BIOS- Skyhammer

"There is no disgrace in not succeeding, only in not trying."

Function: Ground and Air Assault

A valiant, vigilant warrior. Dedicated to defending the innocent. Automated high-tech sky cruiser ideal for defending against enemy attack. Thermal blasters in wings liquefy metal on impact. Front-mounted high-frequency modulators provide long-range audio and visual surveillance and tracking capabilities. Coolant vents in nose emit black clouds of sleep gas, and top-mounted turbo-fans can produce cyclonic wind funnels. Also armed with twin lightning bolt cannons and programmable, steel-shattering sonic overloader. Outer shell armed with photon pistol and converts to super-sonic hoverjet.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 8 Endurance: 9
Rank: 7 Courage: 9 Firepower: 8 Skill: 9

BIOS- Roadgrabber

"Destruction has a beauty all its own."

Function: Gunner

A road-ripping demon of destruction. The cruelest of the cruel. Able to hide undetected inside his bullet-proof protective shell and use its front-mounted claws to crush his enemies. Transforms from robot Mode to fast attack hover jet with vectored thrusters for lightning-fast maneuverability. Built-in, turbo-powered boosters enable him to reach speeds over 3000 mph. Also equipped with subspace capabilities. Armed with dual pom-pom action freeze lasers that convert to flamethrower cannons.

Strength:7 Intelligence:7 Speed:7 Endurance:8
Rank:6 Courage:8 Firepower:7 Skill:8

Skullgrin (Legacy/Deluxe Class)

The thing I hate most about skeletons is you can never tell when they're smiling.

Skullgrin is one of those bots I just like. So far, I've managed to get each one of his toys (that I know of) and plan to continue doing so. It's hard not to like this big skull headed  brute. His newest figure is an update to the original Pretender toy (of course) that's combining the originals shell and robot mode. Most modern Pretender updates do this and they really nailed it with Skullgrin. For whatever reason, his big mechanical body with random skulls just works.

The big old skull head is made of a softer plastic. This is probably for safety concerns and helps move it out of the way during transformation. His sword/gun weapons are also made of a similar plastic. Those can be held as a sword or a gun. Hence the wording. They can be attached to his upper arms as well, giving him arm sword laser things. The tank mode cannons mount either on his back or can be held as guns. If you're covered with skulls, having a lot of firepower is expected. 

A neat callback is the fists carved into those tank cannons. They draw back to the original toy for a cool big of design homage. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed by that little touch. I mentioned a tank, that's what Skullgrin turns into. It's very similar to the original toy tank mode, while being a lot beefier and more tank-y looking. One little neat bit is... Skullgrin's tail. It's silly, sure, but cool for the design. That tail turns into a seat for the tank! I'm pretty sure you could fit an Inchman style figure in there. Try it! I dare you! Those original Pretender alt modes are pretty simple, so fleshing them out more is a good idea. Skullgrin is decently articulated and is just a good toy. Like, I have nothing bad to say about him and that's not just because I have a thing for the character. They did a great job here. Transformation is good and I just can't find anything to complain about.That's awesome, and so is he.

Bios: Stranglehold

Function: Enforcer 

"Rule one is: There are no rules!"

A muscle-bound monster! Willing to do anything to win. Kicks, gouges and sucker punches his way to victory. The reigning Intergalactic Cybertronic Wrestling Federation Champ. A powerhouse of brute strength. All brawn and no brains. Enjoys bench-pressing houses and arm curling cars to stay in shape. Sends his opponents down for the count with his steel-smashing, ultra-suplex or a short-circuiting atomic piledriver. Armed with brawn blaster that drains his enemies' power. Equipped with concussion blaster in robot Mode.

Strength: 9 Intelligence: 3 Speed: 2 Endurance: 9

Rank: 7 Courage: 5 Firepower: 6 Skill: 8

Bios: Crossblades

Function: Ground Reinforcement

"A warrior is only as good as his weapons."

A hyperactive, overheated sky jockey. Talks constantly. Patrols Autobot headquarter perimeters with lightning speed, searching for Decepticon infiltrators. Only stops long enough to refuel and check his weapons. Armed with automatic 35mm machine guns, air-to-air missiles, and a searing thermal cannon. Also equipped with mid-flight refueling capabilities and cloaking device that makes him invisible. Transforms to supersonic dragster, equipped with high-speed turbo boosters and electro-jammers that disrupt enemy circuitry. Outer shell chopper equipped with metal-eating roto-blades. Combines with dragster to form ultra-sonic helicopter equipped with front-mounted magneto-ray that magnetizes on impact.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 5 Endurance: 6

Rank: 6 Courage: 9 Firepower: 8 Skill: 9

Metalhawk (Legacy: Evolution/Voyager Class)

Thoughts of Masterforce take me back to the days of fuzzy episodes on worn out VHS tapes and VCD's full of digital noise giving me a different appreciation of toys I already had like Powermaster Optimus Prime and desire for out of reach ones like Overlord. It was exciting to see the Pretenders animated (aside from footage used in commercials and the season 5 intro) lead by Metalhawk. 

Thankfully, Metalhawk these days has the occasional release outside of Japan, like the toy we're looking at today. Released in Transformers Legacy: Evolution, Metalhawk is a remold of the excellent Kingdom Cyclonus toy (who I have, but never talked about here). Unlike his prior updates, this time Metalhawk is based on his inner robot form and not the Pretender shell. I'm a fan of the shells designs,but it's a nice change of pace. 

Metalhawk is a larger toy as a Voyager Class figure that's pleasantly articulated and features his trademark sword and blasters. The blasters are formed by the tail fins from vehicle mode. They join together for form the blaster. The Evo-Fusion gimmick of the Evolution sub line isn't always spectacular, but I guess it makes sense here. In all honesty, it's just clever marketing to keep retailers happy while not sacrificing anything on the toy. Still, it can be funny sometimes. Other than the shell, all Metalhawk is missing is his larger rifle. Hopefully some fan groups produce an aftermarket gun and shell to really round out this pretty solid toy. 

To be honest, if I didn't know better, I would have thought this was a new mold. Metalhawk is a great update to his original toy. They really did a good job here, it looks like he stepped right off the TV screen.  Transformation is easy and felt natural. If you have Cyclonus you already know this as did I. Though it felt fresh this time. Even though I have a few other Metalhawk toys, it's still exciting owning this one. I'm brought back to the days of being a purple haired kid in a dingy hoodie working at a office supply store despite being a shaved haired middle aged man working an office job in a regularly washed hoodie. It's much easier to watch Masterforce now than it was then, though I still have that VCD set somewhere.

Bios: Splashdown

"Outflank your enemy and you won't have to outgun him."

Function: Naval Commander

A hard-living, hard-hitting, wind-torn soldier. A veteran of battles on 10,000 oceans on 1,000 worlds throughout the universe. At home on water, mercury, even liquid lead. Outer shell armed with long-range, armor-piercing harpoon gun and electro-sword. Robot and hovercraft Modes armed with photon blaster. Outer shell composed of high-density armor impervious to corrosive liquids and strong enough to withstand underwater depths of over 30,000 feet. Transforms to hovercraft with maximum speed of 210 mph.

Strength: 7 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 6 Endurance: 7 Rank: 8 Courage: 9 Firepower: 7 Skill: 8

Bios: Gunrunner

"The truth wrapped in a lie is still a lie."

Function: Squadron Leader

A super hero in reverse. Daring and defiant when inside outer vehicle, but shy and insecure when out on his own. Armored outer vehicle equipped with armored wheels and hydraulic lifters for all-terrain combat capabilities. Gunrunner transforms from robot mode to hypersonic jet with a maximum speed of Mach 5. Equipped with twin, turreted 8mm electro-static cannons with a range of over 60 miles. Also armed with two armor-piercing, energy-plasma missiles. Armor plating equipped with thermal generators that "burn" through solid rock.

Strength: 7 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 7 Endurance: 6 Rank: 7 Courage: 9: Firepower: 8 Skill: 7

Bios: Catilla

 

"Stalk before you strike."

Function: Surveillance

Silent, yet vigilant. Enjoys stalking his victims and then moving in to attack. Nothing escapes his cunning clutches. Battle helmet equipped with infrared sensors, long range radar and tracking systems. Whip-like tail can crush buildings with its iron grip. Top-mounted turbo blaster provides phenomenal speed and agility on the battlefield. Maximum speed: 150 mph. Armed with air concussion cannon, durabyllium-steel alloy fangs and claws that can slash through the thickest armor.

Strength:8 Intelligence:7 Speed:6 Endurance:7 Rank:5 Courage:6 Firepower:6 Skill:9

Bios: Thunderwing

 

"Cover yourself with lies and no one will find you."

Function: Aerial Espionage

A two-faced, lying, cheating, back-stabbing scoundrel. The ultimate Decepticon villain. Armed with power-enhancing, impenetrable exoskeleton. Also equipped with electrostatic gun ports in shoulders and metal-eating laser beam in forehead. Reserve fuel tanks in legs provide unlimited fuel supply and aerator hoses in chest emit noxious gases. Armed with cyclone cannon and transforms into inter-stellar jet that carries full payload of plasma charges. Outer shell jet equipped with neutron power pack that increases firepower by 50%. combines with jet pod to form super jet armed with heat seeking laser blasters.

Strength:8 Intelligence:7 Speed:7 Endurance:8 Rank:6 Courage:6 Firepower:6 Skill:9

Bios: Chainclaw

 

"The only thing for certain is uncertainty."

Function: Ground Trooper

A ferocious warrior. Usually too busy worrying to fight. Always afraid his outer shell won't unlock, that his fuel might be low, that his joints are rusting or almost anything imaginable. Sometimes appears inoperative because he worries himself to a standstill. Outer shell is equipped with serrated thermal claws that can sear through metal like paper. In robot mode, armed with a double-barrelled, solid sonic energy blaster.

Strength: 9 Intelligence: 6 Speed: 5 Endurance: 8 Rank: 5 Courage: 4 Firepower: 7 Skill: 6

What if Destroids?

 

It was a dark and stormy night. A lone security guard patrols the medical university when he discovers the door to the morgue is open! Upon investigating he finds Decepticon Pretenders robbing the bodies of the dead! What could those dastardly fiends want with a bunch of corpses? They plan to make an army of un-dead soldiers, THE DESTROIDS ARE HERE! Part of the reason I love Masterforce so much is that it's complete departure from traditional Transformers story telling. While other series have strayed from the trail on occasion, Masterforce was the first to go it's own path. From the spooky depictions of the Decepticon Pretenders, to the Destroids, to an outright witch... Masterforce didn't mess around. Someone wanted to tell a scary story.

Gross Pretender Monster Shells

 

I'm just going to say it. I love this commercial. The slime, the monster hands, the spooky ooky atmosphere. It's perfect! Monster Pretenders were a super cool team of smaller toys with gross rubbery monster Pretender shells. The team combined to form Monstructor, a behemoth among robots. If the rubbery shells weren't gross enough on their own, as they age, they tend to mold! That's probably not the greatest, but you can definitely appreciate the toys living the gimmick. Of all the teams that could use an update, THIS is the set that could really use one. 

Part of me wants to think that they could half do it. Maybe instead of the Pretender shells, it could just be robotic monster alt modes or perhaps the robot modes that resemble the Pretender shells like they've done in the past. I might even be ok if they didn't combine, just throw me a freaking bone already Hasbro!

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.

The Master of Oil

 

While looking at my Nemesis Primal figure, I found myself wondering why he wasn't Oilmaster? Let me rewind a little and bring my train of thought up to that opening question. Legacy Iguanus was previewed by Hasbro. Like other Pretender updates before it, Iguanus's robot mode is based on his Pretender shell with inner robot alt mode while ignoring the inner robot mode. It's a fun happy medium if they're not making a full Pretender style toy. The toy is a Core Class figure, a size class I do like a lot. Leading me to hope other Pretender updates in that scale happen.

I like Pretenders quite a bit. Always have, they're just fun. As time went on after their release and information became more readily available, the unmade Pretender shells became more common knowledge. They were certainly cool and as things work, the gorilla one became a character in E-Hobby comics. He was named after Oilmaster, a popular fan blogger. I always found that super cool. That's one of the things I've always enjoyed about E-Hobby toys. The inclusion of the greater Transformers universe. 

More time went on and in 2015 Oilmaster was made as part of that year's BotCon Exclusive set. A brand new shell and the Legend Swerve mold was used to create the character. After all this time it finally existed! I do wish to eventually acquire the BotCon/TFCC Pretenders. They are some of the coolest things that came from the Fun Publications era. 

So here it is some time later after that. Every so often I proudly look at my recent Walmart vintage Transformers toys. You know, the ones that come in 'vintage' packaging? I really like them. The recent Beast Wars ones are a particular strong source of emotion. I loved Beast Wars and that whole time era. I honestly miss it. That first gorilla Optimus Primal toy has always been a stand out Transformer toy for me. Sometimes I find myself imagining exclusive figures if I was in the position to create them. I can easily see myself pitching that toy mold as the toy that would become Oilmaster. 

Then we get to that Nemesis Primal figure. He came in the 'Worlds Collide' Buzzworthy Bumblebee boxed set exclusive to Target. One of the reasons I like store exclusive Transformers is that they're essentially the modern day equivalent of BotCon exclusives. They're also pretty neat. The Worlds Collide set pretty much was an old BotCon exclusive box set in execution and certainly felt like one. Nemesis Primal was an alternate universe evil clone of Optimus Primal made from the Kingdom version of Optimus Primal. When the set was initially previewed, I took it as a throwback to Galvatron Lio Convoy/ Galva Convoy initially and thought it looked like the old Kabaya model kit. Which is pretty much is/does. However with Iguanus making the rounds and getting me all excited... I guess you can see what I was thinking in that opening question.

Bios: Jazz

"Do it with style or don't bother doing it."

Function: Special Operations / Saboteur

Optimus Prime's right-hand man. A danger-loving daredevil with a bottomless bag of tricks. Loves Earth culture, particularly rock n' roll. Outer shell armed with semi-automatic ion pulse gun and deflector shield. Inner robot armed with photon rifle and hydraulic lifters in legs that enable him to jump over fifty feet. In race car mode, equipped with blinding, full-spectrum headlights and deafening 180 decibel speakers. Nitro-injected 12-cylinder engine allows him to reach speeds in excess of Mach 1. Thermal-sensitive windows also provide supplemental solar power.

Instructions: Stranglehold

click image to enlarge

Bios: Scowl

"Control sound, and the faintest whisper can be the fiercest weapon."

Function: Sonic Saboteur

A terrifying, merciless warrior who signed on as a Pretender when he realized he didn't scare anybody with his appearance! With his menacing new outer shell and his steel-shattering, hypersonic, stereophonic implants, his bark now matches his bite! His supersonic hearing capabilities enable him to pinpoint even the quietest sound! Enclosed creature/robot is armed with dual-sonic disrupter gun.

Bios: Igaunus

 Sow the seeds of fear and victory is yours.

Function: Terror Trooper 

A hideous, slithering monster. So in love with his loathsome, lizard-like outer shell that he rarely removes it. Shares misguided camaraderie with all reptiles. Equipped with super robotic strength. Able to crush cars with his reptilian claws. Hypnobeam in eyes penetrate enemy cerebro-circuits and override primary programming directives. Armed with hurricane air blaster that shoots concussive blasts of pressurized air. Wheels in cycle Mode equipped with spinning blades that tear through enemy armor. Built-in anti-gyrostators able to disrupt equilibrium of enemy robots. 

Bios: Grimlock

"Among the winners, there is no room for the weak."

A raging, reckless robot. The most fearsome and powerful Dinobot ever. Very strong and very stupid. Easily angered. Power pistons in legs enable him to produce small earthquakes when he stamps his feet. Also armed with serrated steel jaws that can tear through solid rock. In robot mode equipped with double-barrelled, self-propelled rocket launcher. Also armed with heat ray beams in eyes that can turn hardened steel into molten metal. Jet boosters in legs provide flight capabilities.