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Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Tuesday, July 31st, 2018 11:25PM CDT

Categories: Toy News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: william-james88   Views: 25,014

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With Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar being a redeco of Combiner Wars Groove with a new head, a pictorial review felt most appropriate. In it you will get the best look yet at the deco choices and how the accessories can interact with his alt mode. You will also see how he compares with the previous deluxe Wreck-Gar figure and how well he can ride or be ridden on.

This figure is a Walgreens exclusive and is currently listed on the Walgreens website (but not in stock yet) and it is an EB-Games exclusive in Canada, as will now be the case for all Walgreens exclusives distributed in the country.

Here are some shots of the packaging, bot mode mode.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

The main difference between this toy and the Combiner Wars Groove toy are the accessories and the head (along with the change in deco of course). So let's look at those now.

The weapon he comes with is the same circular blade weapon that came with Generations Wreck-Gar. It is darker grey and since it was meant for another toy, its integration is far from spectacular (but redeemable). As you will see in robot mode, the fact that this weapon was design for a bot whose hands had open fists, he can only hold it from the bottom this time around making it look ridiculous.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Speaking of ridiculous, this is how the instructions tell us to use both the prime armour and the blade weapon.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

However, it'a all 5 mm pegs and holes so you can do with it as you wish.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Here is my favourite way (of what I have tested so far).

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

About the prime armour, it cannot fit on the robot mode chest, so it is basically a weapon, as advertised on the back of the box. I don't care though, I was never fooled into thinking it was more than a hand for the combiner mode. The hand is also not unique, it is the same mold (and colour) as the ones that came with the Dinobots. The Prime Master cover is grey plastic (instead of translucent.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

The other big difference is the head. And yes, it looks small, especially compared to the previous Wreck-Gar toy. The reason it is so small is because the gap for the head when transforming the toy was designed for the traditionally square head of combiner components. So to accommodate his antennas, the head ends up being very small.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

So a big question with the Junkions is always in regards to their capability to ride themselves (snicker). Well here you go (the red version of the mold you see is Takara's Afterburner).

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Personally, I wont try this again but that's just me.

The instructions only show you how to turn him into an arm, so I will show you below what he looks like as a leg if ever you need this as reference.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

And speaking of him as a leg, here he is being used as a combiner leg. To get an idea of him as an arm, you can check out Afterburner.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

I hope this will be helpful to those who wondered if they should get him. He does come with a random 1/12 POTP cards. So for all those who do not care about the cards, don't be shy to mention it or put these up for sale either on e-bay or on our boards since there are people out there who will want all twelve.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

Transformers News: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar

As for my personal opinion on this toy, I could take it or leave it. There is nothing spectacular about him or his deco, which includes a return of the dull grey plastic. It just feels like an easy thing to pump out that is in no way essential or representative of the character. But for those who wanted a Junkion combiner, I am happy for you.

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Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (1987328)
Posted by william-james88 on October 3rd, 2018 @ 8:53am CDT
That is a question I had the moment I saw the figure. This is the first time in history we have ever had a mainline shockwave toy based on his G1 look at the voyager scale. Unlike other contenders for a spot on a classics shelf, he has most of the articulation points required and has the right look at every angle, especially the back with a G1 styled backpack.




However, this is still a toy from a line targetted at young kids with a more cartoon design than what we have seen in the Generations line. So, does he really work? Well I attempted to find out by purchasing him and taking photos of him next to various toys from the Generations line. Below are shots of him with his fellow decepticons, to show you how he scales, and to show you how the styles work (or don't) together.


Here he is putting up the good fight agains the autobots.



And here he is victorious.


All in all, I think this works super well until we get a voyager sized shockwave in the Generations line.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (1987346)
Posted by william-james88 on October 3rd, 2018 @ 2:44pm CDT
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Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2005155)
Posted by william-james88 on January 16th, 2019 @ 10:55pm CST
I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers fouresome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete states since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.

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With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the vehicle modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each.

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Today we will look at Turbo Master. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out and this is an homage to Bruticus. It is a pretty faithful one when it comes to the main body and face, with the limbs streamlined and symmetrical to one another to make it more like an action figure.

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His colours are more flamboyant than even G2 Bruticus with lilac and pink all across the toy. He has the most accessories out there and thus is the hardest to get complete. Not only does he have double blade weapon (which become wings in alt mode), he also has two rotors which clip to his shoulders in robot mode. He also has two rotating tail fins at his feet which are removable pieces.

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Each of his fists have 3 small holes, one above, one below and one front and centre (to be used in alt mode). This allows you to either give him a sword in each hand or make a double blade weapon. There are two gimmicks associated to his wrists and they work in both modes. Simply by moving one arm up or down, both wrists will turn. Also, by pressing the yellow button in his back, cleverly disguised as one of Bruticus' two back cannons, both wrists will rotate furiously. Any enemy near him would be cut to bits in seconds, like the henchman Indy fights by the plane in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Of course, the four accessories are interchangeable so you could give him rotor fists if you wanted to.

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For any IDW fans out there, he had a tiny appearance in MTMTE 12 where he fights against Ultra Magnus (he is in the background on the right):

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Turbo Master transforms into a vertical take-off, Osrpey type, vehicle with wings. The transformation for all Action master Elites is nothing to write home about. In this case you just need to rotate the tail fins, turn his head, bend his knees and point his arms up. Then you attach the wings and rotors where they should be. Below you will see images of him with and without the wings attached, since the Osprey alt mode works better without the wings. Personally though, I much preffer with wings since it just makes it look so much more bonkers. The part of the transformation I find particularly clever is the head turning around since the window details in back of the head line up perfectly with the alt mode details already present in the vehicle mode chest so that the front looks uninterrupted. Pushing the yellow button in alt mode will make the rotors spin.

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The robot mode is clearly the star this time, especially with all the display and equipment options, while we have had some non combining Bruticus components in the past, it is really unique to see what looks like a combiner design (Bruticus in this case) Transforming from a full combined robot mode into one alt mode.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2005156)
Posted by william-james88 on January 16th, 2019 @ 11:07pm CST
I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers fouresome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete states since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.

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With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the vehicle modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each.

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Today we will look at Windmill. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out but Windmill is the only fully original design.

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The robot mode has a nice asymmetry going on in the limbs, with only one foot and one hand, which you don't see on Action Masters. He is also not as neon as the others, with a more traditional blue, reminds me a bit of Slugslinger's G1 toy, with the visor. While he is more original than all the others, that means I don't really have anything to compare him to. He comes with two rotor blades which combine to form one rotor for his alt mode.

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While he has the most complex transformation than any of the four Action Master Elites, since it deals with changing his axis of orientation, the result isn't better. It might be worse. He becomes a very gappy helicopter. It can look good at some angles, but you will see the illusion fade below.

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His gimmick is that the rotor rotates when you press the yellow button. While the kibble he had instead of a right foot in robot mode works now in vehicle mode, that big laser canon he has for a hand makes no sense here. It looks like the helicopter has a giant zit.

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While he has the most interesting transformation of all four, this is my least favourite. It's like they were being too ambitious with the transforming Action master concept that they tried too much and it just didn't land.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2005161)
Posted by william-james88 on January 16th, 2019 @ 11:56pm CST
I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers foursome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete state since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.

Image

With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the alt modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each, even if it took 28 years.

Today we will look at Double Punch. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out and this is an homage to Black Zarak (a Japanese redeco of Scorponok). He has two accessories, his scorpion legs, which detach and reattach for different configurations in robot mode and alt mode. Of course, you can keep them in the same spot for conversion if you are not a partsforming fan.

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The robot mode is very nice with some vibrant neon colours that work well against the black. The gimmick is that his claw hands move when you push the yellow button and while it makes more sense in alt mode, you can do it in robot mode as well. The head is much better proportioned than that of the giant Scorponok toy.

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The transformation is different than the giant Scorponok mold since instead of having one tail, the two robot mode legs become two scorpion tails. Neon orange stingers fold out of each tail. Attaching the scorpion legs finishes the transformation. The scorpion head is much nicer here than on Scorponok or Black Zarak since it actually has its own distinctive look, with two venom-like eyes. That little bit of detail really helps sell this mode as an actual alt mode rather than a robot lying down with his legs up in the air.

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And the gimmick is fun. Overall, this is my favourite of the four since the colours works well and it's an interesting take on a G1 Scorponok transformation. A simple transformation seems better suited on a smaller toy that favours the robot mode, like this one.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2005163)
Posted by william-james88 on January 17th, 2019 @ 12:00am CST
I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers fouresome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete states since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.

Image

With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the vehicle modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each.

Image

Today we will look at Omega Spreem. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out and this is an homage to Omega Supreme. He only has one accessory, a gun, so of the four this one is the easiest to get complete. Oddly enough, this specific toy has been homaged in the past, with the headmaster component of Energon Omega Surpeme being based on this toy's robot mode.

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The robot mode is sleek like all Action Masters, with the same level of articulation and the height perfectly nestled between that of a contemporary deluxe and legends class figure. The colours are super bright with a very neon yellow and hot pink for the chest and face.

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Omega Spreem transforms into an excavation vehicle. The transformation for all Action master Elites is nothing to write home about. In this case you just need to flip his hands so that they become long narrow drill bits, lower the tank treads to the ground and bend him at the waist. While the result is not the greatest, the gimmick really gives the alt mode some credence. By pushing the yellow button in his back, the waist turns rapidly, turning those arm blades into a deadly mixer.

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Overall, a very nice robot mode, as expected, but a fun alt mode thanks to the gimmick.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2005766)
Posted by william-james88 on January 19th, 2019 @ 9:06pm CST
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Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2025864)
Posted by william-james88 on June 25th, 2019 @ 2:34pm CDT
The Cyberverse line has been rather underwhelming for collectors by not providing any class that is not gimmick ridden or simplified. The Bumblebee movie line at least had some character designs show up in the Studio Series line but the awesome designs from Cyberverse do not have an equivalent. However, the Spark Armor battle class toys do offer something more familiar. While there is a gimmick involved, it is armoring up the bots via 5 mm ports, same as the COMBAT gimmick in the Siege line and like Siege that means the transformations and proportions are not affected by the gimmick (unlike the rest of Cyberverse). The battle class toys are slightly taller than legends class toys, as you will see in the images below. So it offers a cheap alternative if you want bots in this scale. That still begs the question though, are these toys any good? Well let’s take a look at Transformers Cyberverse Spark Armor Battle Class Skybyte.

Skybyte is a fan favourite and it’s fun to see non G1 characters in this heavy G1 based line. His design is very much RID Skybyte, and it uses the Generations idea of having the shark head be the chest. The robot mode looks good and has a lot of the articulation you would expect from a legends class figure. I would of course preffer more hip rotation (not always present on this class) and it’s too bad the head does not move. The headsculpt is very nice though with the right paint apps on the robot and shark heads. My biggest issue though is with one of the plastics used. The light blue plastic is excellent. It’s a gorgeous and glossy blue that I don’t think we have ever seen used on a TF before. It feels very sturdy, along with the yellow. But the dark blue plastic is the kind I just hate. It’s the very cheap light KO type. The one where you see the sprue circles and that feels rough. It’s really too bad that they use this plastic on his arms.

The armor is fine but doesn’t really do anything for me. The big drill is not tightly latched onto the smaller vehicle and while the transformation into armor is neat, there isn’t really anything cool about it aside from the helmet. The drill tank threads don’t look good as armour, since there is no weapon element to them. This is a far cry from the clear armour we had with the RID battlepacks. The armour is interchangeable with the other smaller bots since it’s just 5mm based. Here is a mash up with Prowl’s armour.


The Transformation to shark mode is great. I really like how the legs are just the right shape to become the shark body. It’s the perfect complexity for a toy this size. As for the shark mode though, it’s too bad the lower jaw doesn’t really look like a jaw and not everything tabs in properly. There are still 5 mm ports in this mode so you can use the armour as you wish.

In the end, while I like the look of the base figure and I am glad the gimmick is far from as obtrusive as other gimmicks in the Cyberverse line, I don’t think it adds much either. With the Siege line you can take it or leave it, but with these the armour comes with the toy so you pay extra for an aspect that you may not care for.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2025868)
Posted by william-james88 on June 25th, 2019 @ 2:49pm CDT
The Cyberverse line has been rather underwhelming for collectors by not providing any class that is not gimmick ridden or simplified. The Bumblebee movie line at least had some character designs show up in the Studio Series line but the awesome designs from Cyberverse do not have an equivalent. However, the Spark Armor battle class toys do offer something more familiar. While there is a gimmick involved, it is armoring up the bots via 5 mm ports, same as the COMBAT gimmick in the Siege line and like Siege that means the transformations and proportions are not affected by the gimmick (unlike the rest of Cyberverse). The battle class toys are slightly taller than legends class toys, as you will see in the images below. So it offers a cheap alternative if you want bots in this scale. That still begs the question though, are these toys any good? Well let’s take a look at Transformers Cyberverse Spark Armor Battle Class Prowl.

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I will start by saying that at least this toy looks better than the warrior class which has a very out of proportion chest. However, aside from getting a G1 styled prowl in pseudo legends class, there isn’t much to love here. The articulation is much more limited than Skybytes since the knees are more for transformation than for posing and the arms don’t have a bicep curl due to them being on a hinge rather than a ball joint. At least I have no issues with the plastic used, as I did with Skybyte.

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I prefer his little drone buddy over Skybyte’s. It makes for better armour since the sleek cybertronian ship offers the armour a better look and added weaponry for the arms. The helmet you get out of it is fun for Prowl. Also, the armour has some poseable shoulder cannons, giving homage to the classic Datsun staple.

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The armour is interchangeable with the other smaller bots since it’s just 5mm based. Here is a mash up with Skybyte’s armour.

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The Transformation to police car is one we have seen countless times. It’s basically the same we got for the Cyberbattalion Prowl. It doesn’t feel as simple in this size class though, but it feels as unimaginative. It’s hard to get excited from another police car alt mode though I must add the sad note that there is black plastic that clashes with the white. It’s the same problem we have been seeing since the Dead End mold.

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In the end, I find it too bad that the articulation is lacking here. It could have made up for the lackluster transformation. I do like the little armour partner buddy though, it works much better than Skybyte’s. Still, this is a very standard figure for Prowl that doesn’t add much to the character’s legacy apart from the armor.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2046852)
Posted by william-james88 on December 13th, 2019 @ 9:37am CST
The new deluxe Cyberverse toys are by far the toy which fans are most curious about. We all know more or less what to expect from more toys from the Studio Series or War for Cybertron Trilogy line but this is completely new.

I will start by saying this, while these deluxes are the same price point as a Studio Series and WFC deluxe they have as different from either of those as a Studio Series toy is from a WFC toy. It's a different feel and aesthetic. This review is for deluxe Megatron.

In terms of complexity, Megatron is as complex as you can get for a deluxe figure. He feels closer to the 2012 deluxe War for Cybertron (the videogame) Optimus Prime in terms of what the transformation entails. I tend to never look at instructions for Transformers, but with this toy there were some parts that were so unintuitive to anything I had played with before that I needed some directions. This is not a bad thing at all, instead it shows that after a myriad of tank Megatrons, the designers can still come up with fresh transformations.

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The most interesting part of the transformation is how neat the tank parts compact into the robot's back without giving him too bad a backpack. It really feels like the ideal type of transformation to me, where you have the alt mode changing shape to form the robot's mass. That aspect feels a lot like the War for Cybertron (the videogame) deluxe Optimus I compared him to earlier.

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The design is great too. This is a near spitting image of the Cyberverse design which itself was based on the Evergreen design that we all thought was awesome. The face is where the cartoony aspect comes in.

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He comes with his arm cannon and 2 clear effect parts (along with the build a figure piece). The cannon can be placed in the classic manner on the robot arm but can also be handheld and it can also be held by both his hands to replicate the fusion blast effect from the Ultimate Megatron toy. The effects are both 3mm and 5mm compatible, so you can do whatever you want with them.

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The part that differentiates this toy most from Studio Series or Siege, aside from the aesthetic and scale, are the joint types. While this is a very complex toy, the fact that this is still the kid cartoon line seems to honour the tradition of ball joints. They give great movement but they also make the toy feel very much like a toy. Limbs can be more easily removed if excessive force is applied (rather than breaking) and there can be some looseness. Mine can hold poses well, as you can see, but they do feel a bit loose depending on which direction you move the legs and arms.

Overall, I came for the design and stayed for the involved and new transformation. In terms of value, I feel we are getting something comparable to other deluxes asking the same price, like Siege Prowl, and that's before I consider the Build A Figure piece which I always feel should be a bonus and not something that influences the price. Here, it's more of an incentive to buy the whole line, which I am fine with.

People have been calling these small deluxes, but the size seems rather average to me, I will leave you with some comparisons.

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Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2046902)
Posted by william-james88 on December 13th, 2019 @ 3:30pm CST
The new deluxe Cyberverse toys are by far the toy which fans are most curious about. We all know more or less what to expect from more toys from the Studio Series or War for Cybertron Trilogy line but this is completely new.

I will start by saying this, while these deluxes are the same price point as a Studio Series and WFC deluxe they have as different from either of those as a Studio Series toy is from a WFC toy. It's a different feel and aesthetic. This review is for Optimus Prime. This toy is a third more expensive than the simplified Warrior Prime and it is twice as good. But that still doesn't say much and I will admit, which this is a toy closer to a standard deluxe, I think it falls a little short.

We've had deluxe Primes before, and this one won't join any of my top lists. While he is far more articulated than the Prime we got in RID, his design is just the G1 Prime. You already know how the legs will transform. He isn't anywhere near as good as the WFC deluxe Prime we got from 2012. But, now that I think of it, when it comes to deluxe G1 Primes, this might be the best one. It's not like the competition is fierce.

The robot mode is far better than the cab mode. While the cab mode is better than many recent primes (POTP or anything else from Cyberverse), it is still filled with gaps. The base of the cab mode is quite an eyesore with these protruding hinges that make it look like he has a snow plow attached.

The Transformation for his upper body is fine. The way they handle the front wheels disappearing is something I found new for Prime and I do like the added step of the headlights folding away, but that's as far as it gets for ingenuity.

It's a good looking robot mode though. The back is nice and neat, the deco is fine (though I would have really loved them to paint those forearm triangles yellow) and he is very poseable.

I like that the chest opens to reveal the matrix and that you can use the effect part as either coming from his blaster or from his chest.

Speaking of the effect part, it's compatible with other effects from Siege for Jetfire and Omega Supreme (it's a basic 5 mm port).

In the end, we've all paid more for less than what we are getting here but small Optimus Prime toys were never really my bag and I don't think this one knocks it out of the park.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2047071)
Posted by william-james88 on December 16th, 2019 @ 12:23am CST
I'll cut to the chase, this is the best representation of movie Soundwave we have ever gotten. I have comparison images to the on screen character below and looking back I am baffled that we were all so laissez fair about what came before. I know I love the Human Alliance mold (you will see it below in the comparison shots as the Movie the Best redeco) but it doesn't really convey the proportions of the character properly, definitely not as good as this new deluxe does.

The car looks fine. I really like how everything tabs in well. Everyone will be very happy that the car is covered in the appropriate silver paint (no more off white plastic, yay!). The clear windows do mean we see some of the robot junk in there, but I am fine with it. The clean interior and opening doors lead to lots of sacrifices on the Human Alliance toy so I prefer that the designers chose to favour different aspects this go around.

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And it pays off, boy does it pay off, because the robot mode looks perfect. Soundwave was a stocky guy in the films, and while he had a large torso, it wasn't immense compared to some teeny tiny legs. He was more Wolverine than Johnny Bravo and we finally get that here. What impresses me most with this toy is how few steps there are to the conversion to get from two modes that look nothing alike. People often think that more steps may equate to a better design/engineering, but I never did. There can be beauty in simplicity. In fact, I would argue that it is much harder to get to a good looking and accurate robot mode, especially of a movie bot, with fewer steps. Toys can be overcomplicated just as much as they can be oversimplified and this one is just right.

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The designers picked their battles well here with the alt mode integration and what parts should be real (like the chest) and which can be designed to look like alt mode detail (the front of the legs). I love how the arms are half car detail and half robot detail and each mode orients it just right so taht you think it can only belong to one particular mode. It's just a very efficient design. The car lights reorienting to give him the side panels framing his chest are the best example of that.

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In terms of articulation, I didn't notice until comparing these to the new Cyberverse toys, but it's lacking for today's standards. Unlike deluxes in the Siege and Cyberverse line, this toy and many other Studio Series deluxes do not have wrist swivels, ankle pivots or even waist articulation. Which is kind of ironic since the movie look has them sculpted to make it look like they are made up of a million moving parts. Kudos to the designers for at least tricking me into thinking it is made of more parts than other lines (and I mean that sincerely).

He comes with a very important accessory, Laserbeak. While I never liked the skeletal chicken look, I can't fault it for looking the part. It latches well onto wither or Soundwave's forearms and can even tag along in the back of the vehicle mode. Those are two different type of latches and the mini figure will slightly convert to fit in whichever scenario.

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It's odd how objectively, this toy may not be offering much as much as other Transformers toys at his price point (for instance, he has less steps, less height, less accessories and much less articulation than the new Cyberverse toys), but subjectively I feel more satisfied by him than many other toys. He always had a unique design for a car bot and he did not get as much representation in the movie lines in the west, and unlike Siege and Cyberverse this isn't retreading the same G1 design, so he feels more fresh. He surprised me, and I loved discovering the efficient conversion, and sometimes that's all I need for a toy to stand out. I would thus recommend him to any Transformers fan, regardless of their feel for the Bay aesthetic.

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Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2047098)
Posted by william-james88 on December 16th, 2019 @ 9:17am CST
Am I the only one getting a bit sick of Studio Series Bumblebee toys? Not in the fact that there are lots of them, but more that it's the same functional design every time. Unlike Optimus, where movie toy designers keep reinventing the transformation, Bumblebee toys suffer from just changing incrementally every time. And that's been the case since the first deluxe toy (which you can see in a comparison shot below). That doesn't make them bad toys, it just makes them predictable and rather boring in terms of transforming figures.

That's what this toy suffers most of. It's based on the same Movie Bumblebee transformation we have gotten since The Last Knight (TLK). Meaning, the car roof folds up and gets stuffed into the torso, the arms with no wrist swivels are tucked at the base of the car, you get that back window flip for the double wings, the middle of the car hood is separated from the sides and under it is a fake kibble piece for a more accurate chest and the legs unfold through a series of 90 degree pivots with the feet doing a full 180. These are all nice steps to go from a good looking car to a decent looking robot but there are all steps we did before. And the fact that it's the same steps results in robot modes that look about the same from one toy to the next, as you can see below.

I will repeat, none of that makes this a bad toy, it just makes for a boring experience. If this is your first movie Bumblebee toy, then you will probably be satisfied. What is frustrating is that this toy only comes with the battle mask, meaning that if you want a Bumblebee toy looking closer to his movie one appearance where all the Autobots meet up the first time with Sam, then you are gonna fork out some money again for another incremental change.

The car mode is fine. It's apparently not a perfectly accurate alt mode, but I can't tell. I have it compared to the alt mode his first movie toy had, which is said to be a perfect representation in car mode. Looks fine to me though. I will say that I much prefer how the car mode tabs together than other Bumblebee toys with this transformation, like the one from TLK or the one from the Bumblebee movie.

The robot mode looks great but I would have really liked to have a normal face, it feels a shady not to include it. While the transformation is a rinse repeat of other toys, design wise this does make it the first Bumblebee with that now iconic Camaro alt mode to have those extra little wings in the back, along with a very nice looking chest and even those small clavicle-like details next to his neck (pretty sure those are supposed to be his mirrors). I would have loved them to paint those yellow though. I mean it would go a long way and highlight the novelty to the sculpting. His robot mode is the best looking transforming deluxe representation of this Bumblebee design.

He has an arm cannon accessory which covers his hands. It feels really cheap though since it's just all in black and clashes with the rest of the deco. I mean for a line that is all about movie accuracy, the sole accessory to come with the figure looking like this is a bit lame. In terms of articulation, while he is missing some (like wrist swivels), there is a transformation joint on the leg that you can use to make up for a lack of ankle pivot.

The best thing I can say about this figure is that nothing falls apart, it tabs in as it should, nothing feels too loose and you can pose him with little issue. While this should all be a given for a toy of passable quality, it's almost a miracle for a movie Bumblebee toy of recent years.
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2057881)
Posted by william-james88 on March 26th, 2020 @ 3:21pm CDT
The Walmart exclusive Netflix Series voyager three packs are out in Canada and your fellow news editor found them while getting some milk today. Since these are all simply redecos, I felt in hand images would be all that was needed for a review since all of these molds have already been released multiple times.

This review will be for Megatron with Battlemasters Captive Lionizer & Captive Pinpointer.

Firstly, as a multipack, I much preferred this one over Hotlink's simply due to wanting all these toys. Lionizer is the orange redeco we always wanted. It is a perfect G1 homage to the wolf bot that came with action master Rad. And while Pinpointer does feels cheap, with the barrel detaching rather easily, I do like that we are getting the targetmaster that goes with Crosshairs.

Now onto Megatron, while I still don't fully get what Hasbro is going for with the spray paint effect, I do preffer him much more than the other versions of this mold. For one, they fixed something with the ankles. I can't tell for sure what it is mechanically, since it does still look the same, but there's no longer the idea of locking and unlocking his ankles. And once unlocked, they don't feel loose. It results in a more satisfying time posing him with ankle pivot.

While the paint seemed to be the biggest difference at first glance (especially due to cameras picking up that silver in an oddly lighted room), I find the change in plastic itself to be more significant to the overall look. It is leagues better than on the original, now that I have them to compare. The "black" plastic on the original had a rust/brown tinge to it but here, it is actually black. It looks especially great on his legs since it created the perfect contrasting look to that spray painted silver on the front, which gives it a G1 toy homage. This adds to the G1 homage that was already on the original toy, with those red highlights in the joint areas and sword, and of course that silver paint and darker grey plastic all add to that theme.

This makes this particular version of Megatron truly shine (ha!) as a more specific homage compared to the original version which was more of an amalgamation. Also, he fact that the inner tank treads are unpainted on this new version makes them less obvious and easier to ignore. You instead get a more Megatron-like silhouette created through the colour contrast of the two different plastic colours.

The spray paint scheme is purposefully uneven, though I don't really know why (this is the case for all these Netflix series redecos). You end up with half his helmet painted. It actually reminds me a lot of that Friends episode where Ross gets a spray tan and through some mishap only gets the spray done on one side of his body. But as you can tell from the images, it still makes for a decent look. It actually ends up emphasizing effectiveness more so creating a cell shaded effect naturally.

The only thing I actually have against this deco is that they just could not resist putting that battle damage splatter somehere. It has been greatly reduced from the original toy, but it's all focused on his crotch. It would be nice to go one year without attention being given to Meg's crotch (for a recap: MP 36 and 36+ had octo crotch, and last year we got several shots of Beast Wars Meg's broken crotch).

On that fine note, I give you all these images, enjoy!
Re: Pictorial Review of Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar (2082077)
Posted by william-james88 on September 28th, 2020 @ 3:30pm CDT
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Transformers Podcast: Twincast / Podcast #350 - Oops! All Optimus
Twincast / Podcast #350:
"Oops! All Optimus"
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Posted: Saturday, May 18th, 2024

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