Open And Play Big Spring

In August 2016, another Masterpiece style 3rd party Springer was teased by scene newcomers Open And Play. The toy that would eventually come to be known as Big Spring looked promising, the modes seemingly based directly off the Transformers: The Movie representations of the Autobot Triplechanger. The figure was released approximately a year later in what can only be described as shoe box-style packaging, with zero paperwork. Talk about minimalist, there were not even instructions! I guess the idea was that owners would bust out the toy, play around with it and figure it out, hence the name of the company. I am certainly on board with that kind of design concept and philosophy for modern transforming toys!

Masterpiece MP-28 Hot Rodimus - Full Size Gallery

Last night I uploaded the review/article on Masterpiece MP-28 Hot Rodimus pre-release sample to TFSource blog who were also kind enough to source the sample for me in the first place. For those who want just the images at full size and don;t fancy the 3000 words chucked between them, here's the full uninterrupted gallery. Enjoy!

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.

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.

New Arrivals - Early December 2014 (Part 1)

It's not just been 3rd Party stuff coming in of late, I've definitely rediscovered my love of the Transformers movie lines, and filling gaps in burgeoning collection directions has been a theme of late. In addition to the kind of toys you see int he above image - Human Alliance, Animated and Age of Extinction - you will see the most ridiculous addition so far in these posts.

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.

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.

New Arrivals - Early June 2014

I had genuinely forgotten what it was like to have toys arriving regularly, and in all honesty it's making me uncomfortable because I've got Transformers in the flat that are still unopened and I bought them to open. That's a sure sign that you're acquiring more than you can appreciate, especially if there's more still to come. That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it though, so here are the first wave of new arrivals entirely made up of my Transformers Animated collection rebuild.

Diaclone "Powered Convoy"

I've been meaning to create a serious Diaclone Powered Convoy post on either TF-1, TFSource Blog or the forums for years, and it was only when I sold my vintage Diaclone Powered Convoy this year that I took some representative photographs. It's funny how you never take the super-detailed pictures until something's for sale, right? I guess I thought I'd keep this one forever. Here, finally, is my post on the Takara Diaclone Car Robot Powered Convoy from August 1984.