Quake with Heater and Tiptop [Legacy United/Deluxe Class]

Quake is a slightly obscure member of the original Transformers cast who made his debut as a Targetmaster in 1988 and didn't have another toy (officially) until 2017 in Titans Return. I loved Titans Return style figures, but it is nice that his third and newest toy is another Targetmaster. I sure do love partner figures and there's just something indescribably great when they form weapons. This Quake toy is the subject of a good amount of derision among the Transformers fan community. Instead of a brand new mold, or using a better suited mold, Quake is a very heavy remold of Legacy Skullgrin. There's so many new parts, you can't help but to wonder why they didn't use another toy as the base.

I do admit that the robot mode is pretty faithful to traditional Quake, so I'm not bothered. I even like it... but I've always had a soft spot for Quake after carrying around a bootleg of him with me for awhile a long time ago. It was purchased randomly and somehow found it's way into the messenger bag that went everywhere with me. Quake is decently articulated and does make for a good update of that G1 toy. The orignal figure was a little flat in robot mode and that's replicated here. I've always liked his colors. Heater and Tiptop are new molds that strongly resemble their G1 counterparts. The two are not articulated and convert very simply into guns for Quake to use. They can also combine into a larger gun by plugging one into the other. As guns they can be held or mounted in vehicle mode. Like other recent Targetmaster toys, I wish recolors of these would be available in blind bags. That would be a super fun thing to buy, you know? There used to be Micron/Mini-Con blind boxes and I loved them. I'm sure I've brought this idea up before, it's a hill I'm prepared to die on.

Transformation to tank mode is a trying process. I found Skullgrin (and Cybertronian Trooper) to be relatively easy to transform. Despite being made from the same skeleton, Quake transforms quite differently. His body fold up and the tank treads fold out from his legs to wrap around the base. It's an odd transformation that I did not care for. It was frustrating ad those tank treads seeming got hung up on themselves before magically being in place. I have no clue what happened either. One second they were a jumbled mess, and then it was finished. The tank is oddly proportioned and seemingly the target of that fan derision I talked about prior. I think it's serviceable and you can put the Targetmasters at different posts which does help the alt out. Overall, I like Quake quite a bit, even if the transformation and tank is weird. Maybe I should put him in my sling bag for old times sake.

Happy New Year from Zone Base

 

It's New Years Eve as I'm posting this and the start of another holiday weekend. Of course I'll be back Monday, but until then it's time to enjoy the little break. I hope you all have a great holiday. Happy New Years Zone Base readers, what a year it's been! Here's to hoping 2022 is better for us all! Thank you all for another year of supporting my weird little site about robots and monsters. I really appreciate each and every one of you for reading and sharing with your friends. I know there's bigger and better sites out there for you to spend your time on. The fact that you take the time to see what I have to say with all the better options out there is really flattering. Once again, Happy New Years Zone Base readers. Thank you for all your support and please share with your friends.

Bios- Quikmix

The faster it is, the better I like it.

Impatient, short-tempered inventor. Always in a hurry. Constantly devising new formulas and developing new ways to defeat the Decepticons. Somewhat absent-minded. Too busy starting new projects to see his old experiments through to the end. Teamed with the mercurial Nebulan, Ricochet, who transforms into a sub-machine gun and the bombastic Boomer, who turns into a sonic pulse cannon. In vehicle mode, reaches maximum speed of 150 mph.

Bios- Targetmaster Blurr

The faster it is, the better I like it.

The fastest Autobot land vehicle -- and he talks even faster; often has to be told to slow down so he can be understood. Nervous, high-strung, loyal, determined. Paired with Haywire, excitable Nebulan teenager whose impulsiveness makes him a chancy electro-laser cannon, at best. In vehicle mode, maximum speed: 750mph, range: 1500 miles.

Bios- Landfill

Adventure is found in unlikely places.

A four-wheeled garbage site. Leaves a trail of decaying refuse wherever he goes. Friendly, cheerful, but a bit of a slob. His Nebulan partners are Silencer, a noiseless, recoil-less proton rifle, and Flintlock, a heat-targeting stress pistol which induces metal fatigue and fractures in steel. Fellow Autobots dislike working with Landfill because he's filthy and smells so bad.

Bios- Targetmaster Kup

The past is the greatest teacher.

A grizzled veteran with 10,000 tall tales from his 1,000 adventures -- has advice for his pals in any situation, whether they want to hear it or not. Recoil, his Nebulan partner, is an old style musket laser and former all-world prismaball (most popular sport on Nebulos) player. In vehicle mode, maximum speed: 100 mph, range: 800 miles.

Bios- Targetmaster Hot Rod

My actions speak louder than words.

He dreams of great heroics, but he acts like an immature adolescent. Impulsive, friendly, not to good at following orders. Often goes off on his own adventures with Firebolt, his electrostatic discharger rifle, who led a quiet scholarly life as Nebulos' top atomic physics scientist until he became the thrill-seeking Hot Rod's partner, Firebolt is excited, but nervous, about the prospect. In vehicle mode, maximum speed: 330 mph, range: 150 miles.

Bios- Crosshairs

Don't shoot until you see the wires in their eyes

Meticulous, cautious, some would say overcautious -- won't take a shot unless he's sure he can't miss... won't waste ammo. Pinpointer, his dual rocket-propelled grenade launcher, can lock on target in less than .0003 seconds, but usually trusts Crosshairs to decide when to shoot. In vehicle mode, maximum speed: 160 mph, range: 750 miles; built for traversing rough terrain.

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!

Seige of my wallet

Since we're a week out from SDCC, the news of stuff to be displayed is hitting websites and some early previews of the upcoming War For Cybertron toys were shown. Coming under the Siege banner, these toys look promising, but do leave out the Micromasters that have been haunting Amazon listings, leaving me in high anticipation. The Battlemasters were initially rumored to work with the Micromasters, but instead are more of a Targetmaster evolution (I'm willing to bet weapons other than guns will work into this) as they apparently combine with other weapons. I think that's just rad as crap. The pricing looks to follow Studio Series pricing for Voyagers and Deluxes, which is a little poopy, but to be expected with rising toy costs. I do wonder if they'll be lower at my local Walmart as prior Generations have been given that MSRP and still were just 15$. Time will tell, and I'm guessing Micromaster sets will fill the Legends class, which I'm ok with. I'm very excited for these toys and really surprised by just how much I like them. This looks like another winner for me.

Headmaster of the class

I just really dig the intro music for Headmasters. I've always liked the show quite a bit, but man that intro song is just great. Yeah, yeah... insert guy who put's himself in front of everything at every chance telling me how bad Headmasters is... and just like every other fandom zealot, I ignore them completely (too many folks want to make everything about them). I actually quite like the Japanese series despite how different they are from the American produced ones. Admittedly, I really like Transformers and have a hard time not enjoying Transformers, so go figure I'd like Transformers.

When I first learned of the new seasons made for Japan I was instantly keyed in on finding out as much as I could about them. Here I was in my late teens, Beast Wars was showing in syndication and the internet was becoming available to me. First something at school, then shortly after at home. All I wanted to do was consume all the stuff I didn't know about all the stuff I liked. Suddenly those weird cheap robot toys at Big Lots made a bunch of sense, turns out they were knock offs of Transformers from Japan and other parts of the world!

As much as I enjoyed the Rebirth, I always felt cheated as it was a rushed ending. Sure, I loved season 5, G2, and all the other ways reruns were packaged... but I wanted more. So of course more seasons was just the ticket. Headmasters ignores The Rebirth and acts as a more complete season 4. After that the series kinda follows a more traditional Japanese super robot cartoon format, which is ok by me as I like super robot cartoons as well as variety. I really enjoyed the way Headmasters work better in Japanese fiction than American. It's just more logical too me. The way Titanmasters work fictionally makes better sense to me than US Headmasters as well.

In Japan, the Headmaster is the character and is a tiny dude using the body to make himself bigger. That makes sense. In the US version, it's another guy sharing a body. When the head is disconnected, the actual Transformer is just a car. It's allegedly a play on 'two heads are better than one', but it was always kinda clunky to me. Sure, for a Targetmaster it makes all the sense in the world. The gun aims itself and acts as a partner. A Headmaster? Well great, now this guy has two personalities and one is just a car. A Titanmaster gives the TF it's partnered with special abilities, so now it makes sense as to why somebody would willingly give up their head to share a body with. It's an upgrade of sorts, to me anyway.

So uh... I like the song...

Targetmaster Cyclonus

Compassion is the Autobots' downfall.

An emotionless marauder whose single-minded purpose is to destroy the Autobots. Incapable of fear. Paired with Nightstick, a Nebulan master criminal who doubles as a blinding, corroding black-beam gun. In space jet mode, has nuclear-powered turbine engines that allow him to cruise at Mach 2 in suborbital altitudes and achieve escape velocity for interstellar space travel.

Holepunch

I've always been a little bummed that Holepunch never became a household name.

New Targetmasters commercial (1988)

Weekly Spotlight: Bumblebee and Blazemaster

Most Autobots are surprised by the partnership between Bumblebee and Blazemaster. Two warriors have never been less alike. Bumblebee prefers the discreet approach, while Blazemaster likes to be seen - especially by the enemy. It's only when you watch them together in the field that the partnership makes sense. Because while one distracts the enemy, the other takes quiet aim.

Targetmaster Seacons

Dig this era in G1 more so than other G1 eras.

Weekly Spotlight: Triggerhappy

Have gun, have fun!

Usually too busy laughing uncontrollably and drooling out oil to look where he's shooting. Loves the sound of his guns blasting away. Wild and unpredictable. Paired with Blowpipe, a powerful compressed-air cannon who is also the conniving, envious brother-in-law of Lord Zarak, the Nebulan leader of the Decepticon Headmasters. In jet Mode, has side-mounted, rapid-fire photon-pulse guns. Maximum speed: 1,980 mph.