Transformers Legacy Crankcase review

A Skids retool waa going to be inevitable in the Legacy line if Hasbro's mold planning history is anything to go by. But Crankcase getting one was not expected if I'm honest. Him being a sort of nobody in G1 is true, but people are likely going to remember him for being in DOTM as a Dread or Thew saying he grew up with the old toy. Now he's got a CHUG figure that isn't a straight repaint of a Cybertron mold released in the first movie this time! Let's see how this guy turned out.

Here is Crankcase next to Skids in his vehicle mode. I am already happy to see Skids's more pedestrian altmode be retooled into a more aggressive vehicle thanks to the new front section and darker color scheme. It's a solid contrast from the look Skids already has while trying not to be too similar to the Velocitron Speedia 500 repaint Burn-Out. The black is more of a very dark gray that is further distinguished with a bit of blue breaking it up as well as having painted rims. The hinges are odd but otherwise okay. Even the front windshield is unique from the rest of the alt mode. The front piece is pretty cool, with the bigger headlights, additional foglights, and the molded-on winch.

The backs of the alt mode are also different to some extent, but it is mostly the addition of a 5mm port and a spare tire box on the backs that further distinguish the Decepticon from the Autobot. Even the rear windshield has blue to break it up.

The transformations are about the same for both figures, but the upper bodies have a few differences with the shoulders and backpack being distinct. The wheels now face the sides rather than the back due to a new assembly that lets them better replicate the G1 design. The head is obviously new, even if it retains the same panel that Skids has (in this case, it works since it doesn't clash thanks to the blocky look). There are also the Triggercon cannons on the back, though they're small and probably aren't blast effect compatible. You may wonder what the hell happened to the front of the vehicle mode, which looks entirely different from the chest he has. It's now a cannon that he can use for his weaponry, which is a bit of an Earthrise-partsforming/Legacy engineering cop-out moment. Oh and the shade of blue on Crankcase is lighter than on Skids.

Articulation is the same for both molds, though Crankcase's joints feel looser on the legs than with Skids. And yeah, the weapons he have are an unpainted version of Skids' pistol, but he now has a cannon made from the front end of the alt mode rather than the twin-barrel forearm gun and Energon axe. I'm split on the way it turned out; I appreciate how they wanted to make him more unique from Skids, yet it feels kind of half-assed. 

One amusing thing with Crankcase is that I have a few of the Scavengers, with Skytread/Flywheels and Spinister are also part of the same IDW team, and the only characters I am missing are Misfire and Krok. IDK if I would even bother with Fullcrumbs or whoever his name was. But yeah, kind of an amusing subgroup featuring a pretty alright retool of Skids.

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

Transformers Studio Series 86 Ironhide review

Ironhide's a pretty unlucky Autobot regarding his toys in the CHUG range. Fans that wanted a cartoon-accurate version of him that wasn't a reuse of the Energon Towline mold first received a Universe 2.0 version of himself that was a mess of panel lines and proportion problems that hadn't been seen in any other toy in the line somehow. He was a retool of the okay-at-best Offroad from Combiner Wars, and while he initially started off strong with Siege as a competently tall and visually robust Deluxe in spite of how cheap he felt, he became a mixed bag as an Earthrise release. That version was riddled with issues outside of how hard it was to obtain it; the lack of synergy between the newly tooled parts and the remaining Siege tooling did not help in any way, shape, or form. So now that we have SS-86 Ironhide into the mix, we can only hope he'll be worth getting not as a Deluxe but as a Voyager.

Here is Ironhide in his vehicle mode. Once again, it's a Vannette that he's known to turn into during the old days of G1, and it's something I can't really complain about since it at least does the job here. The design looks complete, the windows are picked out, and it does not look like it's borrowing any reused parts from a previously made toy. I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a bit of color break up on the front of the alt mode where the silver resides, but a bigger issue might be from the inconsistent shades of red. Between the shaded used for the normal plastic used on the general parts of the figure as well as the unpaintable red plastic used on some of the hinges, and anything with red paint applied because it was originally clear blue plastic, we get a fair bit of inconsistency present with this toy. 

It's more noticeable on the sides depending on the lighting, but another issue comes from the numerous hinges that are present. Ironhide has two present close to each other as well as one near the door. It's nowhere near as bad as Universe Ironhide, but it is rather eyebrow-raising that they bill this as a Voyager yet it has more prominent hinges that would be a bit more acceptable for a Deluxe. Also not acceptable at this price is the lack of a yellow stripe.

You do have some weapon storage in the bottom fo the altmode, as there are not 5mm ports for the altmode to go use; the guns being the exhaust pipes makes for a pretty genius idea if you ask me.

For a vehicle mode comparison, he is definitely a much better vehicle mode than his Earthrise counterpart; that version was so close to nailing it, yet the robot shoulders, unpainted rear windows, exposed feet, and unchanged wheels held it back pretty well. And of course, that version partsformed while this one doesn't, yet I still don't think that it's worth the Voyager asking price. At least the old one has a silver stripe, but no painted rims on top of them not fitting in well.

And for a vehicle mode scale with some other Autobots, here he is with Earthrise Optimus Prime and Netflix Bumblebee. While one may be filled with more sculpted details and the other is a fairly straight-forward Volkswagon Beetle, Ironhide fits in pretty well with his Autobots from a different line; after all, SS-86 is meant to go with these guys if you ask me. Oh, and I forgot to mention the tabs on top: changes are those'll be saved for Ratchet's lightbar.

Transformation is a much more involved version of his Siegerise counterpart, having more panels to move around in order to make the robot mode looks as clean as possible. But most of it's done with the legs; there's some neat engineering that folds everything away on top of having a hidden panel that lifts up for the hinge on the ankle; meanwhile, the upper torso more or less works similarly to the Siege version apart from having the waist swivel rather than a unique swivel for the chest and arm assembly in addition to the hinges applied within the window and the shoulders. It's honestly not that different from a non-86 Studio Series Deluxe figure's transformation; those guys have fairly solid affairs in comparison to this guy, despite him being a Voyager, and while the robot mode may look great for a cartoon-accurate take on the design, especially with how little to no kibble remains apart from the bumper, torso wheels, and the windows on the legs, it's not really that complex for the price tag he's going for. And while I like how they handled the torso as well as giving him the skirt panel, they still could have made his hands less hollow from the back (the forearms being hollow from the back would also be fine if this was a Deluxe). 

Head sculpt looks nice as always, though it's amusing how they keep making the robot heads less and less detailed than the last versions. And yes, he has blue eyes underneath the shadows of the head obscuring them. His articulation consists of a ball-jointed neck, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, wrist swivels, a waist swivel, hips that move front and back (along with the skirt flap), in and out, swivel at the thigh, bend at the knees, and pivot at the ankles. His sole two guns are moreso a Ratchet thing, and I would have loved to see a few more accessories or even blast effects go with him.

His weapon storage is pretty cool, as it goes on the back and sort of results in a bit of a mini-jetpack look. Now for a robot mode comparison; he definitely flows a lot better than the Earthrise version; everything that was made from the ground up works a whole lot better than retooling a figure that was meant to adhere to a specific style and not have its newly made parts clash with what already remains. Siege Ironhide worked since that Cybertronian G1 style was meant to go with his design first, so the only way an Earth mode Ironhide would work is by making an entirely new mold. And hey, no partsforming! However, I still question the Voyager price point if he's slightly shorter than his previous iteration.

Ironhide was reused not as Ratchet but for a set that was initially a joke according to a Hasbro employee before it was made official right away because Hasbro will milk anything Geewun. But anyways, this is Ironhide as he was shot down and said one last NOOOOO before Megatron commented on the heroic nonsense he displayed. Released in a Buzzworthy Bumblebee set with Prowl, he is entirely opaque and has some battle damage on the torso.

Of course, we got a Ratchet before the dead Ironhide but after the living one. He has a siren, a new head, and a slightly-different crotch. His guns fit well for him since he brandished them in the movie.

Then we got a dead Ratchet that came with an equally dead Brawn! You can swap most of these parts with a normal Ratchet if you want to have the opaque windows. Good luck solving the broken windshield, though.

And now for a robot mode size comparison, he once again fits nicely with the other figures in the line. We just need Ratchet as well as Buzzworthy Hound to pop up as well as new versions of Brawn, Gears, and Windcharger to exist so we can finally complete the Ark crew! And he's slightly taller than SS-86 Hot Rod, and honestly, Hot Rod is probably worth the Voyager price point; his transformation has more going on than Ironhide, his articulation consists of butterfly joints, finger articulation, and double-jointed knees, and even having some accessories that add to the price; such as the buzzsaw, the flame effect pieces, a Matrix with an effect piece, and the guy even has some tricks up his sleeve, such as the visor and the swivels within the hands that have either a 5mm post or a torch. I know Ironhide is a bulkier character compared to Hot Rod, but I can't see him as being justifiable for the price point compared to the turbo-revvin' punk. If Ironhide has a few more accessories like the blast effect pieces, nozzles, or a drill gun, he'd be a little easier to stomach. I'd also love to see those hands filled in from the bottom, too. So ultimately, Ironhide is using the Voyager price tag as a case of Hasbro using character popularity and buzzwords like "complex engineering" to justify making this guy a Voyager rather than a Deluxe. Yeah, he's better than Earthrise Ironhide and is definitely the best retail G1 Ironhide yet, but I doubt I'd want to get this mold again at full price once I get Ratchet just so I can be done with this mold.

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury Wave 4 Basic Figure review

I didn't think I'd get them until now. I say that because Dino Fury is about to turn into Cosmic Fury, and I initially didn't want to buy these guys since I was prioritizing Lightning Collection more as Hasbro doesn't seem to want to make and promote more of the mainline. Then I saw both of them at Target and with a $10 gift card, I got them both. Bargain. Now let's see how this wave turns out even if we only have an upgraded Gold Ranger and a once knight now king for Mr. Void.

Let's get the Dino Master Gold Ranger out of the way. He is about the same quality we'd expect from the regular figure on the right. Main differences include his cape as well as his sword, which is the Dino Master Saber. It could use a few more paint apps to make it look nicer. The articulation is the same for both figures, but the Master mode can't move his shoulders outwards due to the cape obstructing it.

The cape on this new Gold Ranger is actually removable, revealing to be the same figure as the normal version apart from the accessory, a paint scratch, and slightly different shade likely from one being newer than the other. I'm not sure if the cape being removable is intentional, but if it was, it makes me want to ask: why can't the sleeves and chest armors be removable as well?! The chest armors found on Red and Blue for the ridable bikes that each came with a villain can only be removed if the heads are popped off, and simply making them halves a la the Green and White armors Tommy had would be great! As for the arms, they could have been snap-on parts to go on any Ranger; and if they couldn't do that, at least have swappable arms to go with any Ranger that has used them the most or is known to use them in the show. I'm fine with the Beast Morphers line having you buy the Red Fury and Beast-X modes because they at least have newly molded parts and weapons, even if the latter had missing paint on top of inferior weapons, but this is kind of stupid. I mean it's cool he's the same toy if you missed out on it, but then again he still has the inaccurate morpher on his left wrist.

Now we go to Void Knight, who comes in-package with his "crown" removed. It's easy to attach it on him, and this guy is pretty cool. He's made of translucent plastic and features slight color accents to break up the clear plastic's white coloring. The sculptwork is also decent for what it is, and I appreciate how it manages to be faithful to the design of the show, I'll admit the chest straps on him remind me of the Beast Morphers suits, to the point where it looks kind of weird on him.

Head sculpt is pretty solid, even if it has the checkerboard patterned heart one assume is carried over from the chess theme of the Ryusoulger villains. I like the eyes and the surrounding black is painted properly. His articulation is the same as the other figures, down to the hips that was initially missing on Boomtower and the rest of the villains in Beast Morphers. He comes with twin swords that can combine into a naginata with a decent tab.

Oh yeah they have keys that are about as functional as the ones we got before. Gold's nothing new from the basic figure, but Void King's looks great from the front because the back is hollow! WHY?! I guess the reverse of the quality can be summed up with how a good figure like Void Knight gets a shitty key and how a weak figure Dino Fury Gold has a decent key.

Overall, these two guys are near to get as two for the price of one, but I can't really say I'm impressed with Gold. He feels frustrating since I really wanted to be happy to own a mode from the show that was neat, yet its (likely unintended) ability to remove the piece makes me wonder why it wasn't the case for the other modes the Rangers use. Void King is cool but I wouldn't go crazy over his key.

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

Transformers Studio Series The Fallen review

The titular villain of the first Transformers sequel was notorious for his actions, whether it was betraying the Dynasty of Primes in the past or doxxing Sam Witwicky in a way that was actually more terrifying than Mysterio doing that to Spidey in the MCU. He waited for Optimus the Last Prime to die in order to get his revenge and take the sun away from the Earth, all with a harvester, his Matrix, and his most loyal follower, whose name removes the -us from the "first" Decepticon's old title of Megatronus. He may have died at the hands of Optimus, but he's back with a brand new figure to boot! It's time to realize that this is not your planet to rule; The Fallen shall rise again!

Here is The Fallen with his backdrops, which I believe are the same ones from all of the various figures that were representing Operation: Firestorm during the end of the movie. It'd be cool if he got either the interior of the Nemesis, where he claimed "The Last Prime is dead!" or even the sun harvester that he stood on as he initially prepared to claim our sun.

Here is The Fallen in his vehicle mode. It's more or less the same yoga schtick that we've seen before but with the new arm attachments that, while not perfect, do at least make the vehicle mode seem a little more interesting. You can also store the two halves of the Void Sceptor. I appreciate they tried to make the arms look like thrusters a la G1 Jetfire and the cockpit of being more alien, and the shape of the spaceship looks like the Decepticon logo. Otherwise, this alt mode is nothing that special. I think Megatron's altmode as well as Shockwave are better.

For a size comparison with a different figure, here he is next to fellow Revenge flyer Starscream. While he is a Leader and Starscream is a Voyager, The Fallen isn't that big in his altmode, trading mass in favor of being wide instead. Also keep in mind that Starscream is a fairly big Voyager, so The Fallen is big, but not for the reasons you'd think since we're still in the era of Voyagers with benefits. 

And here he is with his old self. Neither of them really have that great of an altmode, as the character never transformed nor even had any altmode in the movie. Still, I have to give it to the Studio Series version for being sleeker in design, even if the hands are still exposed. The appendages later used in robot mode also add to the alien aesthetic, and at least the...fuselage?...has less clutter on it than with the old toy. And the colors on the new Fallen are much better than on the original; much like Voyager Megatron in the same line, he was greenish gray when that was never the case for the actual movie. A lot of monochromatic characters had to use some color break up in the toys that was inaccurate. If Shockwave was logical (heh) while the Dinobots were absurd, then that makes the Fallen more along the lines of middle of the road.

Transformation is sort of like the Voyager, but it's new tricks include the arm appendages going onto the back while the ends with balls attached to the sockets have the more jointed ends go on the back. The part covering the face now becomes the torso, the legs are on an assembly that swings down rather than move downwards on their own, and the feet don't have springs. I feel like the lack of a more involved transformation is at fault of the altmode being made-up as he never had one to begin with, but at the same time, I understand they wanted to prioritize the robot mode not out of laziness but for screen accuracy. And said robot mode looks great! He captures that shadowy, slender stature that was present in the movie, even if he usually crouched a lot. The sculptwork is impeccable as always, the proportions are correct, and the arm appendages, while a bit awkward are first glance, actually look fine in-hand. They fit in nicely with the aesthetics, and if you look closely, he has a bit of transluscent plastic, yet it looks opaque from a distance; it's a good aesthetics choice if you ask me. And while he may be mostly dark, his blue and orange accents break up the darker colors and yet still fit in nicely.

Head sculpt, or I should say the mask, is nicely done; it captures the look of the character very well with the ancient alien aesthetic, and the eyes, while lightpiped, are piercing and intimidating. The blue on the...whiskers?...sideburns?...frills?...might seem garish at first, but they work compared to Allspark Blue since they're metallic and are actually part of the coloring of his face. His articulation consists of a ball and hinge-jointed neck for him to look up and down, left and right, as well as cock his neck to extend or shorten it; he can even look side to side. Shoulders move front and back, in and out (the transformation hinge can be used if you want), swivel at the biceps, bend at the elbows, hinge at the hands, and swivel at the wrists. His appendages can hinge like butterfly wings as they move in unison with the arm movement going front and back, and when they move in and out, the appendages hinge upwards in a kind of Mech Alive style (which is fitting since that gimmick was part of the movie's toyline he was a part of). Furthermore, the ends with the ball joints are attached to sockets that not only move within the sockets but also hinge to add an extra bit of mobility. As for the legs, they move front and back, in and out, swivel at the thighs, bend at the knees, and pivot at the ankles. The toe movement is manual this time, and the Void Sceptor can split in two so you can have one half of it go in the desired hand and attach the other one to complete it.

You can have him give you his face as the mask is removable, featuring a nicely detailed and kind of monkey-looking face that features light-piping that's coming from a hairdo on top of his malformed face. Even the jaw articulates so he can say something garbled before Prime proclaims his rise and The Fallen living up to his name.

For a robot mode size comparison, he scales perfectly with the combined Jetpower Optimus Prime and the battle damaged Megatron, who got his deserved face damage after what he did to Prime. They scale perfectly with one another, and I like that The Fallen, while not a 1-foot tall action figure, still remains taller than either his brother or his disciple. 

I like the fact that I can recreate the final battle where Prime shows he's taking names, or in this case, faces, as be damages Megs' face and takes The Fallen's. And it only tool Hasbro 3 years to do that, one year more than getting Joly to have him electrify and transplant those afterburners!

No spark for Optimus to hold, sadly, but I'm sure DNA Design will make some accessories for him along with a Matrix and a bit of the harvester.

And for another comparison for the robot mode, he beats the old toy by a landslide. And yes, my old toy is missing his right foot because IDK where it went, but who cares now that this new Fallen is taking over! I may have some gripes with the engineering and maybe the lack of some accessories, but I'm happy with how this guy turned out. I think this is the best Hasbro-made Fallen we'll ever get, especially since I kind of don't want an MPM version of him since it'd be needless if he'll be even more accurate than the already accurate toy, so I'd prefer if ThreeZero instead did a DLX figure that'll scale with the other figures in that line and the MPM series. Imagine how nice that would be for us since it'd make for a still accurate yet not needlessly transformable figure. Get this guy if you see him in-person or online; he'll make a great gift this holiday season!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐