POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:24 am

TR Slugslinger - So in a desperate attempt to get the snow tires put on my car - Walmart overtightened the lugs in the spring, and now corporate policy won’t let them fix the problem because they might break the bolts - I found Slugslinger. I was hoping for Misfire, but I have to say I’m very impressed. It’s like Hasbro suddenly remembered how to do paint apps. He looks really good, he’s got a fun transformation, and even his guns are near.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:22 pm

"Collector's Edition" G1 Red Alert - another one of those "reissue now older than the original when it came out" toys.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:36 pm

Titans Return Leader Class Sixshot w/ Revolver
Bought from Tesco for a not unreasonable £37 (compared to the Leader Class movie figures, which are both going for £60). Also the only TR figure Tesco seem to being doing, and celebrates the sh*tty waves system -'Titans Return Leader Class Assortment' - not much of an assortment when there's just one figure packed per case, is it?Was going to pass on Sixy as I still like the reissue of the original I have, but seeing this in hand at TFN, I put him on my 'if I can find him for a reasonable price' list. Like all the TR figures, this just takes the original design and spruces it up with modern toy engineering and fully brings those mad late '80s designs to life. I love it. He looks really nice, feels hefty in hand and the transformation is pretty much just like the original, but with more tabs. Articulation is good, if not great and the only problem I've encountered is with Revolver - I can't get him out!!!

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:27 pm

Titans Return Misfire w/Aimless
Still not 100% on this guy...I think he's just a bit too pink and could have used another colour to break it up. He is a very nice figure though and fun to swoosh about. Aimless breaks the run of unremarkable Titan Masters by being decently painted up. Mad to think this is just a tweak of the Triggerhappy mould though, it feels different enough

Post by **Denyer** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:16 pm

Tesco seem to have pulled out the remaining earlier waves stock of TR, at least around here. Also knocked five quid off which is a bit more palatable for anyone still after.

In two minds as to whether to wait for PotP stuff to make it to UK retail or get a wave of deluxes. Have ordered the Pretenders since they probably won't be carried as widely, but being wave one kind of figure the deluxes will see more circulation.

edit: Got the Grotusque exclusive a while back, and whilst overpriced (and apparently Takara will do a regular release, Andy was suggesting) it is rather swish and a more successful use of the base design than Doublecross. Planning to have them flank the MP scale 3P Repugnus.

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:10 pm

RID 2015 Bludgeon.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 3:14 pm

Went on a spree yesterday, and found Power of the Primes Slug, Swoop, Jazz, and Dreadwind. According to da internets, these were hitting Target stores in the US... so I used Brickseek & the DCPI to find them around me. Took a little finagling, as they had recently stocked the pegs with a bunch of TR deluxes (Quake, Krok, etc.) so the worker nicely pulled them from the back for me. Unfortunately they are ringing up at $17 USD instead of the CW/TR prices of ~$15.

I didn't get a chance to open any of them yesterday, but they all look really sharp in package with clean paint apps and tampos. Plus, I'm a sucker for cross-play functions like the CW limbs, so these were a good pick up.

Honestly I was only going to get the Dinobots, but with Jazz and Dreadwind being able to be combiner limbs, I couldn't resist.

Post by **Warcry** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:29 pm

I'd love to hear what you think about the Dinos when you open them! I'm hoping they make it out here before Christmas.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:57 pm

Warcry wrote:I'd love to hear what you think about the Dinos when you open them! I'm hoping they make it out here before Christmas.

Hopefully I will get a chance to crack them open tonight for a few minutes. They look cool, but I'm hoping their multi-functionality doesn't ruin them. Combining is a cool feature, but honestly Volcanus looks a little silly. If it's poor on the whole, I'm hoping I'll be able to just pretend it doesn't exist and the individual figures still rock.

I'll definitely report back if I can mess around with them

Post by **Denyer** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:53 pm

ganon578 wrote:Dreadwind being able to be combiner limbs

There's also an instruction leaflet scan around that shows the Darkwing combination, so really stoked for these two...

edit:

https://i.imgur.com/piZ7r4i.jpg

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:28 pm

Denyer wrote:There's also an instruction leaflet scan around that shows the Darkwing combination, so really stoked for these two.

Yeah! I forgot to mention that function! I've seen it from some Comic Con coverage a while back, see below for the combined mode.

I was able to get into all four of the deluxes last night, albeit for a short time. Wasn't able to try them as limbs, but likely will after the holiday. Some quick first impressions:

Dreadwind: A heavy retool of Air Raid (as I understand it, don't own him) is mostly left unchanged, except for some cool ways the wings transform from what I can tell. The wings sit on his calves, and shift forward to lock in place. Otherwise, he seems pretty standard for a CW-ish figure: solidly built, decent range of motion everywhere, joints that are perfect tightness. The deco is fantastic as well. Looking forward to pairing him up, whether with Darkwing or as a limb to CW Cyclonus or the soon-to-be-released Starscream on occasion.

Jazz: Played with him the least. He's fairly chunky on the back, but otherwise he's good. Range of motion is good, all the joints are properly tight, and he's balanced. The only quibbles I might have are the roof parts are all clear plastic that's painted over - seems likely to ship/scratch over time, and his paint on his face is a touch sloppy. If you can live with his design being slightly not-Jazz (akin to CW Prowl being not-Prowl), he's pretty fun. Transformation is a breeze, and it borrows heavily from other CW-style cars. Oddly, his wrists have twist-joints built in, but the cars doors are molded right underneath making the joint useless. Seems ripe for a retool.

Swoop: My favorite of the wave. His robot mode is excellently balanced and all the limbs have great range of motion. Solidly built, and the joints are good. The wings get in the way a little on a shelf full of TF's, but they fold down OK and they don't make him back-heavy. The paint apps are clean, and he's got the blue torso, which is closer to his G1 animated appearance. I guess there may be a red-torso version at some point or not? Transformation is easy, though he ends up like a box with wings - not that it's a bad thing. The dino head doesn't twist or anything, but the mouth opens and the head can rotate for either flying or his traditional 'standing ptero' mode. Sadly, I haven't found that you can have him tilted a bit like he's taking off. It's either flight mode or standing mode. All-in-all though, very pleased with him.

Slug: Slug... isn't bad. He's no Swoop, mind you. The tricera-mode is chunky, as to be expected, and there's a tiny bit of range in the dino legs. The head doesn't move at all, but his mouth opens. I guess he does what a triceratops is supposed to do. Transformation is fairly simple, with 90% of it taking place in the legs/feet/tail, though correctly shifting a couple bits takes some practice. Robot mode is OK, though I feel his knee design makes him a bit unnatural. He stands well enough due to his large feet, but he looks awkward in some 'bent-knee' poses. Maybe I just need to fiddle with him more to get the hang of it? He has decent range in his limbs - his arms in particular are quite open for movement. His head, due to it being part of the dino head, doesn't move, or at least it would be difficult to do so. Overall, Slug isn't total crap, but he's no award winner. I think he'll match nicely with the rest of the Dinobots in the long run, but as of now he might be the one I would fiddle with the least.

Paul053 · Post by **Paul053** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 8:18 pm

ganon578 wrote:According to da internets, these were hitting Target stores in the US... so I used Brickseek & the DCPI to find them around me. Took a little finagling, as they had recently stocked the pegs with a bunch of TR deluxes (Quake, Krok, etc.) so the worker nicely pulled them from the back for me.

Thanks for the info and did the same thing today. That's a lot of work...........

Anyway, got Beachcomber and Swoop. The store I went to said they have 16 deluxe on hand and he said all 16 of them are the same, which is Swoop.

I also want Slag and Dreadwind which I highly doubt I want to do this again in another store. So probably I will wait.......

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 8:58 pm

Paul053 wrote:Thanks for the info and did the same thing today. That's a lot of work...........

Anyway, got Beachcomber and Swoop. The store I went to said they have 16 deluxe on hand and he said all 16 of them are the same, which is Swoop. I also want Slag and Dreadwind which I highly doubt I want to do this again in another store. So probably I will wait.......

They should be packed 2 of each in a case of 8. I know the guy I talked to said Target's policy is to only pull 1 item out of the back for customers, so he did me a pretty big favor even though I didn't ask or press for him to do so. I'm guessing the person you talked to didn't want to cross a line on policy.

Either way, it is quite awkward to have someone pull something out of the back. I always feel sheepish asking.

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:38 pm

If stores want to forfeit sales that's up to them, I suppose. But with distribution being so shit in Europe the idea of driving around looking for stuff, that still seems to be entrenched elsewhere (or waiting for things to hit retail stores, really) always feels like a non-starter. Either stuff's worth a little bit of an online premium or gets skipped.

That combined jet hits all of the right nostalgia spots personally, had a KO set as a kid that was a random foreign holiday find and of course the Marvel UK comic bigged them up with the letters pages and b&w strips.

Will definitely get Slag as well when they hit. With Swoop getting blue here maybe there'll be a Hasbro box set with toy deco and sellers will part them out -- can't see Takara doing a red one. Does look good in dino mode as is though. Grimlock looks so terribly compromised and there's an upscaled Warbotron KO that does better duty, so eh on the concept of actually wanting a full set.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Sat Nov 25, 2017 5:49 am

Titans Return Overlord w/Dreadnaut
Good retool of the Sky Shadow mould that's different enough to kid you you're not buying the same toy twice. Colours are lovely and the foil stickers are small and unobtrusive, so less likely to be damaged and start peeling. Hooray! Jet mode is really nice and the tank is also good. Not keen on the weaker point of connection for the combined flying jet tank mode though. Base mode is decent and better than the original figure's 'bunch of parts barely connected' effort. Best of all, Overlord can have chest faces. Brilliant.

The Last Knight Voyager Megatron
Nice figure of the best movie Megatron figure. The robot mode is excellent, with some nice sculpting and detail, and a lovely snarly face. The big sword/axe thing is ace and the transformation is fun, and actually feels like you're transforming something, rather than clipping the shell of the vehicle mode into place. Love the jet mode which is suitably space-y.

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Nov 25, 2017 6:16 pm

TR Blunderbuss & Broadside - Able to get this 20% off at a local retailer, just as Octone and Blitzwing are finally released over here.

TR Decepticon Necro & Decepticon Full-Tilt & Trypticon - Finally paid off the lay-by for this big guy.

RID 2015 Menasor - Looks kinda cheap, like a cross between an Energon combiner in that it uses three unique molds between five characters and a Power Core Combiner team in that only the torso figure as any articulation and the rest really don't.

Tantrum · Post by **Tantrum** » Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:07 pm

I found quite a bit over Thanksgiving weekend. TLK Dragonstorm and Squeeks, PotP Jazz, Dreadwind, Slug, and Swoop, and RiD Ultra Bee.

I've only opened Ultra Bee so far. He's OK, but the components are pretty weak. Bumblebee, Strongarm, and Sideswipe have no articulation. Even if they could just move their shoulders like G1 combiner bots, that'd be a major improvement. Grimlock has shoulder and elbow joints in bot mode, but mine has a loose pin on one shoulder so the arm just flops there. Grim's dino mode has a giant block instead of a tail, which forms the gestalt's waist. The three vehicle alt modes are OK. All 4 alt modes have a 5 mm hole on top to mount weapons that Ultra Bee does not come with.

There's some decent engineering in the combination process. The fists fold out of Strongarm and Sideswipe's legs, with the resulting gaps being covered by the fronts of their torsos folding down, which also reveals the connector port. This means Ultra Bee does a better job of covering his hollow arms than almost every other TF I've bought this year. Bumblebee's head folding down, with his mohawk becoming the front of Ultra Bee's crest is also pretty neat.

I was most interested to see how they made Grimlock form the waist and legs, but it wasn't anything special. He just splits down the middle with his bot head folding inside, like AoE Snarl's dino head. He'd be a decent figure if any attempt were made to make an actual tail instead of just a block with the option of a swrod sticking out. The bot arms/dino legs folding to become the gestalt feet is clever.

The combined form looks good, but only has the shoulder articulation of a G1 gestalt. On the plus side, integrated hands and feet mean there's no extra parts to lose, which is probably good for the target audience. He does have a sword that represents Drift by being orange and having a face sculpted on it. There's a hinge that allows the handle to fold down for some reason.

I got him as part of a BOGO 50% off deal, and he put me over the threshold to get a 20% off coupon good for an entire purchase next month. If that purchase costs more than $75, Target basically paid me to take him. You don't need to get quite that good a deal for him to be worth your money, but he's definitely not worth retail price.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 6:24 pm

Energon Prowl
Christ, he's a big bugger. Almost the size of a modern Voyager! He's a big daft Tonka toy Transformer. All big wheels and chunky chunk-ness, with a combining gimmick I can't have a go on as I don't have any other Energon Autobots...yet. The alt-mode is...I don't know what. Some kind of race car police car. It's very cool looking, whatever it is. Robot mode is pretty good, although his articulation is pretty poor and compromised by the combining feature. Good fun overall, though.

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 5:14 pm

TR Decepticon Revolver & Six Shot - Used TRU's 20% off sale as well as my VIP points to get this guy very cheaply.

TLK Steelbane - I heard Steelbane has some ball joint looseness, so I was quite happy that I was able to get this guy a bit cheaper.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:15 pm

While out Christmas shopping for the kids, I bought myself a couple of gifts as well (since they were on the shelf at Target and I didn't have to ask a dude to get them from the back) in PotP Slash and Beachcomber!

I like both very much. Slash is totally new, and isn't a needed piece for Volcanus (to my knowledge), but it's neat to have a She-Dinobot for a change, and a Velociraptor that's kind-of in scale with the other Dinobots. Huge range of motion, easy transformation, and a good deco. The raptor mode is neat, with a little chair for a TM to sit in, but there's a bit of a gaping hole in the chest. Kind of wish she came with a little sword too, but overall she's pretty darn fun.

Beachcomber is much boxier than I imagined, and the buggy mode is fairly boxy too. Ridiculously simple transformation, but still fun. A TM can fit inside the rollbar to drive as well. The only things that bug me are the hole in the back of the buggy where his head is, and the upper torso is made of black plastic which is painted grey. This leaves a few visible unpainted spots of black here and there. Why they just didn't mold it in grey is beyond me - there isn't any black on the rest of him! Otherwise, he's a solid figure with a great range of motion and a neat alt mode.

Saw Windcharger too, but passed for now. Never liked the look of his head.