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With the recent Toys R US coupons finally expiring, I expanded my search for Wave 2 of the latest main Transformers line - Power of the Primes, and picked up the Wave 2 Voyagers - Elita-1 and Hun-Grr.
I know Elita-1 as one of the first female Transformers, and I believe the very competent companion of Alpha Trion.. or at least that's what she was back in 1988. I'm guessing since then the character has been revisited in the comics, but I'm not a comic guy. So when they announced there would be a version of her in this line, I was quite excited as I don't really remember a figure ever being made of her.
Fem-bots in general are quite infrequent so I do try to get them all, though sadly Hasbro dropped the ball completely on Generations Arcee and Chromia. Combiner Wars had the all female combiner Victorion, and I'm hoping this line will up the ante.
Elita-1 is a remould of the PotP Starscream mould, which, after fiddling with it, seems to be some sort of variation on the Combiner Wars Silverbolt figure. I've only really got a Scattershot to do a comparison to.
The articulation of the figure is acceptable for the price point, but definitely not outstanding, though to be honest waist articulation would be the only thing I'd really like to see added.
I do like the colour scheme, though QC on the paint is.. well typical mass release Hasbro but at least they didn't screw up the paint on the faces. Quality of the plastic is again pretty typical Hasbro, feeling lightweight but not shattering during transformation. Alignment of some tabs isn't the greatest.
Waiting for Takara to do a better job doesn't seem to be a thing this time around, as all previews have shown the figure are pretty much identical this time around, though I'm curious to see if they kept the same low quality stickers with gibberish written on it.
Speaking of gibberish, one sticker says "Ariel Evolved", which makes me wonder if there will not be an Arcee figure this series, as easy and obvious an entry as a limb she might be. The reason I say that is because in Japan, Arcee is actually named Ariel. Given the colour scheme and cryptic sticker, maybe this IS Arcee.
Speaking of combined forms, there is nothing on her instructions that give any indication of the combined form name, or the names of the two remaining limbs (so far, Jazz and Moonracer have been released).
Hun-Grr is another figure I was excited to see. Not so much that I care for the character, but rather, it's the combined form I'm anxiously awaiting - Abominus, the arch-rival of Computron. And because promos showed the entire thing combined, and there is a history of this character, the instruction manual lists out every single component.
Hun-Grr's bot mode and alt mode are.. OK. I mean, they're neat, and are functional, but you certainly can't call them outstanding. All the QC issues I expanded upon above are present here, though for the record Hun-Grr does seem to hold together better than Elita-1.
Torso mode is what I'm most excited about. Other than being the upper body of Abominus, I like how Hasbro has generally replicated the chest plate of the original toy, a problem that was quite the eye sore on Superion, and more notably, on Computron, to the point where I opted to purchase a Perfect Effects set to make things right.
If I had to pick my biggest gripe with Hun-Grr, it's that the antenna on Abominus are a soft rubber, which I'm guessing was done for child safety standards. Unfortunately, one of the antenna was warped during shipping.
I look forward to finishing these sets, and the Dinobot set as well. It's a shame, though, that Hasbro didn't opt to use the Computron hands/feet on these newer releases, as the ones that come with these figures are rather small, and in the case of Abomius, will be different coloured.
Perfect Effects FTW, I guess.
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
Nombre: Rippersnapper
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: G1
Subgrupo: Terrorcons
Año: 1986
Número de adquisición: 186
Rippersnapper es uno de los Terrorcons necesarios para formar a Abominus. Es uno de los mejores Terrorcons, aunque la idea es únicamente formar a Abominus, así que sus formas individuales no me interesan tanto.
Me lo dieron como parte de un negocio. Está incompleto.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Rippersnapper
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: G1
Subgroup: Terrorcons
Year: 1986
Number in Collection: 186
Rippersnapper is one of the Terrorcons to form Abominus. It's one of the best Terrorcons, although all I want is to complete Abominus, so its individual forms are not so important.
I got him as part of a deal. He's incomplete.
Nombre: Cutthroat
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: G1
Subgrupo: Terrorcons
Año: 1987
Número de adquisición: 193
Otro Terrorcon más para completar Abominus.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Cutthroat
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: G1
Subgroup: Terrorcons
Year: 1987
Number in Collection: 193
Another terrorcon to complete Abominus.
Nombre: Cutthroat
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: G1
Subgrupo: Terrorcons
Año: 1987
Número de adquisición: 193
Otro Terrorcon más para completar Abominus.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Cutthroat
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: G1
Subgroup: Terrorcons
Year: 1987
Number in Collection: 193
Another terrorcon to complete Abominus.
More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
Nombre: Cutthroat
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: G1
Subgrupo: Terrorcons
Año: 1987
Número de adquisición: 193
Otro Terrorcon más para completar Abominus.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Cutthroat
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: G1
Subgroup: Terrorcons
Year: 1987
Number in Collection: 193
Another terrorcon to complete Abominus.
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
(Sing the title to the tune of the Speed Racer theme.)
As much as I like Cliff's alt mode, I really have no idea what the hell the arms micron is supposed to be. A claw? A gun? Who the hell knows?
More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
Nombre: Rippersnapper
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: G1
Subgrupo: Terrorcons
Año: 1986
Número de adquisición: 186
Rippersnapper es uno de los Terrorcons necesarios para formar a Abominus. Es uno de los mejores Terrorcons, aunque la idea es únicamente formar a Abominus, así que sus formas individuales no me interesan tanto.
Me lo dieron como parte de un negocio. Está incompleto.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Rippersnapper
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: G1
Subgroup: Terrorcons
Year: 1986
Number in Collection: 186
Rippersnapper is one of the Terrorcons to form Abominus. It's one of the best Terrorcons, although all I want is to complete Abominus, so its individual forms are not so important.
I got him as part of a deal. He's incomplete.
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
Nombre: Rippersnapper
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: G1
Subgrupo: Terrorcons
Año: 1986
Número de adquisición: 186
Rippersnapper es uno de los Terrorcons necesarios para formar a Abominus. Es uno de los mejores Terrorcons, aunque la idea es únicamente formar a Abominus, así que sus formas individuales no me interesan tanto.
Me lo dieron como parte de un negocio. Está incompleto.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Rippersnapper
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: G1
Subgroup: Terrorcons
Year: 1986
Number in Collection: 186
Rippersnapper is one of the Terrorcons to form Abominus. It's one of the best Terrorcons, although all I want is to complete Abominus, so its individual forms are not so important.
I got him as part of a deal. He's incomplete.
Nombre: Abominus
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: Kre-O
Año: 2013
Número de adquisición: 611
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Abominus
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: Kre-O
Year: 2013
Number in Collection: 611
This commissioned project was massive. Time consuming, frustrating... made me cry a lot. Finally, many decades later I present Cybertron : Abominus. This massive combiner stands approximately 16 inches tall to the top of his head. He features bright red LED lights in his eyes, super articulated and very complex to assemble and break down into individual Terrorcons. If you have not seen the individual Terrorcon galleries, please see here :
Blot
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157637603058483
Rippersnapper
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157647236046123/
Hun-Grr
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157649291660961/
Sinnertwin
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157640929155753/
Cutthroat
This commissioned project was massive. Time consuming, frustrating... made me cry a lot. Finally, many decades later I present Cybertron : Abominus. This massive combiner stands approximately 16 inches tall to the top of his head. He features bright red LED lights in his eyes, super articulated and very complex to assemble and break down into individual Terrorcons. If you have not seen the individual Terrorcon galleries, please see here :
Blot
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157637603058483
Rippersnapper
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157647236046123/
Hun-Grr
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157649291660961/
Sinnertwin
www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157640929155753/
Cutthroat
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.
Nombre: Abominus
Afiliación: Decepticons
Línea: Kre-O
Año: 2013
Número de adquisición: 611
-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: Abominus
Allegiance: Decepticons
Line: Kre-O
Year: 2013
Number in Collection: 611
I was able to find the Power of the Prime Wave 2 deluxes I needed for my collection this past week, and cracked them open for a bit of show and tell. First off, are Moonracer and Rippersnapper.
Moonracer is one of the female Autobots introduced in the original G1 series. She, along with Elita-1 and several other team members essentially are in the Rebel forces that fight against Decepticon rule. Also like Elita-1, this figure marks the first time the character has seen a general release in toy form.
Moonracer has a slim build, like most of other fembots, and is predominately a teal and white colour scheme. Robot mode is decent, with most major points of articulation expected on a figure like this, including a waist swivel. Her arms are a bit short and stubby.. or her legs are really long. The legs do have a fairly good range of motion, though.
Moonracer has one hell of a backpack, which really makes her upper body look like a jumble of parts with a torso attached to it, rather than a torso with some kibble - this is reflected in the transformation.
This matter is further made more ridiculous looking if you actually decide to display her wearing her "Prime Armour", which is essentially a random gimmick they made up such that the combiner hands could serve a secondary purpose. I have yet to see any deluxe figure look good with this one.
Her gun is comically large, though this may be a nod to her official title as "best shot in the universe".
Car mode isn't terrible, and wears the Prime Armour bits decently. I do like the use of translucent plastic for the windshield. No, it certainly doesn't resemble any real world vehicle, but I feel these sci-fi vehicles are often where the creativity real shines through in the designs.
Rippersnapper is, of course, the first of 4 limbs for Abominus. Named to Terrorcons, the team that makes up Abominus have alt modes that are.. weird monster looking things. Rippersnapper is essentially a shark with arms and legs.
Robot mode is pretty solid with articulation on par with Moonracer. QC on Rippersnapper seems to be much more solid than with Moonracer, particularly the paint on the face. Proportions are nice, with no real backpack issues or anything that throws off the aesthetics.
Other than the combiner hands, Rippersnapper comes with a pair of guns that can be mounted behind his shoulders.
Between bot and monster mode, I feel that Rippersnapper shines more in the latter. For starters, it has access to all the weapons that the bot mode does, but can use them all at once. The shark head is nicely done, as are the jaws that open and close with painted teeth. The tail is a bit on the stumpy side, mind you. The look of this mode has of course been upgraded since the G1 days, and looks more mechanical that its classic counterpart.