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Energon Strongarm

PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 9:03 am
by jogunwarrior
Strongarm and Skyblast were the first Energon figures I remember buying. The were both cool little Scout class toys with nice designs, good details, and were fun to play with.

Strongarm is one of those toys that I feared wouldn't age well or may look out of place with other lines of Transformers, but that hasn't been the case. He's a small, fun figure that works great with Energon, Cybertron, Generatons, and even Prime toys.

My one issue with this figure is the crane/gun thing. It's huge. While it doesn't look bad on the vehicle, it does look too big for the robot, I think if they had designed it to split into two pieces it would have been a lot better. They, weirdly enough, designed his spare tire to split into two...why not the weapon instead?

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Strongarm transforms into some sort of jeep thing. It is small, but given how small the two front seats appear, I would actually think that the jeep would be huge...or maybe the drivers are just really tiny. Anyway, the mold itself isn't bad, and it had a crane/cannon thing that attaches to it.

His transformation from vehicle to robot, or vice versa, is relatively easy and satisfying.

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Cybertron Excellion

PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:17 am
by jogunwarrior
Excellion is a redeco of a Cybertron Hotshot, which I hadn't known for the longest time, I just assumed it was an all new mold for an all new character. I've since gone back and looked at that Hotshot figure, and am not impressed with his color scheme. I'm really glad I picked this up instead because if I'd gotten Hotshot first, I would have surely passed on this guy.

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Excellion's alt mode is a cool looking futuristic sports car. The vehicle mode itself is solid, the only issue I have is that the doors are a different shade than the rest of the car. You can see it here, and it is a lot more jarring in person.

Inserting a Cyberkey into the rear deploys blue transparent wings/blades.

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Cybertron Scrapmetal

PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:34 am
by jogunwarrior
If I knew more about Scrapmetal back during the Cybertron era, I would have picked up as many of these figures as I could for a cool little army of them. Since I have just the one I treat him as an individual character. He's a Decepeticon saboteur and all around trouble maker.

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Scrapmetal's alt mode is a cool looking four-legged tank that almost reminds me of something from Metal Gear Solid. I like to imagine he has the ability to clamp on to the hull of an Autobot spaceship and the use his cannon to either disable it, or breach its hull for infiltration.

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Energon Snowcat

PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 12:58 pm
by jogunwarrior
As big of a GI Joe fan as I am, Snowcat should be my favorite Transformer ever if for no other reason than its clearly based on the GI Joe vehicle of the same name.

His robot mode is based on the Joe vehicle, but doesn't look too much like it once you get pass the front cab. He does have the working windshield wiper which is a nice touch.

Unlike the Joe Snowcat, this guy is armed with two large missile launchers. I would have really loved it if he would have been armed with the quad missile rack like the Joe vehicle.

Aside from his shortcomings described in these two entries, he's still a decent figure and is fun to play with.

Above all else, he really got me wishing for a line of GI Joe inspired Transformer figures. I'd love a Rattler, Hiss, Whale, Skyhawk, Meandog, Raider, and so much more in this same scale.


The biggest issue I have with this figure is his torso. The front half of the vehicle cab makes up his torso, which is normally just great in my book, but it fails here because the cab is really bulbous. Snowcat appears to have a severe weight problem. The large torso makes the rest of his limbs appear undersized.

Between his chubby stature and stubby arms he does not appear to be much of a threat to the Autobots.

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Beast Wars Transmetal Cheetor

PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:08 am
by jogunwarrior
Cheetor is a great character in the Beast Wars Universe. He began as young, naive and kinetic...over the course of the series you saw him grow into a seasoned warrior, and his new Transmetal look helps illustrate that, even his new head sculpt. The figure is highly posable, with lots of great articulation, and he's constructed in such a manner that his joints have all remained really tight over the years.

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TM Cheetor's beast mode is a great design; its sleek but robust, and has decent articulation. Plus he has jets thrusters that fold out from his sides giving him the ability to fly, which increases his playability for a kid ten-fold.

As one of the stars of the show, he's a great character, and this toy is a nice representation of that character.

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Armada Cyclonus

PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:14 am
by jogunwarrior
I believe this to be the Powerlinx version of the character, which is a re-release in different colors. I never saw the original at retail, and this is maybe one of three Armada figures I actually bought at retail.

The transformation from helicopter gunship to robot is overly simple...so much in fact that my four year old son is quick with it. It doesn't help that arms and legs and entirely visible in vehicle mode so there's no guessing what goes where.

His transformation is so simple that it seems to affect his articulation in robot mode. His head is stub and he has no neck. His legs have very limited articulation as well. He does have some redeeming qualities in the mold such as missile launcher and machine guns molded onto his arms,

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Cyclonus transforms into a green attack helicopter. Aside from the fact that his robot arms are clearly visible (they didn't even attempt to hide his hands) and his legs are poorly designed in his mode I like the helicopter mode. Its a lot better than his robot design in my opinion, and is even better when Crumplezone is added to the front end.

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Sooo much better with Crumplezone included. The helicopter is nicely armed with firing missile launchers and machine guns, as well as two cannons on his feet.

This particular mode is the only reason I still have him in my collection. I've come close to cutting him from the collection a few times before, but after picking him up and playing with this mode I always put him right back on the shelf.

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Prime Prowl

PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:21 am
by jogunwarrior
Prowl is a remold of Beast Hunters Smokescreen. He has a different head and a color scheme. Truth be told, when I first saw pics of Prowl I didn't even realize it was the same basic mold.

I passed on Smokescreen, but I knew right away that I would buy Prowl on sight, which so far has only been once.

I like this figure. The car mold is cool, and the robot mode is nice though the faux hood on his chest is a weird touch. He has some kibble hanging on his forearms but it doesn't really bother me too much or hinder his playability.

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Re: Jogunwarrior's Transformer World

PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 1:50 pm
by bumblebeej8
This is cool.

Generations Skids

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 7:16 am
by jogunwarrior
Skids was a character I didn't have much affection for until I saw the pics of this figure. I instantly wanted him. Reading him in More than Meets the Eye really solidified my love of the character, and think this figure is even greater now!

Skids transformation is pretty fun, but I usually just play with him in robot mode. He's armed with a nice looking blaster as well as two dual barreled cannons on his wrists.

I love the sculpt and paint job on this figure.

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Re: Jogunwarrior's Transformer World

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 7:17 am
by jogunwarrior
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Generations Hound

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 7:20 am
by jogunwarrior
Hound is a great figure. He's fun to transform and play with in both modes. He comes equipped with his holographic projector/gun that he can hold or clip onto his shoulder.

Overall this is exactly the Hound figure I've been yearning for years, and though I feared overhyping him in my head, that wasn't the case.

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BW Transmetal II Prowl

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 7:23 am
by jogunwarrior
Transmetal II Prowl transforms from robot into a cybernetic owl, and I really like this look of this mode. He's not incredibly posable, though you can fold the wings down and his head rotates all the way around with the push of a button.

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Always liked Prowl as a character, and was stoked to see him released as part of the Beast Wars Line; first as a lion and then again as a Transmetal II Owl.

I have to admit that he sat on my display shelf mistransformed for a long time. In fact it wasn't until posing him here, that I actually transformed him correctly. Instead of his wings sitting on top of his shoulders as pictured here, they were positioned vertically below the arms and jutted out from his back. Despite it not being accurate it did reduce his shelf space footprint a tad.

I have a few Prowl figures at this point, and this character is used as someone a bit different. He's still called Prowl, but isn't the Prowl you know and he love. He is the result of an experiment by Jhiaxus in cloning Autobot and Decepticon warriors.

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Classics Roadbuster

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:14 am
by jogunwarrior
This figure was released in a two pack with a Cybertronian Dirge, and he is a repaint of a Cybertron Defense Hotshot! I remember seeing the Hotshot figure in stores and while the mold was cool, the colors were atrocious so I passed on it.

The colors here are much better, and really do the mold justice. I really wish Hasbro would have given the figure a more Roadbuster-esque head sculpt...as he is he doesn't feel like the intended character.

Now that I have a Generations Roadbuster figure, I struggle to find a place for this guy in my collection.

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DotM Roadbuster

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:17 am
by jogunwarrior
Of all the DotM figures, I knew this was the one I wanted most. He's not Roadbuster to me, that spot is being saved for the upcoming Generations figure I have pre-ordered. He is however a cool looking bot that turns into a cool race car. The figure is equipped with movable shoulder mounted missile pods, and a forearm mounted retractable chainsaw and machine gun.

He's also got a great head sculpt that makes him a very distinct looking character with a lot of personality.

As much as I like this figure, there are some drawbacks. The biggest issue I have with it is the lave of paint app on the robot body itself. There are some great looking details, but they are washed out by the bland gray plastic.

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RotF Dead End

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:19 am
by jogunwarrior
Dead End is a fun, cool looking little toy. His small size in either mode doesn't leave much of a footprint in your collection. He's one of my favorite from the RotF line, and I am somewhat considering nabbing the Nightbeat repaint, though I certainly wouldn't use him as Nightbeat.

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Generations Armada Starscream

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:21 am
by jogunwarrior
I remember this mold from the Armada days; I never had the Starscream, but I do have the Thundercracker version. The Armada version is much larger and the transformation is a bit more simplistic. Anyway, I wasn't too impressed with the Armada version and therefore wasn't really looking forward to this figure. I actually passed on it in the store a few times, before committing to it. Now that I have him, I am really glad I got him, he may even be my favorite from this entire wave.

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Starscream's jet mold is a scaled down version of the Armada version, with some improvements such as better concealed robot arms.

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Beast Machines Snarl

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:26 am
by jogunwarrior
Snarl's beast mode is the reason I purchased this toy, it's pretty great. He's a sleek, robust lion colored in gold, orange, and blue. The colors are great. I really dig the thick organic looking mane

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Snarl's robot mode sort of looks like a lion standing on its hind legs. The face is a little bit different, which is good, and its a nice head sculpt, but based on the overly simple transformation it just seems like a lion standing up.

There a couple of action features built into the figures arms, which can limit his pose-ability.

The robot mode is decent, but its his beast mode that I really like

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Generations Hoist

PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 8:07 am
by jogunwarrior
Hoist's figure is pretty great. He's got a lot of great articulation and is fun to play with. His tow-hook folds into a small cannon, which is a cool little feature.

He's a little small for a deluxe but truth be told I don't mind that much, I like figures of varying sizes and I still feel like I got my monies worth out of him.

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Cybertron Cannonball

PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 8:09 am
by jogunwarrior
I love this paint scheme on this mold even better than Red Alert's. The black and purple is sick and the skeleton decals are a great touch!

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After showcasing my Cybertron Red Alert figure, a fellow Transformer fan had recommended I check out Cannonball, which I promptly did. I picked this guy up on eBay shortly after and am really glad I did. Everything I like about the Red Alert figure is present here, and his color scheme is fantastic!

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Classics Springer

PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 8:13 am
by jogunwarrior
I've always liked Springer ever since the '86 movie, and always wanted a proper Springer figure. Sadly it had taken Hasbro nearly 30 years to give us a proper Springer, but over the years they had released a number of repaints of existing characters which they tried to pass off as Springer. More often than not it didn't work for me as with the case of this particular toy.

With my Generations Springer (which is an amazing toy), this guy has sort of lost his place in my collection. He's been given to my son to play with, and he loves him, which is understandable because he's a pretty cool toy with some nice play features like his retractable hooked winch and pop up missile launchers.

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Prime Knockout

PostPosted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:46 am
by jogunwarrior
I really enjoyed the Prime cartoon, sure there is a lot of aspects of it I would have changed, but it overall it was a good show. My favorite character from the show was Knock Out.

I missed out on the original Knock Out figure as I didn't really get into the line until the Beast Hunters toys came along.


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Re: Jogunwarrior's Transformer World

PostPosted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:47 am
by jogunwarrior
As much as I like this figure, I am not able to use him as Sideswipe since I already have two Classics/Generations representing that character.

This figure has been renamed Silverstreak. I refer to my Classic Silverstreak as Bluestreak anway!

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PCC Huffer

PostPosted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:49 am
by jogunwarrior
When the PCC stuff was hitting shelves, I was pretty picky about which ones I was going to be picking up. I thought some of the figures looked pretty bad and passed on them. There were two figures that really stood out to me and that was Huffer and Leadfoot.

Huffer stood out to me because it was a remake of the G1 character. I never had Huffer myself, but I remember him, and this looked like a really decent remake.


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Huffer easily transforms from robot to truck and back again. The truck is small but nicely detailed. It is a nice update of his original mode.

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Generations Trailbreaker

PostPosted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:50 am
by jogunwarrior
So Hasbro had to officially call him Trailcutter, but I am not a fan of characters having their names changed for no reason (benefiting the character or characters story anyway), so I am sticking with Trailbreaker as I am sure most fans are.

Trailbreaker was never a toy I had, but I always liked the character, I especially liked his ability to generate a force field. When I first saw photos of this toy, I knew he was going to be at the top of my list to get...I was so excited for him I even pre-ordered him on Big Bad Toy Store, which is something I had never done for a toy before.


Trailbreaker transforms into a relatively small SUV, and it is small for a deluxe. Its a solid vehicle mode though. The robot mode is a stocky yet well designed robot with nice detailing. I really like the black coloring with the red accents.

Overall he's a great update to the original figure (at least from my perspective, but remember I never actually had the original figure).

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Generations Seaspray

PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:23 pm
by jogunwarrior
2010 was an interesting year as far as Transformers branding went. I still get confused on what was a Classics/Generations and what was a Movieverse figure. Sea Spray is one of those figures that I am never really sure which line he fits in with. I think he was packaged as a movieverse figure, but definitely fits the aesthetic of a Generations figure.

I remember seeing this guy at retail and passing on him each time. I regretted it after a while, and decided to pick on up. I found this guy on eBay and paid about 20.00 including shipping. I am really glad I did, as he was worth it!

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