Transformers Fun Time: Compensation Package

Hey folks, been messing around with the html to widen my page so I can fit more pictures in the main post area.

As it turns out, everything is going well except for that silly line down the centre of the page. (Yes, THAT one.) So do not adjust your computers--the fault lies with the page. Please bear with me while I try to figure how to fix it...And come up with a new banner that's not so...patchwork.

But for now, as the title suggests, here's a little compenstation of sorts.

Enjoy!

Transformers Fun Time: Ultra Sadness

Will this be the day Magnus becomes Ultra once more? Well of course not, judging by the title. ;)

Transformers: Powered Commander!

As a kid, I always wondered why they couldn't get Transformers toys to be cartoon accurate. Take Ultra Magnus for example. The G1 toy as so poor in terms of articulation it wasn't funny. He was basically a white repaint of the G1 Optimus Prime toy, with a car carrier that transformed into his rather immobile frame (read--he had no real legs whatsoever).

Enter Fansproject, who claim to be by the fans, for the fans. And I agree! Check out their Powered Commander set for Henkei Optimus Prime!

What's this, you say? Well, it's basically power armour upgrade for your Henkei Optimus Prime that'll make him look like Ultra Magnus in the early test shots/promotional trailers for Transformers: The Animated Movie.







Check it out:


Sweet, huh?

One thing I really wanted to do with this guy after putting him togther is to take him apart, minus the Prime toy, so that those of you thinking about getting him know what you're in for. And also before I got this guy (and I always wanted to get him based on the pictures of him I've seen) I couldn't find any site that showed you exactly what you were paying for. So here it is:


Yup folks, that is one Big Frickin' Gun, more popularly known among fans as a BFG (I know what you're thinking, you Roald Dahl readers. ;])

But the Powered Commander is simply not just bits of armour. It also can transform into a trailer mode. But it sorta cheats. Why? Cos the pieces come apart and are clipped together with tabs and slots. I do have to say, though, that the tab/slot part of the toy is particalurly well done. That means most everything fits snugly when clipped together. :)











So if you're trying on the PC armour on your Henkei/Universe Prime for the first time, be wary that the pieces fit nicely, and if it deosn't seem to fit snugly, it probably wasn't meant to fit there.

The set also comes packed with a Henkei-like comic that doubles as instructions, as well as a sticker sheet and a bag of small round plastic bits, of which purpose I'm unsure of. Haha. Maybe they're their for kitbashing or repair purposes.

Here's how I rate this toy:

Show Acuracy: 9.5 - You can't really miss the colour scheme on this, so pretty accurate based on a commercial.

Poseability: 9.3 - He loses lots of Prime's flexibility in the arms after the armour is donned--the shoulder loses a ratchet joint to move the arm up and away from the body. And of course the forearms are now more restricted because of the clip on hands/forearms.

But the one important thing that is not lost is his leg flexibility. Heck, the guy even has adjustable foot plates that allow him to have his feet flat on the ground even when his legs are apart. And he leg flaxibiliy is so important in order to pose Magnus with his huge upper body bulk and the BFG.

Aesthetic: 9.7 - Powered Commander is just awesome to look at. From the head sculpt, to the shoulders and even the trailer mode. Why can't hasbro have made a Magnus like this before now? ;)

Overall: 9.5 - The only reason that it doesn't score higher (ok besides the upper body poseability) is that his colours sorta clash. Red, black, blue and yellow? And really, Prime doesn't need any Power Armour. I'll just let Nemesis Prime wear it for now. ;)

Size compasison next to Universe Ultra Magnus (w/o Power Armour of course. ;])

Oh and I didn't put any stickers on PC cos I thought he'd be too "chromed up" with any more silver. He looks great as he is right out of the box. :])

Transformers Fun Time: Anguish of the Fallen

Well, I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, loved it, and would go watch it a second time.

Yup, it was that good. But just a few things you need to note if you haven't been to see it and are on the fence. I recommend it, for sure. :)

Here's what you need to know:

1. It's not Oscar material stuff, so leave your brain at the door and enjoy the ride. :)

2. When you're waching, don't go: "What? That wasn't in the original cartoon! It's all crap they made up!" Well, I can tell you for sure that there was a lot in the original Transformers mythology and history that was never in the 80s cartoon. It would've been too complicated for kids. It's all in the movie and all true, though. A visit to TFwiki.net will set you straight. It did for me. ;)

3. Enjoy the action, but listen to the dialogue! There's a lot to see in the movie but don't let that distract you from the witty one-liners and the excellent voice acting. I know it's tough to discern who's saying what when one robot is bashing/tearing/blowing apart another. But if you can do this, you'll find the movie makes good sense.

And finally, for those who've already seen Revenge of the Fallen, here's a little of what happens when Sideswipe is telling Henkei (G1) Optimus Prime about his part in the movie, and a shortchanged and disgruntled Sideways overhears them. So SPOILERS ahead. Enjoy!

The Problem with Magnus

For those who haven't seen Transformers Animated Season 3 and still want to catch it, spoilers ahead! :)

But who hasn't seen the final season of TFA yet, right? ;P

Ultra Magnus!

aka Prime Jr.,

aka (according to Grimlock in the comics) Little Prime

aka "I'm a soldier, not a leader"

aka the one who couldn't open The Matrix (and got blown to pieces by Galvatron)

aka (when the Autobots in the other ship are getting blown away by Galvatron) "I can't deal with that right now."

aka Rodimus Prime's second-in-command

Well, so this version of Ultra Magnus does have a lot to live up to when compared to Optimus Prime. But who doesn't? I guess he gets more flak because he looks exactly like Prime except he's white. And he resorts to wearing power armour that makes him look like this:

Hey, you would too if you looked liked Prime--the Decepticons would shoot you first and ask questions later. Then he'd be dead. Not because he's not a powerful robot, but because he really just falls short of Prime standard stats.






But while he may be considered a poor man's version of Prime in most incarnations, this Classics Universe toy of him certainly isn't.

Granted, he may just be a repaint of Universe/Henkei Prime, so there's really nothing to compare when it comes to poseability of even show/comic accuracy (if you don't count that he doesn't come with power armour). And aesthetically you may think "he's just white and a little blue." Well, that's what I thought. Until I busted him open and had a good look/play with him.

Magnus has got at least 7 different colours on him:

























There's white and blue, black for the tires, fists and shins. There's red for his Autobot symbols, as well as a touch of yellow for his head lights. His bumper and grill are silver (and a nice shiny silver they are, though not chrome) and his hub caps are gold.

And as if this weren't enough, the gave him a rub symbol as well! And OMG the hub cabs!!!













Yup, his truck mode is especially sweet. Just gotta love the colours on him in this mode.

But what especially stood out for me was the light piping in his eyes. They're a nice bright blue and show up especially well against his white head and silver mouthpiece. And this is with no additional lighting, just my room ceiling light!

His light blue windshields also allow a clear view of the seats on the inside of his chest, adding to the great detail already on him.

The one area that could be improved on is the legs. His knee guards are not painted, something which I will try my hand at remedying (sooner, rather than later, I hope. ;P) The other place to improve would be to add detail/colour to his arms. Not a lot, just enough to "liven" things up.

I also don't mind that his gun is black. But it would look much better as smokestacks if it matched with his blue and white.

Oh and if you missed it, here's how I found him at a store.

Here's how I rate him:

Show/Comic Accuracy: 9/10 - He's White. He's Prime (Jr). I dig. Just wish they'd make an official power armour for him though. Love this one but it's too expensive!

Aesthetic: 9.5 - What a beaut! It though I would love Nemesis better but I sure am loving the subtle detail Magnus has to offer. Maybe it's just that I like white better in my clothes. Or maybe cuz I'm a good guy deep down inside. :P

Poseability: 9.5 - Same as Prime and Nemesis. There's hardly a thing I want this mold to do that it can't!

Overall: 9.33 - This guy pips Nemesis Prime by being the White Knight. I simply can't help but find more things to like about Ultra Magnus the more I play with him.

Now my circle of Primes is complete. Time for some power armour upgrades. ;)

Weekend Swag!

First off, I finally managed to get my butt down to the post office to collect Batman:

Got him lose off Ebay from a seller in China. The Holy "Batman" Grail is DC Superheroes Black and Grey Bats, but this guy will do for now. ;)

So that was Thurday.

Friday night was the Toys 'R' Us midnight launch of the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line

I only intended to go for a look see and perhaps meet some of the great guys that make up the fantastic tf.sg local Transformers community.

Then TRU had to give us each free $20 dollar coupons. Those buggers! Haha, well there was no way then I was gonna leave without getting something. So I picked up these two:

And the thing was that Melissa also was a card-holding member of TRU, so I got to use her voucher too. Props to you, Dear!

Why Sideswipe and Sideways? Well, cos I'm actually not a big fan of the movie design TFs, but these two go well together: both are silver sports cars, one's a Deceptican and the other an Autobot, and they haven't better than decent looking robot modes. :)

Oh yes, and TRU gave away a ton of free stuff, including posters, lanyards, guidebooks to the movie TFs, and these, my personal favourite:

Awwww damn. Guess who's riding in style now? :P

And Sunday of course came along, which is the traditional "Visit the toy flea markets at China Square Central" day, so I popped by thinking to get DC Superheroes Darkseid. And I did for a good price:

Fearsome figure, he is. He's huge and bulky, but if you turn the package to the side you'll see that they have him in there with his knees bent, so that he can fit into the standard-sized bubble on card. I can't wait to crack him open and see how much he'll tower over the rest of the DC Superheroes line. ;)

Then last but not least, I had to pick up another item I won on Ebay, which was one I'd been eyeing for a while now but simply put buying him off:

Animated Sunstorm (with Activator Rachet!)

Now I've got all the Seekers they've released in the Animated line: Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker & Dirge (who're both Activators), and finally, Sunstorm.

With the Hasbro's announcement that they'll be releasing Thundercracker as a Voyager later next year, I'll be looking to add him to the gang as well.

And as luck would have it, as I'm doing the deal with guy for Sunstorm, when Mel turns a facedown TF Universe 2-pack box lying on some boxes over, saying, "What's this?" and answering herself, "Oh, Ultra Magnus and Skywarp." (Level of enthusiasm on a scale of 10--about a 2.)

And I went, "Ultra Magnus and Skywarp?!?!?!" (Level of enthusiasm on a scale of 10--about an 11.) Well, what else could I do but snag the "Battle for Autobot City" 2-pack set? ;)

For you see, I'd been eyeing Ultra Magnus for the longest time, but he seemed like one of those figures you had to pay a premium price for even if he was loose, somewhere in the region of S$70 (US$46). And I did so here as well--except just for $14 more, I also got the very nice (and exclusive) Skywarp.

So all in all a brilliant toy hunting weekend. There was plenty of other stuff I wanted to pick up but had to hold off on, like DC Universe Classics Shazam! (Or DC's Captain Marvel), Green Lantern, and Flash. But not getting them over the weekend just makes for more thrill for the hunt for next time. And besides, with a haul like the one above, it would be such a waste if I didn't take the time to savour it.

Watch out for reviews of the haul over the next week! :)