Transformers Generations Selects GS01 Combat Megatron and GS14 Megatron (G2): Time to roll out the 90's repaints!

 What do you do when you need to repaint a so unabashedly designed toy to be one specific character? Well, you pander to younger fans and give it a paint job inspired by other toys of that character. While you're at it, why not get some free brownie points by picking versions that you can no longer sell to the general market because even in this day and age, the '90s refuses to die. While I have plans to review the most significant part of the Decepticons representation in Earthrise, Starscream and his merry band of repaints, that will take some time. I want to wait until I can get some specific versions of the Siege Tetrajet and see if the rumours of another G2 repaint are true. So until that time, why not look at some unique versions of the recent Mega Tanks?

 

First, a bit of backstory, as while most of the traffic for these posts do come from knowledgeable people, I can't guarantee that's all of the traffic. So, what the frag is Generation 2? Starting a few years after the original Transformers toyline finished (for parts of the world, but let's not go into that here), Hasbro tried to revive interest in the brand by launching the Generation 2 toyline (which retroactively renamed the original toyline into what we know it as today). The plan was solid in theory, mixing new toys with repaints of older toys with more gimmick variety and a colour scheme fitting of the '90s. It bombed, hard, so much so that their next attempt to breath new life into the brand was to give it to the staff they inherited from the Kenner buyout, which in turn threw out the rule book and gave us Beast Wars. Probably the best visual explanation of this was the first release of the two leaders. While Optimus was a rerelease of his original G1 toy with extra accessories like a soundbox and spring-loaded weapons, Megatron got a new toy. No longer a gun, he was released as a green and purple slab of a tank, and it's for that reason, among others, that I'm starting this review with GS14, the G2 repaint of War for Cybertron Earthrise Megatron.

Starting in tank mode, and it should be said upfront that, while there aren't any major shared parts, the engineering for this toy is almost the same as that of the WFC Siege version (which I will get back too later, as that's what Combat Megatron is a repaint of). Sculpted to look more like a traditional tank rather then a Sci-Fi H-Tank, but the arms become the turret, the sword becomes the tank barrel, half the treads are legs, the other half is a backpack, and the head is still poking out from under the tank if you look underneath it. That last part is far more noticeable here as the front of the tank between the treads is now almost wholly exposed; they do not attempt to cover it up. However, what they do cover-up is the back of the tank. They do this with a panel that doesn't do much to hide the fact that it's his legs contorted in a weird way as it's just as hollow and exposed as the front. Effort for trying, I guess? While the general retail release (or what would have been the readily available release) kept things to the Generation 1 colours. Black, grey, and a bit of red, I guess that you know what Megatron looks like if you're reading this review. G2 Megatron, on the other hand, goes for the 90's colours that the original toy had, green and purple camouflage with patches of orange (and black for the treads, that didn't change). It is loud, obnoxious, completely impractical, but it is accurate to the original toy and design; I can't fault it for that. It is a treat, though because of how loud the colours are, it stands out hard compared to other Decepticons. Regardless of what mode you have Megatron in, he is going to stand out, and you are going to see him on a shelf (unless it's populated with other loud and obnoxious colour schemes, I didn't pull my G2 Stunticons out to test that). But, if you want something more subdue, you go for Combat Megatron. 

As I said before, Combat Megatron is based on the Siege version of Megatron. The version of Megatron found at general retail in both the original Siege toyline from 2019 and the Netflix repaint in 2020 (which, though I'm not reviewing that one here, I will say the paintwork on it is great and a far better battle damage decor than the original). Combat Megatron, though, was originally unreleased. In 1993, Takara released a different Megatron for Japan known as Hero Megatron. This toy would be imported into Europe as Archforce (though it was missing the "Megatron Rules" sticker the Takara version had on the chest. Same basic engineering as G2 Megatron, but with better gimmicks and a retooled Tank gun that dropped the Gravity fed missiles and electronics for an air pump and missiles. Hero Megatron was going to get a western release with arctic camouflage colours instead of the black, purple, blue and orange of Hero Megatron. While I still hope they reuse the Hero Colours on a toy at some point (that or I get my hands on the Takara repaint of Titans Return Megatron), it is a bit of a treat seeing these unreleased colours get a toy. Sporting all the Sci-Fi details of Siege Buckethead, Combat Megatron goes for a white, dark grey (I think that's the colour at least) green and black paint job. I can see why they didn't release this, and I don't think this works as well as the G2 colours do. The camouflage feels unfinished, especially on the arms/ turret, and the black comes off as a bit of an eyesore. Out of the three Siege Megatrons I have, this is probably the weakest of the three in terms of the painting design, but a large part of that comes from the far more simplified designs of Siege and Netflix Megatron. While both Megatrons are novelty pieces (along with Generations Selects as a whole), Combat Megatron feels like the more novelty of the two, something you get because of how deep of a cut the reference is more than anything else.

I had no plans to get Earthrise Megatron initially. Aside from the fact that it was the Siege version with fresh sculpting, there was one thing about it that I hated the look of in promotional material and something that I knew I wasn't going to like on the G2 version even when I put the order in for it. On the Siege version of the mould, the front half of the tank barrel detaches from the Fusion Cannon, and two blade pieces underneath the turret rotate up and peg together over the barrel to form a large and impressive looking sword. Combat Megs gets to have this weapon, and it still looks impressive. The Earthrise mould works similarly to a point but looks infinitely worse. On the Earthrise one, you take off the front barrel and the front wedge (I don't know tanks) of the turret where the sword is already complete. You plug the cover panel from the back of the tank underneath the barrel, you then plug all of that onto the side of the left arm, and this looks completely ridiculous. There is no way to make this assembly look good because of the tank kibble. The part of it that looks like a sword can't be used as a sword, but instead as an awkward arm blade looks tiny. If you rotate it so that the tank barrel is facing forward, while it seems a bit better thanks to the wedge following the direction of the barrel (compared to the wall that it is on the Sword side), the backplate looks awkward no matter what side you have facing forward. Thanks to a change that they didn't need to make over the Siege version, a missed opportunity with this mould was the inability to try and replicate the overkill cannon of the G2 toy. On the original toy, the tank cannon dominated the chest plateau (which made no effort to hide the fact that it was the front half of a tank) by sticking out the front and the back. There are no C.O.M.B.A.T ports near Megatron's shoulder blades, and the two that were on the top of the tank treads backpack on the Siege version no longer exist. As you can probably tell by how long of a rant I went with, I hate this sword weapon. The sword is the number 1 reason I keep this guy in tank mode. 

 

Long-winded discussions about awful melee weapons aside, due to the nature of them being repaints of pre-existing toys, they don't lock down the look of the original toys. They do in deco but not in sculpt. Like it or not, these are repaints of moulds meant for Generation 1 Megatron. However, the Siege version of G1 Megatron looks excellent, and the remoulding done for Earthrise looks just as good, if not better, in cases like the new chest. This mould commands power and authority as any good Megatron toy should. Just because they don't physically look like the G2 Tanks doesn't mean they're bad Megatron's. Far from it (encase the fact that I own three of the Siege version isn't enough of an indicator of that fact). If you've seen my review of the first Siege Megatron (https://mediaholicstoybox.blogspot.com/2019/06/transformers-war-for-cybertron-siege.html) then you know my views on the articulation and possibility of these two. Nothing's changed in the joints department other than better ankle tilts that aren't a struggle to get back into place like one of the ones on that first release. I could point out minor issues I have, like Combat Megatron not having any paint on the tank treads on the back of his legs. I could also bring up the odd moulding choices leading to redundant paint applications like Combat Megatron's crotch being painted white (thank you, minor paint chip on the tab). But that's all they are, negligible. It doesn't drown out how great these robot modes are. I do like that Combat Megatron got a new head sculpt to add more detail to the bucket head while G2's was painted to be an almost perfect replica of the G2 toy, the only difference being the smaller eyes in the sculpting.

For as much praise as I give them, do I recommend them to general consumers? Not really, no. These are niche repaints at the end of the day. I only really recommend them if you like the look of the painted decor or have a strong connection to their original toys (you'd be delusional if you have a strong connection to Combat Megatron as, again, he was initially a cancelled toy). Do I recommend getting the Siege mould? Yes, absolutely! Do I recommend getting the Earthrise mould? If you can look past the melee weapon and desperately need an earth tank Megatron, maybe. But if you're getting it for the robot mode, I would personally get the Siege version; I think it's better overall when compared to the Earthrise release. I don't believe the Earthrise version's positives outweigh the weapon issues, and in terms of engineering, the two moulds are the same anyway. It comes down to style at the end of the day because they tie in every other way. Next week... I shouldn't have said what I said in the Duke review. Curse my curiosity; we're looking at some Marvel Legends stuff.

Transformers War for Cybertron; Earthrise Deluxe Class Smokescreen and Bluestreak: The problems with Earthrise Part 2

As critical of Earthrise as I have been lately, as evident by the Top X List I did a while ago for 2020 figures, I overall enjoyed the Earthrise line, there were a lot of good figures in it. However, one thing I did find frustrating about it was the character reuse. A noticeable (though minor when compared to the rest of the figures released) chunk of the characters that made up the Earthrise toyline was also made available in Siege, just redone in a way that gave them "earth modes". While for these two, I appreciate an alternative way to get them as their Siege releases are a pain to get here (well, mainly Bluestreak), it does feel a little patronizing for those who did like the Siege versions. Granted, a part of that comes from people calling for the rest of the Siege toyline to get the same treatment. This doesn't look to end anytime soon, as Ultra Magnus in Kingdom will continue the trend. Leaks are suggesting Sideswipe and Mirage will eventually also get that treatment (aren't you excited to get at least six figures you bought recently all over again?!). All that being said though, how do these two compare to the Siege Space Datsons?

Optical Illusion. Those two words are the first two that come to mind when I see them in car mode. On their own, they look smaller than the Siege versions in car mode, but when sticking them side by side, they're the same size. The Siege one is a bit wider and a bit longer, but the Earthrise version is taller. The minor differences though don't feel large enough to justify why I keep thinking they're noticeably smaller. Those who don't want to buy two exclusive two packs, the Siege Prowl and Barricade do go well with these two Earthrise cars; it's how I'm personally going to represent them as it helps keep all four of them looking and feeling unique. The car modes themselves look fine; however, Smokescreen looks noticeably better due to one main reason. Quality Control for Earthrise was not great, likely due to the pandemic (or at least I hope it's due to the pandemic). My Bluestreak is the worst example I've had of QC issues in Earthrise, at least the kind that's not easy to fix. I haven't had mine break yet (thankfully), but it is noticeably harder to get everything pegged into place in Car mode, along with keeping everything pegged into place.

 

Meanwhile, it's more frustrating for the robot mode to peg the arms into place, almost as if the red part of the torso came out of the machine wrong, but not in a noticeable way. It's an understandable thing to get wrong, even as I look at it now, I can't spot somewhere that clearly shows the problem, but being understandable doesn't absolve it of not being frustrating. From what I've seen, it could be a lot worse. Though the two mould share engineering, there aren't any pieces that look reused. While it helps make them more distinct, some like the wheels that I wish they did reuse, because these wheels don't look great. I also appreciate that both come with three weapons each, two shoulder blasters, and a standard gun (a vast improvement over the general retail Siege versions, where the lightbar was the reason none of them got three guns). Deco on both look great, I especially love Bluestreak's paint job, and the fact that both got actual headlights further highlights the improvements made to this when compared to the Siege versions. Aesthetically though, I still prefer the Siege version, just because I think the space car looks better, especially when the paint on Barricade helps make the mould shine.

 
Robot mode is where things get a little more sporadic in terms of which one is genuinely better. Bluestreak's quality control aside, there are merits to both moulds in terms of engineering. I love how the torso was handled in the Earthrise one, as it allows the arms to better lock into place. The new one is also slightly taller, with better proportions and a more compressed backpack. On the flip side, though, the Siege version proportions have a nice charm to them. I prefer the bulkier arms, and the silver paint on the legs helps hide how hollow they are. The Earthrise cars have a panel to try and hide this on the inside of their legs, but I think it attracts more attention due to how little of its hollowness covers up. Thanks to Bluestreak's QC issues, even though both moulds have hinges on clear plastic, the Siege version feels more durable. It feels like there's enough give in the plastic for the transformation to feel fun without forcing it to go from mode to mode (an issue I find annoying in the Earthrise versions legs). A minor complaint I have is the heel support for the Earthrise version. For Siege, the heal feels like a proper part of the foot, while on the Earthrise version, it feels like an afterthought. 

There's no one right answer when it comes to which one is better. Both moulds have their strengths and their weaknesses. I wanted to make this comparison because it felt like the push to being "more G1 accurate" made people ignore the Siege version's strengths. I'm keeping Prowl and Barricade as the Siege versions, and Smokescreen and Bluestreak as the Earthrise versions (though Bluestreaks may depend on how bad that QC issue gets). Would it be nice to have four that match? Yeah, but regardless of which way I go, I'm going to have a hard time. Siege Bluestreak and Smokescreen are quite expensive now, and I don't need Earthrise Ironhide as I'm not too fond of the retooling they did from his Siege mould. I also don't need a Punch/ Counterpunch in Nightbeat colours, Earth Mode Barricade's pack-in mate. I don't envy the people who own all four in both versions, but it is a frustrating thing to deal with. I'll settle for having a version of each character, even if they don't match. I wish I had that same level of control for the Seekers (which will come later).

G.I. Joe Classified 04; Duke: Does this mean I'm a "proper" action figure collector now?

 There is a bit of backstory for this one, so if you're only here for the review, skip to the image that shows Duke in box. The paragraph below that is the actual review.

That question might sound weird, but there is a reason I ask. Growing up, I didn't have many "traditional action figures", a lot of the toys I got were Transformers or Lego (mainly Bionicle). Oh sure, I was a fan of things like Star Wars, still am (though it's many ups and downs), even played with some Star Wars toys that other kids have. But to this day, I've not bought a single Star Wars toy (no, not even Black Series). I'm also a Marvel fan thanks to the MCU, and DC thanks to viewing the DC Animated Universe in recent years. I don't own a single action figure of either brand partly because I knew it would be a deep rabbit hole for all three of those. Even Pokemon, the only Pokemon toys I ever got that could even be considered action figure, were barely moveable (if at all) electronic toys of Pikachu and Blaziken, both of which were a present. I still own the Blaziken, however, I think the batteries may have corroded to oblivion by now. Action figures didn't make up a lot of my childhood.

There is an exception to this, though, Action Man. I had Action Man toys when I was in kindergarten, going into Primary School, none of which I own now. I remember I had a Go-Kart, a snow bike, and a Venus Fly Trap like thing? It was like a Bear Trap (in terms of function), but sculpted and painted to look like a Venus Fly Trap. I also have vague memories of a parachute one that could go up a kite before falling back to earth, along with a scuba themed one? My memories of this time are hazy. It was around 20 years ago, after all. 

So, now that I have an income, why don't I buy collectable Action Figures outside of Transformers? Well, the main reason has always been a thought inside my head regarding value. Due to the nature of Transformers and Bionicle, many Action Figure lines like Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series and especially 3 3/4 inch offerings from several places (looking at you Super7 Banzaitron), I just didn't see the value in. A $40 traditional action figure felt like a rip off when I compared them to other products like the $30 Deluxe class Transformers: a humanoid action figure, a vehicle/ animal, and a puzzle. Even back when Lego was making buildable action figures, nothing stopped me from digging into my parts collection and creating something different if I didn't like the official build. So why am I reviewing a G.I. Joe Classified figure? Curiosity finally got the better of me, and it seemed like these were somewhat shelf warming at one of my local Toyworlds. I figured "why not? May as well see what these are about." Hopefully, this interests some people, though I don't know how interesting a review from the perspective of a somewhat recent fan of G.I. Joe. Not to mention someone who hasn't touched a standard Action figure in 20 ish years these being his first actual G.I Joe toys ever would be. Well, time to see what the fuss is about with this whole "6-inch Action Figures".

Starting with the accessories, and we come to the first sign of "this guy probably doesn't know what he's talking about". On all four figures, I had a hard time getting their accessories to behave the first time. Some like the backpacks were easy, but getting anything into their hands felt uncomfortable like I would break something. After that initial struggle, things got more comfortable, but a part of me thinks that I did break something or bent something out of position. Maybe I'm overreacting, fueled by me being so used to the 5mm ports that are Transformers hands, that is entirely possible. The accessories themselves are fine though. Duke keeps things pretty tame compared to some (Snake Eyes), with his main accessories being some binoculars, a small pistol, a rifle, and a backpack, all of which can store on him. From what I've heard, the use of space weapons in the line is frustrating for many G.I. Joe fans. I can understand why, however, I'm perfectly fine with them, I prefer space guns over real guns. That, and the whole "it's *current year*, you can't sell real looking guns to kids" argument is probably the main reason for it. It's at least a minor compromise, and I wouldn't be surprised if people were 3D Printing realistic guns for their figures.
 

The pistol I like the most, though that's more due to minor issues I have with the backpack and the rifle. For how well the pack is sculpted, there are parts that I wish had some more paint to help break up the green, things like the water bottles and some of the straps. From experience, it is accurate though for it to be mostly green, so in that context, it looks great, but I can easily see it being a "what would you rather?" situation, where there is no one right answer to the look. The sculpting on the rifle looks great, along with the paint job. My issue with it though is the barrel, it angles up, fresh out of the box. From reviews I've seen, mine isn't the only one that does this, and due to it being hard plastic, it looks like it was intended to do this. Why? Thankfully, straightening it is easy, and once straight, it looks great. Duke can hold both weapons with ease. However the binoculars (sculpted well, but due to the lack of paint, doesn't really look good) I've not been able to get him to hold. For me, they stay on his belt. The belts themselves are fine and once again sculpted well. I would have prefered the one on his chest, along with the pistol holster to be more firmly attached. Seeing as there's no way to remove any of them without disassembly, it makes me curious as to why they're loose in the first place. The central belt around his waist I get, it's to help with articulation after all. The others though, I just find it an odd choice. 

Looking at Duke on his own, I think he looks great. The face is the only weak thing about it, though I can't figure out why. Just something about it isn't sitting right with me. The way the sculpting hides the articulation is awe-inspiring, with the only noticeable joint being the ab crunch. Moving those joints though seems to be difficult at points. Some take a fair bit of force to get going initially. Nothing feels weak, far from it, but it sits a little too close to the "too strong" side for my tastes (but again, this could be "Transformer/ Bionicle experience" talking, where most of those joints are variations on friction, not ratchets like in Duke. While it might be hard to position the joints, it's effortless to set the figure naturally, simply due to how many joints there are. Below is a (poorly laid out) list of joints comparing Duke to Earthrise/ Kingdom Leader Class Optimus Prime, just to show the differences between the amount of movement both are capable (not including Prime's gimmicks).

It's genuinely impressive how much movement you can get out of this guy. It is a struggle to get him into some positions like being on one knee, but I feel a way to help with that involves the stand ports (for a non included stand) in Duke's heals. These look to be the same ports that you'd find in a Transformers butt, which would probably help a lot when making dynamic action poses.

I see now why people collect these, Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series, etc. I'm genuinely impressed by this, and the fact that the other three I got are of a similar quality has given me a "I have seen the light" moment when it comes to traditional action figures. Will this mean I'll start collecting Marvel Legends and Black Series? No, I'm not made of money! Will I go all-in on this line? Doubtful considering what I've seen and heard about their distribution. Are there others I plan to get? Yes. I have Duke's Decepticon alike counterpart, Cobra Commander, on the way. I also have my eyes on other characters released (though I have no idea where I'd put a Baroness if I ever manage to get her, due to her coming with that bike). If there is interest in me reviewing other Classified figures, I'll gladly review more of them. The 80's line is something I'm curious about, but that's in the "when I have more space" category of future plans. Would I review those old Action Man toys? If I somehow got my hands on them again, sure, but I doubt there is any interest in it now.

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 Soundwave x2 (with minions): I'm done putting this one off.

I see you Takara Soundblaster, with your Mercenary badge, gorgeous black and red paint job, and your ability to store two Micromasters in your chest thanks to a window that sticks out awkwardly. I've got it on order, but I've wanted to do a review of Siege Soundwave for a while. I kept putting it off because new minions were announced, then obtained, then the Netflix one was announced while I was in an awkward "no real reason" hiatus. So know what? No. We're doing this! This review is long overdue!

We'll start by looking at the original version of the mould, a figure that suffers from the G1 toy being a Micro Change toy. How do you make a Soundwave toy that collectors will like while still having it be an exciting toy for kids? You try and turn Soundwave into an awkward Spaceship, with an Easter Egg lamp post mode. I think it goes without saying at this point that the original Siege Soundwave, and the Soundblaster as mentioned above in the intro of this review, do not have nice looking alternate modes. What's frustrating is that they're almost cool looking, with the only real issue I have with the modes themselves being the vents and thrusters' positions. They look like they're supposed to fold down and rest on the sides of the ship, instead than sticking out not doing anything. There's even a tab on the body doing nothing, and a slot in the thrusters that look like they line up perfectly. But with the way the hinge pieces were designed, they physically can't get to that point, there's an intentional stopper, why? What's the point? Was the storage for that one grey gun that looked like it was meant to go to Siege Megatron anyway (to the fact that most people gave their Siege Megatron that gun) that important? As for the lampost mode? It's neat that they include it as a nod to G1, Season 1, Episode 1, Scene 1, but it looks even dumber than the space ship. I usually groan when I see people try and force Megatron toys into having a gun mode, or Soundwaves into a cassette player mode. But when you've got two bad modes already, is it any wonder why people were making parts specifically to turn it into the cassette player?

So it should come as no surprise that Hasbro eventually made one that turned into the Cassette player. Released for the Netflix Siege line, Netflix Soundwave (a heavy retool of the Siege Soundwave) does look like an excellent Mini Cassette player, but only from the front. Due to it being a retooling, the mode does not look good from the sides or back. I don't find this to be that big of a problem though, mostly because it is a retool. It wasn't going to have Masterpiece levels of panel management to hide the arms better. It looks great from the front, and it does look a lot better than the Siege one being twisted and contorted into a cassette player. For what we got, I think it's great.

Why was the alt mode vital? Because it doesn't make sense for a spaceship to drop rectangles out the back. Through the power of Micromasters, This version of Soundwave has minions! Between the two years of toylines, Soundwave has eight rectangle minions that he can store in his chest, have out deployed in their robot/ animal modes, or wear as shields because Micromasters had to have weapon modes for War for Cybertron. So to quickly give them mini-reviews:

• Siege Laserbeak: Siege Laserbeak is probably the best of the lot because it looks good in all its modes. It doesn't feel like anything was compromised when designing the toy to pull off everything it needed. I love the detail on the wings, and I especially love the fact that the blast effects ports on the back mean you can pull off a hilarious rocket bird mode. You can also have Laserbeak perched on Soundwave's arm. While it does make the feet look big, it's a minor complaint and adds stability—a great companion piece for Soundwave.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Siege Ravage: It's a shame though that his packmate is terrible. Siege Ravage does not look good in cat mode. The cat legs look awkward. Paint is excellent, I like the purple along the back, and the red eyes look cool, but due to the size, the legs look too bulky for something that's supposed to be a sleek, stealthy predator. There's a reason mine usually live inside Soundwave's chest.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Netflix Laserbeak and Ravage: Packed in with Netflix Soundwave, they're both the same, with the only noticeable differences being the paint applications (in an attempt at being more G1 toy accurate) and both having new heads. Pretty much everything I could say about these two has been covered when looking at their general retail release predecessors. The only reason I bring them up separately though is because I wish these two were Buzzsaw and Howlback. Out of the regular minions for Soundwave (trust me, he gets some weird ones in the toys), Buzzsaw is the only one missing, which is odd because the original partner he came with back in 1984 was Buzzsaw. Considering how hard the Laserbeak and Ravage shelf warmed, I'm surprised they didn't take the chance to repaint them and fill in those minion gaps, as anyone who wanted the Netflix Soundwave likely already had Laserbeak and Ravage. Were people that desperate for G1 heads for them?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Siege Ratbat and Generations Selects Wingthing: Though the rectangle mode for these two does look bad, the bat modes look great, like Micromaster Batterangs (and thus concludes obligatory Batman reference). The only real complaints I have are Wingthing's missing paint applications (not sure why), and the fact that the post for plugging them into bigger bots isn't in an excellent position to have them be flying on display. You could probably pull something off, but the back-mounted port does look awkward to work around.
  
  
  
  
  Above image was sourced from https://thelastgherkin.tumblr.com/post/628351249459331072/generations-selects-soundwave-spy-patrol-3rd-unit (it was the only image of that half of the Generations Selects pack I could find)
  
  
• Siege Rumble and Generations Selects Frenzy: No, I'm not going into which one is which, these are what they're called on the box, regardless of if I agree with them or not, that's what I'm calling them for this review. For a pair of mini humanoid robots, they're alright. I think the hips are a bit too wide, and the thighs too short, but I wasn't expecting much out of these two, especially when it comes to articulation, as none of the Micromasters has had strong articulation. No pile drivers for either of them, but with blast effects ports on their hands, they can pull off some hilarious overkill pyrotechnics. Paint on their chests though is very weak, as both of mine have been chipping off over time. It sucks, but at least with Siege, you can pass that off as battle damage.

Soundwave's robot mode is extremely basic when compared to other Transformers. A good G1 Soundwave doesn't have kibble, and credit where it's due for both versions, they're very clean transformations, with the only notable instances of kibble being the landing skids on both versions arms. Moving these two around is an absolute delight, thanks to the sturdy joints (a little too sturdy in the case of my Netflix Soundwave's shoulders). You can even fudge your way into them pressing their eject buttons to deploy the minions inside. Head sculpt is frustrating on both of them, because while I love the detailing on the Siege Soundwave, they went for the toy accurate yellow yes, which I'm not a fan of. While on the Netflix one, it has the red eyes and a simpler, more cartoon accurate head sculpt. Why did that need to get remoulded? Thanks to the C.O.M.B.A.T port gimmick of Siege, both versions can store all the minions on them. I've got all the minions with Netflix Soundwave, and what I tend to do with the pointless pipe gun that looks awful as a gun, and even worse when combining his actual firearms. What I do is that I use it as a makeshift flight stand for Laserbeak, plugging it onto Soundwave's back so that it looks like the bird is flying over him.

If you can't find a Netflix Soundwave on the shelf, I still think the toy's original Siege version is an excellent representation of Soundwave. The reason to get the Netflix one is if you absolutely must have a G1 faithful version of Soundwave that scales with your other Generations Figures. It's like trying to decide which War for Cybertron Optimus Prime you should get. Both are excellent toys, and there's no definitive answer to which one is objectively better or worse. I hope that we get a Blaster in the future. While I don't think the Ravage mould would work for Steeljaw, I could see them getting a great Ramhorn out of it, and all they'd need to do for Rewind and Eject is change the deco on Frenzy and Rumble. It would also be an excuse to get the missing Buzzsaw and Howlback (Spy Patrol 4th unit anyone?). Blaster did play a decent role in the 86 movie, after all. Just saying, it could happen. This toy is a significant improvement over the Titans Return one, a great figure to add to your Decepticon army.

Transformers War for Cybertron Earthrise Arcee, Netflix Siege Elita-1 and Galactic Odyssey Paradron Medics Lifeline: Oh dear...

 Is it just me, or does it feel like we're regressing? I applaud Hasbro and Takara for them adding more female characters to the franchise and giving them more toys, but I'd be lying if I said they were doing a good job at it lately. The problems mostly come from the execution of the toys themselves, primarily by kibble management, and a barrage of repaints. I can cut Victorion and Megatronia some slack as "repaint spamming" was the subtitle of Combiner Wars. The three girls of Titans Return were all unique in their own ways, even with two of them sharing Blurr's mould, Power of the Primes was when it felt like they were taking the piss with it. A fembot combiner with limb bots that were the same toy, just with different colour pallets, with alt mode junk slapped onto their backs in a hideous way (which says something for a Combiner Wars styled limb bot). That mould got retooled into Tentakill and Scylla for Pirahnacon and God Neptune, which somehow made the alt mode junk look even more slapdash. The mould got retooled into Siege Chromia (and then repainted into Nightbird for Generations Selects), and like before, she had kibble issues! Siege Chromia is a figure where they could have addressed the backpack issues if they remembered the problem fans had with her last toy (Generations Chromia, a retool of Transformers Prime Arcee), and let people use the windscreen as a shield. Now in Earthrise, where they at least made a new Fembot mould, that allows you to do something with a large chunk of the backpack, but at a cost. Earthrise Arcee, a figure many consider to be one of the worst toys in the Earthrise line, not that it saved her from getting two repaints.

Usually, I start these reviews in Alt mode and then go into Robot mode. However, in this case, I think it's best to start with the reason for the flaws, before going into the flaws themselves. The robot modes themselves look ok. The parts that are the robot look quite good, with solid articulation that's serviceable, although I do find it odd that they don't have wrist swivels. Paint applications on Arcee though are ok except for her face, in that she doesn't have any paint on it (except for her eyes), which makes the detailing on it look fuzzy, unfocused. Granted, the white face is G1 accurate, but like the Siege Rainmakers, G1 accurate isn't always a good thing. Paint though is something that Lifeline improves on, sporting pretty much all the same paint applications as Arcee does in robot mode, but also has some colour on her face and head to help break up the giant chunk of white and make it look more like a face and not a ball with blue eyes. I also appreciate the fact that Elita-1 isn't a full repaint, as the torso, shoulders, and head are all original for this toy, giving her a different presence compared to her pink and green sisters in arms. However, for some reason, all three get tiny pistols moulded in the same plastic as their windscreens, which looks terrible. Instead of a way to store them on their hips, they plug into their strangely defined asses... make of that what you will. Unfortunately, though, that's where the positives (and in the case of weapons and storage, questionable choices) end.

A G1 faithful Arcee was always going to have some form of a backpack on her; it's more a matter of how large it would be and what you can do with it. Unfortunately, the Earthrise Arcee mould has an awful backpack on her, regardless of the version of the toy you have. The entire car mode is crushed onto her back if you choose not to parts-forming anything. It looks ugly, and even when removing the part that you can, the entire back half of the car, you're still stuck with something that looks bolted onto her back, but does at least look better, all it would need is a few extra joints to compress it a bit more. If the sides had hinges on them so that the backpack (not counting the back of the car) could create a triangle-like shape with the car hood's headlight sections, I think that would have gone a long way to help to improve the backpacks. If you do detach the car's back though, you can fold out some panels and turn them into hoverboards for the girls. Yes, this is dumb. Maybe if they did more to make these look like actual vehicles and not just the backs of cars, perhaps this could have worked. At most though, these are subpar stands that you can use to have the girls do poses on (though my Lifeline does have slightly weak hips, however, that's more of a minor QC issue with my copy of the toy).

As for the car modes, they're not great. For the sake of a shell forming transformation (when the alt mode wraps around the robot mode), the three cars look boxy, something that goes against the design of Arcee's alt mode, a rounded, sleek futuristic space convertible. What doesn't help is that due to the car mode being nothing but panels, it doesn't hold together securely compared to any other Carformer in recent memory. Elita's is probably the worst of the three due to paint, or a lack thereof for the car's back. Still, when the only thing making a car better is paint (the winner of that once again going to Lifeline, with Arcee coming a close second as the only thing missing is some grey on the sides), you know you've got an awful alternate mode. I can forgive a bad alternate mode if the robot mode is great, it's why I can give a pass to stuff like Siege Soundwave and his rectangle pooping spaceship mode. These three are why I think G1 Arcee needs a massive, modernized redesign, something that tries to incorporate the car mode into the robot mode. The G1 cartoon design was not designed to be a toy; it was intended solely for animation in the cartoon and movie. While they've been able to do accurate cartoon designs for the other movie characters, Arcee has consistently failed due to varying degrees of awful kibble management. Sure, Masterpiece and Third-Party companies have come close, but I genuinely think it is impossible to pull off a completely cartoon accurate robot mode that also transforms. The feminine physique first, transformers second thing for the fembots needs to stop. They're great characters and deserve great toys. Stop designing them like Transformers Cybertron's Thunderblast, where the kibble blatantly looks like kibble.

The frustrating thing is that I wanted to like this mould. I've wanted a G1 Arcee to add to my collection. She was one of the final members of the 86 movie crew that I was missing having a version of. I also wanted a better version of Elita-1, and though I wish it were taller, upscaled to stand closer to Optimus' height, it wasn't something I was expecting out of this. Why did I get Lifeline? Because I like seeing novelty characters get new figures, and even if I wasn't the biggest fan of the original toy, it is nice at least to have a version of Lifeline in my collection. I know this mould had potential, it's not a lost cause, especially as people are customizing Arcee to ditch the backpack to give her a better looking back in exchange for losing the car mode. What makes this frustrating is that these three are tiny compared to other deluxe class figures in the line when it comes to plastic mass. You'd think there would have been more room in the budget to do things like better compressing the mandatory backpack, or giving something to the back of the car to make it look more like a hoverboard, but there isn't. They're not compatible with the War for Cybertron play patterns either, as none of them have any decent weapon ports (save for on their feet), nor do they have any blast effects plugs in robot mode, with the only two meant more for the hoverboard gimmick. There were just enough cut corners to turn this from passable, to frustrating.

I can see why people are keeping the old Generations or Takara Legends one if you're wondering why there aren't any comparisons to it, it's because I don't own one. The only comparison I could make is Elita with her Power of the Primes version, and that's not a reasonable comparison to make. Arcee is getting a reissue in Kingdom. If you're desperate for a representation of them, they'll do, but you can do better for Arcee and Lifeline (according to the community). Elita though? This figure is the best version of her so far, which is a depressing thing to think about, considering her status in the franchise. A leader in her own right, a character gaining a lot of attention recently thanks to the Netflix seasons, and the best representation in plastic that she has is a repaint of one of Arcee's worst G1 toys.