SDCC Transformers Universe Commemorative Edition G1 Series Autobot Blaster (Yeah that's all on the box! Well not SDCC.) So my Blaster arrived today from HTS. Surprisingly the boxes were in fair shape with minimal shelf wear. Packaging: The box comes in an outer sleeve that slides over the box. The sleeve has a red foil reflective pattern, and gold print. It dosent look like any Transformer packaging I can remember, but it screams 80's! Removing the sleeve reveals a very large book style Transformers Universe Commemorative Edition G1 series box. The box art depicts a very happy, almost jolly, gun wielding, Blaster! The inside of the cover sports pictures of the figure. Oddly enough the Figures used in these pictures are either originals or a TFC reissue because they are the original color (yeah I'll get to that in just a minute). The adjacent window reveals Blaster and friends all in there robot modes. Figure: Blaster comes packaged in robot mode with the stickers (poorly) pre-applied. As soon as you see Blaster, if you have an original G1 Blaster, something in your head goes "that's not right"! Yeah, so you remember that off color G1 Prime release from Hasbro last Holiday season? It looks like Hasbro had a bunch of left over plastic from it, and decided to use it to make Blaster. The gray on his legs is the same gray used on the Universe G1 Primes trailer. It has a weird opaqueness to it, along with metallic flakes. Not to mention it feels kinda cheap. The Red while not the same pink as the Universe G1 Prime is still not Blaster red. It's missing that hint of orange that the original Had. The Yellow is more vibrant, but works with the red they used. I wont bother getting into the figure itself. If you haven't seen a G1 Blaster by now, I'm sure there a million reviews out there. That being said it has all the problems of any original Blaster, stiff buttons, tape door, and handle. I got this to be a replacement for my Vintage Blaster I have on display. However now that I have it, and have seen it in person, I may not bother. The off colors and overall cheap feel of the plastic leave me feeling pretty disappointed. This Figure is no where near the quality of the TRU Preceptor, or Insecticons that, with the exception of the stickers, are perfect re-issues. He comes with his gun, Ramhorn, Eject, Steeljaw, their weapons and cassette cases. Due to the disappointment of Blaster I didn't care to really look at the cassettes. I did pop eject out because he was mis-transformed. To my surprise while Steeljaw, and Ramhorn are tampo printed, Eject is not. Which is really a shame because I am a big fan of tampo'd Transformers! My opinion: If you don't have a G1 Blaster or any of the Autobot cassettes get it. It's a decent value if you don't already have it. BUT, if you are looking to replace a vintage Blaster this may not be the choice for you. This is my first review of anything on TFW let me know if you like it or not. Also if there was already a review of this release of Blaster I apologize I didn't find it when I searched for "SDCC Blaster". If I have the time, and can make myself care I'll try to setup the lightbox to take pictures that can really show the color differences I spoke about in the review.
Nice review. To me the plastic feels soft. My 1st Blaster toy so I'm not sure if they cut corners on this one but 3 tapes and Blaster in fancy packaging for $50 is not too bad.
i had planned to display Blaster in Alt mode, but after the mixed opinions i may keep him minty fresh and be proud of that 80s disco sleeve. I so wanted to take out Blaster, pop in my Run DMC tape (yeah, i still has it) and have an old skool moment. thanks for the heads up.
I got one yesterday. It's weird they put so much into the packaging, but the figure itself feels like a cheap ko. A shiny cover does not alleviate my disappointment. And the tapes, why are the animals tampo'd, and not Eject? Oh, he does have his 'bot symbol tampo'd on, but his tape stickers are thrashed. Bah, anyway, definately not worth the price. What's the next reissue I'm getting... Predaking! They better not fuck that one up.
Oh, but they will. Every reissue since encore line has started, has been crap. Cheap plastic, tempo graphed decals. I think that they had really sunk to a new low. I'm sure that the predaking reisssue will be 100% plastic and nothing but a new look. It will be just as bad as that shotty bruticus reissue. I'm really worried about what the primus and unicron will look like........................
Hmm, I don't have an original so keep that in mind with what I say. The plastic does feel cheap- he's as big as an ultra but weighs less then some of my deluxes. Also, the upper arm seems look almost partly split, really reminding me of some cheap knockoffs I had. However, he still doesn't feel like an actual cheap knockoff since everything does actually work the way it should. And for $50, it's still a pretty decent package for an official reissue. Can anyone that has both this and an original say for sure if one feels lighter then the other?
Maybe you've had bad luck with re-issues, but for me the Encore line (which US releases aren't part of) have been pretty good. Yeah Bruticus was all plastic, and had issues but overall the line has been pretty good for me. Most of my Autobot cars are either TFC, Encore, or Commemorative Series. I haven't had to replace any of them due to QC issues, or intentional changes I didn't like.
Thanks for the reviews. I was debating whether to buy this reissue or Device Label Blaster since I already have the cassettes. Now I think I'll just get the Device Label version.
"Weird opaqueness"? Shouldn't he be opaque? To me, the gray looks slightly warmer and sparklier than the original and TFC versions. But I think he looks good! Major disagreement here, at least for the ones I own: Ratchet, Ironhide, Emergency Green Ratchet, Sky Lynx, Skywarp & Thundercracker, Trailbreaker, Cassette Big Mission 3, and Gadep. The quality has been great. And are you actually saying you prefer stickers over tampographed details?
Never held a Blaster in my hand, but from the pic I could see something was wrong! Man I bought one from TFSource, it was like 85$, I hope I won't be utterly dissapointed. I never had a Blaster so I might still like it once I get it on my hand,
I bought one as a replacement for my worn-out, incomplete, outer space sticker-covered G1 Blaster that I recently found after missing it for over a decade. I'm not disappointed at all. I like the light grey with metallic flecks in it, and the red and yellow plastic is close enough to the original. Three cassettes plus Blaster for $50 is a good deal, in my opinion. Maybe I just really like it because it's complete, stable, in mint condition, and has Autobot cassettes and not just a beat-up Frenzy, unlike my old G1 version. I guess nostalgia factor is part of it, but I don't have any complaints about this reissue. The packaging is great, too; I'm glad I bought a second to keep MISB. I think this was worth the money.
I love it. Doesn't feel cheap at all to me next to my G1 original. My only issues are that the shoulders do seem a little more split than I would have liked, and also the shotty sticker application. I really wish we could apply the stickers ourselves. Tapes are tight, and the few stickers on mine were applied well. It is nice to finally have a few more tapes for Blaster, and one that doesn't have a broken tapedeck. For $50, I think it is a pretty damn good price for a nice piece.
I received my Blaster re-issue on 8/7. I'll keep it MISB for now, will eventually open the box soon to display.
bought one for MISB to sit next to SDCC soundwave....and one to open...placed next to ehobby twincast...joints and appearance are same except for the split shoulder complaint...joints and transformation wise are identical...tight good joints...when looking at the tape door inside...there is a good 1/2 inch still avaliable when a tape is inside...so it does not look like the first blaster mold door...because i thought i remembered the tape sitting snug inside there...in the SDCC blaster door there is more space almost like they had to redo the door from the two tape door down to a one tape door? does anyone have a g1 blaster to look at the doors opened side by side with a tape inside to see if they are the same? anyway for $50 plus shipping....worth it definitely....wished you got all four tapes...but they probably had to cut one to get within that price point since he is alot larger than soundwave....
I got mine a few days ago, and overall I'm happy with it. The only gripe I have is that the Autobot insignia on mine is crooked. Is there a way to fix that without trashing the sticker?
Awesome review for a first time. Could somebody tell me however how you search for something on TFW, if be very grateful. Please PM me the answer
I never had 80's Blaster as a kid so to me this is completely new. Over all I'm very happy with it. Sure it's not perfect, but I'm sure it's better than a KO'd Blaster. Point is, it's a nice figure to add to the collection. I have nothing to complain about on this one.
Received mine today! Plastic might look cheap at first, but don't feel like it in hand. Got a weird one though, lots of small scuff everywhere, like surface to surface wear or something. But you have to look for them, it don't jump out. Also the cassettes I got are so-so in quality. Stealjaw have the tampo badly crooked (especilly on the head part) and one of his gold weapon don't shine like the other, a bit foggy. Eject got a smeared emblem of the chest, and the plastic behind his neck is cracked. Oh well, pretty high price for something of this quality, but it's still my first G1 Blaster, so at least it's a brand new figure for me
