Cannonball [Star Raiders Collection/Deluxe Class]

I've been a big fan of the Walmart Exclusive Transformers Legacy series as they're just so cool. Somehow, I've hardly covered them here on the site until the Star Raider Collection, which I've managed to completely showcase. That was a weird way to reflect on the series while also acknowledging that today's space pirate is the last of the series. Like Lockdown, Canonball was a Christmas gift from the Mrs. who spoils me every year.

Cannonball has pretty much always been a pirate character, though his crew tends to change depending on fictional setting. As a toy, he's always been a repaint. The original was a repaint of the Deluxe Cybertron Red Alert figure. This new one is the latest use of the Legacy Skids mold. That mold itself has seen more miles than a long haul tractor trailer with multiple repaints and remolds. Cannonball specifically is a repaint/remold of Crankcase. I have Crankcase, but don't think I've covered him here. Despite the reuse of prior molds, Crankcase and Cannonball almost feel like completely different engineering. There's only been two Cannonball figures, but ironically he's been a Walmart exclusive twice. The original was reissued in an exclusive set, while this new figure is from the Star Raiders collection.

Cannonball is very similar to his original design, but now turning into a crossover style SUV while the original was a Dodge Magnum. Which was a station wagon that was pretty popular at the time. Cannonball has a new head that looks almost just like the original as well as the original's laser hand. There's a claw and hammer accessory that can fit on the laser hand and store in his legs. He's holding the hammer in my pic as I wanted to show it off, but apparently in not the very best way. One nice touch is the Cyber Key. It doesn't unlock anything... but is a nice nod to the past. The key is sporting a Star Seeker insignia, and that's really cool.

Another nice touch is the skeleton graphics on the original toy's car doors are replaced with a Vok one. The Vok resemble a flaming skull, so it's a really nice Easter Egg. Like all the other instances of this mold, like Burn Out, transformation is easy and articulation is plentiful. It's really neat how much this toy looks like the original. The Star Seeker Collection was fun to collect as was the exclusive sets prior. I'm sad to see it over, but as Cannonball was originally a Cybertron toy, I feel like him ending this series makes a nice segway to this years Walmart set. An all Cybertron themed collection to celebrate the series 20th anniversary. So look forward to more Cyber Key action later this year!

Ferak [Star Raiders Collection/Legends Class]

Ferak first joined the Star Raiders/Star Seekers in the BotCon 2014 convention exclusive set "Pirates vs. Knights", however the character has been around since the G1 comics making his first appearances in the UK Transformers comics. Ferak is a sadist inventor whose creations are usually pretty evil. Despite being around for so long, he's cruelly only gotten 2 toys. Both are repaints of Cyclonus figures and both exclusives. From that BotCon set we just talked about and the newest is today's subject matter.

The only Voyager Class figure in the Star Raider Collection (exclusive to Walmart here in the states), Ferak is a really nice repaint of the Kingdom Cyclonus mold. I really liked that figure even though it wasn't talked about it here. I've generally have always been a fan of Cyclonus and always look forward to his toys. Ferak is mostly a grayish white with some dark grey and red detailing. It looks really nice on the toy mold and really gives it a new life from a sculpt so instantly recognizable as Cyclonus.

Personally the white reminds me of a common white colored bootleg of the original G1 Cyclonus toy that made the rounds in the 90's-early 2000's. I had one myself until finally getting my own G1 Cyclonus shortly after the bootleg fell apart. The shoddiness of it's own existence was too much for it's molecular matter to hold together. As a robot, Ferak is large with a pleasant heftiness in hand. He feels solid in that way you want a Transformers to to feel. It's a nice toy. There's a decent amount of articulation and he comes with 3 guns. The first is a large Oxidating Laser that can be held and stored on his back or canopy in vehicle mode. Then there are 2 thin blasters that can be attached to his wingtips in either mode, attached to his arms, or held as pistols. These are holder overs from Cyclonus and there's no ignoring that, but they still look great.

Transformation is easy, everything goes where it looks like it should. I really like this vehicle mode in these colors. They have that classic space opera look and would match right up next to a Star Bird. Ferak has always turned into some variation of a star fighter style vehicle, so Cyclonus really does work well for him. He was portrayed with a horned helmet in those old UK comics, which makes those bunny ears work out. There's even some great landing gear that can unfold. That's a nice little touch I always appreciate. This is a really good toy that looks great in these colors. I know some folks won't be able to see anything but Cyclonus, but in that case, it's a nice looking Cyclonus in different colors! I really, really, like the accenting darker greys and the reds really pop. It's just a good looking toy no matter who it is.

Nightstrike [Star Raiders Collection Multipack]

Pirates are a normal site at Halloween, but vampires and bats are as symbolic of the spooky season as a pumpkin. Amazingly, Nightstrike is all 3! As member of the Star Raiders, there's much pirate mayhem done he takes part in. However, his bat robot form utilizes a sonic scream to scare his victims before he drains them of their Energon as well. Nightstrike will trap a robot in their own nightmares while draining them of their life force as one of the most Halloween appropriate Transformers ever. He even turns into a pirate flag, which is you know... a skull. Which is a memento mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death and a cornerstone of the seasons decorations. Neat huh?

Nightstrike is a repaint of the Generations Selects Skar mold which turns into a shield. You'd think it could be used as a cassette for Siege Soundwave, however it doesn't actually fit in his cassette compartment. The shield is meant to be a pirate flag as Nightstrike's alt mode, which is incredibly silly and awesome. Just give whichever Star Seeker a flag to carry, things can get wild. In bat mode, Nightstrike can mount on Thundertron's shoulders as we'll see a little later this week. Transformation is extremely easy as he's a simple toy. However the bat wings are fairly articulated for such a small and basic thing. Nightstrike first appeared in Robots in Disguise 2015, so having a 'GeeWuun' version of him is neat. Aside from the silly alt mode, I really like his colors. It's impossible for me to hate such a neat little guy. He's just a neat toy!

Maybe They Didn't See Us

Garfield's Halloween Adventure is a spooky season institution. It's one of the best specials of the holiday that's unfortunately been swept under the rug by time. Because time is an asshole. We get to see Garfield and Odie go trick or treating which leads to a scary run in with some pirate ghosts. All the ingredients for a perfect Halloween cartoon!

I don't know about you, but I remember always being slightly worried that we'd run across some actual ghosts while out on Halloween night back then. With all the spooky shit going on and being the hey day of Satanic Panic, there was the real possibility of running into a real monster. Like a real monster, not that old guy who won't take off his wolfman mask. Jerk.

I think that's one of the things that makes this special so... special. I didn't want to be that corny, but there's not any other words for what I was trying to say. It combines everything about Halloween night into a 22 minute cartoon. There's not a lot of Halloween specials that manage to do that and let's face it, I'll post those that do here. Either during the season or in January.