WOW! that looks so much better as RID Scourge. I'm in the market for Nemesis Prime, and this might do swimmingly

 

Hasbro Star Wars Action Figures, Statues, Collectibles, and More!
Hasbro going all out on somewhat broken Star Wars.

 

Just zoomed in on the pc tv, instead of my crappy phone and..... balls you're right. Would have been sweet if it was though, given the dead Prime has cracked faceplates. Still want it if true.

 

Anyone have a shockwave for trades?

 

Sinnertwin is fantastic. Colours pop, and although the arms are a bit jiggly, it comes out in his favour as a way of acting out gun recoil! Robot mode’s great, Orthus mode is the best beast mode I’ve ever had.

I think back to 2014 Gumblor, buying Beast Hunters Predecons from Home Bargains and travelling miles and miles to buy AOE Dinobots like the simpleton he was. if he could have seen the terrorcons that were only 4 years away... he’d probably say “actually I collect Lego now”

 

Spoiler: Netflix Siege

Having watched the whole thing I don’t see how they could call this a spoiler, if that’s what’s in the box, as he doesn’t appear in it at all. Mind you neither does Scrapface and he got a toy...

​

 

It took me a while to figure out how to start this review. Mainly because I’m out of practice. Usually, I would talk about the character for a bit and make a joke, but honestly? Doubledealer is kind of a non-entity. He’s had precisely three toys in his thirty years, and the previous one to this was a repaint of the worst Blitzwing toy. I owned it, cos I like the character’s concept. A mercenary playing both factions? That’s a fun idea. However, that toy was godawful. So as soon as this new version got announced I sold it on. Good luck with those shoulders whoever the hell I sold it to!

Thing is, aside from the concept there’s pretty much fuck all to know about Doubledealer. His most prominent role is in the Japanese Masterforce cartoon, and that’s not even him! He’s a suit of armour of a blue-haired orphan with an inferiority complex. And then we had him in IDW where he got beaten by a magic 8-ball (who later turned out to be one of the Transformer’s gods…sort of, but still).

But after all that I just decided to sit down and write because I need to get this done and back into writing as a whole.


So, we have the first “proper” leader of the Siege/Earthrise line. Ok yes, we had Astrotrain, Prime, Shockwave etc, but they were Voyagers with bits of armour or boxes. While there’s a little bit of that with Doubledealer because of his accessories, but he has enough mass to him to feel like a leader class. His bot mode is rather lovely, featuring colours you don’t see much in the franchise melded together to make a brick wall of a robot armed to the gills with weaponry and a good amount of articulation to boot. Hell, he even has wrist swivels. The only real point of contention elbows could have done with being tighter, as there are many reports he can barely hold his giant gun. Mine can hold it fine in his right arm, but not the left.

As for his gimmick, well it works. See way back in the far-off year of 1988, Doubledealer had three modes. An autoboot robot mode, a Decepticon bird mode, and a “neutral” ICBM launcher mode (which is a weird way to describe a mobile nuke launcher). Those were accessed by his two Powermaster partners, a Decepticon bat and a Not-Rumble/Frenzy. Since you know, complicated parts like that would probably make this guy cost like £100 at least in today’s economy, Doubledealer now accomplishes the same with hinges on his shoulders


Yeah, I tend to put his as a Con because due to his bulk, colours and weaponry, he doesn’t scream Autobot. And this is even taking guys like Roadbuster into consideration. And I’m glad they did this, allowing him to be a Bot or Con in robot mode rather than his original incarnations way.

Speaking of awkward segues, let’s talk about his Powermaster partners Knok and Skar! Because they’re back! If you shelled out £25+ for a pack of 4 sub-legends class toys because dammit you want Rumble (FIRRIB FOR LIFE!) for your Soundwave.


Yeah, that’s about all you can say. They’re fine for bots that turn into rectangles. Just like the rest of the Soundwave tape guys. Though speaking of Soundwave, Doubledealer managed to steal his schtick, as his chest opens up allowing you to stick one of his little buddies there for storage, or to flip around and display him like a Powermaster. He even features a small engine block which you can stick on little guys pegs for that later 80’s nostalgia. Still it only really works with Knok, as he is the same colour as Doubledealer’s chest since he pretty much was the bot mode chest back then. Also at least on mine Skar seems just that bit too small to fit securely.


As for his other modes. Well, they’re fun! But they’re kind of a pain to get to. Transforming his torso for both modes is fine, but his goddamn legs are annoying. For both modes you have to fart on with his double-jointed knees, positioning them just right so they line up with slots. However getting to vulture mode is the most pain in the arse way, because you have to sort of fold the knees in on themselves so a tab on the bottom of one joint can slide into a tab on the other joint and if you don’t get the knees in just the right position to allow this, it feels like you’re going to break the damn things.

And after all, that, are the results worth it? Kind of!



OK, this is one daft looking vulture, what with the front half of an ICBM launcher hanging off his arse…but it works. I dunno, it’s just stupid looking but weirdly nice at the same time. Sure, his articulation is limited to his toes, wings and head but it’s just a daft piece of fun.

And yes, you can store his missile on his crotch so he has the big bird dick if you want.



As for the ICBM mode, honestly, it’s a great mode in both transport and launcher mode, although the way his head is kinda just sticking out the back looking up makes the disguise a little daft. The rear ramp also allows you to connect him to other Earthrise bases and/or robots who turn into bits of a road for reasons.

I like Doubledealer, despite his problems. Yes, he’s got some loose joints, his transformation is finicky. He’s also technically a partsformer, but I’ve found myself softening on that now as long as it’s done OK and doesn’t involve taking the robot apart and putting it back together again. His concept is a fun one, and I’m glad they went with the robot mode allowing him to have both factions rather than being some sort of weird reverse Punch/Counter-Punch gimmick.

 

Seeing as the UM "Spoiler" box was two lines cribbed from the show script in Cybertronian text chucked inside, the October release date is 2 months out from the shows official drop, and traditionally "Spoilers" can't be done retroactively I'm inclined to think the contents will be of a similar vein but for Season 2/Earthrise.

 

Went to the local Smyths for the first time...well, ever.

MASSIVE wall of transformers. Seriously impressed. Deluxe and upwards, they had pretty much every figure from the last 2 waves of Studio series, last wave of Siege and all of Earthrise and Netflix. Pretty much only thing missing was Scorponok.

Got Studio series movie 1 Megatron and well...I love it. Put ER Prime back on the shelf but was close to buying him. They had Dealer and Astrotrain there too as well as Skylynx. No Studio series leaders but they had the Arcee triplets and the jeep + movie 1 modern camaro bee.

Definitely going back. Need to do away with some 3P stuff then  

 

If the Aaron Ehasz allegations are the same as what I read previously, some of that was about character choices and their sexuality and some LGBTQ staff not being happy with the direction if I remember rightly... with is different to the Ellis stuff.

But did you buy anything?

 

Hmn, thought I'd heard abuse & harassment of staff to boot possibly not of a sexual nature but that ain't great either in my book.

It just occurred to me going back to the initial Siege episode 1 escape to see if Bumblebee actually did transform and realised that as they all very gradually leg it no one (of the escapees) does and Siege Megs be like:

 

Ha, I could have phrased it better, but got Studio Series Movie 1 Megatron.

LDR Doubledealer looked striking in person, but I was put off by all the stories about loose joints. Astrotrain also looked good but for 46.99 pounds...eh.

 

I’m going to vouch for both Astrotrain and Doubledealer, with DD being worth the £46.99 entirely, especially if you can get the selects spy patrol to compliment him.

You’re probably never going to get a better G1 with articulation style Astrotrain in Generations either.

If you can only get one however, I’d go grab Doubledealer. The leg issues aren’t as bad as I’ve seen them made out to be, just don’t rush the leg transformation and you’ll be fine. He’s a beefy boi.

Just my two cents  

 

After 2+ months in transit, these big boys finally arrived unscathed inside a pretty battered box.

Bit surprised at how big they are! But they scale OK with WFC cars, and generally look about right against a titanmaster being human size. Big in robot mode obviously, but again it works. Similar to how they scale in Devastation, rather than G1 cartoon. And really they should be hulking beasts individually as well as combined.

Pleasantly surprised with the quality of them so far. Transformation to devastator was enjoyable and simple enough even with the limited instructions. Everything tabbed in where it should do nice and snugly. Was expecting him to be a wobbly mess combined but he holds together well. Few joints in upper legs/waist could do with being a bit tighter, but pleased with his stability overall.

Only transformed Long Haul to bot mode, and that was fun with no issues. I expect some of the others may be a bit more fiddly. For some reason Mixmaster's drum has some loose bits of plastic inside so it sounds like a child's rattle when you spin it. Not sure if its intentional or not, and not sure if its cool or just dumb. Maybe both.

In Devastator mode, just looks fantastic. All the detailly bits fit really well with the Siege aesthetic and he's just awesome to look at. Face sculpt way better than i was expecting too, although the light up eyes dont work too good. Its a red LED behind a not very translucent blue visor.

For under £10 per bot i think it's fantastic value. I'm sure the better versions improve it in a lot of ways, but I am very very happy with this jolly yellow giant.

 

The short version of what I read was that one of the staff who was LGBTQ wanted certain characters to also be LQBTQ. They claim Aaron kept promising it would happen but it never happened. They felt this was abusive to them... but as anything on the internet you never know the full picture or how many times what you are reading has been edited before you read it.

 

Mo knows the score.

 

I wonder if a certain character from siege could turn into him in earthrise?

Spoiler

Magnus brought back from the dead? He has Magnus legs as well if that adds any credence. [\spoiler]

 

It turns out it's more sexism than sexual treatment of female staff members as well as that purported LGBTQ-baiting.

If that isn't a neat custom, I'm 100% on board with that individual getting ress'ed as a Dark Reflection, gimme dat Star Fleet Captain Carter vibe!

 

So, is £97 acceptable for PotP Abominus?

 

Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bot