It's probably been mentioned, but the little Reflector that came packaged with Skrapnel makes a great speed radar gun for Barricade.

 

I had to look up to see what that Reflector is.

This isn't mine, but I need to get that mini Reflector so I can have a Refraktor holding/taking pictures with Reflector like this.

 

Looking at that Apeface review, it seems a bit weird that the ape's neck is hanging that much...

Still love him and will get him though, he can play the plane game with his TR vers  

 

Power Dashers - Complete!

 

This guy is really dope:

I did a similar picture the other day, but this one turned out better.

 

Oooooooooooooooooooooooh! Jealous! How are they all in hand?


Holy shit! Impactor!

I mean...Impactor

Like, actually Impactor.

This is massive for me. I honestly don't think there's a more significant character created for the TF:UK comics, save for maybe Primus himself - and Impactor is, quite frankly, a more interesting character.

So, anyone that's invested a little time in those UK comics knows that things ratcheted up several notches with Target:2006. Sure, Furman had been getting increasingly more ambitious and the story preceding Target:2006, 'In the National Interest' was a new high water mark for the comic, but with Target:2006 everything just became that more panoramic. Suddenly we were dealing with a story unfolding over two timelines and two planets that culminated with...well, let's just say Kieron Gillen hit the nail on the head when he called Impactor "Our Jean Gray". Impactor came into that story at full throttle and left it a total hero. And then came back to be just as much of a hero as before! Of course we fucking loved him.

But he was just a character from the ghetto of UK comics and, unlike Primus or Xaaron, he didn't graduate to the American comics when Furman took over. I seriously never, ever, thought I'd see this guy get a proper, faithful, mainline release.

Of course, a generation of fans my age then start contributing to the IDW comics and suddenly Impactor is brought to life again for these more sophisticated times we live in, and he's one of the main characters in Nick Roche's 'Last Stand of the Wreckers'. Still the one time leader of the Wreckers, but a much more morally grey character than before.

And it was this guy, the more complex and arguably less heroic Impactor that I first held a toy of.

Eventually.

I'd been resisting delving into the 3rd Party Generations stuff. Mainly just because I wasn't sure the bang to buck ratio really worked, and two because it seemed like one hell of a slippery slope. But then you start buying the DJD and the next thing you know...

So, wishing to have a high degree of fidelity on one's IDW shelf I dutifully got MMC Spartan. And man, is it faithful to Roche's design.

And that'd be really awesome if I liked Nick Roche's design. SPOILERS! I don't. Infact, I don't really like many of Nick Roche's designs, despite loving those comics. Impactor's design is particularly annoying, with that wanky 'Spartan' style helmet. Bit much, likes, but enh! Whatcha gonna do?

So, looking at it objectively, this is a very impressive figure. Even in the most passive pose he still manages to look pensive and ready for war; shoulders hunched, feet planted wide and firmly, just waiting for some Decepticon scum to do something...reckless. And it's wonderful how good he looks with the likes of T:30 Springer. The two figures just look so...right together. Kudos to MMC here.

Now, I didn't really notice how muted the colours were until I stood him side by side with the Siege version, and man...that's kinda washed out. This has always been one of my problems with MMC; they're so beholden to matching colours to scenes from comics that you wind up with these very dull, murky decos on thier IDW-verse figures. Seriously, the lighting in Last Stand of the Wreckers was meant to be moody, and not the baseline representation of every featured character.

Confession time; I've owned Spartan for years and this is the first time I've transformed him. Maybe it's a little sinful, maybe even disrespectful to the designers, but I just never felt compelled to change modes for the guy. But hey ho, man's gotta do some comparison shots, right?

And Christ, I wish I hadn't bothered.

The alt mode of 'Spartan' is a nightmare and sums up the anxiety filled horrors of buying 3P stuff. At several points during the transformation I thought something was going to break and that this bit here couldn't possibly bend in the ways that the instructions seemed to be directing. And the instructions!

As a kid in the '80's who was dependant on his unreliable newsagent for his American comics, there was no garuntee you'd get the next issue of the comic you were reading. Maybe you'd miss as many as three issues of any given title and you'd have to figure out the gaps for yourself. Which is what reading the instructions on 3P often feels like. Except with the risk that you'll destroy your expensive, hard to obtain toy.

So hey, it's all ok if the alt mode looks smooth, right? Right!

This does not look smooth. Even accounting for me not getting it right and there being some hideous gaps, it's a pretty squat and ugly little thing. Like Herbie the love bug with a plow on the front and a dalek's head that's replaced the plunger with a duck's beak on the top. For all the fiddling to get there, it's even more disappointing when the vehicle looks like an afterthought.

So, IDW shelf taken care of. Now I could just dream of the day when I'd get something more in line with the G1 comic design. I mean, if I can get Generations Darkmount to stand next to the G1 Insecticons and Coneheads, then there shouldn't be any great issue with a halfway decent Impactor standing with my G1 Triple Changers and Jumpstarters.

I was kinda sceptical when I saw the first pictures of Impactor. He looked a bit blocky, a bit gappy, and the head was weird looking. That's not what yer old TF:UK Impactor's head was shaped like. It was much longer and slender. Hrrm.

But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. It really did a marvelous job of evoking the old design from those beloved comics. Sure, it isn't as painfully faithful as the MMC version, but it gets so much of the details right. And I'm way more of a fan of that sort of 'platonic ideal'. But yes, it's all there. The blocky chest with the two yellow 'boobs', the hexagonal shoulder cannon, and the harpoon hand. Actually, it's the harpoon hand that I think works least well. I mean, it's a smart solution, but the fanboy in me wishes it wasn't just an optional plug in.

But yes, the big point of divergence is the face. Well kind of. Leafing back through the comics I noticed the head sculpt has a lot more in common with Impactor as rendered by Robin Smith in TF:UK#82 (introduction of the Wreckers, for the uninitiated), rather the the Jeff Anderson or Geoff Senior versions. In the latter Impactor looked permanently pissed off and cynical, a deep scowl on his furrowed brow. In the former he looked like a gruff, yet impassive drill sergeant. And that's that's the look WfC Impactor has. His jaw clenched and eyes narrowed. It looks pretty fucking great, but I kinda wish they'd leant towards the other look.

And, of course, one of the biggest challenges the Siege designers had to face was coming up with an alt mode for Impactor. MMC had it easy, at least in the IDW-verse his alt mode was shown. No such luck in yer ol' '80's UK comics. So everyone involved deserves a big round of applause for coming up with something that feels so right I almost went back and checked it didn't appear in the comics.

In tank mode Impactor is a stunning, gaudy, little engine of destruction. I'm almost lost for words in trying to describe how neatly it all works. so, we have a nice compact little tank with two sets of tracks. some plows at the front and an actual, honest to goodness, rotating turret. They didn't even manage that on a TR Leader class figure like Overlord, so I'm amazed that they pulled it off with a Deluxe figure. Clever use of the waist swivel! You can even get some upwards elevation, which is fine if you can tolerate it exposing some gappage.

I swear I feel like such an old fuddyduddy saying this, but I'm really appreciating how well alt modes tab together these days. And Impactor's tank mode tabs together superbly and discretely. The whole transformation sequence is a joy. I was particularly enamoured with the way the legs flip to form the hind tracks. Like seriously, this alt mode shouldn't be this good!

So there we go. Our definitive CHUG Impactor. I honestly never thought I'd see this day and now that it's arrived I'm a very happy man. I can't help but swivel in my chair and look first at my G1 collection, then over at my CHUG collection, and wonder how much more I actually need. It really feels like they're giving me all the things I need to have a 'complete' collection. Sure, maybe we'll never ever get round to those Euro G1.5 updates, or maybe even someone further along the 'obscure' queue like Starsaber, but how much is there really left to do? There's even a bloody Rung figure coming down the line.

Swear to god, if they make Emirate Xaaron then I know they're telling me to move on.

 

This is a scene from the IDW Transformers Ongoing when the Predacons were working for China

 

Meh.

I like the siege headsculpt better

I really like this figure, only thing that bothers me is the headsculpt but I wasn't shelling out for the 3 pack.

C'mon addon kits!

 

I have Triggerhappy, Krok, Blowpipe, Aimless, and Caliburst but. I do not have Misfire and Slugslinger.

Awesome!

 

Don’t see 3rd party heads these days, unlike the CW/UW era for combiner heads.

There is a kit for gap fillers and another one for hand cone drill and circular saw blade tool on Tfsafari.

 

What's the release date for these? (online & stores?)

 

officially? decemberish like the rest of the wave. in reality, some stores are getting limited stock already

 

it's funny because in your review, you talk about how ugly Spartan's tank mode is, but then I get to the picture and it's as awesome as I remember. The Hasbro alt mode is essentially the budget version of Impactor's IDW alt mode. It looks great, to be sure, but the design influence is clear when you see them side by side.

To each his own, of course, but Spartan remains one of my favorite toys, third party or otherwise. If you find his transformation lacking, I'd stay far away from Calidus. haha.

 

hmmmmm, to Ebay or not to Ebay.... lol

 

Someone over in the Uk thread (hi @mark_h ) pointed out that Spartan's alt mode is based on one of the tank's from 'Metal Slug', which I know nothing about but nonetheless made me appreciate the alt mode more.



And I'm always glad when somebody likes someone that I've not been a fan of. Vive le difference always!

Duly noted on Calidus. I'm giving that a wide steer!

 

Don't bother with Ebay if you can avoid it. The prices will come down. I put my name on the waitlist for these on the Chosen Prime.

 

haha. i love Calidus but his alt mode is gappy as heck. his bot mode is primo, though.

i forgot about Impactor's alt mode being Metal Slug inspired! Probably because I have little more than a passing knowledge of those games, myself.