A Hyper Galaxy

 

Cybertron/Galaxy Force is one of those lines that feels like the last of it's kind. It was the last series to run before the 2007 live action movie changed everything. Sure, 'classics' happened in between. However that didn't have a cartoon and generally filled out the time before the movie (which had been delayed) released. Cybertron was the last of the Unicron Trilogy (Galaxy Force was stand alone) and a fun ride. Following up on the gimmick heavy lines of the Unicron Trilogy, it took the 'activated' gimmick from Armada and improved it. I liked the different themed planets and variety of robots that came from it.

A neat Kabaya candy toy line sold as part of Galaxy Force was Hyper Galaxy. Hyper Galaxy was a figurine line sold mainly at convenience stores like other candy toys in 2005. There were 3 total figures in the line- Galaxy Convoy (Optimus Prime), Galaxy Convoy Super Mode (Optimus Prime Super Mode), and Master Megatron (Megatron). Each was individually labeled (not blind boxes) and came with a piece of gum. 

The figures were neat overall. Galaxy Convoy Super Mode was my favorite with Master Megatron coming in second. The regular Galaxy Convoy was fine, just not as neat as the others. They were well painted and honestly something I would love to grab from a convenience store. I could easily see myself picking up one while stopping in for a Bueno Bar and bottle of Coke Zero. Unfortunately these cool toys don't reach my small stores. I got my set at BotCon that year. I don't remember the exact price, but it wasn't expensive. The three stood by my computer monitor for a while with some Beast Wars gachapon figures. That was a cool set up.

Weekly Spotlight: Junkion Detritus

According to the cosmic battle legend, Detritus would appear from nowhere to the big battle field, and an armed camp that could enlist him as a supporter would win the battle without fail.

But the truth is, he just takes advantage of his own distinguished abilities to collect information and to analyze it, and just takes the side of the armed camp that he judged it could generate more useful junks in larger quantities.

He has an excellent fighting power and he can regenerate himself almost like immortal, mending his damaged body with detritus at hand. Actually, his present body is made out of the parts of detritus getting from the battle field of the Earth.

He is a marverick outsider who abandoned his home planet "Junkion", and he is aiming at building his own junk empire some day.

These great little figures.

When these little pvc figurines of my favorite robots first came out, it was as a Japanese blind box line called 'SCF' (Super Collection Figures). They were great, each series payed homage to a different season or series in the G1 era cartoons. You could get them pretty easily online, at conventions, or sometimes local comic/anime shops. Each series would have an even number of fully painted or chrome/clear figures. There was chase figures that were hot commodities, and even build figures in some series.

It was a really fun little line to collect and it wasn't just the hardcore Transformers fans buying these. Toy collectors, cartoon fans, and general pop culture enthusiasts were hot on the trail of these great little figures.

It's not hard to imagine why Hasbro quickly brought them to the U.S. as Heroes of Cybertron. The figures were sold on traditional j card packaging with a trading card inside. Sold at specialty stores and smaller retailers (pharmacies, dollar stores, etc.) for a relatively low price, these little toys were a popular item. The fandom took time to locate what chains they could be found at and spread the information fast. In my area, the best place to get them was Walgreens.

Funnily enough, I had never stepped foot inside one before.

Walgreens had recently started popping up all over my area and had my interest, but of course it took the allure of Transformers to get me to walk in.

This turned out to be great. I loved the stores and many were 24 hours. At the time, one of my favorite pastimes was going on late night toy hunts to stores that were open 24 hours a day. Now I had another option and it had it's own type of toys to be found. I quickly learned that Walgreens generally splits up cases of merchandise across stores in each district. So to get an entire series, you really had to hunt.

Which wasn't so bad, as they were everywhere.

There was even some OTFCC exclusive Heroes of Cybertron figures available (that I snapped up!) and the line went on for a little while. It certainly was fun collecting these little bots in both Japanese and American assortments. There has been similar series since, but so far none have been nearly as fun to chase down.