Honestly half of what's currently in stores now will be in the discount stores soon. Smyths still have Siege Megatron alongside the Netflix one and soon Earthrise. Without even discounting Siege!

And it's the same with Prime. Mind you, Smyths are still trying to shift Justice League movie gear, so...

And what have Hasbro done? BBTS just relisted Spy Patrol 1 (Ravage and Laserbeak) and some fellow older Micromasters. When they'd quite like you to buy, for instance, the new Soundwave that comes with those in a better deco. Genius.
...

Great set, especially for that price

 

Hey folks, I've done a vid on Fans Hobby Machine Eagle in case anyone fancies a look!  

 

Can you stop harassing Leeds, Please? We're having a hard enough time of it as is. Thanks in advance.

I empathise. Yesterday I had to fling a duvet across our roof for Georgia to walk along, as she's suddenly (after nearly 8 years of going up there) decided she lacks confidence walking across the slates. Also, I've done that very same walk round the block, rattling a box of dreamies as I anxiously try to get her to come in. Inevitably she is always already in the house, having discovered some new dark corner to hide. The prick (I love her more than anything).



It’s funny how loyal we get, isn’t it? When I had a favourite I’d feel duty bound to hate on their competition. Fuck Superion. Defensor is the man. Twintwist drools. Topspin rules. And Snapdragon, for me, will always be defined as that prick trying to steal the limelight from my beloved Apeface.

To be fair, as far as Snapdragon goes, this feeling has only really become pronounced and explicit in my adult years, for reasons I’ve gone into before. Beyond any shadow of a doubt this proves that I am still a total fucking child. Back in the old days Snapdragon was just kind of there. He’d show up in the odd comic, usually in beastmode, snarling at Chromedome or Highbrow. Pretty generic.

Maybe if I’d got this toy, instead of Apeface, as a kid it’d have all been different. But maybe not. Apeface had some design factors that would always have appealed to me more. First of all he had an ape form. Apes are much more fun that Dragons (Don’t. I couldn’t give a fuck about GoT). Secondly, his face looked like the Decepticon insignia. Way cool. And finally he (arguably) had more black in his deco. Everything looks better in black.

But Snapdragon still has a lot going for him. In ‘bot mode, he has amazing articulation. Elbows and a double-jointed knees? Ambassador, you’re trying to get me to come back for an orgy! His big pointy shoulders are way cool and give him a great, distinctive silhouette. And he’s got two identical guns. Everything looks better in symmetry. Now, lest this feels like I’m giving a mortal enemy too much credit, I’ll dutifully point out the shortcomings. That headsculpt is naff, man. He looks dumb. And what’s up with this absurdly skinny thighs? Loser!

Transformation from ‘bot to jet mode is suave. Elegant, even. You just flop all the back kibble up and fold the legs up and you’re there. The Blackbird jet that Snapdragon’s vehicle mode is based on is a classic of Cold War scary cool, so he was always going to score some points over Apeface’s made-y up-y brick of a jet, but it manages to deduct cool points by doing it all in white. Not only is white lame compared to scary spy plane black, but it also serves to highlight the silly fake cockpit.

Transformation to dragon mode is a bit more of a faff. At least it is for me because I keep stopping and going “wait…is that it. Shouldn’t it…?”. There are some clever steps in here. I do like the discrete way the dragon arms have been hiding in plain sight, and the Nebulon legs forming the lower jaw of the dragon head has always been a winner. But other than that…? Well, it all looks kinda lumpy and incomplete. I feel like the dragon head should tilt down a little more and the arms just sort of hang there, like they’ve given up trying and just said “that is good enough”. Few Transformers look good form every angle in a non-vehicle mode, but you can usually figure out what angle they want you to focus on (yes, it’s usually the front). But with this, I have no idea what’s the main angle. It looks like nothing straight on and from the side it looks….well, it looks like it’s in pain. Yeah man, you’re staying in ‘bot mode.

So, some of you may remember that I wasn’t impressed with Siege Apeface, and to be fair, I hadn’t been terribly impressed with what I’d seen of Earthrise Snapdragon. It was a bit sad, really. Hand on heart , I’d really hoped for the best for this pair.

So, just imagine how abolsoutely filthy I felt when I opened up the box for Snapdragon and was wowed by how great he looked in hand. Oh god, Apeface! I never meant for this to happen. I’m sorry, ok? It just happened.

The first thing that caught my attention was the heft of the guy. Wheras Apeface often felt a little spindly and poorly connected in ‘bot mode, Snapdragon just feel solid.From his wonderfully square, heavy chest, to those big arms, he just looks fucking built! A funny thought started to creep in during those first moments with him; he looks like a wild west gunslinger. It’s all there. the way the lower legs flare out asfi they were chaps, to the twin guns that sit perfectly at his hip when he’s in repose, down to the illusion of the the ‘duster’ overcoat his arm kibble seems to create. Perhaps I’m crazy, and no-one else will see this, but I’m ok with that.

But it’s not just the mold, the deco really makes this guy sing too! they’ve subtly but signifactnly upped the ratio of black from the G1 version. Before all the black on the figure felt like just trimming, framing the other colours, here it’s dominant. The chest is now black, with a single streak of purple running down the middle. Likewise the legs. Tasty. But it’s not just the blacks that sell this. Mercifully they’ve not reused the ‘soapy’ white plastic of Apeface and have given us a crisp white plastic and the magenta visor just pops so very hard.

The jet is…fine. I think they’ve been smart in not trying to redo the blackbird and have instead opted for a slightly more generic ‘space plane’. Ther fake canopy is still a bit wank, and I hate the fact the cockpit splits vertically, but there’s a few nice touches, like the way the exhausts work so well with his hands and the molded jet fins (yay! never lose them again!). The transformation is nice and neat, but there’s some thing that feels a little plain and unfinished about it. I think it’s the bland midsection and the way the chest doesn’t really connect up to any of the surrounding white panels. Very swooshable though!

Ok. they’ll fuck up the dragon at least. That sucked to start off with.

*sigh*

Dragon’s good. The only angle it looks at all wonky from is straight on, and only because the big ‘pelvis’ area is so massive compared to the rest of him. Otherwise this looks great too! There’s some very clever choice in the way that the chest folds down to reveal the upper torso of the dragon. It’s been a while since I’ve let out a little ‘ha!’ at a transformation. Nice work! AND THOSE LITTLE ARMS ARE ADORBS! Shoulder joints AND ball jointed fore arms? Ambassador, you just won’t let this orgy go, will you?

This guy has genuinely surrpised the hell out of me. I expected very little, even after seeing friend’s in hand photos, and yet I got so much. I’m fairly confident this guy’s going to be up there on my top ten of the year. I just don’t understand why couldn’t have given Apeface the same care and attention.

“Because Snapdragon is better”

SHUT THE FU…

 

The Hermes guy couldn't ring the doorbell and run away if he didn't have a kneecap.

 

Classics Grindor. Just need to find my con logos and figure out where to put them on him.


Cockpit doesn't fully close anymore, not sure why, guess i put some paint somewhere i shouldn't, but overall, very happy with how he turned out. Blackout next.

 

Smyths - still special.

You can now finally click the home delivery option on Arcee and Airwave but you can't actually order them, and Allicon can be ordered yet not a single store in the UK has stock going by their own checker.

Are we sure Smyths aren't yet another Irish tax dodge? "Us? Make money? Ha!"
...

From SAF, anyone still looking those newer Mandalorian figures there?

 

HA! Of course Smyths are out of Home Delivery Smokescreens when I go to nab one.  
The Law of Sod strikes again!

 

100 internet points to both @Napalm and @Convoy for their efforts to hook the mighty Ottertron up! You are good peeps!

You know I can't rightly remember if they came with the comic or not, but it did allow me to snare the killer crab and mantis alien, which to this day remain some of my favourite of the line.

Lovely stuff indeed. To this moment I didn't know the rear section of the cab part of Hero CW Magnus was blue! Looks much nicer than the stock white.

Seriously though Hasbro, no blooshing on the shield?!

Welcome back stranger, and good luck with the Greenlight hunt!

At least that is a timeline though, thats worth getting excited for. Still waiting on Wave two stuff mind you.

Glad el gato returned safe and sound dude! Wee buggers don't half like making us worry.

Nice. I'm up to season 4 of rebels now, have to say I'm enjoying it more than clone wars!

Nice!

Pfft Defensor drools, Superion sucks, computron is the man  

Lovely write up as per usual barry. Not a fan of that cockpit myself. glad to see someone else likes his widdle arms though

 

@Seeaich That's because they're all in NI... We never get that many of anything, EVER.

 

 

 

Noice! I am feeling the need for a black coloured jetformer, dunno why? Skygoth perhaps!  
Might have a dig through what is now a whole storage container of KOmbiner Wars bots to see who I could overcook on the stove! LOL!  

 

 
I've been keeping an eye on Kapow for maybe bundling an Exhaust restock in with him but they don't seem to have released any general stock of Smokey yet, I wonder if that's down to the go-slow they're currently getting from Hasbro UK, or them hanging fire to sort out the full-wave pre-orders they have to fulfil?
Amusingly it seems ID are in the same boat of getting an Exhaust re-stock but no general stock of Smokescreen at the same time, a current Cosmic game of keepaway going on for me at the mo!  

 

Today's Neo-G2 pic, none other than the big bad of the Marvel G2 Comics - Jhiaxus!


I could have simply pulvarized you from all known space

So is this cheating? Jhiaxus never saw a figure getting released in the G2 Toyline, and this figure doesn't even have any G2 Decepticon logos, but come on. I love that we got a CHUG Jhiaxus, but am surprized we never got a repaint of this guy in his OG G2 colours. It's funny how his appearance on the marvel pages was less neon, and less garish.


Cyber-seekers... Attack

So if Jhiaxus looked like a roided out Seeker, to my head cannon the cyberjets are his own seekers. Smaller, faster, more neon. All neon. All the time. Would love some modern Cyberjets.

Hardly an empire

Seen here with Mindset


In other news, look who arrived from Amazon US today! Yaayness!

 

So this is how Mirage arrived from Amazon... Hello, free toy!

 

Thanks! Yeah, lots of love and occasional spikes of terror.

I'm an Apefan myself (obvs), but weirdly because I had snapdragon as a kid and liked him. I think I thought something like 'well the other one must be even more amazing then' - probably because he's got a cooler headsculpt and actually had lines in the rebirth.

 

They also had Quint Judge stock in almost every store at one point. Northern Ireland, the 3 stores in Leeds, and most of Scotland...

 

Ha! He sure does like that disguise!
W
They're expecting more stock at the end of month. I might see if that is actually mirage...

 

I see your comments about apes and raise you a

I may like Snapdragon more but Apeface has his charms. Though they do work best together

 

Yeah I just looked yesterday, he sold out ridiculously quick.

 

Mandalorian series 2 trailer best bit = Mando walks down a dark street, to his left a set of red eyes appears in the darkness......the Jawas are keeping tabs on him!  

Also appears as if a Black Series Armourer may be happening,
Armourer by Brendan Mitchell, on Flickr

 

Whilst having a bit of a gear organise, putting Centurion accessories that are currently awaiting their recipients in ER Prime's trailer so I don't have to dig 'em out the box when the time comes, it suddenly dawned on me what was niggling me about gun Megs that made him seem a bit "off" besides the lack of a stock that the Wu version has as I was contemplating stowing him in there too...

...they've missed a bit when it comes to painting his handle!