Tag Archives: Drag Strip

My Transformer Collection Showcase, Transformatorium

Transformers Collection – Robots in Disguise (2015)

Leave a comment

And thus the great cataloging of my personal collection continues.

Transformers Robots in Disguise (15) was very much an “Eh – it was ok” entry into the Transformers multiverse.  Set in the Aligned Continuity, it was meant to be the sequel to Transformers Prime and run cocurrent to Transformers Rescue Bots.  However whilst Prime impressed fans with its ongoing mature storyline, impressive graphics and excellet figures, Robots in Disguise was far more simplistic and considered a downgrade.  The cartoon became a The Tick like show where the team battled a differently themed bad guy each week, and the toyline introduced Warrior-class and 1-step changer toys – simplistic toys with simplistic transformations.

Whilst never hated like Kiss Players, Robots in Disguise (15) failed to impress anyone, and will remain a cartoon and toyline that the majority of fans feel ambivelent about.   At least we got some better figures from other toylines RID crossed over with such as Adventure and Go! 

 

Transformers Robots In Disguise (15)/Adventure Action Figure List

Autobot Figures

 

*Item #RID150001: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Mega Optimus Prime

*Item #RID150002: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Optimus Prime

 

*Item #RID150003: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Drift

*Item #RID150004: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Jetstorm

*Item #RID150005: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Slipstream

 

*Item #RID150006: Transformers Robots in Disguise Strongarm

*Item #RID150007: Transformers Robots in Disguise 9 (1-step) Strongarm

 

*Item #RID150008: Transformers Robots in Disguise Sideswipe

*Item #RID150009: Transformers Robots in Disguise Activator Sideswipe

*Item #RID150010: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Great Byte

 

*Item #RID150011: Transformers Robots in Disguise Twinferno

*Item #RID150012: Transformers Robots in Disguise Bumblebee

*Item #RID150013: Transformers Robots in Disguise Blurr

*Item #RID150014: Transformers Adventure TAV23 Jazz

*Item #RID150015: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stormshot

*Item #RID150016: Transformers Robots in Disguise Windblade

*Item #RID150017: Transformers Adventure TAV59 Ratchet

 

*Item #RID150018: Transformers Robots in Disguise Dinobot Grimlock

*Item #RID150019: Transformers Robots in Disguise (1-step) Gold Armour Grimlock

 

*Item #RID150020: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Sawback

*Item #RID150021: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Windstrike

*Item #RID150022: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Velocirazor

*Item #RID150023: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Sawtooth

*Item #RID150024: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Beastbox

*Item #RID150025: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Tricerashot

 

*Item #RID150026: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Bashbreaker

 

*Item #RID150027: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Fixit

 

*Item #RID15MD0028: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Optimus Prime

*Item #RID15MD0029: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Optimus Prime(V2)

 

*Item #RID15MD0030: Transformers Robots in Disguise Dinobot Grimlock

*Item #RID15MD0031: Transformers Robots in Disguise Dinobot Grimlock (V2)

*Item #RID15MD0032: Transformers Robots in Disguise Dinobot Grimlock (V2) (MISB)

 

*Item #RID15MD0033: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Bumblebee

*Item #RID15MD0034: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Bumblebee (V2)

*Item #RID15MD0035: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Bumblebee (MISB)

*Item #RID15MD0036: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Bumblebee (MISB)

 

*Item #RID15MD0037: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Strongarm

*Item #RID15MD0038: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Drift

*Item #RID15MD0039: Transformers Robots in Disguise Autobot Sideswipe

 

*Item #RID150040: Transformers Robots in Disguise TAV10 Dinobot Slug

 

**Item #RID150041: Transformers Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime vehicle (MOSC)

 

*Item #RIDTT0042: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Autobot Optimus Prime

 

*Item #RIDGO0043: Transformers Go! Kenzan

*Item #RIDGO0044: Transformers Go! Ganoh

 

Decepticon Figures

 

*Item #RID150001: Transformers Robots in Disguise Megatronus

*Item #RID150002: Transformers Adventure TAV37 Megatronus

 

*Item #RID150003: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Starscream

*Item #RID150004: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Lancelon

 

*Item #RID150005: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Chompazoid Underbite

*Item #RID150006: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Quillfire

*Item #RID150007: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Amphiboid Springload

 

*Item #RID150008: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Fracture

*Item #RID150009: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Airazor

*Item #RID150010: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Divebomb

 

*Item #RID150011: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Overload

*Item #RID150012: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Backtrack

 

*Item #RID150013: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Crazybolt

*Item #RID150014: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Crazybolt (vehicle)

*Item #RID150015: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Hammer

 

*Item #RID150016: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon (Warrior) Soundwave

*Item #RID150017: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon (Activator) Soundwave

*Item #RID150018: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Mini-Con Laserbeak

*Item #RID150019: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Mini-Con Ratbat

 

*Item #RID150020: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Thermoidor

*Item #RID150021: Transformers Adventure TAV38 Decepticon Thunderhoof

*Item #RID150022: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Skywarp

*Item #RID150023: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Bludgeon

*Item #RID150024: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Steeljaw

 

*Item #RID150025: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Clampdown

*Item #RID150026: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Cyclonus

*Item #RID150027: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Groundbuster

 

*Item #RID150028: Transformers Robots in Disguise Combiner Force Decepticon Bisk (MOSC)

 

-Combiner Menasor, consisting of:

*Item #RID150029: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Motormaster

(torso)

*Item #RID150030: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Drag Strip

(right arm)

*Item #RID150031: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Wildbreak

(left arm)

*Item #RID150032: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Heatseeker

(right leg)

*Item #RID150033: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Slashmark

Left (leg)

*Item #RID150034: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Crash Combiner Drag Strip

*Item #RID150035: Transformers Robots in Disguise Stunticon Crash Combiner Wildbreak

 

*Item #RID150036: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Crash Combiner Warnado

*Item #RID150037: Transformers Robots in Disguise Decepticon Crash Combiner Shockdrive

 

*Item #RID150038: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Swelter

*Item #RID150039: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Doomitron

*Item #RID150040: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Lord Back

*Item #RID150041: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Sandsting

*Item #RID150042: Transformers Robots in Disguise Mini-Con Dragonus

 

*Item #RID150043: Transformers Adventure TAV08 Decepticon Gregevor (MOSC)

 

*Item #RID150044: Transformers Adventure TED-05 Decepticon Junkion

 

*Item #RID15MD0045: Transformers Robots in Disguise Chompazoid Underbite

 

*Item #RID150046: Transformers Robots in Disguise Steeljaw (vehicle) (MOSC)

 

*Item #RIDTT0047: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Fracture

*Item #RIDTT0048: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Fracture ((2nd unit)

*Item #RIDTT0049: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Steeljaw

*Item #RIDTT0050: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Minimus Ambus

*Item #RIDTT0051: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Minimus Ambus (2nd unit)

*Item #RIDTT0052: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Thunderhoof

*Item #RIDTT0053: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Terrashock

*Item #RIDTT0054: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Nightstrike

*Item #RIDTT0055: Transformers Robots in Disguise Tiny Titans Filch

 

Transformers Collection – Prime

Transformers Collection – Rescue Bots

My Transformer Collection Showcase, Transformatorium, Videos

Transformers Collection – Animated

Leave a comment

And so the great cataloging of my personal Transformers Collection continues.

Animated still proves to be a much beloved and popular part of the Transformers cartoon franchise.  It saw a return to character-driven storylines with each Bot and Con portrayed as having special and unique powers.  With a touch of humour and new takes on classic characters, both the show and toyline proved incredibly popular with fans, especially with their unique visual asthetic.

Transformers Animated Collection

 

Transformers Animated Autobot Figures

Transformers Animated Autobots

 

*Item #ANA001: Transformers Animated Autobot Optimus Prime

*Item #ANA002: Transformers Animated Autobot Optimus Prime Cybertron Mode

(Reference: Photo #P00233)

 

Item #ANA003: Transformers Animated Autobot Ultra Magnus

(Reference: Photo #P00234)

 

Item #ANA004: Transformers Animated Autobot Blurr

Item #ANA005: Transformers Animated Autobot Sentinel Prime

Item #ANA006: Transformers Animated Autobot Jazz

(Reference: Photo #P00235)

 

Item #ANA007: Transformers Animated Autobot Ratchet

Item #ANA008: Transformers Animated Autobot Ratchet Cybertron Mode

(Reference: Photo #P00236)

 

Item #ANA009: Transformers Animated Autobot Prowl

Item #ANA010: Transformers Animated Autobot Bumblebee

(Reference: Photo #P00237)

 

Item #ANA011: Transformers Animated Autobot Bulkhead

(Reference: Photo #P00238)

 

Item #ANA012: Transformers Animated Autobot Rodimus Minor

Item #ANA013: Transformers Animated Autobot Ironhide

Item #ANA014: Transformers Animated Autobot Arcee

(Reference: Photo #P00239)

 

Item #ANA015: Transformers Animated Autobot Wreck Gar

(Reference: Photo #P00240)

 

Item #ANA016: Transformers Animated Autobot Bumblebee (Activators)

Item #ANA017: Transformers Animated Autobot Cliffjumper

(Reference: Photo #P00241)

 

Item #ANA018: Transformers Animated Autobot Jetstorm

Item #ANA019: Transformers Animated Autobot Jetfire

(Reference: Photo #P00242)

 

Item #ANA020: Transformers Animated Dinobot Snarl

Item #ANA021: Transformers Animated Dinobot Grimlock

Item #ANA022: Transformers Animated Dinobot Swoop

(Reference: Photo #P00243)

 

Item #ANA023: Transformers Timelines Animated Autobot Jackpot

(Reference: Photo #P00244)

 

Item #ANA024: Transformers Animated McDonalds Autobot Bumblebee

Item #ANA025: Transformers Animated McDonalds Autobot Optimus Prime

Item #ANA026: Transformers Animated McDonalds Autobot Ratchet

(Reference: Photo #P00245)

 

Transformers Animated Decepticon Figures

Transformers Animated Decepticons

 

Item #AND001: Transformers Animated Decepticon Megatron

Item #AND002: Transformers Animated Decepticon Megatron Cybertron Mode

(Reference: Photo #P00246)

 

Item #AND003: Transformers Animated Decepticon Shockwave

(Reference: Photo #P00247)

 

Item #AND004: Transformers Animated Decepticon Blitzwing

(Reference: Photo #P00248)

 

Item #AND005: Transformers Animated Decepticon Soundwave

Item #AND006: Transformers Animated Decepticon Laserbeak

(Reference: Photo #P00249)

 

Item #AND007: Transformers Animated Decepticon TA-35 Sunstorm (MISB)

Item #AND008: Transformers Animated Decepticon Starscream

Item #AND009: Transformers Animated Decepticon Skywarp

(Reference: Photo #P00250)

 

Item #AND010: Transformers Animated Decepticon Dirge

Item #AND011: Transformers Animated Decepticon Thundercracker

(Reference: Photo #P00251)

 

Item #AND012: Transformers Animated Decepticon  TA-20 Blackout

(Reference: Photo #P00252)

 

Item #AND013: Transformers Animated Decepticon Lockdown

(Reference: Photo #P00253)

 

Item #AND014: Transformers Animated Lugnut

(Reference: Photo #P00254)

 

Item #AND015: Transformers Animated Decepticon Swindle

(Reference: Photo #P00255)

 

Item #AND016: Transformers Animated Decepticon Wapinator

Item #AND017: Transformers Animated Decepticon Black Arachnia

(Reference: Photo #P00256)

 

Item #AND018: Transformers Animated Decepticon Oilslick

(Reference: Photo #P00257)

 

Item #AND019: Transformers Timelines Animated Stunticon Motormaster

Item #AND020: Transformers Timelines Animated Stunticon Dead End

Item #AND021: Transformers Timelines Animated Stunticon Dragstrip

Item #AND022: Transformers Timelines Animated Stunticon Breakdown

Item #AND023: Transformers Timelines Animated Stunticon Wildrider

(Reference: Photo #P00258)

 

Item #AND024: Transformers TMcDonalds Animated Decepticon Megatron

(Reference: Photo #P00259)

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Legacy Motormaster & Drag Strip

Leave a comment

It seems like only yesterday fans were swooning over finally getting an updated set of Stunticons in the Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors toy lines.  Fan favorites, the Stunticons were the second ever combiner group to be introduced in the G1 Transformers cartoon and their rebellious attitude and sweet alt-modes gave the Autobots a run for their money on the roads.  This has lead to them appearing in multiple toylines, from KRE-O to Bot Shots to even Robots in Disguise.

Toys Review – the Combiner Force Stunticons

Well the Stunticons are back again – well – two of them anyway, with more along later in the year.  Drag Strip was released several months ago and Motormaster – the latest Commander Class figure – has just hit stores here in Australia.  So without further ado, lets have a look at Legacy Motormaster & Drag Strip!

 

Drag Strip

Robot Mode

‘Yes I have a name like a bloke in a dress taking his clothes off – wanna make something of it?’

There is a lot of yellow going on here, like a lot.  The faux-engine in his chest and the guns and head break it up a bit, but this here fella is yella through and through I tell ya what!  But he still a nice looking figure with good proportions, a very cartoon-accurate countenance and no big ugly combiner peg in his chest.  Overall an improvement on what has come before.  His articulation is quite good, with ankle-tilts and a decent range of motion in all his limbs.

‘Draw pardner!’

His two pistols can be combined into one double-barreled gun and can also be stored on the backs of his thighs.

Vehicle Mode

NOW the name makes sense

A really beautiful and faithful rendition of the original toy, Drag Strip finally turning into a 6-wheeled racer again rather than a Mirage wannabe.  There is very little to fault here and kudos to the designers for making him look sweet as!

The pistols can be added to his vehicle form, giving it a battle mode.  Gotta say it is an improvement on the giant cannon that plugged into the back of the G1 toy.  Overall this is a really nice figure with an intuitive Transformation and perhaps the nicest official Drag Strip figure we have ever had.

Toys Review – the Combiner Wars Combaticons!

Motormaster

Robot Mode

Flares are back in fashion

The original Motormaster toy was quite different from his cartoon depiction.  The toy had its body made from the trailer so was therefore grey, whilst the entire cab made up Motomaster’s feet.  This made the toy a bit comical, although very easy to stand up admittedly, with his feet being the size of Prime’s alt-mode on their own!  The cartoon kinda skirted around this by making Motormaster predominantly black, as if he was made up from just the cab like Prime was.  This Motormaster comes with a trailer but the robot is made up solely of the cab, though they gave him little fake-cab feet, which are actually pretty cute, if quite odd.  The lower legs are disproportionately big compared to the rest of him, but that beautiful face-sculpt more than makes up for it.

Overlord eat your heart out

Motormaster has good range of arm motion, but very little swivel in the neck and the legs are too bulky to do much with.  Still very good overall however and more cartoon reminicent than the larger Unite Warriors version.

Vehicle Mode

The King of the Road is back baby!

Now this is what I’ve been waiting for – Motormaster with a trailer!  Just like I’ve often felt many Optimus Prime toys have been lacking when they come sans trailer, I was disappointed we got no trailer for any of the Motormaster toys subsequent to the original one.  Though it’s not as long as I would have liked, it is an extremely welcome addition and really makes the toy for me.  Motormaster doesn’t appear nearly as big as the other Commander-class figures in their alt-modes, but that is due to just how jam-packed with parts the trailer is.  This mode is what made me want to go buy the figure, and it has (except for the quibble of length) not disappointed.  Plus unlike the original toy the cab can detach too!

‘Suck a fat one Optimus and Ultra Magnus – I can do this now too!’

Base Mode

The original Motormaster toy had a sorta base mode, complete with a ramp for his little roller-drone to drive down.  This base mode is by far an improvement on the original, with the entire trailer partsforming into a big gun emplacement.  This helps make up for Motormaster’s lack of a rifle.  It actually looks pretty sweet in person, and while not as cool as Sky-Lynx‘s shuttle launch bay, looks a lot cooler than Rodimus Prime‘s gun trailer.  Given everything the trailer has to do to become both a gun-emplacement and parts for Menasor, the partsforming is forgivable in my opinion.  The one silly thing is that Motormaster has to put down the sight in order to actually use the gun.

Between robot mode, truck mode and base mode this is easily the best Motormaster figure we have ever had, and we haven’t even got to the gestalt gimmick yet!

Toy Review: Kingdom Rodimus Prime

Menasor

(thus far)

It’s a bit hard to do a review of Menasor at this stage since only two of his five components have been released, but I’ll give it a shot.

Drag Strip Component

Ouch!

While they fully made up the limbs of the original G1 toy, in the cartoon the four smaller Stunticons seemed to simply plug onto pre-existing limbs to give them more bulk, and that is apparently the route they are going with this rendition of the Stunticons.  Whilst I appreciate toon-accuracy, I’m not a big fan of this, and poor old Drag Strip has to literally split in half in order for Menasor to use his right elbow.  It might be screen-accurate, but personally it’s not my cup of tea.

Motormaster Component

Motormaster himself converts into the upper torso of Menasor, whilst his trailer becomes the chest, hands, feet and, er…., exoskeleton of the rest.  Once again partsforming is in play.  It’s actually quite cleverly done and this mode, like all the others of Motormaster, consists of lots of tab-slotting which gives a lot of structure stability to the figure.  I appreciate how the effect overall differentiates this Menasor from his CW/UW counterpart, who because of the design looked similar to many of his toyline gestalt peers.  I will reserve judgement on his good this Menasor is until I get the remaining three Stunticons.  The gun turret from the base mode stays separate to Menasor and is useable by him, though it does look a bit odd, with it being so big compared to Motormaster, and so small compared to the combined form.

Toy Review – Unite Warriors Computron VS Combiner Wars Computron

 

Overall – worth getting?

Buy us, you know you want to

Both Motormaster and Drag Strip are a significant improvement on their predecessors.  Both have smaller robot modes but this is far outweighed by both their visual appearances and the intricacy of their toys.  Both have good transformations, and despite the multiple configurations inherent in Motormaster there is never a point where one feels frustrated by the process and all the tabs lock tight and sweet! There is one issue however:

photodegradation

There have been many, many reports of yellowed parts on this first batch of Motormaster.  I lucked out that there was only one small panel suffering from it on mine, but there have been reports of much worse from many Aussie TF fans.  If you purchase a Motormaster and find many such panels, I suggest you try to swap for another.

As previously stated, I am reserving judgement on their Menasor mode before I fully review that mode.  Right now my plan for my Transformatorium is to have, regarding my Stunticons, my Combiner Wars in their combined mode, my Unite Warriors in their robot modes and the Legacy toys in the vehicle modes.  Then I have the best of all 3 worlds!

So yeah, Legacy Motormaster and Drag Strip – go pick them up!  Just watch for the yellowing, only that dang varmint Stripper should be yeller on his belly.

Got something to say about these figures?  Pop it in the comments section below!

Toy Review – Earthrise Sky Lynx

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

ROTC Booster Packs. Part 2: Gameplay – Transformers TCG

Leave a comment

Last time we looked at the plethora of new cards to be picked up from the Rise of The Combiner Booster Packs for the Transformers Trading Card Game, along with their abilities and drop rates.

Well as promised, this time we will see the cards in play!  As there are already dozens of youtube videos and sites that are showing Combiners facing off against each other, and the only two Combiners I can make so far are Menasor and Dreadwing,  I thought we would do something different – a Combiner vs a Titan!

Clash of the Tit… er…. big bots!

It would be a bit unfair to send ol’ Dreadwing up against Metroplex I thought, so I picked Menasor for the battle.  I will be looking mainly at how the Stunticons and Menasor perform.  If you would like to read more about how the Metroplex character functions, please check out my review of the Metroplex Pack here.

Before starting, it should be noted that I received these cards for review purposes from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast.  Neither company has paid me nor tried to dictate the contents of this review.  Bigangrytrev would like to thank both companies for their generosity.

 

Setting up the board

When setting up to battle with a Combiner, you will of course have all members of that team.  There is little point in having 4 Stunticons on the board but leaving Drag Strip at home.  All cards are (for Combiners that use 5 characters) 5 stars apiece. Pick three to shove up front and a couple to hang behind.  The difference between each Stunticons stats is negligible, though Motormaster is ever so slightly stronger, so I recommend getting him ready to rock.

 

Making Menasor

Find this Card!
  • First off, don’t worry about if some of your Stunticons are KO’ed. You can still make them into Menasor.
  • Unlike the G1 cartoon, to join all your characters together they all need to be in robot mode, even your KO’ed ones.
  • You need to employ the Stunticon Enigma card. If this has been thrown to the discard pile, don’t worry.  Being a green card, it can be retrieved and swapped with one of your own.
  • Once combined, Menasor will carry over any damage points taken by the individual Stunticons, so try to get him to combine before they get too hurt.
  • When combined, you will discard all the Utility, Attack and Defense cards your individual bots were sporting, except one from each catagory which can then be applied to Menasor.

 

Menasor vs Metroplex

Menasor Crush!

They have surprisingly similar stats:

*Both have 25 Stars.

*Metroplex has stats of 6 Attack, 35 Health and 1 Defense. 

*Menasor has stats of 6 Attack, 35 Health and 2 Defense.

This makes Menasor that slight bit stronger than Metroplex.  As incongruous as this seems to any diehard TF fan, one must remember that Metroplex can still flip to his City Mode, as well as deploy his 3 sidekicks (presuming they are not already KO’ed), giving him the edge. So don’t get too cocky when you whip out your Stunticon combiner, you haven’t won yet!

Basic Game

The basic game is hardly worth mentioning here.  Given their almost identical stats it’s simply a matter of the opponents taking turns flipping cards until one behemoth dies.  Great fun for really young players, but holds little appeal for even those with a modicum of Transformers TCG experience.

Advanced Game

Find this card too!

Gameplay proceeds as usual, with you equipping your characters with different utilities, weapons etc and you and your opponent KO’ing each others cards whilst trying to save your own.  A lot of it is skill, a lot of it is down to the luck of the draw.  If you find any cards specific to your team however, employ them at once, they can really help!

The trick to using your Combiner Group effectively is using your individual characters in conjunction with each other, balancing their strengths and weaknesses as well as their special abilities in order to do the most damage before combining.  For instance Motormaster can protect other characters from non-attack damage, Dead End will give you an extra card and Breakdown can gain you extra attack damage.

I also highly recommend getting many of your characters into robot form as soon as possible, so when you decide to unleash your Combiner you only have one or two characters max that needs flipping.  Keep your eye out for the Stunticon Enigma Card too, if you only have one in your deck and you let it get away that’s it, you may as well let your opponent walk all over you because it’s quite hard to win a game with just the individual characters, since none of them are particularly spectacular.

When playing as Menasor, you get two extra cards right off the bat for combining him.  You then get Bold 1, Tough 1 and Pierce 1 as well as playing an extra action on each of your turns.  This means he can seriously kick Cyberarse, especially if you have the right Action Cards slotted.  In fact of the 4 games with friends of Menasor vs Metroplex, Metroplex was only successful in one instance.

So yes, from actual game play I can confirm that the Rise of the Combiner Booster Packs are well worth picking up. I heartily recommend you trade cards with friends so that you can build yourself one of these awesome Combiner Characters as soon as possible!

Got any questions or anything to add?  Pop them in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

RISE OF THE COMBINERS BOOSTER PACKS. REVIEW PART 1 – TRANSFORMERS TCG

EXCLUSIVE CARDS REVEAL: DIRGE AND DEFENSIVE DRIVING. TRANSFORMERS: TCG

REVIEW – METROPLEX PACK: TRANSFORMERS TCG

 

Transformatorium, Videos

Video – My 100+ Generations Decepticons

Leave a comment

For a bit of fun and a bit of comparison I pulled out of my storage crates a lot of my Decepticons.  In particular, toys that were updates of classic characters, mainly (but not exclusively) from G1.    I was amazed and how many characters have gotten new toys!

So enjoy this short video I made of the display.  Also below you will find some screenshots and a full list of the Decepticons on display along with links to reviews of many of the figures displayed here – have fun!

 

 

 

 

Acid Storm, Apeface, Astrotrain, Axor,

Banzaitron, Battletrap, Bonecrusher, Black Arachnia, Blast Off, Blitzwing, Bludgeon, Bombshell, Breakdown, Brawl, Bruticus, Buzzsaw,

Caliburst, Catgut, Chop Shop, Cyclonus,

Darkmount, Darkwing, Dead End, Devestator, Dirge, Doubledealer, Drag Strip, Dreadwind, Dreadwing,

Fangry, Frenzy, Full-Tilt, 

Galvatron, Gnaw, Grabuge, 

Hook, Hun-Grrr, 

Jhaixus,

Kickback, Krok,

Laserbeak, Leozack, Liokaiser, Long Haul,

Megatron, Menasor, Mindwipe, Misfire, Mixmaster, Motormaster,

Needlenose, Nightbird, Nightstick, Nemesis Striker,

Octone, Onslaught, Overkill, Overlord

Pounce

Quake

Ramjet, Rampage, Ratbat, Ravage, Rippersnapper, Rodimus Unicronus, Rumble, Runabout

Scavenger, Scourge, Scorponok, Scrapper, Shockwave, Singe, Sixshot, Shrute, Skrapnel, Skullgrin, Skullsmasher, Sky Byte, Sky Shadow, Skywarp, Slice, Slipstream, Slugslinger, Soundblaster, Soundwave, Spinister, Starscream, Submarauder, Sunbeam, Swindle

Tankorr, Thrust, Thundercracker, Thunderwing, Treadshot, Triggerhappy, Trypticon

Vortex

Waspinator, Wildrider, Wingspan, Windsweeper, Wolfwire,

Zputty

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – the Combiner Force Stunticons

Leave a comment

The Combiner Wars brought back a love of gestalts to the Transformer franchise that other lines like the Power Core Combiners failed to do.  Despite the main line having moved onto Titans Return, we expect to see more combiner teams as part of the 2018 Power of the Primes toyline.

The Decepticon combiners characters were – lets face it – always a lot more interesting and popular than the Autobot ones.  The likes of Superion and Defensor were there so their Decepticon counterparts had someone to ultimately be beaten by.  In recent years, as well as in Combiner Wars, we’ve seen a lot of those Decepticons crop up in other lines.  We had Devastator in Revenge of the Fallen, Bruticus in Fall of Cybertron and even Abominus in Beast Hunters.  Well now it’s Menasor’s turn with the Stunticons making their debut, both in the cartoon and toyline, as part of the Robots in Disguise Combiner Force franchise.

Now RID(15) has had some pretty damn underwhelming toys.  Most figures seem to suffer from cheap construction and overly simplsitc mechanics and transformations.  And sadly, the Stunticons continue this trend.

‘We exist to make your G1 toys look good’

Only Motormaster and Drag Strip are present from the original lineup.  They are now joined by Slashmark, Heatseeker and Wildbreak.  Having Wildbreak instead of Breakdown is kinda forgivable, considering this is the same universe as the Prime cartoon in which Breakdown died several years ago.  However having Heatseeker and Slashmark feels lazy.  Heatseeker is so close in looks to the Combiner Wars Offroad that Hasbro missed a great opportunity to cement him as a new character in the classic team.  Likewise Slashmark is just Heatseeker with blue highlights instead of red.  This spot could easily have been filled by Dead End, Wildrider or the other new Stunticon from CW – Blackjack.

All limb characters are sadly simplistic, requiring only 1 or 2 minor moves to go from Vehicle to Robot – both modes looking quite average.  Articulation is non-existent.  Motormaster however has been a bit better engineered and I quite like his alt-mode, very remincient of RID(01) Ultra Magnus.

‘I gots me a trailer again!’

But like his smaller partners, articulation is a quality sorely lacking in his robot mode.

And speaking of his robot mode, lets take a look at his bonce.  Oh they got the square helmet just right but look at the face within…

‘BOO!’

That’s bloody Megatron!  WTF?!  That’s Megs from the Prime cartoon – my oath it is!  Once you realize this, it makes a lot of the similarities in the head and shoulders of Menasor to Magatronus all the more apparent.

Menasor’s combined mode looks ok, though a big gangly.  Here we have the only bit of articulation in any of the figures, that being that Menasor can raise his arms (which sorely lack elbows) which allows him to hold his sword up.

‘By the power of Grayskull!’

 

Now some of these characters have also been released separately to the main group.  I’ve seen Heatseeker as a 1-step changer in the shops, though personally I always find them to be poor toys so I passed.  But I did grab the Drag Strip/Wildbreak 2-pack.

Now these characters really are no better enginnered here than with the main pack.  Also somewhere in the process they have confused the characters.  Wildbreak was obviously supposed to be Drag Strip considering he has a Drag Strip’ish alt-mode.  My suspicion of this was confirmed when I checked out the instructions.

Caught out

This is really just an unforgivably lazy mistake by the manufacturer.  But then these are lazy toys.  These figures also have no articulation in robot mode and their vehicle modes, particularly Drag Strip, are very uninspired.

Whilst their combined form of DragBreak looks pretty cool, his static pose does not offer much play value.

“Drag Break – my name sounds like what your Dad used to do at work around mid-morning. But then Wild Strip would make me sound like what your mum did to earn her way through college’

 

Now I’ve been pretty hard on these toys and it’s hard not to be.  However in fairness they are no worse than most of the RID line so one should know what they are getting into with their purchase.  The prices are much better too if you are buying for kids – you can get a whole Menasor here for the same cost of two limb characters from CW.  Their combined modes have a certain style and unlike many of the other CF figures they actually do combine.  But unless like me you are a complete Stunticon nut these toys are an easy pass for your average collector.

 

 

Got something to say about these figures?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Toy Review: RID Twinferno

Toys Review: Combiner Force Blurr, Windblade & Soundwave