Matrix Workshop M-51 Horn/Hook/Weapon Upgrade Kit SS86 JAZZ

 

Aloha folks. I am back with another TF upgrade: Matrix Workshop M-51 Horn/Hook/Weapon upgrade for SS86 Jazz

 

So the kit comes with an array of goodies. He gets an extra gun which is actually nice. I love the silver coloring on it. And then he comes with speakers and two extra missiles (can be detached). There is a black tab that comes with the kit that allows you to put it behind his head or you can easily peg it to his back. The missiles also have a 5 mm handle that enables Jazz to hand grasp the weapon. The missiles, can be angled up or down, and they often come a little loose so you may have trouble posing them depending on the angle you are carrying them. 

Last but not least, you get his famous more than meets the eye grappling hook. The box part pegs into Jazz's hand. I didn't measure the string but its roughly about 3 inches I say, give or take. While its a nice commodity, I feel the string will begin to wear down as you play with it a dozen more times. There is a rolling mechanism you manually roll the string back into the wheel. This kit is a nice homage to his original g1 toy and appearance. 

Alt mode.

 

This is pretty much where the speakers shine. You pretty much need to use the black tab kit to house the speakers and an extra weapon. Not much going on here but that's all for here folks. 

So the speakers can also be pegged to most 5mm port characters. You can use it for shoulder missiles on BlueStreak or pretty much Prowl. It loosely fits though. 

If you want to see Jazz with more bells, whistles, and some novelty, go head and pick this on Ebay. It's not really needed but I really do dig the extra gun. Anyhow, go with God and laters. 

Hasbro Transformers Toys Studio Series Transformers: The Movie Megatron Leader Class 8.5-in Action Figure review

"I've would had waited an eternity for this."

 Aloha folks, I am back with another TF review. This time is the feared leader of the Decepticons: Studio Series Megatron. Without further delay, let's get started!

Boxing

 

Megatron comes in the plastic casing, possibly to really prevent theft. He comes with his light saber he uses briefly to slash Optimus from the movie and he also comes with a 5mm Walther P-38 gun. 

About the boxing. This is my first figure, I don't know if he is the first, but he comes without the 86 logo. He doesn't come numbered in the series as well. He doesn't also come with a backdrop from any part of the film. I ended up using Optimus Prime's backdrop to do this shoot. Despite the fact, Transformers the movie is labeled here, it's a possibility of what he transforms into is probably the reason why the 86 logo is not stamped on this figure. But the Constructicons have their 86 logo done away with as well. But I will get more on to that later on this review. 

The Leader

 

Here is the leader in the plastic flesh. He is neatly designed. He looks amazing just like how he was portrayed in the movie. He does come with head and waist swivel. His cannon comes detached as you could see in the box category pics above. Many fans feel his cannon is too small. I'm ok with it to be honest. His light saber is cool to have and he can do some funky poses with it. He does come with a 5mm Walther P-38 to satisfy the old school fans though it is missing a stock handle. It's really average looking at best imo. The gun I found on Ebay (show 2nd before last in this category) looks better though it doesn't handle too well. So there is your draw there. Megs really handles well in general and he can do an array of poses. My only negative thing I have to say about him is his fists come off very easy when I try to pose/grapple with it. It pegs back in easy but it happens often when you play with his fists. Don't know if its my copy but it gets annoying after awhile. What I forgot to show here, and most of you figured it out, is you can place his weapons on his back or the side of his forearms. Basically, where ever he has a 5mm port. 

The Controversial mode.

So it had to get to here. And those who know me, knew how this mode initially disappointed me. Of course, it upsetted a legion of fans. I don't want to dwell too much into me saying like how he should had been a gun because we all knew we couldn't get a gun Megatron because of gun laws here in the west. However, if Takara decides to make another version, then they are not restricted by these laws and they could still make a faithful representation of the 86 Megatron.

 Notice that I barely called Megatron 86 because even Hasbro knew this wasn't a faithful adaptation to the 86 flick. The 86 logo no longer appears but this figure is loosely inspired by the 86 film. Hasbro knew they were in a win-lose situation when they announced this figure. 

 I agree we need to move on that he won't be a gun until third party does so or Takara decides to do it. But what is not cool is there are some that feel the need to harass those that want the gun so bad.

First off, the only reason why he is a tank is because of gun laws once again. He was a ruthless leader that turned into a gun and killed 3 Autobots in the movie. Facts are facts. If you prefer the tank, that's another story and there is nothing wrong with that as well. But I've heard so much asinine comments like" he's been a tank longer so he should be tank ( hasn't been a gun since G1) or he was a tank in G2." What the heck does that have to do with a figure that is supposed to be 86? Like I said, he was a gun in the movie. Once again, thanks to gun laws we couldn't get a gun Megatron and that is the overall basis in why he is a tank. This has nothing to do with he was always silly as a gun or he looks better as a tank. He was, once again, a gun in the movie and that is that. And for the umpteenth time, gun darn laws! A boombox and a cassette is outdated by today's standards and I don't hear people clamoring in how they should be spaceships or some fighter jet. And then we have people that say a motorcycle or a space shuttle shouldn't be limb. Some people really wanna start controversies. It's simply what we grew up with and how we remembered them no matter how absurd it was or by today's standards. 

Now we got that long part over with. As a tank. It's simply there. Instructions had to be used to get to this mode. I admit Megatron was never easy to play with regardless which version you get of him. Tank mode doesn't suck but it definitely does not feel like an 86 feature. It feels like it's an afterthought. It felt like a tacked on mode because of you know why. You can think of some cool things like spinning his turret or placing a mini-minion on Megs and fire it like a turret station. That's totally a positive aspect. You can plug his weapons to any 5mm port in this mode as well. But let's face it, nobody bought this figure for tank mode. 

 

Conclusion:

Well, Megatron is amazing figure mainly for robot mode that is. Lots of replay value. The tank mode, while it is nice to have, like I said before, is just simply there for completion purposes. Because of that controversial mode, it hindered fans from getting a near perfect representation of an 86 Megatron. As much as the fandom gave me a headache over his alt mode,  I did enjoy the figure once again. It's worth the money overall imo. If you like tank mode, then more power to you. And that's that. This is the closest we are going to get of a 86 Megatron for now, until Takara makes the gun form down the line. I'm aware Romulus exist so you can nab that figure if you really want a gun Tron. Jesus loves you. See you next time. 

Megatron In Las Vegas

Transformers Studio Series 86-26 Leader Class The The Movie 1986 Dinobot Swoop Action Figure review

 

Aloha folks, I am back again with another TF review. Once again, I've been pushing myself to take these guys out of their boarded up prisons. Today is the 5th and final member of the Dinobots: Studio Series 86-26 Leader class Swoop. Without further delay, lets get started!

Boxing

So Swoop comes without the plastic protection. The two backdrops that comes with him is the same as Blasters. Once again, this could had been done differently. Swoop was not present in that scene. I think the Prime backdrop would been more fitting since Autobot city was devastated by the time Prime and the Dinobots arrived. Weird or lazy choice by Hasbro again. The figure comes with two swords (one is longer than the other) and his two missiles. 

Me Swoop no see nothing!

 

I finally utilized my holder stand to do his flying poses. What can I say? Swoop is a well done figure... almost well. If anything bugs me, its his back that seems to be full of holes. Maybe they could had done something about this? The next noticeable aspect, though not too bad to be honest, is his knees. His knees is his feet in alt mode. So as you bend his legs, you get three claw like stubs sticking out leaving  a fairly large gap. It just looks weird to see this gap as you bend his knee.  His joints are tight though his heel can be loose at times. So he may fall back backwards depending on the pose you are doing. He does have a head and waist swivel and can do a myriad of posing. In this case, you could see I had lots of fun doing his sword photography.

The Dinobots

 

He scales very well with the others.

Alt mode and with the team. 

Possibly the easiest Dinobot to transform of all the Dinobots. I don't have any qualms here. He looks neat for in Pterodactyl mode and he plays really fine as well. When it came to retransforming his teammates, I had to refer to Youtube in how to do it again.   No instructions were used on Swoop however.

And then I found out...

That his wings extended even more. I didn't feel like reshooting him again with the posse but here he is with wings all flapped out. Now you can tell Swoop good part. 

Conclusion:

Swoop completes the team. Overall, he is a good figure. The Dinobots are done remarkably well on the 86 line except if you have the 1st batch of Sludge who has wobbly feet. I was reminded of that when I had to transform him again. I think Swoop is still obtainable for a reasonable price today if you haven't got him. If you love the Dinobots, then you owe yourself to pick up the final member of the team. Go with God. Thank you and see you again.