TRANSFORMERS MISCELLANY
(TF-themed but probably not transforming)
BOOKS: Transformers Animated has a series of cel-books from IDW, each
volume covering 2-3 episodes. Volume 1 has the initial 3-episode "movie",
volume 2 has Nanosec and the Dinobot intro episodes. Supposedly available
through comic shops, but Diamond doesn't seem to want to bother with them.
Also available at online sources like Amazon and DeepDiscount.com.
4/8/08: Target now carrying the first two volumes for $7.19 each.
5/11: The TF:A Coloring Book and a kiddified cel book of "Attack of the
Dinobots" are now out at retail. The "How To Draw" book for TF:A is also
shipping from some online sources, and may be in stores as well (I'll need to
go poke at the kiddie sections of local bookstores again soon).
KNOCKOFFS: 2/12/08: Easter basket time again! A $20 basket at K-Mart
has (among other things) a slightly oversized knockoff of the G1
Dreadwing/Darkwind duo.
CD/DVD: 10/20/07: K-Mart has their 4-ep Energon discs on sale for $5
each to go along with the movie promo. Dollar Tree has a "Superheroes" CD
that has covers of various superhero show/movie themes, including a pretty
good cover of Lion's Transformers theme from the original movie. And a
weirdly light-jazzy cover of Spider-Man's old cartoon theme.
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NON-TF STUFF
(Things a TF fan might be interested in.)
JOHN DEERE DOUBLE DUTY: Vehicles that turn into other vehicles, like a
tanker truck that pops a helicopter out of the front end, or a dump truck
where the dumper becomes a power shovel scoop. $10 price point. 2/12/08:
Saw a couple in the toy car aisle at Wal-Mart, ehn. Passed. 2/19: Also
spotted some $6 sets. Likewise not inspiring.
EON KID: Your basic "kid gets widget and fights robots" show, the toy
line includes some $10 transforming figures. They're a robot that becomes a
jet, a robot that becomes a drill tank (lame) and the main character with a
reconfiguring jetpack. 1/26/08: I got Dual Mode Ace, a red jet craft that
turns into a Fleischer-esque wing-armed robot, pretty nifty.
CAR-NIVORES: They're baaaaack. Chunky little-kid vehicles that become
sort of animal-evoking forms (mainly heads on wheels, maybe with claws). New
$8 price point toys (a riced pickup that becomes a falcon, a police car that
becomes a doberman (might get this one once I spot it) and a black panther
recolor of the first wave tiger muscle car. They've also added a $15 price
point deluxe line with lights and sound, a bulldozer bull and a power shovel
(like Scavenger the Constructicon) that becomes a scorpion.
BAKUGAN: Okay. Picture a game of marbles, only when a marble rolls
across a metal surface a magnet inside it will trip a latch and make it
transform into a robot of some (very simple) sort. And you lay out not a
circle, but a bunch of metal cards with game mechanics on them. That's Bakugan in a nutshell. $12 for a 3-figure
starter, $5 for a single-figure booster. You can also get a wrist-mounted
launcher for, well, gimmick factor. There's a cartoon threatened as well.
It's all "open pack", although the starters have one figure untransformed so
it's not immediately obvious what it is. There's six color factions, and
every mold appears in all six colors somewhere. If you're looking for some
little bots smaller than Mini-Cons, you might wanna pick some up. I grabbed
a single for the amusement factor. There's also non-transforming PVC figures
that show what the character "really" looks like (the marble design limits
things considerably). The marbles are about an inch in diameter, and there's
both (sorta) humanoid mechs and various critters. 1/2/08: Target's putting
these in their new planograms.
LITEFORMZ: Wild Planet has a transforming white-LED flashlight (or
possibly a line of them, but I only saw one mold) for $10 at Wal-Mart in the
section where the 88 cent toys meet electronic toys (i.e. flex space, so you
may need to hunt). Skorox turns into a bipedal robot with a flashlight head
or a robotic scorpion (well, it only has six legs and no claws) with a
flashlight stinger. Nothing in the paperwork indicates that there's other
molds, the Skorox mold comes in orange/gray or green/gray color schemes. The
robot mode is spindly and unstable, but stands 9-10 inches tall. 12/30/07:
Spotted at Wal-Mart. 1/26/08: Hitting other stores now as well.
CYKONS: Maisto's back at it, this time with little 1:18 scale
motorcycle transformers. Three molds, all the same transformation scheme,
several recolors each. Pics
here. 12/24/07: They've been spotted in the Phillipines, apparently the
quality's better than the RoboRodz. Poking around the web a bit, it looks
like the price point is around $10 (a German e-tailer had 'em for 10.70
Euros, so between exchange rate and online markup, $10 seems reasonable).
Addendum, the molding on some of the parts (like the seat) can be iffy, the
quality control is apparently not so great. 2/19/08: These weren't on
display at Maisto's booth at Toy Fair 08, making me think they're not going
to be released in the U.S. at all. 2/23: Spoke too soon. Spotted at a
grocery store (asked the sighter what chain) in San Antonio TX. 2/26: The
HEB chain. Which, sadly, doesn't exist in my area. 3/1: A friend in San
Antonio scored me some, they're $4.99 each, woot. 3/5: REVIEW.
DIGIMON: Yes, they're back, more or less. These look to be
effectively a TRU exclusive, stuck over by the Stormhawks (which SUUUUCK) and
Code Lyoko toys. There's $6 part-swapper digivolvers, and three proper
transforming digivolvers (Geogreymon to Rizegreymon just stands up and
sprouts wings, Peckmon to Crowmon squats down and looks lame in both modes,
Gaogamon werewolf-transforms to Machgaogamon) for $10. I got Gaogamon.
12/18/07: TRU in Topeka KS. 1/19/08: $10 Digivolvers at Wal-Mart in Junction
City KS. 1/26: The whole Digimon line is hitting Wal-Mart in the new
resets.
PUZZLE WERX: Spotted at TRU 12/18/07, these are three-D puzzle figures
with joints for articulation. I saw some dinosaur ones today, but another
sighter reports four robot-themed ones I missed. They don't seem up to the
stress of repeated build/takedown, he says. 2/23/08: Finally remembered to
look this time. The four sets are Blackwing, Hawkwing, EagleStrike and Mega
Blade. The first three all have wings, the fourth has a deforestation saw.
At $15, I wasn't impressed enough to grab one even to try it out, though.
The proportions are kinda wonky.
TRANSFORMER ROBOT PUZZLES: 10/10/07: American Science & Surplus has
little plasticard puzzle robots that rebuild into vehicle modes, a Korean
thing by Javelin Mfg. There's a definite Gundam vibe on the designs, and you
get all 14 types for $2. Click here for the
catalog item, there's no picture but it's the "Transformers" item. The only
catch is that they have a minimum order of $10, and $6 shipping on that size
of order, so you'll need to poke around for more stuff to meet minimum.
They've got some clearanced Dinomania collectible figures for $2 too, though,
you can always stock up on those.
BEN 10: An Upgrade that transforms rather pathetically into a dragster
is available for about $13. The price point also has a Cannonbolt that
"transforms" by simply popping the torso out as a ball. 9/18/07: Hitting
Wal-Marts, I left 'em on the shelf. 1/26/08: Benwolf into megaphone is now
out, and is REALLY lame.
PLANET HEROES: Like Rescue Heroes, but with a SciFi bent. Robots and
aliens representing most of the planets. Basics ($8) include Mercury (little
robot with monocycle), Venus (hot lady), Earth (kid with skateboard and
spacesuit), Mars (rocky guy), Asteroid (evil rocky guy) and Uranus (suction
cupped alien). Deluxes ($13) include Jupiter (huge robot with bulldog),
Saturn (regular sized alien with sit-inside-wheel vehicle), Neptune (regular
sized alien with wind-blasting vehicle), Pluto (little alien with
space-snowmobile sort of vehicle) and Black Hole (sinister villain with
minion coments Photon and Neutron). The poster that comes with the toys
admits that Pluto is a dwarf planet, but doesn't give any love to the other
dwarves. 10/18/07: Pluto finally hitting stores, it wasn't part of the
initial wave. 12/18: The wave 1 stuff is hitting in $13 two-packs, and wave
2 is out (Earth and Mars with bigger vehicles, Moon and shooting star as new
basic figures).
BATMOBILE BAT-BOT: From "The Batman". Fairly large transforming toy
of uncertain quality. Looks to be about 10" tall in robot mode. 7/20/07:
K-Mart has 'em for $28. 8/3: $25 at Target. 9/15: There's also now a
Batjet Bat-Bot in the Shadowtek line, same price and size. Spotted at K-Mart
and Target.
M.A.R.S.: The figures from last year's Walgreens dollar aisle are
back, but now in vehicles. The humans get "sit inside the wheel" monocycles
a la Spiral Zone, the bots get tanks and the aliens get jets. Three
varieties of each. $5.98 or three for $11.98. 6/10/07: Walgreens in
Manhattan KS. 9/15: Two-packs of these vehicle sets are part of
Wal-Mart's $9.88 "kid connection" line, including the mobile artillery pieces
in the mix that weren't available at Walgreens.
MODIFIGHTERS: 12/24/06: A Hot Wheels branded pseudo-Alternators line
(branded vehicles, a bit smaller than 1:24 scale) with water cannon and color
change paint gimmicks. Spotted at a Wal-Mart...somewhere (it was a board
post, no city given). I found a lone Scion xB one (named Live Wire) at the
Manhattan KS Wal-Mart, $9.97. VERY cartoony robot mode, might be better seen
as a GoBots successor, but not as good. There are at least seven in the
first wave: Live Wire, Streetwyse (Escalade), Bedlam (Escalade), Mr. Big
(Ford F-150), Skullface (Ford Mustang GT), Nightlife (Dodge Charger) and
Quick-Tyme (Ferrari F430). Transformation is...sad. And the robot modes are
basically the fron end of the vehicle up on a tall skinny post, with the rear
half forming feet. The vehicle modes are "tooned" versions, and the robot
heads are partly visible through the hood. Mine doesn't stay together very
well in vehicle mode. Don't waste your time or money on these. 2/17: Turns
out that Streetwyse and Bedlam are $20 toys, extra large but otherwise
unchanged. No extra details, gimmicks, or joints. Identical transformation
to the $10 ones. Just bigger and more expensive pieces of crap. 12/18: In a
clear case of "we cancelled the line but had some stock made already,"
Gordman's has the $6 price point figures, which auto-transform either when
their bumpers are poked or after they've free-rolled a ways. The
transformation actually fits at this size (just under 4" long).
R.E.V.s: 12/19/06: These are skinny robot figures with snap-on armor
that can be assembled into a car. Two factions, the heroic MavWrecks and the
evil Syndicate. The $10 price point all turn into similar-looking cars, and
this class is called Marauders. The local Wal-Mart had them in with the
non-Lego construction toys, but as a late arrival in the holiday season,
they're probably just crammed in wherever there's space. 12/21: REVIEW of Tengu. Review
also has lots of info about the line in general. 12/24: Found a fourth size
class, the $7 "Roaring Thunder" size. This has two molds: jet and
motorcycle. Also, the Arsenal Assault class is boxed and at the $30 price
point, I'm gonna hold off on 'em for now. Haven't seen Street Strikers yet.
REVIEW of Rumblefist and
Steelrain of the Roaring Thunder class. 12/29: Still haven't seen Street
Strikers, but I saw a shelf tag, they're $20 at Target (reportedly $18 at
Wal-Mart). 12/31: A reader who got Big P is happy with it. Almost a foot
tall, armored mode doesn't really interfere with pose, sturdy. 1/4/07: I've
seen the pickup truck Street Strikers, passing on them. 1/16: TRU has Street
Strikers priced at $15.99. 2/1: Just a comment on Six Gun, who I don't plan
to do a full review on: it's decent, but the inner figure isn't any better
than the Marauder class (just bigger), and while the armored mode isn't as
horribly kibbly as the Marauders, it's still not great. Might be worth it at
the TRU price point, but don't pay $20. 6/10: Never did see the big size
badguy. Clearancing everywhere, starting to show up in overstock shows and
Dollar Generals.
TECH DECK DUDES: 10/31/06: What does this have to do with TFs? Not a
lot, in general. But figure #050 of the Clash Crew series 1 assortment,
Minga, is almost close enough to being a chibi Optimus Prime to be
actionable. :) And at $3, worth snagging for the Skatermus Prime gag.
Careful if buying online, this is a recolor. The original is in different
colors, you need the Clash Crew version for Prime colors. 11/12/07: A
Megatron-ish one named Mort is now out, with a Zood that's a bat. Oh, and in
case there's any doubt he's meant to be a Megatron homage, his Favorite
Saying is listed as "Such heroic nonsense!" 12/21: Mort's also part of the
assortment showing up for $1.50 at Dollar General, although this version has
no Zood, it comes with a Clash Crew pack.
ZOIDS: 10/1/06: Sort of back. A line of slightly chibi
remote-controlled Zoids is being sold at TRU under the RoboNation brand
name. And knockoffs of them are at Odd Lots.
GIJOE SIGMA 6: 8/3/07: Metal Mayhem line has Sigma 6 full sized
figures in exosuit mechs. Spotted the Snake Eyes one at a TRU for $30.
8/4: Red Banshee (transforming B.A.T. motorcycle) bought at Target.
It has a definite mantis vibe to robot mode, the vehicle mode is on the lame
side, but S6 figures can ride it. Can be disassembled, but won't fit inside
the gear box (which has the new Kung Fu Grip logo on it).
LEGO EXO-FORCE: 11/13/07: Until Dec 3, Target has the X2 on sale for
$29.99. Not quite tempting enough for me to get it, though. If you got one
in the past few weeks, you might try getting a price adjustment from them,
though, if you still have your receipt. 11/24: Deep Jungle is starting to
hit stores! TRU in Topeka KS has the Storm Lasher (8117, $20) and Hybrid
Rescue Tank (8118, $30...cheapest set so far to have Keiken). This wave
features mini-mechs that become weapons Targetmaster-style, and also sees the
return of canonical combination models (flyer 8117 and quad walker 8115 can
be combined to make a bipedal mech). 12/2: The rest of the opening wave
spotted at TRU in Jackson MI. 12/18: Picked up the small and medium sets
at TRU in Topeka KS. Annoyingly, the small sets are now $10 and the medium
sets are all $20. Lego's online catalog still has them at $8 and $15, so it
looks like TRU is just taking advantage of its semi-exclusive jump on stuff
to gouge customers, surprise surprise. Curse me for an impatient fool.
12/23: The $15 sets and the $20 Storm Lasher are showing up at Wal-Marts now.
4/5/08: Exo-Force has been cancelled, due to poor sales of the bigger sets.
Speaking of which, the Tuesday Morning closeout chain has started getting
Mobile Devastators for $40...which is still more than I'm willing to pay for
the $15-size mech and a rolling box. They also have other Golden City sets
at lower prices than usual retail.
MEGA BLOKS: 7/20/07: Neo Shifters ($10 robots that turn into
Bohrok-like balls and have little pilot figures) and Plasma TECH ($5 little
robots in the same line as Plasma Dragons and Plasma Dinos) have hit K-Mart.
PlasmaTECH pic (the
four I found, anyway). And now, review. 10/27: TRU
has a Plasma Universe PlasmaTECH HQ set for $39.99. It comes with three
figures (no new moldings, but new colors) and a bunch of scenery. I passed
on it. There's also a $40 PlasmaInsect set with cityscape scenery, soldiers,
victims and a trio of giant insects.... 11/13: Finally, Gyro and Skysweeper
hit my area. They seem to be shipping with Spoke and Quantic. Review link
above updated. 11/14: A few more Neo Shifter designs are available on
toysrus.com. They also have the PlasmaTECH HQ on sale for $30 with free
shipping. Looks like the three exclusive units in the HQ are just recolors,
no new mold parts or weapons. 12/7: Ads in this week's comics show a new
larger class of Neo Shifters. No price point mentioned, but the boxes are
wider, probably $15 or $20. 1/8/08: Found a $6 size class of Neo Shifter at
Wal-Mart. Two unique "molds" that turn into non-humanoid vehicles or mechs,
and don't have the inner "Neos" named, but it's not any of the existing named
pilots. Two sets have spin-propeller launchers, two have ball launchers
(none launch the Neos like the $10 sets do). Hydrowave (blue and white,
spin-launcher) turns from ball to hovercraft. Turbofly (blue and yellow,
ball launcher) turns into an air attack vehicle. Quad-Pod (red and black,
spin-launcher) turns into a four-legged scorpion walker. Finally, Duneskiff
(orange and gray, ball launcher) turns into a sand-boat sort of thing. Yes,
I said two unique molds...Hydrowave can configure into Quad-Pod's shape, and
vice versa, for instance. It's a matter of somewhat arbitrary non-ball
modes. They're re-releasing the original four $10 sets in foil-enhanced
boxes (spotted them already), and four new guys with some new weapons but
essentially the same structure as the original four. Delta::Tek, Cozma::Tor
(mentioned in the comic) and Mongra<>Tek (Hmmm, two Tek shifters?) are three
new $10 sets shown on the webpage, the co-sells on the box backs for the $6
sets only show two new $10 sets and two old ones. The instructions inside
don't add any more info. Important note: the Neos are built differently
from wave 1, and may be misassembled in the package (the legs need to be
swapped to let it ball up properly). Every single one of my Neos needed
the legs swapped. 1/15: Spotted the "Split::Shifter" $20 set at Wal-Mart.
It's two more or less regular $10 sets with new weapons, and the ability to
disassemble and be put back together into a quad walker and a bulkier bipedal
robot (most of the pieces go to the biped). It looks decent, but I'm passing
for now. I'm told by someone who bought a set that there's no instructions
for the "regular" Shifter models, this is supposedly online content that
either hasn't been put up yet, or is deliberately hidden. 1/20: A new wave
of Spider-Man mecha are out. The $10 mechs can be built into larger units
using pieces from the new $6 vehicle sets. 1/26: Spotted the new
propellor-shooting $10 Neo Shifter sets at several stores. 1/29: Plasma wave
7 $5 sets is out, it's fantasy monsters (werewolf, mummy, zombie, ghoul,
vampire and gargoyle). A bit less part-reuse than normal (there's still just
three torsos, and three leg molds, but there's four arm molds and two tail
molds...only two figures have tails), but no robot stuff. Ah well. The name
is Plasma Kreaps, and they come in chained boxes with goopy plastic burlap
bags (rather than icky placenta things). 2/23: The $10 Spider-Mecha sets are
hitting Wal-Marts. The cockpit area can be swapped out for the $6 vehicle,
it's not actually a rebuild combiner. 3/22: TRU has an exclusive $17 Neo
Shifter "Shadow::Sfear" (not sure why it's not using the angle brackets)
which is basically a slightly upgunned $10 one with a bonus weapons
platform. They also have a $30 non-exclusive base set. Plasma Dragons have
expanded to wind-up critters with the $10 Plasma Hatchers. I didn't buy any
of this new stuff. 4/26: TRU is clearancing the $40 Plasma TECH set for $30
(and the Topeka one is further discounting clearance stuff to make room for a
renovation, so I grabbed a set for $24).
POWER RANGERS: 11/28/07: Jungle Fury toys are starting to come out,
including the first three Micro Animal Zord sets. Like the Transmax ones,
they're $8 packs of mini-vehicles that combine. Unlike Transmax, they don't
add up into bigger MegaZords, although there's some limb swapping possible.
Each set makes a super-vehicle (not very convincing) and a 5.5" tall bipedal
Megazord. Each vehicle has animal characteristics, and each set has a large
vehicle that makes up most of the Megazord and two smaller vehicles that form
either arms or legs (but not both). Set A is all "cars" (thing with 4
wheels, anyway), a red Tiger/yellow Cheetah/blue Jaguar. Set B is mixed
theme, with a green Elephant tank, a blue Shark submarine (although it has
wheels) and a purple helicopter Bat. Set C is another feline trio, all
motorcycles this time: big black and white Lion, black Leopard, white Puma.
I like set B the best. 11/30: "Animalizer" figures with armor that rebuilds
into beasts or weapons are out as well: Red Tiger, Blue Shark, Green
Elephant. And the regular Yellow Cheetah (the only girl, looks like) has a
little robot companion that becomes a weapon. 12/1: Spotted the three
Animorphers ($11 bulky beast-formers: Tiger, Jaguar and Elephant) and the
Jungle Pride Megazord (Tiger, Jaguar and Cheetah beastmodes merge into robot,
not the car-style versions seen in the Micro sets). Also, the DriveMax is
showing up at Dollar General, but there was no pricetag on the ones I saw.
12/4: I've spotted some transforming vehicles at action figure scale,
car-like things that turn into beast-like things. The non-show Bat Ranger
gets one, suggesting the whole batch is US-original. The beast modes can
merge into a bigger "orgy mode" a la Magmatron, but not as good. 12/12: The
"Beastmaster Megazord" combines beasts of Elephant, Bat, Shark, Puma and
Panther into what amounts to a Pretender Shell for one of the regular size
Ranger figures. $20, and I was tempted, but I've tossed too much money at
Bandai America crap this month, I'm gonna hold off if I don't end up passing
entirely. 2/15: Bat and Shark Animorphers have come out.
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