At some point in the IDW comics
Bumblebee became the leader of the Autobots, as part of this (or maybe because
he died beforehand and got rebuilt, I can't really remember) he got a new body
which was heavily based upon his movie appearance. The thing I don't like about
the movie designs is that they all seem to have bits of car pointing in random
directions (it's like 2007 all over again isn't?!). So this new Bumblebee has a
movie inspired look which features bits of bonnet pointing diagonally upwards.
Bumblebee then got a new
Generations figure based on this new design, I have a Classics collection
'rule' of one figure per character, so I shrugged my shoulders, looked over at
my iGear VW legends Bumblebee, nodded approvingly and carried on with my
day. Bumblebee then gets a redeco as Goldbug, again, I give iGear Bumblebee the
nod and carry on with my day.
Nightbeat is one the few
characters who alongside the likes of Bludgeon and Thunderwing, was a popular
character due to the Marvel comic, despite not being in the cartoon. I can't
remember whether I was aware of him when he was originally released, probably
not, but somehow he feels important. He got his own Spotlight so he must be
important, and what's more, he's a detective, with a trench coat. A bit like
the Turtles Raphael and the Fantastic 4 member Thing. He is also clearly a
master of disguise..........
Rumours started that Nightbeat was
going to get a figure as a repaint of Generations Jazz, I think there might
have been a listing as such. Nightbeat is a Porsche, Jazz is a Porsche; clearly
Hasbro has done this repaint thing before. Jazz is an awesome figure with bits
of car pointing in acceptable and certifiably G1 directions. But then...........
official pictures arrived, and he's a repaint of Bumblebee with the shoulders
at funny angles. But, give Bumblebee a different colour scheme and a really
good head sculpt and suddenly, the shoulders can point in whatever damn
direction they want. We have a winner, Mr Nightbeat, come on down! And feel
free to give Bumblebee a kick on the way.
So I think I might get Nightbeat.
What I might also get is the Million Publishing repaint of the Nightbeat
remold, GoShooter. If I can afford him that is, but he also has me abandoning
my long held beliefs on shoulder orientation. The other Million Publishing
figure, Shouki (a repaint of Astrotrain) also has shoulders pointing slightly
diagonally which I have never objected to. I like the figure, I like the Trainbots,
but it seems a bit pointless having one Trainbot, especially when they never got
any character development in the cartoon, unlike say, Leozack. One hundred-odd
dollars seems a bit much for pointless. Still, pretty pictures of them both.
I like Reprolabels; several of my
more tatty G1 figures have been tarted up nicely with a new set of labels. They
might be slightly yellowed with missing accessories and loose joints, but at
least their insignia is bright and true. I also like what Reprolabels do for
Classics figures, adding in details that were on the original G1, but missing
from the new version. Particularly with third party figures it can help give my
figures a joint sense of identity. Also, it often makes them more shiny where
chrome has been woefully neglected.
I am particularly interested in
one of their new releases, a set of stickers to turn 2x1 flat lego tiles into
the G1 cassettes. They have done a stunning job in making stickers of just
about every cassette ever envisioned. I have to applaud Reprolabels for such a
simple and ingenious idea. They are suggesting it as being part of Classics,
but I think they will fit in nicely with Kreons; you could have Soundwave with
a cassette in each hand for instance. I think I will just create the original
twelve cassettes that appeared in the cartoon and display them with my Grimlock
and Predacon Kreons.
Speaking of which, I built my
Grimlock Unleashed Kreo set recently. They seem to have given up on the 2 in 1
build thing and just concentrated on the one mode. Similarly to the original
larger Kreo sets, he utilises several ball joints which works pretty well.
Hasbro aren't quite ready to challenge Lego with their builds just yet though.
Still, I enjoyed it, and my Grimlock collection has increased in size, variety
and interest. A robot dinosaur made from bricks is fun! Dinosaur + (Small)
Robot + Sword = Win. I hope we get the remaining Dinobots as Kreons soon.
I picked up another Kreo Prime set, there's tonnes of the bloody things sitting in TRU and I feel I should do my bit to help shift them, but frankly, at the the price they're offering them at, they're not going to go quickly. I'm not sure they could even give them away really. I bought it primarily to make the trailer on the Prime I already have longer by an extra section. It's supposed to be an American truck; one thing I know about American trucks (and in fact any American vehicle) is they're supposed to be big, not stumpy (or munky). I'll donate the extra cab/robot section I have to charity which will be a test of whether you can actually give them away. If you're wondering why size is so important it's because I intend to use it as a platform to display my Lego minifigs.
Whilst at TRU I also got the
Strafe then and now set, which is retailing at exactly the same price as the
regular deluxes, so you effectively get a free minicon; if I didn't already
have it I'd be rather happy. I'm not sure whether we're going to see Wave 2,
let alone Wave 3, so this might be the only way to get him. I'm in it for the
long haul though, and I reckon we might see them at discount stores if TRU
don't do the business, and given how much stuff they've got lying around from
the last couple of years, I don't think they will. Strafe is a nice enough
figure; not sure why he's double headed, symmetry I suppose, but they could
have just had the head split in two if that was so important. Some wrist
swivels would have been good, but he has a nice colour scheme and I like
displaying him in robot mode with his wings out for a rather dynamic look.
Dinosaur + Robot + Swords = Win.
My big purchases this month were
the Divebomb and Rampage figures to complete Feral Rex, sadly they will be
sitting in my pile of loot for a little while yet, but the pictures I've seen
of completed Rexes look solid and imposing to say the least. I've got Leo Dux
in hand, but haven't opened him yet. I could put together an armless Rex I
suppose. I love what Mastermind Creations have done with Sixshot and Predaking,
and am really looking forward to their Overlord. Mastermind Creations' figures
tend to be on the larger size, luckily they create figures of characters I
like, and so am happy to have in a larger size, I wouldn't want a movie
inspired Bumblebee with weird shoulders towering over everyone else for
instance.
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