Run toward the victory Soldier Boy

 

I've spoken of my love of Masterforce here before and dammit I'm going to again. Recently I've been re-watching it, mostly by myself, though the other day while my wife was napping on the couch. She woke up and asked me what I was watching. I just told her robots. We often just say robots in regards to Transformers. She then said 'no, really, what even is this', and I said 'it's my Transformers cartoons'. She still did not believe me and probably still doesn't now. Masterforce is just that different of a Transformers series that it takes people completely by surprise.

Why is it so different? During development, it was decided the ongoing story had reached a natural conclusion and a fresh start was needed. The show is still in continuity with the previous shows and following shows despite of that. It's a little out of place though as it went from the then future, to obviously the late 80's. Sometimes it's best not to dwell on that sort of thing as the show was great regardless. Initially focusing on Pretenders, the show later works in Headmasters and Godmasters/Powermasters into the mix. 

The overall vibe of the show is different too. It's clearly taking inspiration from traditional super robot shows as well as tokusatsu like Super Sentai and Ultraman. MetalHawk and Shuta Go remind me a lot of older Ultraman shows where the Ultra of the series would often serve as a mentor to a local child. The kids before becoming Headmaster Jr's make me think of the team from Hard Gumi. The Pretenders go from standard human disguises to armored mode in battle. Then release their inner robot mode as things get complicated when fighting the monstrous Decepticon Pretenders and Seacons. Which follows the standard fighting sequence of a Super Sentai/Power Rangers series. Godmasters/Powermasters are handled similarly as well.

Aside from the stark differences, the show is just fun. From the all out brutality of the Decepticons to moments like Shuta playing soccer at school. The show is a roller coaster ride, and that's just the first few minutes! Clearly as someone who likes monsters, spooky stuff, Pretenders and loves Powermaster Optimus Prime like I do would favor this show. Not just that, but Transformers every once and awhile needs a refreshing and this was the first major one. Not just a change of scenery or new characters, they practically reinvented the wheel while still staying true to it's roots. It's a real treat to watch the first time and again for the millionth.

Powered Masters of Prime

How about another prototype Transformers design. This time its a concept for a reuse of the Powermaster Prime cab but with a new trailer which the caption says was to be similar to the Ultra Magnus toy just like in G1/Diaclone. pic.twitter.com/D7BtW4c2S0

— TFRaw.com Transformers Multimedia Archive (@walruslaw) December 5, 2019

It's been a while since I've talked PMOP. My absolute favorite Transformer toy of all the times. Probably because, well, at this point there's only so much I can say about him other than the occasional 'man I love this thing' post. TFRaw.com posted earlier on their Twitter a great look at early working designs for PMOP. It's a really cool concept drawing that I would like to see a toy of eventually. Basically the cab and trailer modes hearkened back to Ultra Magnus's design, which in turn transferred over to the super mode for Optimus.

This was a really nice throwback to Diaclone in which the Ultra Magnus/Powered Convoy toy was a upgrade to the Optimus Prime/Battle Convoy toy. Part of me wonders how much Takara was planning on eventually reusing the molds later on. Several Transformers molds got used in later assortments of Microman as well as their use in Brave, which in turn the first few years of Transformers toy molds came mostly from Diaclone and Microman. So I wonder if Takara designers had potential future uses of the mold in mind at the development stage. Mind you, at this point Transformers had only been going on for a few years, and was starting to wane in popularity. What's to say a designer wasn't considering/expecting for the line to revert back to Diaclone at some point?

Ginrai

Ginrai

A gentle intellectual, he is usually a quiet commander, but when the Destrons start attacking, he becomes a warrior whose bravery is second to none. Well versed in various martial arts, he is willing to lay down his life to defend against destruction and invasion.

Super Ginrai

Godbomber

A new warrior constructed by the Cybertrons on Earth after they receive information from the Cybertron space warrior Grand Maximus. Godbomber performs the "Super-God Combination" with Super Ginrai, becoming God Ginrai. The project to build him is called the Bomber Plan.

God Ginrai

The ultimate Cybertron warrior, born of the "Super-God Combination" of Super Ginrai and Godbomber, whom it took all the power of the Cybertron space warrior Grand Maximus and the Cybertrons on Earth to build.

Masterforce Latin American bumbers

Sometimes there's little things you don't consider. Take Masterforce for example, it's a Transformers series I've always enjoyed quite a bit. It's one of the Japanese original series that uses Transformers characters and gimmicks that weren't in the American cartoon series (aside from the intros and bumpers from season 5) and in a type of show I enjoy. It's a different take on Transformers and a fun one at that. By the time I learned of it, I knew it had saw release in some English speaking areas thanks to the Star TV dubs. I was aware that it was shown in some way in other countries but didn't really get into that much.

So I run across these versions of the bumpers from what's described as the Latin American version of the show. That's super neat! When I was growing up we only had cable in the living room and used an antenna in our bedrooms. At some point I started watching shows on the Spanish channels I could pick up. I didn't understand the language but you can generally tell what's going on. Random kaiju and cartoons (not to mention wrestling) would play on these channels and I often would watch depending on what they were showing versus the infomercials on the UHF stations after hours.

Man, if only I would have came across Masterforce or any of the Transformers Japanese series back then! My Powermaster Optimus Prime usually stood perched on my TV stand next to my game consoles as the monument of awesome that it is. At the time I only thought he was on those puppet segments of season 5, seeing Ginrai would have blown my mind!

Transformers Greek Commercial

I really like that computer display in the opening shots. The date on the commercial says 1992, which thanks to the video quality makes it seem older. It features a red Tracks, which stands out. I'm not well versed enough in releases to know if he came in red there, or if that's just a Joustra figure used for the shoot despite the Hasbro branding at the end. Wheeljack's missile launchers look really different in one shot. Don't know if that's from the grainy video or just some production mistake. Another random thing is the commercial spotlighting standard Optimus Prime, but showing Powermaster Optimus Prime's box. It's really a mixed bag of a commercial. Something about these older grainy videos made from a found VHS tape always make me wonder if I have 7 days left to live after watching.

Powermaster Transformers commercial (1988)

TTHHHEEEEYYYYY'VVVEEEE GOT THE POWER TO SURPRISE!

This is my jam and I'd put it on toast if I could.

Pardon the blurry pic, it's a small pic blown up to actually see things

Sometimes I could kick myself for skipping over things in the past that later became more expensive than I'd let myself pay for. Case in point, look at this ad for Microman toys. See anything familiar? Well, just like how Transformers used molds from Microman, Takara used Transformers molds in other lines. That green truck is Action Master Optimus Primes truck.The two bike robots in the bottom right are light cycle molds from G2. They actually modified the handlebars so that Microman figures could hold them when they drive. I think that's a forever in the mold thing now as uses of the molds in Robots in Disguise and Robot Masters had the new Microman handles.

I totally had opportunities to get these super cheap back in the day and passed for other things (sometimes there's only so much money for trivial things and you make decisions, ok?). Sometimes I still see the figures from this Microman series online for fair prices, but not the things I'd really like that I passed over.

Just look at that magnificent deco on the truck. It's not far removed from Thunderclash, and man it looks sharp. When I buy things like Legends, or look forward to the upcoming Authentics, this is the kinda thing I'd like for it. Sure, Cyberverse did a great job of providing cool vehicles that were similar in play pattern. But man...man... MAN would it be awesome to buy a Legends scale Optimus that came with a new version of his old truck play set.

I heart PMOP

Serious Business

When two become one.

He's going everywhere with me.

Holy crap Combiner Force. I mean, seriously guys, holy crap.

Let me explain myself, I like Combiner Force. A few months ago when the trademark became known, speculation began leading to much shrugging from me. I mean, it was just a name. Part of me assumed it was going on newer uses of Combiner Wars molds, the other part was just fine with seeing what would come to be.

Courtesy of BWTF

Then it happened, NYCC was starting up and news from it began to seep out on social media. I was at work and was taking a break and saw something wonderful. I saw what Combiner Force was.

Know that Amazon commercial where Gary Busey yells at his TV? I totally did that at my phablet.

Courtesy of BWTF



Basically, while some toys just interact with Mini-Cons in the way they have before, there's a new group of figures. I forget what they are exactly called in the two packs they're being released in. However I just can't get over the gimmick. Similar to Energon and Landcross, two Transformers can combine in several different ways. Unlike Energon and Landcross, a top is only a top. A bottom is only a bottom. And I'm only so mature, so pardon me while my inner 12 year old giggles after saying that.

Hehehehehehe.

Courtesy of BWTF

These little guys are pretty basic in design, making for a simple toy one can fiddle with mindlessly while watching TV. Which is what I'm going to do. Thanks to being part of the Robots in Disguise line, the figures have the cool RID visual style, which make these simple figures look a million times better. In fact they look like they could have been late Japanese G1 or Brave figures.

Courtesy of BWTF

Like all RID figures, they interact with the RID mobile game and can be scanned right on in. I wish I played that game more. It's pretty fun. The Combiner Force theme will play heavily into season 3 of RID which according to reports from NYCC will also feature a Deception combiner. That's pretty exciting, I love the RID cartoon. It's a super fun show that keeps getting better as it progresses.

Courtesy of BWTF

Just like I talked about in my PMOP post, these toys are getting that specific fan excitement in me really going. Just like my beloved Titans Return toys, I'm literally chomping at the bit to get these bots. It's a much played out and overused term, but it really is a good time to be a Transformers fan.

Or at least for me.

Many thanks go out to my super awesome friend Ben Yee for allowing me to use his pics from NYCC. If you're reading this, you probably already know about his site www.bwtf.com, and you should because it's literally one of the tent poles of the fandom and I'd highly suggest you follow his Facebook page. It's freaking great.

Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime

Prime, you gotta get your head on straight.

As I've talked about before, my absolute favorite Transformers toy is the wonderful Powermaster Optimus Prime. Love it. So, last fall when the Titans Return version was announced, you know I was salivating. Instead of pre ordering him, I decided to wait for him to arrive at retail here in my area. I vastly prefer buying a toy in a physical store. Not for any crazy reasons, I just don't get that same joy from waiting for a toy to show up in the mail that I do upon seeing it sitting there on the shelf. Not to mention my recent bad luck with pre orders (though Groove did come in a month early).

I'm still getting likes for this picture on Facebook.

So after buying him Friday morning, I finally got the time to open him up and just live in this toys majesty. Man, I spent a good few hours just looking at him stand on my TV stand. He's freaking awesome.

He could totally kick your ass.

PMOP is a heavy retool/reshell of the Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus mold. He shares the transformation scheme and a few parts. Outside of that, he almost looks like a different engineering job. This isn't really a problem as he can hold his guns better than UM, though the trailer transformation still isn't my favorite thing to do. Probably the worst leftover from UM is the lower legs tend to push against each other, which I can look over, but don't enjoy.

Apex can also fit into the cab, buy hey look at him standing up there like he's Teenwolf

In robot and truck modes, PMOP looks amazing. It's a wonderful update of design I truly love. They incorporated elements of his Apex Armor into his chest, which coincides with his Titanmaster being named Apex, though Apex looks like Hi-Q/Ginrai in robot mode. In head mode, he kinda looks like Orion Pax. That's a super nice touch. The Japanese version is indeed Ginrai and the face of the head looks more traditional. That Titanmaster is allegedly coming out here as a basic Titanmaster toy. I may or may not substitute it for Apex depending on however I feel upon getting it.

His base mode is a base mode. It doesn't look very remotely similar to the original toys base mode, but I can overlook that. The original kinda looked like a playhouse for kids. This one kinda looks like a robot folded up into squares that smaller toys can technically function with, which is 50% of base modes on TF toys that are not city bots. It gets a pass because it can link up with other Titans Return base modes to form a larger city. That and the while PMOP thing gets me all glossy eyed. DON'T YOU TALK BAD ABOUT HIM! I LOVE HIM AND HE LOVES ME.

I kinda feel like I missed a step.

In all I'm very, very, very happy with him. There's a million Optimus Prime toys released a year, but releases of my favorite version of him don't come around very often. When it did happen and also happens to be part of my favorite TF line in a long time, I feel a special kind of high. Sometimes when your a fan of something, you get this special kind of excited for things that can be very hard to describe. That's what releasing a PMOP in TR does for me, but times a 100. Ok, I'm being modest, it's a larger number.

If only I had a tiny Tommy Kennedy to stand on those pegs so Optimus can tell him about the touch.

The God Bomber Gambit

I just adore a good cross section.

I've mentioned before how much I love Powermaster Optimus Prime. It's no mystery, and Robert Stack isn't going to narrate a reenactment. He might say 'open dammit', but that's non negotiable.

But one thing that took me completely by surprise was the whole Ginrai thing.

You see, in Japan, PMOP was another character named Ginrai. When he combined with his trailer, he became Super Ginrai. When I first learned of this in the mid 90's thanks to the internet becoming a part of my life, my mind was blown. But what really got me was God Bomber. Ginrai's little buddy that would also combine with him to form God Ginrai. I quickly accepted it and even learned to love it as part of my PMOP fandom. But the name always stuck out. I mean, without any prior knowledge, what mental image would a name like God Bomber bring?

This wasn't what popped in your mind, was it?

So later when the God Ginrai gift set was reissued, I was quick to jump on it. Then later when PMOP was reissued in the US, it was just a repackaged God Ginrai (of course I jumped for it too). Funnily enough, they renamed God Bomber as Apex Bomber. Apex Bomber became the Apex Armor for PMOP. Which felt like a better name to me.

When I hear the name God Bomber, I think some giant dude. Not a plucky little box guy. Apex Bomber is much more fitting. Actually, Apex really works. I bet his friends just call him that.

The Apex Bomber name has stuck around and been used occasionally. Seeing as Ginrai eventually became Victory Leo in Japanese TF fiction, I can't help but to wonder. What if Victory Leo got released over here? Would he still be called Victory Leo or something different? Would he be called Apex Lion?

Ew.

Looks like a problem with his timing belt.