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Well it's turkey day and I sit here full of bloat
deciding that maybe I should actually get my
article done. This month has been pretty slow
Transformers wise. There have been more previews
for Transformers: Energon and more reviews for the
Alternators/Binaltech Smokescreen. Personally, I
think I'll withhold comments on Energon until
after I actually see a few figures in person. This
series really could go either way. A/B Smokescreen
is looking really nice and I'm faced with the
truly hard decision of paying $50 ish for the
Die-Cast Takara import or holding out for the $25
Hasbro plastic one. I'm thinking I'll wait for the
Hasbro version and if I really like it, then I'll
get the die cast one. We'll see what Christmas and
my birthday turn up. So for this month, I bring you
something completely different.
Say what you will about the various Gundam
animes, the toys are
actually pretty cool. I picked up four Gundams:
Transforming Wing Gundam, Batttle Scarred Heavy
Arms, Battle Scarred Burning Gundam, and Battle
Scarred Deathscythe. Let me say that at around
eight bucks a shot, they're really not bad toys if
you like poseable mech figures. Let's start with
the Transforming Wing Gundam (TWG) as he was the
first one that I bought. He has a very clean anime
look and is quite detailed. Unlike the others, all
his colors are crisp and clear and he comes with
all his pieces. First of he is uber poseable with
over 20 points of articulation, if I'm counting
right. He has ball joints for the ankles and hips,
two joints making up each knee and elbow, torso
twist, a ball jointed head, standard double swivel
for the shoulders, a swivel at the bicep and the
wrist, ball joints for the wing mounts, the wings
themselves fan out, and the side pieces to the
armored skirt are on ball joints and the front
pieces are soft and flexible. What does all this
mean, you ask? Well, this means that I can stand him
in the middle of a side kick without the use of a
base and he'll stay there for quite a while (until
you bump the table anyways). As for accessories he
comes with the shield, gun, and plasma sword.
Fortunately he is NOT plagued with Transformers
peg hands and the odd looking grips on guns that
follow. Instead this series utilizes multiple sets
of interchangeable hands for the different
equipment. In this case, TWG comes with three sets
of hands: fists, gun grips, and sword grips.
Mixing and matching hands adds to the dynamics of
the available poses. As to the transforming bit,
about it don't bother. The "transformation"
entails snapping the shield to the back tucking
the legs in and pinching the feet in, as with the
cartoon version it's not much of a transformation
and I truly wonder why they even bother.
Next we'll have a look at Burning Gundam (BG).
I've never actually seen
this one in the series but it bears similarities
to the Wing Gundams. First off, since it's part of
the "Battle Scarred" line the colors are much less
crisp. There is a layer of "grime" over the entire
figure dulling the colors, but adding character.
Also bits of the armor show battle damage either
by showing exposed innards, being blown off, or a
bit of both. Overall, I think it really does add to
the look. He has similar articulation to TWG with
the minor differences being that the BG has ball
joints in the shoulders and lacks a torso twist.
Unfortunately BG's joints are too loose to do the
side kick with as well, but I can live with that
for now. The bit that BG has going for him is the
sheer amount of accessories. While he lacks a gun
or a shield he has two sets of wrist claws, one
battle damaged and one not, two shoulder guns that
can be replaced with blank plates (imitating the
fact that they can be retracted), two plasma
swords, and five, count ‘em five, sets of hands.
The sets are fists, swords, karate chop, splayed,
and translucent red (burning) splayed. I'm not
sure how to explain it without showing them, so
just stop and take a look the next time you're at
Wal-Mart. The blades for the swords are removable,
allowing the hilts to be stored on the sides of
the armored skirt. To top it all off BG's wings
and jetpack are really a removable Core fighter.
While he looks good as is, I would really like to
see a non-scarred version with tighter joints.
Hrm . . . Well I do have two more of them to review,
but I think I'll wait
until the next dry month to review those in
detail. I have seen a good chunk of Gundam Wing:
Endless Waltz and both Heavy Arms and Deathscythe
live up to their animated forms. The only thing
that I really don't like about this entire series
is that they are made out of that soft plastic
that is quite flexible. While that means that
they're really hard to break, that also means that
if they get left in the heat they'll bend and stay
bent and that some of the moving parts don't quite
match up with the precision that I'd like. Overall
I'd say that they make good display case pieces or
even good posers for a picture based webcomic (see
http://www.2005boards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=47 for an example, but come back here damnit!)
but they don't quite have the same fiddle fun
factor that transformers have.
Now my Transformer's X-mas (or in it's P.C. form:
Holidays) list. Also known as things to buy your collector.
- Pre-order Masterpiece Optimus Prime (Japanese
for the die hard collectors or US for $40 less)
- Alternators / Binaltech Smokescreen (Pre-Order / Import respectively)
- Armada Prime Powerlinx box set (comes with Prime, Overload, and Jetfire)
- G1 Reissue: Autobot Jazz
- Armada Air Assault Minicon Team
- Armada Blurr
- G1 Reissue: Tracks
- Ruination: A five part combiner's set (military)
- Tankor and Obsidian two-pack
- RID Scourge
Numbers four through ten can be found on Hasbro's
website, the other's you need to look at specialty
sites or your local Wal-Mart or Toys 'R' Us. Yes, I
know that I haven't reviewed all of these figures
but I'm not rich enough to have them all. (/me
debates adding a paypal donation link . . .). Anyways
I'm out for now and I'll try to have lots of good
stuff for ya'll after the holidays!
VF-XX
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