slightly taller than Optimus overall.  Optimus’ hand guns look that bit more impressive but Ginrai is able to hold his better due to maneuverable wrists.  The chest armor is slightly different as well.  Overall I think Ginrai does look that bit better than Optimus here.

 

Apex vs Ginrai

Two heads are…. no, wait, too obvious a joke. I’ll come back.

Apex is the name of Optimus’ Titan Master partner whereas Ginrai is, well, Ginrai but as stated turns into a head instead of an engine.  When comparing the two, Apex transforms into a head which looks a lot like Orion Pax, with the Optimus helmet going over the top.  Ginrai turns into an Optimus head with… er… an Optimus helmet going over the top (the definition of redundant).  So Apex wins the alt-mode race but the robot/human mode race is no race at all.  Ginrai has lots of detail and (even though you probably cant tell with my bad camera) even has a little human face. Apex by comparison has bland colours and a featureless head.

Ones a robot, ones a human in a mech suit. Both have absolutely screwed torsos

 

So who to choose?

Look, I got both because of the displays I wanted to create.  One display is of Optimus Prime figures which turn into trucks and have a trailer so Powermaster Optimus Prime goes there.  The other is robot modes of all the different Generations (and Generations subsets) characters and while I have plenty of Generations Optimus figures I didn’t have a Ginrai one so he goes there.  That said, I still feel like I wasted my money a bit by getting both.  They are just too similar to warrant the expenditure on two Leader-class figures.

If I was to pick one I’d pick Ginrai.  The robot mode is better and the Headmaster partner is a lot better.  Ginrai wins.  But then I guess, if you get both, you can at least join them up in to one super base like I have below!

 

Got something you would like to add to this ‘comparison of toys’ review?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – LG39 Brainstorm

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Brainstorm, a character that has gone from relative obscurity to a fan favorite in recent years, thanks mainly to the More than Meets the Eye comic series.  Now gone from being a bit player in the short lived season 4 of the US he is everyone’s favorite amoral weapons designer.  However the version we are looking at today is an homage to his much larger television outing in the Japanese Headmasters series.  So without further ado, from the Legends series let’s have a look at LG39 Brainstorm.

Japanese TF boxes, so plain but with such great artwork!

Vehicle Mode

It wasn’t until I took the gun out of the box and realized that it was a match for Titans Return Blurr’s (for a review of TR Blurr see HERE) that I had a better look at Brainstorms Cybertronian jetfighter mode and realized the whole figure is a retooled Blurr.  And once you can imagine the wings being gone it becomes quite obvious.  That said, it’s a very nice looking version of Brainstorms alt-mode with the twin guns at the front, sleek nose and slim wings.  The orange cockpit makes a nice counterpoint to the rest of the colour scheme and Brainstorms Headmaster partner Cana fits nicely inside.

 

Robot Mode

A bit small for my liking but it means that he scales well with the rest of the Legends/Titans Return figures.  You can remove the nosecone and add it to the arm for extra firepower or leave it attached to his back where it is only noticeable when looking through the legs.  The figure has good articulation and once again that lovely Tak/Tom paintjob.

Somebody messed with the wrong Wang today!

 

Cana and Synapse.

Pimp Daddy Cana’s a bit spoiled for choice!

Synapse is actually the name of the drone vehicle that comes with Brainstorm.  This can either be in a jeep mode for Cana to drive or turn into a double-barelled blaster for Brainstorm to weild.  Given the colour scheme one could almost mistake it for a mini-Kup.

Cana has been based on Brainstorms JP Headmaster appearance with the removal of the faceplate.  He is nicely detailed in both his modes.  When compared with Arcana from the Thrilling 30 version of Brainstorm you can see the difference in size between the two figures, its just a shame you cant swap them over from one body to the other (trust me, I tried).  Given the differences in size and facial structure, it makes Legends Brainstorm look like Generations Brainstorm’s younger brother.

 

Overall

To be honest, I actually still kinda like Generations Brainstorm better.  He is bigger, bulkier and his removable vehicle weapons to use as pistols is very G1-toy accurate.  However Legends Brainstorm scales well with the current series of toys, has a great colour scheme and comes with not only a Headmaster partner but a drone as well.  Depends if you are a fan of the HM cartoon or MTMTE as to which one you may decide to get – or if you are an obsessive fan like me you can just get both!

 

“I’m Brainstorm”
“No, I’m Brainstorm”