To open or not to open. That is today's question. It's rare these days that I acquire a G1 TF, let alone one with it's packaging. Finding a sealed G1 TF is down right rare for me. However Action Masters can come fairly cheap on the secondary market if you look in the right places.
I picked up this MOSC Kick-Off sometime last year for less than $20. I almost immediately hung this in my closet in my collection room and went on about things. It wasn't until recently that I pulled it out again.
I've run into a few hardcore G1 collectors that don't care for Action Masters. Period. I for one don't mind them. Then again I grew up w/ G.I. Joe so I'm kind of partial to the 3 3/4" scale action figure. I will say that I've always gravitated to the new, original Action Master characters over the pre-existing characters such as Prowl.
I also prefer the characters that had weapons or accessories that transformed versus the animal partners that transformed. By the time their hand gun was placed on the transformed animal partner, the combined weapon would be bigger than the figure! Kick-Off comes with the Turbo-Pack - a jet pack that also converts into an extra weapon. To me this just seems more functional and makes for a better play patter in my opinion.
I picked up this MOSC Kick-Off sometime last year for less than $20. I almost immediately hung this in my closet in my collection room and went on about things. It wasn't until recently that I pulled it out again.
I've run into a few hardcore G1 collectors that don't care for Action Masters. Period. I for one don't mind them. Then again I grew up w/ G.I. Joe so I'm kind of partial to the 3 3/4" scale action figure. I will say that I've always gravitated to the new, original Action Master characters over the pre-existing characters such as Prowl.
I also prefer the characters that had weapons or accessories that transformed versus the animal partners that transformed. By the time their hand gun was placed on the transformed animal partner, the combined weapon would be bigger than the figure! Kick-Off comes with the Turbo-Pack - a jet pack that also converts into an extra weapon. To me this just seems more functional and makes for a better play patter in my opinion.
Kick-Off looks great. First of all I love the orange, black and white colors. I don't mind the red as it helps break up the white and black, but part of me wishes Hasbro would have used more orange instead of red.
Now the story behind the Action Masters is that they ingested a type of Energon, Nucleon, that effectively froze them in robot mode. With their alternate forms locked, these action figures only have a few hints at what that alternate form was. Looking at Kick-Off's chest you can see the slop of a car, headlights and a front bumper. His legs also show signs of car wheels. I've always been under the impression that his alt mode was a Porsche of some type. Perhaps a 911 like Jazz?
Now the story behind the Action Masters is that they ingested a type of Energon, Nucleon, that effectively froze them in robot mode. With their alternate forms locked, these action figures only have a few hints at what that alternate form was. Looking at Kick-Off's chest you can see the slop of a car, headlights and a front bumper. His legs also show signs of car wheels. I've always been under the impression that his alt mode was a Porsche of some type. Perhaps a 911 like Jazz?
Kick-Off's accessory is the Turbo-Pack. It transforms by simply deploying wings on each side with an optional spring loaded cannon that can extend up and over Kick-Off's shoulder. He also comes with his orange Sonic Blaster hand gun. This gun can also be attached to the shoulder cannon to give him more firepower.
In the end I was glad I decided to open up this guy as I had a lot of fun with the toy. The best thing about buying a brand new Action Master is that you don't have to worry about flopping joints! The construction of the Action Master shares a lot with a common G.I. Joe figure - the rubber O-Ring in the waist. For a non-transforming Transformer I think the guy is pretty cool and he puts me one figure closer to finishing off my complete G1 collection.
In the end I was glad I decided to open up this guy as I had a lot of fun with the toy. The best thing about buying a brand new Action Master is that you don't have to worry about flopping joints! The construction of the Action Master shares a lot with a common G.I. Joe figure - the rubber O-Ring in the waist. For a non-transforming Transformer I think the guy is pretty cool and he puts me one figure closer to finishing off my complete G1 collection.
I really liked the Action Masters, the vehicles were nice and the Armored Convoy was a just as much fun to use with regular Transformers as well. I like the unusual way they were presented on their cards being that they were glued in at the top of the card and the details on the card back was cool as well. This guy looks cool and it must be nice to have pulled out a minty fresh one. Recently I've been looking at getting some of the Transformers Mashers as they strike me as a modern homage to them in a sense.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was a lot of fun opening him. The best part is I knew going in the joints would be tight and not all floppy like you see on a lot of second hand Action Masters.
DeleteI still have to buy back all of my Action Masters as I sold them all about 8 years ago. I love those figures and regret every day selling them. I'm holding off, as I really want to savor getting them last in my collection, but seeing this just makes it hard to resist. Good write up.
ReplyDeleteI only lack a few of the original G1 characters in AM form...like Bumblebee, Blaster and Optimus Prime. Admittedly though they are at the bottom of my short G1 buy list.
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