Transformers Kingdom Blaster review

Evil Soundwave Be Like Autobot Blaster. In all seriousness, Soundwave is a core character in Transformers outside of G1 since the mid-2000s, now that he's made appearances in the Cybertron chapter of the Unicron Trilogy to having a unique origin in Animated, and from having various designs in the movies as well as the Aligned continuity to having a surprise character arc in Cyberverse! Blaster, on the other hand, has never had any major incarnation outside of G1. Yeah, he may have been given some new versions here and there, but they reduce him as either an Easter Egg or background character instead of being an A-lister like Soundwave. However, Blaster has had a few modern G1 toys here and there, and while he has yet to receive a Masterpiece, he was a surprise addition in the Device Label line before having a new figure in Titans Return and now being both the final Kingdom Voyager AND the first release of the Legacy Voyager line, so let's take a look at this figure!

Here is Blaster in-hand, as the boombox he takes form of in Generation One. The same as it was back in the 80s. Honestly, with how unchanged Blaster is, something like this would probably be the only alt mode he can remain with given how character-specific it is. It thankfully has a good amount of sculpted details added to it that makes it feel pretty on-par with the other WFC Trilogy toy in the line. The speakers on the sides also look appropriately like the rubber/foam parts that they would normally be made of, but what will make the alternate mode stand out is the yellow tape door and the blue window with the asymmetrical design. I do wish the Autobot insignia could be better aligned. The handle may seem nearly impossible to hold as intended, but I appreciate them having it fit in with the rest of the altmode as it should because it completes the aesthetic nicely. 

The gun can be stored on the back, and the boombox mode still looks nice from the back in spite of the exposed robot mode parts. Obviously, both the G1 toys of Soundwave and Blaster don't have that issue, but the effort is appreciated for this guy overall.

Included with him is a microcassette in the form of Eject, seen here as he remains within the tapedeck and soon-to-be chest of Blaster. The four buttons on the bottom help eject the tape from the deck on the bottom as is the case with the G1 toy. 

Here is Eject next to the Frumble mold, specifically the red one. There are some noticeable differences between the two of them in terms of the overall robot design traits even from these rectangular modes, but more importantly, let's see what these two have to break down from these modes: the arrangement of the robot parts differs, especially with the legs and heads...

The transformations are nearly similar but because of the layout of the limbs, Eject manages to be a little more involved than the Frumble mold, as is the case with the head transformation and the different functionality of the arms. While the two cassettes are functional to some identical extent, the articulation is improved on Eject with his elbows and altered shoulder articulation, the head is on a ball joint, and Eject is cast in clear plastic on all parts that are blue plastic...which is not a good thing. While it's not happened yet on my copy, I am positive that this figure will receive cracks and possible breakage on the ball joints and those pinned shoulder hinges for the in and out movement. With how this figure was repurposed for the Legacy line, I can see why Blaster would have the Energon accessory be Eject, but WHY must they have to make an all-clear accessory if it's likely to break down if not careful?! You know how Hasbro Pulse said there was feedback on the Galvatron reissue that we got a while back where the battle damage was removed? Yeah, maybe don't add the damage in the first place and instead make the clear plastic on Eject a concern.

For an alt mode comparison, here is Blaster next to Soundwave. While the two alt modes do have their nice contrasts from one another, with Soundwave having a more uniform and I guess mature design and color layout, Blaster stands out for his radical appearance and underground 80s funk vibe that you'd hear on the streets of New York. Though Soundwave should be smaller than Blaster, it would result in the two being out of scale line in the G1 days. 

Transformation for Blaster is pretty much an updated take on what the G1 toy does, with the more noteworthy things being the different arm transformation in order for the legs to fit in better while also not having the stubby and chunky look to them. Much like Netflix Soundwave, he has to use a waist swivel for his transformation so the from of the radio becomes a butt-flap. One complaint I have is that the head is hard to hinge in place, but at least the boombox handles have their appropriate places on the legs. The resulting robot mode is undeniably blaster, with the gray khaki look to the legs, the red sweater looks to the torso, and the yellow chest that pops. Blaster's also got some faux speakers on the back that replace the ones we see on the front of the altmode so they can keep that distinct design to the robot mode. The proportions for Blaster are a little weird; while the upper torso and arms are proportionate, the thighs are rather skinny compared to the blocky lower legs. I guess that's appropriate for Blaster, but something tells me he doesn't have the same flow of proportions that other WFC trilogy figures. I don't hate it, but it is amusing how wonky it feels. Of note is that the right hand has the index finger exposed much like how the left hand on Soundwave's WFC trilogy toys has the trigger finger.

Head sculpt looks good for Blaster overall, with the headsculpt capturing the cartoon look as is the case with the WFC trilogy line. I do find it amusing how the exposed red surrounding the eyes makes it look like he's tired as hell, but I appreciate how the silver of the face and the white for the forehead dome being in a similar yet entirely different shade (it's the matte look to it). I do wish the red plastic wouldn't feel washed out a bit; Blaster does feel slightly cheap for the red parts of the toy, and I kind of want the red plastic to either be slightly darker or have a subtle coat of metallic paint. His articulation is pretty much consistent with the rest of the WFC trilogy, with a ball-jointed head, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, and the ability to untab the forearms to add a bit more range for the button press on the right arm (and you can totally pretend the arms are broken). The waist can swivel, hips can move front and back as well as in and out, the thighs swivel, the knees bend, and the ankles can pivot. His gun can be placed in either arm if you want.

His only repaint is a Shattered Glass version of himself that came with a red Rewind instead of Eject. Otherwise, the functionality remains the same as it should.

We also got a Legacy Evolution Twincast, the first ever Blue Blaster repaint as part of a Hasbro line! He isn't just a color swap, as the gray is more white while most of the black is now red. He comes with Rewind, who is cast in smokey clear plastic.

The figure had an updated release with an even closer cartoon-accurate deco, an opaque chest, and an opaque Eject. All exclusive to Target in the Studio Series 86 line.

For a robot mode comparison with previous versions, here he is with his Titans Return and Device Label versions. The Titans Return version made for a pretty nice take on a budget MP Blaster since Takara won't make one anyhow, but I'm sure those who wanted a Blaster who would better scale with their CHUG line would want a figure that is basically Kingdom Blaster. And now we have the weird Device Label Blaster, who turned into a miniature laptop that was actually a USB hub. it was also weirdly proportioned in robot mode on top of having limited articulation. The Kingdom version is certainly better, but I wouldn't mind if it had similar leg proportions and whatnot instead of the Kingdom version. 

And here he is with Netflix Soundwave, who is shorter than this guy because of how one figure reused the tooling of the already better-proportioned siege version. I think it's great to have both figures in the same line and the same consistency, but Soundwave is the more interesting in terms of engineering. Blaster is the taller and easier to transform of the two figures. Apart from the slightly simple transformation and the clear blue plastic, Blaster fills in a gap nicely for any CHUG collection, and this is a figure you should get, whether it's in Kingdom or Legacy.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Power Rangers Dino Fury Dino Knight Morpher review

Last year we took a look at the Dino Fury Morpher, which was pretty underwhelming, and you can't tell me that the Hasbro version was the only weak version when the Bandai version is no better. IDK about the Ryusouls being different on the Bandai ones because those were pretty weak compared to the Gokaiger keys. But as was the case with the last decade of Power Rangers, we would get a new Morpher to go along with the second half of the season we're on. So with Dino Fury coming back for one last time, let's take a look and see what the Dino Knight Morpher has in store!

Here it is in-hand, which has been cast in red, black, and gray plastic with teal green paint on the back. It resembles a claw pretty well, given that's the point of the toy itself. I appreciate how the Morpher doesn't look nor feel cheap overall since it normally doesn't have the same form of compromises that would be found with modern toku toys. Honestly, I am quite content that it doesn''t feel incomplete all around, and even the main button's chromed! Speaking of buttons, this toy lacks an on-off switch, so you can't survive any unexpected button presses or motion sounds if it keeps making sounds without such a feature. Speaking of, the center button is made with 4 LED colors in mind depending on how they're activated. Lavender pops up from normal sounds, yellow from the lightning attack on the left of the toy when either it's activated from facing the bottom and/or using the left button, red being used as part of a compatibility feature to go with the Chromafury Saber's color scanning gimmick and/or being activated from when it's facing up, and blue when it's facing forward. Purple=normal, yellow = lightning, red = Dino, blue=ice.

The handle normally comes detached but it must be attached to complete the look, and I don't think it'll be easy to remove. Also, the bottom for the Chromafury Saber is added on that side. It is surprisingly decent-looking in other angles, even the handle looks alright.

The toy comes with a unique key that is neither meant for the normal morpher nor the Megazords. This key may seem like the average Ryusoulthing that is folded up....

...but when it unfolds after being inserted on top of the Morpher, it not only makes for a really cool dino head display, but it also plays the music from the show when they morph! It's something I love whenever they do that to make their toys feel closer to the show, even if the music from the original Morpher is still good. It's just amusing that the toys we get from the first year of a season have music that isn't from the show (or voices in the case of the Beast-X Morpher) while the second-year morphers have the sounds that are closer to what the show has. It's quite an amusing thing since the people behind the show are likely working separately from the people who are working on the toys in terms of the sound effects compared to Toei and Bandai working together so as to rush their stuff and put them on the shelves. And yes, you can have another key added on the side so you can have alternate music in addition to the other tunes that are already played when pressing the chrome button. And it's even possible to have two normal keys at once, though they don't stay on as well as the main key due to the lack of an additional tab that holds it in better.

And here it is with the Dino Fury Morpher. I have to say that the design is not only striking overall, and it managed to be striking before and after the key is inserted, which is especially true when it's put next to first Morpher and its lack of any Ranger-specific traits since the normal keys are hidden by the knight visor and the dino head being the same on all of them (in addition to the toy being pretty lackluster as far as designs are concerned). The Japanese version has some additional paint for the parts that were originally teal green compared to the light-up features of the Hasbro version. Much like with the comparison of the Beast-X Morphin Brace, both versions look good overall, and it's definitely a step up compared to the offering we got last year. Overall, I'm happy to say that the Dino Knight Morpher is no lackluster toy, as the play features, sound effects, and compatibility with the other keys make for a surprising toy all around. It's pretty good if you ask me, though I have one question to ask Hasbro: where is the Mosa Blaster????

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

Transformers Studio Series Core Class Shockwave & Ravage review

After being a new addition to the Kingdom chapter of the War for Cybertron trilogy, the Core Class makes its debut in Studio Series with figures meant for both the live-action and G1 characters. Continuing a theme for the size class, we get both miniature versions of larger characters and figures that'd allow certain characters to be done with justice in mind without being Deluxes or accessories of larger characters. And of course, it had to begin with the Bumblebee movie robots, so let's take a look at Ravage and Shockwave!

Let's start with the reverse order as we have Shockwave in his robot mode. It's very faithful to the CGI model since it basically has no altmode added at first until HasTak stepped in and gave him one. Added to the design are tank treads within the forearms and the back of the lower legs; honestly, that adds to an otherwise simple design while trying to be faithful to the retraux robot mode. As for the design itself, it's certainly G1 Shockwave with the realism filter added to appeal to the Geewunners, down to the thick thighs and wide head.

Head sculpt doesn't look as funny as it did on the CGI model, mostly because the eye didn't look too deep in an otherwise wide af head. It also has a bit of an eyebrow that Shockwave had on Cyberverse but without a second eye. I have to commend them for going so far in painting the head at such a scale, too. His articulation's on-par with the other Core Class figures: neck swivel, ball joints in the shoulders and hips, bicep and forearm swivels, and elbow and knee bends. His cannon can be placed in either arm.

For a size comparison, here he is with Starscream and Soundwave. As you can see, he is small. Some may find it weird that he's the one with a smaller toy, but I think it would make sense to want to either tease fans for a larger version or to go with a possible playset that may be some stupid escape pod tower. 

Transformation is pretty much like Prime Shockwave, only the cannon attaches to the head being rotated for you to use the 3mm port while the arms are now the rear treads. The resulting tank mode we have looks pretty good, and I'm happy we have that instead of some dumbass upside-down G1 gun that they'd call a submarine. The only issue is that it lacks any rolling wheels, much like Megatron did, but it looks so awesome on this small scale. Thanks to the head being the back of the turret, you can swivel it around so it can be like any other tank, even if Shockwave's head is exposed on the back. I'd say this guy is a slam dunk and is one of my favorite Core Class guys along with Rattrap, Bumblebee, and Soundwave. 

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

And here is Ravage! This guy initially comes like this without all of his accessories, so I have to say that this figure already looks good as far as being a fully-realized jaguar mech is concerned at this size. Previous minion Ravages in the recent lines have either been too chunky like the WFC version or mere accessories like with the ROTF one that came with Grindor. This guy, on the other hand, feels so complete all around that he's not missing anything n terms of molded details or paint apps. The white does look acceptably painted on his dark plastic surfaces without it looking like it requires a second coat of paint, and it also works if this is meant to be a war-torn Ravage. His accessories consist of the two hip-mounted guns based on his G1 toy, a missile pod that goes on his back, and a very phallic blaster that goes underneath him. His articulation consists of a neck hinge, an articulated jaw, ball joints at the shoulders and hips, hinges for the knees and elbows, and additional hinges for the hind legs while the paws can move up and down, and it's so good to have him with the added articulation that only a standalone figure like him would have at this day and age.

He is great for pitting him against Optimus Prime, especially when the Autobot leader was nearly mauled in the face by the pet of Soundwave. If Bumblebee was here, Ravage wouldn't be as lucky given what he'd later experience in Revenge of the Fallen.

Transforming him is pretty much reminiscent of how the G1 toy would transform, though you can put the missiles on the altmode without discarding them, and the same goes for the other accessories. As for the resulting alt mode, it's a cubic take on the typical cassette mode that Ravage takes. It's just a folded-up animal, nothing that mind-blowing. HOWEVER, the figure can be placed inside Soundwave's chest as seen in the Bumblebee movie as part of them going for that fanservice schtick. The missile can attach to the cannon to complete the look, which is cool if you wanted to give him the toy missile; it's moreso meant to give the look of the G1 gun that had the missile included since Soundwave never had it in the movie like that, but hey, it works. Ravage himself may not have a good alt mode, but at least he has a good amount of articulation, and he does fill in the gap of Soundwave, and thankfully, Ravage is currently easier to obtain for the most part compared to Soundwave's partners, who I had to get online back in the Siege days for being hard to get.

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

Transformers Kingdom Golden Collection Terrorsaur review

The on-screen Predacons were pretty much close to what they would look like in the TV show, especially when it comes to them being made with synergy in mind while also having the Kingdom realism for the beast modes. It's something I appreciate because while the cartoon beast modes were expressive, I do like the realistic look of the Beast Wars guys for their animal modes without sacrificing the designs of the characters. It does make me wonder how that'll be tackled in Legacy because judging by the G1 characters like Skids and Dragstrip, they don't feel as well-engineered as the Deluxe Autobot cars we're used to seeing. Maybe Terrorsaur was a sign of how that'll be handled as we'll get to because he's now the focus of the review!

Here is Terrorsaur in his beast mode. Stock images didn't really do any favors for the guy because the bottom portion looked very rough in comparison to what Airazor had, which I'd say was tackled a little better. While the use of red does hide the parts better, the figure doesn't have that much of a refined bottom portion for the beast mode, making it look rather amateur and outdated of an undercarriage. The top portion does have all of the nice sculpted details that help complete the look of the beast mode, and I do have to give credit for making the beast mode both look like the cartoon and also have a bit of realism to it, though kind of like with Tigatron, it does have a closer look to the cartoon. Terrorsaur's articulation consists of a neck swivel and hinge, an opening beak, wings that can pose on multiple hinges as well as on the swivels that help the outer portions of the wings hinge up and down. Of note, not only are the wings of mismatched colors, but the outer portions of the wings do not stay on that well, which is rather annoying since that wasn't the case with Airazor.

For a beast mode comparison, here is Terrorsaur next to Airazor. It is said that Terrorsaur is a retool of Airazor, and I can sort of see that because they share the same integral structure and engineering, though these two certainly feel like two separate toys, kind of like the helicopter versions of Studio Series Drift and Dropkick or Thrilling 30's Sandstorm and Springer. That being said, Airazor's plastic quality is nicer overall than Terrorsaur's; he just feels a little cheaper than most Kingdom figures, and it's not like I expected him to be as good as the figures of the past 20 years, but something that makes him feel as good as the other Kingdom Beasties.

And for another comparison, here he is with the other Season 1 Predacons. Terrorsaur adds quite a nice bit of color breakup since his blood red helps him stand out from the mostly purple team. Okay, Blackarachnia's black but still. It makes me look forward to seeing the weird color combo of Tarantulas as well as the additional red of Inferno because I can't wait to complete this team. 

Transformation is almost identical to that of Airazor's, with the same leg transformation and torso transformation, though unlike Airazor, Terrorsaur's chest is a faux part of the back since he doesn't have the flipformer gimmick anymore. As a result, he does not have the beast mode head on his chest as it is now on his back like it is with the character model. Of that note, because he doesn't have the flipformer gimmick where the head hinges on the back like the old toy did, he does not have his wings upside down. The resulting robot mode looks very show-accurate, and I have to give credit to the designers for making this figure as separate from Airazor as they possibly can. The chest, the colors, the new wings, and the new accessories keep him as unique as they can with the budget that they have, and it's something I greatly appreciate given how far they've come with that. Now with all that said, Terrorsaur's robot mode is very show-accurate, and it's no surprise how it has the blend of the cartoon aesthetics and the realism of the beast mode. It even has the forearm spikes that help him further distinct from the missiles that Airazor has. I have to be honest and say that the figure's red plastic can look either pretty good or a little cheap, but the silver paint apps look so zestless on him. I think if they were a little shinier, or if the plastic they were painted on was a little less cheap, then they'd look nicer than they currently look. IDK, it's hard to explain. Think of it as a comparison between the nice silver plastic of Kingdom Shadow Panther and the same zestless silver Terrorsaur shares with Ravage. Also, If you notice the ankles, I had to use superglue because those joints were as loose as the wing tips (though they don't come off). It was especially a problem for the beast mode since it was so top-heavy.

Head sculpt is very accurate to the character design, especially with the inclusion of a white face, though I do feel his eyes were meant to be red. It's not a dealbreaker, but it is something that does deviate from the cartoon. The sculpted details on the head could be a little better defined, though. His articulation consists of the same joints found on Airazor: ball-jointed head, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, waist swivels, hips that move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle pivots. His sole main accessory is a gun with a red tip unpainted like the handle, and no, that's not phallic, but moreso in reference to the way it looked in the show.

And now, here we have an interesting inclusion in the form of the Golden Disk. This is the same one included with the Autobot Ark, specifically, the Vok version. It's in a slightly different shade, and it appears to have the error of having the Sounds of Earth etching on the back instead of more alien symbols; there were two versions of the Golden Disk in the show, btw, with one of them being taken by the original Megatron at some point with the intent of telling Decepticons from the future to use transwarp technology if they find it so they can find the Ark, use its Teletraan 1 codes, and kill Optimus Prime so the Decepticons can win the Great War.

His only reuse so far is a toy-accurate version of himself. Meaning he has a whole lot more blue and black instead of having the red broken up with silver. The green spots also add to the color breakup, though the gun reverts to being bare red plastic. The ankles are still loose.

Now as part of the Beast Ears Again subline, Terrorsaur gets a cartoon-accurate deco that looks worse than the original version. The unpaintable plastic parts leave the upper arms, torso, and thighs as gray rather than silver, and his hands aren't black. He amusingly came with a repaint of Core Class Rattrap.

For a size comparison with the figure he shares engineering with, here he is with Airazor in robot mode, and yeah, I can definitely say that the two figures manage to be different enough from one another while reusing some parts here and there. The forearms, lower legs, and maybe the hands are the same as with Airazor, but it's pretty cool how little was reused between the two figures. And it's something quite common these days (and going back to the comparison I made, the lower legs being the same doesn't bother me as it does with Drift using Dropkick's legs in Studio Series). 

And here he is with the other Predacons from Season 1! It's still amusing how Megatron manages to remain the tallest member of the team, and it makes me wonder how tall Tarantulas and Inferno will be. Either way, Terrorsaur does fit in pretty well with the others, though not only does he feel kind of cheap like Waspinator does, but he also has a little more of a rigid feel to the design in terms of beast mode aesthetics without having the same organic look to him that the others have, especially Megatron. That doesn't necessarily make him a bad toy, per see, but it may result in him feeling a little jarring all around. I'm not sure if he'll be back in stock because of the four Golden Collection releases, he's been the one with the most amount of spotlight due to him being a heavy retool as well as a main character instead of a repaint based on two obscure G1 repaints, an SS-86 repaint based on an obscure Action Master, and a canceled version of Tigatron that, while nice-looking, does feel just as obscure.

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