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This Whirl is a "one step" toy. I use quotes because while it is as simple in articulation as all one steps, it actually has 4-5 steps depending on how you count it. While the bulk of the transformation is pulling down the cockpit, which slides the entire robot body down, you then have to flip the feet, fold the rotor and bring up the tail to keep the rotor from flailing around. The extra transformation steps make the rotors add a nice design to his back. In helicopter mode, the rotor moves freely, as should always be the case.
The robot mode is nice though. The proportions are about right. He mainly takes inspiration from the Generations toy and I think the design is even better here, especially with the legs. I also think he looks better in helicopter mode than the Generations version did. The biggest change from usual Whirl look is the head sculpt which I find fascinating. It's length is shortened and while it looks slightly smaller than normal, the cyclopean eye is bigger, for the head. So that gives the head an overall chibi (super deformed) aesthetic. He looks pretty cute for a crazed bot.
In robot mode, the left arm has a similar gimmick to the T30 Generations toy where the claw hand can sprout when activated. The two arms are the only parts that are articulated in robot mode.
Overall, when it comes to a one step toy, this is as good as we have gotten so far, since both modes look rather good.
While there have been many rumours for what we will get in Earthrise, I wanted to concentrate on the ones that were the most unexpected and the most mysterious, the voyager Quintesson and deluxe Quintessa figures. While we published a few articles describing what different users, who claim to have seen these toys, have stated, it was varied enough that it comes down to speculation. So why not do that and take some educated guesses?
The only thing that is more than just a rumour are the listings from Hasbro (that have since been taken down) which name a voyager Quintesson and a deluxe Quintessa. It's rather interesting that even though Quintessons are a G1 staple since the 86 movie, they haven't appeared much in toylines. The last time we got one from Hasbro was in the Energon line from the previous decade. And even then, it was more an homage to G1 rather than an actual representation of the G1 characters. It seems the only Quintesson related characters we keep getting are the Sharkticons.
But now, finally, we are getting a Quintesson figure and a voyager, no less. While fans were wondering if it would transform or not, the latest rumours indicate that it will in some way. It is meant to be a mainline figure in a Transformers line so that does make sense and I would speculate as such. Of course, I'd expect the Quintesson mode (the only mode we have seen in the cartoon) will be the main one and what it transforms into to be a secondary function. Then again the Siege line gave us a good example of a G1 toy that only had one mode back in the day, Brunt, and it turned out to be a pretty good transforming toy. The fact that some rumours did mention a rotating head gimmick would mean this is the Judge type Quintesson (which seems to be the default type when thinking of Quintessons).
As for the deluxe Quintessa figure, the mystery is we don't even know what that could even be. Sure, we had a Quintessa in the Last Knight movie but the Generations line has been bent on G1. Even Barricade, who would be a crossover character from the films, was released in a fully G1 look as opposed to a Generations style version of his movie look, which has already been designed. Just to say that in the Generations line, the Quintessa figure would probably not even look like what she was in the film, nor even be a crossover character. We also need to remember that Quintessa is also the name of the planet and Hasbro has been known to change a character's name into a location associated to that character when releasing a toy (like Darkmount). So what else could that Quintessa listing be? Well, since it's a deluxe and we are getting G1 Quintessons, I would speculate something in regards to G1. If Hasbro is indeed going down that line to give us toys from that part of the G1 film, the other candidates for toys could be the Prosecutor or Professor type Quintesson. Another possibility, especially when thinking of it transforming, would be the Allicons. These are characters we never got before. Then again we could always get several of these Quintesson themed characters since while we know only of two listings, there could be more we do not know about.
So this is what is out there being discussed and I wanted to bring that here. What do you hope the Quintesson figure to look like? And what do you think the Quintessa figure reffers to? What would be ideal to you? Let us know!
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are our opinions so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.
Top 5 Best Beast Machines Toys
If you heard that the best part of the Beast machines toyline were everything aside for the onscreen beasts, well there is some truth to it. It was a return to vehicles and the designers seemed to give their all for anything that flew or had wheels, as if they could finally pour out all the ideas they had been keeping on the side for years during the beast wars. The line is a celebration in a way, of the mixture between styles, the organic and the mechanic, which is the theme of the show. This list will be that too with a mix of the vehicons and beasts, though more the ones that were not seen in the show. You'll see what I mean, now let's get to it!
5. Sonic Attack Jet (Jetstorm)
This is one of the better toys that is based on a show character and also happens to look like the show character, to an extent better than most. It even has a hover mode. Now, I picked this redeco over the original because I feel the vibrant blues are far more accurate to Jetstorm on the show (easily my favourite villain of the three generals). It's a beautiful and sleek cybertronian jet, with no obvious robot kibble (even though it's technically right there in front of you) with a nice transformation and a solid robot mode. Not much more I could ask for in a toy.
Most of the basic figures in Beast Machines were really solid and it's the class with easily the most consistently good figures. Battle Unicorn is the first of the two on this list. I really like that Hasbro once again gave us a mythological animal in the Beast era. While it may be similar to a horse, they really go out of their way to give it that extra mythical appearance by extending the theme of a central horn onto the robot mode's crest (which also gives it the appearance of a spartan helmet, and we know the Greeks are linked to both horses and myths). Plus we have a fire theme with beautiful clear red plastic. It looks like a jewel.
Even when the MP will come out, this will remain one of the better Blackarachnia figures. I really like the transformation, which gives us a great spider mode even though the details don't match up perfectly with the show. And it gives us the multiple eyes gimmick in robot mode too. It is also one of the better toys done for a female character, emphasizing the different body type a female Cybertronian could have. It's just a well done toy all around, conveying the essence of the character and the biotech theme of the show, regardless of its accuracy.
This is one of the best designs of the beast era. The idea of a limbless creature turning into a robot with 4 limbs could drive some toy designers mad but Hasbro and Takara achieved it and with great success. I really love how the tail becomes not one but two legs. It's also a very unique robot look and for once you don't have itty biddy thighs leading up to big feet. There is a really cool fantasy element to this toy's proportions and the design, at least in robot mode, reminds me a lot of a ancient headpieces. The snake mode looks great too, and even has a biting gimmick. What impresses the most though is all the dedication given to a small toy at a very low price point. This toy is as complex, detailed and articulated as any toy commanding higher prices in its toyline, which is something you don't see these days.
Tankor is one of the most overlooked Transformers toys out there. He isn’t show accurate in the slightest, and that’s why no one cares about him now, but he is an incredible transforming toy! He is a beast of a machine in both modes and has an involved yet very intuitive transformation. I love his gimmicks too like his saw blades that can be revealed in tank mode as well as the most complex light piping gimmick ever done. Unlike the show model, this toy actually has two separate heads, one for robot mode and one for tank mode (which I like better, it feels less lazy as a transforming toy) and both heads share an interconnected light piping gimmick which makes it appear as though he is scanning the environment just as he would on the show. Also, his huge size also makes him work as a much worthy opponent to the other non accurate Beast Machines figures out there. In a fit of irony, his size makes him seem more suited to lead an army made up of the more show accurate Tankor that was released in a much smaller scale (also pictured below).
Attack on Titan A Seibertron.com Semi-Spoilerish Review of IDW Transformers #14
Synopsis
Now shipping monthly! The Ascenticon Guard, Security Operations, and The Rise are caught in a three-way faceoff. Cybertron is teetering on the brink of chaos, but there is still hope for peace. And leading the way to restore that peace are the only bots that make sense: Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream!
Genre Savvy Swiper
Story
After a bit of a hiatus, we return to you with a review for the just released IDW Transformers #14, part of the Bold New Era. And as for how that Bold New Era is doing, keep reading below! And for more information on this issue, you can check out our database entry!
There is a light that never goes out
So far, the Bold New Era has been heavy on the dialogue, but not so heavy on the story or intrigue. If anything, that has been the weakness of the Bold New Era to date, not a lot happening for the page space. The story has been slow going, and every time we get something that seems intriguing, it stalls out.
But after the Rubble of issue 5 and the return of Sentinel Prime to Cybertron, it seems the story might finally be making some ground. While it still wasn't very deep, there was some excitement to the story, it felt like there were more risks and consequences. We also learned some things about a few characters and also got to see some new ones. Motivations that were seemingly not there or unclear have focused in some, and we got some more character development, though we still don't really have many highly intriguing characters.
Pictured: a new character and one existing character sorely needing some fiction
I liked the inclusion of Starscream in this issue, and he proved to be a welcome addition, bringing to the table some of the traits described in the paragraph above. I also think it was important for Orion Pax to be entirely absent and Megatron to only briefly show up. Both characters are very important Transformers characters, but so far have proven to be more attention vacuums than intriguing characters. It was good to have a good sized cast represented here without them with a chance to shine on their own, and Starscream, Soundwave, and to a lesser extent Sideswipe, Kup, Landmine, and Geomotus.
On another note, the inclusion of Strongarm alongside Sideswipe in this issue is a continued sign of the thing I so far like most in this comic: the variety of the characters showing up. Sure it has a lot of G1/Siege going on, but non-G1 characters showing up and referencing things outside of previous G1 stories is refreshing. I enjoy inclusions such as this, and want a little bit more of those characters and story too. The comic has showed a cast with variety, it just needs to flex that diversity a bit more.
Art
Art for this issue is split between Anna Malkova and Bethany Mcguire-Smith on lines, Joana Lafuente on colors, and Tom B. Long on letters. The art for the series so far has been a bit loose and all over the place in terms of quality, but outside of issue 13, I feel this is the best comic issue in terms of artistic consistency. While there were some questionable shapes thrown during this issue (Nautica being a primary offender compared to her prior appearances), the art overall was good quality, the two line artists had similar styles that allowed for a smooth transition between the artists, and the facial expressions were very well done in this issue.
He knows he's in one of the best panels of the comic so far
The colors matched up with the line art pretty dang good as well, giving you a good sense of what time it is on Cybertron, and it also helped give the book some depth, showing shadows and sun glistening off of the lined surfaces. It was very pleasing to look at. The glowing optics were also a highlight in terms of colors.
The lettering is once more of good quality, and helps compliment the art while not getting in the way. I also enjoyed the word effects for all the different types of action happening throughout the issue, it helped augment the lines and colors of the different panels.
Conclusion
Overall, I would argue that this is the best overall chapter of the Bold New Era so far. We had a good first issue that helped set things up, but after that, there haven't been many highlights, and the ones that have happened have had a bit too much dead space between them to truly have a impact. If issue 14 had come earlier, such as being issue 8 instead of 14, I feel like the story would be progressing better and more coherently. The story needs better pacing and some more intrigue to it. We don't necessarily need to be told everything, let stuff happen in the background. Speech and walking heads can get in the way.
On those notes, issue 14 seems to be a step in the right direction. No real depth, nothing really to pick up with a 2nd read, but it was intriguing, it had some depth to it, and it made you want to actually read through it again. If we can actually keep this tempo up, the story will progress and we will start having some more depth and more enjoyment for the readers.
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are our opinions so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.
Top 5 Beast Wars Toys of Non Show Characters
We don't see it as much these days, but in the 80s and 90s, the characters you saw on a Transformers show were just a subset of all the toys available. Business-wise, the shows served to advertise the toyline that you would then discover and the toys would have their own appeal based on how they looked. Growing up with Beast Wars, I remember pouring over the back of the cards and boxes of the few I got to see all the other wonderful toys of characters I did not know. And that's what we are looking back on today, the toys from the Beast era of characters that never appeared on the North American CG Beast Wars (Beasties) show.
5. B'Boom (Apache)
Apes are a perfect alt mode if you want a sleek robot mode with little kibble since both the primates and robots are humanoid. But the trick is that you still need to have enough variation between modes for it being worthwhile to play with it and Transform (something the designer of Optimus Minor did not know). B'Boom masters that concept. The Mandrill alt mode is very recognizable and he turns into one cool looking bad ass bot. He stands tall in robot mode, and reminds me of old G1 Joes especially with the heavy artillery theme he has going on and the buzz cut they give him. And that works so well with his puntastic name.
Now this is a robot in disguise. The idea of the first year toys was to have toys that were disguised as real animals and this list highlights some of the best ones, like Bonecrusher. I just love how perfect he looks in alt mode, he looks just like that well known iconic american image of a buffalo that was even on the nickel at some point. He was very unique in his transformation and design where his missile firing weapon was his head, which could pop out of the buffalo body when you pulled it's tail.
3. Power Pinch
What is amazing with insects is that their anatomy doesn't give the toy designer such an easy way out, compared to mammals who have four limbs. The limbs must come from somewhere else. Limbs not serving double duty means there is no robot design or kibble found anywhere in Power Pinch's earwig mode. The great weapon (a giant pair of shears) integrates perfectly into the tail. The transformation is as complex as we will ever get for a basic class transformer thanks to a nice amount of parts count. The robot mode offers lots of new robot detail. Basically, the bottom half of his body and the head are pieces not seen in insect mode and yet there is minimal alt mode kibble to hide due to how the toy is engineered. It's a little marvel really and due to it being a toy from this era you have all the ball jointed articulation you would need along with a generous amount of painted details we could only dream of getting today.
As stated above, it's always impressive when a beast former doesn't reuse animal limbs for his robot limbs. Also, Scavenger wasn't a shell former, he had many new details for the robot mode and yet remained sleek. Not only is he sleek, he is downright unsettling in his ultimate maniac design. This guy reeks of villainy and not the fun kind, the scary kind. The kind you can have nightmares about. So not only is it a great Transformers toy objectively, when you take a look at the design it just takes it over the top. There are very little toys out there with as much personality as this one. I also love those drill hands that turn when you activate them through his shoulder.
An extremely efficient transformer whose body length shell serves as a great disguise to a very poseable robot. The shark mode has beautiful deco which looks as good as any plastic shark toy found in toy stores in the 90s. What is amazing is that, despite it being a shellformer, it has great alt mode integration that is very reminiscent of traditional transformers with having the head of the alt mode as the chest. A main aspect of the original toys that make up what we call G1 was the disguise component and how they could infiltrate other toylines which didn’t transform. With its phenomenal alt mode, this shark-former is a perfect example of this legacy. The deco on this toy is as masterful as that headsculpt and he comes armed to the teeth with extra shark themed projectiles (that can be stored within his back) and his pincertail. Of course, that is aside from his hammerhead shark head which he can shoot from his body!
Honourable Mentions: ALL the Transmetal II deluxe toys are great. They have super cool designs that scream the extreme of the 90s but done right. While they all look different, it is still hard to set them apart when considering which is better. Jawbreaker is cool but is he better than Iguanus? Is Prowl better than Ramulus? They are all as good (and as likely to chip) so I am mentioning them here since they stand out most as a group of awesome toys.
Another Month, another round of fantastic homemade work from the many Seibertronians who give their time and effort to create some awesome pieces of fiction, art, and tutorials for all of us to enjoy! Check out what all hit our Transtopia Section in September of 2019, and let us know what you think of it all below, or in the threads that each piece comes from!
Fan Fiction Home to the creative authors of Seibertron.com's Transtopia
Annie lifted her head when she heard her favorite rock band blasting from the school parking lot and smirked. That was her signal to get the hell out of there. “Right on time.”
With the skill and stealth a ninja would be envious of, Annie snuck out of the classroom when the teacher was away on a bathroom break and ran for her locker. She quickly threw it open and pulled out Grindor, who was roused from his nap when he was placed on the floor.
At the beginning of the universe, there were two gods. One, who would come to be known as Primus, represented light, standing for creation, growth, progress, and order. The other, Unicron, represented darkness, standing for death, destruction, and decay, and chaos. As the young universe expanded by Primus' hand, Unicron would retaliate by bringing cataclysms to destroy that which was created. This struggle continued until Primus sealed himself and Unicron into barren planets that the latter had all but wiped clean of life.
Primus, being a god of creation, was able to reform his planetary prison into a metallic world that would be a well-spring of mechanical life. Unicron, meanwhile, could not create, and, as a result, drifted helplessly through space, surrounded by an aura of darkness that could corrupt any form of sentient life that Primus created.
“Princess Luna?” Said Apple Bloom surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“I was flying by when I saw you walk into the cavern and decided to investigate. Now what in the name of Equestria is…” Luna was cut off by the machine’s sounds changing. A mechanical voice rang out.
“STASIS RESTITUTION COMPLETE! CHIMERACON SHELL REINSTALLED! BEGINNING BIO-SCAN!” A light shined brighter than ever, filling the cavern ceiling. Then it started to move downward.
“Get behind me!” screamed Luna putting herself in front of Apple Bloom, shielding her from the strange light. The light washed over Luna till it hit the floor.
Briefly pausing before the podium, Primal paused. Hesitated. As if in a last ditch, futile belief that if he didn't take to that stage, didn't say what needed to be said by him alone, what was about to happen wouldn't. With flight of fancy that out of the way, he shook his head, closed his eyes and thought of the many, many lives claimed by the Beast Wars. His eyes opened. His literal and figurative vision focused once more. He took to the podium and faced his troops. With the grim realisation that for many, or all, this would be the final dawn. He began his address...
'How did I stop Megatron from hitting me? How was I able to touch him?' he thought as he stopped and stood there in the middle of the corridor, completely confused by what had transpired. And it was then at that moment Galvatron heard a voice echoing faintly through the corridor, just as his spark began to burn up which made him clutch his chest.
"Galvatron!"
The Predacon recognised the voice as the one he had heard in his dream, but at this moment he was awake. He looked around as the voice echoed around him, while holding his hand to his chest due to the pain that his spark was putting him through.
Photo Blitz This is where you can post your pictures of Transformers in whatever fashion you like.
And that's it for the month folks! Like what you see or read? Be sure to leave a comment and let our creators know! Looking to share your own creations? Please do! We'll be back in a months time for the next round up from our Transtopia forums!
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are my opinions (just like movie or game reviews hosted by sites are still just the opinion of one person) so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.
Top 5 Best Prowl Transformers Toys
While Optimus prime may be the most popular Transformer of all time, I always felt Prowl had the archetypal look. He is the quintessential car bot, a car turning into a robot where the car hood ends up as the robot's chest. However, with such a typical design, this list was rather vanilla at first, with similar looking toys all transforming similarly and getting incrementally closer to the character model over time. But that's because I was just thinking of Prowl's G1 design and as soon as I thought outside the box, writing this list became a hoot! Now let's get to it.
The Lamborghini is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) alt mode a Transformer can have. And with prowl being the quintessential carbot, giving him the alt mode of the coolest car is just awesome. RID was a time of going back to the basics of cars transforming into robots but for a new century (literally) and audience, with new designs and transformations. This Prowl toy achieves all of that by giving us something that I don' think any of us will forget.
I find these two toys far too vanilla to separate. I find them both better than the Universe mold, on account of the head sculpt alone, but when it comes to comparing the two they each have their pros and cons and neither really stand out among the other toys either on this list or on the pegs. They both make very good Prowls for a classics collection. I like the overall look of the Combiner Wars toy, especially the head and alt mode, along with the added fun that it combines. At the same time though, I like the use of the real front of the car for the chest of Siege Prowl and while the car mode isn't my favourite, I do like the tech detail on the clear plastic. They both get the job done for a classics display and you get two great looking choices, which is more than other established characters can say.
Many G1 names resurfaced in Beast Wars as totally new characters (ie. Scorponok, Rampage, Silverbolt) with no relation to their G1 namesake. Prowl is an exception to that, with his toy bio referencing "another life" and his skills centering around analysis and reliance on logic. So he's Prowl, but in Beast Wars, awesome! Plus he turns into an owl, has a cybernetic eye and is an excellent toy with an original design, as was customary for all those great Transmetal II toys.
I really love this era of Masterpiece toys where they idea was building off of the original toy/transformation but updating it with all the design advancements acquired since. And turning that into both an accurate portrayal of this beloved character as he appeared in the cartoon while also incorporating real world elements from a realistic alt mode. I personally prefer feet on my Transformers, but it's Prowl's thing not to have any so I can see why the priority here would be to give us the familiar design rather than reinventing his looks.
As great as the MP is, I must say I love this toy even more. I am just a sucker for originality in this brand and in Animated, the designers went all out. We still have Prowl at this core, and we still have the police theme, but it's just taken somewhere else (and, personally, somewhere better). This is one of the best Transformer Toy design out there with a sleek robot mode full of personality that turns into a beautiful bicycle. He also has a Japanese theme going on where on one toy the wheel centers become throwing stars and on another toy the sidecar becomes a samurai armour. Plus he has great articulation to go with his slender physique and, as with many animated toys, the fact that they were able to replicate such an exaggerated style into a physical and transforming toy will forever be one of the brand's greatest achievements.
As I wrote in the intro, this is the toy that started it all. It is the quintessential Transformer toy and a design that lives on to this day. It cannot be ignored in the conversation of the best Prowl toys the brand has given us.
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are our opinions so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.
Top 5 Best Transformers Sideswipe Toys
Sideswipe has been part of the Transformers brand since the very beginning. He also happens to be one of the main body types for autobot characters so it is interesting to see how designers play with that style over the years and refine it as time goes on. Aside from that, no intro really needed for this one, it's rather cut and dry so let's get to it!
Its a smart mold that accomplishes a lot but it works best when you have both Sideswipe AND his sibling oriented differently, showing you how great it is. But since this result is better than the sum of its parts, that means the parts themselves aren't the best. Plus I find those headsculpts lacking (same with Prowl and those Universe Datsuns) but I won't deny how smart it was to get such a different looking car bot using the same mold.
The car mode is excellent, as it is with many G1 toys. Of course, it is especially cool with Sideswipe since the Countash is one of the most iconic sports cars of all time. The robot mode, while having the limitations of any early G1 toy, it fine and the die cast just feels so right for this vintage toy.
3. Studio Series Sideswipe
While I personally find many of the studio series toys are not as pleasant to transform as previous releases of the same characters, often due to these toys being smaller, that is not the case with Sideswipe. He takes what worked in the previous release and makes it better. this is easily the best movie sideswipe toy we have gotten and a good toy to have in a collection. I especially love how the swords come from parts of that stellar alt mode.
While not very complex, it is impressive how he still achieves a great look and stellar articulation. The vehicle mode, while not really cybertronian, is still really nice and sleek. Plus he has 5 mm ports to weaponize him up as much as you wish.
It has almost been a decade since the MP line rejunivated with this being the first carbot and I think it holds up as a masterpiece. I much preffer this attempt in the MP line to give us the best version of the character in all that it encompasses. So rather than simply being accurate to the animation, this MP also has the car have realistic elements and the robot using the parts from his car to make his bot mode, replicating his transformation on the show. I love how the legs are built, especially how the tailgate lights end up above his ankle and how the back transforms to be sleeker. There is a lot to love here and it is easily one of my favourite carbots to Transform.
Honourable Mention: Sideswipe was a main character in the Robots in Disguise show but his toys left a lot to be desired, especially his main warrior class toy which was very badly engineered. if I had to recommend one from the entire line, it would be the Battle Pack Sideswipe.
So, this is going to be something of a doozy of an article. To put things in a nutshell, I've been granted to release a brand new card by the wonderful guys and gals over at Wizards of the Coast! That said, and with the frankly stunning amount of reveals we've had over the past week or so, I'm going to trim down this article to go over a few of the highlights instead.
But those highlights are a bit cherry-picked, you see, as most of the characters have the distinct pleasure of having at least minor synergy with the card that I am about to reveal. See if you can tell which ones! But, how can you if you don't know what the card is? Ready to see it?
I give you... Showing Off!
Flipping out.
I revealed this card on my YouTube channel, Nanomachines! If you'd like to hear my opinions on this card, or at least want something to listen to for the next few minutes, please check out the video below!
CHARACTERS
"Tank?" Ratchet and Ironhide said at once, one out of confusion and envy, and the other the product of Ironhide's poor hearing.
Crosshairs is a guy with a lot of potential on his shoulders.
Sure, Crosshairs doesn't have a whole lot of offensive punch for a guy known for his guns, but when you consider the Battlemasters we've had lately like Sights or Turbo Board, you start to see how his prowess is not defined by the offensive power of his guns, but in the thickness of his Armor.
This might seem obvious given the fact that he has, well, two Armor slots. But when you consider the fact that you could flood his team with characters like Nightstick, Sights, Vanguard or Turbo Board, all of which giving him +1 Defense at the least, you start to realize just how strong his defensive capabilities are.
Let's do some quick math. With Nightstick and Sights on his person, he gets +2 Defense from them alone. This, combined with the fact that he gets +2 Defense from his own ability, total in 4 Defense before your Armor. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention: He has two Armor slots, and with his synergy with the ever-powerful Hunker Down, you can spam Armor on the guy like there's no tomorrow. I mean, with the newest Tank-exclusive Upgrade, Composite Armor (see in the Battle Card Section) which gives +3 Defense, combined with a Blast Shield, you have a total of 9 Defense before you flip, which is frankly nausiating.
Now, is that practical to set up? Probably not, to be frank. You're not doing too much damage to pressure your opponent out, which means your opponent is going to be able to take their sweet time while they build up something big to deal more damage to you than you're likely able to handle. Still though, with the use of Vanguard, Nightstick and friends, you can count on your defense being able to withstand most basic attacks.
Most.
You spin me right round / baby right round
Like a record baby / Right round, round, round
Spinister is very, very good. How? Well, let me jump into this guy by telling you why Battle Masters have such good value.
You see, when you play Transformers, you're usually not going to want to swing with a character in alternate mode. It's inefffecient, it's low damage and honestly it usually ends up putting one character at risk. Battle Masters turn that on its head. Given the fact that they start in their most efficient mode, and since they are effectively unpunishable when you KO them via an attack, you are free to just swing with them at will.
Since you can swing with them at will, you can transform one of your other characters beforehand, making your life easier in terms of crucial flipping time. That's also where Spinister comes into the picture. Given the fact that your first turn will usually involve flipping another character and swinging with a Battle Master, Spinister turns that advantage into an even greater one given his robot mode effect. I mean, just imagine on the first turn of the game, swinging with Lionizer for more damage than he already does. That's what makes Spinister so strong.
Making matters better, when your Lionizer (or whomever else you're playing him with) dies, you can attach them to Spinister, not only giving him a solid attack boost but also being the secondary weapon to whatever card -- like Grenade Launcher -- you wanted to play. This means that the clapback from KOing your Battle Master is even stronger than ever before, and I honestly cannot wait to see where Spinister will go.
"To punish and enslave..."
Barricade is freaking awesome.
So, simply put, he makes every blank pip in your deck infinitely more consistent. Given the fact that he can not only pull potentially bad cards out of your deck, making your deck more consistent flip-wise, but he can also use them on-demand. I mean, just think about it:
You have Barricade and Prowl alive after Wheeljack died a horrifying, early death. Now, you realize that you've probably lost the game in terms of staying power, but you also realize that your opponent is completely tapped out with Prowl being the only untapped character. Barricade has an I STILL FUNCTION! underneath him, and you realize that you can use the Start Your Engines in-hand to start off an impressive combo.
So, you play the Start Your Engines, untapping Barricade and flipping both he and Prowl to alt mode, activating their effects. You choose Barricade to activate first, bringing an alternate mode Wheeljack back from the dead, and Prowl's effect activates afterwards, giving all of them Bold 2. Then, you flip Wheeljack into robot mode and swing with him, Prowl and Barricade all at once, dealing disgusting damage to your opponent's field and their ego.
Sound like a fantasy? Not so. This is something you can pretty much count on happening with Cars, and was Cars' entire raison d'être, but the biggest problem was doing it all at once. Bumblebee from Wave 2 is oft regarded as the only out to this combo usually, as he plays an Action when you flip him, but now? Now there's a new sheriff in town, and this town isn't big enough for the two of them.
With 'Bee and 'Cade fighting for that same spot, it's easy to see their rivalry coming through even in the card game. But, with Barricade's lower point cost and higher consistency, I think there isn't much mystery on who my money's on.
Hooked.
Lockdown is really, really neat. He channels his inner Nemesis Prime while also having access to every Car card in the book. He might seem a bit difficult to pop off with, but I would put good money on that not being the case. Allow me to explain for a moment.
You see, when you use Lockdown with cards like Coup, Contract Contingency and Dual Wielding, you're going to start amassing cards beneath Lockdown farily quickly. Given the ease of such buildup, you'll find that you're also going to be drawing quite a few cards as well, which can facilitate that growth in much the same way, drawing into your Bounty-triggering cards and highly damaging cards like Dual Wielding.
I aboslutely adore the potential that Lockdown has, and at 10 Stars, we can tell that he's not exactly cheap, but he's not expensive, either. We can play several characters alongside him to promote his growth, and we can play him in several different archetypes. Whether you want him in a blue/black list or an aggressive list, you'll find that his powerful effects can only grow with time.
Lockdown has the potential to raw carry games, and when you consider the fact that he also opens up the use of certain Mercenary cards, you'll find yourself with more potential partners with him than you'll know what to do with.
"What a load of junk!"
Detritus is the first Rare Mercenary that we have in the game and... Well, he's sadly not that great. But he could be!
His stats, his point cost and now his effects just aren't that good. Mercenaries need to be able to do damage to characters in order to actually use their powerful Bounty effects, and unfortunately neither his damage, Star Cost nor his Bounty Effect are good enough to warrant his introduction into many -- if any -- roster.
But hey! He's the first Junkion in the game, and he's not carrying around Wreck-Gar's severed head yet, so let's give him a fair shake and see what bubbles to the surface. Given the fact that Detritus is a healing character with a likely defensive playstyle, one could play him in a defensive list, abusing the black pips that Mercenaries ever so adore to make him able to trigger his Bounty effect multiple times over the course of a few turns. Through the use of Contract Contingency especially, you'll find that Detritus can heal quite a bit.
Plus, when you consider that you could play him with cards like Dazzlestrike, Ratbat and other healing characters, you might be surprised how long he sticks around.
Healing is a tough balance to strike. Either you're like Pokemon and have intense healing cards that can be everywhere and can be oppressive at times, or you're like Transformers, where healing is pretty much the least used mechanic in the game outside of certain niche scenarios. Here, though, I think there might finally be a good balance between solid healing and fair tactics.
But, you have to ask the question whenever a healing card comes out: Is it enough? Personally, I don't think he has enough on his own to warrant it -- but hey! We'll get more healing cards later. Plus, it isn't like you don't have Team Up Tactics to help you out in the meantime.
"Octan Company is the greatest! They make gas, oil, news companies, security cameras, voting machines... Wait."
Octone is the first Mercenary Super Rare there is, and boy do I think he has some potential. Why? Well, for one, his stats are very solid, his abilities are good and his Bounty is good as well! Sounds simple enough? Well, there's actually a few other reasons that I like him.
You see, Octone can start the game in his most effective mode, his Truck mode, given how many Autobot-focused decks are running about these days. This mode gives you a powerful attack stat, powerful HP and moderate defensive capabilities to make him extremely hard to remove -- and hard to withstand -- from the get-go. Even if your opponent is running all Decepticons, you can flip him to his Plane mode to deal even more damage to them given the fact that your opponent has to ping one of their Decepticons for one damage. This can compound itself if you happen to activate his Bounty effect during the course of a game, sending two more damage their way.
Octone, best of all, doesn't really warrant a list one way or another. You could run him aggressively and use busted cards like Dual Wielding, or you could run him defensively to abuse his large health pool. The point being, it doesn't matter how you run him, just that he is strong no matter which one you choose.
That said, in terms of 13 point cards, I think we know someone else who has just as much value if not more value than Octone, do we not? Something, something, Battlefield Legend? Oh, yeah. Still though, he's a quite solid card. But you need to ask yourself if you'd rather run him or Battlefield Legend -- those 13 stars aren't going to choose for you.
"I dunno, Sprocket; I don't think ninjas are as stealthy as we think they are. Sprocket?"
Nightbird is a very strong promo card.
We haven't seen a good promo card yet, as the only one that came close was Omega Supreme and he's only usable in super niche concepts. But with Nightbird, we get not only a powerful vehicle mode effect, but a strong Bounty effect all wrapped up in the cheapest Mercenary on the market at the moment. By the way, did I mention that she's a Car? Because she's a Car.
Nightbird allows you to use a variety of Mercenary-exclusive cards, like Opportune Repairs, and can be splashed in various lists that need a Mercenary that isn't going to eat up most of their points. In fact, Nightbird has so much value in her that I think that, at the moment, she's probably the most useful Mercenary to have on your team.
Plus, if your opponent is playing a ton of Actions during their turn through Barricade, Brainstorm, Multi-Mission Gears and so on, she punishes their greediness by placing quite a few damage counters on your opponent's characters at will. Plus, when you finally soften up your opponents enough, you can play some extra cards with her Bounty effect.
In fact, in a Car setting, you can use her Car nature to untap her until you would attack with all of your characters at once. Then, while you do so, you get to use one of your opponent's Reckless Charge from their Scrap Pile to boost your next attack! Sure, it might not be the most reliable ability, but it's certainly the only one of its kind.
Truly, Nightbird earns her keep in many different ways. But personally? I'm just excited to have a promo that's actually good for once!
21!
So, remember when I said that healing in games are either great or awful? Blackjack is the epitome of the latter.
You see, when you use a team of Micromasters like Blackjack wants (much akin to Powertrain, in fact), you'll find that you're going to be fairly frail, regardless of if you're playing blue or not. I mean, your other Sports Car Patrol characters have either 6 or 7 HP and either 0 or 1 defense, meaning they're not going to defend much even if you try your very hardest, with Flamewar as an ally and a stockpile of armor.
I just can't help but to feel as though Blackjack's ability could have been better, especially considering Powertrain's effect turning his allies into DPS machines. Perhaps one could use Vanguard instead of Flamewar in an attempt to buy their safety through his effect instead of sheer willpower alone?
Looking at his robot mode, however, I could be persuaded to like his minor stat change over Powertrain's. Having more damage while still having 4 defense at maximum isn't exactly awful, and using Roadhugger's damage boosting effect isn't half bad either. But when you consider the fact that not only does Powertrain give his entire team Bold but also has synergy with more -- and better -- Battlemasters does it become apparent that Powertrain's Off-Road Patrol will be far more viable than Blackjack's Sports Car Patrol.
BATTLE CARDS
Armored to the Gills
Composite Armor is quite possibly one of the best Armors in the game. Not only does it give a monstrous +3 Defense, but it also gives +1 Attack and deals damage when you defend with it. I mean, sure, it scraps itself after you defend with it, but holy crap man. Hunker Down, obviously, would make this card not just easy to reuse, but also extremely powerful for certain characters. Let's go over some of those combos, shall we?
Lord Megatron is the first of these, as you can mill more cards from your opponent's deck when you use a Hunker Down, but you also have the effect of boosting your Attack when your opponent reshuffles their deck, as well. But, personally, I think one of the most powerful uses for this card is with Demolishor.
Demolishor, with his extra flipping effect, prizes having more defense when you attack. Let's show you this with an example. Let's say that you play a Power Punch on him for turn, and then play a Hunker Down to attach a Composite Armor. Demolishor already flips six cards when he attacks neutrally, but with a Composite Armor on him, you flip three more cards. Then, with that Power Punch, you'll end up flipping three more cards, putting him at a monstrous twelve cards in total, and that's not counting any white pips in your deck.
Did I mention that you already boosted his attack by +1 beforehand thanks to Composite Armor? Because you already boosted his attack by +1 beforehand.
Composite Armor is kinda insane. When you consider the implications of that absolutely disgusting +3 Defense, plus everything else about the card, there is absolutely no reason that you wouldn't want to run this card in every Tank deck you have at your disposal, regardless of the pip color.
Always read the fine print.
Contract Contingency is a downright necessary card for decks that run Mercenaries. You might find that Mercenaries won't be able to use their Bounty abilities all too often -- especially since it requires the death of a character to activate. Lockdown, Detritus and every other one won't pop off as hard if they can't use their Bounty effects, and Contract Contingency makes that possible.
Lockdown especially will find Contract Contingency even more of an auto-include than before. Given the fact that it not only allows you to build his stock of cards beneath him, Contract Contingency also boosts his damage whilst being a double black card, making the base 4 damage that easier to get. You'll be boosting Lockdown, healing Detritus, playing cards with Mudflap, poking with Octone and... Well, doing Mercenary things with your Mercenaries!
Contract Contingency is an auto include in pretty much any list that runs a Merc, and there's no two ways around it.
"Et tu, Brutè?"
Something else that might find its way into a few Mercenary lists is Coup. With Coup, you can use effects like Octone's or Lockdown's as a form of clap-back for one of your characters being KO'd. Certainly interesting when you consider how vital Bounty is to playing Mercenaries, but something a little more interesting is... Well, how it actually works.
See, this is a pretty non-controversial card. If you're playing some cheaper, more malleable Mercenaries like Mudflap or Nightbird, you'll like it because you're able to play more allies to make Coup use your Bounty effects more and more. But, something that I'm wondering about is when it can activate.
You see, the way Coup reads states that it doesn't matter whose character is KO'd -- just so long as a character is KO'd. This could even mean, from what I've seen here, that it could potentially activate on your own turn through your own KOing of a character, either yours or your opponents. Now, I could be misreading this thing (it wouldn't be the first time, amiright?), but my money is on my instincts and my instincts are telling me that I'm right.
So, where does that leave us?
Well, you could use Coup to bolster your own effects, like Octone, Nightbird or Lockdown when you KO one of your opponent's characters during an attack. If you'd like to be even spicier, you could potentially play Coup through Laserbeak's tap effect, allowing you to play Peace Through Tyranny to use one of your own characters to fuel Bounty triggers.
Of course, it might not work that way, but either way it still isn't an awful card to fuel some Bounty triggers on your opponent's turn, especially considering how important it is to certain characters like Lockdown. It might not see too much widespread play, especially if I'm wrong about it, but I'm still interested to see where it might end up in the long run.
"Never do with one gun something that you could do with two."
Shoulder Holster is actually really quite interesting in aggressive decks. Sure, it's a blue pip, but when you consider that certain cards like Jetfire can take full advantage of it, there could be some fascinating combos you can pull off with it. Let's go over some examples.
Like I said before, Jetfire can be something of a monster with both Shoulder Holster as well as Defensive Configuration as options, where you can get free Upgrades on him in either aspect. Now, regardless of optimal pip usage for the moment, we can still abuse Jetfire's ability to play Shoulder Holster in order to play a free weapon. This can open up your hand to play a second weapon on him, potentially stacking a second, heavily damaging weapon on him to deal a potentially disgusting amount of damage through potentially double stacking Grenade Launchers or Power Punch.
But the best deck that will love every moment of Shoulder Holster as well as Defensive Configuration is the always Upgrade-hungry Omnibots. Since you can play either card with Overdrive, you'll find that your first turn will have far more burst than you're used to, potentially exploding more Upgrades on the first turn to facilitate your characters board presence. I mean, there is always the chance that you whiff the extra Upgrade off the top of your deck, of course, but either way you're still getting an extra Weapon or Armor slot, y'know?
I really quite like both Holster and Configuration. They're inconsistent, of course, but when they're used in tandem with interesting cards like the Omnibots, things become more interesting. I mean, just think of how you could use Shoulder Holster to play a Multi-Tool! Sure, you're not exactly gaining anything stat-wise -- pretty much nothing at all, for that matter -- but you're getting Upgrades on the field to fulfill other effects like General Megatron or Equipment Enthusiast.
It might not have immediate gratification, of course, but its combo potential cannot be ignored.
"Cheers love! The cavalry's here!"
Dual Wield is the best Mercenary card. Period.
You like that Grenade Launcher on Lockdown? You do? Sick! Well, how about we give him another one from your Scrap Pile? Yeah, that sounds pretty neat to me. So not only does this open up the possibility to swing with two weapons at once, but it also opens up your Upgrade for turn to be something that's not a Weapon -- in other words, Force Field.
Dual Wield allows you to not only play it hyper-aggressively, but it also allows you to play it defensively as well. Remember, even though your extra weapon slot disappears at the end of your turn, if you only have one Weapon on one of your characters, it won't disappear with the slot if it's a weapon like Energon Axe. This means that you can use a scrapped Weapon from your Scrap Pile while also playing an Armor from your hand to buff a Mercenary to the gills in a single turn without breaking so much as a sweat.
I'm not exaggerating, and even though flexing my hyperbole muscle is one of my favorite pastimes, I'm dead serious when I say that Dual Wield will shape the Mercenary format.
Wow, the reboot of The Puppet Pals Show is really intense.
Crude Club is one of those super hot combo cards that you just know will be the centerpiece of a super neat strategy. When you consider the fact that Shoulder Holster, Extra Padding, Attack Drones and Dual Wielding can all increase Crude Club's effectiveness, you start to realize how strong this card can be in combo decks.
Crude Club does +1 for every Upgrade on that character. So, let's try to do as much as possible with some quick math: Three Extra Padding, one Shoulder Holster, three Attack Drones in one weapon slot, one Crude Club in another slot, and with a Brainstormed double Dual Wielding, we can play both of our other Crude Clubs in both other slots. This runs a quick calculation of the following:
3 + 1 + 3 + 3 = 10 Upgrades in total. Now, let's factor in the damage that those Upgrades can do on their own as well: +3 Damage for the Drones, +10 damage for each instance of the Crude Clubs, all pieced together to create an unholy final score of: +33 Damage!
Imagine getting that in a game. If you pulled this off against me, I'd be hard pressed not to just sign the match slip the moment it happened. I mean, you probably deserve the win at that point. In fact, I think you could probably do more damage thanks to more Brainstorm chaining and Cargo Trailers instead of the Shoulder Holster. Who knows? Maybe someone can come up with more impressive numbers using Predaking or perhaps Dreadwing? All I know is that Crude Club should not be underestimated, and I think, understated.
I don't think that it'll be practical to pull off, but Timmy's and Johnny's rejoice! A brutal combo card your way comes!
We three, we're not a crowd / We're not even company
My echo, my shadow, and me.
Wedge Formation is... Well, it's something all right.
To be perfectly frank with you, the effects of Wedge Formation has some of the least value I've ever seen on a card. On one hand, it's still not the worst card effect out there -- that Raspberry Award probably goes to Rest and Relaxation -- but it certainly does a whole lot of things to get nothing out of it.
I mean, sure, you're drawing a card, you could maybe heal something from one of your characters, and Plan 1 isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you consider the fact that cards like Diagnosis does effectively the same thing but on a more neutral white pip, you can see how I'd be hard-pressed to find a spot for it on its card effects alone.
However, it should be clear enough at this point that this card's value clearly comes not from playing it from your hand, but using it in more niche strategies. With three pip colors on it, you'll find that cards like Blowpipe and Grapple want to play as many as possible in order to activate their effects. But, perhaps there is another reason to run it?
You see, Overwhelming Advantage requires you not just to have every color combination possible Upgraded on a character, but also flipping the same amount of colors on your attack. When playing at least one Decepticon on your team, you can use Overwhelming Advantage to Plan Wedge Formation on the top of your deck to make your flips that much easier. It would be all too easy to deal massive damage to one of your opponent's charactes.
Perhaps Overwhelming Advantage is simply too niche of a strategy to pull off correctly, but when you consider how easy it is to flip all of the colors in the game when three of them are taken up by Wedge Formation alone, I start to wonder if Overwhelming Advantage might just work after all.
Hot Rod and Octone's normally jovial Skype call suddenly got heated when Octone accidentally called Hot Rod "Hot Shot".
Valuable Contract is... Okay I guess? I mean, it's not going to win any awards, and Star Cards are strictly okay at best, but with cards like Contract Contingency and Coup, could this card actually be the start of an interesting combination? Let's dive in and find out!
So, with Valuable Contract, it might seem odd, but you don't need to use it on a Mercenary. In fact, it might be better not to use it on a Mercenary in order to get the full use out of your Bounty activations. Regardless, what would be the best use of Valueable Contract and how would you make the most of it?
Well, let's say that we can use cards like Coup and Contract Contingency to activate Valuable Contract's Bounty effect. If you do, you can grab far more Star Cards from outside the game than normal. In fact, you'll probably be able to do so almost every turn given proper draw support. What could you possibly grab with Valuable Contract's effect if you did manage to pop it or something similar off every turn? Well, let cut to the chaff and let me toss out a neat idea that I just had.
Okay, so, Hot Rod can be used to build up a slow yet powerful control effect when he gets a card beneath him, right? Plus, when he has full HP, he has Safeguard, making his bulk that much better. So, how do we capitalize on this? For one, we can use cards like Blast Suit to reduce your opponent's damage by an astronomical amount, but I think more importantly, you could also use Heroic Resolve turn after turn if you were able to stream Bounty effects and/or Unleash Potential. Plus, since it goes to the KO pile after using it, you could run an aggressive version of the deck and not have to worry about shuffling a bunch of blue cards back into your deck.
But what might make it viable is through the use of Needlenose. With Needlenose's damaging ability, we are able to ping our opponents for a bit of damage every turn since we are effectively trying to play one of those cards every turn, and to facilitate that end, Needlenose can also return Blast Suit and other Star Cards from your Scrap to your hand to be used again. The end result of this is by being mostly able to stream Heroic Resolve and Blast Suit every turn, increasing your survivability exponentially, especially considering Hot Rod's double Action ability.
I don't know, it's just an idea that I had randomly. But the point being, Valuable Contract is of cardinal importance to that combo, and I honestly wonder whether there are other combos out there with it or not. After all, Wizards keeps making more Star Cards and people still seem reluctant to play them. Perhaps at one point they'll end up making a broken one and cards like Valuable Contract will be the catalyst to another broken combo deck?
Who knows? It's just a thought.
"Oh, well there's your problem!"
Opportune Repairs is exactly the kind of repair card that I have been wanting. Healing one damage isn't great, healing two for the cost of a pip just feels awful, but Opportune Repairs healing three whilst still having a useful pip? Yes, please!
First off, I'd like to say why I love this card. Remember what I spoke about briefly in my last article? Safeguard is a very good effect, and when you play Safeguard Cars, or The Safety Dance as I'm starting to call it, you're going to have a lot Safeguard on the field to play with, and with it, more opportunities to heal off your characters.
See, that's what I love the most about it. Safeguard protects your character by capping the damage they would take from an undamaged state to (usually) three damage. Now, with that said, you can use healing cards like Opportune Repairs to heal off those three damage counters, reactivating Safeguard and giving that character another clean attack. So long as your opponent doesn't play any non-combat damage cards and you draw enough healing, Safeguard will keep coming back.
The Safety Dance can play several different Cars to take advantage of their Safeguard abilities, namely Hot Rod, Smokescreen and Greenlight, all equating to 24 Stars in total. But, since Opportune Repairs requires a Mercenary on the field in order to use it, you might want to play Deadlock, Nightbird or even Lockdown to fill that slot -- all piecing one little bit of their own power or utility to help out in your ultimate goals of outlasting your opponent.
Plus, they're all Cars, so... Yeah, it kinda works out.
Either way, I'm not quite certain that Opportune Repairs will be played in anything else that doesn't at least play instances of Safeguard. Safeguard is such a good ability, though, that Safeguard cards could be splashed into other lists rather easily, and if they are, you can bet that Opportune Repairs will be first on my list to try to work in.
"Are you Sarah Connor?"
Similar to Opportune Repairs, but lending itself to a startlingly great damage boosting Action, Opportune Offensive is a lot of power in a little package. It's like a better version of The Bigger They Are or Heavy Handed -- one that only requires your own team composition to grant Pierce and a damage buff. I mean, just off the bat it's a way better version of Leap Into Battle, and it even has better pips to boot. The question changes from "Should I use this card?" to "Who should I use this card with?"
In fact, the same characters that Opportune Repairs would want to play might be quite fine to play in a blue list alongside Opportune Offense, except perhaps playing Detritus as well since healing is almost always better in a defensive circumstance than an offensive one. Lending to that idea, the fact that Opportune Offense grants a Pierce buff alongside a blue/black pip coloration shows us that the best place for it is in a blue/black list.
So, to that, I simply have to say that it's kinda impossible to say what it's good with because it's such a universal card. I mean, what else do you want from it? It makes you do more damage and Pierce! It's great!
Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me / Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me / What a long, strange trip it's been
Seven damage. Wow. That sounds like a lot, doesn't it? I mean, just think about it! You're doing so much more damage than you would otherwise, right?
Can you feel my sarcasm?
Okay, so this sounds like an amazing card, and for characters like Tote or his other Micromaster friends who start with two or three Attack, then 4-Wheel Drive seems like a strong addition to the deck, and it is. But, when you consider all of the other Trucks who start off at four or five attack, you're not going to get any value out of 4WD that you would otherwise get out of a Leap Into Battle of all things.
4WD may seem incredibly strong, but when you realize that playing a Leap Into Battle gets you effectively the same thing and you get to attack with that character in robot mode, I can't really get too much behind it outside of Powertrain or similarly small decks. Perhaps I'm just being overly critical and a bit of a pedant, but I just can't see this being used as well as Leap Into Battle or some of the other cards like Opportune Offense.
Again, maybe it's just me, but I can't help but to feel that there's less to this card than meets the eye.
CONCLUSION
As always, it is such an amazing feeling to help release cards to the public. I certainly love making all of this content for everyone, and getting to show off new stuff while I do makes me absolutely swoon. Thanks again to Wizards of the Coast for allowing me the opportunity to show it off, and thank you for reading and watching it!
As for the recent reveals, I'm sorry that I couldn't get to all of them in one article like last time. Honestly, though, it was kind of... Well, bloated. Like me. Oof.
Anyway, in all seriousness, I am absolutely ga-ga over the Mercenaries. I think they're a fantastic addition to the game, and they really spice up the dulled Faction system. I really hope that we get more reasons to play all Decepticons, Mercenaries or Autobots soon, though! With all of these faction-specific cards, though, I think that's closer than we think.
What do you think? Are you flipping out about Showing Off? Hooked on Lockdown? Or maybe you're ready to hit with Blackjack? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you next time!
Seibertronian Ironhidensh has managed to secure the recent MPM-9 Jazz figure, and was kind enough to provide us with a pictorial review! Jazz is due out within the next month for mass retail, so for those are eagerly anticipated him, he will be on his way shortly. He is the 9th Movie Masterpiece figure, and the 7th from the newly begun Masterpiece releases, following 2007 Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Barricade, Ironhide, Bee movie Bumblebee, and Megatron.
Check out the review below, and let us know what you think of the latest Movie Masterpiece figure in the comments section below!
Ironhidensh wrote:Well, although MPM-09 Jazz is a couple of months away from general release, he is available on eBay, and at retail price with free shipping to boot! At least the one I picked up was, so I thought I'd do a pictorial that may (or may not) help out those of you thinking of picking this racial stereotype up!
I kid, I kid..... Lets start with a couple of quick package pictures.
As usual, its a pretty straight forward box with nothing very fancy on it, though they do display well in a group.
Not a whole lot of accessories come with this guy. A 'Sam running with allspark figurine I'll never use, his weapon, and his ripped in half spinal cord (we'll talk on later).
The instructions are nice and clear pictures. Not the dark print of past years. Still, they could do with being a bit more detailed.
Now, for the main comparison, I have the MPM Jazz in-between Studio Series Jazz (the little one) and Human Alliance Jazz (the big one). I long ago gave my original movie series Jazz to my kids, and it is no longer in any sort of picture worthy condition. So, here we go with Car mode:
And on this last one, I'd like to note how the MPM does a much better job at hiding away the head, if that is something that matters to you.
So then of course, that leads us straight to robot mode, our most favorite of modes:
While they all have some backpackage going on, the MPM version at least has it detailed up to blend in with the overall aesthetic better.
Now here is my one and only real complaint with the figure: in 'bot mode, his waist does not clip very well onto his car hood. Its a very weak conection that pops loose every time you move the figure.
His feet are a bit on the loose side as well, but it is not as annoying as the waist area.
I mentioned earlier that one of his accessories is a spinal cord for when he gets ripped in half. That is one very neat thing about this figure, you can recreate his death from the movie. You know, if you are in to that sort of thing.
Here he is with his other first movie Autobot buddies.
We really need an MPM Ratchet.
Here he is with the rest of the MPM line, minus Megatron whom I do not own.
And here he is with his G1 Masterpiece self.
So overall, he continues the trend of the smaller MPM figures being pretty good, though he is defiantly behind the two Bumblebees and Barricade. He isn't anywhere near as bad as Prime and Ironhide, so that is a definite plus. As I said, I do not have Megatron, so I can't say how he compares there, but I have heard very good things about the big ugly one.
This figure does feel loose in spots, and his parts can be a bit of a pain to fold into car mode, but over all, its not bad, and he doesn't feel like a chore. His transformation engineering has some very inspired parts to it and it does an extremely good job of capturing the movie feel. Overall, I do recommend this figure if MPMs are your thing.
Good hunting!
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