Power Rangers Dino Fury Basic Figure Wave 3 review

Power Rangers toy distribution sucks these days! Why is it easier to obtain the Lightning Collection than the mainline stuff?! I had to wait for these toys to pop up on Amazon and be sold at various prices, most of which are not consistent with what they intended. If you ask me, it's not fun in the slightest to catch up with them. That said, we've gotten ourselves 3 power ups and a troopbuilder in the form of the Hengeman. I'm surprised that we haven't been given that much marketing to the power ups compared to the second half of Beast Morphers, and it appears that the same applies to the promo art only showing the Red Ranger's Dino Knight mode being represented in contrast. This may be in reference to Dino Fury originally being a one-season wonder before it expanded to having 2 seasons given how transitionary things are from Saban Brands to Hasbro. But setting all of that aside, let's take a look at the figures in-hand!

Here are the four keys we have. You may already have these if you own the standard modes of the characters with a few differences here and here. Only the Hengeman's new, and he has the same sound effects as Void Knight's key.

For those wondering if there are any differences between these and the previous version in terms of the Rangers, I can only say that the Red Ranger key has fewer paint apps. I am not too big of a fan of these keys, and while people would say that the Ryusouls are the better versions, I'd agree had it not been for me both not giving a rat's ass on these collectibles in general as well as the Megazords having the best keys due to the articulated necks.

Here is the Dino Knight Red Ranger in-hand. He may not have the gorgeous metallic red paint applied on every part of him that's red, but he still looks amazing nonetheless. Max Ryusoul's such an amazing upgrade to the Red Ranger design, and it's no secret that dino-themed Red Rangers get radical upgrades. We've seen subtle ones for MMPR Red with the Dragon Shield and Dino Thunder Red with the Triassic mode, and within a close timespan, both Dino teams Charge and Fury have a striking appearance for their upgrades, and I'd say that this guy takes the cake with how knightlike it is. And hey, the name makes for a good compensation for anyone still mad that the show's not called Dino Knights. The onky real complaint is that the back of the knees should have some black paint since that's where the spandex mostly lies underneath the armor plating. Beyond that, I'm loving this version of the figure. Even his morpher is gold, which might be inaccurate but is still better than unpainted gray.

The helmet sculpt is an appropriately more aggressive version of the standard helmet that the suit already has. It's got some slightly misaligned placement for most of the paint apps, but at least it's not too severe compared to what would upset fans more in the Lightning Collection. His articulation has the standard ball-jointed neck, swivels for the shoulders and hips, secondary swivels for where the elbows and knees connect, and hinges for the elbows and knees proper. He has the Dino Knight Morpher as his sole accessory, which amusingly makes the second time a Red Ranger has a claw weapon for a Battlizer (though in the case of Beast Morphers, the Cheetah Claw is an American-exclusive weapon). Next to the original Dino Fury Red Ranger, it's quite clear that these two are not the exact same in terms of tooling, as the armor is all newly made for the Dino Knight mode in contrast to just having the parts added on the base figure like with Beast Morphers (though to be fair, they did retool the legs and some of the weapons).

Next up, we have the Dino Fury Green Ranger with the Sprint Sleeve. The figure is the same as with the original Dino Fury Green Ranger that came in a 5-pack last year, with her right arm being replaced with said sleeve armor. Gone is the regular green arm with a newly sculpted arm with a shoulder pad with a sticker to signify the upgraded she is wearing. I also have to say how neat it is to have a female Ranger without the skirt since that is quite rare apart from MMPR Yellow and any of the male Sentai turned female for PR (though I'm surprised that a basic MMPR Yellow wasn't made back in 2020!). The figure's proportions are still feminine in contrast to the male body, and it's more noticeable withotu the skirt when you look at her hips, yet it's much more natural than the unrealistic appearances of the Bandai females. The arm being gold is mostly accurate, though there should be some black under the sleeve, and her hand being green, yet at least the gold paint on the outer part of the armor helps make it pop a little more, and the blue eyes are a bonus.

Head sculpt is the same as the case for the regular Green Ranger helmet, with all of the right paint apps applied and their alignment being as good as they possibly can (then again more surface on the visor for Green than Red). Her articulation is the same apart from the shoulder spike inhibiting the outward movement of the shoulder. Her sole accessory is the Chromafury Saber, which is now molded in black plastic and has a silver painted blade. Not the best, but certainly more preferable than the dull gray weapon that Void Knight came with. I did kind of hope we'd get some custom weapons for her and Black, but that appears to not be the case. Shame because I did kind of dig the original weapons each Ranger has.

From there, it's her brother, the Black Ranger with the Shield Sleeve. Much like the Green Ranger, his right arm has been replaced with a newly sculpted one to depict the power up he receives from using the shield key. And it's got a rather jewel-like appearance on his arm if I'm being honest. I mean, it's not shiny or translucent but you get what I mean, right? Like the Green Ranger, his arms is colored differently from the rest of his body, and once again I kind of wish there was some paint that can break up the mostly blue arm.

Head sculpt is once again the same as the regular version, though my copy has some misaligned paint apps for the dino eyes which is pretty stupid. Apart from that his articulation and accessory are the same as his sister.

And finally, we have the Hengeman. After a strange absence of troopbuilders last year, we finally have one! And I'm quite happy to have this guy! I mean, it's rare that I have excitement for troopbuilders, but the Hengemen look pretty awesome with how much they remind me of guards, chess pieces, and having an origin of being good before Void Knight corrupted them in the present. The paint apps are thankfully applied well and crisp in addition to that, though I do not know why there is a hole on the back (assuming this was a flight stand sort of thing).

Head sculpt is very accurate to the on screen prop, and I appreciate that the black lines don't look like they're misaligned or sloppy when applied onto the head, though it does look a little dirty; almost like an unintentional drybrush. Some may find the grey plastic a little cheaper in terms of visuals, but I think it's not the weakest aspect of this toy. The articulation is the same as with every other figure in the wave, including outward leg movement! Yes, Hengeman has outward leg movement, which is something that every Beast Morphers villain and Dino Fury's very own Boomtower lacked! It's great that Hasbro went back and rectified this mistake. The weapons aren't anything too special. One's a staff and one's a shield with a subtle checkerboard pattern that does better reference the villains' chess elements.

Overall, this wave is not too shabby. Certainly great to have a newly sculpted Red Ranger with the Battlizer while the other Rangers get a mass retail release and new power ups to boot. The foot soldier getting enhanced leg articulation makes things even better! This wave is one I would recommend you get if you can somehow tackle the stupid ass lack of stock because these are harder to obtain than Lightning Collection somehow. I wish I was making that up.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Flame Toys Windblade review

Windblade is one of the most utilized-new characters in the Transformers franchise, having been added in G1, the Aligned continuity, and Cyberverse. having a unique character design combined with a Japanese influence makes her stand out from plenty of other characters. After the Thrilling 30 toy, she's popped up in the RID 15 line, has only two major Cyberverse offerings despite being the main character, and in-between those events received a Titans Return figure that's got twin swords and is described by my friend Illiniguy34 as "thicc in the right places". However, she hasn't received any new merchandise after Cyberverse, which makes you wonder if Hasbro is planning to use her character again. Still, Flame Toys stepped in with a model kit that was initially the center of controversy by the bird app because of its proportions, with fights that involved big-name TF fans who look kinda ugly, anime PFPs that are from modern entries which are forgettable, and political channels that usually churn out more videos than they do spend time with friends and family. Me? I wanted to get this figure since I was initially struggling to find a good Windblade toy after Titans Return got expensive on the aftermarket, and we now have her based on the improved second prototype with more proportionate wings! Let's give Flame Toys Windblade a review!

Here is Windblade in her disassembled, sprue kit state. You have 6 bags dedicated to a majority of the robot mode, with one of them being for the weapons and other clear parts and another for her face. The seventh bag actually has the instructions and sticker sheet like a Lego set, only not folded in half in-box. And what about the assembly, you might ask? It's certainly a lot longer than I expected. I've never assembled model kits with part counts like this, as my experience came from a Speed Racer set that was much easier, a Construct-Bots Shockwave that was moreso just a beginner's model kit, and various Lego sets that were on the generally easy. This Windblade model kit required you go to the right sprue tree and find the right piece with the right designation code, much like with Gundams and the like. Some pieces do require that you actually glue them in place, most notably the parts that go underneath the chest of the torso. With some clippers and having the pieces splayed out in the right spots, it was not an issue for me when it comes to the assembly. However, I am NOT a fan of the set's stickers. It seems like of late, Transformers and stickers are not on good terms. I mean, we just had to deal with the garbage ones from Titans Return and Power of the Primes, and while they are better with Generations Selects Galvatron, they aren't 100% perfect. I was hoping these stickers would be as good as what Toyhax has to offer with their Reprolabels, but while some were fine, like the ones used for the wings and the red on the torso, the rest don't fare so well; their size combined with the small space within the crevises doesn't make it that easy to work with, and one of them actually peeled off incorrectly. They said you can paint the kit if you want, and seeing it in the stock images makes me wish that was the case already! 

But anyways, we have Windblade in-hand, and she certainly anatomically correct compared to other versions of the character made since 2014. While she's got a much more humanoid design thanks to the designer, who apparently worked on some NSFW statues, this figure still captures an essence of the character Windblade has, what with the warrior motif as well as the Japanese culture (though she comes off as more of a cyborg-like being because of how organic she looks). The proportions are curvy and feminine, even more so than in her traditional design. The colors are still present, with red and black being prominent while she receives both blue and gold accents here and there. If I'm being honest, I'd rather the gold parts used for the elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles be a different color; I'm guessing they were used since the materials they're made of would better adhere to the articulation, and speaking of, the materials are good overall, though the wing tips feel a little sharper than I'm used to. Her wings look decent, and while smaller than they normally would be, look much better than the Heimlich wings she got in the first prototype. And she even has her cockpit on the back. And while people complained about her butt looking very organic, I don't personally see it because of how broken up it looks. I will say that her feel should probably lay flat for both the toes and the heels.

The headsculpt is nicely done despite being made from other pieces, though I do find this doll-like face rather uncanny. I doubt the guy who made this figure would have thought of it, but I'd like to see some alternate faces that better capture a more determined or peaceful expression since this blank stare doesn't really fit most of the poses you'd put her in (what those poses are varies depending on who you are). But I am happy that the eyes are clear and as somewhat light-piped. And as for the articulation, you have a ball-jointed head, a neck hinge, front and back shoulder movement, in and out as well, butterfly joints, bicep swivels, elbow bends that nearly reach 90 degrees, wrist joints that swivel on the peg and ball joints so you can switch them for either inward-outward movement or up and down movement. There are two torso joints connecting the stomach and upper bust. The hips can move front and back on two joints, in and out on hinges made from the pegs of the hips, thigh swivels, deep knee bends, and ankles that hinge up and down and rock side to side. There is toe articulation but it doesn't feel like it remains flat when standing still. Even the wings articulate, via swiveling up and down and hinging in and out.

It's quite an amazing level of articulation that this toy comes with, from the joints normally found on regular Transformers to ones you'd find on more collector-friendly options. And while she's great to pose compared to the average Transformer, her feet don't make it easy to have her stand; a figure stand is needed for some of those poses (as we'll get to). In addition to her feet being an issue, she does feel lighter than the normal Voyager-scale figure, which is usually common with model kits, though that comes from the pieces being thin to allow the quantity of them to combine into a quality figure. And her sword looks quite nice, too. I especially like how the blade has a fade from clear to purple in some areas.

You have an extra sword that I believe is supposed to be a spare if the first one breaks, but why save it for later when you can have her dual-wield her swords?! This makes for a sorta-kinda Aligned reference, specifically RID 2015 (which probably inspired the Titans Return toy). She is also using the Hasbro flight stand that came with The Foundation, though I'm not sure if the tight springs of the claws make it a suitable stand for this figure. For a size comparison, she is around the same Voyager height comparable to that of MPM Bumblebee. I'd say this trio makes for an awesome team that needs to be made in canon, though I can almost imagine this Windblade being friends with Movie Bumblebee a la Cyberverse. So overall, this model kit for Windblade is pretty neat to have if you're interested in spicing things up for your collection, but while I find the hatred towards it to be pretty annoying, I will admit I am disappointed that the figure doesn't have that same level of sheen for the parts, though maybe I can paint those if I get the chance to do so assuming it's possible while assembled.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Vintage Beast Wars Cybershark review

The Vintage Beast Wars line initially seemed to focus on having characters that appeared in the show, which turned out to not be the case as seen with the release of Cybershark and the upcoming Wolfang. Some may find Cybershark an unusual release if we would more likely get Rhinox, Dinobot, or Waspinator, but I guess Hasbro felt this guy would be neat to take advantage of if there is a bit of variety they want to achieve. So with all that said, let's take a look at Cybershark!

Here is Cybershark in his beast mode. A hammerhead shark in this instance, it captures the anatomy and details quite well. The spotty pattern on the top is nicely made, and the fade to the exposed underside is decently done but not as seamless as the older version (I presume). In fact, the fade effect is not the same as it was for the original figure. His eye could be better painted, though. The jaw doesn't articulate but the fins can move around on ball joints.

There is partsforming involved in the transformation, as the tail comes off the hand and the head launches from the spring-loaded missile launcher. And now I just realized this side does the gradual fade better than the other side previously shown. But yes the partsforming is not something that will win everyone over, and I can see why with the tail and head both serving as crucial parts of the robot mode. The head can be left on the robot mode but it's not going to look that great.

Transformation is otherwise somewhat shellformery, with the sides of the shell serving as wing-like design traits that have red flesh coloring on the inside, likely as a distraction from the rest of the angles having the shellformer aspect to him. At the very least, what remains of the shark head can stay in robot mode as a normal design trait. Said robot mode looks alright for the Beast Wars line-up. It's hard to review figures like Cybershark without having any comparison to modern reinterpretations or a cartoon model as he was never in the show, with the closest being the crude commercial model from when he was with Inferno or his Japanese package art that emulates the CGI of the show. Without the hammerhead on the chest, his robot mode proportions are a little more normal.

Head sculpt is pretty ferocious for a Maximal, but that is part of the theme for the 90s when it came to them being more extreme. His mouth is painted white for the teeth with black diamonds added in the back to simulate the mouth's inside, though it kind of reminds me of the MMPR suits. Squint and the paint apps don't quite line up with the sculpting; that's something I'm not sure if the original version did better. And yeah, this guy did become the basis for Sky-Byte because his Transmetal toy literally became Sky-Byte. Anyways he has articulation for the head, shoulders, and hips on ball joints while his biceps and thighs are on swivels and his elbows and knees are on hinges. His hammerhead can be handheld as a weapon while a tail can be turned into a claw-like weapon.

The missiles can also be removed from the back and serve as a chest missile which makes him more like Warpath. Look closely and even they have shark details added to them.

As far as reuses are concerned, we have retools that deviate immensely from his original tooling. First, we got a Hellscream retool that looks like a kid stuck lego parts on an inflatable shark toy. Hellscream is basically BWII Starscream retooled as such during a revival gone wrong, or something along those lines. It's a batshit crazy deviation overall.

After that, we have Overbite, who is the G1 Pirhanacon using this mold. From here has fewer paint apps for the mechanical parts than with Hellscream and came in a two-pack with a Repugnus, who was a repaint of Fuzor Buzzclaw.

And finally, we get a more straightforward retool that now has him as a sawshark. his beast mode head, robot head, fins, and tail are retooled for this guy, and it just struck me that we never had a version of the mold that is a normal shark, though we do kind of get one for the Transmetal Cybershark figure, yet maybe save that for Sky-Byte.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Legacy Iguanus & Studio Series 86 Exosuit Spike review

Crossover time! Iguanus makes a surprise appearance in the Generations line as part of the Core Class size while the Exosuit returns once more after previously being accessories to Core Class Bumblebee and then Leader Class Slag (the latter including Daniel). Many were not expecting them to pop up in any way, shape, or form after what has been a pretty busy trilogy of WFC, then Studio Series 86, and now Legacy combined with Buzzworthy Bumblebee, yet these two refuse to be drowned out in spite of being pocket-sized Transformers. Now it's time to see what these two are all about with Legacy giving us the only Core Class figure in the series so far to not be a repaint or a repack, and what may be the best version or Exosuit Spike yet!

Here is Iguanus in-hand, depicting himself as a more refined take of his G1 toy, which is the inner robot's alternate mode. While the original toy looked kind of nondescriptive, this guy at least tries to make the most out of the Core Class engineering with more parts to make the figure look better in vehicle mode at the best of its ability. If anything, we get the integration of the robot mode shell as seen with the arms, legs, and the tail on the back. It's a little weirdly done with the way the parts result in Iguanus doing a weird yoga pose, but it at least has more substance than the old toy.

The weapon can be placed on the top if you want some weird cannon accessory for more firepower of some kind.

Transformation is surprisingly more involved than I expected, from the way the wheels moved around on the back to the waist swivel combined with the rotation of the lower legs and the ankle pivots. The robot mode captures the Pretender shell nicely, but without the toyetic look that made it look stationary by comparison. The figure is designed to look more robotic this time around, owing to the new look he has. New to the robot mode are the wheels on the back, which help him look more like a proper Transformer. More bronze is revealed in this mode.

Head sculpt is okay, it may use some paint apps here and there apart from the yellow eyes but it does the job alright apart with the sculpted details. His articulation consists of ball joints for the head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles with a normal waist swivel. His nondescript weapon can be held with a 3mm handle. A little weird here and there but he is awesome.

Let's quickly go over Skywarp. This guy is a repaint of last year's Starscream in the beautiful black, silver, and purple color combo. He looks better than Starscream, obviously. While his ball joints are a little looser and one horizontal tailfin comes off a little too easily, he is just about perfect...

...yet one glaring issue arises. His null-rays are inexplicably replaced with a fork weapon! If you want to, you can buy 3D printed black or purple null rays for Skywarp from TF Lab here.

With the first wave of Core Class figures completed as I bring in Hot Rod (who was previously released in Kingdom), you can tell how unique this trio is: Skywarp's a repaint, Hot Rod's a transitional toy, and Iguanus is a new mold made for Legacy in mind the most. Now what if I told you there's a bit of play pattern with these three?

The combined sword has Hot Rod's sword as the blade, Iguanus's...thing as the hilt and Skywarp's fork as the handle. The resulting sword looks a little unwieldy in terms of coherency, but it is otherwise something I didn't expect even though Hot Rod had the sword in his box art. So yeah, these Core guys are great, even if one has a slightly underpainted face, another is missing null rays, and Hot Rod is cool despite being a little clunky.

Here is Exosuit Spike Witwicky in the transport mode, which is pretty unique from G1 but I'll admit doesn't have much in terms of describing what it's actually supposed to be. It's basically the suit faceplanting and with the wheels helping it roll while the forearms are now thrusters. At the very least, the dome can swivel while the head can't look up. It rolls decently, too.

Now the thing that surprised me is that he comes with effect pieces that add to the illusion of him zooming with these in the 3mm nubs. I didn't expect this because the Studio Series line is devoid of effect pieces apart from Hot Rod and Scourge. These are actually hidden inside a tissue that the package comes with since Hasbro wants to go green and use less plastic for the package.

For a transport mode comparison, here he is with the other offerings that came with SS86 Slaug and Core Class Bumblebee in the Buzzworthy line. You can tell that the former is just a proposed figure attempting the mode while the other does have the altmode though not exactly 1:1 to how it should be in the series. Also, the colors are much more accurate on the 

Transformation is quite involved, actually, especially with the way the arms work, You have to make sure the wheels are in the back while the arms are repositioned to look as though he's bending them at the elbows at 90 degrees, as part of the design. Thankfully, no annoying quality control issues exist as we saw with the Masterpiece version that came with the first version of Bumblebee. The mech mode is undeniable in terms of who it's supposed to represent, and the paint apps that one would expect are there and help make the toy look a little less like it's associated with the colors of a bathroom. The chest looks like a goofy C-3PO face while the back has some surprise sculpted details like the thrusters on the back. Also there is a reason why there is a lever in the back.

Head sculpt is nondescript though they tried at this scale. At least the hair is painted. His articulation is a little different than the others. His head is on a swivel from that lever, the shoulders move front and back from transformation as well as in and out on hinges instead of ball joints, elbow bends, forearm swivels, alternate weapon modes for the forearms with those effect pieces, ball-jointed hips and knees.

For a size comparison, here he is with the other Exosuits and Netflix WFC Bumblebee. I'm quite happy with how these this guy turned out! While I wasn't a big fan of the Exosuit in general, this Core Class figure changes my mind if you ask me. And Spike will look awesome with Bumblebee.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for each figure covered)