New Gallery: Takara Tomy Transformers Encore 07 Sky Lynx

I wish the new skylinks could split in sky and links, just like this amazing g1 toy

I'm fine with the new Skylinx but I agree the ability to split apart was cool

Fellow Seibertronians, today we bring you four new galleries positively brimming with G1 goodness with the Deluxe Insecticons: Venom, Chop Shop, Barrage, and Ransack. You may recognize a familiar face amongst them, as Chop Shop has just received a Combiner Wars Legends Class update, so check out Chop Shop and his Insecticon cohorts and let us know what you think in the comments below.

G1 1985 Venom






G1 1985 Chop Shop






G1 1985 Ransack






G1 1985 Barrage

Wow, they look like pretenders almost.

Gotta say, I like G1 Chop Shop better than CW Chop Shop.

i always liked those guys, thought they had better robot modes than the other three

I love the Deluxe Insecticons. This gallery inspired me to pull all mine out of storage. THey are a glorious looking team.
I'm waiting for an official or even a 3rd party release of a proper Venom. Desperately. Venom was one of the first Transformers i ever owned as a kid. HE looks fantastic in both modes and i love that his whole torso is die cast.

Will somebody please make an updated Venom please!!

MGrotusque wrote:I love the Deluxe Insecticons. This gallery inspired me to pull all mine out of storage. THey are a glorious looking team.
I'm waiting for an official or even a 3rd party release of a proper Venom. Desperately. Venom was one of the first Transformers i ever owned as a kid. HE looks fantastic in both modes and i love that his whole torso is die cast.

Will somebody please make an updated Venom please!!

These guys have been part of my collection in one form or another for at least 10 years or so. I've gone through a few different versions of them trying to get them ready for the galleries. At one point I was going to do repro labels on them, but one by one I obtained original sticker sheets, better versions of them, and so on.

A mosquito or something along those lines is what I always thought Venom was because I thought his insect mode had a needle nose. A harmless Cicada was not what I thought Venom was and I love that he has a happy face as a Cicada.



What's the deal with Barrage's fragile green plastic?

Atleast it isn't (fragile) gold plastic.

(G2 Barrage with gold plastic, now!)

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Atleast it isn't (fragile) gold plastic.

(G2 Barrage with gold plastic, now!)

It might as well be. The "horns" on his chest easily break, the insect legs break off, and on the one featured in this gallery, the hinge joint for his insect mode's horns broke, which I finally managed to get superglued back together so that it would be functional at least for my gallery so that I could finish them. I'll look for a 3rd replacement for this figure in my collection while I'm at BotCon next month.

My barrage is still in good shape but I tread lightly around him. I don't want him to break. He's a tough guy to find in good condition and I got a nice minty one.

I have 3 different Venoms in varying degrees of awesomeness. Accept for one. I was so excited to finally get him in hand and relish in child like nestalgia that I dropped him and snapped his arm off. So bummed.

I had no idea Barrage had such a goofy robot face, since I've only seen him from a distance before.

Diem wrote:I had no idea Barrage had such a goofy robot face, since I've only seen him from a distance before.

His face is the odd one out in this quartet. His body is fine, it's just hist face that's goofy. It'd be interesting to see Combiner Wars Bombshell with an updated Barrage head.

MGrotusque wrote:I love the Deluxe Insecticons. This gallery inspired me to pull all mine out of storage. THey are a glorious looking team.
I'm waiting for an official or even a 3rd party release of a proper Venom. Desperately. Venom was one of the first Transformers i ever owned as a kid. HE looks fantastic in both modes and i love that his whole torso is die cast.

Will somebody please make an updated Venom please!!

According to TFWiki, it doesn't seem likely we'll ever get reissues of these guys, since Bandai owns the molds. Still, just like Chop Shop has been retooled from Generations Shrapnel, there's nothing to stop HasTak from creating new molds or slightly retooling existing molds to give these guys some love.

Not that it looks it will be that needed, but just in time to help get everyone excited for Hasbro's upcoming Titans Return line, Seibertron.com is happy to present a new set of galleries in the Generation 1 catch-up, all the way from 1987, featuring G1 Targetmasters Slugslinger, Misfire, Triggerhappy, Crosshairs, Pointblank, and Sureshot - and two for the price of one (still free!), we also include their tiny Targetmaster partners (as we will see happening with Titan Masters soon, though in different size) Caliburst, Aimless, Blowpipe, Pinpointer, Peacemaker, and Spoilsport!

Waiting for the full update for these figure in new Generations molds, click on any of the images below to browse through a numbers of blasts from the past, includin 360° looks at the figures, under the foot and comparison shots - pew pew.

G1 1987 Slugslinger








G1 1987 Triggerhappy






G1 1987 Misfire






G1 1987 Pointblank






G1 1987 Sureshot






G1 1987 Crosshairs






G1 1987 Caliburst




G1 1987 Blowpipe




G1 1987 Aimless




G1 1987 Peacemaker




G1 1987 Spoilsport




G1 1987 Pinpointer

I surely thought Sureshot was a Decepticon targetmaster.



(Pun partially intended)

Nice galleries! Especially loved Pointblank and Peacemaker.....those were the only Targetmaster(s) I ever had as a kid.

Did you have any trouble transforming the Decepticon Targetmaster partners? I know they're notorious for breaking at the hips.

Pioneers.



Never had any Targetmasters, but always liked the introduction of the new Autobot cars and Decepticon jets to the series.
So is this group getting new molds in Titans Return?

How come we haven't had a redeco of Safeguard as Blowpipe? They look so similar!

I had Targetmaster Kup. Loved him and Recoil.

Always wanted the Decepticon Targetmasters. They look awesome!

I've got Crosshairs, the only Targetmaster I had as a kid. Funny how the Decepticon jets have clear windows and the Autobots are painted on; the color schemes and designs for the Deceptions look better too IMO.

I enjoyed these galleries! I think Slugslinger has aged the best; just a nice, balanced G1 toy.

8 bit wrote:I've got Crosshairs, the only Targetmaster I had as a kid. Funny how the Decepticon jets have clear windows and the Autobots are painted on; the color schemes and designs for the Deceptions look better too IMO.

I enjoyed these galleries! I think Slugslinger has aged the best; just a nice, balanced G1 toy.

I've always thought it was kind of odd that the 1987 Autobot Targetmasters were smaller than their Decepticon counterparts. They almost look like they were designed by two different people, especially when you consider how their Targetmaster weapons are different for each faction. Even the heads are a similar style for each group. The size difference in the Autobot and Decepticon Headmasters is also something to note, but it always seemed more to do with the way Hardhead and Chromedome "unfold" which is why they ended up with such larger robot modes than the other 5.

As a kid I think target masters were the only sub series I never had been able to get my hands on. Always wanted a couple, especially the deceptions, I have some modern updates and a reissue Kup but these guys would be awesome to see reissued and updated.

Excellent photos. Got all these mib. Slugslinger is the best looking one I feel. The names of the Targetmaster partners are the best part.

Hey! Masterpiece Ironhide got his butt wheels from G1 Crosshairs!

The fandom seems abuzz with opinions on the upcoming Transformers Titans Return line, as we've seen from the conversation following the stock images we reported on recently. So here at Seibertron.com we've dipped back into where a lot of those characters started!

Check out our new galleries for the Decepticon Headmasters from all the way back in G1, and the year 1987: backwards self-talking Weirdwolf, tooth grinding fighter Skullcruncher, and master of dark forces Mindwipe! Each of course joined by their Nebulon partners Monzo, Grax, and Vorath respectively. All of these characters will be receiving updated toys in the upcoming Transformers Titans Return line later this year. You can view the galleries by clicking on any of the images below.

If you've been keeping count, this update brings us to 3,996 galleries. You know what that means? Only 4 left until the big milestone! What do you think the gallery will be? What would you want it to be?

G1 1987 Weirdwolf (134 images) - Headmasters






G1 1987 Monzo (56 images) - Nebulans






G1 1987 Skullcruncher (124 images) - Headmasters






G1 1987 Grax (49 images) - Nebulans






G1 1987 Mindwipe (121 images) - Headmasters






G1 1987 Vorath (53 images) - Nebulans

I was wondering what was up with the the gigantic eyes/visors the Headmasters universally had, then I saw this:

Never imagined they actually hid the faces on these things! That's pretty impressive.

oh man yes. been waiting for this. I had mindwipe when I was a kid

Aw yeahhh

also there's a bit of hair/plastic coming off on Grax's arm

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:Aw yeahhh

also there's a bit of hair/plastic coming off on Grax's arm

That shows how manly he is.

I remember loving these as a kid, but look at that impressive articulation. Hardhead had a grand total of 6 points of articulation (shoulders, wrists, and toes) and all were required for transformation. These guys have slightly more in that they have elbows and knees. So happy for the updates that are coming. It's also hard to go Takara screen accurate on their updates since I fell in love with the toys, not the characters since I'm American and didn't know about the comics until much later. These toys and their bios are the only thing I really know about them (Rebirth doesn't count). I always loved how Mindwipe looked like a cross between Ratbat and Soundwave. Not to mention transformers with cockpits!

in spite of not being too fond of animal transformers (the concept bugs me) these guys were amongst my faves. Had weird wolf and mindwipe and I struggle to recall if I ever had seen skullcruncher in the shops as a kid.

weird wolf is still in quite a good condition. Mind wipe got quartered in an epic battle or two.

We gave you a taste of Galvatron in the new Titans Return line, so we decided to head back in time - time being the key word - to 2006 and the one and only e-Hobby exclusive that represents in plastic form Galvatron II!

The character is an alternate timeline version of the original reformatting of Megatron, in the Takara release of the toy colour scheme, a triumphant Unicron's servant who rules over Earth, but forced once more to complete the Chaos-Bringer's task of destroying Cybertron - as seen in Marvel's Transformers comics. The toy in the gallery below is the only official version of this character, and includes new stickers, new Japanese sound clips, and a Creation Matrix in green diecast. Check it out!

e-Hobby Exclusives Galvatron II (164 images) - Miscellaneous

Love this dude especially his new soundclips and his pimp Flavor Flav style matrix.

I shoulda bought this guy when he was new, but I opted Mr.Purple. Also, it bugs me how Mr.Purple is constantly mistaken for the E-Hobby version of the two when this fella is actually the exclusive

He has the purple Galvatron's retooled face, right?

MaverickPrime wrote:He has the purple Galvatron's retooled face, right?

Yes he does, which I didn't know until I opened my sealed Galvatron II yesterday. I was expecting the unaltered face, but should've have known it'd be the other. Sticker placement was a little confusing since the instructions were a little different from the original.

I really wanna get a G1 Galvatron, I don't know what it is, but while the first time I saw it I was repelled by how inaccurate it was, over time, I've come to be really enchanted by his design, specially after I learned he actually had hips AND knees that could move!
At first I thought "hey, I'll try to get the beautifully accurate purple one!" But I've come to terms with the grey toy, so really, all I want is one in good condition, regardless of the colors.

Used to love him as a kid. Having missed out on the first year releases home and ultra manus were my leaders till PM Optimus prime came along.

Seeing him shot in such details makes me ponder as to how I handled the disconnect between the cartoon and toy.

his leg joints did indeed mean he was amongst the most articulated toys of his day. Also did quite enjoy his gun mode as ridiculous as it was.

For those unaware, the new sticker decals included with the Galvatron II figure are based on an appearance of Galvatron as seen in this TV Magazine story page by Studio OX:



Though, at the time of this image's publishing, the Galvatron II character hadn't existed yet (he wouldn't exist until Simon Furman's creating him for Marvel G1 in 1990) so this early appearance of Galvatron fighting alongside Megatron, at a point that preceded both the 1986 movie and season 3, was either an intentional ruse meant to avoid spoiling Megatron's upgrade into Galvatron, or a case of the Japanese artists and writers honestly being unaware at the time that Megs and Galvy were supposed to be the same character, which is possible but we simply don't know.

With this e-HOBBY release taking inspiration from the pre-Movie Japanese appearances of Galvatron, one can think of the early Galvatron appearances as now being appearances of Galvatron II instead. Retcons!

The vintage Galvatron needs no matrix on a chain, since his is on the inside.

If you don't get that joke, see http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... rive/35820

We have another treat for you all, Seibertronians, as site owner Seibertron has taken out some Platinum Edition toys to show off. This time? Decepticon purple space t-rex Trypticon! Along with Full Tilt and Brunt, the ship/base/muncher wanders into the Platinum line, with a tweaked deco, a new box, comparison shots with original G1 version - stay tuned for more on that too...

With the current Titans Return iteration of the same character at retail - whose gallery you can find here - this is the best time for a dive into recent nostalgia, before the main event. Check out the sample images below, and click on any of them to access the full gallery!

Platinum Edition Trypticon (182 images) - Miscellaneous














Platinum Edition Full-Tilt (70 images) - Miscellaneous






Platinum Edition Brunt (27 images) - Miscellaneous

While photographing the HasLab crowdfunded War for Cybertron Trilogy UNICRON, I decided it was best to also knock out galleries for Platinum Unicron with Kranix as well as Encore Unicron of Light with Bug. I figured when else was I going to transform all of these Unicrons again in the near future? Platinum Unicron is the newest release of the "G1" styled Armada Unicron with a lighter shade of "blue" for the planet mode parts and includes Kranix which is essentially the same deco as the version which came with the 2011 Amazon exclusive Unicron. The Encore "Unicron of Light" figure is meant to be an homage of the Lucky Draw release, of which we had the pleasure of photographing WAY back in 2010 (courtesy of fellow Seibertronian JRFitzpatrick7). Without further ado, check out the highlights below of Encore Unicron of Light and Platinum Edition Unicron!

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Transformers Encore Unicron of Light (139 images) - Supreme Class
























Transformers Encore Dead End (66 images) - Mini-Cons












Platinum Edition Unicron (142 images) - Supreme Class




























Platinum Edition Kranix (69 images) - Mini-Cons, Supreme Class

Green Unicron is really cool, but it suffers from some severe mold degradation. 'Tis what happens when its the latest release of a most that's been used so much. Still, it's really cool to have what is essentially a "Good Guy Unicron toy", what with this not actually being Unicron himself but an energy doppelganger made up of Mini-Cons.

Platinum Edition Unicron, on the other hand, I was more than happy to skip. Lazy reuse of the Amazon deco, but made worse with that baby blue. Say what one will about what shade of blue/gray Unicron is, we can all agree that he isn't that shade. So glad they did not use it for the HasLab figure.

Still, it is cool that you got his eyes changed from red to green. Nice work.

Sabrblade wrote:Green Unicron is really cool, but it suffers from some severe mold degradation. 'Tis what happens when its the latest release of a mold that's been used so much.

Surprisingly, my Green Unicron feels more stable than the Platinum Unicron. It's easily the worst of my bunch (though Energon Unicron hasn't faired that well either). My Platinum Unicron suffered from the right side of the crotch piece constantly falling off as well as one of the planet maw shell wing pieces on his back.

Sabrblade wrote:Platinum Edition Unicron, on the other hand, I was more than happy to skip. Lazy reuse of the Amazon deco, but made worse with that baby blue. Say what one will about what shade of blue/gray Unicron is, we can all agree that he isn't that shade. So glad they did not use it for the HasLab figure.

I absolutely agree. It's a really bad blue. The Amazon one is a weird blue also. I don't know what color I think Unicron's planet mode should be, but it's not any of those for sure. I still am not a big fan of the shade used for HasLab Unicron either. I wish they had done something unique with it that had a bluish gray swirly sheen to it or something. Just something unique so that it looked grayer in some lights and bluer in other lights.

Sabrblade wrote:Still, it is cool that you got his eyes changed from red to green. Nice work.

That was the big draw for Platinum Unicron. He came with the green eyes ... but it's too bad that the LED light is still red instead of green. The pics of his head opened up was me trying to fix the light up feature. Out of the box, mine didn't work. I have no idea what I did to fix it, but when I reassembled the head the lights worked. I'm assuming there was a pinched wire or something.

One peculiar oddity about Platinum Unicron is that they changed the orientation of the batteries for just that release. Every other Unicron I have had the batteries facing the same direction, but just Platinum Unicron has the batteries so one is facing positive up and the other is facing negative up.

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Platinum Edition Unicron, on the other hand, I was more than happy to skip. Lazy reuse of the Amazon deco, but made worse with that baby blue. Say what one will about what shade of blue/gray Unicron is, we can all agree that he isn't that shade. So glad they did not use it for the HasLab figure.

I absolutely agree. It's a really bad blue. The Amazon one is a weird blue also. I don't know what color I think Unicron's planet mode should be, but it's not any of those for sure. I still am not a big fan of the shade used for HasLab Unicron either. I wish they had done something unique with it that had a bluish gray swirly sheen to it or something. Just something unique so that it looked grayer in some lights and bluer in other lights.

My ideal shade would be a nice halfway between the blue of the Amazon and HasLab Unicrons and the gray of Welcome to Transformers 2010 Unicron.

I can't believe I have that same stand, and I still can't quite get Unicron of Light on it. It's a gorgeous Unicron, the only one I really need

could you image the haslab unicron coming in the armada, unicron of light and the dark unicron colors

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I can't believe I have that same stand, and I still can't quite get Unicron of Light on it. It's a gorgeous Unicron, the only one I really need

You might just need to tighten the screws, though trust me I had to play around with them so that they would sit properly and not topple over. I got it to work for my galleries, but I dont know about leaving them on a shelf on those stands unless you superglued the base of the legs of one of the stands in place.

Ultra Markus wrote:could you image the haslab unicron coming in the armada, unicron of light and the dark unicron colors

I can definitely imagine it! I'd really like to get Haslab Unicron in the Energon black color scheme. It's my favorite and it is different enough that I think its fair to people who thought this was a one and done thing.

Seibertron wrote:

Ultra Markus wrote:could you image the haslab unicron coming in the armada, unicron of light and the dark unicron colors

I can definitely imagine it! I'd really like to get Haslab Unicron in the Energon black color scheme. It's my favorite and it is different enough that I think its fair to people who thought this was a one and done thing.

It's my favorite too