Transformers Siege Brunt Review

Trypticon's generally seen as a badass to begin with, but I can't think of any reason to say the same about Brunt when he's not an actual Transformer. I mean, Full-Tilt is not a prominent character to begin with, but he had a robot mode when he wasn't Trypti's bra. Then there's the fact that we got actual tankformers that are good like Blitzwing, Tankor, Demolishor, and Movie Brawl, so what does an accessory have to trump them? Well, the Siege WFC line has popped up and provided us with an answer. Let's see what Brunt's got to offer if he was a Transformer.

 

Here we have Brunt in his vehicle mode. It's sort of like if Galvatron and a sci-fi tank had a baby. Basically, it's a lot more refined than the G1 toy (thank God), and it actually looks great in this mode compared to the vehicle modes of the Autobot Weaponizers I covered in the past two days. It's got some sweet sculpted details, the colors work well together, and while it may feel somewhat compact for a tank, it works well for a drone that belongs to Trypticon. You even have a peering head that's reminiscent of how Megatron would have his head exposed in the first two movies' altmodes.

Aside from wheels that roll, you can swivel the turret and hinge the barrel up and down. Notice how the part that holds the rest of the cannon is placed on the side and around the turret.

If there is one nitpick I have, there is no real way to keep this barrel tight. Occasionally, you may bend the length of the barrel because the feet they're connected to have ankle pivots, and you get this look.

The transformation requires the arms, legs, and turret to partsform, but it's kind of fun in a way in terms of how they're done. Also nice that the treads become the arms in a way reminiscent of Tankor, and hell, the rest of the robot mode does look like Tankor despite being specifically based off the Centurion Droid from the IDW comics. While some fans may find it pretty drone-like, I like this design more than the other Weaponizers/Titan partners I've covered, as it's done so well in terms of looking unique yet awesome at the same time. You definitely tell how powerful the robot mode looks from the upper body, especially with the way it's got the looks of a body-bruisin' robot ready to do some serious damage. The hands are claw-like, and the waist is pretty small, but at least it looks badass, and hey, no awfully hollow parts!

Headsculpt does look like it's a generic design with a single, parallel visor and a mouth plate that make him look like an old robot, but at least it's more unique than the repeated visor-mouthplate heads found on Cog and Sixgun.

Articulation is still the norm for this figure as expected from the other Weaponizers, so I won't go over it, but you can at least pose the claws to make them open or close for any pinching poses while the head can move up somewhat due to the transformation. Also, if you don't want his cannon pointing up constantly, you can place it on his arm instead.

In terms of repaints, here is Zetar, who looks just as much of a knockoff as Aragon did. Yellow and black go well together as Bumblebee has proven, but if it's done up like this, then you've got a real problem with color layouts. I mean, the yellow legs make him look like he's wearing rainboots!

This is the Centurion Droid, who is the actual robot that was the inspiration for the Centurion Droid. This would be cool to see be a reality, but the end result makes him more like a Player 2 skin by comparison. He even has the same Orange cannon! At least there are a few differences in the paint apps, but like, why make him feel a lot less exciting than he should be? Actually...

Brace yourselves with this shit, because I don't think I've cringed at something like this from Hasbro for a very long time. So in order to justify buying a repaint of an existing Transformer, this set of accessories is included, and you get the following: 

-another version of Optimus Prime's Ion Blaster

-an energon axe for Prime

-a Roller drone for the trailer 

-Megatron's energon mace

-the standard Autobot peashooter

-an arm-mounted drill for Ironhide

-Cliffjumper's glass gas blaster

-Sideswipe's jetpack

-Trailbreaker's vehicle-mode radar dish

-Refraktor's camera mode

-Soundwave's microcassette recorder mode

-Megatron's pistol mode (with additional silencer)

Shockwave's blaster mode (in gray than purple)

-a cage to imprison Ravage

-two energon cubes

-a tiny figurine of Optimus Prime intended to scale with War for Cybertron Unicron.

It's sad how a repaint of a Deluxe required all these accessories when they should have come with the other figures mentioned. I'd at least expect Prime to have the gun, axe, and roller, but I'd honestly prefer if they were all included with him to justify the price of the toy (considering how lightweight the trailer is).

Since he is a Weaponizer, let's cover how he works with a Decepticon this time around. The torso, waist and upper legs, turret backpack, lower legs, arms, and both pieces of the cannon can all split up in different pieces.

I chose Skytread because he's the only Decepticon figure that is a Deluxe that isn't a repaint, isn't the shrimp Refraktor, and isn't Vortex because his back holes are blocked by the rotors (still a great toy though). It's kind of neat to see this drab robot wield some more vibrant pieces of another robot. I chose the legs to be a v-shaped wing pack for the cannons while the torso and barrel become a particle beam cannon and the turret as his shield.

Despite being the only Decepticon Weaponizer in the main Siege line, he's great to have in my collection as his design looks great, the transformation is fairly unique amongst tankformers, and the tank mode is done pretty well compared to the G1 version. Still, it does suck that the Weaponizer gimmick isn't as effective as it is with the Autobot offerings. Either way, if you see him at your store, add him and display him with your Trypticon. I know I'd love to one day.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Siege Sixgun Review

Another day, another partner of a G1 Titan, though in defense of Sixgun, I like Metroplex more than I do Fort Max. Nothing beats the reveal from Fall of Cybertron where Optimus unleashes the massive Transformer and its line "Metroplex heeds the call of the Last Prime". Sadly, I don't own Thrilling 30 Metroplex yet, but I'd love to one day. Anyways, there's not much to be said about Sixgun because the character didn't do anything significant.

Here we have Sixgun in his vehicle mode. It's a fairly...interesting take on a jet. More specifically, it's based on a vertical takeoff and landing jet (or VTOL for short). Still, it's going to take some slightly bigger turbines to make this fly in-fiction, because it's certainly chunky around the other parts of the vehicle mode. Still, it's got a bit of ammo molded on the figure, with missile pods within the wings and rockets on the tops. I do wonder if those four cylindrical pieces are supposed to be guns or not, but this jet mode at least manages to be a bit more dynamic than Cog's. Still, that's one small cockpit on him. I don't like how exposed the head is from the rest of the jet mode. People say Energon Ironhide or Movie Megatron have exposed heads, but at least Ironhide's got some gear to fairly keep it hidden while Megatron's design fits well with the head he's got. This guy's red head can't even hide from the white jet pieces.

It's fairly blocky from underneath, to the point where it looks like he's holding a big bomb from underneath...not quite ordeal for a vehicle that's supposed to look sleek.

Transformation is still that of a partformer, though with a little bit more to do than with Cog. You have the waist swivel, the legs aren't needed to come off, the torso transforms with a few steps aside from coming off, and the really basic steps are the arms coming off and relocating the gyro blasters from the wings to the shoulder cannons (which are reused from Sideswipe BTW). As for the robot mode, it does look a little more interesting than Cog, though the way the torso is done up makes him look like a Transformer that's wearing a bulletproof chest by how beefy it feels on him, though the arms don't look as interesting as they would on the side view. The red legs make him look like he's wearing pajamas and look kind of basic compared to his more unique chest. Thankfully, he's not as hollow from the back as Cog was except for the headcover.

Headsculpt is kind of like if Soundwave and Blaster had a baby because the head is almost designed like Soundwave yet has Blaster's colors of red for the helmet, blue for the visor (instead of the eyes), and white for the mouthplate (instead of the face).

Articulation is pretty decent for the most part. Head swivels left and right, shoulders move front and back on 5mm pegs and move in and out on somewhat hindered hinges. Elbows bend and swivel and the waist swivels. Hips move front and back as well as in and out, the thighs swivel on 5mm posts. The knees bend and the ankles pivot. If you don't want to have the guns hanging off his arms, then you can take them off and he can hold them fairly well. At least they don't have the same issues that Cog's had.

This toy has a couple of design choices that I want to talk about: this secret torso joint and the 5mm port underneath his chest. I don't think the torso really has any use for the aforementioned joint to move like that unless it's for articulation, but it's otherwise unnecessary for the gimmick. The 5mm port on the chest opens up from the Autobot insignia from his chest, so...what use does it have unless it's for a blast effect.

The stock images have the torso piece, elbow joints, and head (at least in vehicle mode) rendered in white. The torso piece would make sense to be in white, I don't mind the elbow joints not being white, but the head will be hard to tackle. His robot head's supposed to be red, yet having it be white would hide it better.

Here is the only reuse of the mold that exists: Cromar. he's got a black torso, gray arms and upper legs, and red lower legs. The color palette makes him look like he's wearing a black leotard and red boots, which means he'd look funny if he was a human. Anyways, he's based on the G1 Powerdasher, yet manages to look better than the old toy. He's not too shabby, but I recommend him to the more obsessive G1 collectors.

Let's take him apart for his Weaponizer gimmick! The arms, guns, legs, torso block, gyro blasters, and upper torso can each come apart and go with any other figure that works with them.

Let's bring in Ironhide in his vehicle mode and add some ammo to him. The side compartments open up to reveal 5mm posts for the guns while the legs and gryo blasters can go on the forearm posts. This gives more power for Ironhide to work with, but let's go a bit further, shall we? Let's add the torso block and the main jet body to make Ironhide look a lot more badass than before. Now we're talking!

Here he is combined with Ironhide, with the legs as platform shoes, the guns as shoulder cannons, the gyro blasters as small rockets for the legs, and the rest of the body is used for the jetpack. This is a great way of integrating a not-too-bad figure with an awesome figure, and it adds to the awesome figure even more than I expected. It also goes well with Ironhide, too.

Here we have Prowl and Chromia sharing parts of Sixgun. Prowl's using the jetpack, gyro blasters, and the torso joint (which sort of makes him lean) while Chromia is using the legs as platform shoes and the twin blasters. Yeah, I think Ironhide still looks great with the gear. As for Sixgun himself, while the jet mode's fairly blocky, I do like his transformation, robot mode, and the fact that he works best with the awesome Ironhide makes him a treat. I think he also adds well with Metroplex IF I HAD ONE. Anyways, I presume he's still warming pegs, so I guess you can pick him up if you want.

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

Transformers Siege Cog Review

When the first Siege line came out, I was excited to take a look at stuff like Hound, Sideswipe, Optimus, Megatron, etc; still, there were some figures that I could care less for like the Weaponizers and some of the repaints. Cog was no exception, especially considering how I had no real attachment to the character...or lack thereof. He began life as an accessory for Fortress Maximus, but now that he's gotten a Deluxe figure that serves to work as a normal Transformer, I guess there's some appeal to him. I also got him in a fairly big eBay lot, so why not cover him at this point? Here's my look at Siege Cog.

Here we have Cog in his split vehicle mode. These are referred to as Gasket on the left and Grommit on the right (no, not the dog from the Claymation shorts). I felt the attempt at being faithful towards the way the old toy worked was kind of funny, but it's otherwise funny seeing that said recreation is simply that of what looks like a deranged RC car from Twisted Metal and a tank that looks nondescript...I guess it's nice their colors are different from one another, so neither component looks too similar, and the tank treads are kind of neat, but stuff like the 5mm peg smacked in the middle of them, along with tires on the front, and some ball-shaped hips on the front make it look stupid... Oh and the red cannons on Gasket look kind of phallic with the red.

You can combine them into a single-vehicle mode, but even then, you take two nondescript looking vehicles into a slightly less nondescript vehicle mode. All in all, I'm not too impressed with the vehicle mode.

Cog's a partsformer, so you naturally have to combine his two vehicles together while relocating the arms on different 5mm posts. It's at least neat to have the head not stick out or not require the legs to come off, but at least everything else works smoothly overall. Also combining the torso with the raise is pretty seamless. As for the robot mode, it's fairly beefy in terms of proportions; Cog's got a fairly stocky torso that looks like a Seeker's chest with wheels slapped on. I like the color scheme Cog has, and his legs don't look too bad, though it is bad how the torso is hollow from the back; there's nothing to cover up the void and it's also something the legs could go for, too. The 5mm posts sticking out from the shins and sides of the lower legs is a little insightful, but at least the posts seen on the front and back are hidden decently.

His headsculpt's fairly non-descript. It's just a blue head that sorta kinda looks like Fort Max's but without a crescent or a normal face. All that's prominent is the silver visor in terms of detail. As for the articulation, the head is on a ball joint that feels more like a swivel, shoulders move front and back on 5mm posts while they move in and out on hinges (with the cannons hinging up to make room), and the elbows bend. The waist swivels as it should, while the hips move front and back, in and out, as well as swivel at more 5mm pegs. Knees bend nearly 180 degrees and the ankles pivot real deep.

He comes with two honestly decent guns that'd be pretty sweet if it weren't for the fact that they don't really go on his hands to well. I think it has to do with how hexagonal the posts seem, so they tend to be at weird angles unless you put them as underslung cannons. Also, like Chromia bikini bottom before him, he suffers from another waist-covering part that comes off a little too easily, except it's his butt plate. Why the odd way parts come off, Hasbro?

Here is the only available repaint of this guy so far: Aragon. He comes in a three-pack with a Holo Mirage and a Decepticon version of Impactor that comes with his IDW head. This is one of the three Generations-styled Powerdashers made from the three Siege Weaponizers. Some nice silver paint apps here and there, but it doesn't help by how prototype-like this repaint looks. At least Cog looked nice with his deco, this almost looks like it's not even done with the paint apps. G1 accurate or not, I'd at least expect some paint to go on the chest. Also, that head sculpt looks bad.

And next up, we have Red Cog, who is basically the Security Officer best known for being killed by Scorponok. He was a Target exclusive repaint and came with a lot more accessories for collectors to use with their figures, including an adaptor for Earthrise Arcee to combine with Siege Cog a la in the show, which is hilarious if you ask me.

Here he is next to Sideswipe, who shares the same height that he has. They've got one more thing in common, however...

Being a partformer means Cog's actually a Weaponizer. The lower legs, arms, guns, waist, and chest are able to come apart into different pieces of armor, one of the gimmicks that the Siege line has (which also appears to be used for the WFC line in general).

Here we have Cog combined with Sideswipe. The legs are the platform shoes, the torso becomes the shield, and the waist and arms become shoulder cannons, with three times the power, twice the amount of the weapons. Combine that with the stock weapons Sideswipe comes with and the AOE Crosshairs gun he comes with until a more G1 accurate gun pops up, and you have an armored Sideswipe. I believe this is the default method that is used for the toy. It's kind of neat and compliments the predominantly red Sideswipe with the blue and silver Cog has. I won't cover how Cog looks with every single Transformer, but I feel he looks great with Sideswipe. As for Cog himself, he's got some pretty weak vehicle modes, but his robot mode manages to be okay for what it is, and having Cog combine with other robots as a Weaponizer is a neat gimmick for the line. Still, I wouldn't really recommend getting him at this price unless you really love Cog despite him having no real character. He's one of the more filler offerings of the line, but I know there are some great combinations if you have a few more Cogs involved. Just wait for the toy to be on clearance at your stores.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Why I Love Transformers as a Franchise (and What I Hope for the Future)

If there's anything that says something about me, I'm a massive Transformers fan. I've just about seen every bit of fiction in existence, own a ton of toys, and have seen other fans' works on the series. It's a series that I've been excited for any new series or movie, even when things got a little less creative around recently. Unlike most other franchises that tend to have other incarnations that are easily forgettable, Transformers has tons of variation with its brand, and the only other series I can think of where other incarnations or variations exist prominently is Power Rangers. That being said, what makes me love Transformers so much? Well, I may have mentioned everything about my history as a fan, so why not sum it all up in one post? Let's.

The Massive Amount of Universes

While many things I love like superheroes have plenty of different arcs, TV shows, and movies, it kind of feels a little hard to catch up with most of their incarnations unless they're characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Hulk. That's something I'll mention when I tackle comic stuff, but Transformers has plenty of different incarnations to love, whether it's G1 or the Beast Era, the Unicron Trilogy or the movies, and Animated or the Aligned continuity. Truth is, it's great to have a series that's got a diverse history of stories, versions of characters, and unique takes on mythos to enjoy! Also great to have them feel refreshing whenever a new show or series shows up to take over the other, and I'll always be happy when different universes operate simultaneously.

The Many Characters to Witness

While some franchises can only allow me to know so much about their identities and origins, Transformers thankfully encourages me to see all the characters they have within their varying franchises, no matter how large or small their roles can be. It's also neat to see that they have unique body designs in general and even have stories new and old from time to time. It's great seeing different versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron clash, and I also love it when a sequel series expands on what was made while still feeling fresh in terms of story. It was neat seeing the Maximals go from being the victors of the Beast Wars to taking on the Vehicons to restore Cybertron. or seeing the Autobots go from heroes of Earth in DOTM to reclaiming their status as heroes in AOE. Still, I do wonder what lies ahead for the future of Transformers characters. Will we get new versions of familiar characters or will they all adhere to the Evergreen designs introduced in 2017-ish? We'll see, but I hope the characters can at least be exciting in terms of how they act individually.

Merchandise To Dig Into

Some may think that Transformers is merely a franchise that's about selling toys, but I think what sets Transformers apart from most merchandise is the quality. Yes, I do miss when older Transformers made 10 years ago had great engineering, larger sizes, and lower prices compared to now, but in general, it feels great to see what the toys are like in terms of how they represent a character or the engineering put into them. Obviously, the Generations-styled lines are what I'm digging into with the likes of Studio Series and War for Cybertron, but I'm also happy to contend with older releases, the occasional spinoff novelty, the rare Masterpiece, and seeing what comes out soon. I'm sure fans will want me to try out 3P stuff at some point, but there's generally something irreplaceable about the new Hasbro stuff, especially with G1 Legacy toys where they beat their older counterparts in terms of having better execution with their designs (Siege Ironhide compared to Universe Ironhide for instance).

Multiple mediums worth enjoying

What's great about the Transformers universes is having them on different platforms, and when they all pop up simultaneously. It was a trend that especially began in 2007 when there was a new movie, a new cartoon, and an ongoing comic series with their own identities, which is something I love seeing in Transformers as I got to be more aware of the other universes that were around. Even when a disappointing movie like The Last Knight, a mediocre cartoon like RID15, or a messy comic run like the Hasbro Universe may have each left a sour taste in my mouth, I at least appreciated that they all felt different in terms of aesthetics and characters. Compare that to 2018, where Bumblebee went full-on G1 nostalgia BS to appease an audience that hated them and the Cyberverse cartoon almost looking like a throwaway show had it not been for the actual animation combined for the characters involved.

Limitless Imagination

When Transformers isn't trying to aim for making every required-by-law reference to the G1 cartoon, it manages to bring in so many new ideas to the table that add beautifully to the mold used to make a new series. It's especially awesome to see what has come from the past explorations of the lore, whether it's obscure characters with cult-followings or evolutions to one particular character throughout the years. I also love seeing the line-ups for the two factions across different universes, especially when they have unique designs from one another as well as maintain a decent amount of characters to focus on. I love checking out how different familiar stories can be under different universes or circumstances, and hey, alternate universe takes on other Transformers franchises is not a bad thing in my eyes if they can manage a good story that's more than just "Hey, he's the opposite of who he is!"

With all that said, I'm sure this post may seem a little short and doesn't quite have the same sort of effort seen with the other posts I made, but I wanted to say that I'm kind of hoping Transformers doesn't maintain the same level of repetition that I feared would have happened in 2018. It's funny how the kid's show, Cyberverse, is the only piece of fiction that I'm currently interested in while WFC doesn't, and I've even lost interest in New IDW and worry about what's to come from the next Transformers movie. While I'm willing to step into any media based on what once came out and support the line, let's just say I won't be too happy if the next show feels more like filler compared to Cyberverse and if the movie and comics start to be pretty dull compared to even what already came out from each medium. I'm sure people at Hasbro won't care about what I've got to say, but all I'm saying is to make Transformers feel unique again.