Transformers Masterpiece Movie MPM-12 Optimus Prime (Bumblebee) review

In a rather unusual twist, we started to get only one Masterpiece Movie figure per year instead of two. Granted, we had 3 in 2018, but that was due to VW Bumblebee being rushed out which meant that Ironhide didn't get to be refined in time as shown with his unstable chest. While the 2020 MPM offerings were pretty solid with some minor problems here and there (Ratchet's chest fenders and Starscream's lack of bicep swivels), it looks like there was initially no hope for the MPM line starting with 2021. Of course, budget constraints to have these in Target prevent some figures from being as perfect as they could be. While some have been able to turn out pretty well in terms of accuracy or engineering, two figures haven't been as lucky when it comes to the movie accuracy; and both were from the Bumblebee movie. In spite of his inaccurate robot mode, I'd argue Bumblebee manages to be fairly decent. As for Optimus Prime, however, it's a different story...

Here is Optimus Prime in his vehicle mode. Yes, this is what it's supposed to look like. It's not mistransformed, it's not experiencing any design flaws, this is the intended transformation for the alternate mode. This has got to be the worst example of a G1 truck mode I have ever seen in recent years, and it's not like it's got a gimmick involved that benefits the robot mode, or there was a size limitation that keeps it from being refined. This truck mode has been revisited since 1984, and while Ultimate Battle and Hybrid Style Primes both have shitty truck modes, this is by far the worst I have ever seen for a truck mode when compared to many other versions of the flat nose cab. And sure, people can say that this is a Movie design which is more complicated, but as you'll see, that's bullshit. I'll give it credit that the paint apps are nicely applied on the figure, and the blue windows look lovely in addition to the grill being painted silver. The fade on the white stripe is a little awkward given how it's only on the corners, but that may just be me. Speaking of unusual paint app logic. some may find the Autobot insignias in the wrong spots given how that's more commonly expected to be in the spot where the shoulders would lie, but those silver pipes under the insignias are left unpainted on the bottom part. But the paint apps aren't the problems of this toy; the truck mode can only look passable from one specific angle because you have the cat ears, the broken-up gaps for the side profile, and the exposed robot thighs which are normally passable for a smaller figure but are embarrassing for a figure this size. The truck mode isn't even accurate to the movie on the front; it looked more like the Freightliner that he took the form of while this feels more like a weird amalgamation of it and the Marmon 97 that Optimus took the form of in Age of Extinction. And people can say that the cat ears can be folded away, but nope, they're molded to stay like that. How much money are they saving by not including the hinges for that?

I know the truck mode is trying to replicate the back section of the original truck mode, but while I want to remain objective and set aside my own thoughts on that truck mode, I want to instead comment on why this fails to work as intended: With how most of the robot parts are moreso made for that mode, there is no proper flow nor additional engineering to make the back section look convincing to a real-life model. I'm not expecting it to have the back chunks of legs that Primes tend to have, but at least make it look more smoothly done than it currently is! The bottoms of the feet have that idea in the right mind, and it is apparently compatible with the trailer of MP-44 (which I don't have). And as far as die-cast parts are concerned, I can only say that those gas tanks are made of die-cast.

The gun stores on the back of the truck mode and not in the most convenient way. Sure, figures like MPM-4 Optimus and -11 Ratchet have their guns sticking out on the back but at least they try to pass off as vague weapon modes. I can see them trying to fit this in a method similar to MP-10 Prime's gun, but the difference is that it actually had a spot to be stored in while ALSO having the space necessary thanks to its smaller size. This would probably work better if it was stored underneath the vehicle mode. Alas, it is not the case.

I normally don't compare vehicle modes between Studio Series and MPM, but when you think of the current state of the truck mode, it has to be said that the $30 manages to have a much better truck mode than the so-called Masterpiece Movie figure. The proportions are much more accurate to a proper truck, there are no gaps in the truck that keep it from looking broken up, and the back section, while still representing the fifth wheel that is normally found on the back of the truck mode, actually looks realistic to a real vehicle! Sure, the truck mode is closer to the Evasion truck and not the G1-accurate Peterbilt, but I think it looks much better in terms of execution than the new toy does.

And here he is with the Volkswagon Beetle version of Bumblebee from the same line. It's quite amusing that the smaller toy has the superior vehicle mode while the larger toy with a bigger budget doesn't look like it has said budget. If anything, it should be no surprise that this guy has none of the same levels of engineering that the other figures had. You can argue that they were held back compared to the G1 Masterpieces, but they weren't as severe as this! This truck mode shouldn't be hard to get right at a Leader scale, and they messed it up so bad!

The figure can actually be partially transformed to have the arms and head in their spots, and it reminds me of the transitional toys that the Cyberverse line had in place of Legends scale toys. Remember how stupid those were in an otherwise mostly decent line? Well, you can recreate that with this guy! Fun, huh? Well, if you have a Movie Trilogy Optimus of some kind, you can easily place him on top so he can roll on him like a skateboard! Tony Hawk, eat your heart out.

Transformation is pretty simple for this guy, as it's more or less identical to the Studio Series figure. I guess if it works for that toy then it may be just as good for this guy, right? Well to be fair, it isn't entirely like the Studio Series figure, as the arm kibble is slightly different between both figures as well as the head transformation is slightly more in-common with standard Optimus transformations than the other hinges that were used for the Studio Series guy. It's definitely easy for fans that wanted to have a more accessible Masterpiece figure, and I will say that the leg transformation feels accurate (and might I add that the closest to that is from the fucking Chip & Dale movie?)...it's just a shame that what the legs become in truck mode aren't that great. The robot mode is accurate to the movie, what with the G1 but moviefied look to him. It's got the proportions and details right, certainly moreso than the Studio Series version, with the only oddities being the forearms having the kibble on them. Granted, there's less bulk on them compared to the Studio Series toy, but when viewed from the back, they kinda throw me off since those parts of the vehicle mode would usually be hidden away to make the truck parts look like they're the same ones in robot mode. And while his truck mode is that of an Earthly variety, the robot mode is still the same Cybertronian look that has some vague differences. The lack of a grill makes him look as though he has no stomach, but turns out they didn't bother making his robot mode look Earthly, and I thought Bumblebee's top swap was bad.

Head sculpt is very accurate to the movie, with the greebling of the mouthplate, the gunmetal gray paint apps, and the kinda sad-looking eyes that lack the stern heroism of his 2007-TLK design, but while the head itself turned out well, I want you to realize that the ears are actually PVC instead of being a sturdier material. Why that is I can't tell you since they're not making it easy to justify some of the cost-cutting. Oh and the light-piping sucks too. His articulation is the norm for the line: his head can turn left and right and can only hang low in shame, the arms move front and back on swivels, in and out on ratchets with the spring-loaded shoulder pads moving out of the way; the biceps swivel rather tightly, the elbows bend deeply on ratchets, the hands rotate, bend downward somewhat, and the fingers have a single index finger and three conjoined fingers in addition to a ball-jointed thumb. The index finger can't point properly somehow. There is a waist swivel, hips that move front and back as well as in and out on ratchets for both of them, skirt armor that moves out of the way while being seamless for the design, swivels above the knees, knee bends on ratchets, and ankle pivots as well as rockers.

His Ion Blaster can be held in either of his hand, and you can pose his arms so he's holding it with both hands as he runs into battle, which is my favorite pose of his in general for this design. In fact, having him dual-wield it may work better since his right-hand sags down and his left-hand doesn't. Why? I do not know. I even tried to tighten it with the screw but nope. Rather baffling is the inclusion of the Matrix of Leadership. I mean, it is cool that they added it, but he never had it in the movie; not only was it left somewhere in Egypt, but it doesn't look like this! Now inb4 people rant about how Bumblebee's a reboot and is totally unconnected to the Bayverse, Bumblebee's still got the Movie design elements, Sector Seven's involved in the movie, Transformers in this universe (and in general for most franchises) can overhaul their designs, and we even have a Camaro to boot. In fact, Rise of the Beasts is moving away from the Bumblebee movie since we're now in the 90s and have bigger fish to fry! I don't know how the trilogy schtick will make it more or less connected to the movie...

...but anyways let's get back on topic. The Matrix can be removed, but while his hands can hold it to make the Light Our Darkest Hour pose, I think getting him to hold it isn't that easy. His biceps are already too tight, and while the deep elbow bends are helpful with the articulation, the upper parts of the elbows detach backwards a little too easily, and I think it's a tight fit for the hands as they hold the Matrix. It's manageable but I think I chipped some paint. And yeah, the arm kibble on the bottom doesn't make it look as cool as on other Primes.

For those who hated TLK's idea of Nemesis Prime (which I don't blame you for), Takara gave this figure a black repaint with Decepticon insignias to boot. I think this design works better for Nemesis Prime than it does for Optimus (the Bumblebee movie version at least), what with how sinister he comes off. The Matrix is ime green, but the truck mode still sucks.

For a robot mode comparison, here is the leader with his scout, Bumblebee. I'll admit that Optimus has the stronger robot mode compared to Bumblebee, who I felt doesn't quite capture the robot design of the movie even next to the Studio Series version or the Power Charge toy, but I think it's at least able to have a superior vehicle mode overall. Plus, I like how funny it is to have Bumblebee give him the middle finger, which is one of the few Masterpiece figures to do that. It's because of him, we have a shitty truck mode for Optimus.

And for another robot mode size comparison, here he is next to the 2007 version of Optimus Prime. Look, I'll once again say that the Bumblebee design is much closer to its CG model than the 2007 design. I'll admit that. Yet even in spite of the compromises, the previous figure has, I can at least say it tries some new tricks to make it more distinct from the ROTF Leader. Whether or not they won everyone over is one thing, but I prefer the ambition we got with the previous MPM. Oh and the new guy's shorter than the older guy, which makes it perfect for making him look like he's going to bully him and confiscate his Matrix of Leadership away...speaking of...

It's no secret that the ROTF Matrix is very impractical for lighting our darkest hour unless it's an arc reactor blast type of thing, so I always wanted to see how other Transformers would look if they got to recreate that pose; now let's see what we have in terms of who's worthy of using the Matrix! Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are perfect, with the two of them having their wrists angled so as to make the poses more naturalistic (maybe they can also hold it from the front, too), Ironhide's a little awkward with his massive chest but can be done if it's over his head only, Jazz's hands are a little awkward but he can hold it over his head, Ratchet can pull off a similar thing with slightly more normal hands, VW Bumblebee's got the same results as his Camaro counterpart, Barricade can only hold it with his thumbs, Starscream's PVC fingers make it a little awkward to pull off properly, and Megatron looks like a bunch of tree branches are corrupting it.

Overall, this is a pretty hilarious Masterpiece if I'm being honest. While he doesn't have the over-expensive frustrations of the current G1MPs, he's the worst victim of the MPM budget restraints, because even if the rest of the line isn't as highly engineered as the G1 line or the third party line (compare these to the Unique Toys or Alien Attack offerings), none of the other figures suffered from the same compromises that we get here with the Beewun version of Prime. I'm amazed that this guy has a shitton of eBay listings in the triple-digits that seemingly try to paint this as a highly sought-after version of Optimus Prime, but apart from the robot mode, the transformation isn't that interesting, the vehicle mode looks like ass, and the engineering has some questionable design choices. I'm kind of happy that we're getting Blackout this year, because I can honestly saw in full confidence that Optimus Prime nearly killed off the MPM line.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐