Favorite Transformer of the day.....................

smf2045 · Mar 24, 2023

Squeaking in before midnight my time with this sneaky, teleporting fool of a Seeker, but, hey, he looks cool.

Generations of Skywarp for today.

Hobart Paving · Mar 24, 2023

God Magnus and Eagle Killer.

Rockdown · Mar 24, 2023

Prowl is bot of the day.

Dachande · Mar 24, 2023

jbwkkl · Mar 24, 2023

Rockdown said: ↑

Prowl was too animated for Soundwave.

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LOL that last photo makes it look like the woman on tv is checking on Soundwave too

Spike's original Autobot partner today (I still prefer him over Bumblebee)

Tetratron · Mar 24, 2023

M Alex · Mar 24, 2023

jbwkkl said: ↑

LOL that last photo makes it look like the woman on tv is checking on Soundwave too

Spike's original Autobot partner today (I still prefer him over Bumblebee)

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I wish they reissued this toy in non-exploding form

barry · Mar 24, 2023

"Shrapnel dies instantly"
From TF:UK#82 'Target:2006'

lord ginrai · Mar 24, 2023

My boy Ratchet today!
The paint on my Shadow Fisher upgrade kit had started to randomly yellow but I finally took the plunge and got some white spray paint. Some careful masking and a few layers later and he looks factory fresh again!

Arduous · Mar 24, 2023

Today

Revoticus · Mar 24, 2023

Mecha Rodan

Subdurmal · Mar 24, 2023

Its a tie!

TRUSkid · Mar 24, 2023

Thrust...again. Riding around the metroplex with me on a rainy Texas day. Really glad to have found this as a loose figure so I can keep the only one I ever found in the wild; misb.

Zentropy · Mar 24, 2023

M Alex said: ↑

I wish they reissued this toy in non-exploding form
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I wish I’d not customized my copy, because then I could have easily sold it. No issues with breakage after several transformations, but I hate the thing.

Prime Noble · Mar 24, 2023

barry said: ↑

I can’t quite remember how I wound up with my childhood Shrapnel. I suspect my paternal grandmother bought him for me, but it’s pretty fuzzy.What I do remember is how much I liked him. But we’ll come back to that. Another thing I don’t really remember is if I ever saw him in any of the cartoons. So few of the cartoons were shown on UK tv that I think I probably only saw maybe ten episodes of the cartoon, including the stuff I saw on VHS. My memories of Shrapnel in the comic were a little less vague but not much, a few scenes here and there in the US stuff and one fantastic sequence early on in Target:2006. Jeff Anderson made him look like a total and utter bastard. It was magic.

He’s an amazingly handsome little figure. I loved his face sculpt, the classic little Diaclone benign smile and wrap around shades. It’s funny, but despite being surprised by how small so many of them were, the Diaclone figures are the ones had the archetypal proportions and Shrapnel sure has them. There’s nothing lanky or stubby about him. It feels like he’s been designed with care and consideration. There’s so many things I love about this figure in ‘bot mode, from that amber cockpit, to his massive chrome antennas – so cool and and distinctive – to the little guns on the underside of his arm. His ‘insect’ mode isn’t a convincing insect, but as a freakish alien war machine it’s perfection. He has an incredibly premium look for a low price point figure. It’s no surprise that so many of us remember the Insecticons so fondly.

And so we get out second Insecticon of the Legacy line, and it’s my favourite of the sick, sad crew. And man, I cannot get past my disappointment with him. I’m sure it’s not just the hangover I’m battling with that’s making me see so many of the design choices as equal parts frustrating and confounding.

So, ok. That was an intense start, I’ll admit, so I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that Shrapnel is a perfectly fine and solid Deluxe class figure. He’s got all the articulation that we’d expect from a modern figure, he’s very faithful to the animation model, even down to his accessories and a fine head sculpt, all much like we’ve come to expect from out Generations figures these days. So what’s my beef?

It’s all in the details. While Kickback just left me with no questions, Shrapnel is all questions for me. Why are his biceps a different colour than the rest of his arms? Why don’t his colours match up to Kickbacks? With the purples and ambers not being quite the same I’m forever going to be distracted by a set that doesn’t quite match. Why make Kickback’s wings translucent plastic when you’re not going to carry that forward and make Shrapnel’s pincers the same? And, with my eye very much on those signature pincers, why does the whole figure just feel a bit…cheap?

Aside from a reasonably good leg transformation, I don’t think there’s too much to recommend the alt mode either. It actually highlights one of my other bugbears about him, which is that he just seems a bit too stocky. If there was a bit less torso mass, maybe it could have looked sleeker, and maybe there’d even be a slicker option for the arms.

There are things I like too. Things that feel like the sort of smart decisions I hope for from the design team. I like that the ‘extra’ guns can form the rear legs/lower wrist guns from the original toy. I like the choice to separate the panel that covers his face in beetle mode from the pincers themselves. I like that this gives the pincers a range of articulation. I like that I can achieve that rare weapon storage symmetry by plugging his gun in the tab in his back when in bug mode.

But none of that stops me being disappointed with the figure. And maybe this is the thing that moves these complaints from trivial to substantial for me; Shrapnel is my favourite of the three Insecticons. If there was one of them I really wanted to be done right in Legacy, it was him. And now I’m just sat about how much better he could have been for a few relatively minor tweaks. Maybe I’ll come to love him in time, or when this hangover passes. Whichever comes first, I guess.

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Been a while since we had one of your reviews Barry. Always enjoy them.

The first episode with the Insecticons was on ITV back in the day. I remember the scene where Prime stands on two Autobot cars so their rubber tyres would insulate him from Shrapnel's electricity.

Also the scene where throws the oil tanker at Megatron.

I can relate to your disappointment with the figure. Needlenose was one of my favourite Decepticons growing up. I liked that he wasn't a typical Decepticon thug but a likeable underdog. However I was disappointed with how small his jet mode is, particularly cockpit.

Same with Earthrise Starscream, Metalhawk and the upcoming Skyquake. I'd have been happy with a retool of Titans Return Triggerhappy or Nitro Zeus. If the cockpit looks too small to accommodate a Titanmaster, I'll pass.

Brum Bot said: ↑

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Laserbeak.
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Nice. Which version of Laserbeak is that?

Revoticus said: ↑

This whippersnapper
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Very underrated figure along with the rest of his team.

Today's favourites are the Posh and Becks of the franchise...

DriftsEdge · Mar 24, 2023

Dinobot Swoop · Mar 24, 2023

Today I'm going with my BW Swoop repaint. Used a BW Lazorbeak as a base and painted it in the (then current) Jurassic Park pteranodon toy.

Transform and everything, too.

Joburg Guy · Mar 24, 2023

Its been a loooong while since posted here, 'post' being the operative reason. I shipped my last load of figures in December, hoping they would arrive by February. Eish...

Anywho, loving what I received from the 2nd half of last year.

I'll be posting more pics as I open things (rationing oneself, isn't it grand?)

Was, very impressed with this figure. To think, I nearly passed on him. Apologies for, spelling, i may be drunk)...

lordcryotek · Mar 24, 2023

Overlord today!

openchallenge · Mar 24, 2023

Still this one.

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Favorite Transformer of the day.....................

smf2045 Aficionado of Combiners

Hobart Paving I would prefer not to.

Rockdown Dream Commander

Dachande MULTI-QUOTE- USE IT. Super Mod

jbwkkl Wrecker for life

Tetratron AEColyte

M Alex Well-Known Member

barry Well worn member

lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

Arduous Megatron Rules All TFW2005 Supporter

Revoticus Splitting headache

Subdurmal Well-Known Member

TRUSkid I don't want to grow up!

Zentropy Toys > Fiction

Prime Noble Well-Known Member

DriftsEdge The Keyboard Samurai

Dinobot Swoop TFW2005 Supporter

Joburg Guy Occasional poster, serial lurker

lordcryotek M'Hael

openchallenge It's own reward

Log in or Sign up

Favorite Transformer of the day.....................

smf2045 Aficionado of Combiners

Hobart Paving I would prefer not to.

Rockdown Dream Commander

Dachande MULTI-QUOTE- USE IT. Super Mod

jbwkkl Wrecker for life

Tetratron AEColyte

M Alex Well-Known Member

barry Well worn member

lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

Arduous Megatron Rules All TFW2005 Supporter

Revoticus Splitting headache

Subdurmal Well-Known Member

TRUSkid I don't want to grow up!

Zentropy Toys > Fiction

Prime Noble Well-Known Member

DriftsEdge The Keyboard Samurai

Dinobot Swoop TFW2005 Supporter

Joburg Guy Occasional poster, serial lurker

lordcryotek M'Hael

openchallenge It's own reward

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