I think of that toy as Thunder Clash while he was holding the Matrix for Optimus.  

 

My drunk Ebay 4th of July purchase arrived today. I think I did okay for $275.00. Missing a couple accessories but otherwise in great shape.

 

Awwwwwwweeee...drooling over this right now

 

Better than getting drunk and putting $275 up your nose   at least you have something to show for it.

Awesome score regardless. That box art is sick

 

As promised...though a couple minutes late  

 

I’ve written before about disliking a toy for the irrational feeling that they were a goody-two-shoes or too popular (I have no idea how I was measuring this popularity) and Twintwist is another one who's been unfairly judged this way. It's probably down to the fact that I had Topspin and other kids had Twintwist. I didn't do loyalty by halves. You either had, and loved, Twintwist or you were the enemy.

Of course I lightened up on him a bit when a year or so later he showed up in the Wreckers. I remember being particularly entertained and curious to see the scene where he 'jump starts' to punch Fang out and the drills in the back of his legs are so very visible. It was an unusual touch which probably had a lot to do with this guy's character model probably not being available and the artist having to improvise a little. That’s a bunch of probablys. Trying to remember and unpick your childhood irrationalities is a tricky business.

When I look at the guy I kind of see some of the things I didn't like about him as a kid. He's all stocky and heavily browed, like a short, stubby little rugby player. Fond as I was of projecting when I was little, I imagined Topspin to be more like a cool biker dude wearing shades. If it wasn't for his equally cool wings he'd have probably worn a leather jacket and other such clichés that would only appeal to a kid. While he's certainly stockier than Topspin he's still a great little G1 'bot. There's a certain impassive quality to his headsculpt that appeals to me, like he's got a thousand yard stare, born from thousands of hardcore Wreckers missions. The tank track arms are great too. One of the things that really works with these two is the inverted colour schemes (though I still think Topspin got the better deco). The drill tank (is there such a thing?) is, objectively, a better alt mode than the 'amphibious vehicle' that Topspin got. The chromed drills are a wonderful touch.

I think maybe whoever oversaw the Topspin to Twintwist retool for Titans Return might have been a little like me. When I pick him up and give him a look he really feels like an afterthought. He's not a bad figure by any stretch of the imagination and, as he's the last of the original Wreckers to get a toy update, I'll always love him from a completest view. But it's all his new components that are the weaker parts. Well, to be fair the deco is really nice and has care and attention to the little details, right down to a little dash of blue on his Titan Master's visor. We've not seen any paint apps on any of the Titan Masters since wave one, and it's a welcome return.

But Twintwist's head sculpt is so bland. I've spent minutes starring at it trying to put my finger on why I don't like it. There's some really nice sculpting around the cheek bones and jaw, but those lips! They just look wrong and expressionless and, quite frankly, gormless. I'd have liked to have just seen a little bit more character in the sculpt. I randomly picked up Hot Rod and Perceptor to look at their headsculpts and for each of them so much of the character subtlety was in the way the mouth was sculpted. Hot Rod smirks a little and Perceptor looks dour and intent. Twintwist looks like he's not sure if the drycleaner closes at 5pm or 6pm.

Replacing Topspin's wings with tank treads isn't an elegant solution to the retool problem. They hang awkwardly off his arms and just look kind of cumbersome. They look fine in vehicle mode, even though their placement makes him feel a little front heavy/back light. Maybe I am just an old fashioned dullard but I'd have liked to have seen the more old fashioned drills. I suppose I shouldn't be too grumpy about this guy's shortcomings when they mean my old favourite got all the attention.

 

Quick fix for anybody with G1 brainstorm with extremely tight hip ratchets. I applied a bit of beard trimmer oil to the outside of the large metal pin that sits in the hip assembly, not the small inner pin but the large rivet like pin, I blew onto the application site to work the oil down into the ratchet and voila, its now a good tight ratchet vs an 'insanely tight feels like it will break' ratchet.

 

Here's some G1s that escaped my collection cull a few years back. And guess what?! It's your lucky day cos they're all for sale! Yes - I'm completely shameless!   But those colours though! The only reason I'm getting rid of them is cos I have very little in my collection now from after '86. I'm in the UK but will sell internationally if you're desperate!   But if you don't want them then just enjoy these dirty pictures of some awesome bots!  

 

This makes me unreasonably happy.

 

That makes two of us...and I can't quite figure out why...

 

Woah woah woah!!! Wait a gosh darn minute?! Overlord attaches with Trypticon??!!

 

I believe he's referring to the titans returns versions, where overlord/sky shadow connects to Trypticon.

 

Some Pretenders glory  

 

Ah Metalhawk! You haunt me and taunt me with your G1 self and then do the same with your CHUG self by coming out in a boxset not really available in the UK. Whatever it is I've done to you, I'm sorry!

What is it about Transformers that encourages you to put them in little groups? I'm forever being compelled to group my Wreckers together across different iterations. Maybe the character relations add depth that these guys might not possess otherwise? I know that all five of the '85 Minbots, Blaster and Perceptor will always, for me, be the Cybertron Seven and all the richer for it. Without this affiliation Seaspray might not mean that much to me.

There's a certain tactile joy with the minbots, which delights as a child or as an adult. You pull it a bit a flip it a bit and it's gone from Hovercraft to robot and in a second it's back again. It's addictive and you find yourself doing it over and over again. It's fun! And that's my abiding memory of the minibots; playing with them. None of them were major character that I dreamt up epic stories for, or toys I coveted (though I did almost steal my friend's Beachcomber), but they were ones that spent a long time in my hands.

G1 Seaspray is easily one of the simplest Transformers you'll find. I can transform him from hovercraft to robot in one motion. His headsculpt is so plain that even I, with my delirium tremens, could probably sculpt it right. There is detail on him, largely to achieve some hovercraft verisimilitude, but it's only as much is required to get by. Well, the spinning propellers are a bit of a treat. If this wasn't such an incredibly charming toy I'd describe it as lazy. But each mode is such fun and pleasure that it'd be churlish to say anything less than complimentary.

Whoever designed the Titans Return Seaspray certainly seemed to get that. TR Seaspray is charm personified. It'd probably be a bit daft, if not outright disingenuous, to describe such a well articulated and detailed bot as simple, but he does have a certain striped down, nothing-not-essential-required quality. He's great. Truly Great. When i got him out of the box my face lit up. He really is super faithful to both the toy and the old G1 character model and it's nice to see the Generations line embrace this 'platonic ideal' so wholeheartedly.

And it's really done with care. His feet are just the right side of clownish. He's stout - with or without pizza box attachment, but not comically so, and he's got the same sort of concerned frown that I always imagined him with. And spinning propellors! And if that's not enough he has his girlfriend's name tattooed on his wrists!

 

They almost look like they have good articulation ... bravo sir  

 

Nice review Barry. He does have the Homer Simpson stubble.

Have you tried swapping the heads of the different Topspins?

As much as I've been loving Seaspray in the last few weeks since I got him, I never noticed the glyphs on his inner forearms.

 

Hey G1 Junkies!

Quick update to kickoff TFCon.
Have a great one all who are attending!

(U.S. Book Prototype 2.0) Hard cover higher quality print test. Looks much better than the fist prototype, but not there yet still. Blacks and overall contrast isn't deep enough to render the photography justice. Cover is a placeholder for now. We're kind of sad that this V2.0 will not be able to make it to TFcon Toronto in time. But our initial Layout prototype should give everyone an idea, regardless of the print quality.

Facebook post with details:
Ocular Echo

 

Still looking good. Can't wait to have it in my hands. Any word on price yet?

 

That book is looking good   might buy one

 

Two grails of mine over the years of collection and never had the funds to acquire when on the market. Picked up Encore #23 upon reissue (other accessories in the box) and acquired an used G1 Sixshot (complete) in fairly decent condition from a board member (with missing stickers present).

Apologies if this has been posted before and the light dust on Fort Max (just recently put back in the box since been in the detolf since purchase).