X-Transbots Swarm (MP Scourge) Quickie

It's been a while since I posted a quickie on this blog, but sometimes a figure just moves you to the point where you have to say something about it. Normally I'd love to do comprehensive write-ups and galleries for any 3rd party Masterpiece-scale figure I get, but in the case of X-Transbots Swarm Wrath/Bane/Curse (that's right, I have no idea which one this is), I have too much to say to wait.

New Arrivals - Late October 2014

The curse is broken! I finally have in my collection an EZ Collection Smokescreen, the Takara Tomy version of the Cyberverse Smokescreen in show accurate colours, presented with gorgeous paint application. I had tried to get this figure from Asia on 3 previous occasions, one got destroyed and returned to sender, two got lost in the mail, and finally via Taobao I have this last variant of the mould I needed. Far too much hassle for such a readily available little figure. Then again, I wasn't going to pay $50 on eBay so...anyway, read on for the other new arrivals.

KFC D.A.I. Stack - Vehicle Mode Pictorial

Carrying on from yesterday's robot mode pictorial for KFC's D.A.I. Stack figure, the not-Movie Trailer Magnus, I've taken a number of photos of the vehicle mode on its own, with MP-10 Convoy and a few Diaclone-themed Masterpiece cars. Opinions and review insights reserved for tomorrow night's TFSource Blog article, but it doesn't mean we can't enjoy some visual D.A.I. Stack love.

KFC D.A.I. Stack - Robot Mode Pictorial

Some say he beat Takara's MP Ultra Magnus to the punch. Some say he's the best thing KFC ever made. All we know is, he's called The Stack. Well, technically this is fashioned after the Diaclone Powered Convoy - yet coloured more like the reissue Movie Trailer Ultra Magnus - and he's called D.A.I. Commander Stack. I like to think the "Stack" part comes from Robert Stack voicing Ultra Magnus in the 1986 Movie, hence the naming "Citizen Stack" of the first release of this KFC 3rd Party product earlier in 2014. You'd think because it was a Diaclone-based homage in a Powered Convoy-style box, I'd be all over this, but it's not that simple. I think pre-TF collectors, myself included, are a ridiculously finicky and pedantic bunch so sometimes not-arsed is better than half-arsed. I've grown to love D.A.I. Stack though, but it's nothing to do with the packaging and the colours. More on that this Tuesday in the associated TFSource Blog article. For now, here is the robot mode pictorial sporting the standard heads/faces included with the regular D.A.I. Stack purchase.

3rd Party Issues

This time last year, 3rd Party Transformers were not on my radar at all. I saw them as a dirty little insect on the Transformers floor that needed squashing. Let's just say I've since been educated. As thrilled as I am with my foray into this offshoot of the hobby, now that the initial gloss has worn off some of those acquisitions and they've been 'used', I've noticed a number of issues and niggles with what I've got.