Mastermind Creations R-16 Anarchus - Teaser Pictorial

Mastermind Creations Reformatted R-16 Anarchus - the 3rd party version of Decepticon Justice Division member "Kaon" - is here. It's here and it's completely out of this world awesome, that's an opinion I'd save for the full review but there's no hiding it. This is a tremendous figure, and there's just no way James Roberts and Alex Milne will be able to keep themselves from buying/getting one. I've rarely witnessed more personality in a Transformers toy. In lieu of a complete article, please find a teaser pictorial.

MakeToys MTRM-02 Gundog (MP Hound)

MakeToys, a Japanese 3rd party company producing unofficial Transformers-like products, have a strong reputation for quality and engineering. This year they decided to turn their attention to a very hotly sought-after piece of collector real estate, the Masterpiece Transformers market. First came MakeToys Re:Master or MTRM-01 Cupola (Chromedome), then MTRM-07 Visualizers (Reflector) and now we have their first foray into the holy and sacred world of Masterpiece Autobot cars, starting with Hound who is yet to receive an official Masterpiece release. With Hellfire (Inferno) and Wrestle (Grapple) on the way soon, MakeToys are clearly going for the gaps in the official Masterpiece line-up.

Voodoo Robots PS-01 Salus Review

Welcome to the scene, Voodoo Robots Potion Series PS-01 Salus - a Masterpiece-style and scaled interpretation of the Autobot Medic Ratchet. Salus is based on the animation model of Ratchet used in the Transformers cartoon series, as opposed to the other popular incarnations of Ratchet from the Marvel comics or the current IDW comics. With an undeniable level of disappointment visible in the fandom over the Takara Tomy official Masterpiece Ratchet, there is an opportunity for a 3rd party product to slip in there and become a very popular alternative. Is Salus that figure?

Masterpiece MP-25 Tracks - Full Gallery

Here is the full hi-res gallery for MP-25 Masterpiece Tracks, I hope you enjoy it! You can find the full review with smaller pictures here in the TFSource review.

MMC Spartan - Teaser Pictorial

Here is a brief pictorial of Mastermind Creations Reformatted R-13 Spartan, their Classics/Generations-scaled interpretation of IDW Impactor. Having waited decades for an Impactor toy, even though the official Combinber Wars Impactor bears the right name, many will plump for MMC's exceptionally good-looking effort. Here are a few pictures from the upcoming TFSource Blog review.

Applying Vintage G1 Stickers

I have returned to collecting vintage G1 Transformers after many forays into modern Transformers lines. This return coincided with a request from IDW Transformers More Than Meets The Eye writer James Roberts to photograph the Scavengers toys (G1 Misfire, Krok, Crankcase and Spinister) for one panel of issue #45. Having to acquire these toys forced me to see just how much I loved buying and owning G1 toys. A solid 1987 Headmasters and Targetmasters collection has sprouted from that realisation, all packaged with good stickers maintained well by the original childhood owner. Whatever the childhood owner whose toys I bought didn't have, I found elsewhere, but I insisted on maintaining the display and item quality that already existed in the collection I had purchased. G1 Headmaster Horrorcon Apeface has been the hardest regular-size Headmaster to find in excellent condition and packaged. The above is the second boxed one I bought, but of course the stickers were unapplied. What to do?

MMC R-01G Grandus Hexatron - Full Pictorial

Now that my full article/review of Mastermind Creations R-01G Reformatted Grandus Hexatron (Not-Greatshot) has been published here at TFSource Blog, please find every picture from that article here but at full size for - hopefully - your viewing pleasure. Greatshot forever!

MMC R-01G Grandus Hexatron - Robot Mode Pictorial

Here is a brief (unlike the photo editing) robot mode pictorial of the latest release from Mastermind Creations, R-01G Reformatted Grandus Hexatron Continuum - a 3rd Party interpretation of the 1989 Transformers Victory sixchanger Greatshot. Greatshot is one of my all time favourite G1 toys and characters, so when MMC announced finally that the Greatshot repaint of the hugely successful Terminus Hexatron (Not Sixshot) was due, I marked the days int he calendar until his arrival. Here he is, and here is a quick run through some of the photos that will make it into Tuesday night's TFSource Blog review of Grandus Hexatron. No opinions or assessments here, I'll save that for Tuesday, but I'm sure you can figure out how I feel about this one... 

IDW MTMTE #45 - THAT Scavengers Photo

We've come to expect the unexpected of IDW and James Roberts since ongoing Transformers comic series More Than Meets The Eye (MTMTE) began, and now well into its second 'season', the surprises and unexpected twists have not slowed down. From the set of Friends to charisma vampires, the creators of MTMTE have taken this Transformers title to completely new levels while arguably never losing touch with what makes it so popular and essential at its core. If you're not averse to the risk of possible spoilers, you can see the freshly revealed preview of MTMTE #45's first page above, featuring a photograph of actual G1 Transformers toys in the bottom panel. That photo, like all the other panels on the page, depicts Spinister, Crankcase, Krok and Misfire - the beloved Scavengers (absent since issue 8 - kinda) - in all sorts of bizarre situations that have occurred off-panel throughout most of season 1 and 2 while we've been concentrating elsewhere. But where did that photo come from, and how did it come about?

Unique Toys Y-01 Provider (Octane) Teaser Pictorial - UPDATED

Here's Unique Toys' Y-01 Provider, their version of the Decepticon Triplechanger Octane. Is it supposed to be Classics scale? Masterpiece scale? I've got my own opinion that I'll save for Tuesday's Source Article, but for now I've cycled through the modes and taken some pictures. Here's a couple from each mode just to whet your appetites! Also because I just can;t do another 3am photo editing session so this is yer lot.

Hasbro G1 Targetmaster Misfire

1987 Hasbro Targetmaster Misfire and Nebulon partner Aimless, what a pairing. This hot pink beauty from the golden age of immediately post-movie Generation 1 Transformers has been granted a new lease of life as one of the Scavengers thanks to James Roberts, IDW and the ongoing More Than Meets The Eye comic title. Just like Triggerhappy, Misfire was available in Japan sans rubsign (some actually did have it) as D-89 Misfire with styro inner packaging, there was a bilingual Canadian release and I wouldn't be surprised to see a bilingual Hasbro Europe version either. I've seen the Autobot Targetmasters in Hasbro Europe packaging so there's every chance it'll turn up one day. Today, we'll be looking at a UK-bought Hasbro version of G1 Misfire and Aimless.

MakeToys MTCM-04A Axle (Groove)

When launching a whole new combiner project as a 3rd party company, you need to put your right foot forward (groan) and really ease yourself into the groove (boo! hiss!) of the aesthetic and customer reception to the product. MakeToys have on a number of occasions gone for an all out box set for expensive combiners, whereas MMC, UT and others have seen fit to release combiners one limb at a time. For their Guardia (Defensor), MakeToys have released "Axle", their interpretation of Protectobot Groove first.  

MakeToys MTRM-07 Visualizers (MP Reflector)

Third Party company MakeToys of Japan have entered the Transformers Masterpiece-a-like wars, along with FansToys, X-Transbots, BadCube, MMC, Omnigonix, DX-9 etc, but MT come from a place of great expense and a reputation for very good quality products. Their first foray into this aesthetic was MTRM (MakeToys Re-Master Series) 01 Cupola, a Masterpiece Chromedome. The second release in the MTRM line are the "Visualizers", a Masterpiece-style Reflector done in the Sunbow cartoon fashion. This product will be competing directly with FansToys' Spotter and KFC's Reflectrons. I've only recently discovered MakeToys products through the insanely nice Utopia and the intricate, fantastic but marginally flawed Cupola, so how do the Visualizers compare to recognised Masterpiece style 3P figures I have plenty of experience of such as the FansToys range, BadCube range and DX-9 toys?

Hasbro G1 Autobot Headmasters Gallery

Please find below a brief gallery of the main Autobot Headmasters from 1987, that is, Brainstorm and Arcana, Chromedome and Stylor, Hardhead and Duros, Highbrow and Gort. This Tuesday will see the start of a number of TFSource articles on Headmasters and Targetmasters from 1987, so for now it's just a selection of Autobot Headmaster group shots in higher resolution than on the upcoming Source Article, which will have a more detailed written overview of the category. After that there will be individual figure posts on this blog. Enjoy!

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 11) - Minicons Wave 1

Next up in my detailed look at the Hasbro Robots In Disguise 2015 toy line, cartoon and related media are the first wave of Minicons. These little one-step wonders are intended to interact with the newly-released Deployers, Drift and Fracture. Having appeared relatively early on in the first season of RID, we've had to wait some time for toys of Slipstream, Jetstorm, Divebomb and Airazor. However, wave 1 consists of two extra Minicons too that have not been featured in the show, those are Dragonus (Decepticon) and Sawback (Autobot). Also, Airazor and Jetstorm are so far only available with the Deployers themselves.

Hasbro G1 Targetmaster Triggerhappy

1987 saw the release of the 'Masters, Transformers with heads and weapons that turned into miniature robots of their own. First introduced in "Rebirth" after a number of random new characters interspersed with old ones crashed on planet Nebulos, the Targetmasters consisted of Autobots and Decepticons who bonded with native Nebulons that turned into their weapons. Triggerhappy (and Targetmaster Blowpipe) is one of those Decpticons. Triggerhappy was also available in Japan as D-88 Triggerhappy, packaged in styrofoam and missing his rubsign. There is a bilingual Canadian G1 package and I suspect bilingual European version too.

Transformers Adventure (TAV-18) Drift

I actually had no intention of collecting the Takara Tomy Transformers Adventure (TAV) versions of the Hasbro Robots In Disguise 2015 toys. I was going to buy the locally available Hasbro versions of RID 2015 because that was a wonderful novelty in the UK, and I was going to watch the cartoon with my daughter and wear the cheap-ish toys down into the ground with our playtimes. A destiny every toy dreams of , surely. However, after my Hasbro RID Bumblebee became broken and I sprung for the show accurate TAV-01, together with the images of TAV Drift and how much better his deco was than Hasbro's, the die was cast. TAV-18 Drift arrived this week - amid news of TAV Drift:Origin, a piece of news that lit my Twitter feed up like a Christmas tree when I shared it.

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 10) - Legion Class Wave 4

Press on with the repaints! In truth, Hasbro need absolutely no encouragement to take a mould and recolour it umpteen times, and frankly that suits a crazed variant collector like myself, especially when the toys in question are tiddly little Legion class Robots In Disguise toys. What we have here are the Night Ops Bumblebee Legion class repaint and his co-release, Alpine Sideswipe - who bears a terribly strong resemblance to Red Alert, were he to have been a red & white Fire Chief repaint of Sideswipe as he was in Generation 1. These were sourced for me in Singapore recently where they had been sighted first, thank you Iain, you are a legend.

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Production Version

Here are a few images of the production version of FansToys' FT-06 Sever (MP Snarl), the third of their Iron Dibots (Dinobots) released just in the last week or two. The paint application is a little different, as in there is no paint on the vertical vents at the bottom of the outer robot feet, the red on the chest seems ever so slightly different and even the grey plastic seems darker than the test shot I had and reviewed. In terms of tightness, everything is mega tight, with the thighs being too tight for sure. It's scary to transform them or pose them. Sword grip is much improved, gun grip has deteriorated from the test shot. Overall it improves on the review sample I had, which was already a very accomplished figure, meaning that in my opinion Sever is now the most polished product FT have released in virtually all departments. The robot face is still odd though, different, but still odd. Have some pics.

Transformers Adventure (TAV-01) Bumblebee

My Hasbro Robots In Disguise 2015 warrior class Bumblebee stopped working. Actually it's debatable that it ever worked considering the leg issue all of them have straight out of the packaging. However, once the doors could no longer tab onto the side of the vehicle mode, causing them to hang off and sag (thank you broken tabs), a more show accurate premium option was immediately attractive. Enter Transformers Adventure TAV-01 Bumblebee from Takara Tomy, with extra paint apps, suspected improved build quality and a very sensible £18 shipped price from Asian online retail.

BadCube OTS-04 Wardog - Review

We've had the robot mode pictorial and the tank mode pictorial, now it's time to share some opinions on BadCube's Masterpiece-style version of the minibot Warpath. With Huffer (as "Cubex Huff"), Brawn(y) and Outback(lands) in the bag already, BadCube continue to blaze an MP-style minibot trail across the landscape with an ambitious interpretation of everyone's favourite tourettes-suffering military Autobot. The review is a bit late as BadCube are about to release their Evil Bug Corps (Insecticons) and have just announced their Sunstreaker, but I've got some tasty pictures and a few words for those of you still undecided about Wardog.

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 9) - Warrior Class Wave 3

It's been far too long to wait for Robots In Disguise warrior class Sideswipe to hit stores, he's a major character in the show that youngsters and grown up fans alike will have taken to as much - if not more - than any other Autobot in the show. The late release of this warrior Sideswipe, alongside Jazz, shows in his engineering. The other RID warriors so far have been so simple they've almost not felt like the deluxes we've come to know, but Sideswipe is certainly a step above the blocky simple warrior class we've gotten so far. I'm just not entirely convinced that's a good thing.

Pride

Here is my very short 4-image tribute to the landmark Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex couples in the United States to wed. See if you can spot the significance of each image, and occasionally, its accompanying caption. Love wins.

BadCube OTS-04 Wardog - Tank Mode Pictorial

The review is coming soon, but for now please enjoy some photos of BadCube's Wardog (Warpath Masterpiece-a-like) in tank mode. Seriously, please enjoy them, it wasn't easy to return to this mode. I have witnesses.

BadCube OTS-04 Wardog - Robot Mode Pictorial

Welcome, BadCube Old Timer Series 04 Wardog. There will be a proper review of BadCube's MP-style interpretation of the minibot Warpath soon, but for now here's a pictorial of this surprisingly excellent figure in robot mode. I'm surprised because it's 'just' Warpath, but it's fantastic, just like Badcube's Backland was. I'm not quite ready to transform it back yet, but when I do, I'll post a short tank mode pictorial as well.

Transformers Adventure (TAV-15) Lockdown

My personal reaction to re-use of Transformers Animated moulds for any purpose, any purpose at all no matter how ridiculous the premise (Knights Of Unicron), is overwhelmingly positive. Seeing Swoop and Snarl re-used in Transformers Adventure by Takara Tomy, a line heavily based on the Hasbro's Robots In Disguise 2015 with added repaints of older moulds, made me happy. I didn't buy them because their release coincided with a jarring halt to my buying in recent months, but Lockdown...Lockdown was always going to be bought. I pre-ordered this TAV-15 Lockdown before anyone even knew the nature of the repaint. The fact that mere weeks before release (and months after pre-order) it was revealed he was to sport Age Of Extinction Lockdown's colours made me insanely happy. 

DX9 D06 Carry (Rodimus Prime) Test Shot Pictorial

Here is a long pictorial of a 3rd party Rodimus Prime, inspired by Studio Ox designs and aimed at Masterpiece scaled figures. It's "Carry" from DX-9, designated D06. Full review on TFSource Blog tomorrow night, but for now, enjoy the combination of a wonderful figure and a better camera than before.

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 8) - Legion Clash

Such has been the impression made on me (and my daughter) by the Robots In Disguise 2015 Legion Class figures, that I have developed the same old completion symptoms. Mercifully this disease is seemingly jumping to cheaper species by the year. That doesn't make it any easier to catch 'em all, and when news broke on TFW of TRU exclusive "Clash of the Transformers" 2-packs featuring a white repaint of Legion class Optimus Prime, a grey Bumblebee, an Underbite with green highlights and an all new mould "Megatronus", I had to call in some help from overseas.

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 7) - Legion Class Wave 3

It's been a very long time coming, four months in fact since the last installment of my Robots In Disguise series of blog posts. After Hasbro released Legion Class Sideswipe and Grimlock, there was a long wait before wave 3 of the Legion class and beyond. I'm not collecting the one or three step changers, so my attention has been firmly on Legion and Warrior class. What made this wave particularly special was the inclusion of the Legion class Fixit figure, scaled perfectly to fit in with the Warrior class deluxe-a-likes which are probably the most representative toys from the new cartoon series. Fixit is accompanied on shelves by Legion class Underbite, the first Decepticon we are introduced to back in episode 1.

Masterpiece MP-22 Ultra Magnus - Quickie Pictorial

Like the title says, just a straight up mini-gallery of the wonderful MP-22 Takara Tomy Masterpiece Transformers Ultra Magnus. This is a figure I did not pre-order or like the look of. Then it started arriving and "best Masterpiece yet" comments started to make me pay attention. The fact is, he's incredibly good in both modes, hugely solid, has a buttflap that you will immediately stop caring about and the best Masterpiece transformation of them all - except Bumblebee. Thanks to my friends, I got this at a terrific price, a price that a non-believer did not deserve. I learned though, and it made me buy Star Saber too. No more small-only TFs for me. I like big bots.

TFCC Exclusives Gallery

As an accompaniment to this week's TFSource Blog article on TFCC/TFSS Club exclusives that I own and love, here are the images from that article in much higher resolution for those that appreciate these gorgeous repaints. Not all of them, of course, just Cheetor, Chromedome, Barricade, Circuit and Jackpot.

Mexican G1 "Trailbreaker Head" Hoist

MEXICAN HOIST HAS THE WRONG HEAD! Maybe you knew that already, after all this is one of the oldest and well-established G1 variants of all. Along with the Canadian G1 Red Slag, the European Milton Bradley G1 Red Tracks and black Mexican G1 Prowl, "Hoistbreaker" is a legend. Believed to have been released in 1986 in Mexico and subsequently exported around Europe, the Plasticos Iga Mexican Generation 1 Autobot Hoist was manufactured with Trailbreaker's head cast in green instead of the Diaclone Wrecker/Hoist head sculpt. It's commonly referred to as the Mexican Hoist with Trailbreaker head, and that's precisely what it is. I personally have never seen a corrected Mexican Hoist, they've all been like this in my experience.

TFCC Circuit

Transformers Collector's Club "Circuit" is a repaint of the Revenge Of The Fallen deluxe figure "Axor", itself a slight remould of the ROTF Lockdown. This is one of the finest deluxe class Transformers sculpts in history, and while nothing rocks it harder than the Lockdown, Circuit is gorgeous, gaudy and the last Club figure I wanted for my collection. For now.

MakeToys Utopia - City Mode Pictorial

And now the last evening of MakeToys Utopia pictures, enjoy how glorious this fantastic creation looks in city/base mode and how fun it is to drop a few Diaclone drivers in there as well. It;s still a shame that the large guns can't connect to the legs and instead act as stabilisers at the back of the city. You cannot exactly say he suffers visually for it, though. Utopia shows just how strong each mode is and how well each iconic Metroplex configuration is interpreted and represented. Bravo MakeToys, bravo. I've not been this impressed for some time.

MakeToys Utopia - Ship Mode Pictorial

Moving onto the ship mode of MakeToys Utopia, I am struck again by how enormous this figure is. 55 cm long according to the packaging in this mode, the transformation is absolutely perfect for a toy of this size, just enough complexity to make it more than a leg-bending exercise but quick enough to allow you to appreciate the quality that has gone into its construction and design. I am truly so impressed. SO here he is in ship mode, something the original Metroplex didn't have, but IDW inspired Titans carrying the Knights Of Cybertron have been shown to have in comics.

MakeToys Utopia - Robot Mode Pictorial

There's not a whole lot to say here about MakeToys' Citybot "Utopia", their version of Autobot City Metroplex. I didn't ever understand the fuss about MakeToys, and then I handled this figure and fell completely in love. Many kind thanks must go to Steve Phiakkou for allowing me to spend some time with Utopia. Absolute heaven to pose, handle and manipulate, this figure is head and shoulders above far too many other 3rd Party figures I've played with. Sadly the quality is matched by the price, so like me, most of you will probably satisfy yourselves with pictures. Here are a few in robot mode, demonstrating the unbelievably wide range of motion and poise this giant can boast.

Diaclone "Red Ironhide" Quickie

The title of this piece sounds a bit ridiculous as we all know the Generation 1 Transformers Autobot "Ironhide" as a red figure and character, but as a Japanese Takara Diaclone it was a black figure. A Car Robot No.2 Black Nissan Onebox Cherry Vanette, to be precise, and the second ever Diaclone Car Robot to be released all the way back in March 1982. This was also available as the Diakron DK-2 in North America in 1983 (and Finland in 1984/5) in black, together with a black release in Italy under the GiG Trasformer banner, and then came the red.

Goodbye Binaltech

From the very beginning I've been a fan of Binaltech and Alternators, and even when I sold off the latter in one of my many culls, the Binaltech survived. They survived everything, the Diaclone sales, the G1 sell-off, the Animated, CHUG, Movie, artwork and reissue clearouts...you name it, Binaltech stayed. They were at the core of everything I held dear as a Transformers, Generation 1 and model car enthusiast. I even wrote a slew of detailed articles on TFSource Blog to summarise the series up to BT-18 here, here, here, here, here and here, and made a lot of friends by writing the articles at the time of release for TF-1.com here. Having previously declared to the world why I would never sell them here, I have now put virtually all of them up for sale and already said goodbye to a fair few. 

Chinese Vintage KO G1 Rotorstorms

G1 Rotorstorm is a great toy, a toy I discovered late. I'm not a great one for vintage G1 knockoffs, I'm not even a great one for Generation 1 at all these days, but I found these two irresistible. Last year a friend on holiday in China (cheers Pringle!) helped me bag 2 carded bootlegs of G1 Rotorstorm from the same era as the vintage figure's release. These audacious knock-offs come in a G1-like colour scheme and a much more removed white, red and green colour scheme, both with Autobot logos and one of them even having a Takara copyright!

MMC Cynicus - Extended Pictorial

Time for some more Mastermind Creations Reformatted R-12 Investigator Cynicus (breathe) images. This time he stands alongside well known Masterpiece and 3rd Party figures in terms of scale, so you get a good idea what to expect in hand. His posability and configurations continue to wow me, but he is delicate, and must be handled with due care. The transformation is so much more user friendly than Azalea, so with a couple of tries, it will be second nature and pretty fun. Enjoy the pictures, next will be the review.

MMC Cynicus - Pictorial

Surely about 5 years ago, something like this would have been completely inconceivable? A high quality transformers product created by a new company, completely unaffiliated with the official manufacturers and based entirely on an original character created for an official Transformers comic by a fanfic writer who made it and illustrated by a fan artist who made it. If Mastermind Creations Cynicus is not worthy of "For the fans, by the fans", I don't know what is. Based on the IDW More Than Meets The Eye original Decepticon Justice Division character "Vos", MMC's Cynicus takes the vision of James Roberts with the visual execution of Alex Milne and gives it form. The DJD's newest member has a toy, and it's lovely. MMC R-12 Reformatted Cynicius review is incoming, but for now please enjoy the pictorial.

TF Alternity A-04B Banzai Tron

Banzai Tron is an unforgivable name, seriously. Hailing from the Action Masters of the 1990s, a mechanical martial arts specialist and Decepticon, he got a very unlikely Alternity repaint released in 2012 as a Toy Hobby Market (now Takara Tomy Mall) exclusive. The mould is based on the Skywarp/Thundercracker 1:32 scale Alternity figure. The vehicle is Japanese manufacturer Mitsuoki Motors' Orochi sports car model from 2006. I basically missed Alternity completely despite a massive love affair with Binaltech. It coincided with some hobby down time for me, but thanks to Transformers GT, I now understand the appeal. Banzai Tron was bought immediately after I saw some good pictures of that robot mode, head sculpt and thanks to everyone's favourite factory sweeper, Lena.

MP-24 Masterpiece Star Saber - Quickie gallery

I still don't feel compelled to undertake a full review of the utterly spectacular MP-24 Masterpiece Star Saber, but he photographs so well and I can't stop posing, transforming and taking pics of it. Might as well lump all the ones I've taken so far into one post!

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Extra Pictorial

I noticed the other day how awesome FT-06 Sever looks with the dino legs folded out and stored on the outside of the robot legs like Guttur or G1 Snarl. I also noticed the lower dino legs at the front actually rotate outwards higher up the leg than I was expecting. As a result, here's a little coda to the whole Sever story. 

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Full Pictorial

Here is the full gallery pictorial for FansToys FT-06 Sever, the 3rd party Masterpiece style Dinobot Snarl - now with correctly transformed dinosaur hind legs! Yesterday's photos are also included for completeness. All dino group shots have the mis-transformed legs, I'm sure you guys will forgive me... 

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Teaser Pictorial

FansToys carry on giving us the Dinobots - or Iron DiBots - and the third in the series is FT-06 Sever. This is of course their version of Masterpiece Snarl, racing to win hearts and pre-orders from GigaPower's Guttur. No review yet, that you will find on TFSource Blog this week, but for now here's a teaser pictorial.

Transformers Legends LG07 Jetfire

A new Jetfire was needed, a Skyfire even. Classics Jetfire was a wonderful figure with a lovely headsculpt, but next to Hasbro's Generations leader class Jetfire of 2014, he paled. Having said that, every recent toy that has tried to homage Jetfire/Skyfire has had some failing that could act as dealbreaker. DacaToys' Kronos was riddled with tales of horrific QC, Generations leader Jetfire was hollow and lacked articulation in places you'd expect a leader toy to have it and sported horrific chrome armour, FansToys' Skyfire doesn't exist yet, so for some of us the G1 Jetfire still served as the benchmark for this character. Along come Takara Tomy in 2015 with Transformers Legends LG07 Jetfire, still carrying the faults of the Hasbro toy but with some cosmetic differences, most importantly losing the gaudy flaky chrome of the Hasbro release. 

TF Animated: Takara Tomy Bumblebee

Before I had made a decision to sell a large portion of my collection (still need to post about that), I had still given myself the task of collecting every significant Transformers Animated variant - Hasbro, TakaraTomy, bootleg - that I could find. Bumblebee was my first love in Animated and although I have discovered deluxes that surpass him and leave him feeling as flawed as people always said he was, the soft spot remains. When a seller in the UK offered a MOSC Takara Bumblebee, I had to pounce and man, I am glad I did.

Transformers Square One - Year One

It all started with this Jetfire. Roughly a year ago this weekend I started the Transformers Square One blog, something that really shocks me as I still feel like it's brand new...apparently not though, March 1st 2014 was the first post on TFSquare One. Thank you all for the support, for sharing my work, photographs, for liking the page and reading the articles or spreading word of the galleries. It's been one of the best decisions I have made during my time in the hobby.

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 6) - Legion Class Wave 2

Impatience and enthusiasm together make for a dangerous combination. Having burned through whatever wave 1 and 2 Robots In Disguise figures there were available on shelves in the UK in about a week, I turned to eBay US to grab the Legion Class Sideswipe and Grimlock from wave 2 that the UK did not have yet. In addition to that, watching the first three episodes of the RID show online in lower-than-premium quality instead of on my HDTV shows just how far I'll go to get my fix of this excellent new series. And it is excellent, so far.