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.

I'd Buy Those Masters For A Dollar

I'd been looking for these Micro Collection MOTU figures for what felt like an eternity. Fortunately on a random swing by the Dollar Tree, the wife saw picked them up for me. In the grand tradition of producing discount versions of mainline toys for dollar chains, Mattel released these figures at stores like the Dollar Tree and 99 Cent store. They're mini figures of some of the base characters in action poses. You know I love them. 

Each figure is on a rocky base with the MOTU logo proudly displayed. You could easily display them with a Castle Grayskull and they'd blend in... of course the castle may look huge in comparison, but shouldn't it? They're a soft plastic with pretty good sculpting and decent paint. For a dollar each they look pretty good. My favorite is Orko, who came out perfect. Man At Arms unfortunately is the worst. His sculpt is ok, but there's just something off about him. He's not terrible, just could have used a little extra work overall.

I'm super happy to have these and hope there's another series. Even if it's just repaints, I'd be down. I love little oddball things like this. For the price they're hard to beat and fun to collect. I could see if there's ever a time that I slowed down on my toy collecting, things like this would likely be my outlet for toys. I'd be happy with mini figures and keshi. Especially when the quality is as good as it is here. This is a great little set of figures for a total of $5. They totally have the power. I'm not apologizing for that, you saw what you saw.

Seeing R.E.D Over MEGA SCF

The new Transformers R.E.D figures appearing on store shelves have been drawing a lot of comparisons to Action Masters due to the non-transforming nature of the figures. That's a fair comparison, but Action Masters aren't the only non-transforming Transformers toys (or even the first). I'd compare those more to the ReAction figures by Super7. While an Action Master has a little more articulation, they look similar. 

My mind instantly goes to MEGA SCF when looking at R.E.D figures. They're pretty similar in sculpting and honestly the R.E.D figures seem like an evolution of them more than anything. 

Super Collection Figure (SCF) was a blind box figurine line by Takara in the early 2000's that I was a very big fan of. Great little figurines that were perfect little representations of G1 Transformers based on their cartoon appearance. The line went from the early years to Victory before ending with Legends of the Microns (Armada). 

Hasbro brought the line to America as Heroes of Cybertron and was generally sold in smaller stores. I was in heaven with these figures and was pretty sad when it ended. They were very fun to buy and collect. I still  remember gathering around a table with a few others SCF fans at BotCon 2002 and talking about the different chase figures for what felt like hours. Shortly before the con, a local comic shop had a box of the Masterforce series and I bought the entire thing one Sunday morning. Having that Black Zarak build figure was something I was very proud of at the time.

As the line progressed the MEGA versions came out and they were a pretty big step up. Larger and featuring a good bit of articulation with extra parts for all sorts of scene recreations. Like regular SCF they ranged from various points in G1 and Armada. 

Some people make the comparisons to Revoltech when talking about the R.E.D figures. Those are nice, don't get me wrong, but their sculpting was very different. These look more in line with the sculpting style of R.E.D. Which admittedly is part of the draw to R.E.D for me. They seem like a continuation of a former line I liked a lot.

I'll just have to buy them too. 

Darn.

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.