Ransack (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

The ravenous sounds of the locust signify wrath and misery. Perhaps it is him who stripped the house of all the life it once held.

I've mentioned my admiration for the Beetras molds here before, as well as my overall fandom for insect based robots in general. The Creatures Collide box set from last year provided me with plenty of really cool new creepy crawler insect bots. Ransack here is another solid bit of coolness from the set. Originally, Ransack was one of the Deluxe Insecticons made from the Beeteras toys while the standard Insecticons were made from Diaclone toys. This new Legacy Ransack, somehow is a repaint of an update of one of those Diaclone Insecticons (Kickback) and delivers a pretty good homage to the old Beetras toy. Surprisingly so as it's literally just a recolor using an alternate head. The toy does come with the Kickback head as well in case you'd prefer it to be one of his clones.

Ransack transforms into a mechanical locust or a grasshopper depending if you assemble his locust abdomen from the energon blades. This was a pretty creative way to get a locust out of the mold without the need for new parts. I've had the Kickback for some time before getting Ransack and never noticed that it could be done. Neat. Ransack has a descent amount of articulation and transforms fairly easily. Considering the mold was originally a "G1 with knees" update to Kickback, it should. Despite being so simple... it feels right, like just the right amount of work is needed to be done. His gun is a straightforward reissue of Kickback's in black plastic. Thanks to the similarity between the two, it makes for a decent version of his High-Intensity Concussion Blaster. A little different looking, but close enough. The energon blades can be held or form a shield. I prefer to place them on his arms for bight robot pokey bits. 

Scorponok (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

Down the hall contained a fright, a once thought dead scorpion who's bark is definitely not worse than it's bite.

Listen, I'm going to give it to you straight. I love Beast Wars Scorponok. So when I saw that his Kingdom toy (that I love) was getting released in the Creatures Collide box set (that I already wanted) in original toy colors... I was sold. I mean, I was already sold... but like extra sold. In addition to the colors, Scorponok also comes with his extra head, you know the one Sandstorm uses. This is a throwback to the Mutant heads of original Beast Wars. So really, this is a pretty great update of that original beast Scorponok. I made my thoughts pretty clear on my Kingdom Scorponok post... I like this toy. I like Beast Wars Scorponok in general. I have Sandstorm too, though I haven't talked bout him here just yet. 

I remember playing the old Beast Wars video game online. There was a PS1 and PC version... I ended up with both somehow. It wasn't the best game ever made, but I had fun playing it. The PC version could be played online in death matches and I'd usually play Scorponok. I almost always got beaten, but had fun. The gaming hub had little chat rooms and for a while it was a pretty decent place to talk Transformers. I usually don't get nostalgic with Transformers, they're something that's never went away for me. An ongoing thing, you know. However, I guess something like this Scorponok toy makes me a little nostalgic for an older, forgotten time. It's funny how Transformers fandom has changed over the years. It's a million light years from what it was in the beast era... but still good.

Goldbug (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

It was then that Goldbug found himself all alone. The only Autobot in the old house. The only living one, that is.

It's been awhile since I've talked about a Bumblebee toy here and a damn fine time to talk about another one. Or Goldbug, who is another identify Bumblebee has went by over the years. Quite honestly, one that needs more attention. I always like Goldbug. Something about that blue helmet. Goldbug is a repaint of the Earthrise/Netflix Siege Bumblebee mold with a new head. I've got a few different versions of the mold and I've covered at least one of them here before. It's a good toy with plenty of articulation and a great representation of Goldbug.

Goldbug transforms fairly easily into the classic VW Beetle we all know. It's a fairly easy transformation that's just specific enough in some places. You don't have to get everything just right, but they've still got to be right. The trunk of the car can either become a shield in robot mode, or attach to his back for a more classic look. Like all other (I think) instances of this mold, Goldbug comes with 2 blasters that can combine to form a larger rifle. This of course is mostly for the Cliffjumper version of the toy, but I don't see why Goldbug wouldn't have use for a bigger gun on occasion. Considering his adventure in the Creatures Collide 4 pack, a bigger gun would come in handy. This 4 pack was exclusive to Target stores as part of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line in 2022. A big priority for me to get and an instant pick up. It's really hard for me to say anything bad about this figure and Goldbug so far might just be my favorite version of the toy mold.

Transform Squadron 48- House of Frankentron

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It's the Halloween season on Zone Base and a good time to look at some monster robot toys! Come for Draculus and Frankentron, stay for Nightprowler and Skywasp. It's spooky fun at the haunted house full of scary robots!