Ironhide [Galaxy Version 01 Roll Out]

Ironhide is another original cast member of the Transformers. The 'red van guy' who shares a base mold with Ratchet and was originally released as No. 2 Onebox Cherry Red Vanette in Diaclone and DK-2 in Diakorn. His colors were changed to red from black for The Transformers release, but he was back in black for his role in the live action movie series. That lead to an exclusive black version of the original Ironhide, something I've always found neat. Ironhide is a good ol' boy and an old soldier. These character traits are played more into depending on whomever is writing the adventure and sometimes doesn't seem any older or wiser than the others.

One thing I haven't expressed about Blokees that I like is their proportions. There's an almost Megaman X look to the figures once assembled and I feel it's really evident on Ironhide. It'd be undeniable in blue. Like other Blokees, Ironhide is very articulated and has closed and open hand options. A neat extra touch is an included blast effect that can be attached to his gun or other characters guns. It's a fun little extra. Ironhide is a simpler looking robot which results in a more basic looking toy. Thankfully the combination of red and black make for an interesting color scheme. It's hard not to like such a simple, yet fun little figure. Blokees are generally pleasant and these little AMK figures are fun to assemble with the Transformers channel on in the background.

Concept Art Sunstreaker (Studio Series/Deluxe Class)

I've got a soft spot in my heart for Sunstreaker. He's one of the original cast of Transformers whose Diaclone toy roots as No.1 Countach LP500S/Diakron DK-1 were the first numbered of the Car Robots series. These are the toy molds that make up a good number of the initial Transformers toy line. It's just neat that Suntreaker's original toy was the first of it's series. I've always liked his design and found it pretty striking and unfortunate that he's not updated as often as other classic characters. This newer figure of Sunstreaker is one of the really cool Concept Art based figures in Studio Series. While not appearing in the Bumblebee movie, there was designs for him in that initial opening scene that we all love.

I personally think Sunstreaker looks awesome in this toy and think it would pair really well with the Siege Sideswipe. It kinda feels like a lost Siege design more so than an unused movie design. Considering the Bumblebee movie and Siege were probably being worked on around the same time, that's probably not super coincidental. He comes with two blasters. They can be held or one can he stored on his back. The blasters can be combined which looks great in alt mode, though they can be placed on the car individually as well. The blasters are a double barrelled design that matches his Cybertronian look well. Sunstreaker is fairly articulated, but his large shoulder pads can get in the way. Fortunately they can be adjusted some.

Transformation to car mode was fairly easy for me. I understand there's a common mis-assembly on the hood pieces that I didn't notice on mine. Either I lucked out or just didn't notice. Alt mode is a Cybertronian car similar to Sunstreaker's Lamborghini Countach. It's a very neat car and I really appreciate the trademark yellow colors. There's a late 80's to mid 90's anime vibe to this design I can't quite put my finger on. I feel like I've seen artwork of him printed in black and white in a game manual or magazine somewhere. It's probably just me, but I like those vibes. Sunstreaker is a cool figure that I like quite a bit. These Concept Art Studio Series releases are really neat and the idea is a lot of fun.

DK2-Guard (Legacy/Generations Selects)

At some point Hasbro decided to jump on the Diaclone bandwagon and I'm all here for it. DK-2 Guard here was a random gift from my mother who picked it up at Gamestop and he's super neat to have. Instead the attempts to work Diaclone into TF mythology like the others, he's just straight up a modern incarnation with an Autobot symbol. No problem there, it's super cool. So much so that they even referenced the Diakron version of the toy with his name. This leads me to wonder why the Diaclone Universe in Legacy isn't Diakron Universe... but I guess that's being specific for the sake of being specific... and seeing as there's no monetization of this site, I can't get away with that.

DK-2 Guard is a repaint of the Earthrise Ironhide toy. Thanks to Covidmania running wild during Earthrise, I was never able to get a version of that toy. With as happy as I was with the Siege version, that wasn't a big deal, but it is nice to have some version of it. This is a heavily retooled version of that Siege mold, so much that you could be fooled into thinking it's a new toy in vehicle mode. Robot mode is basically the same, but now with a van roof that doubles as a shield. it's neat, but I prefer to stick it on his back.

I keep saying he, but DK-2 Guard isn't an individual, it's a mech suit piloted by a Dianaut. Normally with the Transformers versions of Diaclone bots they get a personality based off the drivers. That's not the case here and DK-2 Guard is generally represents the mech itself. DK-2 Guard serves as a guardian for mankind against Waruders, Dinosaurs, Decepticons, and whatever evil force threatens mankind. Something like this is great as Diaclone Reboot toys are generally very expensive, but there's options of you'd like some Diaclone available at an affordable price. It's an expensive hobby and in these uncertain financial times, it's great toy have a bone thrown every so often.

Avalanche!

Dang, anybody else think they weren't going to get there in time? They were in that tunnel FOREVER.

Let me tell you about my Micromans

This past weekend I was looking through the closet in my toy room for something and came across a few of my Microman toys. This lead to my wife asking what they were and a small discussion about them. I really wish I would have put some pictures of them on my Instagram as they're such nice looking toys. It didn't really occur to me at the time though as I was doing something else. Still, I do wish Takara would bring back Microman again.

They've been doing seemingly well with the Diaclone Reboot (I assume) and I was a big fan of the early 2000's Microman stuff. I've been holding out for whatever Hasbro does with Micronauts as a filler... though part of me is starting to wonder if anything will actually come. It's 2019 and no cartoon as told and 2020 is half a year away and nothing yet from that movie. I recall a job listing for a brand manager for the division, but that was before Hasbro's recent business developments, so who knows if it's even on the table anymore? I try to be optimistic about things, but reality is reality and sometimes projects just don't come to fruition. Hopefully something will come sooner or later.

Bumblebee animated short

声優 #木村良平 がまさかの1人3役 熱演🔥

映画『#バンブルビー』3/22公開を前に
💛キュート＆ポップな連続アニメ第1弾🖤

『バンブルビー 初めての地球生活
　　　　　　　#1 廃品置き場で拾われて』

地球人と友だちになったビー。
本来の使命を取り戻すことはできるのか⁉️ pic.twitter.com/QgHQbwc4wa

— 『バンブルビー』公式 (@Bumblebee_JP) March 20, 2019

Voice actor #木村良平 is one of the three roles hot 🔥 film [#バンブルビー] 3/22 published before the first series 💛 of cute & pop anime first 🖤[Bumblebee is picked up in the Junkyard #1 Earth life for the first time] the Earth people and friends Bee. Can we regain our original mission? ⁉️

I can't express just how much I love this. It's silly, it's cute, it's great. With the Bumblebee movie due out on video soon, I'm looking forward to picking up my copy (might even rent it on digital before the disk is available). I'm very happy with how the movie turned out and it's success. Hoping the talked about Optimus and Bumblebee buddy movie will be just as good. It was refreshing to see all the positivity towards the movie from initial teaser towards actual release, with whatever negativity being either subjective or predictable bed wetting behavior (which isn't really concerning). The enthusiasm and general euphoria from the movie and it's release time is still sticking with me, making me particularly jealous of Japanese fans who are just now getting the movie released in their region. The marketing and general swag generated for that market is unique, to fit that market better, and honestly just plain awesome.

Punch Robo vs Death King

Toylanta is like a month away

Toylanta is a month away and I'm pretty excited. Been making a mental shopping list that I won't adhere too, but I'll still make it. I really enjoy this con. There's no fandom drama or personalities crowbarring their way into the forefront, just a bunch of like minded people wanting to have a good time. The dealer space is this amazingly huge nebulous that just keeps expanding into each nook and cranny of the con space full of just about anything. While I'm certainly looking forward to the Transformers panel Dusty and I will be running, I'm really excited for the Kenner designers panel. That's going to be awesome. That and the parachute drop. It's always insanely fun and maybe a bit dangerous.

I'm really looking forward to this one dealer who has a huge set up of just random stuff. A back wall of things like Sideshow Dolls, and a table full of various bins. There's gold in them thar bins. Random themed bins with random prices lined up and fun to look through. Not to mention, the Micronauts and Transformers assorted around the dealers space. A little extra digging and you can find some really unique things. Oddball bootlegs or random Diakron figures. Stuff that you didn't expect to find. There's always this pair of dealers, facing each other in the same ailse each year. One just has a ton of cool stuff, including a plethora of fairly priced TF. The other, tons of capsule toys and sofubi. I like to plant myself on that aisle and just take it in.

There's a few places local to the con to eat, but I know I'll eat at the McDonald's at least once. It's nearby and a Big Mac is my favorite con food. It's time to prepare my con backpack for the show. I've got a new Samurai Tactical Backpack waiting to hold whatever random Cobra Viper I pick up. I do need to get a new hand sanitizer to clip onto one of the straps. Sure, I could just reuse the one from my TMNT backpack that used to accompany me, but it's very important that I match the sanitizer to the backpack. This is the utmost most serious of businesses to business and I won't take any exceptions to the business. I mean business. That's how you do business.

Ultra Magnus parts

It's pretty hard not to like Ultra Magnus. He's basically an upgrade of the classic Optimus Prime toy and really a more impressive toy (you gonna need some oven mitts for that hot take). Everyone loves Black Convoy, but that all white cab mode is probably the best the toy has ever looked to me. It does make me wonder again (here we go again), what if Diakron was a success and Transformers never happened? Would we have eventually gotten Battle Convoy and Powered Convoy in the line? Battle Convoy/Optimus Prime is basically the same toy aside from some stickers. Powered Convoy though, has different colors and a few more parts than Ultra Magnus.

I guess we'll never know unless a portal to an alternate reality where that indeed did happen just opened up. Admittedly though, if alternate reality portals started opening up, the one where Diakron was a sucess probably wouldn't get checked first. A firm tenth maybe, but not first.

Ok, I'd check it first and tell you what happened.

Mighty Suit

Micro Robot 7

Diaclone DA-32 Skyjacket

It's hard not to like the new Diaclone series. Slick looking robots presented as grizzled military equipment. Great way to sell an old concept to a new audience. This little short is more simple than the prior videos Takara has produced to advertise the toys. Instead of a sequence of the units in action, we get essentially a demo reel of the new Skyjacket. It kind of reminds me of Energon's transformation sequences, which I never had a problem with.

Kronoform watches commercial

Being the second Kronoform commercial I've posted this week, I think it's safe to say it's been on my mind. Thing is, I think Microman and it's related extensions are super neat. Part of the charm of Transformers is the idea that the car that just drove by could be an alien robot from space. Microman follows this same idea, just the adventure is so tiny it's just under our noses. With the Microchange concept, that micro-cassette you used to record a lecture in class could actually be a robot fighting a battle while your not aware. I mean, those little dudes just up and had a fight in the living room on that end table where all the remotes get thrown. Whoa.

Diakron and Kronoform are particularly sticking out to me as we put so much focus on Diaclone and Microman that what is essentially the missing link in Transformers history gets looked over. Sometimes I wonder (and I've done it here before) how things could have been IF Takara was successful and the deal with Hasbro never happened? How different would things be right now? As I was writing that, it occurred to me that the Michael Bay movies would have been a little truer to form...

Kronoform robot time machine commercial

I just realized I've been saying Kronoform wrong for all these years. That and mmmmaaaaaaannnnn this watch had so many more modes than Six Shot. Like you know that weird pose you get into when trying to do a cartwheel before you fall over? Turns out that's a battle station!

For the cost of a Legion...

I'm going to invent a time machine and ...

Micronaughts Battle Cruiser commercial

I was just sitting here at my desk, working as usual, when I decided to take a break and look at some of my favorite groups. In Microfans somebody brought up the similarities between the Micronaughts Battle Cruiser and Cybertron Starscream in vehicle mode. Sure enough, they are pretty similar. Obviously a coincidence, but still pretty darned neat. Though the Battle Cruiser is such a cool toy, not only is it a big space craft, but it can separate into several components. That is awesome.

Mission for future frontiers

Waruders ready, Waruder ready

Takara uploaded a new video about the upcoming Waruder suits for the current Diaclone line. Man... man... mmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. I want these, at least one. These are awesome. I was wondering how they'd go about Waruders in current Diaclone as they've stayed away from the Transformers stuff and it's hard to do robot insects without instant Insecticon comparisons, so this new twist on the mech suits is just great. You know, I really need to get both Diaclone and Waruder pilots. Just a bunch. I got all sorts of crap that could use a driver.

MicroRobot V commercial

Sometime I wish more Microman stuff found it's way into Transformers than just the Microchange stuff. It makes me wonder what things would have been like if Diakron and Kronoform would have taken off here in the states.

Diaclone Battle Convoy commercial

I've said before how I love these mini tokusatsu style productions that get made for Japanese toy commercials. I can watch them for hours. Yesterday, I posted about how I've often wondered how different things would have been if Diakron would have been a hit in the US. I remember seeing the boxes sitting on store shelves as a kid, not fully understanding what made it different than other toy cars (around that time, I was VERY young). If I would have saw these commercials on TV, and maybe a cool Saturday morning cartoon, I would have been hooked.