Drink?

It is the year 1986...
...GCSEs are the new 'in-thing' among fashion-conscious teens. Almost everyone was doing it!
...The Phantom of the Opera opens in London, causing a young Gerard Butler to rub his hands in opportunistic glee...
...Diego Maradona uses the Hand Of God to win a football match, but controversially does not use his divine superpowers to take back the Falklands...

...and The Transformers introduces a little red guy to absolutely no fanfare whatsoever...



God bless James Roberts, eh? More than Meets the Eye brought a lot of characters into sharp focus during his run, but none benefitted from this boost quite like Swerve (okay, Tailgate too). It's not that Swerve didn't have any characterisation before MTMTE hoved into view, but this was limited just to his toy bio and a brief write-up in the Marvel comics Universe anthology. He didn't appear in the comics themselves, and had only a minor cameo in Dreamwave's brief tenure, before IDW made him a minor star.

And Swerve pretty much epitomises the Roberts attitude towards characters, in that he's just so painfully recognisable. Swerve was the guy who just wanted to be popular, that just wanted to be your mate, but tried so hard that he inevitably blew it. Not unpopular, not unpleasant at all, he was just always a bit much. Presumably that's why he wanted to open a pub so badly, so people would have a reason to come round and chat. But otherwise, we've all felt that way at some point in our lives, the need to fit in and the creeping terror that if you don't find a peer group soon, you'll be out in the cold for life. And if that's never been you, then it's definitely been someone you know.

A bit heavy going for a guy whose main contribution in TF fiction before all that was getting stepped on by Trypticon.

So this isn't the official Thrilling 30 edition of Swerve, who I'd have liked to get but quickly became less available than his 3rd party competitor, Maketoys Trashtalk, although this one did come with a hefty price tag and insisted on coming with his far less in-demand mould-mate Cogwheel, aka Gears. It's kind of a dick move that isn't uncommon among 3rd party companies. Sure, you need to use a mould at least twice to get your money's worth out of it, but the certain knowledge that one of the two uses would barely sell on its own means that it's gracelessly lumped in with the one people actually want to buy. A shame really, as Cogwheel is the far more attractive of the pair.

Still, Trashtalk has oodles of personality, mostly thanks to that great big shit-eating grin on his face there. That's the look of a complete bellend that will happily drag you off to Vegas, get you drunk, spend all your money, get you married to a passing Uzbeki sailor and judge the success of the trip on the amount of likes he gets for his holiday snaps on Facebook. Only he's a robot.

The pack comes with two guns to share between the two bots, but the My First Blaster accessory is a separate purchase for a rather hefty £12. Sure it looks great and it was a smashing time putting the kit together, but the fact that none of the accessories are compatible with standard 5mm hand-holes makes the whole enterprise feel rather grubby. The same goes with his drinks tray - Swerve and Gears can hold everything, sure, but what if you want Cyclonus to have a little sherry as a treat? It'll rattle around in his giant paw, that's what will happen.

Still, with that cheeky grin, a marvellous ability to strike a pose and a surprisingly fun and compact alt mode, I can't complain too much. You can squeeze a WFC blast effect into the barrel of the MFB, and wedge the gun neatly onto the side of the car mode. And let's be honest, the traditional G1 design for Swerve isn't worth going back to, so the Roche/Milne modernisation is more than welcome. And I'm honestly struggling to think of a toy that has this much character. Anyone?

 

Version 3 by Alt Mode, on Flickr

With Diaclone Severo's sword - I like the way it brings out the blue on Erebus.

Version 3 by Alt Mode, on Flickr

I've had Divine Shooter since its release (2018 was it?), and today is the first time I've combined it with Thunder Manus.

Version 3 by Alt Mode, on Flickr

Version 3 by Alt Mode, on Flickr

I know the Diaclone Snarl is Fansproject, but I like how the black and blue of the toys compliment eachother.

Version 3 by Alt Mode, on Flickr

 

I'd like a Striker Magnus as well, though I seem to recall a post in the Striker Manus thread about people who were quite vocal against it. Go figure. Makes no sense to me, but to each their own.

Also, you can find Delta Manus quite easily  

MakeToys MTCD-01D DELTA MANUS

 

No you are not! You want Delta Manus: it is statistically impossible with taste that good that you are dumb! Be well!

 

Great pictures! I gotta say I've really come to like Divine Shooter (despite the QC mess my copy is). And based off reviews of other God Ginrai figures (particularly FH's and Takara's), I think Maketoys' version might be the most well designed of the bunch, particularly with regards to how mass is distributed on Thunder Manus, and how that helps the aesthetic and balance of the combined form.

 

Yea my copy is a mess too. Harder than hell to pose but the poses he can hold look amazing. I actually had to have my first one replaced because one of the hinges broke on its first transformation.

I almost didn't buy mine cause I originally preferred the armor that came with Manus but after time I've learned to love Shooter more.

 

Looking back at it, I should have asked for a replacement for my copy, but I didn't think about it at the time (the right thigh was assembled so poorly that it wasn't glued together all the way, and the glue was sloppily applied).

The thing I like about Divine Shooter's combined mode better is the look of the foot part on Ginrai - it captures the look of the source material better, imo.

 

This is unexpected. I think It's a retool of Rioter Despotron.

 

Yep, and that's a great mold to re-tool. Same shoulders, waist, legs/feet mean it's gonna be crazy posable and sturdy on his feet. Just gotta make that giant arm cannon thing light enough, although Rioter's shoulders are plenty strong.

 

wait, MTCD-06 was originally supposed to be Rioter Galcatron (Galvatron) - does anyone know if that figure's been scrapped, or just renumbered??  

 

Shoot, 2 years of nothing from CD and now they're back with... no word of Galvatron. I really want this guy to stand with my kitted-out SDC Nova Prime.

 

This line is so good and has so much potential to challenge MMC's reformatted market.

 

The price points, yes. But they better not stray into IDW territory, they've had enough troubles LOL

But yeah, G1 character-based original stylings like Rioter and Manus and Buster etc always catch more heat when the first few are attainable, and a nice group of hot designs pop up. They need to step it up in that department, and if they do, I'll be waiting with every dollar I can scrounge up.