The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Week 1

Welcome to the first weekly summary of The Great Cybertronian Write Off (GCWO)! The GCWO is a project started by Transformers Square One (myself), Sixo, Toybox Soapbox and tikgnat that aims to provide daily Generation 1 Transformers content for fans to enjoy during the indefinite period of lockdown and social distancing many of us are now experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic of 2020. This weekly series of blog posts should allow you to keep up-to-date with all the content produced as part of the GCWO across all three of us!

Hasbro G1 Soundwave - Sound or Power?

While collecting vintage Generation 1 Transformers and their reissues, I've had some recent experience of stickering them up to look as they were intended. As a result, I've come across a number of errors and conflicting resources regarding where one should place particular labels. It's happened with Tracks, Hound/Detritus, Blitzwing/Overcharge, Hurricane, Quickswitch, Drag Strip, and Smokescreen. With the very recent Walmart reissue of G1 Soundwave fresh off the blocks, the subject was very much in the air again.

Ocular Max Remix RMX-03/04 Volture and Buzzard

It's been a long time since the last Ocular Max Remix figure was released - the RMX-01 Jaguar (Ravage) - but the promise of more excellent figures to come has always kept expectations high for RMX-03 Volture (Laserbeak) and RMX-04 Buzzard (Buzzsaw). The Perfection Series has rumbled on, with hits and misses, but with a 1 out of 1 strike rate for the Remix sub-line, a lot is riding on these birds to keep up the good name of the initiative. Based on full size cassettes instead of the original microcassettes, these figures were never going to be compatible with MP or G1 Soundwave in cassette mode, but the idea was always that they'd make excellent Masterpiece companions in beast/robot mode.

MakeToys MTRM-11 Meteor

When MakeToys revealed their intentions to do a Masterpiece-style Starscream, it was seen as a very bold statement of intent. One that indicated the Boys at M'Toys not only felt they could improve upon the official MP-3 and MP-11 iterations of Masterpiece Starscream - in itself something most believed wholly possible - but also convince enough collectors to buy it and replace the expensive incumbent to make the project worthwhile. Well, Meteor - formerly Howling Meteor - was released in short supply at TFCon just recently and is due for full release later next month. I've got the figure in question right now, so it a success or a howler? 

Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron - Full Gallery

Welcome to my complete TakaraTomy Transformers Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron gallery, in celebration of reaching 7000 likes on the Transformers Square One Facebook page. I actually had not planned to purchase this figure, such was the expense in getting it to me in Iceland (no pre-order, international shipping, customs etc). I was also concerned about inevitable damage from handling and the fact that some had paint wear straight out of the box. My recent experiences with other paint-flaking MPs did not help. I wrote a whole article about the feelings I was having regarding this purchase. 

DX9 D08 Gewalt - Test Shot Full Size Gallery

Here we have the full-size and complete gallery for DX9 D-08 Gewalt - a 3rd party Masterpiece-scale Blitzwing by the folks who brought you such brilliance as Carry, Invisible, Chigurh and Tyrant. You can find the full DX9 Gewalt review on TFSource blog, and below are the images from that review before they were reduced in size.

Ocular Max Remix RMX-01 Jaguar

Mastermind Creations, under the guise of Masterpiece-focused Ocular Max branding, have introduced a sub-line into that sub-line! The Remix line begins with RMX-01 Jaguar, a figure that homages the Generation 1 Decepticon cassette Ravage. Now why bother launching a line with something already covered by the official TakaraTomy Masterpiece collection? For a start, not everyone seems to share my high opinion of MP Ravage, it's true to say some actually dislike the figure thoroughly. While the MP Ravage is scaled to a micro cassette like the original G1 rendition and fits inside MP Soundwave's chest, Ocular Max believed that it was too small in kitty mode. Their reasons for developing this product are for a better experience in transformation and posing, as well as scaling with other associated Masterpiece figures like Soundwave in jaguar mode. For the moment, this has been offered as a Planet Steel Express exclusive.

Decepticon Rock Band (aka Animated Resurgence)

Transformers and music have never been too far apart. The Autobots had Jazz and Blaster in the original G1 cartoon, Tracks had Raoul, even Soundwave, Laserbeak and Rumble were spotted partying with humans in a night club. It should have come as no surprise to see the lighthearted - but deeply serious - Transformers Animated intertwine Soundwave's character so intimately with music. So much so, in fact, that his Laserbeak companion in Animated was a Gibson Flying V electric guitar. Genius. The repaint of Soundwave, Electrostatic Soundwave (basically Soundblaster), had a keytar that changed into Ratbat. Again, pure genius. Despite that, the collective surprise at the SDCC 2014 exclusive Knights Of Unicron set must have been palpable. A Transformers rock band. Tonight, we're looking at the madcap rock god Megatron, the repainted Animated Laserbeak and Ratbat that come with that set.

New Arrivals - October 2014

Mercifully haven't done one of these posts for a while as they were literally taking over the blog, and October has been much slower in terms of arrivals which again I am pleased with, but here's a quick run down of what's new. In this first picture you can see a number of figures already reviewed on this blog like Human Alliance Leadfoot, KO Animated Activators Lockdown and the wonderful die cast KO Activators Bumblebee, but also a sealed Takara Tomy Animated Electrostatic Soundwave, sealed Hasbro Animated Rodimus Minor and sealed Hasbro Animated Ironhide (none of which are sealed any more) and Hasbro Animated Skywarp.

FOC Soundwave - Clear Test Shot Pictorial

Shopping online on Chinese websites is very dangerous indeed. I've started buying KOs and test shots of moulds I like, mercifully there aren't all that many modern moulds I'd go full metal completist on. One of the ones I am extremely partial towards outside of Animated is the Fall of Cybertron Soundwave/Blaster/Soundblaster sculpt, so the chance to get an all clear test shot - or possibly even a lunchtime special (I can't tell, but source was trustworthy) - was unmissable. The fact that it came with a clear data disc Laserbeak that allowed me to add to the growing collection of these amazing little things sealed the deal. I finally found a figure that could be effectively shot against my black background with my limited photo equipment and skills, so I hope you enjoy these shots of ghost Soundwave!

New Arrivals - Early September 2014 (Part 2)

For some reason packages are taking much longer to arrive, but the good thing is that whatever arrives allows me time to photograph properly with its mould mates. At the moment I am all about mould completion. This chapter on arrivals includes the Beast Hunters Smokescreen/Prowl deluxe mould, the Minicon Six Speed mould, FOC Data Discs and Animated Starscream. 

Transformers Animated Exclusives - Pictorial

Here we have just a very short post with some photographs I took tonight of some of the more exclusive Transformers Animated figures in my collection, some older some brand new. The image above focuses on the tougher Activators class figures, Family Mart exclusive Ramjet, Skywarp and the unreleased Electromagnetic Soundwave. You'll also see the Tokyo Toy Show exclusive Elite Guard Prowl, the Million Publishing mailaway Elite Guard Optimus Prime voyager, the Activators seen above, Hyper Hobby exclusive Black Rodimus, Sons of Cybertron 2-set crystal Rodimus and Earth mode deluxe Optimus Prime, Black voyager Optimus prime and finally the mass release Japanese Activators Soundblaster.

All Stars

A very very short post dedicated to some of the most outstanding Transformers and 3rd Party toys I've had the pleasure of experiencing in the last 12 months, and posing them together as a rather spiffing group of marvels. If you could just imagine buying a collection, or receiving a package or lot containing all these figures, could it ever be topped?

New Arrivals - Mid August 2014 (Part 2)

When I started this blog I did not expect to be posting "Oh look what I just bought" segments every bloody day, and I still don't expect it to continue in that vein. For now though, it's what is dominating my hobby time, especially as I am constantly looking at moulds and toy lines I had ignored up to 2 months ago. Almost every direction my collection is going in right now is a result of toys people have placed in my hand and said "I dare you to hate that". This is the result. 

(Many) New Arrivals - Early July 2014

Writing to be kept to a minimum. Too many Transformers arrived in early July. Loads of photographs, no captions. Animated, Animated, Animated and even a reissue and a TF Prime toy. It's been an amazing/atrocious couple of weeks, have been well and truly jettisoned from the wagon and reversed over repeatedly. So without further ado, here's the first avalanche...

Ambassadors Part 3 - and my picks for Part 2

Ambassadors Part 3 has just gone live on TFSource Blog HERE with more terrific choices and justifications by a stellar group of contributors, people whose enthusiasm and knowledge of the hobby continues to inspire my own. They've made their choices on who best represents Japanese G1, G1 '87 to '90, Binaltech and Armada. This post, like last week's, will showcase my own picks for Ambassadors Part 2, which went live on TFSource last week, featuring Masterpiece, Generation 1 1984 to 1986 and Animated. I've skipped DOTM as I never bought any toys from that range.