Tag Archives: Transformers

SpartanNerd…Catching Up…

by

0

Has it really been three years since I posted anything?

This means that throughout Corona…throughout the last several MTG releases…Throughout the ending of MOTUC and the new Masters of the Universe lines that have come out. I have written zilch.

Well, it isn’t because I stopped being nerdy. Believe it or not, online teaching and also attending classes took all of my energy out for this project.

So here’s a few new things that have happened.

Masters of the Universe.– As the Classics line ended, I began to realize I just didn’t have enough space anymore. MOTUC items are pretty large. And I got lots of joy especially from my He-Man and Battlecat and also Skeletor and Panthor. But also the Griffin was one of my favorites. Vikor. But some of the others…I decided I could part with them. And then I decided when I saw the price I could fetch to go ahead and sell my core items. All I have left is Vikor and my custom Battleground Teela. I sold it all in May 2020. For $600. I use that money to re-invest in MOTU Mega Construx. I have the Castle Grayskull and basically every item they have released in that line. A downsize in square footage, it is easier to get these just by walking into a store. There are other advantages.

Sorry about the backdrop-less pic. This is a very large item. Kitchen table will have to do.

I decided early on that the MOTU Origins figures look too crappy…I don’t like the colors. And the Masterverse figures on first reveal, I thought “That He-Man looks “gutsy.” Meaning, the way the belt is that pale color yellow, it blends in too well with He-Man’s skin color on his belly. It looks like he has a gut. The other figures, the one that came out with the new CGI Anime line, do not appeal to me at all. I hear fans (Scott Neitlich) accepting what is going on apologetically, that this line is meant to appeal to the kids. But kids just don’t watch the cartoons anymore. Trust me. I know. Middle school teacher. So they are messing around with beloved source material and creating something “corrupt.”

I have picked up some of the MOTU Minis, and the Hot Wheels.

Magic the Gathering- For something that took up so much of my life and my children’s time, this has become a much rarer treat. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, there haven’t been as many tournaments. We pretty much decided that SpellTable pretty much stinks. Arena isn’t a strong alternative. Now some tournaments have returned, but we have to drive a long way to get to them. Mostly these are Commander League events. And we haven’t really paid into the leagues on account we can’t reliably attend. Just the same, we have played EDH some. But the thrill of the old Modern tournaments is gone. I have done a few drafts and sealed. But it is doubtful that we will go and draft Double Masters II this weekend. That is $50 or more. To play maybe three rounds. Which I will have to drive a distance to get to … meaning I can’t stay out late in my old age driving home sleepy.

Oh yes…Secret Lair. At first I bought it all. I bought the super bundle…the one with the cats and the goblins. The Walking Dead. After awhile, I realized that this isn’t sustainable for me. They have churned out so many Secret Lairs, each with an enticing value usually, but then if you start adding all that up, you better be rich if you are a completist. I figure the Wizards/Hasbro weren’t achieving their bread and butter anymore on packs because people stopped playing. And Commander is so popular, but you can play virtually any cards you can find competitively even, that they had to capitalize on that crowd the best they could by dangling lots of shiny, pretty, artsy, and seemingly charitable carrots in front of them. So I certainly had to start pacing myself on this one. The last one I got was the Dracula one. I got my kid the pixel art lands. These things…they take forever to arrive. All the shipping delays and production delays that have plagued the past couple of years…Which brings me to the next big one.

Playstation 5. I got the money together for this…in fact some of the money from my MOTUC collection, plus some gifts, etc. I had the funds in hand right before Christmas 2020. And went to buy it, only to find…THERE WERE NONE. ANYWHERE. When did I finally get mine? OCTOBER 2021. Used! I am grateful…it has performed like a champ! You wouldn’t know. It didn’t come with a proper stand, so I had to get a third party one, which was supposed to charge the controllers and add extra fan-power. But none of that seems to be working. Still, it stands very well. The best two games for me have been Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Tourismo. But I have lots more games. Spider-Man, Terraria, Mortal Kombat. I paid for the streaming services, but haven’t hardly used them…which brings me to

DISNEY+. Since this launched, I bundled with HULU (Which I already watched) and this has been what I have watched on TV. I have hung on to NetFlix for Stranger Things and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. (More on that on a different day.). The Mandalorian has been a terrific show! Obi Wan was pretty good. The Book of Boba Fett might as well have been season 3 of the Mandalorian. I haven’t watched anything else much on the service, though.

Comics- I have moved back into collecting these. I picked up IDW’s “Best of” TMNT books. I am looking to get a frame to display them in.

I have been collecting all of the IDW Transformers books…this was actually how I got back into collecting comics. IDW decided to reboot the franchise, and I felt it was a good “jumping in” place. Highlights of this have been “Shattered Glass” and “King Grimlock.” The main story kind of meandered a little bit. I was introduced to a bunch of characters I didn’t know or had forgotten. I also got into “Beast Wars”… which was admittedly NOT MY CARTOON. Unfortunately, IDW passed on the license, and all of these stories have come to a wrap up, which has seemed very rushed. But my love of getting the covers and important/valuable books has become rooted again. I collected up all of the “Batman/Catwoman” story, got back into Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. But I have dropped DC for the most part. In fact, almost everything they have been publishing in any form is tripe that panders to anyone except the classic fan. I thought “The Batman” was a much slower slog than it needed to be. My next problem is the amount of room this hobby is taking up…

Gundam- I built my first Master Grade…EW EPYON. I am still applying decals. But this has been a terrific project! I eill post pictures when I finish.

It is good to be coming back to the blogosphere…an I hope to have a review tomorrow!

SpartanNerd Review…KREO Transformers “Micro-changers” (Blind Bag)

by

0

Bored and nearly broke…buying dish detergent and looking for cheap content…I came across this gem for a mere three dollars at Dollar General Market in Pacolet, SC.

bag

A couple of things bears discussing here, first.

This isn’t my first experience with Kreo Transformers.  One of the Spartan-children had a Kreo BumbleBee once.  They were really too young.  So I had to do the assembling.  Which was quite tough.  I specifically remember putting pieces on, only to have others let go.

Ranking building blocks…LEGO is king.  The blocks go tog enter comfortably.  There are certain “design standards” that LEGO adheres to.  Then there are the iconic Mini-Figures.

Mega-Blocks…second place…at one time these felt like generic LEGO blocks.  Nowadays a kid might just as well be talking about LEGOs and Mega-Blocks interchangeably.  Mega-Blocks has its own figures, and cool licenses such as Halo.  They don’t market to as young of a crowd of kids as LEGO.  But they don’t have the same design standards as LEGO.  So they might just wing a big rectangle on a single stud, and call that a moving part.  Not the best our soundest solution.

Then KREO has to be last.  These blocks are meant to be interchangeable with the other two.  But there are some problems. They tend to be smaller.  And the studs don’t stick together so well even with blocks in the same set.  And forget about design standards…a part might be held together with tension, or whatever.  I remember that BumbleBee having layers and layers of underside.  This was neither fun to build, and seemed to be lacking in function.

When I saw this KREO Transformer, I remembered the BumbleBee experience.  I also know that that particular set was among the first KREO sets.  I wondered if things had moved along any and improved?  Keep on reading for more of the review!

The back of the bag looked like this…featuring many transformers…most of whom I have little knowledge of or care for.  Rodimus Prime was among them, making me think these must be Transformers from season three of the Generation One cartoon.  (Longtime readers will know that I never cared much for Rodimus Prime.)

back of bag

Opening the package revealed these two items…a poly-bag and the instructions.

contents instructions mistake

I believe the instructions have an error…The ad for Computron and Menasor are BACKWARDS.  Compton is the one at the top. I could be mistaken however, not being that much of an expert on Transformers.  But as a kid, I had Scattershot.  Furthermore, I saw a “Combiner Wars” version of Computron at Big Lots.

instructions

The Transformer I got was “Cyclonis.”  Here are the instructions…

pieces

Here are the assorted parts.

assembled bot laid flat

Here is my first build of Cyclonis.  As I look at him, I scour my memory to see if I can remember this character.  The wings on the arms really bother me.  So I re-arranged him to have a more “Starscream” build.

starscream type build

One thing that is immediately apparent is the helmet doesn’t want to stay on.  He has a head-barrel almost exactly like a LEGO mini figure.  But that helmet doesn’t snap on well.  And it keeps popping off.

After rebuilding him into “Thundercracker” or similar re-colored Starscream, I put him back the way he is supposed to be according to the instructions.  I am certain, however, if there was a Starscream KREO, he would probably have the same pieces with a different coloration.

Cyclonis…who was he?  The back of the bag tells me that he is probably from the episodes of Transformers I would only OCCASIONALLY watch.  I was very upset when they killed off Optimus Prime.  I also preferred the Autobot and Deception war to be on Earth, and finally the vehicle modes of the last season of Generation 1 Transformers tended to be science fiction things like ships, futuristic cannons, etc.  This made sense for a group of warriors on Cybertron.

Saying all this doesn’t change the fact that I owned more Transformers from this era than from the earlier era.  Transformers were expensive.  The ones I had were gifted to me.  And usually going to the store with money to purchase one meant that characters I knew would be out of stock…

Finally, It came to me.  A little blip in my memory where Galvatron is using Cyclonis name.  I broke down and looked at Wikipedia.  Indeed, Cyclonis was Galvatron’s “right hand man.”  And yes.  His wings are on his arms.

jet mode

Transforming Cyclonis wan’t difficult.  He becomes one of those “futuristic” vehicles I mentioned.  The transformation really isn’t anything more than the figure on its belly, with an extra nosecone piece instead of the helmet.  And the wings re-arranged.

I much prefer the robot mode!

standing without stand

Cyclonis stands just fine without his KREO block-stand.  He comes with this purple gun, which is one of the coolest parts of this set.  That translucent purple reminds me of another Transformer I DID own, Shockwave…

SpartanNerd Review of KREO Transformers “Micro-changers” (Blind Bag)

I haven’t reviewed alot of LEGOs.  But as it goes, this is worth every bit of three dollars.  I really like the color scheme.  He is menacing, with guns on his back and a purple gun accessory.  You immediately know he is a Decepticon!  (I have always been more of a Deception, even though I regarded the Autobots as awesome as well.  But my toys were usually Decepticon.

Sure, it has some problems.  The helmet doesn’t like to stick to the single stud on top of his head.  He stands better without the stand…both feet don’t want to plug into it.  (That’s why you saw me posing him standing on one foot.)  There is ugly branding on the underside of one of the wings.

The SpartanNerd rates  KREO Transformers “Micro-changers” (Blind Bag) a 4/5.  For three dollars,you have something way cooler than most LEGO mini figures that come in blind bags.  For instance, I remember SpartanKid opening a Cheerleader, a clown, and a caveman.  At least this was a Decepticon!

SpartanNerd Review…Big Lots Transformers figures

by

1

IMG_6151

Let me clear the air and say I didn’t purchase these.  I snapped the picture, and was highly tempted.  At $5 apiece, it was certainly do-able.

When I talk about being interested in Transformers, this is what I am talking about.  They look exactly like they did on TV.  If only these weren’t so much like “baby toys” or “dog toys.”  Aesthetically…they scratch the nerd itch.  They look the part.  They have a wist swivel, moving arms, and a moving head.  But do not transform.

It is a real wonder I didn’t walk out with Megatron and Soundwave, though.  Sound wave is one of my personal favorites.  And Megatron rarely looks like his TV self, (though Soundwave does.)  Optimus Prime is inescapable nowadays.  The Starscream looks good here, but has a weird smile.

I don’t know the exact name of the line these are from.  I tried looking them up…not much there.  I wish I had thought to take a better picture of the tag.

There are some other cartoon look-alike transformers on the shelves…the “Hero Mash-ups.”  If I got those, I wouldn’t “mash them up.”  They would stay vanilla, so they looked like themselves.  Those don’t transform either, so I’ll pass.

What would I rate these?

Well they look the part.  So there is at least one point.  Megatron and Soundwave look really mean, and they have their weapons.  (non-remavable.)  So here is another point.

They do not actually transform.  Their legs don’t move.  They feel like “baby toys” or “dog toys.”  Starscream’s face is a happy face.

So I give them a 2/5…being generous because they ARE cool.  They might be cool in my office at the school.  I would feel fine leaving these guys there, and I think the kids would recognize them too.  But they just aren’t the kind of toy that I buy.  So I passed.

SpartanNerd…Cool Idea- Photograph Toys with a Black Light!

by

0

Just some fun I had today…something really substantial forthcoming, however, oh Hub City Geeks!

IMG_5978

Skeletor is just about my favorite subject to photograph.  With a black light, his face looks extra gruesome.

I thought it would be cool to put the Havoc Staff that came with the Faceless One in the black light.  It isn’t that apparent in the pic below, but the pink translucent details on the “powered up” part of the staff changed bone white!

IMG_5979

IMG_5970

Here is Modulock wearing the alternate Beast Man armor.  The unusual and unexpected thing is the plastic on the torso and visible in his joints at the knees and elbows glow a different color in the black light!  I noticed this with Draego Man too.  (Not pictured)

IMG_5973

I’ve never thought that the vintage Mantenna was a very menacing looking figure.  (This is my original toy from the 1980’s.)  Placing a blacklight on him changes this.  The red details become that salmon-isn color, which contrasts to the blue parts of his body that disappear in the blacklight somewhat.  His eyeball paint is about gone, but because of this it makes that weird thing that is his mouth seem extra creepy!

IMG_5975

The cool thing about Grimlock isis weapons.  They look translucent amber in person.  In the blacklight, though they pp like the science fiction things they should pop like.

IMG_5999

Last but not least, LILIANA!  The cool thing about this pic is as I was editing it with iPhoto, I was playing with the sharpness controls.  Lilliana almost disappeared when the control was at 0.  As you moved the slider, she would slowly appear or disappear!  Just like magic!  Because her substantially exposed skin is “flesh-tone”, and her clothes are all purple, this caused the disappearing effect.  I wish I had a modded Liliana card with this picture on it!