SDCC is almost here and I’ve got my expectations well under control. My life is a bit of a car crash at the moment and I’m in dire need of some good news. The same was true two years ago though so the cosmic forces aren’t looking after me! I’m expecting predicable repaints for Transformers - Runabout, Inferno, Bumblebee, Datsuns, coneheads, etc. Basically ‘84/‘85 stuff. What I’m not expecting is anything too exciting (later stuff), I’d be very happy with some Japanese or European G1, or Beast Wars, but it’s very unlikely. I’m optimistic we might get some interesting news at NYCC.
Similarly with Marvel Legends, I’ll probably get a couple of figures from my want list, but not too many. An Inhumans or Brotherhood boxset would be great, but unlikely, though Pyro is rumoured and I reckon Avalanche is a possibility as a partner release. I reckon Falcon and Red Skull could happen due to the Disney+ series. Pretty much everything else I want makes more sense to be tied to future MCU releases and so not in the next six months. Other than that, Wolfsbane seems quite posssible. I’m not expecting anything from other lines since most of them have had reveals recently. Expectations managed!
I’ve finally managed to get hold of my Legends Jean Grey and Venom, plus the blue ranger. (A mate was holding on to them but then couldn’t pass them on because of lockdown.) I’ve opened Jean Grey, and she looks incredible! Though maybe a bit villainous? She’s on a par with Scorponok in terms of being the character I needed most. I haven’t actually got round to opening Gambit or Jubilee yet so not quite ready for the cartoon lineup of X-Men, but almost there! I was also interested in the unmasked Wolverine head but I don’t think it works, though it does have a bit of a X-Men Evolution look. Similarly with Cyclops, happy with my current version. Incidentally, I find the mix of yellows quite annoying, I like the gold yellow, really not keen on the ‘lemon’ yellow. Almost every X-Man with yellow uses the gold, apart from Multiple Man, least he’s not a core character I suppose.
Got round to customising Marvel Universe Moon Knight. It was quite a simple parts swap from the white ninja to give him him gauntlets and shin guards. Colour matching was a bit tricky as the figure had yellowed slightly. I also painted the eyes blue as I like that look. He's in a limbo at the moment as I've never seen or read anything with him in, I am anticipating the Disney+ series though so he will be officially joining my collection eventually.
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Well, some very interesting Transformers rumours in the run up to SDCC. Studio Series will start covering the 1986 Movie, and WFC III will be half Beast Wars! That all sounds incredible, but the thing that really got me was leader class Slag in SS. The Dinobots are my favourite characters, and I have a reason for liking all of them, but Slag was my first ever Transformer and a leader version of him would be incredible. Sounds like there will also be a Grimlock as well. If Sludge, Snarl and Swoop follow at the same sizepoint (or height at least for Swoop), I think I will cry with happiness. And if we get decent sized versions of (Beast Wars) Dinobot, Tigatron and Terrorsaur then will I cry floods. Sounds like Dinobot is a voyager, I’ll take it (along with a Grimlock repaint!).
Really, if this is all true I will be getting just about everything I want. The main exceptions being Victory Saber and Deszaras which given Takara's keenness to remold figures as needed (Dai Atlas, Piranacon, etc), makes their absence very strange. Either they don't think a suitable base figures exists, or, or, Hasbro has some plans for them? (They were in the fan vote a few years ago.......) I feel a Thunderclash could be done quite easily from a Rodimus, which would be a very obvious figure for SS, Selects perhaps? (Please, you did it for Rotorstorm!)
Okay, so my expectations are pretty high now, and you know they won’t reveal all this stuff at SDCC. Dammit! This is probably a bit premature, but much like pre Prime Wars and pre WFC, I wonder how on earth they will reel me in for another line after this. I'm going to try not to fight it this time. I realise, I need it, I need the continued excitement, I need something to look forward to. But if I could avoid getting too much that would be great - sort of a Marvel Legends amount of purchases each year. Speaking of which, hopefully there will be a few good surprises from Marvel Legends. Sounds like they're going to pretty spread out through the month.
The Haslab Sentinel looks pretty cool, for that much money (similarly to Unicron), I can pass. But if they did a Galactus at a similar size, well, if I'm able to sell a few things over the next year, I could be interested......
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The Kingdom thing is official, we're getting Beast Wars!!! (I can feel the tears coming.....) So it seems that by the end of WFC, jointly with SS, I will have pretty much perfect versions of the main 1984-86 and 1996 (Beast Wars) characters. I'm a little grumpy, but earth Bumblebee, Ironhide and Soundwave look great. I'll get them, I've put an Amazon order in Prowl and Ironhide. Bit sad about Siege Ironhide (and Ratchet), but I like that I'll still have the mold as Crosshairs. I need those van altmodes! I've put an order in for Hubcap as well, I think I'd take a Bumper as well if one was going.
It seems that a Marvel Legends Blob might be in the offering after one was seen in the background of a video. Please be true. (And can I have Avalanche and Toad as well please?!) Sadly it seems Wolfsbane isn't a possibility for a little while due to the extra parts needed.
In somewhat less exciting news I've got some Siege Micromasters; I've got Stakeout and Red Heat now, I got them because Stakeout was known as Holi in Japan and was a prominent (if annoying) character in Victory. I realise I don't really have any suitable Victory characters to pose next to him, but never mind. He's pretty cool and Soundwave minions aside, they are my first Siege Micromasters. It would be nice to have the complete team but like I say, Holi was the most prominent.
Rumble and Ratbat turned up as well (amazingly, I thought I would be waiting months). Ratbat is great, one of his better figures I think. I feel a bit torn with him because for the original five Decepticon cassettes, I like the (Titans Return era) Legends figures. Ratbat is smaller, but comparable to his G1 figure. Rumble is a little short arse. I think he just needs slightly longer legs but something looks a bit strange. They both transform nicely though, and I think I must seek out the Selects cassette pack with Frenzy and Doubledealer's team.
Rounding out my Siege purchases, I got a bit of a bargain on Red Alert and Impactor. I had sort of decided to get Red Alert since deciding to upgrade my collection, but wasn’t prepared to pay over the odds. Impactor I had realised he was ‘eligible’ my for my collection (as a Marvel wrecker), but didn’t get any further in my thoughts. Weirdly it was seeing Cyberverse Rack’n’Ruin that made me think I needed him. I think of Springer as the leader of the Wreckers, but given he’s a core S3 member I like the idea of having someone else as the leader. I collect Wreckers as a way of justifying the Jumpstarters and deluxe Autobots in my ‘cartoon only’ collection, and also as a counterpart to the Mayhem Attack Squad (which is how I justify having Bludgeon and various others in my cartoon only collection).
Earthrise Skywarp and Thundercracker have arrived. They look great! I decided to go for a bit of head swapping as I think a screaming Starscream makes more sense than Skywarp. The shade of purple and blue respectively are perfect, I think they are more aesthetically pleasing than Starscream. I’ve looked at the pictures of Dirge and Ramjet and am feeling okay with my decision to pass on them. Though, they’re renders so they might look better in actual photographs.
I picked up the final MCU (DVD) boxset, though I might not be watching DVDs in years to come, it's a great collectors set and comes with some nice postcards and posters. I'd love one day to have all of the posters up, nicely framed. It would be cool to have a display with the appropriate Legends figures in front. I also finally finished watching the first Netflix Daredevil season, it's only taken five years! Had a good cheer watching the final episode. My plan is to watch season two then watch Defenders. I watched Jessica Jones so have been introduced to her and Luke, and apparently Iron Fist is a bit rubbish. Will probably watch season three of Daredevil after that. Looking forward to Punisher and Elektra in season two.
Comic-con at home is here, and well, nothing’s really happened. I watched Super 7’s Turtle video, which was exclusives rather than any news, and the interactive exhibit hall doesn’t have anything from Hasbro. They did a fan thing on Tuesday for Legends and some good stuff, but nothing to get me too excited. I’d like an Emma but not prepared to buy a Pulse boxset to do so. So absolutely no news of any interest to me whatsoever! Still, we're getting leader class Grimlock and Slag figures and Beast Wars. Yessssssssss!
