Decepticon Occultist StarViper!

 

ToyLanta has come and gone until next year. With it a new set of memories and experiences. This year I did something different, this is StarViper. StarViper is the first of what I hope to be a ongoing series of custom Zone Base exclusive toys. There's only two. Shawn has one and I the other. If you follow me on various social media, I've mentioned buying Siege Caliburts for a project. Hand painting them into an original character was fun. Sure, it's pretty basic and others could have done better. I'm still proud of him.

I came up with the name with wanting it to sound like a ridiculous old video game character. I liked it so much that I've been using it as a display name in places. Personality wise, StarViper is a Decepticon Occultist that lives on Planet Zone. StarViper is a member of a secret organization formed by some of the Cyberdroids that first came to Planet Micro. His alt mode is a blaster that can be used by larger Transformers. While used this way, StarViper has some mind control of the larger robot. The blaster can also act as a short range flight mode.

Hotlink, Heartburn, Heatstroke. Yeah, The Bot's a Fire Bomb

Another of the Christmas gifts from my wife was the ultra cool Hotlink with Heartburn and Heatstroke set. If you find yourself wondering who Hotlink is, he's that random purple Seeker that sometimes shows up in Transformers cartoons.

He's the one with a flame thrower who was next to Sunstorm on the very first episode of the original cartoon. At BotCon 2013 they finally gave him an name. Prior to all this, I'd had always thought Hotlink would make a good name for a Transformer. It just works.

This version of Hotlink uses the Siege Seeker mold, which is super appropriate because it's based on that original cartoon tertrajet. This is a super accurate toy of the guy as he appeared originally. He also appears in the Netflix War for Cybertron series and has popped up from time to time in other TF media.

I had only gotten the Starscream version of the Siege Seeker mold prior to this. While I thought it looked cool, hunting down various other Seekers in the past has worn off the novelty of completing the team each and everything. Usually I'm happy to get one or two of them. Not to mention, my Siege Starscream had the chest issue early versions had. 

For whatever reason, the chest piece would come off very easy. Which could be super frustrating during transformation or just occasional clumsiness. I was aware they had fixed the problem, but I didn't forget the annoyance.

So getting a 'fixed' version of the mold after the fact was pretty great. In fact with the fix, the Battlemasters, and the paint job. Hotlink almost feels like a completely new toy.

It's not a new toy, it's 3 prior used molds that feel like 3 new toys. It's a wonder what a new paint job can do. Hotlink is joined by Battlemasters Heartburn and Heatstroke. The two are seemingly identical aside from their visors. Their included action effects thingies look a lot like flames.

Hotlink's flamethrower in the original cartoon was light blue like these two. It's easy to see they're supposed to be living incarnations of that. It's a cool little touch that makes me think of older fandom days. I strongly remember a friend on an old message board who had this thing for Headmaster Seekers. They didn't exist, but he would bring up the idea often. A Battlemaster is an updated Targetmaster, so this isn't too far from his idea. I wonder if he likes this toy?

Optimus And Freinds On Netflix At Walmart

Another of the Christmas gifts from my wife is the Netflix Optimus Prime set exclusive to Walmart. Like some of the others in this line, Optimus comes with some Battlemasters. It makes for a really cool set and still makes we wish the Netflix War for Cybertron series included them as well. 

Optimus is the Earthrise version sans trailer. It's a really good toy. I've talked about it here before and that didn't keep me from wanting it again. His slightly different colors make me think of that one G2 version. Which I've always liked. This is just a really good Optimus Prime, I kinda want them all.

Optimus comes with Battlemasters Sheeldron and Enerax. Sheeldron is a repaint of Soundbarrier whom I've also talked about here before in a really cool yellow scheme. Enerax is a repaint of Pteraxadon from Siege, whom I have but not talked about here before. I'm gonna rectify that now. I also wish there was a Battlemaster named Rectify.

Enerax turns into an energy axe or laser gun. What makes this neat is that his robot mode is a pterodactyl instead of your standard humanoid robot. It's always been pretty cool when Transformers have non-traditional robot modes like this. Enerax is also in that great yellow scheme like Sheeldron. Yes, those are some awkward names. I wish Enerax was Sundor. Another clear yellow bird Transformer.

The addition of the two makes for a more savage Optimus Prime wielding an energy axe and shield in battle. Mentally skipping past the Netflix series, I could easily see this team up on some cosmic adventure. It's visual says Marvel to me more than that War for Cybertron. I love this Optimus toy and partner figures with it just makes a lot of sense. There's literally nothing bad I can say about this set and a million good things I can. Go buy it.

Cold Slitherfang

One of the neat things about the smaller 'master' figures in recent Generations lines is their revisiting older Transformers ideas. Slitherfang his an unused concept for the Autobot Master Warriors from Headmasters. Like Titanmaster Sawback and Ramhorn, Slitherfang here found himself reborn. 

The Titanmasters were based on released toys though. This is Slitherfang's first time being an official Transformer toy after being conceived over 30 years ago. Better late than never huh?

Despite being originally designed as a Headmaster, Slitherfang now is a Battle Master. As an Earthrise Battle Master he can turn into a shield or a connector piece/dock plate for Micromaster bases.  His robot mode as you can tell is a snake. There's bound to be some generic 'beast crap' complaints about this, but animals was a somewhat regular design choice for bot mode back in G1.

I always liked it for the variety and thought it went well with the monster themed Decepticons post movie. Add in the purples and teals of that time and you've got some sharp looking robots.

Slitherfang is mostly translucent purple with a gray tail. There's some black and red detail paint in there that really makes the simple colors look great. Small touches can make a big difference. 

Speaking of little touches, the tank treads on his tail. I love those little old school robot toy details. He almost looks like a little Starriors toy and that's a good thing. Tomy and Takara merged in 2005. Even if coincidental, it seems intended. Did that make sense? 

His shield mode looks pretty good thanks to the cobra's hood carrying over to it's general shape. Included is one of those little blast mark things that has one place to be plugged on. If you're display minded, that's exactly where somebody should be aiming at. 

There's not much fictionally for Slitherfang as of this writing. I'm assuming he'll get worked into Takara's ongoing web manga at some point. I'd like to think it would be more related to Headmasters, but you never know. He'd make a good Selector too.

In Earthrise he's aligned with the Quintessons, which is a pretty good fit. I could see him slithering up during an attack and being used by one of the bailiffs to guard a judge when all hell eventually breaks loose. 

What if he was a Selector that aligned himself with the Quintessons? 

That'd be a neat parallel.

There's not much to say about the connector/dock plate mode. It's a ramp or connector for Micromaster bases. You can plug that blasty thing into this though for dramatic dock plate action.

In all, Slitherfang is a pretty good Battle Master. With these little guys the best part is the bot mode. The shield and dock plate are all pretty similar with small cosmetic differences. But a little purple snake sells itself.

A Barrier For Sound

I picked up Soundbarrier in June shortly after moving. Like other toys bought during that time, I've just gotten around to opening him up. Soundbarrier is a Battle Master from Earthrise which makes him a tiny bit different than the ones from Siege. Instead of a weapon, he turns into a shield and a connector for Micromaster bases. 

I had been looking forward to this guy as he just looks neat. The shield kibble on his back looks like wings giving him a much cooler look than somebody who turns into a dock plate should look.

The bright blues with the grey robot parts with accenting red makes for a sharp looking little robot. I'm sure this mold would look good in almost any color you throw on it. He looks like he turns into a jet almost.

Almost.

I mentioned he turns into a shield right? Two things, he does in fact turn into a shield and I've had to right click on shield every time I've typed it. Clearly cannot spell that right. Considering it's basically just a dock plate that doubles as a shield, it doesn't look too bad. 

He comes with one of those blast mark thingys and two places to connect it. So you can have him being a barrier for blasts as well as sound. 

There's some silver paint here that's pretty nice looking and dresses it up a bit. It mainly dresses up dock plate mode and adds to the appearance when connected to Micromaster bases. 

Not to mention is helps hide the robot hanging off the other side in clear view. You think Micromasters flip him the bird when they drive over? You know they do. 

Jerks.

In dock plate mode, he can connect to any Earthrise Micromaster base or so they say. He can serve as a connector to provide a road from one to another or a ramp for driving up or off. You can still plug the little blast effect thingy on here to make it look like somebody is shooting at Big Daddy. 

He's Autobot in Hasbro releases or on the Japanese side a Selector like Smashdown. Considering his alt mode, it's a good fit for the new group. I could imagine a dock plate having enough of others bull crap and revolting.

He's pretty great. I'd love to see recolors in blind packaging. 

I say that about everything.

Smashdown Is An Allstar

I picked Smashdown up in June shortly after moving, but just got around to opening him up. Life found a way. I was happy to get him as the Siege version never shown up in my area, so when he was re-released in Earthrise. I uh, got him. I really like Battle Masters. A nice evolution of the Targetmaster idea, where not everyone has to be a gun.

Speaking of variety, I really like it when there's variety in robot modes. Keeps things fresh. Smashdown has a bulls head instead of a standard robot one. No real reason either and I'm not complaining. He looks like a Battle Beast and I freaking love Battle Beasts.

Smashdown turns into a hammer. Which seems pretty pointless in a gun fight, but so does a sword and we're all ok with those. The idea here is that he's an ideal weapon for one of The Wreckers. On the Japanese side of things, Smashdown is a type of Selector, another faction of Transformers. 

Selectors are a race of Transformers created by humans using Angolmois Energy as a working class for construction needs. Smashdown is a type of Selector that turns into a hammer. Get it?

Whichever fiction you prefer, Smashdown is a great little toy.  The handle from hammer mode can be used as a gun for bot mode. In hammer mode that handle can be held by most Transformers toys in case they see some watermelons nearby. 

Like most (all?) Battle Masters, Smashdown comes with a little energy special effect piece. This is to emphasize the force from a good whack from that hammer. Considering his body is that hammer, I wonder if that hurts? It's a neat little extra that I'd like to think is appreciated more by those who like to display their toys in action poses or in dioramas. Smashdown is a neat little Minotaur robot that turns into a hammer. I don't think I can find enough words to explain how great that is, it's pretty a pretty universal idea. Go buy one.

Mysterious Box Of Black Play-Doh and Pink Rungs

This past weekend I picked up the Transformers War for Cybertron 'Mystery Box' from my local Walmart. Like all the other Netflix Siege toys, it's a Walmart exclusive. It looks like an ammo box, which feels pretty appropriate for the subject and toys inside. Not to mention, it looks pretty cool. The spoilers inside as noted on the box are generally in the form of the text under the box flap. It's in Cybertronian and I didn't take the time to translate it. Probably something about Ovaltine.

If the toys inside count as a spoiler, well first off go yell at every Transformers news site, then be advised that I'm going to talk about the contents over the course of two posts. There's a lot too talk about here and dude, it's a holiday week. I'm a little checked out right now. So it's probably best to split it up instead of one giant post. Which the first will continue under the break, because I'm trying to be considerate of those potential spoilers. 

We Had Our Own Damn Con

I don't have to tell you all what's going on right now, we all know, we all want it to be over. It is what it is. Of course a lot of conventions were canceled, relating specifically to Zone Base, Toylanta. This is where you're used to see  'in these uncertain times' , but instead, Shawn and I went to Mellow Mushroom and had our own damn con. *edit* At the time, it was supposedly ok to eat at restaurants that were open for dining in. This wasn't a large gathering, diners were spaced several tables away from each other as well.*

Shawn created exclusives for the event of two six feet away from others eating. Battlemasters Gunspring and Hammerdown made from parts swapped Battlemasters. Rung, because we all need a little help after a week of isolation. And a Huddle House Stripper, his name is Chad. Shawn also brought me a Playmobil horse for my Headless Horseman. Now he can ride into to town for take-out.

We ate and chatted for hours about random toys and stuff. I had the Pacific Rim pizza... because duh. Shawn opted for a mushroom based pizza because he had to fight Bowser later in the evening.

After a while we went to Walmart, which was about 2 miles away and still open. It was there we stood in the action figure aisle discussing the various figures on shelves for hours. As there's a pandemic going on, the store closed early and we continued in the parking lot before heading home.

From Stompers to Star Wars and every Transformer in between, our con was the coolest place in town. Thanks to Shawn for coming out and creating the awesome exclusives and to Mellow Mushroom for being open (really thought we were to get drive through and eat in a parking lot). Aside from the various teenagers filming Tik Tok videos we were the coolest... In hindsight, maybe we should have made one.

Guns In Mystery Bags

Today I was thinking about something that's not unlike an earlier thought I had. What if Battlemasters came in blind bags? Not like the main guys, but a side line full of funky repaints? During the Unicron Trilogy Takara sold funky colored Mini-Cons/Microns in blind packaging and it was great! Battlemasters would be perfect to equip guys lacking in firepower. It doesn't even have to be Generations aimed either. Earlier this week I got the Cyberverse Sharkticons and Quintesson sets. It would be cool to have some firepower to give the bots in those sets. Or even some of the standard figures. Warrior Hot Rod sure would look sweet with a gun!