There is only about a month to go until the new Transformers Rise of the Beasts film hits theatres and the hype is building, with everything from toy lines hitting shelves to art exhibitions taking place to celebrate the upcoming flick.
However, it wouldn’t be a Transformers movie without there being something contentious to make the fandom all scream at each other, and in this case it’s the design of Wheeljack.
“Did I do that?’
Wheeljack, the very first Transformer to ever hit screen, was the Autobots mad-scientist, always coming up with whacky inventions and weapons that more often than not backfired. This combined with his distinctive headscuplt, easy-going personality and slick Lancia Stratos Turbo race car alt-mode meant that he was a fan favourite and one of the better known Transformer characters.
Wheeljack nearly appeared in the Dark of the Moon Transformers movie, but the decision was made at the last second to call the character ‘Que’ instead, as an homage to James Bond’s gadget guy. Still, this decision was made so late that some toys and in the associated video game the character was still called Wheeljack.
‘Hey, it could be worse – I could look like this in the new movie!’
Wheeljack made his proper live-movie appearance in the Bumblebee Movie. Whilst he had but a single line, he could be seen battling on Cybertron at the start of the flick and was instantly recognisable. Despite being on screen for a very short amount of time, he received a very cool Studio Series figure which had an altmode of a Cybertronian HoverCar, instead of the Cybertronian HoverVan mode he had in the G1 cartoon.
In the upcoming Rise of the Beasts movie, a sequel to the Bumblebee flick, Wheeljack has completely changed from the previous film, with a completely different robot mode and altmode to any he has sported before. Some fans are really not happy, with other fans really not happy that those fans are not happy.
So where does my opinion lie in all this? Well let me tell you:
“Don’t be a slave to G1, don’t be a sook – characters change!”
This is the argument that a lot of fans are giving to those that don’t like the look of the new Wheeljack. And I think they’ve got the argument slightly wrong. I believe it’s not that people are annoyed that this incarnation of Wheeljack in not a carbon copy of his G1 incarnation, it’s that he’s not really recognisable as Wheeljack at all.
VW fans however are gonna be psyched!
People, for the most part unless they are the most staunch geewunners (which do sadly exist), don’t mind some changes to characters, as long as they retain some key essence of the original. It keeps the characters fresh and interesting. Fans had no issue with Wheeljack being a Wrecker with a rebellious personality in Prime (2010). Wheeljack having a country accent and a mouth in Cyberverse (2018) and the new Earthspark (2022) cartoon have also been received without complaint. Despite some changes these incarnations were still instantly recognisable as Wheeljack, due to either their physical appearance and/or personality. This incarnation doesn’t look, act or sound like Wheeljack (that we’ve seen thus far – who knows what may happen in the film). So I completely understand why some fans are going ‘Why not just make it a new character instead of completely changing an old one?’.
These WERE the droids you were hoping for
To use an example from a different pop-culture franchise – it’s like Batman; there are dozens of different iterations of Batman with varying costumes and personalities, but you can generally pick up a comic or see a movie and still go ‘yep – that’s Batman’.
All slightly different in looks and personality – but all still definetly Batman.
No one is demanding that every Batman look like Adam West, they just want it to still be recognisable as the character. If they did a comic where Batman was actually a 6’10” Slavic insurance-claims adjuster who lives in Brisbane, and at night throws rubber ducks at criminals whilst making poultry-puns, people would be like ‘WTF? That’s not Batman!’
If we were to use a Transformers character such as Grimlock, we see the pattern repeated. He is usually a grey Cybertronian T-Rex with a rebellious attitude. But we have seen different versions of him over the years. In the Alternators toyline he turned into a Ford Mustang, in Titanium a Cybertronian tank, in Rescue Bots Academy a Dino-cycle, in Age of Extinction a Gigantic Rex-Dragon. In the RID15 Cartoon he was back to being a Cybertronian T-Rex again, but now green with a teddy-bear like head and a goofy personality.
All slightly different in looks, personality and altmodes, but all still Grimlock.
Each of these differed greatly from the core G1 character, but there was still enough recognisable elements that you could look and go ‘yup – that’s Grimlock’.
‘There have been different Wheeljacks before – they reuse names all the time, get over it!’
Armada Wheeljack
Yes, lots of characters got their names reused in Beast Wars, then again in early 00’s in shows like RID & Armada, but those were generally exceptions where they just randomly used names in order to keep the trademark. Wheeljack in Armada was a bitter Autobot that swapped allegiance, and besides a car altmode had nothing to do with the original. Similarly Grimlock, whom we were discussing earlier, turned into a excavator in RID and had zero connection to the original character. So the precedents are there.
One of these Grim’s is not like the other ones…
That being said, Hasbro has taken a far more uniform approach to their characters in the modern era and, outside of the Movieverse, these aberrations have happened very little over the last 15 or so years.
So am I going to boycott the movie because Wheeljack is essentially unrecognisable? No – I’m still looking forward to it! And for all I know I might really like the character on the big screen and go out and buy the SS figure of him. But do I understand why some fans have a beef with how he is being portrayed – yes I do.
Causing more mixed feelings in fandom than a female Ghostbuster
So my 2-cents are: if you don’t like how you think the ROTB Wheeljack looks/acts/sounds – go watch the movie next month and see if he grows on you. Heck, he might be good enough that he earns a right to simply share the name, like G1 and Beast Wars Inferno do.
To those who have a problem with others disappointment in what the character looks like so far, give’em a break eh – it can be a bit heartbreaking to see a character you’ve loved for years changed beyond recognition for no obviously discernable reason. But yes, when you’ve read the 50th‘they’ve destroyed the character!’ rant, I can understand how your patience would wane.
Pipes and Huffer have the same alt mode but different robot modes. Which is your favourite?
Such cute little alien war machines!
It’s true that most of the 1986 Autobot Mini-Vehicles are just slight retools of their 1984 counterparts. The likes of Swerve, Tailgate, Hubcap and Outback are simply recolours of Gears, Windcharger, Cliffjumper and Brawn respectively with new face sculpts (OK, Outback got a new gun as well which was pretty slick).
However Huffer and Pipes are the exception. As well as a new colour scheme and face sculpt, the Transformation from Robot Mode from Vehicular mode was slightly changed. Instead of the cab of the truck becoming a hood as it did with Huffer, it became a backpack for Pipes.
But are their alt-modes really the same?
One of these trucks is not like the other one
Well, yeah, for the most part. But there are subtle differences. The moulded grill and headlight motif on the front of the truck has been slightly changed from Huffer to Pipes. The tail-end of the trucks tray, which becomes the robots feet, is slightly more pointed on Huffer than Pipes. Perhaps the most notable difference besides the colour scheme is the smokestacks, which on Huffer and slightly indented, whilst on Pipes they are well and truly, well… pipes.
Overall the differences are negligible, but far outweigh the differences between the other mini-bot recolours of that era. I’d be hard-pressed to say which I like more as both have their charms.
Robot Modes
Huffer: “My elbows go the wrong way!” Pipes: “At least you can still pick stuff up”
Here is where the differences really stand out. As stated, Huffer has a sort of canopy whereas Pipes has a large backpack. From the back Pipes is easily the weaker of the two, having an entire truck cab hanging off his back. However this is where his weaknesses end. His arms are far superior to Huffers, and whilst Huffer could be said to have hands of a sort, it’s the orientation of his arms that lets him down, resembling some form of preying mantis idue to the backwards elbows. The head of Pipes too is superior, having an actual sculpted head that sits in front of the backpack, rather than some form of wide mask half-hidden under a hood.
So to answer Katrina’s question, I have to give it to Pipes, on the whole he is an improvement on his predecessor.
Huffer, being a legacy character from the 1984 cartoon, has turned up in multiple toylines such as KRE-O, Power Core Combiners, Timelines and even Transformers Prime. Pipes however has only had another two outings, both retools of existing Huffer figures. So lets have a look at these to see who is the superior in these new iterations of classic characters.
Combiner Wars
Prime-wannabe’s
If there is one set of Huffer/Pipes figures where the alt-modes are exactly the same then it is Combiner Wars. Not only are the altmodes the same, but the robot modes are exactly the same too, the only differences being in colour scheme and sticker placements. As such, it’s pretty much impossible to pick one over the other. I will say I never understood why they gave Pipes a red face, he looks like Tracks squat brother (or me when I’ve been out in the sun too long).
Kingdom
We finally busted into the Deluxe Class!
The third outing of Pipes, being again a retool of Huffer, is in the Kingdom line. I found both these toys to be quite clever and both are certainly the most toon-accurate versions of the characters we have ever had in their robot modes. Highlights for me included that Pipes now has pipes attached to his outer forearms like in the cartoon instead of the toys arms functioning as the pipes themselves. Huffer now sports a canopy of sensible size, and the way the sides of his alt-modes tray join together to form a very Halo-esque weapon is a really cool idea. I couldn’t fault either of them.
Pipes & Huffer: Both ready to smoke you!
In their vehicular forms, the fronts of the vehicles are actually (bar colour) exactly the same, having less differences than their G1 toy counterparts. The differences only seem to be at the back, where Pipes is toting his pipes and Huffer’s gun and shield serve to form a tray.
But wait, there’s more!
Can’t decide between Pipes and Huffer? Why choose either when you can have Puffer!
Puffer: ‘Even I haven’t heard of me before!’
Soooo…. The story behind this is that in certain parts of the world, when Pipes was released he was a straight up recolour of Huffer, rather than a retooled version. The storyline behind Puffer is that Huffer and Pipes got sucked into a time-vortex (as one does) and they were fused together into the one being. Like so many other extremely obscure characters (who can easily be recoloured from an existing figure), Puffer now has his own official toy. This Puffer though, is essentially Pipes slightly recoloured and with a G1 toy accurate head. Whilst there is little of Huffer to see in this figure, if you can’t decide which you like more out of Pipes and Huffer, then Puffer may be for you!
A reminder that Prime and Magnus aint the only Autobot trucks on the block
Well, for me it is hands down Pipes, and for me that is a purely sentimental reason. Pipes was one of my first ever Transformers, and was the first Transformer I ever got a double of when a mate gave me another one for my 9th birthday. Still have them both too 😊. I liked in the cartoon how Pipes seemed to straddle between mechanic, field medic and a quasi-field commander, whereas except for lifting the odd mammoth, Huffer seemed to do nothing but whine, barely built anything and for the most part simply vied with Gears for title of biggest complainer on The Ark.
G1: Emotions aside, talking about toys then I feel that Pipes has the better robot mode, despite Huffer having hand indents. Vehicular, despite the minor differences, I don’t favour one over the other. Winner: Pipes
Combiner Wars: Exact same vehicle mode so no favourite; in robot mode I gotta take points off Pipes for having the red face. Winner: Huffer
Kingdom: A draw, as though I like Huffer’s robot mode that smidge more, and he has the cool gun and shield that become the truck tray, Pipes finally has dedicated extra pipes, living up to his namesake. Winner: A draw, with a special shout out to Puffer for being such a unique character.
Got anything to say about the figures examined, or Pipes and Huffer in general? Pop it in the comments section below!
And so it begins, the great cataloging for my personal and ever expanding Transformers Collection!
And what better place to start than where the whole shebang kicked off – G1! Listed sequentially, and with accompanying photographs, here is the G1 Autobot toys I have amassed over the last 35+ years.
Transformers Generation One Autobot Collection
(Note: All figures in photographs listed from Top Left to Bottom Right)
Just when everyone thought that Cyberverse was over, it’s managed to get in one last gasp of life. Dinobots Unite has just aired on Youtube – a special where Grimlock finally gets all of his Dino-buddies together – both on screen and in their combined mode – Volcanicus.
As such it means new toys to go with the associated media, and who doesn’t love getting more Dinobots eh? So I was very keen to pick up Swoop (with Bumblebee), Warrior-Class Snarl and Ultra-Class Sludge.
Snarl
Robot Mode
Me Snarl miss Tyrannitron
Without the large majestic split tail adorning his shoulders, which made the G1 Snarl my favourite Dinobot to have in robot mode, he very much resembles his G1 Action Master counterpart. Whilst this takes away from some of the majesty of his appearance, he still looks pretty good for a Warrior-class figure with decent proportions and a G1-inspired colour scheme. His head looks great and I’m a real fan of the spikes on his chest and legs. He has decent articulation with movement in the knees, hips, elbows and shoulders.
Like all Warrior-Class figures, Snarl comes with an attack gimmick – in this case a Power Slash. This is achieved by taking the detached… er…. Stegosaurus arse and putting it on a peg on Snarls back. By manipulation of this peg it can make Snarl’s sword arm swing.
Cybertronian Stegosaurus Mode
Looks really good with the yellow backplates and head, making him look more like the G1 cartoon than the G1 toy. Personally I would have liked to see less yellow on his flank but it is forgivable. He has limited movement in his legs and sadly none in his neck, tail and jaw.
A downside to Snarl is that the designers have taken a big shortcut by making the tail and arse of his dinosaur mode detachable where it serves little purpose other than peg manipulation for the robot’s gimmick, so there is no real sense of accomplishment when you convert him to dinosaur mode. However as an interesting side note, the dinosaurs head comes together in a way which is reminiscent of the Age of Extinction Snarl toy.
Sludge
Robot Mode
Very faithful to his G1 counterparts design as Cyberverse is want to do. His large shoulder fins are now at waist height but swing out of the way to prevent major irritation. Like Snarl I am a fan of the new spikes they have attached to the upper body and it is overall a well proportioned figure. He has decent but limited articulation.
For Sludge’s battle mode his detached tail can become a spear for him to wield and he can deploy Energon Armour which takes the form of translucent blue armour that flips out of his back to cover his head and torso. An interesting choice to make the helmet armour an analogue of his Brontosaurus head which my son thought was very cool.
Cybertronian Brontosaurus Mode
I think making Sludge Ultra-class was a very good call in this case, as in comics Sludge is often portrayed much bigger than the other Dinobots when transformed, and by giving him a bigger class size this works well with the likes of Cyberverse Grimlock and Snarl for scale. Like Snarl he has limited movement in his legs but at least comes with a jaw that can open and close. Whereas Snarl has a bit more colour in dinosaur mode than I’d care for, I think Sludge could have stood to have a bit more colour to break up the panels of grey. Overall however a very sweet looking dinosaur, made that bit more bad-ass by having big spikes coming out of the tops of his legs.
Swoop
Robot Mode
Very nicely coloured and proportioned, Swoop resembles his(her) G1 cartoon incarnation rather than the toy. The tail of the Pteradon mode becomes a weapon. Swoops arms wont bend forward which is a major disappointment and a detraction from the figure, making decent posing all but impossible.
Pteradon Mode
The Pteradon mode comes with a big black spot on its head for some reason which you take to be a cockpit until you see the eyes on the side of the head. It’s not a bad looking figure with a decent wingspan but has no articulation to speak of.
Bumblebee & Bumbleswoop
Swoop and Bumblebee can combine together to become Bumbleswoop, in much the same way some figures did in the RID(15) toyline. It looks OK and actually has better articulation that its separated characters (Bumblee is actually even worse than Swoop is!), though for me personally its not my kind of combiner at all.
Transformations
Snarl & Sludge: Given these toys are A: from Cyberverse and B: Warrior and Ultra classes, their transformations are exceedingly simple so easy for young kids to get the hang of and my son did both without any instructions. Like said previously, the detachable backside of Snarl is somewhat of a disappointment. Also both toys are stand alone, so neither are designed to combine into Volcanicus.
Swoop: Arrgh! Swoop transforms via a spring to his Bumbleswoop mode and then you need to reverse it to lock it in place for him to be in his normal modes. Guess what – after only two transformations the the arm clips came out on mine so he was permanently in Bumbeswoop mode! I was not impressed.
Wing and arm clips
Thankfully fellow Transformer Fan Michael Vella was able to figure out what you have to do. There are two clips on each arm, one at the shoulder and one at the bicep. All you have to do is reattach the clips at the bicep and he is good to go again. However it’s pretty crap this is happening on so many of this figure. This earns Swoop Big Angry Trev’s trophy for shittest toy of the year! Haven’t seen one this bad since Rescuebots Quickshadow.
Worth Getting?
Whilst neither Sludge not Snarl’s figures fall into the ‘cheap’ category, they aren’t overly expensive either and I felt I got my money’s worth for both my purchases. Like most Cyberverse characters and toys they are very heavily influenced by Generation 1 and both manage to adhere to this style extremely well. Recommended for younger fans, Cyberverse fans and, like me, Dinobot fans everywhere. Bumbleswoop – overpriced and the arms unclip too easily, I say avoid this pile of crap at all costs!
Got something to say about these two figures? Pop it in the comments section below!
Transformers Battlegroundsis the first Gaming Console game released by the Transformers brand sinceDevastationseveral years ago and takes a much different tack to its predecessors.
Whilst previous Transformer console games have been primarily 3rdperson shooters such asWar for CybertronandFall of Cybertron, or hack & slash likeDevastation,Transformers Battlegroundsis a strategy turn-based game where you (as a hovering human) control a group of bots below to work your way through levels until you have the obligatory ‘boss battle’ at the end.
Optimus vs Megatron – how unexpected…
Right from the outset you can tell this is a Transformers game aimed at younger players. The game is based on the recent Cyberversecartoon which itself was aimed at younger fans. The controls are simple and easy to pick up and the gameplay follows a very simplistic style. Older players who are looking for an in-depth turn-based game with hundreds of options are going to be disappointed, but the game is a good entry point for your younger player who doesn’t want to get too burdened with choice. So lets take a look at the different facets of this game.
The Levels
The graphics are very faithful to the cartoon, which is both good and bad. The cartoon had very simple 3D animation with smooth bots with minimal details and the environments they inhabited were even more so. The game reflects this and you work your way through environments such as identical looking towns, deserts and even Cybertron itself – none of which look particularly impressive.
Once again, the makers of the game had to stay true to the source material but when we were treated to such visual marvels back on the PS3 in Fall of Cybertron, its kind of disappointing for so little potential of the PS4 to be utilized here.
The Characters
The game contains a decent variety of characters from the show. In the main campaign you play as theAutobotsand take control of such characters asArcee, Windblade, Grimlock, Wheeljackand the obligatoryOptimusand Bumblebee. There are many opponents from theDecepticon cast of the show as well;Seekerssuch as Starscream, Slipstream, Acid Storm, ThundercrackerandThrust,as well as other characters such asDead End, Strika, MegatronandShockwavewith hisdrones. The Decepticon cast is also fleshed out by several characters that never appeared in the show but did in theGenerations toylinesuch asBattletrapandOffroad. Several of the Decepticon show characters are also playable in the Multiplayer mode so you get a chance to play both sides of the conflict.
The characters look faithful to the show, but once again the game designers have made little use of the PS4’s capabilities. Characters are very limited in their animations and any cutscenes simply show speech blocks at the bottom of the screen rather than bothering to make the actual characters lips move. They did get the voice actors from the show in which is a plus, but in some situations the characters say things that aren’t applicable. For instance, in ‘Capture the Flag’ the character with the flag often says ‘I’m damaged here!’ or ‘I’m leaking Energon!’ even if they haven’t sustained any damage. Also, in the main game lots of the female Seekers give distinctly masculine grunts. Rather than this being a gender-swapping scenario like Acid Stormin the cartoon, it comes across as simply lazy by the designers who didn’t bother to match up the voices to the characters correctly.
Gameplay
As mentioned the gameplay is very simplistic, with you herding your group of bots through different levels. Each character has different abilities which can be upgraded throughout the game. Each character gets three action tokens to use per round and these are used for either travel, attack or healing other bots. There is some strategy to this game, for instance using your scout characters to herd Cons towards your tank characters to get taken out, with healer characters ready to either snipe or heal as needed. But the depth is minimal and any experienced gamer will soon grow bored.
Multiplayer
Here is the main reason that I personally purchased the game, so that my son and I could sit on the couch next to each other and finally play a Transformers game together. Before this Transformer console games have either been single player or online coop, with no options to sit and play with your buddies. There are five different multiplayer options, some of which you can play as Cons, ranging from taking out as many enemies as possible in a limited number of turns, to games such as Capture the Flag. The latter was by far the most fun to play with my son as one of us would steal the flag while the other provided cover or heal. But, like the main game, the lack of depth was disappointing and despite my sons young age we both found ourselves growing bored.
Overall
While this game opens up a new style of gameplay for Transformer games, it’s simplicity is also its downfall. Lackluster graphics, overly-simplistic and repetitive gameplay and an uninspired storyline relegate this release to a niche that will only appeal to younger and less experienced gamers. For older gamers, and even younger gamers who have spent a lot of time with a controller in their hands, this game will become very dull very quickly and only appeal to the most die hard of Transformer fans.
Got a comment about this game? Pop it in the comments section below.
Well the Transformer Wrist-Rest Mouse Pads continue unabated. Having done the most popular and well known female Transformer characters such as Arcee, Black Arachnia, Elita-1 and Windblade, the makers are now moving on to the B-Listers of the femmebot world. And B is correct as while one of these characters is a Femmebot that has been around in the background for 35 years, another isn’t a Femmebot at all!
Moonracer and….. WTF?!
So lets have a look at Moonracer and, quite strangely the Cyber Bee Cosplayer.
Moonracer
A very feminine face and a head that is very indicative of both the original 1985 G1 character and the Generations Toy that came out in recent years. A good enough mouse pad, though the shadowing/lighting they have used for the art causes a faded line to cross the Autobot Symbol on her chest, detracting from the artwork somewhat.
‘I thought my chest plate was more pointy than round. But hey, at least I’m finally getting more merchandise!’
Cyber Bee
Human, Cyborg, Pretender, really good Cosplayer…. what is she?!
I mean, what is this supposed to be? The armour and colour scheme is obviously in homage to the Movieverse Bumblebee. But the face and chest are most definitely flesh. But then she has eyes that are either robotic or supernatural as they are a solid blue. So is this Bumblebee in semi-human form doing a gender swap? Is he donning a Pretender disguise like Alice in ROTF? Is it either a Cyborg or a Supernatural Girl dressed up as Bumblebee for Cosplay? I just don’t know! So I’ve gone with the rationale that she is a Cyborg (part robot part human) that is cosplaying as Bumblebee as, though that makes little sense, it seems to make more sense than any other explanation.
“I hate this weird depiction of me. Whaddya mean ‘thats not what my missile says’?”
So there we go, the latest in Transformers Wrist-Wrest Mouse Pads. Moonracer who is not too big of a surprise, and Cyber Bee, who is very surprising. It will be interesting to see who we get next.
Competition Update
For those of you that entered into the competition to win a Free Mouse Pad, take heart. Not a single person had either Moonracer or, unsurprisingly, Cyber Bee in their top 5 list. So all those who entered are still in the running!
The exclusives continue thick and fast in the Transformers: War for Cybertron: Siege toyline. In fact nearly 40% of this toyline is made up of figures you can only purchase in particular US stores or otherwise online.
Last time we looked at Greenlight, who was only available through the US Amazon Prime site. Today we are looking at some more Amazon exclusives, though thankfully you can get them through the AU store. Today we look at the Autobot Alphastrike Counterforce.
This pack is made up of three bots but four characters – Covert Clone Sideswipe, a new Battle Master character named Trenchfoot, and vehicle only characters Raindance and Grand Slam who combine into Slamdance.
Covert Clone Sideswipe
Robot Mode
‘Look, I’ve got the G1 symbol so that makes me G1, totally not G2, I swear!’
Yep – despite the name we all know from the colour scheme this is really G2 Sideswipe. Except the inversion of the red and black colours, this figure is exactly the same as the regular Sideswipe that came out in the main Siege toyline. At least with all the blaster adaptability you can beef up his weaponry – which consist of a Photo-Pulser Proton Launcher and a Gryo Blaster that can combine into a RR Gryofuse Axleswitch Hyper-Blaster – so he resembles more his more hardcore G2 incarnation.
Cybertronian Sports Car Mode
No sir, I don’t really like it. It’s not bad, but with all the red under the translucent dome the colour scheme really screams the Decepticons Wildrider or Runabout. Once again, adding lots of weapons is your friend here to give him that G2 Sideswipe feel.
Trenchfoot
Trenchfoot is a recolour of Decepticon Battle Master Caliburst and his colour scheme makes it clear he is more intended to be paired up with Sideswipe than Slamdance. I think he works really well in both modes, his gun apparently being a Foxhole Counterblast Cannon. Interestingly he is one of the very few completely original characters in the Siege toyline so far.
Fire!
Raindance & Grand Slam
A little history lesson. In 1988 G1 Blaster finally got a 3rd set of cassettes – Raindance and Grand Slam. What made these characters unique was that they had no robot or robotic animal modes whatsoever (until they combined) – they both turned from cassettes into vehicles.
Raindance
Here Raindance once again has no robot mode of his own, and not even a cassette mode! He is however a very cool looking blue earth jet, replacing his Cybertronian Jet-Drone mode.
Grand Slam
G1 Grand Slam turned from a cassette into a red Cybertronian Tank. Like Raindance he has also lost his cassette mode but turns into a pretty sweet red tank fairly reminicent of the original, sporting a big A2A Proton Missile Launcher on the front. Both Grand Slam and Raindance can sport each others weapons as well (Raindance’s being a Smokecloak Blaster)
Slamdance
Took over 3 decades but I’m back baby! I hope those 80’s dances are still popular!
As mentioned, the original G1 Raindance and Grand Slam toys could combine to finally give them a robot mode – Slamdance – and here he is once again. A slight retool of Siege Skytread but with a new head, he stands that slight bit taller than your average Deluxe figure. This is a great shout out to a pretty obscure character!
Beware the left ankle!
There have been many reports of people snapping the left ankle off their Slamdance! And indeed having this knowledge in advance I was very careful with mine and found that yes, his left ankle is very tight and stiff. However I found that giving the area a quick squirt with some spray lubricant like WD-40 and then leaving him for half an hour resulted in a much less stiff and more fluid movement in the part, so now I transform him without worry. I highly recommend doing the same when you first remove yours from the box.
Is this set worth getting?
Well there are no brand new moulds here. All 3 (or 4) moulds have already been released in the main Siege line so if you are looking for something new look elsewhere. That said, this has been the cheapest version of G2 Sideswipe we’ve had since the original, its the first time in over 30 years we’ve had a Slamdance figure and Trenchfoot is that rare thing becoming more elusive – a whole new character. The price is around $80(AU) online which really isn’t too bad for 2 Deluxe’s and a Battle Master so you can feel like you are getting decent value for money. This is really a take or leave exclusive which I primarily picked up for Slamdance, and I am quite happy I did.
Got anything to say about this set of figures? Pop it in the comments section below!
Several months ago I did a short video showcasing from my personal collection 100+ Generations Decepticons. Well now it is the Autobots turn. These figures are mainly of G1 characters who have received an update through toylines such as Thrilling 30, Combiner Wars, Legends, POTP and so on.
So enjoy this short video I made of the display. Also below you will find some screenshots and a full list of the Autobots onshow, along with links to reviews of many of the figures displayed here – have fun!
