Wolves are fascinating and mysterious creatures. Throughout history, they’ve had an air of mysticism and horror about them in many different cultures. They are animals of incredible strength and fierce survival instincts. From their nurturing ways to their wild spirits, wolves are possibly nature’s perfect beast. All of this I believe is perfectly encapsulated and captured in the great Pretender Beast, Carnivac.


Continuing my series on Pretenders, we move on to this majestic specimen. Carnivac was 1-of-2 Pretenders I owned as a kid, the other being Landmine, and this beautiful beast was and still is an absolute dream. It’s so awesome to have reacquired them both, complete and in good condition.


Carnivac always had such an amazing look. Certain color choices may have been a bit eccentric but I always thought they added to his mystique. Bright colors are associated with nobility and the blue tail and shoulder armor spikes make Carnivac’s shell look really powerful. Add to that the black harness with the armor on the back, his mounted weapon, the glaring magenta of his eyes, and his huge bared teeth, and the beast shell of Carnivac is incredibly intimidating. I always thought the shell was the best part of this figure. That’s not to say the inner robot is any slouch, just a bit more subdued.


Carnivac’s inner robot retains the form of the wolf. The purple cowl and wolf’s head colors match that of the armor on the back of the shell. The golden brown blaster matches the lower jaw and rear of the wolf-bot. The tail and wolf forelegs though are a very deep and darker shade of blue than what’s displayed on the shell. It’s a very striking contrast that is quite pleasing. I believe this contrast also shows the dichotomy between the inner robot and the Pretender shell.


Carnivac’s shell puts on full display the fierce nature of this troubled warrior. Carnivac has been known to side with the Autobots in multiple continuities of the franchise. Yet, from what I’ve gleaned, he has never been able to fully reconcile his wild nature and never fully joins the Autobots. And while the beast shell appears untamed, the inner robot appears more reserved and honorable. The muted, yet still regal, colors actually give off a very peaceful vibe. The way the robot’s body and head is tilted shows humility and respect to his enemies. The placement of his lower jaw as the chest piece, the upper jaw giving him an awesome hood, and his bulky limbs still display his power though.


Yet both forms aptly display the fact that Carnivac is a warrior to be reckoned with.

Carnivac is a truly fascinating character and toy. The inner turmoil and honorable nature of this noble warrior is a perfect mirror to the legends and mystique of the wolf. And knowing all this about the character now, looking back in retrospect, the toy is a perfect representation of the source material. That’s not why I liked Carnivac back then. What 13/14-year old thinks about that sort of thing? I just thought he looked badass. But as an adult with a new understanding of the character, it makes me enjoy and love this figure even more.

 

Wait so I have the Diaclone versions of these and the red mini-spy, and you're all about the official TF releases? When did that happen? Haha. We swapped.

 

Haha yeah, if you think about it, we've probably been moving in opposite directions for years. I started off (relative term) buying mostly Diaclone, MC and early G1 variants - as a result I missed out on collecting 99% of what you'd call standard western Hasbro G1 (still never owned a Blaster, Menasor, Octane etc etc). As a result, that's the kind of stuff I'll look to buy today as opposed to rarities I used to have or cannot justify financially. And honestly, it;s been amazing. To think there are still discoveries to be made buried deep within 'standard' G1 toys like Tracks and Sunstreaker - even if it is sticker-related - really works as an inspiration and motivator for me to continue.

All the best
Maz

 

I was quite lucky, as I hit my original goal of all G1 movie cast about 20 years ago shortly after meeting Hitch, so it's all been expanding outwards from that ever since. All 84-88 UK releases. G2. Action Masters. Japanese stuff. Diaclone. All Euro. Brave. Finally Pretenders. Honestly I have more than I ever thought I'd have or ever thought I'd be able to afford, but at the same time I'm very close to done. 6 US Pretenders, Metalhawk, Big Powered and I have G1 mold completion. Then it's optional repaint time.

Enjoying vintage MASK and TMNT at the moment, Star Wars Retro, and really interested in the Masters of the WWE Universe stuff if anyone ever stocks it in the UK.

 

Got a set of mint, original vintage Missiles and rifle for my Toys R Us Comemmorative Bluestreak to replace the flat black stuff he came with, makes a WORLD of difference.

 

I've thought about doing that myself, but I think I still prefer the black gun. I love the shinny missiles though.

 

An old photo of G1 Optimus Prime and its reissues/redecos.

 

I always wanted this one and Overload but never got a chance to pick them up as a kid, Erector (Big hit with the ladies, certainly made my wife laugh too) I found him on Ebay £7.50 and £2.50 postage, then the seller made me an offer of £6.50 I then offered him £5 not expecting him to accept but blown away that he did! He is missing his crane arm but tbh I could custom build one if needs be. Luckily the small parcel survived being squished through the letter box

 

I did the exact thing.  

 

I don't what it is about him, but Crapple is glorious.

 

You could repurpose him as Artfire.



The sad thing is that Ironhide is the newest figure among them being the Encore reissue.

 

Cannot remember When and where I got this little guy.

 

In my experience (all of 2 weeks) searching for them wherever I can, they turn up in all sorts of toy lots, TF and otherwise.

All the best
Maz

 

An old photo of G1 Takara reissued Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus and their redecos

 

One of my latest acquirements is a new one for me. I’m rediscovering the thrill of playing with G1 figures that I never had when I was younger. It really is a bit of a rush. Continuing in the later vein of the franchise with another Pretender Beast, one of my favorite forest animals, the great bear Chainclaw.

And he’s a hefty beast-bot. Not in the sense that he’s heavy, but Chainclaw’s Pretender shell is very well molded and sculpted to make him look like a massive grizzly. The sculpted fur looks voluminous without hiding the huge haunches he’s got. You can still see the contour of his powerful shoulders bearing the weight of the harness and armor on his back. I wish his claws were picked out with paint, but you can still make out the outline of them on his giant paws. His helmet allows his fierce yellow eyes to blaze through as he snarls.

Taking off the awesome spiked helmet, you can see better his headsculpt. Again, more paint would’ve been nice to distinguish the ears and nose a bit, but it’s still very amazingly intimidating. Chainclaw has a very broad and pronounced snout, teeth bared back to the gum line, and a hint of a scar going over his eye (maybe); this bear is a beefcake. And just like Carnivac, this is a case where the packaging looks better than what’s inside.


A bright contrast to the outer shell, Chainclaw’s inner robot is actually a nice shade of yellow. Not as obnoxious as I thought it would be. He has a more generic G1 look to him compared to Carnivac, but in hand it’s not bad.


Chainclaw’s inner robot isn’t terrible, but still leaves a bit to be desired. Not nearly as noticeable as Carnivac’s inner robot, Chainclaw is much plainer in comparison. He’s a solid G1 robot, don’t get me wrong, but the inner robot could’ve used a lot more color like on the shell. I like the yellow, it’s not too bright, but this is a case where I would’ve liked to see something besides grey to contrast. I think a brown color like the shell’s fur would’ve worked better. And the green paint on the face is just awful. It just looks like it was splotched on and it does nothing to show the face details. I like the animal mode better. That splash of orange looks really good on the visor, which would’ve looked nice in robot mode too if he had the brown limbs to go with it.


Arming him up helps. Animal mode is a bit more dynamic, you can get him in a decent stalking pose. Chainclaw is still a fun little robot, just needed different colors to make him pop more.

I really like Chainclaw overall. He’s not as striking a figure as Carnivac, but he’s still got a strong presence to him. That’s about all you can expect from a bear. That’s all you NEED to expect from a bear. I wouldn’t want to run into one in the middle of the woods. I’m not sure playing dead would work. If it’s a bear like Chainclaw though I’ll just ask him to come home with me because despite his faults, he’s just really fun.

 

I got a pretty great birthday present this year- Transformers Trainbots/Raiden and Decepticon Breastforce/Liokaiser! Kind of takes some of the sting out of feeling old.


I can’t really combine the trains into Raiden because I don’t have any of the extra pieces to do so.


Liokaiser on the other hand, I can combine! The alt mode to robot transformation is pretty simple, as with most G1. The transformation to combine them into Liokaiser is actually a lot of fun though!


I’m not sure how much I’ll combine them though, as I’ve heard horror stores about the gold plastic syndrome on Killbison.


Liokaiser is missing the Breastforce animals, and the weapons for Jarugā and Killbison are reproductions, but otherwise, it seems to be in pretty nice shape!


I’ve actually ordered reproduction boxes for both sets too, so I can display them in the box. I’ll post some pics of them, once I get them.


One other thing about Liokaiser that impressed me is how much bigger each of the vehicles are compared to most of the other G1 combiners. I knew they weren’t scramble city style combiners, but I figured they were probably comparable in size. But they’re considerably bigger than the limb bots from the scramble city type combiners.

 

I have this weird recollection that the gap at the rear of the van mode for the Ironhide/Ratchet mold actually served some purpose back their Diaclone days, but I can't for my life remember what it could've been. Any help here, or am I just imagining things?

 

I'll jump in on the Mini-spy love! Here are the few I have

 

An old photo of G1 Takara Reissued Starscream and its redecos