Unofficial Dino Month

So having finished off last month with quite a few purchases, I've really started this month off well. I found a really good deal on a Tigerzord on eBay, then similarly with Generations Nightbeat and Go Shooter (Japanese Million Publishing exclusive). I decided to buy another Death's Head and Grim Reaper from Chinabay for use as customs (Grim Reaper was to replace the cape I used for my Shredder custom). To round things off I bought a Combiner Wars Wildrider and Slingshot, I've now got 2/5 of Menasor! I'm all caught up on some of the more expensive things I've been after, there are some more things on the list, but they're a bit more reasonably priced. Offset by some of the things I've sold, it's been a very reasonable spending spree!

When Generations Whirl and Roadbuster were announced I wasn't overly thrilled because I already had the Target exclusive Roadbuster (with Nato-bot upgrade) repaint of Cybertron Defense Hot Shot (once upon a time I had all three CD 'bots, good toys!), and had a custom painted ROTF Tomahawk (with Headrobots upgrade). Roadbuster in particular was by far the best out of those four Target exclusive Cybertron repaints. Despite the characters not being in the cartoon, they both appeal to my fondness for obscure characters (At one stage I even started making a Custom Whirl from a Cybertron Evac).

So, having spent the time painting Tomahawk I wasn't that keen on replacing the toys I already had, but I had to admit they looked good. I bought them online some time ago, and when they finally arrived they joined the long list of figures I needed to open. To add to the irritation they also have recently appeared heavily discounted in British stores. I have opened them, and well, they're brilliant. Excellent robot and vehicle modes, nice transformation and a great mix of G1 homage and updated engineering. Anyone for a custom Whirl and a Cybertron repaint!? With the Combiner Wars stuff as well it really feels like Hasbro are on top of their game at the moment.

If Hasbro are top of their game then who are the competition? I thought I would go over my third party transformers collection, I will ignore upgrade kits such as Crazydevy and Headrobots since they still require the original base figure (including the Fansproject Bruticus upgrade).

I have Mastermind Creations Sixshot and Predaking. Fansproject Slag, Sludge, Swoop, Chromedome, Brainstorm, Weirdwolf, Mindwipe, Shrapnel, Kickback, Bombshell and Broadside, PerfectEffect Rumble, Frenzy, Eject, Rewind, Reflector and Fortress Maximus, Mech Ideas Topspin and Twintwist, KFC Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Ratbat, Overkill and Slugfest, iGear Seaspray, Pipes and Huffer, Maketoys Devastator and Impossible Toys Hubcap. That's 40 figures.

I also have Impossible Toys Allicon, but I put that with my G1 animal transformers so I'm ignoring it here. I have also owned Mastermind Creations HOS Optimus Prime, Toyworld Hegemon, Fansproject Springer and Menasor, Maketoys Powerglide and Seaspray (although I never transformed Seaspray), Planet X Swoop, and Impossible Toys Arcee.

On the horizon are Mastermind Creations Overlord, Fansproject Grimlock, Snarl, Skullcruncher, Highbrow and Hardhead, PerfectEffect Scorponok. Hopefully God Ginrai will be an upgrade from someone. There will be others such as Apeface and Sixknight, but I'm not too fussed about them, so that's 7 more giving 47 figures.

By company that's 7 for MMC, 16 for FP, 7 for PE, 5 for KFC, 6 for Maketoys and 6 for other. So FP have by the biggest contribution, and if size of figure is taken into account with the exception of PerfectEffect's Fortress Maximus, only MMC and FP provide any figures greater than deluxe. (Maybe Maketoys should be included in that.) Given that there seems to be some overlap between MMC and Mech Ideas, and maybe FP and Maketoys, I only really buy figures from a couple of companies. I am less fussy about smaller figures, so am more willing to give others a go. 16 of those figures are what I consider small.

Strangely I am rather loyal to Hasbro, MMC and FP. I want an Abominus, but I'm prepared to wait for one of those companies to make it. I was prepared to get several of the Pretender Play With This Too figures so I may throw them in at some point if they can get their stuff released.

I was thinking about scale recently and I concluded the following: small characters should be smaller than deluxe, big characters should be deluxe or larger. Outside of that I'm not worried, except for the dinobots and predacons. They should be larger than most other transformers, so voyager size. Predaking should be the largest combiner. This thinking has led me to rationalise my third party purchases.

Of those 47 figures, several have official figures which I have as well (Grimlock, the insecticons and cassettes), if they release a legends Kickback I will likely sell the FP insecticons. Seaspray and Brainstorm have official figures, but these are much bigger than their team mates who I think they should scale with. The upcoming Devastator is much bigger than MMC Predaking so now I've decided, not an option. A couple have Botcon or club exclusive versions which just don't work for me (Overlord for instance).

If the PWTT Skullgrin had come out then I would have got rid of my Generations version since I would want him to match Bomb-burst. So, scale sometimes and matching team mates is important to me, but in most cases I simply want a toy of a character. Most of those unofficial toys I've sold it's because I've opted for the official version, Swoop being the exception. Springer I sold before I even knew about the official version because I decided I didn't like it. Hegemon I bought to replace the Henkei Megs, but then decided I didn't want to replace it. If Hasbro's making new versions of most of those characters where I've got unofficial toys, I'll probably be selling!

Some of those figures I have still yet to open, but I have now opened FP Swoop. The transformation is much simpler than Slag, and so immediately I am more fond of it. The pterodactyl mode head is absolutely spot on for G1 Swoop; the robot mode head I think looks rather young, but it's a good figure and goes nicely with Sludge and Slag. It's pleasing that he's more or less the same height as the other two, but just a lot thinner so less mass when transformed. Similarly to Sludge I am seriously considering displaying him in dino mode.

I have also recently combined the MMC predacons together to form Predaking. I think MMC are by far the best third party company out there. Their toys look good, but they are fun to play with, they transform nicely, things tab together well, they are well made and sturdy. Predaking is literally a beast  and unlike some of my other third party stuff I definitely would never sell it. I haven't put the sword together yet.

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I received Tigerzord today which is the end of my MMPR journey whereby I've bought Tigerzord, Megazord, Titanus and Dragonzord, sold them all, and then bought Dragonzord and Tigerzord again. I'm very happy with it, it's nicely weighted and looks great. If I could make one change it would be to have a chromed sword like the Japanese original (I used to own that version). I remember the teases we got for the introduction of the white ranger in the TV series, so it's nice to get the figure to complete my Tommy zords. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of mecha, but especially if you have any nostalgia for the series.

Having bought the new Generations Cosmos (having heard good things about it), I decided I was going to sell my old Universe figure, so took a photo, weighed it and then set out to decide what I should list it for. It then struck me: I think I like the old one more, so I'm going to sell the new one! Here are my reasons: I display Cosmos with Powerglide, Beachcomber, (Universe) Warpath and iGear Seaspray. Universe Cosmos scales better with those other guys, I like the colour more - it's not such a bright green, and I bought the figure in person so I have more of a connection to it. (I have Powerglide facing off against the coneheads in a little nod to the episode 'The girl who loved Powerglide', with the other guys behind him slightly, which is strange really as I really don't like the episode, but it's one I had on tape as a kid so the three coneheads in a line has a certain iconic look for me.)

I received and transformed Goshooter and Nightbeat recently. I like the mold, the extra paint applications on Goshooter really help it stand out, but they both work. I think Nightbeat is perhaps has a little too much blue plastic, so I think I'll paint his chest yellow, which I guess is blue because in the comic, the chest is supposed to become the bonnet (on Bumblebee when he had that design). The cop and the detective:

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I opened Skids this weekend, I think he is the last deluxe car 84'-86' Autobot I need to get in Classics, it feels like the end of an era! I got the reissue version so he didn't need to have the thighs swapped over. He has a fairly long transformation which is a little movie inspired in complexity. Getting him tabbed together properly in car mode can take a while if you miss any steps. He has some nice nods to his G1 toy though such as the wheels being flat under his feet, he is very well armed and has a very IDW comic inspired face sculpt. Overall I'm happy!

I have also now opened KFC Overkill and Slugfest, I really like them. Slugfest's transformation is pretty ingenious, and Overkill does a good job of improving on the original. Here they are with Ratbat who I also opened not so long ago. The KFC crew is ready for some fried chicken.

I've opened a few Marvel Universe/Infinite figures recently, Sandman and Black Cat, not much to say about them really. World War Hulk I bought to go with the upcoming Korg. I really like the extra accessories on him. I realised that I had two versions of Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine, many versions of Iron Man and now two versions of Hulk that I should get a second Cap. I owned Bucky a couple of years back, but replaced him with Winter Soldier as I didn't want two versions of the same character. I remembered that there was a WWII era Cap with different shield, so have bought him and bought Bucky again. The new Hulk and Cap will be displayed with my Cosmic figures since they are already represented in my Avengers display (time travel counts as Cosmic-ish!).

Pictures were released this week of a deluxe Groove as part of Defensor, I really hope that we get a Hasbro release alas Slingshot and Wildrider, but it's not the end of the world if we don't. I think the much more exciting thing is that as an arm he looks a heck of a lot like Afterburner, so Computron seems to be one step closer to reality. Botcon is coming up soon so I'm hoping for a Bruticus reveal there, then a Computron reveal at SDCC. I heard rumours that the Protectorbots wave have been released in the UK, I didn't have any luck finding them today, but I did pick up a Combiner Wars Optimus. I think I'm going to use him as a stand-in for God Ginrai (well just plain Ginrai really without the armour). I'm well stacked for Optimus' now!

I also opened Wildrider today, great mold and given that I'm going to have him at least three times I'm very happy. Less happy with  the wait for his teammates though. I'm sticking with the dream of buying them at UK retail. Though the signs aren't great though if the Protectorbots are out.

I received Killer Croc midweek, I don't really know much about the character as he hasn't turned up in Batman TAS yet (that I've seen), seems to be quite a lot of debate about his size, but I'm all for the oversized lizard look!

And finally I've received the final Loyal Subjects dinobots Sludge and Swoop. They fit in well with the others, although it seems that they've had to cut back on accessories as Sludge is missing his sword. Also they are a bit smaller, that's okay for Swoop, but Sludge (who should be the biggest) is a bit of a midget. However, they still look awesome together, here they are on my shelf:

It's been a good month for dinobots!

Figures galore!

I had a bit of surprise find this month - WON Samus, really wasn't expecting to find her! All traces of the wave have now disappeared, so maybe they ordered it accidentally. I've now ordered Bowser online so am caught up on the figures I want.

Previously to finding Samus I picked up a TMNT 5" Shredder with removable helmet reduced to only £7.49 and have quickly knocked together a 3.75" Shredder custom for my villain shelf. It's a Age of Thunder Thor body painted grey, a Grim Reaper cape plus a GI Joe Movie Storm Shadow head. (He's a little young looking but there are really not many options for Asian headsculpts, Sunfire will have to go back to having his proper head!) I think it works rather nicely.

I also repainted a Kurse from the Thor 2 line as a Predator, I bought a cheap ReAction figure for the head. I think he works fairly well. I'm happy with the painting and I have gained an appreciation for the sculpt on that figure. That's two customs knocked out really rather quickly!

I also finished off a Groot quite recently from a cheap KO of the Legends figure. I actually used real twigs to make him, and read up on how to preserve bits of plant! I've now launched straight into my next project which is making some 'under construction' beast Pretenders to go with my Classics Wreckers versus Mayhem Squad display. Speaking of which, I am gutted that the Play with this too Kickstarter didn't work out. I really hope they can find a way to get the figures out there at a reasonable price.

I bought that Kreo Devastator Ironhide set, I've got my Lego on display now and I've had a bit of a rethink about what I want to collect. I've got Ecto-1, the Turtles (modern) Wagon, an AT-AT and the Batmobile which are all Lego (and nice). The Kreo obviously isn't so great so I'm going to trim it down a bit. I'm going to keep Optimus, Prowl, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide. They're the main '84 Autobots but are partially Movie inspired versions of them so they fill a gap. If I get get round to building a Lego town they will all feature! I built Ironhide, I think there is a slight improvement in the quality of the bricks compared to the very first Kreo, maybe it's just me. I'm eyeing up the Battle Changer Soundwave that's coming out as it has a Ravage with it.

I finally found a Sky-Bye!!! I have never searched so much for a figure, checking B&Ms has almost become part of my weekly routine. I will display him with RID Scourge. He has the unique distinction of being the one character I remember from the odd occasion where I watched that show. He's also a robot shark!

I had DC Multiverse Two-Face turn up, he's a very nice figure and the colours really pop out compared to the Infinite Heroes version. The Multiverse figures are a little bigger than the Multiverse but not offensively so. I've decided to stick with Scarecrow and Robin, but I'll get the Date Night box set to see what I think of Batman, Catwoman, Joker and Harley. I'm going to get Bane as well, but think I might get the DC Universe Killer Croc (the 6" one). Sorted!

I finally opened Crossbones from the First Avenger line, I'm not really too knowledgeable about the character but it's a nice sculpt and in contrast to the stuff we're getting from the Infinite line a nice blast from the past where detailing was still a thing. I've still got quite a backlog of things to open, it will keep me going.

Some new pictures have surfaced of the FP Swoop, the photos of him on a stand look great, I think I've made the right decision. The head sculpt is spot on, not quite so anime as Slag which I think does work for me a bit more. Some great groups shots as well with the three of them.

I opened my Generations Gears recently, nice little figure, slight remold of Swerve obviously. I'd be quite happy to have a Brawn and Outback from the same mold (particularly Outback). I think I will add a bit of red paint to the head to give him the proper Gears look.

I've bought quite a lot of things in store recently, I bought a 3.75" Dalek for my villains shelf and a Marvel Infinite Sandman. I had quite an entertaining conversation with the guy behind the till about who would win in a fight. We concluded Sandman would come out top. I then had a random find in TK Maxx of a Mr. Potato Head Grimlock, I had actually searched for him in TRU in vain several months ago, I wouldn't have bothered with eBay but it's good to get another Grimlock for the collection.

I was all set to buy a 5" Donkey Kong and a Legacy Qui-Gon Jinn that had been shelf warming for years but then spotted a 3.75" Doctor Who Foretold (a Mummy) who would be perfect for a N'Kantu custom, so I ditched Qui-Gon and bought the Mummy and DK. No conversation on who would win in a fight this time, though I don't really know much about the Foretold. I assume DK would pound on the Mummy quite badly, but there might be some extra powers I don't know about! I then found a Generations Cliffjumper which I've been thinking about for a while. It's just a red Bumblebee, but then so's the Henkei one and at least this one has a gun.

So all in all quite a good month for buying figures in store, now I just need to open a few of the buggers!