Minor repainted my Cyberverse Shockwave into Cyberverse version of Energon Shockblast

 

The re-organization continues....

Season 4-ish bots. This is were we get a little more off-piste.


Definitely need to introduce a few risers here I think.

 

And last, the Twins!!!

 

"Got a bit sick"
From MTMTE#15 'Under Cold Blue Stars'

 

Ric and Arty

 

"Just tell Metalhawk I'm being chased by a giant Tiger!"
From TF:UK#575 'Beasts of Prey'

 

So is the definitive Megatron to have on my 1984 shelf:
-Netflix Megatron
-35th Anniversary Megatron
-ER Megatron.

I'm having a hell of a time deciding. One goes on the shelf with the rest of my definitive 1984 (looks like the below, ignore MP Rumble photobombing), the other two go in storage bins.



I'm kind of thinking ER Megatron for visual consistency, the abdomen and the legs. But Netflix has so much style and 35th has the best paintjob.

 

Scourge - "..so then Astrotrain asks Thrust, hey where's the boat guy!"

Scourge (G1) - "And that was the 2,479th time I was called a boat!"

Sweep 1 - "Whoa!"

Sweep 2 - "Tell us more stories Grandpa Scourge!"

Scourge (G1) - "Did I ever tell you about the homicidal white rabbit?"

 

Yooo is that Hercules?

 

Yessir, with the Crazydevy head that makes him look a lot more like Devastator!

 

"Fool! Only I, Galvatron shall be master of the time streams"

 

New Wreckin crew
(Pyro,Ironfist,Rotorstorm,Guzzle)

 

If there’s one thing I’ve discovered in my years of taking TF photos, it’s that people really don’t like it when you pose a Pipes toy under Overlord’s foot. 7 years on and people stay respond with a ‘too soon’.

Roberts knew what he was doing. With his irrepressible enthusiasm, even in the face of grievous personal injury, and his fetish for boat modes, James Roberts was setting us all up to adore Pipes. All so he could squash him. It was worth it. It was one of the finest and most affecting death scenes in More than Meets the Eye.

“Got a bit sick. Got a bit shot. Having a pretty wonderful time. Bye.”

Too soon, man. Too soon.

Poor old Pipes barely got a look in the old comics. One weird little issue with Tailgate and Outback. There was a monster in the sewer, I think. Late period UK Furman often felt a bit like this.

Even the toy didn’t make much of an impression on me when I was a kid. While I often felt a bit more connected with the ’86 minibots than their ’84, I loved Huffer so much that Pipes was never going to be able to really win my heart.

But I was a philistine. Of all the ’86 Minibots, I think it’s Pipes that has had the most extensive, and interesting makeover. It’s really great how much they’ve done to the Huffer toy to arrive at Pipes. Much of it is subtle, like the raised grille and bumper, the new ‘toes’, and the fact that he’s actually got seats! And while they stand pretty much at the same height in bot mode, Pipes is a little longer in truck mode.

And of course, there’s the big changes, such as the new arms which lend him his name, and the new head and chest. And I love that the truck’s cab is now behind his head rather than forming a ‘hood’. It’s all very resourceful and inventive, which is what I want to see whenever I come across a ‘retool’. It might be one of the smartest retools of G1.

But all the invention of the world wouldn’t be worth anything if the figure didn’t look good, and Pipes looks great. Even the fact that I hate that he doesn’t have hands doesn’t put me off him, though I love the fact that his arms go the ‘right’ way, unlike Huffer’s. He’s got such a great characterful little headsculpt, and the big backpack lends him a slightly hunched posture.

Admittedly the downside of the subtle changes make the truck mode not look too obviously distinct from Huffer’s truck mode, and the colour scheme is a little bland compared to Huffer’s classic colours, but these are small niggles. Yer G1 Pipes is a complete charmer and total winner. I love him.

Right off the bat, let’s simply acknowledge that Kingdom Pipes is a wonderful figure. How could he not be? He’s based on the excellent Huffer mold. And, with its hinged cab, even manages to solve Huffer’s articulation problem (better clearance for his arms).

It’s impressive to consider how much is achieved with such little changed tooling. Most of the substantial changes are just chest plate, arms, and head (and different hubcaps…and the Pipes themselves).

So really neat, right? Yeah, I don’t love it. I’m sorry. I’m going to post some poo-poo through the letterbox of animation accuracy.

Those white arms and blue eyes really turn this from triumph to stinker for me. Yes, I’m that precious. The arms should be silver and the EYE should be red. To add ‘buy an exclusive’ to injury, frigging Puffer from the Golden Disk two-pack has the right head. I mean, come on. Just give me a toy deco Selects release already and stop tickling my trout! I should also add that the chest looks very bland and could have done with some small extra paint app to break it up.

Weirdly, it wasn’t until I changed him to truck mode that I really appreciated how nice and rich that navy blue is. I found myself dissatisfied with the two options for holding his guns in truck mode. Stored on the bed of the truck seems like a cop-out, and attached to his exhaust pipes seems comically oversized.

All my disappointment with this guy hinges on so little, and I think that’s what makes him such a frustrating figure. Literally, a couple of different choices and I’d be thinking of him as an absolute triumph.

Fuck it. I’m off to get Overlord.

 

Mannnn, if I hadn't already have CBB Devy as my chug, I would've gotten that guy

Big Boys


New Predacon haul

Domi Mommy Energy

 

I got him when he was just coming out back in the early 2010s, so I probably spent about $550 on him. He's cool, but that was a splurge and he totally wasn't worth that. If I could do it over again, the $35 downscaled CW Devastator is *actually* the better G1 look, albeit less massive.

That said I got TFC Ares as well a few years back to be my Chug Scale Predaking. Assmbled him from Ebay and BBTS for about $150, which was VERY worth it. He's not the immortal Feral Rex, but he's the next best thing and has better wings imo.

 

"Having a pretty wonderful time"
From MTMTE#15 'Under Cold Blue Stars'

 

What Iguanus is that? I don't recognize the colors and it's definitely not the 96 Hasbro one.

 

It's BW Neo Crazybolt.

 

Thanks, those colors look great on that mold