Takara Arms Micron Skywarp Review

So yeah, long time no post. We're out looking for a house in our country's capital at the moment, so things have been very busy. I think we might have found the one, though. Things have progressed through the offer/counter stage, and we're just finishing up some post-inspection issues. Pretty excited about the move, now!

Anyway, now that we have a bit of free time, I thought I'd take a moment to share my thoughts on this figure, which I received right before leaving.

Well packed!

This is the only Takara figure I've bought from the mainline Prime line, known as "Arms Micron" over in Japan. Typically (though not always),Takara offers up superior versions of Transformers released in North America, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this line. Thus far, the Hasbro versions have looked better, due in large part to two things Takara is doing with this line. First, they're coupling their figures with little robots that turn into weapons, hence the name "Arms Micron". Now, that might sound well and good - after all, this concept has been around since the G1 Targetmasters - but in order to attach these weapons to the figures, Takara has altered several pieces with ports, much to the chagrin of collectors who want a smoother, more accurate look.

And quite frankly, I don't think this line needs any gimmicks, but whatever.

Much worse than the new take on the old Targetmaster/Minicon gimmick, however, Takara has cheapened out paint applications, something that took pretty much everyone by surprise. Instead, they've included G1-style sticker sheets. Again, something that's been a part of Transformers from the very beginning, but we've long since moved on from that sort of thing.

As a result, I think that I will probably be buying the Hasbro versions of these molds in most cases. I made an exception in Skywarp's case, however, because as far as we know, he isn't planned to appear in the show, and we have no idea whether or not Hasbro would even release one at this point. He also looks pretty good, even without the stickers, and the ports for his little Micron companion aren't at all intrusive.

I had seen pictures of the Arms Micron boxes before I received mine, so I knew they were going to be a bit odd. Now that I have it in hand, I haven't changed my mind, but I do find that I like it quite a bit. It's nice seeing toys in boxes, like they did back in the eighties.

As you can see, it's well protected in there, too. The contents remind me a bit of a model kit.


Since I opened this right before we left for our trip, I didn't have time to assemble the Arms Micron figure or apply the stickers, so I'll just concentrate on the figure itself. To be quite honest, I will probably end up just leaving everything else unassembled and unapplied, as Skywarp looks pretty good as is.

Here's a couple shots of the figure in alt mode. The mold is nearly identical to Starscream, with the exception of the bombs or tanks or whatever they're supposed to be under the wings (he doesn't come with the missile clusters that attach to his wings and arms).

The colours work really well. I've read that some people are planning to use the Starscream figure second Entertainment Pack as Skywarp, because he's got a bit of purple on him, but there's no mistaking who this is supposed to be..

That's even more true in robot mode. I've heard some criticism of using the FE Starscream for the other Seeker characters, but frankly, I don't see it... except maybe the face. It would have been nice to have seen a different headsculpt. Even if the expression was different, it would help, though this should by no means be a dealbreaker to anyone considering this figure for purchase.

I'm not sure there's much else to say about this. If you've got the FE Starscream mold already, and are even remotely familiar with the whole Seeker concept, you know what to expect. Basically, the same mold, but in black and purple.

That's not to say that this particular version of Skywarp isn't worth picking up; it's quite nice and definitely worth a purchase. I just hope we get Thundercracker as well at some point, so that we can round out the usual trio!

TFCC Overrun (Runabout) Review

I think I mentioned before that I missed out on this figure initially, but I had a change of heart later, and just had to pick one up (I'll tell you why in a second).

In case you don't already know, Over-Run is supposed to be the old Decepticon Battlecharger, Runabout, but they couldn't use the original G1 name due to trademark issues.

Because I missed out on joining the Club and ordering this figure, I ended up having to buy it from a reseller at a fairly heavy mark-up, which stung a bit at the time. Luckily, I made up for it later on, as I was able to get his partner-in-crime, Runamuck, for about twenty bucks. Runamuck was the TFCC "free" figure this year, but they sell extras to Club members at Botcon and through their website. Essentially, I avoided having to pay the membership fee, and my costs evened out a bit.

The packaging is quite nice, consisting of a sturdy box and foam inserts, but I was a bit disappointed to find that mine had been crushed a little. I hope that I can find another one down the road. I don't absolutely love the art, to be quite honest, but like I said, it's still quite nice, and you can also put his old pal Runamuck in there. Besides, this isn't your average run-of-the-mill retail figure, and I try to keep the packaging for such items whenever possible.

The alt mode looks really nice. Yeah, it's the same car as Wheeljack, but the different colours look really great. Wish I could say the same in bot mode...

Too many wings!

The original, for reference.

The comics.

The whole reason I missed out on this figure can be summarized by the picture above. Basically, it looked way too much like Wheeljack and Tracks. Sure, he's got a great new headsculpt, and there's nothing wrong with the mold per se, but the "wings" are just too much for this particular character.

I know there's not a whole lot to the original figure, so there is, admittedly, quite a lot of room for interpretation and improvements, but the wings still look out of place to me. The original figure also has that signature "hood" thing going on, which has become a defining feature in Transformers-related media.

Then I saw pictures of a fan-made "alternate" transformation, and boy, what a difference! All you have to do is fold the wings back into the doors, fold the doors down behind the back, and kind of pull the "backpack" up and over the head. As a result, you get a much more G1-accurate figure, and one that doesn't really look like Wheeljack at all.

With United Wipe-Out, my other Decpticar.

I have to wonder why the Club didn't come up with this themselves. In hindsight, it seems so obvious and easy. Perhaps it was just cheaper to reuse the official instructions. At any rate, the altered transformation makes all the difference. So much so, in fact, that I now think the mold suits the two Battlechargers much better than either Wheeljack or Tracks!

This figure sold out pretty quickly, so your only bet right now is getting it through Ebay or one of the online forums, but it's definitely worth picking up if you can get it.

Until next time...

GIJCC Footloose Review

I got my Footloose figure from the official GI Joe Collectors' Club last week, but as I've mentioned in previous posts, we're also in the midst of selling our house, so it's been pretty busy around here. As a result, I wasn't able to do a review until today.

This is going to be a fairly short one, as I really don't think I have anything bad to say about it! I'll try and be as thorough as I can, though.

First off, I don't think there are any new parts or accessories in this figure. Doesn't matter, though. This is quite possibly the finest example of parts reuse I've ever seen in a GI Joe figure. Even the headsculpt, which previously belonged to Captain Claymore, another Club exclusive, is perfect, seeing as how the original Claymore figure from 1986 reused Footloose's head from '85.

Heh. Makes you think they had this planned the whole time. I bet we see a Slaughter's Marauders version down the road, too.

Anyway, to the right is a photo of Footloose's accessories, minus the stand, of course, and the webgear, which I don't usually remove. It's quite a nice assortment. I suppose some might prefer an M-16A1, but I like the more contemporary style assault rifle. I would have preferred an actual LAW rather than Bazooka's rocket launcher, but this is fine too, and comes with a rocket that fits inside (loosely, so be careful not to lose it). The pistol isn't really necessary, but it's still nice to have. Unfortunately, there isn't anywhere to put it, but since the original Footloose didn't have this feature either, it's not a big deal.

The backpack isn't at all like the one that came with the old 1985 figure, but it's one of the nicer ones Hasbro's designed in recent years, so it gets a pass. I believe it's the same one that was released with the Pursuit of Cobra "Jungle Duke" figure. You can actually put the flashlight in there, and using the straps, also secure the rifle across the back, and fit the knife/machete in a little slot cut into the edge. Pretty cool.

The articulation is superb, even for a GI Joe figure (they're all pretty good, after all). Footloose has the extra joints in the wrists we're starting to see in new figures. This might not sound like much, but since you can move the hands up and down, you can get a much more realistic look when posing him with a weapon.

Let me tell you right now, this figure is a much better figure than the Club's last free figure, Dial Tone. Not to say Dial Tone is a bad figure by any means (though I do have some issues with it); Footloose is just so much better. Looks like the Club has another winner on its hands, and if this figure is a sign of things to come, I'm already looking forward to next year!

Week in Review

Busy time on the homefront lately, leaving little room for toys. We put our house up for sale over the weekend, went up on MLS for only one day before we got an offer, countered, and sold! Assuming everything goes well with the inspection, we should be good to go. :)

That means we'll be in our new home in Ottawa well before the GI Joe convention takes place at the end of June, which is good to know when you have to fly there. I'm really going to try and make it this year. The set is going to feature the Oktober Guard; those are going to be must have figures as far as I'm concerned. So far we've seen Daina, Shrage, and Col. Brekhov, and they all look great! You can check out pics here. Looks like we'll be getting three more Oktober Guardsmen - I'm guessing Dragonsky, Horrorshow and Stormavik to round out the original members, though I wouldn't be surprised if we see more as attendee exclusive items (I want Wong!). We also seem to be getting four Joes in the main set as well.

Speaking of conventions, I'm pretty stoked about being within driving distance to Toronto, home to the Canadian GI Joe convention and TFCon, among others. Maybe I can get a couple shows in this summer if I'm lucky.

And since we're on the topic, I guess I should also mention that the official Transformers one wrapped up this weekend. A friend of mine was able to get me Runamuck at cost, which makes me feel a lot better about missing out on the membership!

Hasbro's big threats of confiscating third party items at the con didn't seem to materialize, though it would seem that they were successful in keeping that stuff under the radar for the most part.

We did see lots of figures based on the upcoming Fall of Cybertron game. I'm pretty excited about the game myself, having just finished the first one, War for Cybertron... though I'm not sure about the figures. Like many others, I'm a bit bummed out that most seem to be deluxes. That's great for guys like Jazz, but not so much for Optimus, Shockwave or Starscream. One notable exception seems to be Soundwave, who will be a voyager this time around. They all look pretty good though. Apparently, the game-accurate Combaticon set will be a SDCC exclusive this year, while mass retail will get them in brighter colours. That angered a lot of people, as you can imagine. I'm thinking I might try and score one on Ebay, but if I can't get a good price, I might pass on the videogame toys altogether.

One SDCC item I will definitely be getting one way or another is the zombie Cliffjumper from Transformers Prime, though!

Oh yeah, and we're getting MP-10 this side of the Pacific. Best part? Looks to be pretty much identical to the Japanese release (i.e. full stacks!) and the price is set at around $100.

Well, I think that's all I've got in me tonight. I've been playing around with my new Footloose figure a bit, and if I get the chance to snap a few pics tomorrow, I'll put up a quick review. Later!

Sideshow Black Dragon Ninja Review

Alright, time for part two of Sideshow's one-two GI Joe punch this month: Black Dragon Ninja!

Regular headsculpt.

What can I say about this figure? Well, it's more or less the same figure we've seen a few times now... First Storm Shadow (which admittedly was quite a bit different, but still), then the Red Ninja, then the green Cobra Ninja Viper, and now this guy, dressed in black this time around. And while despite this, not to mention the fact that it's nowhere near as exciting as its fellow April release, Zartan, it's still a pretty great figure.

That said, I've been working on this review all weekend (mind you, it was a busy weekend!), trying to figure out what to write about it, and coming up more or less empty.

Still, I'll give it a try.

Right out of the box, it's an impressive figure. I've read some complaints about the headwrap, but it didn't take a lot of futzing around to make it look decent, in my opinion anyway.

Like the older Red Ninja, the exclusive version comes with an extra headsculpt, which is really quite nice. You might even want to buy two of these, to display both version, which is probably what Sideshow had in mind. Thus far, I've resisted. One ninja in each colour is enough for me.

Even though I like the extra head, I can't help feeling that Sideshow might have missed an opportunity to give us an African headsculpt, i.e. Ninja Ku. Then again, I suppose it wouldn't have matched the skin tone of the rest of the body, and maybe the Storm Shadow clothing might be more appropriate for that character, now that I think about it.

Geez, just when I think I've had enough Sideshow ninjas, I find myself wanting a Ninja Ku figure! Anyway, on to the accessories...

The accessories, as usual, are very nice. I don't think there's anything we haven't seen before, but still some pretty good stuff.

In addition to a couple extra boots for action poses, we also get a ton of extra hands. I usually think all the hands Sideshow includes with these figures is a waste, but in this case, I think it's wholly appropriate, given the amount of different weapons and the martial arts nature of the character.

Exclusive headsculpt.

Bottom line, if you like ninjas, and you've already got the red and green versions, you'll probably want this one to round out your display. However, if you've passed on the other ninjas, it's probably likely that you wouldn't be interested in this either. I will freely admit that none of Sideshow's ninjas - save Storm Shadow himself, of course - are essential characters by any stretch. Still, it's a really nice figure; I can't really say anything bad about it. Ninjas are pretty cool, after all, and I'm certainly glad I got this one.

New Recruit Incoming: Footloose!

Well, well, well... look who came in the mail yesterday!

Guess that means the Transformers fans are getting their Runamuck in the mail too. Kind of kicking myself for missing out on that, but hopefully someone can hook me up at Botcon this weekend.

At least I didn't miss out on Footloose. He's already going for crazy prices on Ebay, apparently.

I'll do up a quick review of this guy later this week, following Sideshow's Black Dragon Ninja. Been too buxy boxing things up and meeting with realtors. :)

Sideshow Zartan Review

About two weeks ago my wife and I officially found out that I'm to be posted to Ottawa. We knew it was coming for a while, and we're actually pretty happy about it. Ottawa's a beautiful city after all, and it'll be nice to be back in Ontario, closer to both our families.

Packing up, however, is a bitch, especially for a toy collector. I mean, sure, I could just throw everything in boxes, but that's a recipe for losing accessories and breaking parts, so you just have to take your time and do it right.

Anyway, in the midst of boxing up all my Sideshow stuff, among other things, FedEx brings me one of the most anticipated figures in quite a while: Zartan. So even though he's going right back in his box after this review, I gotta show him off... er, I mean review him, first.

Packaging, as always, is top notch. While I usually don't have much to say about the boxes, I really liked the photography for this one in particular. I'm glad they went with this shot rather than something more action-oriented; it really evokes Zartan's more sneaky, underhanded character traits.

Zartan's a pretty impressive figure right out of the box. Sideshow will have pleased a lot of RAH fans with the design, as he looks just like the 1984 figure minus the bare midriff... but that's okay. He's got great articulation (these figures always do) and the sculpting of everything - headsculpt, armour, etc. - is top notch.

The gear.

The mask.

The backpack.

Zartan includes the usual plethora of accessories typically included with Sideshow GI Joes, but this time, quite a lot of them are brand new. In fact, I'm not sure Zartan reuses anything from previous figures at all. Well, maybe the arrows and the pouch (ninjas?), and possibly the mines (which are magnetic, by the way), but I'm pretty sure that's it. This is a really great gear loadout, and a nice change of pace from the usual assortment of reused gear Sideshow often gives us with their GI Joe figures.

In addition to all this, Zartan, as Cobra's resident master of disguise, also comes with a mask that looks just like the one that came with his original 3 3/4" figure in 1984. It even fits in the backback, which opens up. Yep, just like the 1984 figure... again!

Are you seeing the trend yet?

The weapons are just about as appropriate as you can get. You've got his laser pistol from the original 1984 figure, the rifle that was included in his 25th Anniversary figure, and a compound bow, just like what he used in the classic Marvel comic series!

Like I said before, RAH fans will be very, very happy with this figure!

The Sideshow exclusive version came with an extra Duke headsculpt, which you can either use as a "mask" for Zartan, or an alternate head for Duke himself if you prefer. I've take pictures of Sideshow's Duke figure with his original headsculpt and this version to show you how they compare.

Original Duke.

Zartan Duke.

I'm actually kind of tempted to keep it on there, as it's painted much more nicely than the original. I haven't quite decided if the expression looks evil or just sarcastic.

Not pictured: two more "fist" hands.

Zartan also comes with two sets of boots and a whopping SIX pairs of hands. Again Sideshow, why so many hands? Sure, the ones for his bow and arrow properly are certainly warranted, as are the fists I suppose, but who's going to pose Zartan pointing his finger or giving a thumbs up? Why two distinct sets of "gripping" hands? Once again, Sideshow should have halved the amount of these in this set and tried to save us a bit of money.

That aside, I'm not sure I have any complaints about this figure. Zartan's a pretty popular character, so this was bound to be a brisk seller no matter what. However, Sideshow didn't pull any punches here, and I'm genuinely impressed.

Given the excellent sculpt, superb attention to detail (especially regarding the 1984 references) and an impressive amount of new accessories, this is quite possibly one of the best GI Joe figures to come out of Sideshow to date, and I'm really glad I got a hold of one for my collection. Pick one up if you can - I predict that this guy is going to sell out fast!