Nucleous [Legacy United/Deluxe Class]

We've got another Armorizer to look at and it might just be the coolest yet. Nucleous is a heavy remold of Magneous with a lot of new parts. Like most Armorizers, Nucleous can be split apart into pieces to form armor or weapons for other Transformers figures. However they might want to be careful, because as his name suggests, Nucleous is composed of raw Nucleon! To much exposure could cost them the ability to Transform! Or in the case of the Marvel comics, eventually shut down completely. That stuffs dangerous, and he's a living rock creature made out of it. Oddly enough, raw Nucleon looks a lot like milky quartz.

I quite like Nucleous's looks. He's a mixture of living rock and radical robot. Love that head sculpt. Transformation to rock car is pretty easy as it's  the same as Magneous. There's not need to split up the parts, though the 'car' roof part that can either mount on his back or be used as a shield will need to be adjusted a little as one of the rocky rocket pods has to fit under it. Those rocket pods, BTW, combine to form a club for Nucleous... or I guess a torch similar to Magmar's weapon.  Nucleous is a really cool addition to the Armorizer ranks, and despite being a remold/recolor feels like a brand new toy. I'm admittedly smitten with these new rock robots. I love the homage to past lines and their connection to Inhumanoids. These are some cool toys, and that's a rock fact!

Shard (Legacy United/Deluxe Class)

After what felt like a long wait, a new Armorizer is available. Shard is an all new Rock Lord inspired Transformer from the Infernac Universe making her first appearance as a toy. Shard is specifically made of Death Crystals from the Planet Dread and was directly inspired by Solitaire, making her a Jewel Lord homage. As someone who loves multiple layers of homage, Shard is really cool. I know what you're thinking, how come all these rock Transformers don't fly? Well, this one can! She transforms into a helicopter made of jewels which is a neat looking visual. While it might not be the most realistic... look, if realism is what you're after... you've got the wrong toy line.

The Death Crystals create a sharp and pointy looking Armorizer topped off by the helicopter blades doubling as swords. I'm also fond of the turbines that double as cannons. The swords can be inserted in the cannons as well meaning Shard will outright shoot a sword at you. That's harsh. Transformation is fairly easy. After the past few figures, I was pleasantly surprised for everything to just go into place without much trouble. Like the other Armorizers, Shard doesn't disassemble during transformation. I did accidentally remove a limb or two while doing so, but that was just from clumsiness. The helicopter is quite cool looking and comes off like a variation of the Stone Wing. That was probably not intentional, but my mind went there. I like the absurdness of a vehicle made of stone/jewel flying. Of course as an Armorizer, Shard can be disassembled and made into armor and weapons for regular compatible Transformers. Considering how sharp and pointy she is, you can imagine some really striking combinations. I'm extremely happy with Shard as I've been with all the Armorizers. So far there hasn't been one I like and of course I love the concept. It's a rock fact.

The Inhumanoids Were Pretty Fucked Up

I've mentioned the satanic panic of the 80's and 90's here before (and probably will again). As if being a kid was scary enough, go ahead and add in most adults telling you the devil was literally everywhere. Yeah, great. Looking back as an adult, it was all pretty silly in retrospect. Though in some cases I can kinda see where they were coming from. The Inhumanoids by Hasbro... yeah... they kinda had a point. 

The toy line was mostly composed of nightmarish monsters. The requisite cartoon? Pure hell on Earth animated by Sunbow. It's almost as if the creators watched The Evil Dead and asked "what of Ash had awesome armor?". In theory (I accidentally spelled that thewory and I'm not sure that was wrong in this case), it's all perfect for toys and a cartoon. Good guys in super cool armor with super cool weapons and vehicles fighting monsters. Throw in the fact that some monsters are there to help the good guys and everything sounds perfect. 

Somewhere along the line, somebody decided kids didn't shit their pants often enough.