Rodimus Prime (Kingdom)

 

Rodimus Prime is one of my favorite Transformers characters. Like Galvatron, after his introduction everything changed for the better. His latest figure is a large Commander Class figure that the Mrs gave me for Christmas. She knows how much I like him and this is one impressive gift. Like the Kingdom version of Galvatron, this Rodimus Prime works as both a Generations and Studio Series version of the toy. It's also a very pleasantly chunky robot toy that I had a lot of fun with. As you'd expect, Rodimus turns into his trademark Winnebago of Doom. What you probably didn't expect was the front 'cab' portion separates into the car Rodimus changed into as Hot Rod. As a kid, this is what I wanted the original to do. In a way, it makes him more like an Optimus Prime toy when the cab separates from the trailer.

The 'trailer' portion of the alt mode converts into a battle platform similar to the original toy. Now, however, the cannon is detachable and has treads for movement. It can be used as a portable weapon as well. There's plenty of connection ports in the battle deck for various Weaponizers and other add on fun. Rodimus comes with plenty of those energy action effect thingies, they make good blast effects for the cannon. Rodimus himself is contained within the car. This leads to my only dislike about the toy. I hated transforming it. He's a pretty tall robot that unfolds out of that car in not the most graceful manner. The end results are great, but the trip from A to B was a nightmare.

Transformation aside, in robot mode Rodimus is very sharp looking and well articulated. He has some great accessories including his Photon Eliminator rifle, Sword of Primus, and a Matrix of Autobot Leadership that stores nicely in his chest. There's even one of those energy effects thingies just for it! There already has been a Masterpiece Rodimus toy, but I am WAY more impressed with this figure than that one. There's even removable smoke for the smoke stacks! This is one of those toys that feel proud to own, like it could be a showcase piece. I've been really happy with Transformers toys in general over the past few years and this definitely is a solid example as to why.

Galvatron (Kingdom)

 

When it comes to Transformers, the movie and it's post years are a particularly favored era for me. The space opera, far out designs, and darker tone improves what was already a solid formula. Galvatron is a much more interesting villain than the earlier version of Megatron. Like Rodimus Prime with Optimus, he influenced the writers when it came to making Megatron more interesting. It seems like that to me anyway. This Kingdom version is something of an anomaly. It's the Generations version of Galvatron and the Studio Series 86 toy as well. Like Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus, it's clearly intended to fill both roles.

Galvatron will be re-released in Legacy sans the signature War for Cybertron battle damage deco as well. I'm ok with or without it, but you may have your preferences. I'm not sure if I'll get that Legacy version, but am really tempted on the Pulse exclusive version. I just like Galvatron, and I'm pretty fond of this toy as well. I'll admit though, to date my favorite version has been the Energon version. It's a mix of classic and update that's also really cool. This however, is a strong contender for that spot. 

The toy is 100% classic Galvatron. Robot mode to laser cannon, everything looks and feels right. A nice little extra touch is replacing his classic rifle with one that looks like the ship Unicron gave him in the movie. Another extra is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership dangling from a chain to be worn around his neck like in the movie. The gun and Matrix can be utilized in cannon mode and add a little extra to an already cool toy. I like both modes, but don't like transforming it. It's not hard or anything, I just don't enjoy the transformation. I'm not sure of there's an official laser gun mode, but sure one can be pulled off. The original wasn't that amazing to begin with. 

Galvatron is one of those great characters that doesn't always get the best toys. Usually the better ones have an all new design as the original is pretty hard to pull off. His cartoon appearance took some liberties with the toy design that went on to define the character. This is a good version. It looks great in both modes and is a solid toy as well. Plenty of articulation, the cannon is sturdy, and everything serves a purpose. This is another Christmas gift from the Mrs and it's a great one. He's big, evil looking, and imposing. All hail Galvatron!

Tigatron (Kingdom)

 

I was pretty happy to open up Tigatron on Christmas morning. He was one of the presents my wife gave me and what a great gift. I'd been looking forward to getting this new version of him since he was announced and having him is no disappointment. Tigatron is one of those great characters that I feel doesn't get as much attention as he should. The original toy was a repaint of the original Cheetor. In Kingdom he's a new mold but still definitely borrows Cheetor's engineering.

That's not a bad thing as they're both great toys. Though Tigatron is a voyager making him bigger than Cheetor's deluxe toy. That's super appropriate all things considered and feels more natural in hand. The bigger size is a definite improvement in the already solid design. His head sculpt really nails the look and once again Kingdom brings a toy that feels like it walked off the TV screen. If I had a complaint, it's that his gun doesn't work into the alt mode and merely pegs into his belly. That wouldn't be an issue if not for the fact that this is the trademark 'gut gun' and has the pink guts incorporated. I appreciate the gun being there, just wish it was worked into the toy a little better.

Tigatron is well articulated and transformed pretty easily. I can't stress just how much I appreciate him being a larger size. It's just more satisfying in hand. Even though I love smaller toys, there's nothing like a big robot toy. Some of the white parts are a different shade than others. I'm sure this is either a plastics issue or maybe the designers thought it made him look better. The white still looks great here and really contrasts well with the metallic teal of his robot parts. Tigatron has always been a really sharp looking character and that continues well here. This is one of those toys that feels more like a premium effort.

Ractonite

A long forgotten Christmas tradition is to tell scary ghost stories at night. That tradition is so forgotten that it seems totally out of place these days. You all know I like it spooky and can appreciate it as a counter point to all the sugar and spice. Admittedly my habit of listening to paranormal and true crime podcasts while at work is a regular thing anyway. But it does help alleviate some of the stress of the holiday season. With that in mind I thought looking at the spooky skeletal Fossilizers would be just the ticket! While I was getting sick this past summer the wife picked him up for me. He's been in my backlog since then and I'm glad I finally opened him up. I like Fossilizers as is. Nothing like a Transformer that's a skeleton that transforms into a skeleton. Add in that the body can be broken up and used as armor or weapons for other transformers and you've got quite a morbidly weird idea. They also remind of of Rock Lords and Bone Age.

Ractonite transforms into a triceratops. That's probably not the most accurate description of the exact dinosaur species represented here, but I'm pretty sure the dinosaurs never turned into robots either. It's a pretty good skeletal dinosaur. Decently articulated. Of course he can be split up and made into a variety of weapons and armor as a Fossilizer. There's a combiner you can make with them and these are the parts that make up it's torso and feet. Considering that he's the widest of the Fossilizers, you'd figure more would be used. I may do so whenever making mine. In robot mode there's a strong resemblance to Ribcage that I cannot ignore. If I was on whatever official board decided exclusives, there would definitely be a Fossilosaurus set pitched using these guys. However that gate is firmly kept by others.

Deep Cover (Netflix version)

Deep Cover is one of those characters who's been around for awhile but is just there. Literally a repaint who serves as only a background character. I'm not complaining though, because he's a cool repaint that pays tribute to Transformers history. Originally Sideswipe was made from a Diaclone mold which came in a few different variations. Deep Cover originally was a E-Hobby exclusive made from the early 2000's Sideswipe re-issue based on a version of New Countach LP500S.

Along comes the Siege version of Sideswipe and there's a version of Deep Cover based on that toy (which I sadly missed out on). Then oddly enough this Deep Cover was released in the Walmart exclusive Netflix War for Cybertron line. This time seemingly based on the G2 Sideswipe Go-Bots toy. Which is funny since a lot of folks thought Deep Cover was based on the regular Sideswipe G2 toy.

With all of that talk of different versions and repaints, I didn't talk about this toy very much. That's because it's another repaint of a toy that's gotten quite a lot of repaints. Deep Cover is based on the Siege Sidewipe mold which is a very good toy. I'm generally fond of Sideswipe toys and I liked Siege a whole lot. It's nice to revisit Siege and one of my favorite molds from it in such a cool way.

Deseeus Army Drone

There are some really good characters in the Transformers universe. This isn't one of them. I'm not being sarcastic, for you see the Deseeus Army Drone are literally just Drones used under the command of the Quintessons. This one specifically works for Deseeus, though I'd like to think the other judges have some as well. Going by the original cartoon creation story that the Transformers were created by the Quintessons before miraculously gaining sentience, it only makes sense that they'd have some non-living ones still in use. Not to mention, drones make for good generic soldiers and this literally is just that. If it looks familiar, that's because the Drone is a straight repaint of Siege Ironhide.

The Drone is a silver/grey robot with a lot of black undercoat. Clearly the War for Cybertron has caused some paint damage. The Cybertronian vehicle makes for a cool sci fi alt mode and with the gun mounted on top, it looks like a solid military grade vehicle form. Several of the Siege molds had that Diaclone flair and it works pretty good here. Really, I can't think of a better mold to use for this idea. I liked the Siege Ironhide mold a lot. I liked Siege a lot in general so it's nice to revisit it. The rifle can convert into a sledge hammer for some melee combat. Really, this is just a solid Transformers toy. The mold has gotten a lot of use and each time felt fresh. There's plenty of articulation and it looks the part. Deseeus Army Drone may have a funny name, but it's a great idea.

Shadow Panther, Best In The World

I'm looking forward to finding Kingdom Shadow Panther at my local stores. I've always liked the guy, it's a simple Cheetor repaint that just works. Part of my admiration for him comes from the way I got the original one. BotCon 2002 I was roaming the dealers room looking for some good deals. The dealers room was a lot more fun back then, more weird stuff, more of a community atmosphere. It really was a different world back then. You may not have known everyone, but you always felt you were part of something. I was looking around and a dealer had the Beast Wars Metals Jaguar X-9 (Beast Wars Ravage) figure for a really good price. I'm blanking a little now on the number, but it was a steal. I realized I only had about $20 bucks on me and needed to use the ATM machine. 

These days almost every dealer has one of those card readers for mobile devices or a way to process your card. Not so much back then, it was a cash only business. This usually meant the ATM's in the convention centers were always out of cash and you'd have to find an nearby one at a moments notice. Which is what happened and I found myself running to the adjacent parking lot machine. By the time I came back, all the X-9's the dealer had were gone and noticeably other dealers now had a X-9 for sale. Also noticeably marked up. While I was there in front of the dealer who originally was selling X-9 for a non-predatory price, I saw he had Shadow Panther really cheap. In box, unopened, super cheap. I had been wanting one and knew a sign from the universe when I see one. 

What's Your Sign? He's A Scorponok.

This past weekend I lucked up upon the newest Scorponok figure at my local Walmart. I've always liked the Beast Wars Scorponok and getting this newest version of him was something I wanted to do. His original toy is pretty fragile and I keep mine in storage wrapped up in bubble wrap to hopefully preserve the toy. Though time wrecks havoc on older translucent plastic and the figure is mostly composed of it. Definitely having a newer figure if most welcome. Of course I have countless copies of the McDonald's toy as well but you know what I mean. Not to mention, that's a figure of Creepy with the wrong name, I'm convinced. 

Scorponok looks like he walked off the TV from an episode of Beast Wars, the CGI wasn't that bad give it up. It's a really solid representation of him, but admittedly a little squat. That doesn't bother me though, there's bound the be a little leeway to make that design work in a real world object. The show model wasn't super toy accurate mind you. The transformation wasn't my favorite though. Not necessarily horrible, just a little less than stellar when it comes to his hips and chest. Basically the legs both fold up into his tail and the hips fit up with his robot mode into his chest. It's not hard, just a little fiddly. It was for me anyway, I also had a little trouble getting his beast mode head in and out of position. I pinched the shit out of my finger, so it was probably me being fat fingered.

Scorponok comes with his missile pods and infamous Cyberbee. They store neatly in his claws, so you don't really have to take them out. In all honestly, the implementation of these wasn't something super amazing to pull off. I was so happy to see them that you'd think it was. Love that damn cyberbee. I can see a Quickstrike being made from the engineering and hope that happens. That's another toy I'm a little nervous about. I'd gladly welcome Sandstorm or Double Punch... but would want a Double Punch more. I can't help but to want a Scorp made from the toy, you guys know I love my Gobots. Scorponok is a good toy and a great update of a classic character. I was initially stoked to see that he was getting a new figure and had a great time playing with him in my living room. Like a grown ass man would.

Giving You The Wingfinger

I was happy to find Wingfinger at my local Walmart this past Sunday. He's a Fossilizer, something I'm quite fond of. There's nothing like a robot skeleton dinosaur that can be broken apart to become weapons or armor for other Transformers. Wingfinger transforms into a pterodactyl skeleton giving him a much more thin body than other more bulky bots. Frankly it makes me think of Beast Machines era toys and I liked those, so it's a good thing to be reminded of. Thanks to his thin build, you get a robot who comes off like a skeletal Eva unit. It's a good look and a bit of variety in the mostly traditional area that Generations toys live in.

Beastly Kindgom

The third part of the Netflix War for Cybertron trilogy: Kingdom debuted over the last weekend. As much of a Beast Wars fan as I am, I was pretty hesitant as the show so far has been pretty hit or miss. I enjoyed Siege for the most part, even though it wasn't great. Earthrise... was pretty disappointing. I went in expecting a repeat of Siege and still don't know what I watched. Even online synopsis's doesn't fill me in anymore than what I gathered from watching it. 

So going into Kingdom, I was tempered. I love my Beast Wars but knew this wasn't going to be the same. Pleasantly, it's been the best out of the three mini series. I'm nowhere near saying it's perfect, but I've enjoyed it for the most part. Seeing the classic cast teamed up with the BW gang is exhilarating, even if each is different from their original show counterparts.

I haven't been fond of some of the voice work in the overall trilogy as is, but some of the new voices I outright don't like. I liked Dinobot's arc a lot, that was a pretty good new way to tell an old story. It felt fitting. The show wraps up the trilogy. I wish I could sat neatly, but it's far from perfect. Still, it's the better of the three installments and a fun watch.

Boss Monkey

I've been pretty excited Kingdom toys to come out. I figured it'd be around March when they started showing up, so imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon Optimus Primal at Target when running a few errands this morning. He was the only one out, so I don't know if I just got lucky or one found it's way out from the back. The rest of the section looks much like it did about two weeks ago. Well, aside from a fancy new section header. So maybe the rest will get stocked soon.

I was thankful to get him too. I love Transformers as a whole, but the beast era is without a doubt my favorite part. An updated gorilla Primal as part of the main line is just the bit of awesome I need to kick off what I hope to be a great year. 

Optimus is a voyager class toy who's a little smaller than they've been in the past. I recall reading somewhere that Kingdom toys would be, but mentally put it in the rumors section of my mind. Oddly enough he's about the size of a Beast Wars mega class toy, but more expensive than the ultra class. Which was what they called voyagers back then. Things change dude.

If you're new to Transformers, Optimus Primal isn't Optimus Prime and doesn't turn into a truck. He usually turns into a gorilla. Aside from his initial figure that is, which I really hope gets a core class update. This new toy is an update of the first gorilla Optimus Primal toy which he's most associated with. I've always liked the way this design looks. The mix of classic Optimus with King Kong is just fabulous. It just looks great.

In robot mode he looks ready to kick some ass. Big, beefy, and brandishing those trademarked swords. Speaking of those swords, Optimus retains his shoulder cannons and wrist guns from the original toy. He's missing that rad skull mace, however you can still get it separately. Primal has a lot of articulation, more than I initially thought he had. It's pretty neat and I'm sure those who pose their figures better are having a lot of fun with it.

Transformation is pretty easy. A common problem people had with beast era transformations is that they essentially stood up to transform. I don't have that problem, so I don't mind it. Just like Optimus Prime, Prowl, Bumblebee, and a lot of transformers before the beast era, Primal pretty much stands up to transform. You do adjust his limbs and twist around his hips to properly position them while arranging the back panels into place. The chest opens up to flip around his robot head and beast head out. It's pretty easy. I did have a little problem getting the beast head tucked away when transforming back into robot mode though. Not to the fault of the toy, I was just being a klutz. 

Those swords I talked about up above store on his back in beast mode. There may be another place more inconspicuous to put them, but a giant gorilla carrying swords is pretty hard to not want. That gorilla has some well sculpted hair and a much better face than the original. I'm pretty happy with this guy. I had been looking forward to this so hard that getting one practically made me shit my pants. Don't look at me like that. I had Pizza Hut. I'm pretty surprised to find these already at physical retail and I'm not complaining either. This is a good update to a classic toy and I really hope that positive lead continues. I'm super looking forward to more Kingdom toys and hoping mainline beast warriors are here to stay.

Soundwave Superior

Another of my Christmas gifts from the Mrs. was the new Netflix War for Cybertron Soundwave. Like all other Netflix Transformers toys, he's exclusive to Walmart and quite the hot commodity right now. While most of the Netflix lines is repaints of prior Siege and Earthrise toys, Soundwave is a remold of his Siege toy. In Siege he had a pretty G1 faithful robot mode and turned into some kind of space ship. Now with a few remolded parts, he can turn into a very faithful version of his G1 tape player mode. 

This gives fans the best homage of the original Soundwave as a Generations toy. Prior to that was the Masterpiece toy which can command a pretty high price these days and may not be as easy to find. Now you can easily go to your local Walmart and pick one up for $40. Not a bad deal at all. Now the only issue is if he's in stock, which results may vary.

Like I said, he's a very faithful recreation of the Soundwave from G1 and looks very much like his cartoon appearance. He even comes with a Laserbeak and Ravage. Those are direct reissues of the Siege versions as far as I can tell. I'm a big fan of the Laserbeak, though Ravage is a much blockier cat than you expect going in. I don't mind it, but there's no ignoring it either.

Soundwave can store a single cassette in his tape door and the eject button opens the door as you'd expect going in. The transformation from robot to tape deck is pretty simple and not very much different from the original G1/Microman toy. You do have to get a few things exactly right or he won't tab together correctly. It's not too hard thankfully.

Soundwave overall is pretty great. I already really liked the Siege version. I can't really complain about an improved version of it. He's classic G1 Soundwave with modern toy upgrades such as plentiful articulation. When you buy this, you know 100% what you're buying it for and you're getting exactly that. 

I'm not sure if he can still change into the spaceship mode the original Siege toy has. I didn't even bother trying, I already have that toy (and Soundblaster) and wanted this for the obvious reasons. I don't really have anything to complain about either. Though have seen some complaints about some of the random gaps in robot mode from part storage in alt mode.

That's kinda a 'is what it is' thing with Transformers though, just going to happen sometimes. I've seen others complain that it's another G1 update, which is another 'is what it is' thing. Hasbro is a big successful company, their going to do what makes them money. That's just how the world works. It is what it is.

For me, Soundwave is another one of those classic characters I just can't get enough of. I don't mind when they get experimental with him or when they do something like this. He's one of the more iconic parts of Transformers and as the line approaches 40 years it's legacy is going to be more and more important. They'll make a brand new looking Batman and release a traditional one right after. They'll be a new bad guy in Star Wars and a updated Darth Vader figure on the hooks as well. That's just how legacy brands work and I don't have a problem with that. I'm happy to have another updated classic Soundwave.

Netflix Bumblebee And Chill

One of my Christmas gifts from my wife was the new Netflix deluxe Bumblebee. Part of the War for Cybertron series exclusive to Walmart, I was really excited when I opened him up. I really wanted this one. Y'all know I love me some Bumblebee. Unlike prior Classics or Generations style Bumblebee figures, this one turns into his classic VW Bug alt mode. I've never complained about the sporty hatchback they've used in it's place, but man I do love that classic look.

Bumblbee is a re-shelling of the skeleton used for Earthrise Cliffjumper (I also have him). Which means literally the same thing it meant for the G1/Microman versions of the toy. Same skeleton, different car parts and head. So if you liked one, then you'll like the other. Probably. 

There's also a Bugbite and Hubcap version of the mold and I must get the Bugbite. Ever since that old E-Hobby set, I've had a thing for Bugbite. I'm going to say Bugbite one more time.

Bugbite. 

Bumblebee has the same big ass gun that Cliffjumper had. It can be split into 2-3 smaller guns, which fit Bumblebee better. The back stock of the big gun can be unfolded and used with the guns, but all I could ever come up with was a panini press which is just silly. He's fighting a War for Cybertron, there's no time for lunch.

The back windshield/roof of the car can also be used as a shield. Which anyone who's had a pine comb fall on their car while driving or a rock hit their windshield can tell you is a horrible idea. But once again, alien robots from outer space who disguise themselves among humans as dinosaurs. Reality isn't their strong suit.

I hope Bumblebee doesn't try to run holding that big gun. He's gonna trip and bust his bumble ass.

Bumblebee is exactly what you'd be expecting when buying a War for Cybertron toy. That's a very faithful updated toy of a classic character. There's no mistaking classic G1 Bee when you see him and that's him 100%. As a toy he's pretty well articulated with a variety of joints. If scales your thing, you should be pleased that he's fairly to scale with other Generations figures appropriately to character. I think that made sense.

Transformation isn't too difficult, though I did have problems getting everything to fit in at first. I admittedly use baby hands when transforming these things as to not accidentally break my toy. I have big grown man hands things can happen. That being said, I couldn't get that back portion to sit in flush with the rest of the car. I probably did something wrong.

Overall, I really like this figure. Not in that "Rob likes everything" way (I'm that weirdo that enjoys his hobbies), but as in I was very pleased with him outside of expectations. I've been a fan of the War for Cybertron toys (as you know) and this is another really good one. It feels like Bumblebee walked off my TV screen and awkwardly posed on a TV tray in my living room.

Buzzworthy Like A Bee

Leaked images of a Bumblebee toy has been hitting the news site all night. Buzzworthy Bumblebee, which appears to be a core class Bumblebee and a Spike partner figure. There's a War for Cybertron logo on the packaging. Speculation to the toys home on the retail shelves is rampant and I guess time will tell on that.

What's got my attention is a a partner figure two pack. I loved this basic concept in Power Core Combiners and the Legend with Targetmasters in Generations. 

I'm hoping this is a new small market line. This is the ideal thing to pop into a Walgreens and pick up along with a Pepsi and one of those Andes Mints candy bars. The small size and partner figures make for good random repaints for random oddball characters. That Spike could be made into somebody else and paired with somebody else repainted as somebody else. Know who's all in for that? Somebody like me. Who else?

Tonight On Kate And Allicon

Sharkticon this, Sharkticon that. Where it's really at in on Quintessa is the ranks of the Allicons. An Allicon generally works guard duty for the Judges and other higher ranking Quintessons. They're squat little bots that turn into weird mutant alligator things. Quintessa is a weird place.

The War for Cybertron trilogy continues to deliver exactly the Transformers product I want. This new toy of the Allicon is part of the Earthrise line and might I say they did one awesome job.

In robot mode, it's a short and squat fellow with some spikey armor and trademark spear. Looking directly out of the 1986 movie and pretty well articulated to boot. I really like this toy.

 

It's not an unfair comparison to call the alt mode a robot Street Shark despite these little monsters coming first. That's where your mind will likely go to when you see that characterful sculpt. One again in alligator freak mode, the toy looks like it just hoped off my TV screen. That is awesome.

Transformation is pretty easy, but just involved enough to get everything in place. This is how most Earthrise Transformers have been and I've been thankful for that. Looks like they hired some designers who were able to get a toy from faithful mode A to faithful mode B without accidentally calling forth Pinhead. Little swivel of the waist, locking parts into place, and you've got the weird robot alien alligator mode the guards turn into. 

Quentessons are so wonderfully weird that their far out designs contrast nicely against things like a realistic truck. Groovy weirdos from space man. Dig it.

 

The tip of the space gator's tail is also an additional sword as well as the spear can store on the space gator's back. The sword blends in seamless with the tail but the spear is kinda just mounted. That's probably a strike against the toy for some, but I thought it looked like he was wearing it on his back. The spear can be mounted in either mode or held by both arms. For those moments he'd need to poke somebody. 

I wish I could find something negative to say about this toy. I'm lying, I'm glad I have nothing bad to say about this toy. It's perfectly perfect and I love it. Hasbro and Takara Tomy really nailed it this time. I'm tempted to get a few extra to troop build. The Earthrise Allicon is a great little figure that looks like the character just walked off the screen during a viewing of Five Faces of Darkness. That ain't bad y'all, that ain't bad.

Astro Squad Shuttle To Earthrise

I was pretty happy to find the new Earthrise Micromasters at Target this weekend. I know I don't have to explain my love for Micromasters. I'd hope you've figured it out by now. As the norm since Siege, current Micromaster teams are released as a two pack. 

Fuzer (Phaser in G1) and Blast Master are members of the Autobot Micromaster Astro Squad and combiners as well. Instead of a bigger robot though, the two combine to form a vehicle together. In this case, a Space Shuttle. Duh.

These two are pretty great. I loved the original Astro Squad and I'm really happy with this update. The updated articulation of modern Micromasters is really good here. Not to mention, the space shuttle colors and kibble makes for good looking robots. The additional reds and blues with those little hints of grey really pops.

While I really love Fuzer's molded in pistols, I like Blast Master a little more. The proportions from being the rear section of the shuttle makes for a great looking bot. It's a slim fraction in his favor against his team mate. Both are  great.

If I have any complaints, it would be limited more to my big fingers and folding together everything to make the combined shuttle mode. Which isn't any fault of the toys. I promise it comes together better than it does in the picture. Somebody just didn't take a new picture once he had them better assembled. Whoops. Once again, it's a great set and a solid update of an older couple of figures. If you're a fan of Micromasters, then you're going to be happy with these two. I sure am.

Beastly Kingdom Come

WFCキングダムのチーター、ブラックアラクニア、ワーパスかもしれない画像 https://t.co/641aBolRJS pic.twitter.com/OWKnm7A54I

— オートベース愛知 (@autobase_aichi) August 26, 2020

More Kingdom toys leaked out today and holy crap they look amazing. We get a look at Cheetor, Blackarachnia, and Warpath. Obviously Warpath stands out next to the Beast Warriors, but seeing as Kingdom is a mix of G1 and BW, it's good to see him there. Honestly, back in the beast era, I wanted a mix of old and new. In Kingdom I'm seemingly getting that. This whole Generations War For Cybertron trilogy has been a really good series for me as a fan.

I've gotten a nice assortment of different Transformers flavors and have generally liked all of it. Kingdom is still a ways off. While I'm hotly anticipating it, I'm still loving Earthrise as well. It's is weird how the Netflix series and tie in toys are a year behind the main toyline. It's making this trilogy work out in the timeline of a tetralogy. I'm not complaining either, I love it. By all means give it some extra time.

Basically Cloned To The Core

There's been talk of Kingdom lately in the Transformers world. The third part of the War for Cybertron trilogy, which has a heavy Beast Wars focus. Of course I'm ecstatic for this, but that's not what we're here today for. 

From the leaked information, the new small figure class is called core class. Sadly this looks to be taking over the smaller 'Masters' figures from the past few years I love so dearly. Though other recent news and the hope that they'll be used for a discount line like Mini-Cons formerly were. Maybe they're not completely done. 

Recently, the Decepticon Clone molds from Titans Return made a return as a two pack. They're specifically a part of the Earthrise line and with their distinctly different build than other recent WFC figures this had lead to a fan theory that I'm subscribing to.

A few years ago when the new Clone molds were introduced, many took notice that they weren't the Legends class figures that were the standard for smaller figures at the time. Small figures, yes, but their own thing. Now here we are with the Clones making another appearance before Kingdom starts. The theory is core class figures are of similar construction to the Clones. 

Now that's just been a theory without any real backbone. For all we know Core Class could have been a new name for Legends Class. After all, Legion Class was originally Legend Class and Commander Class got renamed Legends Class. Confused? Me too, and I'm explaining it. If it's one thing I wish Hasbro would improve, it's the naming system. 

Confusing class naming aside, there was nothing to say there was anything more to the theory. Then Rattrap got leaked today. Rattrap is one of the listed Core Class figures. Who indeed has a similar build to the Clones. Well, damn.

Core Class isn't a renamed Legends class after all and a new thing right? Well not exactly, older fans probably had a sense of familiarity when playing with the Clones. 

I don't mean as in a homage either, they felt familiar. It wasn't until I saw the Rattrap pictures today that it fully dawned on me why this was so familiar. Core Class is seemingly the return of Basic Class Transformers, who were a big part of Beast Wars. The original Rattrap was a Basic Class Transformer. Of course like other early Beast Wars Basic Class toys, the original had a spring loaded transformation. This gimmick was abandoned early on and if you'll look at a Transmetal 2 Basic Class figure, you'll see a strong similarity in construction. 

What happened to Basic Class? Well, by Cybertron it was renamed to Scout Class. Scout figures were phased out as Dark of the Moon toys introduced Cyberverse as the smaller class. With the then newly renamed Legions and Commander Class figures, this stuck around throughout the Prime toy line with a new Legends Class taking over in Generations. Hasbro later used the Cyberverse name, which we're all familiar with as it's still running and in it is the new Scout Class smaller Transformers. 

Somewhere there's a hole in the dimensional fabric from trying to explain that.

Snapdragon 64, Get N Or Get Out

My wife picked up Earthrise Snapdragon for me the other day and I was super thankful. I've been really looking forward to this guy for some time now. Like most recent Generations toys, he's a pretty slavish homage to the original toy. If you've heard the term 'G1 with knees' then you have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. If that's something you don't like... then why do you keep pre-ordering them? 

Snapdragon is a Headmaster like his original toy. They don't make too big of a fuss over this on the packaging and don't refer to him as a Titanmaster either. Like Apeface in Siege before, it's an evolution of Titans Return toys in use here. Basically a modern Headmaster toy. It took a few sentences to explain that, which I wish could have been expressed in an emoji. I save so much time with that poop one.

As you'd expect from his name, Snapdragon transforms into a dragon. Admittedly he's more the type of dragon you'd see at a monster truck show than fighting a knight. An alien robot from outer space can only be so realistic when transforming into an imaginary animal. There's a lot of charm to this dragon mode however, it might just be me being a fan of these old designs admittedly. He's weird and blocky and that's one of the more lovable aspects of post movie G1.

Remember the part about Snapdragon being a Headmaster? Krunk, his Headmaster partner pulls double duty. He forms both the dragon and robots head in addition to piloting the vehicle mode. Honestly that's one of the things I love about Headmasters/Titanmasters, the piloting vehicle modes. It draws back to the Transformers Diaclone roots and honestly is a fun play feature.

Speaking of Snapdragron's vehicle mode, his is a spaceship based on the SR-71. I've always called this kind of vehicle a spacejet, because obviously. I absolutely love this mode. It's got that classic 80's styling that always looks great and I just want to fly him around while making flying noises. With triple changers one of the alt modes is generally superior to the other and this is that one. While I do like the dragon a lot, I love this more. 

That's partially due to the transformation. I didn't enjoy the change to dragon mode, while the conversion to spacejet was pretty painless. That's pretty much the one complaint I have and it's likely just me being clumsy. Nothing is perfect, and the idea of a perfect toy line is completely subjective to opinion. So far though, Earthrise has been as perfect as a Transformers line can be for me.

Transform Squadron 23- War For Walmart

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Rob’s back for this August of 2020 edition talking about Siege on Netflix, and toys he wants at Walmart. Transformers, GIJOE, He-Man, and kaiju are all discussed as well as the incoming Halloween season. Also sneezing cats!