POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

[Skyquake87]

MP G2 Bumble
Courtesy of Knightdramon. He's cool. I like him. VW mode is awesome, love it! And nice and shiny like a Ferrero Rocher. Or a bauble. Faceplate is the way to go for me, as I can't stand his weird chubby 'toon face. Plus, it makes 'bee look a little more tougher, like his original toy. Backpack is alright, and a sort of 'if you must' inclusion. As this is Generation 2, shurely BFGs would be more appropriate...? The Classics toy from '06 still does a better job, transformation wise (which feels very much like a template for this version). I appreciate the front wheels tucking up under the feet, but everything else feels like its trying to justify the MP price point and is a bit too fiddly for its own good. Overall though, a sterling effort. Might have to get an MP G2 Sideswipe to keep him company though...

[Thunderwave]

I envy you that. There's such a big price difference between Canadian retailers and ordering from Japan that it doesn't make any sense to buy any Takara stuff locally. With Shockwave it's about a $35 difference, or about what I'll pay if I get hit with customs fees (which only seems to happen once every couple years). With smaller stuff like an MP car, I'd literally be paying double if I bought from a local seller.

When I hear about you guys up north talking about insane importing costs I wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper for you if I picked it up here in the US, drove it across the border into Canada, and posted it to you from there. It wouldn't even really be out of my way any either. Might take a little longer though.

[Sades]

When I hear about you guys up north talking about insane importing costs I wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper for you if I picked it up here in the US, drove it across the border into Canada, and posted it to you from there. It wouldn't even really be out of my way any either. Might take a little longer though.

Yeahhh, our very own Transformers mule! We shall pay you in maple syrup and beaver pelts.

[Warcry]

Faceplate is the way to go for me, as I can't stand his weird chubby 'toon face. Plus, it makes 'bee look a little more tougher, like his original toy.

Yeah, mine's been faceplated since he arrived. I don't know if I even took the cartoon faces out of the box. They look okay on the bright yellow G1 toy, but for my money they don't work at all here.

As this is Generation 2, shurely BFGs would be more appropriate...?

Did G2 Bumblebee actually get to carry around any absurdly huge 90s weapons in the comics? Sideswipe's were based on the ones he was lugging around in issue #1, but I can't imagine them just making something up for Bumblebee. Especially since he looked nothing like this in the comics anyway.

Though just in general, I wish these guys came with way, way more guns and accessories than they actually do. It's outright silly that the other two Bumblebees don't come with the toy face, and almost as silly that they only have the one tiny, cartoon-sourced gun. If the figures were as premium as the price tag implies he'd also have come with the Pretender and Actionmaster guns, his heli-pack, stuff like that.

Might have to get an MP G2 Sideswipe to keep him company though...

G2 Sideswipe is fantastic and I'd highly recommend him. But just like Bumblebee the accessories are a bit of a frustration. In particular, they included a sticker sheet so that you could choose whether to make the figure comic-accurate or toy-accurate, but didn't give him toy-accurate weapons. It's cool that they made the G2 guns, but they look a little goofy in person and it's a shame he doesn't have the option to tote around a regular rifle.

When I hear about you guys up north talking about insane importing costs I wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper for you if I picked it up here in the US, drove it across the border into Canada, and posted it to you from there. It wouldn't even really be out of my way any either. Might take a little longer though.

A couple years ago, you'd be right on the money. In fact, up until 2014 I used to import most of my toys from US sellers like BBTS, and even with shipping and import fees I was coming out ahead. But a couple years ago our previous government thought it'd be a great idea to hamstring the entire population's purchasing power by tanking the loonie at the behest of their oil company masters, and that's kind of put a damper on buying things from the US.

[Ryan F]

Here's the latest addition to my collection: Combiner Wars Flash Sentry!

[Skyquake87]

What is that? It looks like one of those '80s Ever Ready 'pocket' torches

[Clay]

Though just in general, I wish these guys came with way, way more guns and accessories than they actually do. It's outright silly that the other two Bumblebees don't come with the toy face, and almost as silly that they only have the one tiny, cartoon-sourced gun. If the figures were as premium as the price tag implies he'd also have come with the Pretender and Actionmaster guns, his heli-pack, stuff like that.

Yep. In cases like Red Alert, who has a differently colored head depending on whether you're talking about the toy or the cartoon, I see no reason why it shouldn't just come with an extra head in the other color so you have the option. The upcoming Ratchet has the same problem. I think it looks fine, but I'd prefer him to have a red head from when he was a proper character and not a smiling zombie. I'm sure that difference alone will be reserved for a separate release six months later.

I'm sure it can be thought of as more choice for we the consumers, but it's done in just about the most exploitative way possible.

[Thunderwave]

Yeahhh, our very own Transformers mule! We shall pay you in maple syrup and beaver pelts.

I LARP and I do enjoy a good breakfast, so those would be acceptable. Also I buy foam swords from a pair of makers in Canada who have storefronts near the border, which is why I make the trip every so often and even can.

[Warcry]

Yep. In cases like Red Alert, who has a differently colored head depending on whether you're talking about the toy or the cartoon, I see no reason why it shouldn't just come with an extra head in the other color so you have the option. The upcoming Ratchet has the same problem. I think it looks fine, but I'd prefer him to have a red head from when he was a proper character and not a smiling zombie. I'm sure that difference alone will be reserved for a separate release six months later.

I'm sure it can be thought of as more choice for we the consumers, but it's done in just about the most exploitative way possible.

I suppose it depends on how different the two versions are. In Red Alert's case, it'd be cool to toss in a black head, though the Clampdown they did as a straight Red Alert redeco tells me that the extra head would need to be Sideswipe's, at the very least. But to be fully toy-accurate you'd also want chromed forearms and feet as well, and if you're doing that you probably want to give people the option of using Sideswipe's shoulders so they look as similar as their original toys did (TBH Red's shoulder wheels really should have been separate clip-on pieces like G2 Sideswipe's). At which point there's half an extra toy in the box, and I think they'd be perfectly justified in making a separate release out of it. There's a lot fewer differences between cartoon and comic Ratchet though (just the helmet and the colour of the crotch piece) and considering all the accessories that Ironhide came with I don't think it's too far out to expect alternates of those in the same package. Especially since at least some folks (including me) would ideally like the cartoon crotch and the comic head on the same figure to give it a bit of colour!

(As an aside, it's amazing how much better the toy looks with Ratchet's new crotch replacing the silly one Ironhide had.)

But when it comes to accessories, especially accessories that already exist and shipped with other toys, it's just ridiculous to make them exclusives or cut them out of subsequent releases entirely. There's no good reason for Prowl and the basic Bluestreak to not have their big shoulder guns, for G2 Sideswipe to not have his toy rifle, or for them to not even make the toy face for RedBee (this one's especially egregious since the only time a Red Bumblebee even existed was in toy form). It's not like a couple extra simple molded chunks of plastic are going to add more than a few cents to the cost of producing the thing...

I LARP and I do enjoy a good breakfast, so those would be acceptable.

So you're going to wear the syrup and eat the pelts?

[Brendocon 2.0]

But when it comes to accessories, especially accessories that already exist and shipped with other toys, it's just ridiculous to make them exclusives or cut them out of subsequent releases entirely. There's no good reason for Prowl and the basic Bluestreak to not have their big shoulder guns, for G2 Sideswipe to not have his toy rifle, or for them to not even make the toy face for RedBee (this one's especially egregious since the only time a Red Bumblebee even existed was in toy form). It's not like a couple extra simple molded chunks of plastic are going to add more than a few cents to the cost of producing the thing...

Of course the main issue I have with the anime Red Alert is the "alarm" ear accessories being still included but recast in a colour that they most distinctly weren't in the cartoon. Whassupwithat.

[Knightdramon]

He's here.

He's finally here.

He's f*cking finally here.

Wait, no, not Shockwave. I had to pay customs for Shockwave.

Not, not him.

[inflatable dalek]

In terms of rarity this is second only to the original comic art I own, it's a bit battered but I now own Eugenesis!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 9271530496

Yeah, the ebook version should be enough, but as an historical artefact in and of itself it's pretty interesting.

[Brendocon 2.0]

In terms of rarity this is second only to the original comic art I own, it's a bit battered but I now own Eugenesis!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 9271530496

Yeah, the ebook version should be enough, but as an historical artefact in and of itself it's pretty interesting.

£100. FFS.

Fun story: when I bought mine I wasn't sure how much it cost, so did the thing where I just held out a £20 note. The response of the person handing the books out was to ask me if I wanted two.

I said no.

Past Brend had a mare that day.

[Knightdramon]

Short version on this thread...

MMC Seraphicus Prominion [aka Nova Prime]: Typical MMC product. Sharp sculpt, good heft, very good build quality, paint is nice wherever used.

This one relies on a combination of paint, sculpt and clear plastic used throughout to define the finer details and add up to the overall sculpt, and it works amazingly.

Transformation to truck mode is very, very MMC-ish; few awkward movements, few easy, a few places where you feel you will break the plastic. I had trouble and watched the official MMC video for guidance, especially on the final locking bits.

Armoury/combined mode is cool, but do memorize where each bit goes when you're taking them off the armoury. I love how the booklet completely ignores two parts that beef up his forearms.

Combined mode is far, far more stable than I thought. Nothing rattles or flies off when you move him. Helmet is a bit silly as you have to take it apart and re-attach at the head. Wings are very impressive and very similar to Talon's, design-wise. Sadly no ratchets on them.

Mine has difficulty holding the swords on the smaller bot's hands, as if the hilts are too large to fit in the grooves.

Overall good figure.

[inflatable dalek]

£100. FFS.

That's actually a bargain in Eugenesis Price Terms these days (yes, I know. But it keeps me happy and means I spend less money on hookers and cocaine).

Considering self publishing is so much easier these days and presuming he's presumably still got the files needed, if I were James I'd be creating a new copy every month or so and selling it through shell accounts as an original. The money would roll in.

Fun story: when I bought mine I wasn't sure how much it cost, so did the thing where I just held out a £20 note. The response of the person handing the books out was to ask me if I wanted two.

I said no.

Past Brend had a mare that day.

I think the fact Eugenesis was first printed for it is the only thing that's stopped certain over zealous people completely erasing all mention of Transforce from the internet (though I hope they've calmed down a bit now, the "NO ONE MUST EVER KNOW THIS MAN WAS A TRANSFORMERS FAN" reaction I saw at the time from certain folks seemed horribly distasteful).

[Tetsuro]

I think the fact Eugenesis was first printed for it is the only thing that's stopped certain over zealous people completely erasing all mention of Transforce from the internet (though I hope they've calmed down a bit now, the "NO ONE MUST EVER KNOW THIS MAN WAS A TRANSFORMERS FAN" reaction I saw at the time from certain folks seemed horribly distasteful).

Are we, by any chance, referring to the same person who had something to do with the "special introductory video" feature on the old Maverick DVD of The Movie?

[Brendocon 2.0]

That's actually a bargain in Eugenesis Price Terms these days (yes, I know. But it keeps me happy and means I spend less money on hookers and cocaine).

I sort of meant it in terms of "I've got one of those knocking about somewhere that I'm never going to sell, and I very nearly ended up with a spare"

I think the fact Eugenesis was first printed for it is the only thing that's stopped certain over zealous people completely erasing all mention of Transforce from the internet (though I hope they've calmed down a bit now, the "NO ONE MUST EVER KNOW THIS MAN WAS A TRANSFORMERS FAN" reaction I saw at the time from certain folks seemed horribly distasteful).

Maybe they were concerned that once the news got out that one Transformers fan was like that, it'd compromise their attempts to carry out their own behaviour.

I mean nobody assumes that all radio broadcasters are secretly sex offenders. I mean okay, we do, but only as a joke. But that was after we found out that all of them are, not just one.

[Thunderwave]

So you're going to wear the syrup and eat the pelts?

Never, ever discount the fear effect of a sticky wild man covered in bits of fur while the other side is wearing several hundred dollars worth of garb, armor, and gear.

[Sades]

Don't forget to yell, stomp, flail, and roll on the ground a couple of times in front of them.

I'd so watch that LARP.

[Thunderwave]

Finally snagged CW Onslaught. Got tired of my CW Combaticons standing around. Gambling on the Takara Blast Off getting released in the US with the limb Groove in May like they did Quickslinger and Breakneck.

Don't forget to yell, stomp, flail, and roll on the ground a couple of times in front of them.

I'd so watch that LARP.

Na. If you roll on the ground it takes the sticky off. Got to be really goo covered so they don't want to get too close. If you're feeling really mean stick some really nice looking loot to yourself that's practically worthless. SOMEONE will let their greed get the better of them and go try and get it, and then get their nice PC kit covered in maple syrup, scraps of beaver pelt, dirt, and forest debis.

Wouldn't be the first time we've made a mess for a plot. We built a "meat suit" that looked like hamburger that had gotten kind of off and decided to go on walk about. Inside the suit there were reservoirs of fake blood so the thing was slick and oozed as it walked. We're pretty big on production values for the most part (some monsters still look like poo) and have done some pretty wild stuff.