Unfortunately that isn't a confirmed final price and I wouldn't want someone dumping a demand for an extra £20 on top of that.

I'd be more interested if she was cheaper than that she's not really a $100 toy I feel.

 

I suspect that's left over from the old listing. They recently mentioned her on FB but she's not in the new listed pre orders. I think 80 is the price. Maybe PM @TFsExpress to check? You'll pay another 6 quid postage, but it'll come via DPD in 2 days and that initial price is their cost plus shipping to UK plus customs.
Unless you get an under declaration from overseas, you run the risk of paying them too.

YMMV, of course!

 

I don't know if I actually trust TF Express anyway I bought off them before and they crammed things into a to small box with no packing and they got all squashed.

 

Really? I've had nothing but good experiences, including customer service.

Ah well. Keep looking, I suppose...

 

Hope Hasbro have the wit in future, if they're not gonna control leaks they should at least ensure something gets a proper review instead of just a literal Insta glance.

 

Belated Happy Birthday @tikgnat - hope you had a great day.

 

The Rat? Looked slightly larger than legion, so it's anyone's guess what pricepoint Hasbro decides to put it at.

The Cat? Somewhere between commander and Titan class (hard to tell with all the floof) so I've gone ahead and dubbed him 'Bastard Class'.

Bastard Class Cat tells me that Depth Charge will be a wave two Leader. He turns into a tin of Felix.

He tell me.

 

That's a great looking ship mode. MegaEmpress is a great set. I had one for a good while and the paint on Megattronia is sublime. How did you get Blackjaque to mount on the chest like that? Nice job on Blink too, it really does look like she's stepping through a portal and there's a part of her not here.

This whole post is pure win!

 

Didn't think I'd want Siege Cog, but now I've got Fort Max it seems a shame not to have him. I'm also planning on Fasttrack, if you have the Titans might as well do them properly eh?

 

Nah, just reasonable speculation based on him appearing in both the Siege and ER fan votes. Poor fucker's got the shaft!


He's so obscure he's almost a Powerdasher or an Omnibot. Even the Jumpstarters and Deluxe Autobots got to join the Wreckers and Reflector was right there in the early episodes of the cartoon. No such luck for old Hubcap (until 'Sins of the Wreckers' waaaaay down the line). Not a peep in the comics or cartoons.

And I think that's kind of a pity. His tech spec paints him as the sort of ingratiating, obsequious, creep that would be a lot of fun to write. I could really see Furman having a blast with a character like that, but I guess it didn't appeal, or fit in with his plans. It'd take nearly 30 years before another writer, Nick Roche, would do something with this guy.

I'm pretty sure I remember my friend having Hubcap when we were kids. I seem to recall them having all the '86 minibots. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, but there was always something kinda seedy, illicit, even knock off-y about Hubcap. In those pre-Target:2006 days I had a similar feeling about the Jumpstarters.

1986 was obviously the year that Hasbro ran out of original minibots and went back to pillage the '84 range. A lot of the time I feel a bit closer to the '86 dudes. I feel like I spent more quality time with those toys as a kid, perhaps with the exception of Huffer who was always dear to my heart. I've always admired the ways in that they updated the figures, from the more radical takes like Pipes to the relatively simple like Tailgate. Hubcap is one of these more simple updates, with a new face (I struggle to describe that face on a plate as a head) and a tweaked spoiler.

The choice to daub this guy in yellow, when we already had Bumblebee, a yellow Cliffjumper, and fucking Bumper in the mix seems more than a little perverse. I'm not sure I'd have liked him all in white, as per those catalogue photos, but when I look at the palette of the other '86 minibots I realise I'm not left with many options that haven't already been taken (not that this seemed like such a detriment to Powerglide and Warpath the year before) but maybe something in the green/teal section of the colour wheel could have been kinda cute. And less perverse.

I do like this guy. That facesculpt has that wonderful touch of Autobot dignity and the orange face is a pretty rare choice. I do think he wears the yellow deco least well in vehicle mode, but it's still enjoyable enough to send me off looking for old Penny Racer toys on the internet.

One of the more remarkable but ultimately unsurprising facts about this complete non-entity is that he hasn't had an update since 1986 (please don't be the one that writes to say he got an update in 'Hunt for the Decepticons'. If you're wavering just take a breath and step back). In these days when it feels like nearly everyone has had some sort of ill-fitting update, it's almost refreshing to see someone that slipped through the net. Perhaps this is what happens when the world goes mad and someone releases Cliffjumper before Bumblebee.

Yes, Hubcap is quite rightfully a paint job and a new head on the ER Cliffjumper. Would you really wish for anything but that? Certainly not I. Perhaps it's not exciting or sexy, but it's appropriate. And that's what I look for in a relationship.

And with this being such a 'straight' reuse of the mold, whether you like this figure or not comes down to how you felt about that....how shall we say...controversial take on Cliffjumper. Me? I loved it. Partsforming and all. And getting Hubcap in hand has been a lot of fun, because I'm reminded why I enjoyed the mold so much. From that awesome articulation and poseability, to every smart decision they made in designing the transformation (yeah, ok.Apart from that one choice), to the beautiful little alt mode, and that batshit wonderful cannon.

So how about the bit's that are actually specific to ol' Hubcap? Kinda disappointing, actually. The headsculpt is the biggie, naturally and, while it's a very handsome headsculpt, it kinda looks a bit too big for the body. That said, points for the red eyes on orange face. It's a strong look. The colour choices are equally disappointing. Yer G1 Hubcap was done in a rich, deep, almost honey yellow. Yer ER version comes in a kind of washed-out lemon yellow (think Chainclaw's inner robot. If you don't have Chainclaw, think washed-out lemon). Whereas Cliffjumper's red deco filled him out quite nicely, this deco on Hubcap makes him look a little bare. Also, no silver paint on the cannon for you, you little communications guy. You get a nice, but kinda cheap by comparison looking gunmetal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted I've got this guy. It is really nice that he's finally got an update. It's just a pity they tripped on some of the little details. But oh well, it's only Hubcap!

 

I can't wait for the new 'Mega Chonker' class, we might finally get Grandus.

 

Hiya, just hanging with my buddy Sideswipe back in the day.

 

me I'm happy Bee has the richer colour paint scheme. Top musings as ever Burt.

 

Happy belated birthday @tikgnat.

On not news was hoping to get Snapdragon today but considering it's been "in transit" from my main district pist office for 10 hours now I suspect it'll be tomorrow. Dammit.

The office is 30 miles away from my house.

 

It is rare nowadays, perhaps through a combination of what I have already picked up, and the fact that the release dates of original TFs stretches further into the distant past each day, that I wish I had more money for toys at a boot sale.

Today however was one of those days, oddly given the windy weather.

It was admittedly partly due to the fact that the old guy with a table covered in 80’s toys (‘his son’s’ – not always a believable story), was charging possibly more than certainly I would expect.

But, I took Shockwave off him, for 8 quid worth it as this will be my first ‘whole’ (not complete but at least with all his limbs and most appendages), and then came back for the two combiners. There is a local shop with a cashpoint but I decided not to spend further and pootled off to work.

I asked him after a quick think before I left if he had any accessories, hence the couple of guns, although his original estimate on them was 10 quid!!!

I paid 3.

The other bits were cheapies, I rather like that design for big car Bee design (TLK?) and I am impressed he still has his throwy disc things, my ‘really, why’ moments being the Gollum and Spock figures, and I offer no excuse for the big dragon Bee either, that might be my third....

Laters.

 

Daylight check this morning was a pleasant surprise finding that all the Twins required was mainly a touch at the toes!

Another one of those times when the wee bugger(s) almost seem to manifest themselves, I was expecting it to take sessions over the full week to get 'em here but, nope, here they are, pretty much just an Autobrand away, and I'm having a think on that - they never wore it in the comics IIRC?
Very much looking forward to the weekend for some alternate modes shenanigans!

 

Has he always had background music playing while he talks? It's driving me mad and I usually love his reviews...

 

He started adding it a few months back now. In his tf reviews, I don't know about his others as I don't watch those.

 

Coneheads due

Can't say I'd noticed the music before today.
I do love his reviews, mostly because he shows the whole transformation.