Transformers Generations Selects Transmutate (along with Kingdom Deluxe Class Paleotrex and Netflix Skelivore): "Man, I am tellin' ya, the things coming out of these [repaints] is just getting weirder and weirder."

War for Cybertron; Siege: Vehicles tied to the Titans (and a set of z list repaints) that can be broken down into weapons for other figures in the toyline. Excellent idea, executed mostly well. War for Cybertron; Earthrise: Micromaster buildings that can be broken down and become armour for other figures in the toyline. Cool idea, not as good of execution as Siege, mainly due to the reuse of the same two moulds. War for Cybertron; Kingdom: Dinosaur fossils that become bone weapons for other figures. Well, you have my curiosity, at least, especially when you do repaints for characters like Transmutate. 

While Paleotrex and Skelivore are brand new characters made for the toyline, Transmutate is an... interesting specimen. She was a one-off character in the Beast Wars cartoon. Her stasis pod was damaged in the show's opening, and when she made her debut in and was killed off in the episode, she is the namesake of, she was portrayed as a confused child in the show due to being viewed as incomplete, unfinished due to the pod's damage. Transmutate was terrifying in the show, not just because of her high pitch scream as a defensive measure, but the way she looked and moved in the show combined with the cheap CGI budget the show was known for made her genuinely disturbing to look at. So while the episode itself is excellent, be aware that it comes with some nightmare fuel.

Come on Hasbro, give us a Rampage. You know you want too

 
Transmutate didn't have a transformation back in Beast Wars, but as a part of her being a repaint of Paleotrex, she gets to share his. Paleotrex, Skelivore (a pack-in figure with Megatron in the third Netflix Leader Class Spoiler Box that I will not be reviewing), and Transmutate all transform into Tyrannosaurus fossils. That information, though, comes from TFWiki, and something about that feels wrong to me. While I don't know what these are, I'm almost certain they aren't T-Rex fossils. It's unsettling to see these in a Beast Wars toyline, where all the other Maximals and Predacons are living versions of the animals they transform into. It would be terrifying to see dinosaur fossils running around, let alone turning into giant robots. However, with the sculpting being mostly accurate to actual dinosaur fossils, along with the engineering of the Weaponizers of Siege and Modulators of Earthrise carrying over, these are extremely clean transformations, probably the cleanest out of all the Beast Wars characters. Unfortunately, though, due to the nature of their beast modes, they're not very stable in beast mode. The big heads make them very top-heavy, and while they will stand, I don't know how long the joints will last due to the transformation requiring joints like the hips to be friction plugs and ports. I also wish there was more articulation in the beast modes, things like a neck swivel to let the head turn from left to right, along with some ankle tilts to help get the most out of all the joints in the legs. 

Like the Weaponizers and Modulators, you rip them apart and put them back together into something resembling robot modes to transform these three. Unlike Siege and Earthrise's attempts, though, there's no one way to get to robot mode. The components are more ambiguous, and with some of the later Fossilizers, pieces such as hands aren't defined, relying on any 5mm port or any plug that can take a 5mm port to act as the hands. These give the toys many more playability options, making them the most versatile figures in the toy line, even before getting to the bone weapons gimmick. Below is a picture of three combinations of the toys, each only using the parts you get from one copy of the toy. 

While the playability is excellent, it's hard not to notice how different they look compared to other Beast Wars characters. Due to the bone aesthetic, they feel like zombie robots, which can either be a good or bad thing depending on your personal preference. Regarding the accuracy of Transmutate, due to this being a repaint, it looks nothing like the character does no matter what you do. However, I think this gets the spirit of the character's design, which isn't a guarantee with repaints. I love how they retooled the head, replacing the bone mask Paleotrex and Skelivore have (which in itself is a reference to Optimus Primal's mace, an accessory the original toy had) with the ability to do the scream she's known for in the Beast Wars cartoon. It's a nice touch. I'm not going to go into the bone weapon gimmick as, like the Weaponizers, many combinations can be done with them. The bone weapons do look convincing when they're trying to be melee weapons (like a giant bone axe or bone sword), but less effective when they're trying to be ranged weapons. I think Skelivore pulls off the ranged weapons the best, as the design and colours given to him are meant to represent something like Dark Energon constructs for Megatron. My biggest issue, though, with Skelivore is that the use of transparent plastic makes him far more brittle when compared to Paleotrex and Transmutate. My copy has fragile connections for the Dinosaur feet and shins (which can be but doesn't have to be a wrist swivel in robot mode). 

These three are a lot of fun. It's hard not to be entertained by them, thanks to the parts forming gimmick. Because this mould was built from the ground up for an original character, nothing limits their design. They don't need to look like the titan companions of Siege's weaponized, and they don't need to look like the Micromaster bases of Earthrise so that most pieces can be designed for the gimmick first and the robot/ beast mode second. Though some parts like the crotch are still a bit tedious to find a use for when combining onto other characters, especially when the weapon ports are more limited on Beast Wars characters, there's still enough playability in them to not rely on the ability to become accessories for other characters. Paleotrex and Skelivore are also generic enough to work as great army builders for the Predacons so that you could have a whole army of dinosaur skeletons. Definitely worth the purchase if you can find them. Next week though, it's time to go from some small dinosaurs to big ones and review one toy that's been a long time coming. "Yessss."

Transformers War for Cybertron; Kingdom Leader Class Ultra Magnus: When expectations are still dissapointing.

When rumours began to circulate of a Kingdom Ultra Magnus, my expectations were low. Unlike what felt like most of the community at the time, I was expecting a retool of 2019's War for Cybertron: Siege version. But just because I wasn't expecting a brand new toy doesn't mean that I wasn't disappointed in what I saw. The press shots didn't look good, and the reviews were mediocre at best. I was expecting to skip this one and potentially pick up a repaint as Delta Magnus if Hasbro ever made one for Generations Selects. I was content with my Siege version, especially with the upgrade kit made by DNA Design which fixes his proportion issues. So... why did I get this one? Aside from it looking good alongside other 1986 movie characters, I was able to pick one up in a recent toy sale. A Leader Class toy for under $50 is a hard price to ignore when they usually go from anywhere between $80 and $100 here. So, once more Magnus, this time with feeling!

It should say at the very start of this review that I won't be rehashing flaws with the original release back in Siege. I've already reviewed the Siege version of this mould, and design issues like the short thighs, the robot mode junk inside the car carry bay, the inner robot's backpack were a problem then, and they're a problem now. I'll only bring up design flaws in detail that become more of an issue after all the retooling made to give it an earth car carrier look. Unfortunately, that's where we first start because one of those issues need to be brought up almost immediately. The arms sticking out the back of the truck cab looked terrible on the Siege version, but with how recessed into the trailer, you didn't notice them unless the truck cab was on its own. Because earth trucks require some distance for a potential turning circle (no, there isn't one here, it connects to the trailer the same way the Siege version does), the arms are now a more significant issue. They're almost completely exposed now, shattering the illusion of this being a "robot in disguise" completely. There's also no option to bring the cabin closer to the trailer, thanks to the retooling. Not only can you not get the trailer closer, but now there's a gap in the trailer's lower car bed (I don't know car carriers), creating even more issues with this vehicle's ability to be a functional car carrier. Is it all bad, though? Not exactly. The new truck cab (when ignoring the robot junk behind it) does look good, going for the traditional Ultra Magnus truck cab look of being a white Optimus. They've done some retooling to the front wheel section to cover it up some more, making the area look a bit more cohesive without sacrificing movement for the legs when it goes into the fully armoured mode. It would have been nice if more details on the truck cab were painted, such as painting the lights to help break up the solid white, but it still looks like a truck cab—shame though that the front of the truck is the only thing that looks convincing in this mode.

The core robot for Magnus is pretty much business as usual for the mould, with no changes done to the engineering. Paint applications are slightly different, the head crest for Kingdom Magnus is silver instead of cyan, and the metallic blue paint for the crotch plate is somewhat darker. The new truck cab makes him look both thinner and also fatter at the same time when compared to the Siege one. It's a lot flatter when compared to the Siege version, but the design of Siege's truck cab gave him a leaner, more robust looking torso, whereas Kingdom's looks like a box with arms and legs. You do lose some articulation thanks to the gap filler for the truck mode, as he can't move his thighs back any further than five degrees, compared to Siege being able to do a full split. Once in the fully armoured mode, it's a bit of a mixed bag for me now that I've got it in person. Pros: It's more G1 accurate (for those that demand that at all costs). I also like the brighter white used, and it makes the toy look a lot more vibrant and lively than it did before. The joints feel tighter (though that could be just my copy of the Siege version) and the connection points for the shoulder pads and leg plates feels better, stronger. The head sculpts better, and I love the more prominent eyes, along with the inclusion of light piping. 

Do they make this version objectively better, though? Not really, as when putting them side by side, it feels like the Kingdom version is missing something. There's more paint overall on the Siege version, partly thanks to the battle damage gimmick, but there was also more plastic included in the box as well, as the Siege version has two extra guns that are entirely missing from the Kingdom version. Were they great guns? No, but in terms of general volume, along with the playability they bring, it's hard to ignore their exclusion for no real replacement. One frustrating omission is the lack of Autobot logos, as both Car Carrier mode and Robot mode have places moulded in for them, but they're nowhere to be found, something that feels like a more significant issue than it probably is. I know there are high-quality stickers that can fix that, but I'm not reviewing Reprolabel sets, and Lego stickers already frustrate me when I don't apply them properly; I'm not going through that for my Transformers. Something that I'm surprised wasn't included, especially as it would have been a perfect addition to the toy to tie into the 35th anniversary of the 1986 movie; he doesn't have a Matrix Chamber. There's room for it inside the core robot, especially as they've been able to design tiny Matrix Chambers for both Earthrise Optimus Prime and Kingdom Rodimus Prime. It's a feature that I could have seen as a big selling point for the toy, something to help it stand out more when compared to the Siege version.

Kingdom Ultra Magnus isn't objectively better than Siege Ultra Magnus, but it's also not objectively worse either. The only selling point it has for long time collectors is that it's more Generation 1 accurate, but even that doesn't feel like something it does an excellent job at doing. I think it's a fine Ultra Magnus to get if you don't have the Siege version and want a version of the City Commander, but there's not much of a point in upgrading unless you hate the Siege aesthetic (in which case I question why you even bought Siege Magnus in the first place). The most disappointing thing about Kingdom Magnus, though, is that he feels 90% complete, like they could have done just a little bit more to make him genuinely warrant the "OMG THIS IS TOTALLY BETTER THEN THAT LAST ONE" reaction he's been getting from people. He's nothing more than a repaint, and though he was always going to be a repaint, there could have been more done to make him a fantastic and affordable G1 Ultra Magnus.

Transformers War For Cybertron Kingdom Core Class K3; Vertebreak: Does she count as a Spooky Scary Skeleton?

 Ever since watching the Beast Wars cartoon, there has been something about the pilot episode that has confused me. Ignoring the "it's because of the toys" reason when the Darksyde is searching for compatible alternate modes for the Predacon crew. It finds Dinosaur fossils; why didn't the Dinosaur Predacons turn into fossilized dinosaurs? It was searching for biological alternate modes for the Predacons, and bones are biological material. Why did the computer create a muscle and scale mockup for the bones based on their placement before turning most Predacons onboard into Dinosaurs?

I bring this up because of one of the gimmicks for the War for Cybertron Trilogy. In all three toylines, Siege, Earthrise and Kingdom, specific figures have been designed to be broken apart and reassembled into different configurations, both for Transforming between their alternate and robot modes and the ability to turn into accessories for other figures (to mixed results). For Siege, it was the Weaponizers, Earthrise had the Modulators, and Kingdom has the Fossilizers. "Now you too can give your red and blue truck a giant bone sword!" Though today's subject doesn't get to break apart like her Deluxe sized wave companion Paleotrex, she does get to inherit the Fossilizer aesthetic, giving us a female Transformer that turns into a Dracorex fossil. Meet one of the newest Predacons, Vertebreak!

 
As mentioned above, Vertebreak turns into a Dracorex fossil, and one of the biggest compliments I can give her right off the bat is that the alt mode looks great. Except for the silver screws in the joints, it's pretty hard to tell from a distance that she transforms at all. Thanks to the bone sculpting effortlessly blending the sculpting gaps for the sake of transformation, this toy can easily be passed off as an ordinary dinosaur fossil toy. The only outlier in this is the ball sockets on the ankles, and it makes her look like she's wearing Dinosaur foot-shaped high heals. I appreciate how minimalistic the paint decoration is, keeping to the skeletal design by mixing the black and very dark brown plastic, giving it a simple look that doesn't feel basic. Articulation is fine for the most part. Some of the limbs, like the arms being moulded in, I can live with considering how small the components are. However, it would have been nice to have an actual mouth and not a bit of soft plastic moulded open. 

 

The transformation isn't anything spectacular for a Legends/ Core Class character. Remove the tail, flip out the arms, Dino head in the chest to reveal the robot head, then give her the tail as a... Bone sword? Bone whip? A Predacon version of the Sword of the Creator from Fire Emblem? The tail weapon is nothing to write home about, but it's at least a common use of beast kibble, and it even has well-disguised back storage. It's not as sturdy of a connection as Rattrap's is and will fall off if you knock it, but it will hold reasonably well. The robot mode itself is pretty nice, with some silver and red paint being revealed for the robot to add some extra colour to it. The ball joint articulation is back for everything but the knees, giving you everything other than a wrist and waist swivel. However, her most significant problem is that she's competing with Rattrap as a wave mate, so while she's nice, she feels underwhelming compared to Rattrap as she's far more basic by comparison. 

The core of Vertebreak's problems come back to that last line. "She's far more basic by comparison". There's nothing wrong with the toy itself. It's a nice cheap Transformer with a lot of play value thanks to the straightforward transformation and well-placed joints. But when put side by side with her wave companions, Rattrap and Optimus Prime, nothing stands out about her. She hasn't got the excellent engineering of Rattrap or the brand recognition of Optimus Prime. As a result, she looks like a low effort wave filler by comparison, which is a shame. Vertebreak might not be a spectacular toy, but she is still an enjoyable one and one I do recommend picking up. The original plan was to review Cobra Commander next, and regarding Toybox reviews, he will be the next one covered on the site. However, with all the buzz surrounding the Snyder Cut, I think it might be good to dust off the Main Site and review not only the movie itself but the streaming service I saw the film on, Binge.

Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Core Class K2; Rattrap: Still think we're all going to die?

I mean if this toy came out last year, there's a good chance I would have agreed with him.

With the, shall we say, waining popularity of the Battlemasters and Micromasters in Siege and Earthrise, along with the vocal demand to bring back the Legends size class, it's no surprise that Hasbro caved in to demands and did just that. Launching in Kingdom Wave 1, Hasbro released three Legends Class type toys under the new Core Class branding (because consistent naming schemes don't make sense in the eyes of Hasbro). For the next two weeks, I'll be looking at the two Core Class figures I was interested in out of the initial wave, Predacon Vertibreak, and this week's review of Maximal Rattrap.
 

I'll start with the rat model because it has a similar issue to the one I had with the two Spiders from last week. It looks great, but the articulation in the rat model is (while for good reasons) lacking when compared to other Transformers. He's about as articulated as most Generation 1 toys in alt mode, but the difference is that those are cars and trucks, while this is a rat. None of the legs moves outside of a transformation joint for the back legs, the tail doesn't move, and the head can only move when going into robot mode. I'm more forgiving of it for its size and the fact that the transformation is well done; however, if you're looking for something as agile as the Generations one from 2014, then you're going to be disappointed. Another note of comparison between it and the Generations one (from what I can tell from video reviews) is the lack of integrated weapon storage, which was one of the big selling points of Beast Wars. Like Optimus Primal's Swords, Rattrap's gun has nowhere to go in Beast Mode other than pegging onto the side of the leg. It's another minor issue that I'm willing to look past due to the size, though it would have helped fill in the hole under the stomach, which is very noticeable thanks to the robot thighs peeking out of the side, and the visible hands underneath the start of the tail. For some positives, though, the sculpting work on the rat model is excellent. I love the sculpted fur on it, and the paint applications are minimalistic but help it stand out (it would be nice if the tail was painted like the hands and feet are, but it's not a deal-breaker). It's a shame that, for a figure based on a character that came from a toyline all about detailed animal modes, Rattrap's rat mode feels forced in, it is the weakest of the three modes, but a part of that comes from how good the other modes are. 

After an entertaining but straightforward transformation, the robot mode is by far the toy's standout mode. While he's not flawless, the good far outweighs the bad. I love how elegant he is to move around, only missing a waist swivel and a pair of wrist swivels, but for a figure of this size, I don't mind him missing things, especially when everything else is so well jointed. As with the original Rattrap toy, Ball joints are the primary source of articulation, with every joint other than a swivel for the neck being achievable with a ball joint. This makes moving him around very easy; however, due to the joints relying on plastic friction, this may change over time as the joints become weaker. The only issues I have with the joints are the lack of a locking point for the shoulder assemblies to stay. It's not a deal-breaker, more like a minor inconvenience. Once again, paint is used sparingly, with the only new paint applications revealed in this mode being the robot mode face (or at least, more clearly seen as he does have a visible robot head in Rat mode) and silver on the lower arms. I love the fact that he has little Maximal logos on his arms. One of my most significant issues from a few years ago during Titans Return and Power of the Primes was stickers being used for faction logos for the Voyager toys and anything larger and more expensive to purchase. The fact that they could get Maximal symbols, something they likely didn't have on hand because of how uncommon Maximal toys are in relation to Autobots and Decepticons (at least in the last five years), this miniature is impressive to me. One advantage Core Class has over the older Legends class figures, at least the ones during the Prime Wars trilogy, is that at the cost of them getting smaller (to better scale with the bigger figures), they're coming with accessories again. Rattrap comes with a nicely sculpted blaster (that is blast effects compatible). While its implementation in Beast Mode isn't ideal considering the original Beast Wars toyline, the robot mode implementation is great thanks to the ability to store it on his back seamlessly.  

 

As someone who doesn't have the Generations Rattrap, would I have liked this to be a mini version of that toy? Yes, but the sacrifices made for the sake of the size class still work well overall. Though I am jumping the gun a little in terms of timing, this is the best Core Class figure in Wave 1 of Kingdom and a new standard for Transformers at this scale. I'm not someone who is against smaller Transformers being in the Deluxe scale for the sake of engineering, so I hope that they don't limit these kinds of characters to just this size once Kingdom is over. I'm not entirely convinced Warpath and Huffer weren't intended for Earthrise yet, so it. If you find him, he's worth picking up, though if you're not a stickler for size, the Generations one might be better. I'll see you next week for the Predacons one, Vertibreak.

Transformers War for Cybertron; Kingdom Deluxe Class Blackarachnia: Yeah, I couldn't find Megatron this week.

He'll come, eventually. The stock has only just started popping up anywhere close to where I live, give it some time.

After the beating I gave to the Arcee mould, along with the criticism of seven different characters all sharing (with varying levels of retooling) the Power of the Primes Moonracer mould, I figured it would at least be fair to review the newest female robot mould. Surprisingly, it's the one that appears to have limited repaint potential... unless they decide to make an army of spiders for Generations Selects. Blackarachnia! To get one thing out of the way first, I didn't cover the Golden Disk Card gimmick with Primal because there isn't much to say, it's a collectable card. Luckily, I could get a set of the Wave 1 cards without needing to trade, but it's hard to care about collectable cards.

 

Starting in the spider mode, objectively, it's not great. The robot mode contorts itself in a way that tries to keep itself clean, but several parts are exposed, such as the knees, shins, feet, and the entirety of the arms. Depending on the angle, you can also see her robot mode head. However, unlike figures like Earthrise Arcee, I don't particularly mind the visible robot parts, as they did make an effort to try and make it work. Beasts will always have some robot mode bits poking out, and considering the daunting task that is trying to turn a humanoid robot into a spider, a creature where there is very little mass for a robot to go. One advantage she has going for her though is that the beast mode is cleaner than her recent Masterpiece counterpart, at least in places. The abdomen (I don't know spider anatomy, this is coming from an unquestioned image search) is a lot cleaner, with more effort to blend the legs into the look. By contrast, though, the shoulders are in a more awkward position, and there's no way to hide them. What also doesn't help is the two sets of eyes on either end of her body, due to the paint detail for what will be the robot mode waist. For the moment, the ball joints for the legs are nice and tight, allowing her to stand in spider mode with no issues. It would have been nice if she had more articulation points on them, but it's not a deal-breaker for me. Like with the relatively recent Masterpiece figure, Blackarachnia's Poison Anchor stores under the body, which works and doesn't break up the look so long as you're looking down at her.
 

Disclaimer, my copy of the toy has a quality control issue, and due to its position, sadly, I have to put a minor NSFW warning (for those who care about those kinds of warnings). The tab connecting her breasts and collar to the rest of the body did snap off on me when trying to turn her from robot to spider mode the first time. On my copy, the pined hinge is strong enough to keep the panel in place in both modes, the tab breaking off hasn't detracted anything from the figure's structural integrity, hence why I'm continuing this review with a "broken toy". Be careful, though, as the cause for mine was the need to use excessive force to separate the two for spider mode. With all of that said though, I love this robot mode. It's nice to have a female transformer that isn't lugging their entire alt mode on their back, as the only spider kibble that can be found here are holdovers from her design in Beast Wars. Like Generation 1 Grimlock (another that will come when I can get him), the spider legs don't feel like alt mode junk, but parts of her design give her a personality. She's also extremely poseable, almost all the standard WFC articulation points, with the only one missing is a waist swivel due to transformation. That being said, my one complaint with articulation in this mode is that I would have liked an extra swivel in the claws so that they could move independently from the swivel in the elbow. As I mentioned last week with Primal, Blackarachnia doesn't do the WFC gimmicks. She has four Weaponizer ports on her (behind her thighs and on the bottom of her toes), limiting the Weaponizer combinations she can do. She also doesn't have any ports to show her being shot by another character. However, her weapon and the spider legs' ends can all accept blast effects to show her attacking an enemy (the legs being an excellent reference to the cartoon.

Except for the broken tab, Kingdom Blackarachnia is a prime example of what I want to see out of Fembot toys. She's a fun transformer, with excellent cohesion between spider and robot modes allowing for a good looking robot without an entire second mode stuck to her back. Supposedly, Tarantulous will be an original mould when he shows up sometime next year, which makes me wonder how they plan to reuse this mould, or if they plan to in the first place. Is she flawless? No, but in my eyes, she's currently the gold standard for female Transformers—more of this, less of Earthrise Arcee.

Transformers War for Cybertron; Kingdom Voyager Class Optimus Primal: Begun again, the Beast Wars have.

With the recent onslaught of G1, words can't even describe how refreshing it is for me to see the concept of Kingdom. The Maximals and Predacons' return, new versions of Beast Era characters, many not seen at general retail since the mid-2000s (if they're lucky). To celebrate this, I'm going to (for as long as I can) make a pattern of reviews. Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, Predacon. The Arcee crew got the first Autobot review. Soundwave and his minions got the first Decepticon review. First Maximal review? Who else could it be than the big bot himself, Optimus Primal.

 
Starting in Alternate mode, though the gorilla mode isn't amazing, there's always going to be some sacrifices for the sake of the different modes, this is still an excellent gorilla mode. Primal gets it a bit easy, as it's a humanoid animal turning into a humanoid robot, the only kibble issues will be the legs. I'll admit getting the robot thighs to behave in gorilla mode is a struggle, but it's a minor issue compared to the rest of the toy. I love the sculpted fur on Primal, it looks great and helps him and the other Beast Wars characters stand out against their G1 wave mates. The muscle sculpting on the figure also helps give it a decent presence, even when standing still in basic poses, it feels alive. Due to the need to hide the robot thighs, the articulation is hindered in gorilla mode slightly, but I don't find it that much of an issue. Maybe it's because I don't need it to do a lot of drastic gorilla poses, but as I said, the all fours look has enough of a presence that it doesn't bother me.

                                            
Robot mode is an interesting beast, though. He's significantly shorter than many other recent Voyager Class figures, but unlike figures like Studio Series Scourge, there isn't a reasonable explanation for the size decrease. There are no large chunks of kibble that explain the size and the transformation is pretty simple, like WFC Tank Megatron. It even has a transformation like Tank Megs, where it's mostly moving large chunks of gorilla around. It's a situation similar to Earthrise Cliffjumper and Arcee, where you're unsure where the budget is going. Cliffjumper is probably the best comparison to make, though, as the size doesn't bother me. Scale wise; it fits in mostly well, Beast wars figures aren't going to scale well with G1 figures unless you want Micromasters. The smaller size combined with the more rugged plastic makes it feel larger then it is. I know this has been thrown around a lot when it comes to the War for Cybertron trilogy, along with the Studio Series 86 figures, but this does feel like a budget, mini-Masterpiece, as it does everything I want it to do. Articulation is excellent, with no sacrifices made to make it as poseable as possible (though I would have liked a swivel above the elbow for the sake of the gorilla mode. I love the fact that he comes with all of the hidden guns the original toy used to have, and they're all blast effects compatible. However, that does lead to a small flaw I have with the toy. I don't know if it's because I'm used to it or not, but I find it weird that aside from effects parts ports on the guns, Primal doesn't do the WFC gimmicks. He hasn't got weapon ports to plug any of the partformers like Cog, Black Rorichi, or even the new ones like Paleotrex. There aren't any blast effects spots in places to look like he's getting shot. At the time of writing this, I also have Cheetor, Blackarachnia and Paleotrex, and all of them are in a similar situation when it comes to the WFC gimmicks, but I'll go into details on those another time. Does this make Primal worse? Not really, it's just something odd that I'm noticing when it comes to these new Kingdom toys (for all I know, these gimmicks could be for the G1 figures).

It's great to have a representation of this character, of this version of Primal, done to such a high degree. Does it do everything the original toy did? No, but are you going to miss the mask and mace that never appeared in the cartoon? This wave of Kingdom has, to me at least, felt like the opening wave of Siege (minus the distribution issues Siege Wave 1 had here). A celebrity lineup of memorable-iconic G1 characters, and modern revivals of long-forgotten (at general retail) Beast Wars characters... along with a few outliers but that's beside the point. I was excited for Siege, and I'm excited for Kingdom because we're in for a great year of toys by the looks of it. If you can find him, definitely pick him up. He's a great representation of the character and a clear sign of what we're in for with Kingdom. Hopefully, the next review will be his counter, but if not, I have a few other Predacons to fill that hole.

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.

Transformers War For Cybertron (Earthrise) Deluxe Class; Cliffjumber: Well... Deluxe might be a stretch...

Oh boy... time to delve into some of these issues of the War for Cybertron line... Starting in Siege (not counting Studio Series as I don't actively collect the line), the size classes seem to be more of an indication of difficulty, rather than size. While that acts as a benefit when they release the larger Deluxes like Ironhide and Spinister, Earthrise, year two of the trilogy looks to be pushing those limits. Honestly it's impressive that they're trying this as people are still angry at the Leader Class Shockwave and Astrotrain from Siege. On top of the size issues, a practice known as Partsforming is looking to play a big part of the line. While people were fine with it for the Weaponizers, and that will continue with the... Modularizers? Is that what they're calling the bases? Armorizer still sounds nicer to me. Anyway, while those still use the process, people are less forgiving of it when it comes to the upcoming Arcee, who I'll go into detail on when she's released. Partsforming, and being shrunk down to a Legends Class sized character being sold at deluxe prices though? You can just imagine how people have been reacting to the new Cliffjumper. Is it warranted though?

To quickly deal with them. Inside the boxes of Earthrise toys, you get a piece of a star map, and a "scanner", and by the end of Earthrise, you should be able to complete a full map of the Transformers universe. I'm not bothering with the map, so I'm not going to be covering it from here on out. Starting in Car mode, and giving credit where it's due, this is a nice looking Cliffjumper car mode, just that compared to other Deluxe car bots, it's tiny. It's smaller than a Nintendo Switch Joycon (look, I'm writing this while I kill time between shifts, I don't have many size comparisons on hand right now). It's a solid little Sports Coupe, with the only major bit of kibble being robot mode hands being slightly visible, something that weapon storage helps cover-up. Cliffjumper does at least scale nicely with the other mini bots in car mode, along with the robot mode. Speaking of...

While one specific part of the transformation is frustrating to do on my copy of the toy, when he's in robot mode, it's hard to deny that he doesn't look like a great Cliffjumper, and it's nice to see a G1 Cliffjumper that isn't just a red Bumblebee (though I don't think anyone is expecting that to last, this guy screams "Retool me into Bumblebee!", maybe even some Throttlebots in the Generations Selects line. Goldbug, Chase and Freeway for example). Due to being labelled as a Deluxe, he has got the advantages of the size class and price range, he's way more articulated than any of the other Minibots released in the Generations line, and the transformation itself is very interesting and fun to do. I also like the fact that he gets his Bazooka, and the weapon itself can be rearranged for numerous configurations in both Robot mode and Car Mode. But... the "Shield"... here is where the partsforming comes into play. The back of the car has to be removed for the transformation. While it can be used as a shield, the main purpose is to be used as a back cover to clean up his back in robot mode. While it works for that purpose, the effect would probably look better if it didn't look like he stuck the backend of some random car onto his back. At the time of writing this, I have both Cliffjumper and Hoist in terms of the Earthrise Deluxes, with Hoist being who I got first. Because of that though, I'm struggling to see where the cut costs from producing a smaller figure went too. Though there aren't as many unnecessary gaps in the pieces, they are still there, though not as obvious as on someone like Hoist. While I can tolerate gaps for joints and engineering, holes like in his forearms and legs that are just there to cut some of the cost away from the moulding process I, and many others find annoying, and it's something that I would have liked to have seen dealt with for Cluffjumper, who's already smaller than all the other Deluxes in the line.

Though Cliffjumper justifies the cost in terms of engineering, not having a class between Deluxe and Micromaster does hurt the perception of the toy. It's not in any way a bad toy, and it would be nice to get other Minibots with the same engineering treatment. But when looking at it on a shelf next to the other wave 1 Deluxes, it's a hard sell to the average customer. Here's hoping Runabout and Runamuck are the usual Deluxe size, especially because I want to put them side by side Topspin and Twin twist,, but right now the main goal is being able to actually get both of them in Australia at all. 

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.