Transformers Toys Studio Series Core Class The The Movie Decepticon Rumble Review

 

First we crack the shells, then we crack the nuts inside!

Rumble is blue! or is he?

When I took him out of the box, he was, well, small. That was my initial reaction. Of course he came with piledrivers and his signature shoulder guns which is a white/greyish plastic. I remember having the metallic die cast version of these when I had his G1 toy. It looks really dull here, but it is included so I should be grateful. You could use them as forearm cannons so it's a nice feature. The thing I felt he should have had or wish he had were elbow joints. He can't bend his elbows which is a bummer. Also he can't grip his weapons with his fists which I felt he should have had as well. No waist swivel though I don't expect that really for a small figure. 

W/Piledrivers 

So this is the neat feature and gimmick included - his piledrivers! At least we got some extra goodies since we are paying almost $12 when this should been a $5 figure a few years ago. I did this part wrong as I tried to not use the manual. His fists should be tucked in his wrists but I didn't know at first. His piledrivers still stick on surprisingly. The only thing is that they do come off easy if you don't tuck the hands in. But just a novelty here. 

The right way

Yeah, much better as it sticks in easier. You can raise them to the sky if you like. Can't complain much and this is pretty much why you are getting Rumble. His piledrivers are a nice addition. Sadly, you can't use them much besides being his piledrivers though I saw a third party on Ebay using them as weapons. Maybe I will scope it out someday. Also, I wish his piledrivers had springs on the thumpers. That would had been fun to see them retract. Third party again I see. 

80's mode

Pretty easy to get into. All you need is the picture of the back cover if you do get lost. Unlike Laserbeak or Ravage, he fits in tightly into Soundwave. He will fit but I felt not as smooth as LB and Ravage. 

Group pic

So here is where I change my stance a little. Comparing to Ravage especially, Rumble is a masterpiece. I think we are do for a new Ravage. Laserbeak is still fine if we don't get another one. When I did this shoot, it really made Rumble look amazing with NF Soundwave and crew. 

Conclusion:

I think Rumble is the first of the $12 line to be at least worth the price you pay due to all the extra baggage he comes with - namely the piledrivers. He is not difficult to play with. I do wish he was a little bigger but maybe its because he had to fit into Soundwave's chest compartment... I dunno. He is going to pretty much be a sought after figure especially for Soundwave fans. I was lucky to catch him on Amazon on his retail price and this was a little before I went to my trip in New Mexico. Anyhow, take care folks and the question still begs is Rumble Blue? Because he looks purple to me. Laters.  

Stupid article about the unvaccinated.

 If you fall for this I don't know what else to tell you. If these two years haven't taught you anything about the higher ups and the media, then hope is probably gone for you.

https://fortune.com/well/2022/12/13/covid-unvaccinated-greater-risk-car-crash-traffic-accident-new-study-says-canada-government-records-pfizer-moderna/

All this time we are going to ignore the post-vaccination problems of Cardiomyopathy, sudden surges in weaknesses, blood clots and other issues etc? But this one takes the cake, it's totally random and pathetic. Still picking on anyone who refused your vaccines. SMH. 

Remember this site and the people who are suffering:

https://www.realnotrare.com/

Also remember that not everyone is voicing out... yet. 

Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer, & Lorne Balfe – The Man, The...

Calling it now. I believe Top Gun: Maverick to be the best film of the year. Avatar prove me wrong. 

Credit to Interscope records for the video. 

Credit goes to Harold Faltermayer for this video.

*12/18 update* Saw Avatar: Way of Water. It's a good film overall. It's worth the look see especially in 3D. However, I still stand by my decision to say TG: Maverick is the best film of the year still. Laters.

Transformers Toys Generations Legacy Deluxe Dead End review

 

Aloha folks, I am back with another TF Review. I was on a vacation so it led to some delay on Legacy Dead Ends review. Anyhow, here he is and let's get started!

Boxing

The 4th member of the Stunticons though he is listed as the third of 5. Let us see what the figure brings.

Standing tall

By now if you had already played with Dragstrip and Wild-Rider, DE plays very similar. He handles about the same. I feel like he is the best looking of the Stunticons. You can level his shoulder wheels around head level or tricep level. My wheels did come off easy though. Not sure if it's my copy or if anyone else had this problem, but you simply place it back on if this happens. No biggie. His guns are similar to Dragstrip and Wild-rider though the color is different in areas and so is the shape of the guns... a little. He plays fine overall. 

Alt mode

Fairly easy to transform into. I ended up using the instructions at one point because I thought his head folded into his chest cavity. It turns out that you fold his head into his back which was awkward I felt. You pop open his shoulders first in order to do this. Anyhow, everything else is downhill from there. I like how you can peg his weapons and fold his tail back to give his weaponry a diagonal aim. However part of his body is so low that it feels like he could be scraping the bottom at times. That's the real bummer actually for this mode.

Menasor! or almost there!

He is almost complete. In order to split DE in two, similar to Dragstrip, use a small pin, clip tip or mini screwdriver etc... and push on to the small rectangular area on his stomach. He should split in two. The only drawback is Menasor gains weight as you plug DE on with the rest of the team. As a result, he starts falling forward. To fix this, you just got to adjust his legs a bit. His sword seriously needs to be bigger and longer.  

DE on vacation! 

White Sands National Park, New Mexico

Guadalupe National Park, Texas.

Well, he had fun. 

Conclusion

The 4th member of the team has arrived. He looks the best of the team. Just my opinion of course. He plays good. No qualms here. The Stunticons are all done nicely so far. Just waiting for Breakdown and that completes Menasor. His underbelly just poses a small problem in alt mode as it almost touches the ground. Otherwise, you are good to go! 

RIP Kevin Conroy - The DEFINITIVE Batman!

Credit and thanks to Eric Carter for making this tribute. 

Eric Carter Youtube page

Transformers Toys Studio Series 86-17 Voyager Class The Transformers: The Movie 1986 Ironhide review

 

Aloha folks, I am back with another TF review and this time it is Studio Series 86 Ironhide. Without further delay, let's get started.

Box

Comes with the infamous back drop where Ironhide meets his destiny. 

Out of the box

Ironhide in the flesh! This is my third Ironhide figure in the past few years. Looks wise I'm going to say he is looking better and better each time resembling his G1 anime counterpart. The colors look nice though I will elaborate more on this later in his alt mode. His frontal appearance looks spot on for the most part. However, if I am to be technical about his accurate look to the anime, the side/back portion of his legs and his upper back doesn't resemble his cartoon look. As a matter of fact, his legs and back were plain rectangular/square shaped. You can clearly see flaps on the back of his legs and windows on the sides. His front bumper in alt mode forms his back. 

Is this a complaint? Well, sorta. The bumper back looks like something that should had been out of the Earthrise or Kingdom line. Now I understand some folks may say that his 86 look with the flat legs and back would be too bland but wasn't this supposed to be based on 86? If it was inspired by it then by all means forget my rambling. The front portion I will reiterate looks amazing, but the back features just doesn't feel 86ish. Well to be fair, Wheelie had a toilet bowl and it was kinda of a stretch too. I guess it didn't help that 86 Hot Rod had a fake chest on top the other though you had to transform him to discover that plot hole. Oh well, this line is gonna fall apart if I continue to nitpick on it.

I like to also point out that his stomach doesn't really lock in. If you shake him by grabbing the torso/chest region, it will pop off easily. I do like this chest piece in a visual sense better than the ER version though.

Ironhide got the swivels on both waist and head. He has a crotch piece that can be flipped. He sports some ankle tilts as well. He comes with dual blasters instead of the sole one he had in the film. He doesn't really come with 5mm pegs besides his fists so there isn't much in the "place the weapon all over him" category. There are some indents which allow you to store it on his bumper back. He doesn't feel too light which is a bonus. Overall, he plays fine for a deluxe figure that is trying to blend in as a voyager. Yep, many fans have complained about this and as I was playing with the figure, I noticed this as well. 10 years ago, this guy would had been only 9-14 bucks. Today we pay twice that or even more. Yeesh!

Alt mode

Return of the different colored parts! Yeah, no joke. Before I get into that, this mode is fairly easy to transform into. No instructions was needed so yay! However, for me, the roof part was a little difficult to snap on. At one point, I was wondering if the roof would snap on without me breaking him into pieces. IH's van mode looks better than the ER version I give him that. Now getting back to the colored parts, Ironhide's reds are 3 different shades of the coloring. This isn't the first time Hastak has done this and I'm wondering why does Hastak do this from time to time. But it can be jarring to look at just as we finally got a van mode that resembles his cartoon look a lot closer than the "feet" versions we got in the Siege and ER line. You can place his weapons as his exhaust ports or cannons on the top of his roof. 

Another negative aspect about the coloring is his missing yellow/orange stripes he had on the side of this mode. I'm guessing they didn't have the budget to add this layer. Geez. Finally, to add on some more salt to injury, this mode still has that "jigsaw" look and feel that has been plaguing IH and Ratchet since the classic/Henkei era. It's not too bad looking here but part of it is still here.

Conclusion

IH was one of my anticipated figures this year. Despite the 3 different shades of red, the color looks impressive on him overall. He looks great from the front though the bumper back and back leg panels bother me a little simply because he didn't have that look in the movie which he is based off of. It really looks like something from the ER line as I have stated. The alt mode is his closest interpretation of the G1 model classics wise as to date but with the few issues I have mentioned. I think the biggest bummer coming from this guy is the price range. With tax and all, he came out to nearly 35 big ones. He is fairly small for that price range. That is inflation for ya. Anyhow, Ironhide is a good figure overall despite the blemishes I'd dished out. He is a favorite so despite how expensive he is or how he is lacking in some categories, I expect this guy to be sold out within the next couple months. I doubt somewhat inaccurate- looking back and legs will deter people from getting him. After all, you need him to complete Ratchet who will pretty much appear in the near future. I just hope they give Ratchet his cross decals on his shoulders. Anyhow, see you later folks and take care.