Human Alliance Autobots (Pre-Completion)

I know what's going to happen. I'm going to buy that Hasbro Asia Human Alliance Barricade and Soundwave 2 pack, and within 4 weeks of that I'll have bought the black and then Flash Freeze Human Alliance Sideswipes for the complete set. So in advance of that, I took a shot of all my pre-completion Human Alliance Transformers from across ROTF and DOTM, minus regular Bumblebee and Barricade as I didn't bring them out of storage for the shoot. I didn't even foresee this shoot until tonight.

DOTM Human Alliance Leadfoot

You've got to be careful when pursuing Transformers toys you love, especially of a certain limited sub category or niche, because you can overdose on a good thing, run into something you don't like which can dampen the whole experience or alternatively, fail to stretch out the enjoyment savouring every moment of discovery with it all ending too soon thanks to expedited purchasing or over-indulgence in a short time. This year I returned to buying Human Alliance figures again, adding to Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Jazz and Barricade first with DOTM Skids, then DOTM Roadbuster and most recently ROTF Mudflap. So far, all have been a success, excellent complexity, engaging transformations, movie-matching aesthetic and plenty of charm each to warrant the hard-earned mantle of Human Alliance worthy. Leadfoot and Soundwave were always going to be last on my list because of the images I'd seen online, and my attitude that ROTF was the best of HA, everything after a weak imitation, just not up to the same standard. Was that true of Leadfoot?

DOTM Human Alliance Roadbuster

The Movie Human Alliance cars have been the absolute highlight of Hasbro and Takara Tomy's feature film robot offerings with items like Jazz, Barricade and Bumblebee rightfully considered to be Masterpiece quality toys. They are representative of everything that is right/wrong with the movies, depending on your persuasion. I enjoyed the movies, and the HA toys are some of my most treasured possessions. I thought - mistakenly - that the quality ended with Jazz, but since then I have discovered Human Alliance Skids and now Roadbuster. Roadbuster is one of the Wreckers introduced in Dark Of The Moon, based on Dale Earnhardt Jr's #88 Hendrick Motorsport Chevy Impala NASCAR sponsored by the National Guard. Leadfoot and Topspin were similarly weaponised official NASCAR vehicles, but only Leadfoot got a release alongside Roadbuster. Dino and AOE Lockdown never really stood a chance of being given the Human Alliance treatment. Why do the best things in the TF universe have such tragic omissions?

New Arrivals - Early September 2014 (Part 1)

There is currently nothing more enjoyable and thrilling in the Transformers hobby for me than taking a blind chance on relatively recent toys I've never seen or owned from unfashionable lines at collector-clear-out prices, sent carefully to my by conscientious collectors and finding out that they are very good or even great. Having very nearly completed TF Animated, I'm in the process of discovering TF Prime, Beast Hunters and various ROTF/DOTM figures I missed. The Human Alliance Roadbuster you see above from DOTM just so happens to be one of those great undiscovered - or rather un-purchased - gems.

New Arrivals - Mid June 2014

 

Diaclone, Macross, Comics, Animated - this is the new obsession, and it's BRILLIANT. All the UK dealers I know have tonnes of Animated and they can barely sell it because everyone has been offloading collections of the stuff, sealed specimens are cheap and it's possible to get ten times as much toy for £80 than any Leo Dux could ever be, I don't care how good it is. Luckily Animated is very good, with every deluxe a reminder of just what's possible for toys of that scale. Here are the last batch of purchases that arrived.