Transformers Studio Series (Revenge of The Fallen) Voyager Class Constructicon Long Haul: Behold, one of the most faithful to source Bayformers Decepticons.

What is this? A humanoid (ish) looking Decepticon, who got to keep his alternate mode from Generation 1, who got to keep his status as a part of a combiner, with the only loss being his position in the combiner, but it comes with the bonus of no longer needing to be that combiner's guts? I would say that is a solid win for Long Haul, especially when you remember how much weight he had to gain in order to be Devastator's crotch in Combiner Wars. In addition, being a leg means he does not need to lug around Devastator's balls... So anyway, the Long Haul review...

Starting in dump truck mode, and though it has some large, glaring issues due to transformation, this is a solid dump truck, and from what I have seen, better than the Combiner Wars one. I will be honest; there are some parts to Devastator where G1 comparisons are, to me at least, valid. Four of the six G1 Constructicons are in this Devastator, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger and Scrapper. However, I will only be comparing three; Scavenger is too far removed from his G1 incarnation (though comparing him to Scrapmetal might have been more valid. Joys of hindsight). However, Long Haul, Scrapper and Mixmaster are fair game (though Long Haul more than the others). With that said, in terms of vehicle modes, the Studio Series one is certainly better than the Combiner Wars one, though a large chunk of that is the requirements in the combination. That's not to say this is a flawless dump truck mode, there are a lot of gaps in the design, and due to how the arms need to move, there's no working dumper, you can't even load cargo on it, which is something that the Combiner Wars one has as an advantage (in that it was Devastator Parts storage). What I do like most about this dump truck though is that the Combiner Wars one looks bloated, as if it is barely able to hold everything it needs to hold. The Studio Series one looks more consistent, from certain angles; it looks like it could be the real thing. Nevertheless, it still needed to make sacrifices for the sake of the combined mode, so onto foot mode.

In foot mode, the first thing that comes to mind is "how the hell is Overload going to work?", and by extension, how is Devastator going to work? The connection points are not consistent with Rampage, and on top of that, the ratchet range looks and feels inconsistent, making me question how stable this person is going to be. I do not know if the visual difference is because of how much more mass is being used in Long Haul, or if there are distinct differences between the ratchets used. As for the foot itself, it is a larger foot then Rampage is, though a complaint I have is that I wished the back wheels had a place to lock in, rather than be loose. Might have helped make the heal place more secure as well. As for how well it holds up, we will have to wait for (hopefully) next year to find out.

As for the robot mode, with the current spectrum of Scrapmetal as being good movieverse robot modes, and Rampage as bad ones, this is on the Scrapmetal side, I honestly love this robot mode. This reminds me of the types of tanks you would see in Role Playing Games, the heavily plated, super slow, but can take a ton of damage and exist to be damage sponges in raids. Speaking purely in the looks department, I really like this robot mode. Unfortunately, that tank comparison also means that Long Haul is not going to be doing a lot of posing. A lot of kibble gets in the way of movements, so while he has the standard points of articulation, including a waist swivel for the sake of Devastator, and even ankle tilts bringing him up to par with the War for Cybertron line, you have to fight the kibble to be able to use a lot of it. What helps though is that it does not take much to make him look intimidating, again thanks to the kibble.

Overall, I would say this is a win. Though I am concerned about Devastator requirements, he still works as a good standalone robot at least, and the toning down of movie accuracy works in the same way as it does Scrapmetal, in that it makes him look better than he did in the movie. Three out of eight of the Constructicons in and only one has been bad, so we may have a promising future ahead. However, that being said next is Hightower so who knows. I will not be reviewing Hightower next, that will be in a few weeks, because next I am looking at a recent Lego set for a nice change of pace by reviewing not a Marvel set, but a DC set.

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

Transformers Power of the Primes Deluxe Class Punch/ Counterpunch: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but as a Transformer... why is it not being used more often?

Time for another delve into the late G1 reimaginings of old characters that even a lot of die-hard fans don't really care about. It's safe to say that at the tail end of G1, Hasbro was trying to make anything it could stick in order to keep the attention of its fanbase. Headmasters, Targetmasters, a six-changer, more cassettes, gimmick, after gimmick, after gimmick, each with what could be seen as less effort than the last. "What do we do with these characters?" "Give them two Targetmasters!" "These Pretenders aren't working well, what do we do?" "Make a combiner out of them!" (I think Monstructer was a Pretender combiner... or was it one of the Micromaster combiners...). Regardless, one of the ideas to come out of it was a double spy, a Transformer that has two robot modes, an Autobot one, and a Decepticon one. Though he had a minor appearance in the G1 cartoon, Punch (the Autobot mode) and Counterpunch (the Decepticon mode) have faded away into obscurity, left to wander around life, sustained only by exclusives when a mould can handle two robot modes, which as you can imagine, didn't happen often. Come 2018, and Hasbro decided to make a brand new mould for him, and releasing him as one of three limited edition toys that represent the three parts of the Prime Wars Trilogy, with the other two being a western, stand-alone release of Takara's Blast Off, and a retooling of Titans Return Twinferno (originally known as Doublecross, though I'll admit the new name is cooler) as the third and final Monsterbot, Repugnus. How well does it hold up though?