I'm somewhat interested in these viciously sexy fellas. Suggestions? Warnings? Are they particularly expensive? Anyone a fan?
Electro has GPS. I only had Sizzle as a kid, and while the posability was excellent, he was very floppy and top-heavy. The LED gimmick was really sweet, though.
i just sold all 4 of mine 2 months ago they were fun but the led gimmick was a little wierd. it was a plug with an led in the end of it wired to the switch on the hood. in car mode you plugged it inot the bottom of the chest so it would light up the motor, the truck wa to get teh extra cord to wad up under the car. in robot mode you plugged the led into the bottom of the fist so you could light up the swords they came with. awesome poseability though
I have Sizzle and I think he's pretty great. The only warning I would give you is to be aware that the hips are held on with a rubber band like the old GI Joe figures. It's not a bad thing in and of itself, but I do take particular care when posing mine since I don't know how strong the rubber is.
The rubber O-Rings on all 4 of my Laser Rods still seem to be fine. Not bad for a toy that old. Great toys; the best articulated TF toys ever at the time they were released, and well worth tracking down. As has been mentioned, Electro suffers from terrible GPS; my own one has broken at least twice that I can remember. I daren't even remove him from his packaging now. Be VERY careful with him, especially with the cab top and legs (in general). Other stuff to know: -The Japanese versions came boxed. I believe the toys were identical though. They also seem harder to get hold of. -In Europe, the Laser Rod cars were released under the name "Illuminators" rather than Laser Rods". Euro releases of Jolt and Sizzle, despite seeming to be identical toys, had different names; Jolt was Hot Rod, and Sizzle was Fireball. Like I said the toys seem identical, so if you find that the Euro versions are easier to get than the US ones don't let it put you off. They pop up on eBay UK every now and then loose and are fairly cheap, although often missing their swords. Carded they seem a lot harder to find. -The swords, incidentally, plus onto the vehicle modes. Very cool indeed.
Swords are hard to come by, I have all 4 complete but without the batteries, need to buy some, Electro is mint loose, but I dont touch him!lol
Is GPS with Electro like a given inevitability ala BW Randy? Or is it a low possibility like BW Transmetal Megatron?
Laser Rods are awesome. Great car modes and awesome bot modes. The gaskets do tend to break but they're easily replaceable though my Electro has suffered from GPS, which sadly isn't as easy to replace If you can get them I highly recommend them!
They're an excellent group of toys. Just got the fourth sword to round out my set. The only things to watch are they're a bit tricky to balance, and Electro's gold plastic. Electro's a lot more like BW Randy - with proper care you'll be fine, but the whole toy is made of the stuff. Apart from that they are excellent toys that deserve a spot in any collection. You could do a lot worse for the G2 toys.
Good poseability, but IMO the proportions of them are mostly bad (huge chests and backs). In trying to reduce my collection to figures I think are really good, I sold mine.
Got mine at botcon. I love them. I wish I hadn't waited so long to get them. Electro is MISP still though. I am afraid to open it.
They are awesome figures i gotta say i had Jolt was a kid lost him sadly but the gimmick was awesome from what i remember. It did cause the proportion issues mentioned before but beyond that it was a gimmick that did exactly what it should and worked as long as the batteries were good.
I got mine back when they were on sale in UK stores and had them out a few weeks ago while gathering together the G2 stuff scattered throughout my TF storage. I couldn't resist snapping a few photos while they were in hand. Totally forgot to do the same with the Laser Rod Cycles though. My Electro has survived sitting loose in a box with other figures for over ten years well and is completely GPS-free as far as I could tell after a close examination. That's not to say I wasn't extra careful transforming him though. I think most people would be happy with these figures even if they were released today because of the range of the joints compared to other figures of this time and the cool little light-up swords which slot away into the alt mode. The alt modes are a nice change too from the traditional sports car type we usually get. Pity really they'll probably never end up resissued as I'd snap up a minty new set right away. At the very least maybe something KO makers might like to take a crack at. Well worth tracking down and buying.
Sizzle has the honour of being the very last transformer i bought as a kid. Thought he was great and I really dug the LED gimmick.
I have all 4 but my Electro broke due to GPS. I remember at the time I bought them I didn't like them much because of their lack of blockiness. They didn't fit in with most of my other toys ( this wasn't long after G1 ). They are OK but I don't have the love for them that seems to be growing these days.
I've went through 2 Electro's and both crumbled (yes) in the same spot (the knees) due to GPS. I really wished the plastic had been better on him, as he is a great design. The other 3 are stellar, imo. I'd love to see a reissue of these molds, even in different colors.
