I really agree with this, the reason Im not excited about the BW line is that I have a fuckton of the originals and the original toys were actually pretty good, even though they're more than 20 years old

That said, the Kingdom line does look pretty good, I like the emphasis they've put on the beast modes

in other news, my ER smokescreen arrived today, and it's really cool. I can see why you all like this mould, and the paint really pops too. He wasnt a character I was a huge fan of but I really like this figure.

 

Glad it arrived safely! It's a cracking set but I'm literally building a massive display as it is! No idea where I'd even put the Lego that's on display in the workplace if it came to it lol

I was being really objective about Cheetor but there's barely an angle where you're not looking at glaring lines, kibble and random bits of blue that don't look stylish lol

TonTon's kidding himself if he thinks it looks way better than the MP.

 

Every reviewer who gets a hold of these leaks is always gushing about how brilliant the figures are. Which makes me wonder how much Hasbro has to do with these "leaks".

Other companies definitely have "leaks" as part of their marketing strategies

 

Yeah, some of the leaks are almost certainly part of their marketing strategy but the sheer volume of leaks that have happened lately makes me think they're not all intentional.

 

And Hasbro pisses lol

 

See I absolutely love beast wars and animated but for some reason feel no need for the toys of either. Can't wait for new beast wars fiction though and a crossover with g1 to boot is a win in my book.

Hoping for a target 2006 time travel sort of deal but I think I'll enjoy it regardless even if its similar quality to Netflix siege.

 

Beast Wars. I love it. I'll take no "lectures" on supporting the Brand, I bought pretty much every BW & Beast Machines toy when they originally came out in the 90s/00s. I've got every update since and the ludicrously expensive MPs too.

I've never taken part in the asinine "Trukk not Munkey" fuckwittery, I have no need to take a side when they are all the bloody same side. If others can't deal with that then that's on them.

But. I won't be buying Ratrap because it looks like they've done something bizarre with his shoulder articulation that will "offend" my OCD about such matters. I've already got plenty of RTs so it's not like I'm doing without.

Cheetor looks like a buy, others will be on the usual "if it looks good and moves good...." case by case basis. Beyond that, and what we choose to talk about in here it's nobodies fucking business what I choose to "support" or not. The fact this even has to be mentioned is a sad sign of how debate usually goes in various Threads outside of this one. Threads I choose not to waste electrons on anymore.

Let's not import ANY of that shit into here. Buy what you like, don't buy what you don't. Simple innit. Respect for all. Even Armada fans   



Today's arrivals. Honda O'Nackers and Yet Another Trooper. Standard fare for Star Wars but nicely done.

And an Iron Giant - as years pass my reverence for that film only increases. That I didn't buy the Toys for it when they originally came out is a source of constant kicks-to-self. Expensive kicks. That there are now a few figures trickling out for it is......an answered prayer. Thank you Diamond Selects.

Smokescreen. He's bloody great isn't he. Similar worries about the long term robustness of those lower legs, and the peg on wheels were done just to piss people off - people like me. Otherwise he's pretty much perfect. G1 Smokey is........done.

 

Yesterday at 02:50 ·
Sorry if you are still waiting for a response to your email. We are getting through them as fast as we can, and training starts for young Harry tonight when we end the usual day at 5pm, so there will be more than one of us who can answer them, and more will follow. I'm off now to work on my "people skills" (always accused of that when someone doesn't get their own way).

Due to an increase in abusive emails, we will no longer answer any very rude or abusive emails. It appears a number of sites are also seeing an increase in these types of email, and we have seen a number of posts on various groups, and we will no longer answer or tolerate it, and ban your I.P. address from the site.

We will also be updating our pre-order amend/cancellation policy in the near future, as its starting to get a bit "abused" at the moment, but more on that later.

Also, I was planning another scroll for our 2nd Black Series exclusive, and a bit of a tease, but all the fun is draining out of me as I work through the in box and I will probably just announce it hidden away in some text somewhere.

Anyway , that's enough of my woes, he are some of the most asked questions.

When will my pre-order be dispatched?

Please check items page for latest release information and estimated release dates. It is the latest information we have. Please refer to the site. We are inundated with emails asking when pre-orders will arrive. We get two days notice of delivery from Hasbro, and we will update the site pages with the latest information we have. Also remember, as per the red text on every pre-order page, we only ship orders when the entire order is in stock and ready to ship.

Can I add a figure to my pre-order or combine my orders?

- Unfortunately we currently unable to add to existing orders, or combine orders. Our systems do not currently allow it.

When will you ship my order? -

If all your items are in stock and the order is in the warehouse or preparing for dispatch, it will be shipped in due course (i.e. just as fast as we can). Due to world events, we have a back log at the moment and we working as quick as we can to ship orders.

I have seen xxx figure on the internet, will you be stocking it?

Under our terms of dealing with Hasbro, we are not allowed to comment on any item until it is on the site. Even if Hasbro have shown images of it. (For the life of me I cannot work out this policy, but it is as it is).

Do you deliver to "insert country name"

Please see shipping tab under information. If your country is not listed, unfortunately we do not currently ship to that country.


XXX figure has sold out. Will you be getting any more?

All sold out figures (pre-orders and released) have been reordered with Hasbro. In most cases, if they do not restock within a week, its unlikely more will be available in the short term.

When we lost the backlog I will remove these from the contact page, but for the time being they will hopefully help us out.

I've had to cancel pre-orders left and right because, as heavily implied here and elsewhere, Hasbro are thick.

But the release schedule for whatever you're collecting is insane now. McFarlane have made so many DC figures even Smyths are selling them for a tenner! Fortnite isn't just a title it's describing how they're released, NECA did a 'cash on ordering' $200 pre-order last night to go with all the other merch from the last two weeks, Mattel just put out two entire MOTU waves plus vehicles, and Hasbro were last seen drawing blood out of a stone... The short term greed doesn't even suit the companies if they had the wit to realise it!

But my reason for having to cancel stuff is usually the endless delays that goes with the batshit schedule. Nobody can keep paying £3+ postage so you bulk order only to watch Hasbro especially stock one vendor long before anyone else. How does Amazon with it's buying power and capability not have as much stock as it needs over a period of even 6 months? It's no wonder smaller e-tailers have to get in Hasbro's face so often.

Funnily enough, buying seriously expensive plastic means you want it sooner rather than later, but few can afford the outlay of separate orders at the rate required for a proper collection. That's not a dig at SAF, just the reality of it.

But like there's other randomness... Who's starting a new MOTU collection when everyone else is available bar He-Man and Skeletor? You'll likely never own all the Datsuns and Seekers unless you're laughably dedicated (not everybody operates like us!), so is that one you pre-ordered still worth it?

Oh, and lets not forget the 'safety' pre-order... Amazon are staggeringly unreliable but also your backup option because decades old companies can't get their shit together outside of a pandemic. Or how many times have we seen a single e-tailer get and sell all it's pre-order stock of an item, maybe even get a restock, when it's nearest rival is still waiting on that order you placed before the pandemic lol. When you're also doing safety orders from BBTS in America you're gonna have to cancel something somewhere!

Until the toy companies get a grip, adult collectors have to look after themselves as best they can, frankly. It's an insane investment currently in every sense!

 

Anyone after MTMTE Books 1-5? Basically the first arc, before it hits the big Dark Cybertron crossover? It's some top tier Transformers storytelling.

 

You should be able to access the label from the receipt they sent you.

SON OF A BITCH. Last time they were available I had no money, then, when I had money they were stupid expensive with no cheap preorders open, now they’re affordable again I HAVE NO MONEY. AAAAAAAAAGH.

That prick and the other Greg, Greg Horn, are my absolute no-no artists. If they’re involved I don’t buy it, not matter what it is. I absolutely loathe their ‘traced off something airbrushed on the side of a van’ aesthetic. I own one miniseries - Marvel’s Deadline - with Horn covers simply because there were no variants and the interiors were by Guy Davis. I fucking hate looking at them though. I ended up downloading the issues and editing the covers off so I didn’t have to look at them.

I remember having a conversation with someone who was about to write X-Men with Land on art and I said that although an usually follow their work, if Land is onboard them I’m not. Their reply strongly intimated that Marvel basically forced Land onto them. I also suspect that happened with Gillen’s Iron Man run too.



This absolute LAD arrived today. My copy has some yellow overspill from his horns that make him look like he has yellow eyeshadow on one eye but it’s too fiddly to fix without risking damaging the paint on his face and eye so I’ll leave it. Other than that though, YOWZA!!!



He’s so dynamic, and his transformation is so intuitive that he almost transforms himself!

Chromed his wheel rims and the tips of his shoulder launchers and I’m just waiting on them to dry.

 

Well, Ladies & Gents, I reckon that's pretty definitively a Junkion now!

Couldn't resist dipping a couple of his road bits - I even tried yellow but like @robotmel's it went a bit gold/toffee/caramac. Fortunately a further dipping in red got that nice rusty orange though, and making one of his lower leg panels the same burgundy as his thighs just seemed too right not to!
Now to find a decent grabber/scrapping claw!

Or a Burgertron & that Fries guy?

Higher difficulty level on sorting Spinister's fists with no pink bits to dip as a preview/test, once again got a wee bit dark but it is closer in purple to his own tones as opposed to Attempt 1 on Blackout-to-be there.


Happy enough to put 'em up...

Er, I mean put up with 'em!

 

"HELLO MY FRIENDS! Your favourite person, the great Hondo Ohnaka, has a proposition for you!"

 

Yup, eventually that link in the email worked. Eventually. And they didn't even email me the PDF like they said they would. Seriously annoying for anyone needing to forward it for printing, say.

I do wonder about that guy still being employed by Marvel/Disney, he's a lawsuit waiting to happen!

 

Personally I have no real interest in or nostalgia for Beast Wars but one thing that could get me to buy some is updated, less clunky, robot modes as I find that most of the ones I would have some interest in - Rampage & Transmetal Tarantulas mainly - have massively compromised original robot modes.

 

Just paid my invoice for the Quintesson Judge from Kapow! So that's nice  

 

Fings crossed that means ER Megs is coming in too, I gots some swapping to do!!!

 

I think the beast mode does a better job than the MP of tidying away the robot kibble particularly towards the back end but that's it.

Over to Transform Element or another 3rd party for a Legends scale take on the series 1 design.

Got a new Mandalorian t-shirt in the post today from Qwertee as they had one for £8.25 shipped in their latest sale.

Marvel Legends movie Domino will be here Monday and hoping Black Tom and Wheeljack arrive too!

 

GAH! Been dragged round town all day with the kids and now it's sold out  

 

Picked up Studio Series Cliffjumper last night from Smyths (One Topspin but with awful paint QC all over and no Blitzwing sadly) and honestly unlike Jeep Bee he’s really not as great.

I had high hopes that he’d be just as fun but he’s just clunky, doesn’t stand up because of the backpack kibble, the neck looks extremely strange and doesn’t sit flush because of his head sculpt, he’s fiddly and parts pop out of place easily and just looks a bit bland on top. He’s just a lump of red.

If you leave him in alt mode however he looks great. Bee will be receiving his blaster because they painted the barrel area silver for Cliffjumper.

If they make a Cybertron Bumblebee, the only reason I’d buy it would be to have a battle mask face for that mold so I can swap it out on Jeep Bee.

If it were any more than deluxe I’d take it back for a refund.  

I just also want to add that like the majority of him is translucent painted plastic including main tabs and hinges for alt mode! I can see him breaking very easily, especially the entire roof part which is all clear plastic.

 

Ooh, hopefully Smyths get theirs in soon too!