Transformers War For Cybertron (Siege and Earthrise); Astrotrain: All aboard the murder Choo Choo!... wait, wrong one...

Before getting started, I do have to make a quick announcement. Due to the state of the world right now, I've revived a Patreon account to try and ease the blow that is basically the world shutting down due to the Coronavirus. It has affected me pretty hard, due to my main work being Events Operations, so if you do enjoy the work that I do (which should be coming out more consistently due to all the extra free time I have), and you are in a position where you can help, please support me on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/mediaholics), and hopefully, the state of the world isn't like this for too long. If you start seeing an influx of older toys, older shows, movies, games etc in the coming months from both sites, this is the reason why. Anyway...

Sharing releases between both Siege and Earthrise (supposedly, I hear reports of him coming out in Siege but based on Australia's releases, the only two leaders were Magnus and Shockwave*), to make up for the Titans Return Astrotrain being more sci-fi themed, we get a modern recreation of G1 Astrotrain... in the toy line that wanted to be more sci-fi themed but didn't want to commit to it... On top of that, Astrotrain has a similar issue to what Siege Shockwave had and came out smaller than the Titans Return Tripple changers that people actually like, and it felt like Siege AT was brushed aside too early. Of course, me and my dumb decisions decided to pick up this one first and not the Leader Optimus, thinking that AT would be the harder of the two to find now we can at least see if the pre-release hate was justified.

Starting in Train mode, and for better or worse, this is an updated version of the G1 toy, something that I don't think works as an advantage, but as a disadvantage. To achieve the Triple Changer ability in the '80s, a lot of Transformers like Astrotrain had parts of alt modes basically bolted onto them to make modes pass off as something more than a brick with vehicle parts. This is a brick with vehicle parts. While it looks nice with all the paint and sculpt details, and I love the fact that most of the purple is not going to be seen in the shuttle mode, things like the main train wheels still look like they're bolted on, and when looking at the new Tinder accessory that he comes with, it just comes off as Astrotrain having no idea what he's supposed to be travelling on. Does he need train tracks? how do those work when the wheels can't be on the same set of tracks? Why does the tinder have tank treads along with regular wheels? It just comes off as a mess of design styles that encapsulates my issues with the War for Cybertron Aesthetic conflicts. At least the Tinder acts as a great way to store all the weapons in this mode?

While the space shuttle mode does suffer in the looks department due to the other modes, I find it to be the more enduring mode. It's a loveable awkwardness that the train mode has to an extent, but it feels like they were trying to make it as close as possible to a real train that the issues are more blatant. Details like the "clearly not the front train wheel slabs" looking more like canons work better, and honestly could have been great if they had effects parts plugs on them, the brick that the nosecone peaks out of, it's funny to me. One thing that I'll admit is a issue is the section that houses the tailfin when it's not needed for the other modes. It looks ugly, gappy, and overall unpleasant to look at with no real way to hide it (not without a 3D Printer at least). The Tinder's integration in this mode does work really nicely as well, becoming a launch platform for the space shuttle that can also connect to other bases. However...

Minor tangent for the Adaptable Interconnection Retrofitter Lock System, or A.I.R Lock System. While I love the idea of these interconnecting to form layouts for the Micromasters to drive on, it does sting that they can't connect to the connection points used in Titans Return, seeing as they're not against bringing back older gimmicks for the toyline, such as the Titans Return integration for Jetfire, Apeface and the upcoming Snapdragon. Apparently, Omega Supreme can connect to both the old system and the new system, though I can't confirm that. It still would have been nice if at least some of the Battlemasters could act as a bridge between the Titans Return connectors and the new system.

To the robot mode, while yes I would have liked it to be taller, it's still a great looking robot mode. The animation colour scheme, along with the WFC articulation easily make it the better toy when compared to the Titans Return release. It's effortless to pose him, and a lot of fun to mess with, especially as he joins Generations Roadbuster and Age of Extinction Hound (among others) in the "Overcompensating in the gear department", with his usual gun, two rifles, a machine gun and a rocket launcher, all of which can be used to tool him up with C.O.M.B.A.T ports, or be stuck together to form a massive Frag you cannon. Even the cyber mud battle damage looks great here because it doesn't ruin the look of the toy, and it works nicely in the space shuttle mode. Unfortunately, the Tinder is dead weight in this mode, as all you can do with it is give Astrotrain slightly taller shoes, and an ugly backpack which ruins the look from the back. It would have been great if it could have been a shield, maybe bigger shoes to put him in line with his Titans Return companions, but as is, you're better off treating it like Earthrise Optimus' trailer, left to the side.

Though I've listed a lot of issues with this toy, in truth, I really enjoy it. The issues I have with it, subjectively, are relatively minor to me. Though I wish it wasn't so faithful to G1 that it could have taken some liberties to keep in the spirit of the character, that's kind of what the Titans Return one was, so it's hard to blame them for making a more faithful one for those wanting a faithful toy. If you can justify the cost right now, he's worth picking up. As I mentioned at the start of this review, things are going to be rough for a while, and if you want to support what I do, please consider supporting it on Patreon, or just sharing it around.

*This is an attempt at satire mocking the state of Hasbro's Australia distribution.

Top 10 Transformers Purchased in 2019

With a new year and a new decade upon us, I thought it might be nice to look back on what's been, because 2019 was a solid year for Transformers. Siege was a huge step up over Power of the Primes, Cyberverse gave characters not cast in plastic for several years a new chance on life, and Studio Series continues to replicate the movie designs (whether or not this is a good thing or not depends on your view of the movie designs). With 2020 looking to continue the upward trend, and even improve on the engineering in Cyberverse, I thought I might look back at the 10 best figures I obtained in 2019. They don't need to be released this year, they don't have to be objectively the best, just the stuff that I've enjoyed the most that I obtained this year.

10. Cyberverse Skybyte

While the spark armour gimmick of the Cyberverse line was more of a mess then I'd hoped for, I will admit that Skybyte on his own was a nice figure. Basic engineering, but fitting for what is basically a Legends Class toy. As good as previous Skybyte toys? No idea, this is the only one I own, but perfectly serviceable. A fun toy to fidget with, thanks to the basic, but to the point transformation and small size. Besides, it's nice to see something other then G1 get nostalgia love.

9. Siege Shockwave

I like a good spaceship Transformer every now and then, and while many purists might not like all the extra stuff added in to turn a space gun into a spaceship, it doesn't take away from how playable Shockwave is. If you want to completely ignore the armour, you've still got a good voyager sized Shockwave that turns into the space gun. At the end of the day, I love toys that are fun to mess with, that don't feel like they're going to break if you do something wrong. Shockwave's fun, a strong release in Siege bogged down in the controversy of all the extra plastic that a lot of people didn't want but had to get to avoid the "you're selling a gun to my child" controversy. He also looks great in black, at least based on pictures I've seen.

8. Studio Series Hightower

I had to put this thing somewhere on the list. Is it a good toy? No, but it's hilarious that it exists at all, considering as the design itself is universally hated. I'm not against non-humanoid robot designs, but Hightower's design is a joke, and that's honestly the best thing about it. I love how stupid this thing looks, I find it hilarious that someone legitimately thought that this was a cool design. Until the rest of Devastator comes out, and even probably after, this guy has the title of the funniest transformers I have, and for that alone, he makes the list.

7. Siege Micromasters

I'm lumping all of them together for this one (except for Wave 5, I'm missing those two), as, like Skybyte, they're fun to fiddle around with, and with Earthrise teasing at Micromaster bases in the future, it'll be fun to have a modern take on the Micromaster play pattern. If I had to pick a favorite of the wave 1 moulds, it would have to be the one used for Flak, along with Roadhandler at number 2, Lazerbeak at number 3. All I can really say is "more Micromasters please, and try to refresh the stock here once in a while, I'm sick of seeing Wave 2 on shelves! (While you're at it, for the love of Primus, stop putting Studio Series Blackout and Grimlock on shelves!)

6. Siege Jetfire

Jetfire is probably one of my favourite characters in Transformers, so from the announcement of it happening, I was onboard for Siege's take. The end result is a fun display piece. As good as third party offerings of Skyfire? No, but again, it's that playability that I enjoy in collecting Transformers, so while Siege Jetfire might not be as amazing as the Fanstoys one, but he can certainly outgun him. A very minor complaint of mine is that I wish he had a bit more weight in him. He feels a bit too light for someone of that size. Not KO levels of light, nowhere near it. It might just be a me thing because while I'm not what you'd call buff, my job requires moving heavy stuff around.

5. Studio Series Dropkick (Car mode)

Why aren't their more muscle car transformers? I'm not joking around here, there are a surprisingly large amount of vehicles that have the potential to be cool transformers, but you never see them (or rarely see them at best), with Muscle cars being one of them. It's why I've enjoyed the car forms of Bumblebee villains Shatter and Dropkick. While Shatter has a bad kibble problem, Dropkick's

4. Studio Series Scrapmetal

What've I've enjoyed the most about figures in the Studio Series line like Scrapmetal is that while they've taken creative liberties, to me at least they're creative liberties that improve the looks of the characters, decluttering the movie designs and making them stronger as a result. To me, while there are parts of the movie designs I like, they always look messy with parts overkill cluttering the look, and parts coming out of nowhere to make it look even worse at times (I swear movie 1 Bumblebee has two engines for feet). The simplification for the sake of making working toys does mean that we get nicer looking designs (for the main body at least), and Scrapmetal is probably the best example of this. It's nice as a standalone toy, and I'm curious to see how well it holds up as Devastator's left hand.

3. Siege Impactor

A long-awaited figure to join The Wreckers, and one that certainly didn't disappoint. While locking the IDW head behind a US exclusive is annoying, the original looking head still looks great and doesn't detract away from how great of an overall figure Impactor is. It's strong, commanding, might have been better as a voyager, but there's still a clear presence to him on a shelf, in both tank mode and robot mode. Perfectly fitting his long-awaited arrival as an official toy. Would have been nicer though if his legs weren't so visibly hollow though.

2. Siege Spinister

From an absolute nobody that no one expected to be any good, to what many, myself included, view as one of the best Siege toys released, and also the best helicopter Transformer released (though when your competition includes Studio Series Dropkick, there's not that much competition in it). Spinister's a lot of fun to mess around with, movement feels effortless, the transformation is fun, there's very little I can actually fault him for, and what faults I have, most of them I can easily look past for the sake of the overall figure. If you could only get one figure in Siege, get Spinister.

Before moving on, a few honourable mentions

• Siege Skywarp: Fun in a squad, just wish those Rainmakers weren't US exclusives
• Studio Series Drift (Helicopter): A bit too much kibble on him for my liking, but it's a far better Helicopter then Dropkick's one was
• Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime: I really wanted to love this thing, but the Ultra Magnus retools get in the way, and to this day I still don't know how those shoulder pads are meant to store in space fire truck mode.
• Studio Series Ironhide: Honestly the biggest issue with this guy has just been the release schedules of Studio Series with entire waves being almost impossible to find on shelves while older stock keeps being brought in and shelf warming.
• Siege Optimus Prime: I've got more to say about him in the new year, as a joint review of him and Takara's Nemesis repaint is a goal of mine to cover. A lot of fun to mess around with though, I just don't want to give it to the toy that's guaranteed to be good because it's Optimus Prime

And for number 1...

 Galaxy Force Megatron

A collection such as toy collecting is a representation of who you are. The stuff you gravitate towards tells a bit about yourself, what you enjoy, what you hate. It's an amazing feeling to find a grail from your childhood, something you've wanted for a long time and now finally own, and Galaxy Force/ Cybertron Megatron was one of my grail pieces. While I was introduced to Transformers in late Armada/ early Energon, Cybertron design-wise was a line that felt like it could do no wrong for me as a child, and even to this day holds a special place in my heart. If I had the space and the money, I'd probably try and put together a complete collection of that line. I'll admit Megs isn't quite as graceful about gimmick integration as Optimus is, but he still has a presence to him that I do think some incarnations lack. For that reason, Galaxy Force Megatron is my number 1 Transformer toy purchased in 2019.

With that, it'll be interesting to see what happens in 2020. I've got some things lined up, like a review of the Generations Selects Seacons, a goal of mine is to try and track down a MakeToys Thunder Manus so if that happens, you'll see that as a review. Studio Series Devastator is still happening as far as I know, and Earthrise looks to have a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline if leaks are to be believed (I'm hyped for Snapdragon and Doubledealer).

Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Prowl and Barricade: Good Cop and Bad Cop

As with tradition, whenever one of a large handful of characters gets a new toy, there are bound to be repaints of the characters that share their original look. But, every now and then, there are curveballs that for better or worse, give a version of a character never seen before. While Prowl will always have the Bluestreak and Smokescreen variants in time (in this case, locked behind more exclusives), a curveball no one saw coming was Barricade, a G1 Micromaster F1 car nobody, given Holywood star power for being one of the few Decepticons people actually recognize, given a Generations toy based on a fan concept by Transformers Artist Guido Guidi. Combined with the fact that he's the better of the two general retail releases of the mould, and 2019's been a good year for Barricade.

I'm jumping ahead here, but it should be said that even taking out Decepticon bias, Barricade is a more interesting take on the mould in terms of deco. Due to Prowl's mostly white colours, and "sparing" paint applications like the headlights, it comes off as extremely dull when compared to the striking, yet blending colours of Barricade. Most of it coming from the purple windows with the silver paint underneath it. Barricade makes more of a statement compared to other Siege toys, especially compared to Prowl. If you can only get one version of the mould, between the two, I highly recommend Barricade. As for if you should get the mould at all though, that's another question.

The mould itself is fine for a deluxe class carformer, but due to the simple nature of the robot mode, and the habit of not making things move that doesn't need to move, I can't help but feel this is a bit too basic when compared to something like the Universe 08 toy and the Masterpiece version of the Fairlady Autobot moulds (at least based on pictures). Simplicity has its merits, but just by looking at pictures, you can tell how this transformation process is going to work. There's no exciting part of the transformation, nothing interesting, nothing that encourages me to keep bouncing between the two modes. Even something like the ability to hinge the door wings up a bit would at least help with that process, and give the robot something resembling an interesting look. A part of that though comes from how repetitive this general look feels for Carformers. Back windows become the legs, the hood becomes the chest, the doors become kibble wings, and the roof becomes the back. How many characters does that describe in the 35 years of Transformers? Gear wise, neither of the two feel complete, thanks to the Fairlady mould known for having a handgun, and two shoulder guns. While Smokescreen and Bluestreak have the set, Prowl gets the handgun, and Barricade gets the two shoulder guns (that I personally prefer to plug together and use as arm blasters thanks to the C.O.M.B.A.T weapon port requirements. Especially on Prowl, this makes a forgettable looking character look even more forgettable.

While Barricade has the paint, paint can only help so much with a mould. I don't think the toy is bad, just uneventful, not very exciting, especially when compared to other Deluxe Class toys in Siege like Spinister, the Weaponizers, even other Autobot cars. While it's a great representation of the character for a cheap price, in a line full of fun and interesting transformations, this mould just seems underdone, basic, like it's a part of a combiner (but that might just be the fact that Jazz was in Power of the Primes).

Transformers War for Cybertron (Siege) Deluxe Class Spinister: "Arrive at the 80's obnoxiously neon whirlbird!"

It should be no surprise at this point, but for the most part, I have a soft spot for the Season 3/4/ post cartoon G1 characters and designs, when Hasbro and Takara were throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck. It was creativity I don't think we've seen much of since the Beast Era. That's not to say I don't like post Beast Era designs, far from it, there are many I like (have you not heard my issues on G1 Red Alert compared to the Unicron Trilogy one?). But, this was a time when the bankable characters weren't as bankable yet, so the bigger focus was on new characters, rather then reskinning old characters into new gimmicks... although I struggle to call Spinister's trick a gimmick, as all he was originally was a pretty bad helicopter toy, that came bundled with two really bad looking Targetmasters, adopting the still true philosophy of "the more stuff included, the worse everything else gets". The bar is set low for this Siege remake, as the last two Double Targetmasters in the Generations like was Quake (an alright repaint of Hardhead), and Scoop, a pretty forgettable toy from Thrilling 30 that did come with two solid Targetmaster moulds at least. Nowhere to go but up at least.

Starting in helicopter mode, and it is an obnoxious, brightly coloured, completely useless for stealth missions attack helicopter, which is why I love it. While the helicopter is very well proportioned for the most part, the biggest problem comes from a bit of underside kibble. See, the original toy had the legs formed by splitting the cockpit into two, whereas here, a fake cockpit exists for the second leg, to make the legs look better in robot mode, but it makes the helicopter mode look bad from a lot of angles. The exposed hands and hollow tail are also pretty blatant, but far more forgivable due to being easier to ignore most of the time. It would have been nice if there was a way to stick two Battlemasters on the wings (I think that's what they're called... I don't know helicopters), mostly because if you get Skywarp and the standalone Singe, you get both of Spinister's Targetmasters. A minor complaint, but it would have been a nice bit of detail.

For the robot mode, and though the Helicopter had issues, this is an almost flawless robot mode. At the cost of hollow legs, and a rotor that I wish stayed in place a little better, you have a kibble free robot mode (other then what was from the original toy) with all the siege articulation (and a bit extra in the arms and ankles for the sake of transformation) making him a lot of fun to pose. Even the battle damage paint works well, as the placement feels more like faded paint rather then actual battle damage/ cyber mud. Although it is a shame that the helicopter had to be sacrificed so much for it, it was worth it because I honestly think this is one of the best figures in the line, when it had no reason, nor a need to be.

In a size class dominated by Autobots, and a line with a larger focus on legacy characters rather then niche nobodies, it's shocking how well Spinister turned out. While a part of that might be that Spinister's toy catalogue consists of a really bad original toy, then repaints of any decent chopper mould they could use for niche exclusives (or Nemesis Prime's Targetmaster?), anything was going to be better than the past. I'd even go so far as to say that this is one of the best toys of the year, based on what I've been able to experience. Definitely worth picking up

Transformers; War for Cybertron; Siege Seeker Mold (Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp... plus some Battlemasters too I guess)

So... after last week's takedown of the Classics toy and it's many, many, many, many repaints, I figured it might be a solid idea to look at the Siege release of Starscream, and the repaints that came from him... is what I would say if most of them weren't a pain to get, either due to price (in the case of Red Wing), or because a company that licences the name and look of another company can't get the exclusives of that company so no Rainmakers for me without booking a holiday trying to track the set down. (insert sad face emoji here). Skywarp would have also been in that camp, but Amazon is far less strict about where it sends it's packaging too (and you people wonder why physical stores are dying out, other than the fact that it's getting harder and harder to find the items you're looking for and not just more Fortnite figures and motion-sensing ninjas that fart... I wish I was kidding about that last one, it's actually really obnoxious). With the core three though, many like myself are at least satisfied, and there's enough to do a review (though I do wish I could get those Rainmakers...).

Before going to the Seekers though, I'll quickly cover the three included Battlemasters that came with Skywarp. Because it wasn't enough to lock Skywarp away behind an exclusive, he had to come with three other repaints for the sake of marketing it as the "Decepticon Phantomstrike Squadron". As such, he comes with Fracas (a repaint of the wave 1 Battlemaster Firedrive), a Targetmaster normally associated with Scourge, however, unlike Hotrod and Firedrive, I'm waiting for a better Scourge to give this guy too because mine suffered a lot from loose joints. Another repaint is Shrute, a repaint of the Wave 2 Aimless (that you can still buy here in bulk, please do so we can get rid of that stock for the wave 3 weapons!), who'll go with Spinister when that gets released, and Terror-Daxtyl, a repaint of the other wave 2 weapon, Pteraxadon, who unlike the other two, turns from a Pterodactyl to an axe, and kinda has a third mode as a gun. All three come with repaints of their effects parts, and on the whole, they're solid. In terms of quality control, I wish Fracas' backpack gun was a bit tighter, and Shrute's was a bit looser, but on the whole, they're fine.

Going to the main event though, starting in jet mode, and considering the designs they were trying to replicate, these look great. Not flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but still great recreations of the Generation 1 Tetrajets. For context, the Tetrajets are the designs the Seekers had at the start of the G1 cartoon, which could be summed up as flying triangular pyramids. It's stupid, but it conveys the space jet motief very well all things considered. I'll focus on Starscream for the deco, because while all of them share the same paint applications, including the battle damage spots of paint, Starscream's grey plastic helps with some of the darker paint applications, particularly the Decepticon logos on the wings, which are hard to see on Thundercracker, and especially on Skywarp. But the trade-off is that Starscream looks very bland when compared to the other Seekers, mostly because of the prominence of grey in his colours. It's hard to call that a problem though because Grey, Red and Blue are the colours Starscream is most known for. It would have looked nicer in white though. One big issue the mould has though is undercarriage. While not quite Robot under a Jet syndrome, the legs and arms are blatantly visible, yet look like they belong there thanks to it being a space jet. They look like heavy-duty booster rockets and intakes, which kinda works for me.

For the robot mode, these are nice representations of the Generation 1 designs. With Siege, I think it's at its best when it goes for a futuristic alternate mode, with a G1 robot mode. Don't get me wrong, they have some kibble issues, but the only kibble that is a problem on them is the jet boosters on their backs. The wings are a lot bigger, but look really impressive, imposing, especially when the three of them are together. The backs are hollow, and depending on the angle, you can look through them, but it's an angle you have to work hard to get at least. Quality control has been an issue for this mould, Starscream's chest panel is very easy to pop off to the point where it's almost easier to remove it for the sake of transformation, and none of the ones I have can have their Null Rays securely connect to the shoulder ports "they're supposed to go into". While I could make them tighter if I wanted too, I like them on the lower arms anyway, so I don't mind. Those, however, are case by case depending on the individual quality control at the time it was made. Articulation is standard for the line through arm movement can be somewhat hindered by the wings. One problem Starscream had was the face sculpt, though the release of Thundercracker gives you a smirk face more fitting of him (or you can splurge for Red Wing, your choice).

Though not completely flawless, I'd have been happy making a Seeker Squad with this mould. The only problem is that the way they've been released has made that plan extremely difficult. They're not masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, but they're fun to play with, to move from mode to mode. Could they have done Coneheads with this? No. But it would have been nice to see a Slipstream... Just saying. It's a toy worth looking into, but if you want a squad, you may as well just wait for the new one.

Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Deluxe Class Refraktor: Who ordered the evil robot camera?

Whenever I hear the argument "more characters in the show, the better", there are always characters I can't help but circle back too as examples why that's a bad idea. One of those being Reflector, a team of three Decepticons named Spectro, Spyglass and Wayfinder (Is it Wayfinder, or Viewfinder?) who were in the original con team, but rarely did anything. They helped with recon missions due to their combined alternate form of a camera, one of them was the test dummy for the Space Bridge, and I think that was it. I am almost certain that they did not make it into Season 2, let alone the movie and onward. Reflector is arguably the poster child for "Transformers that we have no idea what to do with, so will never be seen again in media except maybe the comics". I am almost certain the Deluxe Insecticons have gotten more love then Reflector has in media, and if you need to look those up, that should prove my point.

Transformers War for Cybertron; Siege Deluxe Class Weaponizers (Cog, Sixgun and Brunt): The ultimate upgrade kits

Encase the fact that this review is looking at three completely different toys that only share a gimmick does not imply this, this is going to be a very wordy review, with many large paragraphs. It is highly recommended that this review be viewed on a computer or a tablet, rather than a mobile phone. 

One thing that many people were annoyed about when the Titan Class releases of Metroplex, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon came out was that they felt incomplete. Parts of it came from just how many accessories they came with in G1, but while many could look past missing radar dishes, or a base mode that does not look like Fortress Maximus' base mode (I certainly cannot), many were annoyed about missing objects. Metroplex originally came with two small Transformers called Scamper, a small car to interact with the play functions, a small, non-transforming tank, and Six-Gun a Transformer made of excess parts, such as some of the guns and tower pieces, with the Generations release only coming with Scamper. Similar story for Trypticon, though he was missing a futuristic tank that used to come with his G1 toy, and for Fortress Maximus, two small vehicles could combine into the Transformer Cog. While I am not sure if any third party company made a Cog and the tank for Fort Max and Trypticon, there were third party Six-Guns popping up since the Generations release. It is fair to say though that originally, all three of these things were accessories, and mixed at best ones at that, and normally they would not see a general release as a result (the tank especially as it did not have a robot mode). Maybe there was a way to make them being accessories into a feature though?

Enter the Weaponizers, a sub category of the Deluxe Class in Siege, which borrowed a name from Robots in Disguise 2015. It gave the tank a robot mode in the form of Brunt, and allowing Hasbro to get away without straying too far away from their origins, to the point where all three are still parts formers, transformers you have to take parts off to go between modes. These things have exploded in popularity with the fans thanks to how creative you can be with them, to the point where all three are going to get repaints as all but forgotten Powerdrivers. I guess it shows that the designers are bigger nerds then the fans are at times. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that we live in a world where the G1 craze is giving us a Red Wing, Galactic Man, and the Powerdrivers. How well do the originals work though?

Starting in their vehicle modes, we have one or two tank looking vehicles for Cog, an awkward looking airship for Six-gun, and a cool looking space tank for Brunt. I will get this out of the way now, if you are looking for whom I think the best one out of the three are, it is Brunt. All three of these go for the hard G1 accurate look, but these are three that I am perfectly fine with that because all three of them are absolute nobodies, who probably will not get toys again for another 34 years. From what I have seen, all three do look good alongside their respective Titans (I do not have any of them so I cannot speak from experience). While Cog and Brunt's vehicle modes are accurate, Six-Gun has a completely original alternate mode..., which looks ridiculous even for a space jet. Six-Gun has always had an air of overcompensation to his design, from once being made up of guns and buildings, to his new look that has a jet mode with two VTOL engines, eight rear thrusters two wing mounted guns, eight missile launchers, and four underside canons. It is bad in a good way, because as much of a NRA on steroids as this jet is, it is like a hyper charged flying tank, which is somewhat awesome. Brunt's sci-fi tank is more toned down by comparison (which is a shame because you would think overcompensating would be the Decepticon's MO), though he's still packing a giant canon, which does have a working turret swivel. For reasons I will get more into in Robot Mode, Brunt is the only one of the three Weaponizers that I have been tempted to get multiples of, as he remains just far enough in the ambiguous Decepticon camp to be unique without being an individual. I could see a tank battalion of Brunts guarding Tripticon from Autobot attacks thanks to this small but menacing looking purple tank. Cog on the other hand I find to be the weakest of the three in vehicle mode. The two vehicles look awkward, and the combined vehicle mode does not lock in together at all, making it feel like a useless gimmick, even though out of the three, he's the most G1 accurate thanks to having both a vehicle and robot mode to begin with.

Onward to the robot modes, and while all three do require varying amounts of parts forming, you do get three unique looking robot modes. Cog's tank legs thankfully stay connected in robot mode, so there's no issue with him pulling a movieverse Jazz when playing around with him (though that is something that you can do with both him and Brunt if you so choose. Brunt can even pull off a rocket torso mode because of this). Considering as all of them are designed to come apart, I am honestly surprised at how mobile the robot modes are, with no major sacrifices to articulation when compared to the other Deluxe Class releases of Siege, and better then Studio Series Deluxes (more on that one later). I love Brunt's robot mode, it has all the classic generic grunt soldier looks, and the tank pincer hands are a nice touch. Honestly, the body shape reminds me a lot of Beast Wars Scorponok, I honestly could see this mould making for a good pre beast wars look for him. Cog, like his alternate modes, is a faithful recreation of his G1 toy, while Six-Gun feel more toned down compared to his vehicle mode. It is honestly a shame, but that is because I love how ridiculous the vehicle mode is.

The reason why all three parts form is the Weaponizer gimmick. What is it? The simple way to describe it is this: They act as upgrade kits for other Siege figures. By breaking down each of them into their component parts, you can attach the pieces to any other 5mm plug-compatible figure, and it is why all of Siege's figures have many weapon ports on them. Do you want Sideswipe to have two shoulder mount canons, a giant double barrel canon and tank treads on his feet, and still have guns to spare? Break Cog apart and plug those bits into him. Want Ironhide to fly, carry a giant gun in one hand, and have a rocket fist in the other? Give plug all of Six-Gun's parts on him. Want to give Refraktor an excavator look while carrying a blaster bigger than he is? Use Brunt's bits. You could buy multiples and make super modes of the three of them, or stick all of them together for an absolute abomination. I love this gimmick; it reminds me a lot of the Autobots in the Transformers Energon toy line, where the main combining gimmick gets better with each toy getting better with each new toy you get. It should be stated that these three do not really work on larger figures, mostly due to them being bigger, and having more awkward weapon ports (there is no central weapon port on Voyager Optimus, Megatron and Soundwave, just as an example). The gimmick also does not seem to play nicely with the look of Siege Chromia, but that is more of a case of loose ports (on mine at least) and a slimmed curve look they gave her. It is fun to experiment with the gimmick though, see what else can come from it, and I honestly hope we get more Weaponizers in this trilogy (mostly cause I doubt the Powerdashers are being added to my collection).

What I always enjoy about the Generations line is the amount of care that goes into characters that no one really cares about. These three are a lot of fun, and make other characters more entertaining to play with. The amount of creativity you can get from these three alone is impressive, almost like a version of Lego's Galidor that actually works and is interesting, and not one of the worst jokes in the company's history. It would be interesting to see this gimmick for larger characters, it could be a good way to release the Takara versions of Godbomber and Powermaster Optimus (that box set does not count due to it being almost impossible to get outside of America if you didn't want to spend a fortune on shipping). Another character with a potential for the gimmick Victory Leo, if those theories about Commander Class Jetfire being able to be retooled into Star Saber turn out to be true (I'd personally be happy with a Leader Class one). There is a lot of potential here that I would like to see explored more going forward, I would love more of these. I wish I could say mores coming, but SDCC was somewhat mediocre in reveals aside from Unicron. Up next will be Refraktor, and then Movieverse Devastator gets another foot.

Transformers War For Cybertron; Siege Deluxe Class Sideswipe and Red Alert: Before you ask, no I don't know cars well.

Sideswipe and Red Alert have been characters I can't help but feel I'm in the minority of when it comes to views on them. Both characters have their die-hard fans, and while I get why, neither of them ever clicked for me most of the time. I didn't find them memorable in Generation 1 and in terms of what I grew up with, the less said about the Unicron Trilogy Sideswipe, the better. Sideswipe had an interesting design in the movies, but the only interesting moment he had was cutting Sideways in half, and his Robots in Disguise 2015 appearance is really generic. While Red Alert hasn't had much of a presence on screens, I personally prefer his Unicron Trilogy incarnations (both Armada and Cybertron).

The main reason for this (aside from first exposure) is one nagging flaw I've had with Red Alert since Generation 1. Why does the fire department need a Lamborghini? Truth be told, I forgot it was meant to be the fire department, but that might be because I grew up exposed to the Need for Speed games, and the idea of a Lamborghini as a police car makes a bit more sense (even if it's still unnecessary). While yes, you can make the argument that making him an ambulance makes him more generic, I disagree because the off-road nature of his modes is unique compared to previous ambulances, not to mention "how many transformers turn into ambulances?" I can think of three characters, one's a Micromaster, one's a combiner limb, and the third constantly changes the style of ambulance anyway (at least in the modern-day).  It might be why the three main forms of Unicron Trilogy Red Alert has stuck with me as childhood grails. I bring all of this up as a way of making it clear that there is a strong chance of bias for me, it's something that can't really be helped.

What isn't a factor of childhood bias though is the biggest problem I have with these two, along with a lot of other characters in the Siege line. These do not look like Cybertronian cars. These two look like they took the G1 toy, and tried to make it look more like sci-fi cars, but being afraid of going too far. Do they look objectively bad? No, I think they look good when put into a completely objective perspective. They're good sizes, have a lot of paint on each of them (though I believe Red Alert has more overall), and they're fun cars to mess around with. But that being said, I wanted something riskier, something that doesn't look like it belongs on earth, and I don't get that from these two. Most of the Deluxe Class toys fit into that category honestly, but not many get a pass due to release rarity, and these two don't get that excuse.

To robot mode then, and taking gear out of the equation, look good in robot mode. They're nice updates to the G1 designs, with the only major issues being a backpack that's a bit too wide. To purists though, they are notably missing gear. Both toys come with two accessories, for Sideswipe, it's two handheld guns that can combine to form his shoulder-mounted cannon, and for Red Alert, it's a nicely sized rifle and a light bar that can combine to form the worlds least useful pickaxe. I wish that they both also came with the accessories of the other (minus the light bar for Sideswipe) to help the two of them look more complete. Both are a bit hollow in the arms and thighs, though it's something that I can easily overlook, and none of the games feels obnoxious to look at. They're not huge holes that kill the illusion. Articulation is your average affair for Siege Deluxes, though a QC issue I've heard about relates to Red Alert sometimes coming with a painted version of Sideswipe's head when he's meant to have a similar, but a slightly different head.

Even ignoring my bias for Red Alert, I can't help but feel that these two, while good, could have been better, with a lot of it coming from my views on their car modes. The robot modes are a nice update on the G1 looks, though could go for a bit more in terms of gear to use, while the car modes are boring retreads on the old looks (and to bring the bias back in for a moment, why does the Autobot security guy turn into a Lamborghini, a car not meant for transporting much of anything, let alone fire rescue gear) for the fire department?). I'm honestly hoping they don't milk this mould too much more, the G2 Sideswipe is all well and good, but do we really need a Tigertracks, Deep Cover, and a heavy retool into Sunstreaker? (Ok that last one I'd be for depending on what they do with it). It just feels safe, and I hope we'll see more risks coming out of the Siege deluxe class soon.

Before I go, something a little fun. Five robots are ready for review, and I'd like you to help pick who goes first, and the order to review them (and who to not bother with if someone doesn't get a vote. You can find a link to the poll here: https://www.strawpoll.me/18386486