Micronus Prime [Age of the Primes/Deluxe Class]

It's no secret — I love Mini-Cons. Mini-Cons, Micromasters, Battle Masters, Titan Masters, Prime Masters, BotBots… the damn site is named after a Micromaster Base, k? Micronus Prime is where the Mini-Cons began, after all. That's right — they are his Cybertronian descendants, and today we're looking at his most recent toy.

One of The Thirteen Primes highlighted in the current Transformers Generations: Age of the Primes line, Micronus Prime is one awesome toy that's right up my alley. You might ask yourself why such a little guy has a new toy in the Deluxe Class release. Well, that's because he comes with a really cool transforming exo-suit. It's taking a lot for me not to just type "this toy is awesome" over and over again.

Micronus Prime himself is a short, stout little Mini-Con with a good amount of articulation in a mix of translucent and opaque greens and blues. He transforms into a disk that resembles the Mini-Con storage panels from the Transformers Armada cartoon or the data disks characters like Eject and Ratbat turned into in the Fall of Cybertron toy line. These disk modes pop up all over Transformers history — and I always love them. And now that I’m thinking about it, this also feels a bit like the disk alt modes from Robots in Disguise 2015. I liked those too.

Clearly non-descript disk alt modes are my thing.

But the similarities don’t stop there. There's a lot of old toy DNA here, and this post is probably going to go down as the epitome of me comparing new toys to old toys. But that’s what you come to Zone Base for — right? (Unless you're an Amazon seller or someone looking for a firewall, in which case… sorry this keeps happening to you.)

In his disk mode, Micronus Prime fits snugly inside the chest of his exo-suit. It closes up tight, almost completely hiding the little pilot. The exo-suit itself is a pleasant mix of greens, silver, and black. The included Chimera Stone fits onto its chest or Micronus’s back. The suit is nicely detailed and articulated — I’m fond of the gun-barrel hands.

There's strong Pretender shell energy here, with a bit of Transformers Prime Apex Armor influence as well. The armor can be disassembled and connected to other Transformers figures, similar to Siege Weaponizers and their contemporaries. In a further bit of neatness, the armor also transforms into a one-wheeled bike vehicle Micronus can ride. Translucent pilot + power suit + vehicle mode = full-on Microman / Micronauts vibes. This toy’s practically a pocket history of Transformers.

This toy is truly wonderful. I’m honestly having a hard time being critical of it. The closest thing to a flaw I’ve found is that Micronus didn’t fully close into disc mode on mine — even straight out of the package. Not the end of the world, though. I'd also love just a little more paint on the exo-suit to bring out the sculpted detail. And the one-wheeled bike can’t stand up on its own. (I even tried using the Chimera Stone as a kickstand. It did not work.)

But that’s basically it. The positives absolutely outweigh the nitpicks. This thing hits so many of my collecting sweet spots at once. I’m really hoping this mold sees multiple colors and multiple characters — it deserves it. And while I was writing this, I realized the bike mode can kind of be arranged into something vaguely similar to Revenge of the Fallen Demolishor. Probably coincidence, but neat all the same.

BIOS- Street Speed Team

The talent of the members of the Street Speed Mini-Con Team for working in tandem while racing at top speed across a battlefield or crowded city freeway has made them invaluable as spies and scouts for the Autobots. All three are in love with racing, and they sometimes disappear for weeks to compete in the Speed Planet rally circuit.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 8
Rank: 4.5 Courage: 8 Firepower: 5 Skill: 6

BIOS: Jolt

Sub-Group - Recon Team

Jolt -- the leader of the team, and the only one able to speak a human language - is a great lover of human culture, addicted to television, music and the Internet. On more than one occasion he has caused difficulty for the Autobots by forgetting he's not a human being. Six-Speed and Reverb, though sometimes frustrated by their leader's tendency to become distracted by cartoons and web-comics, love the excitement of missions with their human partners, working as a fast response strike and rescue team on away missions on the Lost Planets.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 9 Endurance: 6
Rank: 5.5 Courage: 6 Firepower: 6.5 Skill: 8

Bios: Gunbarrel

"Death from Above."

Air superiority is the key in any military victory. Whether it is taking out targets on the ground, air, or sea the Air Military Mini-Con Team are the boys for the job. Their quick response time and ability to move troops and munitions to an intended destination make them a vital link in the chain of any military operation. They are known for the lightning speed of their assaults, injecting fear into the hearts of their enemies and leaving the battlefield strewn with glowing metal wreckage.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 6

Rank: 6 Courage: 8 Firepower: 9 Skill: 7

Bios: Nightscream

"We fly free."

These three Mini-con robots are as different as any three individuals can be, except for one thing: their love for soaring through the crisp, blue skies of a living world. Across the Universe, countless worlds are infested with Decepticon mining crews stripping resources to fuel their engines, and spewing smoke and filth into the skies. Wherever this happens, you can expect to find the Clear Skies team, waging a private war to destroy the Decepticons and save the skies they love.

Strength: 6  Intelligence: 10 Speed: 6.5 Endurance: 7.5
Rank: 4 Courage: 9 Fireblast: 7 Skill: 5

Bios: Ransack

"No obstacle is too great!"

They are a unique team of Mini-Cons with the ability to combine forces and battle on any terrain. Sand, ice, and mud are no match for this rugged team, and not even the most dangerous weather can hold it back. They are the first line of defense in difficult battle conditions, and the Autobots will fight to the end to keep them out of the hands of Megatron.

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

Rank: 5 Courage: 6 Firepower: 4 Skill: 7

Bios: Firebot

"When the battle is over, our job begins."

The well-prepared Emergency Mini-Con Team specializes in search and rescue. They are the first on the scene following any major disaster or military conflict. Their ability to provide a fast emergency response has saved many Transformers from the scrap heap. It is this dedication to protecting and serving their community that has caused them to be so highly regarded by their associates. They seek neither praise nor rewards, but merely the pleasure of seeing a job done well.

Strength:8  Intelligence: 10 Speed:8 Endurance:10

Rank:7 Courage:10 Firepower:6 Skill:9

Bios: Clench

Clench is the Mini-Con partner for Galvatron, the reformatted and powered-up version of Megatron. After Megatron was reformatted, he decided to 'trade-up' his Mini-Con partner. Searching the globe over, Galvatron finally found the perfect Mini-Con partner in Clench, Leader-1's brother. Although Leader-1 and Clench share nearly identical transformations, Clench is ten times faster, stronger, and more powerful than Leader-1.

Bios: Anti-Blaze

Anti-Blaze, a junior member of the Mini-Con Council of Sages, was among those who argued most passionately against asking Optimus Prime and his Autobots for help. He felt that involvement with the larger Transformers had brought only grief to the Mini-Con race, though he now regrets his position. He has been forced to make the unpleasant transition from a relatively unknown political figure to a military leader at the front lines as he fights against Thrust and the other evil Mini-Con rebels.

Strength: 7 Intelligence: 8.5 Speed: 7.5 Endurance: 9

Rank: 9 Courage: 10 Fireblast: 8.5 Skill: 8.5

Bios- Kobushi

During the long years of relative solitude before and since their discovery on the Moon by the larger Transformers, Kobushi came to the conclusion that personal perfection could be attained through challenging combat. Every enemy destroyed, he believes, adds to his own power as a warrior. He has devoted his life to improving his martial skill, adapting the ancient art of Metallikato to most effectively use his diamond tipped drill arm. Landslide, the toughest individual on the Exploration Team, has been his frequent opponent, and Kobushi challenges him at every opportunity.

Strength: 9 Intelligence: 6 Speed: 4 Endurance: 9 

Rank: 5 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 4 Skill: 9.5

Decepticon Occultist StarViper!

 

ToyLanta has come and gone until next year. With it a new set of memories and experiences. This year I did something different, this is StarViper. StarViper is the first of what I hope to be a ongoing series of custom Zone Base exclusive toys. There's only two. Shawn has one and I the other. If you follow me on various social media, I've mentioned buying Siege Caliburts for a project. Hand painting them into an original character was fun. Sure, it's pretty basic and others could have done better. I'm still proud of him.

I came up with the name with wanting it to sound like a ridiculous old video game character. I liked it so much that I've been using it as a display name in places. Personality wise, StarViper is a Decepticon Occultist that lives on Planet Zone. StarViper is a member of a secret organization formed by some of the Cyberdroids that first came to Planet Micro. His alt mode is a blaster that can be used by larger Transformers. While used this way, StarViper has some mind control of the larger robot. The blaster can also act as a short range flight mode.

The smaller end of the dark side

 

I'm in a Dinobot mood today and wanted to look back at something I was quite fond of. Considering the name of the site, my fondness for smaller Transformers isn't a well kept secret. For a while, Mini-Cons were the standard bearer for tiny TF toys. As the Unicron Trilogy ended, they managed to stay around as part of the new Classics line prior to the movies. They then stayed around some more. They've basically not went anywhere and honestly newer Micromasters are similar to Mini-Cons. Which is just the way of things as most of us saw Mini-Cons as the new Micromasters. Except my mom, she thought they looked like bowling pins. Specifically.

One of the cooler aspects of Mini-Cons is that they were heavily repainted and nearly countless figures were produced. Super fun to collect and sometimes a challenge as well. One specific set of Mini-Cons was released during the Dark of the Moon toy line. That's them in the picture above. They're obviously themed after the G1 Dinobots and versions of them were used to represent G1 Dinobots in later releases. It can be confusing and easy to mix them up. Fortunately those later uses were in the TF4 2 packs that I absolutely loved. That does help me keep them separated mentally. 

The individual figures were Dualor (t-rex), Catilla (tiger), Rav (pteranodon), and Triceradon (triceratops). Despite being released as part of the TF3 toy line, they were not specifically part of it. Fictionally they fit in during Beast Wars according to Ask Vector Prime. It's not much, but it's something. Confusing, but remember, not all movie toys are specifically meant to be in movie characters. These figures were sold only at smaller stores (discount chains, pharmacies, etc.) and Big Bad Toy Store.

I specifically got them at Tuesday Morning. The Reveal the Shield Legend/Legion class figures never showed up at my local retail, but I did find them (mostly) later during this time frame at stores like Tuesday Morning and Ross. I was all to happy to snatch up these little bots while on the hunt for that Legend Megatron one Sunday. Never found Megatron, but I did get a set of these.

Bios- Sparkplug

We must all learn to live in peace!

Sparkplug is the Mini-Con partner of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. Sparkplug converts into a super fast sports car and helps Optimus Prime on reconnaissance missions. He also combined with Optimus Prime in battles to increase the Autobot leader's strength.

Bios- Sideways

Efficiency through self-sufficiency.

Sideways is a conscientious, ninja-like warrior who races to battle. Disguised as a sports bike he exceeds speeds of 250mph. Mysterious and silent, he reveals little about himself except a fierce drive to confront the enemy and quickly return to Cybertron. On Earth, he undergoes a personality change that gives him both a good and a bad side based on Mini-con influence. This split makes him highly unpredictable. It's hard to predict which half of his split personality will win in the end - the good side or the evil side!

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!

Ride way to the Side rapidly

As we're sliding into Halloween around here on Zone Base, I thought a creepy and kinda supernatural bad guy with a habit for wearing disguises would be a good idea. Sideways is just the bot to lead the Halloween charge! I plan on focusing on the Armada toy, if you want to know more about his other toys and fictional appearances, I suggest checking out his wiki page. Sideways was a neat toy. His Mini-Con gimmick was a homage to Headmasters while still being unique (as Armada had a way of making homages still different). If you'll look at the above picture, you'll notice he has two Mini-Con partners instead of the standard one packaged with him. The two could merge into a larger rider body for the motorcycle, or both ride independently leading to a lot of play value in motorcycle mode.

STOMP STOMP STOMP

I've said before a few million times that I really like big chunky robot toys. That was part of the reason I loved Armada so much. The was one guy from Armada really took the cake in that department that was ever so fun to play with. Scavenger may look like a Constructicon, he's got the colors, the name, and the look. So much that his Japanese name was Devastor, because freaking look at him. Armada was like that, full of homages while still doing something different. Scavenger in this case is an Autobot, which follows in the Build Team's lead of Autobot Constrution equipment guys.

Scavenger's Mini-Con is named Rollbar, who's a likeable enough Mini-Con that can turn into a dune buggy type vehicle. In robot mode Scavenger has a few 'dead' Mini-Con ports, but most notably is his hip mounted missile launcher that can be fired when attaching a Mini-Con. Yes it's weird. His Mini-Con interaction is more notable in vehicle mode, I'll get to that in a minute. As you can tell by the picture above, Scavenger is a big old boy with some big old arms. Though you've probably noticed his legs, they have no articulation whatsoever. Instead they feature the robot modes biggest and most fun play feature. As you push Scavenger across the floor, he stomps his feet making zany robot noises. He just stomps around in a lovable manner that won my heart over the first time I tried it for myself. It's a silly toy and I love it. 

Armada of cheeseburgers

Sometimes you can't place exactly why you like something, you just do and that's that. I know why I like Transformers Armada. It was a really fun Transformers toy line with big chunky robots that were full of character and fun gimmicks that introduced Mini-Cons. Mini-Cons are tiny Transformers that at the time seemed like a return to Micromasters with a plethora of creative alt modes. The Mini-Cons usually triggered the larger robots gimmicks, but also would interact with the toys in other ways as well. Add to the fact that they'd occasionally homage past gimmicks like Targetmasters. With the variety of ways to buy and collect them, and Mini-Cons were a hit on their own outside of the hit line they were birthed from.

Critics of the line often complain that Armada was Hasbro copying Pokemon, and that's a fair comparison. In the cartoon, the Transformers were hunting Mini-Cons and an overall 'catch them all' vibe was all over. Hasbro has followed trends with their products multiple times before (I mean Micromasters... ) and that's pretty much how the business of selling things to children goes.

I love a good tie in promotion, this is well known to readers of this site. I don't make it a secret and wallow in it's excesses. So when a Transformers Happy Meal tied into Armada came around, you know I was had before hello. Before I go any further, let me talk about the above commercial for said Happy Meal. I'm so freaking happy over the original animation that's amazingly toy accurate. Yes, the toys were not the best looking things ever, but McDonald's was not one bit ashamed of that and took time to animate them in action.

This is the best picture I could find, thank you dml44833, whomever you are

Little Rad Robot Hood

I've noted before how certain things in the Transformers family tree show up from time to time again. Sometimes it's blatant and sometimes it's pretty low key. Today I realized one such instance that happened 14 years ago and I've never noticed until now... and it's really not that low key either (maybe a happy accident though).

The picture above is of  Microman Hoodman in various colors (as Microman toys were generally available in). The figure was pretty cool, you've got a Microman with a neat 'hood' space suit that just exemplifies that classic sci fi look the line pulled off with flair (woo!). The figure was later used in Micronauts as Galactic Defender (with some different parts). One again multiple colors and man what a great toy, right?  So what am I even talking about here? Well...

This is Jolt, a Mini-Con from Transformers Cybertron/Galaxy Force. The toy mold was released in multiple colors under multiple names as well. I'd say the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree, but I don't have too. It's more like one of those moments where you say 'it's a small world' about a person or when something was in front of your face without you realizing it until later. It never would have occurred to me until today. On Instagram I saw a Hoodman and thought it was Jolt at first as it was in the background. It's probably a neat coincidence at best... Just by chance, Jolt turns into a helicopter... wait. 

French Micromaster Combiners

SACREBLEU! 

I'm quite fond of the French Transformers jingle, it's just so pleasant. Recently Microforever has been down, causing an understandable amount of sadness in some circles (edit: it's back!). While it was a Microman and related lines site, it got me thinking about Micromasters (from the other side of Transformers with a similar name). With a site named after a Micromaster Base, it might be understandable that I'm quite fond of smaller Transformers. I've been eyeing my local stores for the newest batch of Siege Micromasters and Battlemasters, chomping at the bit for new a dose of Tiny TF.

Actually, earlier when I was driving to work, I was thinking about Mini-Cons. They've revisited the concept several times (though in reality they've just slapped the name on random Tiny TF), yet have never recaptured that magic found in the original Mini-Cons. Ironically that magic is pretty dammed similar to Siege Micromasters and Battlemasters, just having a bicycle plugged onto a dudes butt back then might have resulted in a gun popping out of somewhere.