Tag Archives: Bumblebee

Album Review – Cybertronic Spree: Transformers 1986

October 25, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Ok, c’mon Trev, be objective here…

Do not come across like a teenage girl at a ‘One Direction’ reunion concert screaming ‘Oh they are so dreamy! I want to have their babies!’

Be harsh mate, be scathing, pull apart song by song to find any fault so that you can give a frank assessment of this CD….

… fuck it, I can’t! Its just too good!

Ahem. I got my Cybertronic Spree CD this week. I kinda like it.

About the Band

For those that don’t know, Cybertronic Spree is a true fan success story. A bunch of singers and musicians came together about six or so years ago, dressed in awesome looking self-made Transformers costumes and sang songs from the Transformers 1986 movie.

It proved popular. Amongst us TF fans it proved really popular. So much so that they started getting gigs, appearing at various conventions and even earlier this year got their own IDW Comic Cover variant.

And so a Crowdfund Project is born!

So riding on the wave of that popularity they decided to Crowdfund a CD where they played 10 of the songs from the 86 movie. CD title appropriately ‘Transformers 1986‘.

The reaction was better than they could have hoped. It all sold out fast. I mean, really fast! So then they reopened the Crowdfund and then that all sold out.

So they now had the money and went to work recording their album. Digital copies to those who contributed to their Crowdfunding went out about a month ago.

As much as I would have loved getting a signed poster, my funds at the time meant I was only able to order the CD. And when it came to writing a review I wanted to review the CD, as I knew the digital copy I received would not do the music justice played over the shitty little speakers on my computer.

So having received the CD this week, I set up my sound system in the disused outdoor carport on the farm, where the acoustics are puzzingly good and I could crank the volume to max, pulled out a deck chair, cracked a beer and sit back to listen to the music.

It did not disappoint.

The Music

This is a fucking awesome CD! Damn they did a good job. Whilst this CD is primarily a Crowdfunded fan project, you can tell that these are all singers and musicians who know what they are doing and have a genuine love for the material.

As someone who has the soundtrack to the 86 movie and knows every song by heart, it was so cool to hear these songs faithfully redone but with the twist of having new musicians and, most importantly to differentiate them from the originals, new vocalists.

Damn Arcee has a set of pipes on her! Don’t get me wrong, Spike is a good backup vocalist and Hot Rod can sing his arse off, but Arcee has a voice that can pick you up and pound you flat with its power! I’ve always loved female vocalists who sound like they could kick my arse. I shudder to think of the poor singer inside the costume – how many TF Fanboys must there be out there she is currently starring in the fantasies of (my own efforts to get my good wife to dress as a Transformer have always met failure, as public record will testify). As all the original songs were sung by men, to have Arcee singing half the songs and providing backup vocals on many others gives the songs a new and unique twist, breathing new life to tunes you’ve been listening to for the past 33 years.

Full credit to the musicians too, The guitarists (Unicron & Hot Rod) provide those tasty big 80’s riffs big time and Rumble the Drummer pounds those skins like a true professional.

This CD hits all the right notes for me. The Touch gave me goosebumps, Dare gave me a nostalgic lump in my throat. I didn’t understand why they chose to have Hunger as the last track on the album until I heard the end. That massive instrumental finale right at the end of the song kicks so much arse you wanna put your fist through a wall, headbutt a tank and yell to the world that every other sci-fi genre sucks Quintesson Balls compared to ours!

So yes, I liked this CD.

Cybertronic Spree, all I can say to you is (cue eye-rolling song lyric references):

You’ve indeed got both the touch and the power

You’ve got the passion and the pride. It can’t be denied.

When it came to getting this CD made you let nothing stand in your way and us fans count ourselves among the fortunate ones.

And if you ever decide to tour internationally, I can guarantee you a sold out show in Sydney. The tendrils of Big Angry Trev will twist throughout the Aussie Fandom to hound TF geeks out of parents basements, comic stores and online chatrooms across the land to fill a venue in your honour (with extra security to keep the fanboys off Arcee).

All I ask in return is that you let me get on stage and do the ‘AAAAAAAA-AAAAA’ at the end of Instruments of Destruction 😉

Extra Merchandise

As I mentioned, I was only able to afford at the time the CD. However fellow Transformer Enthusiast and Skydiving Superstar Brendan was able to get some more of the merch.

Got something to add to this review? Pop it in the comments section below!

Related Articles:

*Album Review: Transformers Roll Out

*Album Review: Metal Resistance by Baby Metal

Random Rants, Transformatorium

Venue cancels Interactive Transformers Show at last minute

July 16, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Note: The following in an opinion piece based upon actual events. All images taken were posted publicly in a public forum.

When one is providing a service, whether it be performing a surgical operation or digging a ditch, it is incumbent upon one to take all necessary steps to make sure that the service is provided with the highest professionalism and standards. If the service involves services for children, then the pre-planning involved in order to provide that service is effectively delivered should be considered of even greater importance. One could assume that this kind of thinking pervades every right-minded person in society.

Well apparently not. Not when it comes to the Panthers Penrith Leagues Club anyway.

In what could only be described as a colossal cock-up, Panthers Penrith failed to deliver on a Transformers Interactive Stage-Show, disappointing hundreds of kids and their families who had paid substantial amounts months in advance to see the performance.

Their excuse – bad weather.

To clarify, this show was not outside, it was inside the venue in a theater. The reason the bad weather stopped the show was that the ‘artists’ (D-grade actors in Transformer costumes) were unable to fly in to perform due to grounded planes on Saturday morning.

‘Oh OK’ you might think “Well sometimes these things cannot be helped. It’s nobody’s fault’.

Only thing is, the bad weather had been forecast a week in advance, and in an extreme example of penny-pinching, Penrith Panthers had inexplicably still decided to try and fly the actors in that morning of the show rather than the night before, which would have resulted in them shelling out for a nights accommodation at their on-site hotel.

Of course, this meant that many families who had booked a hotel so they could bring their kids to the show, were now out of pocket for nothing.

For our family personally, this was all a gigantic disappointment! We had booked months in advance and even booked a hotel room. Then on the day driven 2 ½ hours over the Blue Mountains, only for the cancellation to be announced on social media a mere 90 minute before the show was due to start. My son, who loves Transformers almost as much as I do, was incredibly upset. All that build up and travelling just to have his show whisked away at the very last minute… it was probably the biggest disappointment he has experienced in his 6 years of life.

Panthers Penrith handling of the situation was deplorable, in fact one might say the term ‘bungling incompetence’ is an apt phrase to use. First they announced the 11am show was cancelled.

Then 2 hours later announced ALL shows were cancelled.

Then they rang some people to tell them of the cancellations, but certainly not all:

The outrage on Facebook was palpable:

While it was allowed to last:

In pure damage control, first Panthers Penrith kept going through their Facebook ‘All Shows Cancelled’ post and deleting every negative comment, which meant pretty much all of them. In fact when talking to Lisamaree the next day, she mentioned how surprised she was by all the positive ‘It’s not your fault, you guys are great’ comments. Panthers Penrith not only left all the positive comments up, but also rather startlingly all the troll comments that made fun of the upset parents.

By Monday, Panthers Penrith Leauges Club must have realized how suspicious that looked so simply started deleting everything anybody posted:

*Somewhat suspicious that the comments shrank from over 50 to 1*

So not only did Panthers Penrith disappoint a lot of families with their idiotic decisions, but even denied families the right to vent their very valid frustrations.

Thankfully here at bigangrytrev.com we engage in no such censorship, so granted Jason, another parent who was bringing his family, his chance to vent here:

When you recieved the call saying the show was cancelled, how did you feel?

‘Annoyed. Our eldest son had been looking forward to this for almost 2 months, we had accommodation booked, we were on our way out to Penrith and we find out that the actors didn’t have the forethought to look at a weather map in advance (or listen to the news) and realise that flying in on the morning of the shows was not a good idea.’

What were your children’s reactions when you told them the show was off?

‘Our youngest was ambivalent, mostly due to his age. Our eldest was upset, until we bribed him with playing at Timezone for a few hours instead.’

So yes, in all, one could say this was a complete cock-up. While even the angriest of parents (a group which included myself) agree that in no way did Panthers Penrith Leagues Club or the actors wish for this to happen, it is a situation that could have easily been avoided with even a modicum of forethought and preparation. The equipment was already at the venue and there wasn’t a show the previous few nights in Melbourne where the actors were flying from. So really, besides the Leagues Club saving a few bucks, there was no reason the actors could not have flown in earlier, especially with the bad weather known about so far in advance. Thus when Panthers Penrith gives their ‘it’s nobody’s fault’ speech, it doesn’t ring true, not one bit. Next time they make such a mistake they should own it. Admit ‘Yes we f*cked up – we are really sorry! We will try to make it up to you all!’. It would garner them a lot more respect than weaselly excuses and deleting negative facebook comments.

But personally I wont know next time it happens as I plan on never trying to attend a show at their venue again. Maybe they should just stick to being the overgrown pokies parlour that everyone considers them to be – because a kids entertainment venue they certainly are not.

Related Articles:

Betrayed by our Cricket Icons

Meet & Greet at the Collectormania Fair

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Rise of the Combiners Booster Packs. Review Part 1 – Transformers TCG

March 1, 2019 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Yes kids, the wait is over! For months now we have been seeing previews of both the new Hero Cards and Battle Cards for Wave 2 of Transformers: Trading Card Game, the wave entitled Rise of the Combiners. People have been anxiously awaiting to get thier hands on these cards to see if they are as good, or even better, than the excellent cards that were released in Wave 1 last year.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have been kind enough to send me a box of the new Booster Packs from Wave 2, in order to review in much the same way I did the Metroplex Pack last year and the Dirge Reveal several weeks ago. Once again, it must be stated that I have not been paid to do this review nor have either company tried to dictate the contents of this blog. www.bigangrytrev.com would like to thank both Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast for the opportunity to examine these cards.

Rise of the Combiners Booster Packs Box Big Angry Trev — Oh the sweet anticipation of opening!

Now, as you may have noticed from the title of this blog post, this is Part 1 of a review of these booster packs. Why am I doing it over more than one post? Because in recieving a box of the Booster Packs, each box holding 30 packs which in turn contain at least 8 cards, it means I now have over 200 cards on my billiard table (er… I mean gaming table) with at least a hundred of them different! That’s a LOT of cards to look at and a pretty big undertaking! So in Part 1 we will be examining Drop Rates, new types of cards, Combiners and new Hero & Battle Cards. In Part 2 we will look at how they perform in gameplay.

The Packs Themselves

Each Pack contains 7 Battle Cards and 1 Hero Card or 1 Pair of Combiner Character Cards. We will look at the likelihood of doubles near the end of this review.

The Cards Themselves

Note: At the end of each discussion of the new cards I will be popping in their Drop Rate. This is to signify how many times I was able to find these cards from the 30 packs contained within a single box of Booster Packs.

Combiner Cards

Whereas Hero Cards have the robot on the front and the alt-mode on the back, Combiner Character Cards come in pairs. On one card you will find the robot mode and the other the alt-mode. On the back of the cards you will find artwork to join together to make the Combiner itself.

There are 5 different Combiners to make from the Booster Packs: Volcanicus, Optimus Maximus, Predaking, Superion and Menasor.

I was lucky enough to find from the one box all 5 sets of Character Cards in order to make Menasor. I look forward to bringing you a review of just how he goes in actual gameplay. I was also able to form what could be termed a Mini-Combiner:

First revealed exclusively by Ozformers, this pair of Decepticons – Dreadwind and Blackwing (formerly Darkwing) combine to form the Dreadwing Sky Destroyer Jet. This was a smart move on the part of the game makers, as it means you have a greater likelihood of making a Combiner sooner rather than later since he only needs two Character Card pairs instead of 5 or 6.

Drop Rate: Both the side of the box and the official website say the drop rate for Combiner Character Cards is about 50%. When opening multiple packs I was pleasantly surprised to find, for me at least, it surpassed that promise. Out of the 30 packs I opened, 20 of them had Combiner Character Cards. So rather than a drop rate of 50% it was a drop rate of 66%. That’s great considering most Combiners are made up of 5 or 6 different characters you have to collect.

Hero Cards

As well as the Combiner Cards, we have the same sort of Hero Cards that were released in Wave 1. There are quite a few new characters getting a showing, and many of the most famous characters, such as Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream, have been released again but with new artwork and stats

I got a mix of characters I had other versions of from Wave 1 along with a good dose of new guys. I was particularly pleased I was able to get Dirge since www.bigangrytrev.com was given the exlusive reveal of Dirge earlier in the year. Some Character Cards have their special abilities blank, such as Novastar and Ruckus. I have yet to figure out exactly why this is and how it will affect their gameplay value.

Drop Rate: Those packs that don’t come with a Combiner Character come with a regular Hero Card. I found the drop rate to be one in every 3 packs, which doesn’t sound great but actually is if you are after the Combiners specifically, which I believe most players will be actively seeking.

Drop rates for Ultra Rare cards are described as 50:1. You’ll note I got a King Starscream which is indeed Ultra Rare. So I got one at a ratio of 30:1 but its entirely possible I could buy 20 more packs without finding another.

Battle Cards

Before we had Battle Cards that came in a few different colours based on their ability to attack and defend, with some cards overlapping. Rise of the Combiners see’s some new categories introduced.

Star Battle Cards

This cards are definitely going to be a game changer! Big time! Got a team which only uses up 22 or 23 or the 25 Star allowance. Well now there are Battle Cards that have stars! That means you can put them in as part of your team. Valued at 1 Star apiece, these are perfect for rounding up your team. I can see Bolt of Lightning being very useful but it’s Vandalize, where you can scrap all enemy Weapons, Armour or Utilities, that blows me away! I can’t think of many instances where that wont be invaluable!

Drop Rate: There are 7 Star Battle Cards, in 30 packs I obtained 6 of them.

Enigma Cards

So you have all your characters needed to create a Combiner. But you need one more thing – an Enigma Card. There is an Enigma Card for each Combiner. Being Green (discussed shortly), these cards can be rescued from the discard pile which saves a lot of heartache. The Enigma Card is used to make your Combiner Character cards join together, even if some of those characters have been previously KO’ed.

Drop Rate: In 30 packs I was able to get all 5 Enigma’s as well as a couple of spares.

Team Specific Cards

There are specific cards that you can use with each team but no others. They can be placed on only one member of this team. I have yet to see if they can be retroactive – for instance I have a Dinobot Swoop card from Wave 1, but it does not make up the Volcanicus Team. Can I use my Electrified Spikes card on that old Swoop since he is a Dinobot and the card talks about Dinobots, not Volcanicus? Stay tuned for future reviews to find out!

Drop Rate: I was able to find cards for four of the five teams within 30 packs.

Green Battle Cards

If you get a Green Battle Card, it means that you are able to retrieve it from the discard pile. You can only do this with one card per turn. Whilst this sounds good but not game changing, it can be of extreme importance given what some of these cards (such as the Enigma’s) do.

Regular Battle Cards

We have a slew of new Battle Cards in already established catagories, so many it would take too long to list them all. Some of them we have already seen in exclusive reveals, such as those made by Lisamaree on the Life with SPROGS site, like Inferno Breath and Surprise Attack. I was a little disappointed to not get a Defensive Driving card but don’t believe it will take me long to obtain one.

Drop Rate: Well you are guaranteed 7 Battle Cards per pack. I was very heartened that I never got the same two cards in the same pack.

So there ya go, a not-so-short synopsis of the new cards on offer from the Wave 2 Transformers Trading Card Game Rise of the Combiner Booster Packs. I was very pleasantly surprised that I only got two doubles of characters (Dead End and Mirage) out of the 30 packs, which made this undertaking even bigger! Stay tuned for Part 2, where we test these bad bots (now available in selected stores) out with some serious gameplay!

Related Articles:

ROTC Booster Packs. Part 2 – Gameplay

Exclusive Cards Reveal: Dirge & Defensive Driving

Metroplex Pack: Transformers TCG

Transformatorium, Videos

Video – My 150+ Generations Autobots

January 25, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

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!

Air Raid, Afterbreaker, Afterburner, Alpha Bravo, Alpha Trion, Arcee

Beachcomber, Blades, Blaster, Blurr, Brainstorm, Brawn, Broadside, Bumblebee

Caliburst, Cerebros, Chromedome, Chromia, Circut, Cliffjumper, Cludburst, Cloudraker, Computron, Cosmos, Crosscut

Depthcharge, Dustup

Eject, Elita-1

Fastlane, Firefly, First Aid, Fisitron, Flak, Fortress Maximus

Gears, Getaway, Groove, Godbomber, Grappel, Grimlock

Hardhead, Highbrow, Hoist, Holepunch, Hot Rod, Hot Spot, Hound, Huffer

Impactor, Inferno, Ironhide

Jackpot, Jazz, Jumpstream, Junkheap

Kup

Landmine, Lightspeed, Lightsteed, Lio Convoy

Metalhawk, Metroplex, Mirage, Moonracer

Nightbeat, Nosecone, Nova Prime, Novastar

Omega Supreme, Optimal Optimus, Optimus Prime, Orion Pax, Outback, Override

Perceptor, Pipes, Powerglide, Prowl, Ptero, Punch, Pyra Magma,

Ramhorn, Ratchet, Red Alert, Rewind, Roadbuster, Roadhandler, Rodimus Prime, Rook

Sandstorm, Sawback, Scattershot, Scoop, Scrounge, Seaspray, Sentinel Prime, Shuffler, Sideswipe, Silverstreak, Silverbolt, Skids, Sky Lynx, Skyburst, Skydive, Slash, Slingshot, Sludge, Slug, Smokescreen, Snarl, Springer, Steeljaw, Stripes, Stormclash, Strafe, Streetwise, Sundor, Sunstreaker, Super Ginrai, Superion, Swerve, Swindler, Swoop

Tailgate, Tracks, Trailbreaker, Topshot, Topspin, Twin Twist, Twinferno

Ultra Magnus

Victorion

Warpath, Wheelie, Wheeljack, Whirl, Windcharger, Wreck-Gar

Related Video

My 100+ Generations Decepticons

Random Reviews, Transformatorium

Movie Review – Bumblebee

December 23, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Over the past 5 live-action Transformer movies we’ve come to expect certain things. From the humans: wacky, half-psychotic characters and overly-sexualized stereotypes. From the robots: zero characterization and dialogue, overly-complex bodies and fight scenes one has no hope of following. Throw in a few convoluted plots and some smutty humour and badda-bing badda-boom, another TF movie pumped out by Hollywood.

However Transformers 6 – Bumblebee, seems to be something different. Something GOOD!

What a delightful breath of fresh air this movie is! It contains none of the issues listed above, and replaces them with relatable characters, great dialogue and a lot of heart!

The Plot (yes, there is one this time!)

The Bumblebee movie is actually a prequel to the last 5 movies, set in 1987. Bumblebee comes to Earth, after a 10 minute opening scene which will have every G1 fan looking for the tissues for their eye ducts (and possibly elsewhere) due to the amount of fan service contained within. The first 10 minutes is based on Cybertron and showcases G1 characters actually looking like G1 characters, still in their Cybertronian modes having a huge battle! They are all there – Soundwave, Shockwave & The Seekers all blasting away at the likes of Wheeljack, Arcee, Brawn, Ratchet and so on. Seeing the battle will be lost, Optimus Prime orders the Autobots to evacuate Cybertron and sends B-127 to prepare a base for them on the aforementioned Earth.

Arriving on Earth, B-127 is almost immediately attacked by the US Army (their involvement one thing that has not changed) and then near killed by Blitzwing, the only character in the movie bearing no resemblance to his G1 incarnation (besides having a jet mode). B-127 loses his voice, loses his memory, and manages to scan a Volkswagen Beetle before going dormant.

We now get introduced to the heroine of the story – Charlie. Just turned 18. But unlike Sam Witwicky she doesn’t seem like a nutjob. And unlike every female character before her, she seems to dress in a way that doesn’t border on the pornographic. In fact, Charlie turns out to be a very endearing character that the viewer comes to care about. This was a very smart move on the part of the new writers and directors, going with a female-teen instead of a male and keeping sexuality completely out of it. It stops them retracing old ground from the TF1 and good on them. In fact all the humans are fairly likeable and all seem to serve a purpose to the plot, rather than being thrown in for the sake of it.

You know what? It IS as sweet as this pic suggests!

At the same time this is happening, the only two completely new robot characters in the movie – the Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick make an appearance. In fact starting off by torturing Cliffjumper on one of Saturn’s moons looking for B-127. They soon find their way to Earth, adopt car alt-modes, (and later secondary flight alt-modes) and search for the missing Autobot in order to find Optimus. They trick the human army into letting them use their equipment and the race is on!

From there it could be said to be the usual. Charlie reactivates B-127, freaks out, he freaks out, they bond, they have some loveable adventures, they get found by the military, he saves her, she saves him, he saves her again, they get found by the Cons, have a huge fight and then save the day. It’s kinda predictable but is an enjoyable ride and very entertaining to watch.

Continuity Errors

Being a prequel, this movie should match up with the previous 5 and set the stage for TF1. It doesn’t. There are multiple continuity errors brought up in this, such as Bumblebee only arriving in 1987 when yet in The Last Knight he was shown to be present during WWII. Optimus arrives on Earth that same year rather than in 2007. The Transformers know English rather than learning it from the world wide web. There are many more but you get the drift. To be honest, this really should have been a reboot rather than a prequel, as this is far better than anything that has come before and I’d rather have the new ideas than the old.

G1 Goodness!

What?! Arcee isn’t a motorcycle that goes around on one wheel and has a face like a smashed in colander?!

For your G1 fans, this is the movie you always wanted. Bumblebee is a VW Bug. Optimus is a short-nosed truck with a big silver trailer. The Seekers on Cybertron are Tetrajets. Everyone looks like everyone hoped they would all the way back in 2007. There are plenty of Easter Eggs, it brought joy to my heart to see my son whoop with joy when Bee started playing ‘You’ve got the Touch’ when encouraging Charlie to dive. It’s… it’s just beautiful!

A PG Rating

Another smart move made by the makers of this film is making it PG rated. A lot of the adult Transformer fans have become pretty jaded from the last four films in particular, so this enabled the producers to open this flick up to a younger audience untarnished by Michael Bay scrotum jokes. And it’s worked. My son turned 6 three days before TF6 was released, so it was perfect to take him and his friends to. And they loved it! Some kids that age might find a few things scary, but most will enjoy it. No blood from the 2 humans that get killed, minimal swearing, zero sexuality. It was a smart way to go.

So worth watching?

Yes. YES. A thousand times yes! This is the movie we hoped for many years ago! So much heart and character and humour and joy! Great for kids, amazing for G1 fans; the only ones disappointed will be those in love with the Bayverse and those folk are hard to find these days. Take the whole family out to see this, you will not be sorry!

Got something to add? Pop it in the comments section below!

Related Articles:

Movie Review – The Last Knight

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Review – Metroplex Pack: Transformers TCG

November 9, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

A few months ago the Transformers: Trading Card Game was released. Much like Magic: The Gathering, this game focuses on using different characters whom you instil with different defences, attacks and upgrades, to take out the opposing team, all whilst taking advantage of their own unique abilities.

Now, not long after it’s release, we have the first committed deck since the Starter Pack – the Metroplex Deck. Due for international release on November 16^th, this deck appears to offer a whole new element to what is quickly becoming a popular and addictive game.

Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have been kind enough to send me for free both the Starter Pack as well as the new Metroplex Deck so as to do a review on this blog. It should be noted that I have received no financial remuneration to write this, nor have either company tried to dictate the content of my review. So I’d like to thank Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro for their generosity.

Luckily for them, I’m pretty taken with these packs so their generosity might just get rewarded through subsequent honesty.

This review is focused primarily on the Metroplex Deck, and in writing this I make the assumption that in reading it you are already familiar with Transformers: TCG and the various gameplay strategies it entails. If not then by all means check out the official website to see how the game works, then come back to get all the new extra information here.

The Metroplex Deck offers the following:

*1 Titan Character Card: METROPLEX

*3 Character Cards: SCAMPER, SIX-GUN and SLAMMER

*Ready to play Battle Deck of 40 Cards

New Characters

Now the first thing you will notice is the Metroplex Card. It is HUGE! 19.5cm x 14cm. Like the Transformers character it is based on, it dwarfs the regular character cards. And so do some of his stats:

Robot Mode – 6 Attack, 35 Health, 1 Defense

City mode – 4 Attack, 35 Health, 2 Defence

Now these Attack and Defence stats are pretty common but his Health is MASSIVE! The most a character has had up to this date has been 21 with Cosmos, and Metroplex outshines him by a full 14 points!

The other is his Stars. Each team can have a total of 25 Stars spread over their character cards, which usually dictates a team of 2 to 4 characters. However Metroplex has 25 on his own! This makes him a team unto himself. A team of one… or so it would seem.

Anyone familiar with the G1 cartoon and toy representations of Metroplex will remember he had 3 sidekicks. First Scamper who turned into a Cybertronian Battle Car, Six-Gun who would disassemble his robot form into Weapons useable by Metroplex, and Slammer who was a drone tank. All three are represented here. And all three are subordinate to Metroplex in a way we will examine shortly. However before doing so it is worth noting that these characters are useable in regular teams. With their relatively low 4 Star ratings, if you have a team made of 21 Stars, one of these guys is perfect to round up the numbers.

Character Abilities

Metroplex differs from other character cards in many respects, and not just by his size. Hidden underneath Metroplex are the three sidekick cards. Whenever you flip your Metroplex card from Robot to City side, he is able to deploy one of these characters. This makes flipping every opportunity you get essential, as you need to get him to robot mode and back again in order to deploy another character. This in of itself is perhaps more important than the almost inconsequential differences between the Attack and Defence stats of his two modes.

Each sidekick has different abilities. Slammer for instance, being a drone, has no robot mode and will deal out 1 Attack Damage to every enemy bot when first released. This makes him a favourite to bring out first in order to hurt as many enemy bots as possible before you KO any of them.

Scamper and Six-Gun’s various abilities rely on Metroplex still being on the board as they mainly power up his abilities. Whilst this makes them a boon to your main Metroplex card, it lessens their value considerably when being used in a team which does not contain the Titan.

Dedicated Battle Deck Cards

The Metroplex Deck is designed to be used by a single player against an opponent. As such it has dedicated cards that are of no use in a regular deck, but are very advantageous when using with this dedicated team.

Rally The City allows an extra card per character you have out (if you still have Metro on the board).

Height Advantage gives Bold 4 so when you use Metroplex to attack you get to flip 4 extra cards.

Protected by Metroplex means that you can transfer any damage being inflicted on your sidekick characters to Metroplex instead. Out of the three cards I found this one to be the most useful. Given Metroplex’s huge Health and the extremely poor Health of his Sidekicks (all pretty easy to knock out in a single round) it helps to keep these little guys on the playing field for an extra turn or two.

In Gameplay

I wont go into all the technicalities and ins and outs of using this deck against an opponent as there are just too many scenario’s to cover. However I can point out some trends I found when pitting the Metroplex Deck against a team made up of the Starter Pack:

*When playing the Basic Game (not using special abilities etc) which I played with my 5 year old son, the advantage tends to lean slightly in favour of Metroplex, even without his ability to deploy the smaller bots. His Health is just so massive, and combined with a 6 Attack Rating in robot mode, means you are able to withstand the onslaught he receives from being the only target on the board as you KO your opponent’s cards one by one. He is by no means invincible, but he is definitely hard to beat.

*When playing the Advanced Game which I played with a bunch of my nerd peers, surprisingly the advantage tends to lean slightly towards the opponent, even with you being able to deploy Scamper, Slammer and Six-Gun. Your opponent using the Special Abilities of cards means that your three smaller bots are often KO’ed as soon as they hit the board, with only a Protected by Metroplex card having a hope of saving them. You may find that your opponent often uses this strategy, going after the little guys as soon as they are able before focusing back on the big guy.

Also with more bots being on the opposing team, the opposition has the chance to have more Upgrade, Attack and Defence boosts in play as well as having a greater range of opportunities to use their characters synergistically with each other. Once again, it is by no means impossible to defeat your opponent, but it can be a hard road with a bit of luck required to take the win.

So is this Pack worth buying?

If you are a Transformers: TCG player then it is a most definite yes! The introduction of a Titan Card adds a whole new element of gameplay, and the pack comes with 4 characters and three action cards that you cannot purchase anywhere else. It would have been nice to see Trypticon released first (as I’m sure he eventually will be) as it means the two dedicated packs released thus far have all Autobots in them (the Starter Pack containing Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Red Alert and Ironhide). Part of the fun of anything remotely Transformers is pitting Autobot against Decepticon and I actually went out and purchased some Booster Packs just so I could play out some of these scenarios (luckily for me I scored both Starscream and Megatron). I would also have liked to see Scamper and Six-Gun have at least one inherent ability each which would be useful within a regular team that does not involve Metroplex, giving these characters more scope for play.

However despite the onus still being on the Autobot side, this pack is definitely worth picking up. I look forward to its general release in a week in the hopes one of my friends picks one up so that I can battle Metroplex Deck against Metroplex Deck – now that truly will be a clash of the titans!

Got anything to say about this Expansion Pack? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Game App Review – Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive

October 2, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

There have been a ton of Transformer gaming apps in recent years on both Android and iPhone; a few have retired and several are still chugging along. In anticipation of the new Bumblebee Movie coming out later this year, we have a new game (currently only available through Apple) based on everyone’s favorite little yellow bot in Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive.

Pretty much every app has been based on either the Movieverse or Generation 1. This is most definitely G1 with a bit of Generations thrown in. And like G1, this game is 80’s arcade all the way baby!

You start the game as Bumblebee and work your way through 4 main stages over and over, gathering crystals and coins in order to unlock new characters. Once you reach a certain points level, you then take on a boss character, the defeat of which will unlock new weapons and bonuses within game.

The four main stages consist of Highway, Canyon, another Canyon and Decepticon bases.

Highway

Lots of innofensive traffic which you need to dodge, the only real enemy you encounter and flying Decepticon Drones that fire off missiles, one hit of which can kill. It is during these highway drives that you can try to earn bonuses from completing events, such as destroying a certain amount of Phone Booths or Fire Hydrants.

Canyon – style 1.

*Who takes a sports car that expensive offroading?*

Lots of swerving required here. Surprise spike pits pop up, silver mines are laid about, more flying Missile Drones and as you progress Laser Cannons. Ironically the main thing you need to avoid are rock columns, crashing into one kills you instantly.

Canyon – style 2.

Nothing to crash into here, but you are being pursued! Here we get some G1 goodness with you being chased by Stunticons Dead End & Breakdown as well as other G1 Cons Ruckus and Ground Hog. There is also the Stunticon Offroad from Combiner Wars and Slice(r) from Timelines thrown in. Taking out these other cars is probably the easiest of the levels, though as it gets harder sometimes you find ones parked in your way as you fight the others.

Decepticon Bases

Here is the only part of the game where you get to fight as robot mode and a plethora of different dangers get in your way. Laser Canons in different configurations, barriers both physical and electric and purple flying Conheads who resemble the same ones found in Transformers: Devestation. These levels are also the ones were you get to test out the different weapons you have unlocked by defeating bosses, in particular I like the laser beam you get for defeating Acid Storm.

Bosses

Nearly all G1 based (apart from Generations Battleslash) and they are a lot of fun! You only get to fight these when you have reached a certain amount of points. In the classic 80’s arcade style, these bosses throw different energy weapon patterns at you and as long as you avoid the obvious patterns the bosses are easy to defeat. Quite an enjoyable part of the game, it’s a shame that they come along so rarely.

Character Unlocks

You start as Bumblebee and, much like any toy isle you go down, the easiest other character to get is another version of Bumblebee, this one resembling in part his look from TF: AOE. The other characters to get at this stage are Sideswipe, Arcee and Optimus – Optimus requiring a whopping 500 crystals! When you obtain a character you use your coins to increase their armor and firepower, then use crystals to ungrade them to the next level to start all over again. I just got Arcee this morning and she is quite fun in robot mode since she has two guns, which means double the firepower when you use the upgrades like lasers and homing missiles.

*‘Freedom is the right of all sentient beings – as long as they pay through the nose with crystally goodness’*

In-Game Purchases

*Guess the game companies need to make their money somehow*

What app doesn’t have these. Personally I’d never buy even the cheap ones but maybe there is someone out there willing to spend over a hundred bucks on the big pack.

Is the game worth playing?

In short doses yes. It’s lots of fun! In big doses no. Your finger gets tired after a while and to be honest when I was most of the way to the points total for Battleslash I was hoping I would crash as I had had my fill. Also despite the minor variations you get each run through, having only 4 stages to work through over and over again gets understandingly repetitive.

Will I still be playing this game in a months time?

I doubt it. I’ll unlocked Arcee a few hours ago but no way could I be bothered saving enough crystals for Optimus. Also as mentioned before, the amount of points you need to gain increases exponentially to reach bosses. The first three (Tracer, Quake and Acid Storm) are not too onerous but then suddenly you find Battlelslash to be a whopping 256,000 points and that takes forever to reach.

So should you download it?

If you are a TF fan sure, why not! It’s a bit of cheesy 80’s arcade fun but it really doesn’t have anything to keep you there for the long haul.

Got something to say about this App? Put it in the comments section below!

Random Reviews, Transformatorium

Movie Review – Transformers: The Last Knight

June 21, 2017 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Here we are – the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers movie franchise.

These movies have caused a lot of debate over the years. Many of the critics and your more traditional Transformer fans have hated them – citing such things as poor plots, juvenile jokes and lack of characterization. However the general public has loved them – all four previous movies still remaining in the top 100 highest grossing movies of all time.

So will Transformers: The Last Knight fare any better than the previous four with the die-hards? Let’s find out!

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT! This is a movie review – so if you haven’t seen the flick yet and don’t want to know what happens, read no further (but please do come back after watching I implore you).

This movie picks up not long after the events of Transformers 4, and unlike that movie brings back a lot of what happened in Transformers 3 as well. The Transformers are still all hated and hunted by the human governments, yet they keep arriving. Most of the Autobots are living in a junkyard which they periodically leave as they try to find more of their lost brethren with the help of Cade. Megatron (Galvatron being just a phase he was going through) is enacting plans with the help of his henchman Barricade and Optimus Prime is off in space trying to find the creators of his race so he can put the smack down. Oh, and the new plot has flashbacks of Merlin dealing with a bunch of Cybertronian knights that can combine into a 3-headed space dragon – now there is a twist that not a lot of movies can boast eh!

The first half of this movie advances these plot lines. Megatron does a hostage swap of some humans in order to get some of his captured crew back from the military. Cade and the Autobots hiding out unwillingly adopt a 14 year old orphan girl and Optimus lands on Cybertron to meet Quintessa, his creator. Soon conflict (and Bayesque explosions) come into play. Megatron (tracked by the military) finds the Autobots and has a scrap, most of his henchmen we had only just met being killed in the process. Quintessa brainwashes Optimus into becoming Nemesis Prime and sets the broken planet of Cybertron (which got royally f’ed up at the end of TF3 by a spacebridge explosion) on a course to Earth to siphon its energy to make the metallic husk pull itself back together. We also get introduced to two new plot lines: The first is that Anthony Hopkins rocks and has a bunch of old Autobots at his disposal (including a quite psychotic character named Cogman) and is trying to figure out the whole Merlin angle. The second is that, like the TFPrime cartoon, Earth actually is Unicron and he is extending his horns out through various parts of the planet!

Phew – that’s a lot going on eh?

To prevent this they…..

…you know what, bugger it – if I list the 8 millions plot twists this review is going to become a novel! Chances are if you are reading this you have seen the movie and know what happens! So how about I save us all a bit of time and go on a few pro’s and cons eh?

PRO’S

*Lots of explosions

*Tons of action

*Nice boobs for the boys, nice ab’s for the girls

*Anthony Hopkins was awesome

*Cogman was funny

*A good variety of different robots

*Great fight scenes

*Expanded the movie lore

*Genuinely funny moments

*At least some characterization of Decepticons

*The action was not too close up and frenzied so you could actually tell what was going on most of the time

*Cullen and Welker reprised their roles as Optimus and Megatron respectively

*A Transformer clock killed Hitler

*Autobots, Decepticons, Quintessons, Combiners, Cybertron and Unicron!

CON’S (no, not those Cons)

*Bumblebee coming apart and coming back together contradicted a lot of TF deaths from the previous movies

*So many Transformers didn’t actually transform! Grimlock, ~~Slag~~ Slug, the baby Dino’s, Cogman, Wheelie, Sqweeks, whoever the female submarine was etc. It was like reading an IDW comic!

*A lot of the Transformers that did transform never did it on screen, such as Optimus himself.

*Contradictions in plot

*Too much human focus

*Hot Rod is french?!

So overall, is this movie worth watching? Well I’d have to say yes. All the people that complain about the Transformer movies would do well to remember that these flicks are based on a cartoon from the 80’s about shape-changing alien robots fighting a civil war. It’s not supposed to move you and make you cry – it’s supposed to entertain you! In that regard Transformers: The Last Knight certainly delivers the goods! It (like all the others) is a long movie but I can’t say there was any point where I was bored and frankly I found the whole movie quite fun! It’s not a movie you are supposed to take too seriously and I think some of the critics and die-hard fans need to remember that sometimes. Overall I’d say that this was not as good as TF1, about on par or slightly better than 3 & 4 and much better than 2. I had a great time watching it with a half dozen mates and I can’t wait to see what happens with the Unicron angle in number 6!

This movie gets 4 out of 5 energon cubes.

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

Big Angry Trev!

Tag Archives: Bumblebee

Album Review – Cybertronic Spree: Transformers 1986

Venue cancels Interactive Transformers Show at last minute

Rise of the Combiners Booster Packs. Review Part 1 – Transformers TCG

Video – My 150+ Generations Autobots

Movie Review – Bumblebee

Review – Metroplex Pack: Transformers TCG

Game App Review – Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive

Movie Review – Transformers: The Last Knight

Join the Trevolution!