Transformers 2007 Botcon: Mirage

Botcon 2007 will always hold a special place with me.  1) It was the last Fun Publications ran Botcon I attended, 2) it was held in Providence, Rhode Island and was bundled in with a trip to my wife's family in the New England area and 3) it was the year of the Hasbro tour.

This particular year of Botcon also yielded a fairly nice freebie to all of the attendees that pre-registered for the show and made the trip.  The Classics series had recently been unleashed on the masses and Fun Publications decided to take the excellent Mirage mold and cast it in translucent blue plastic, effectively making him look invisible.

I know it's a simple idea, but it's one that really works well.  Pictures don't serve this toy the proper justice it deserves.  This piece looks much nicer in person.

If the Classics Mirage mold wasn't so beautiful in of itself, I'm sure a translucent version wouldn't make the toy that much more desirable.  Most readers should be familiar w/ this mold already and if you aren't, you really owe it to yourself and your collection to go out and buy the regular version of Mirage immediately.

In both formula one car mode and in robot mode this toy just oozes awesomeness.  Definitely one of the better translucent Transformers released.

Did I mention this guy is super articulated and poseable?  Mirage usually commands near $100 on the secondary market these days so that may make him unattainable for some collectors.  However the mold was also used in the first Movie line as a Walmart exclusive, Fracture, a homage to the Go-Bots character Crasher.  One way or another this mold needs to be in your collection.

Charticon exclusive custom figure fully revealed - Snipenose (G1 Needlenose)

Charticon already wowed me with their exclusive figure, Aftershock (Quake).  Now they knock my socks off with the (full) reveal of the custom class figure - none other than G1 Quake's buddy, Needlenose...or Snipenose in this case (don't wanna be sued by Hasbro!).

At the time of this posting there are a few spots left in the customization class if you are planning on attending Charticon.  I believe there are a few non-attendee kits complete w/ DVD instructions if you're going to be lame and sit out the awesome weekend that will be Charticon.

For more details, pricing and to sign up head on over to Charticon TODAY!

Transformers Henkei! / Gentei!: Ghost Starscream

QUICK INFO:
Name: Ghost Starscream
Line: Transformers Henkei! (Japan)
Company: Takara Tomy
Year: November 2009
Price: $79.00 USD & up
Info: Transformers Generations 2009, Vol. 2 mail-away exclusive

Today we have the latest mail-away exclusive from the 2nd volume of the Transformers Generations book. In order to obtain this toy in Japan you had to buy the book and fill out an included order form to send away. If you didn't live in Japan you had to go through a 2nd party re-seller and it wasn't cheap as I've seen it being offer for as much as $120.00 USD! Is it worth your hard earned money? Hard for me to say, but let's take a look at one of the most iconic Generation One characters, Starscream.

Starscream comes packaged in the standard Henkei! style blister card, however as you can see the package is done in blue monochrome. I was a little surprised to see that the image used of Starscream is actually the translucent version and not simply a monochromed shot of the regular toy. The included tech spec trading card features the same product shot as the front packaging, only a full body shot with the power ratings on the reverse side.

I normally don't care for translucent toys, Transformers or not. The use of the translucent plastic this time around makes sense though and it works really, really well. Ever since Megatron returned as Galvatron and obliterated Starscream in the classic cartoon fans have wanted a ghost version of Starscream in toy form. Granted this is not the first version of Starscream in his ghost form (e-Hobby did a translucent version of the original G1 toy a few years back), this is argubaly the best version to date. I don't have many complaints about the toy in jet mode. I was a little disappointed that the Decepticon emblem is not tampographed on the underside of the wings. Small gripe granted, but it doesn't really take anything away from the rest of the toy.

The toy looks great under regular lighting, but it really shines (no pun intended) when exposed to natural light. I used a little sunlight in these pictures to show just how ghostly the figure can look. The only solid plastic used are the thighs and the silver chrome around the tips of his missile launchers. The rest of the body is fully translucent, even his head!

Here is good comparison shot of the toy in natural light (sunlight) and regular lighting (florescent).

This toy is wonderfully done and would make a great addition to any Transformers Henkei! or Classics collection. Because of it's exclusive nature and price it isn't for everybody. If the price tag scares you away then I highly recommend you track down the regular Henkei! version of Starscream as you see in this last comparison picture. It is much more G1 accurate than Hasbro versions. A fellow collector friend of mine brought to my attention that this mold surprisingly doesn't appear to be suffering any mold degradation. Seeing how Takara Tomy has used this mold approx. 11 times (Classics, Henkei!, Botcon uses) prior to this release one would think the mold would start to show some signs of where. All the joints are very tight which is really nice since there are a lot of points of articulation in the figure. Of the 4 Gentei! figures released thus far (the other 3 being Mirage, Wildrider, Strafe) I have to say Starscream is tied for being my favorite. Takara Tomy hit a home run with this release and I can see it being very popular with the fandom for years to come.

Masters of the Universe Classics: Webstor

QUICK INFO:
Name: Webstor
Line: Masters of the Universe Classics
Year: September 2009
Price: $19.99
Info: MattyCollector.com exclusive


Today we'll take a look at last month's Masters of the Universe Classics release from MattyCollector.com. As I'm writing this I'm waiting in my wife's hospital room waiting to become a dad for the very first time! What that means to you, the reader, is this review may be a little sporadic since I guess you could say my mind is a little distracted!

Webstor comes packaged without his body armor or backpack attached...similar to how his vintage figure was packaged. Like most MOTU figures his body is comprised of parts from previously released figures.

I love his head sculpt. The Four Horsemen hit a home run here. The red eyes really pop out on the blue skin and the additional eyes on the forehead are just large enough that they stand out. His large white teeth that protrude from the face gives him a very menacing look. It almost looks as if he's grinning in a devilish way.

Webstor's backpack now features 4 articulated spider legs modeled after the Mike Young Productions / Masters of the Universe 200x series. These attached legs are a ball type joint and allows the legs to be posed a few different configurations. The backpack itself also features a zip line of sorts. One end of the line has a small plastic tab while the other end has a 3 pronged wench or hook. The backpack slides freely along the attached rope. I will mention that the plastic used on the hook is very soft and could easily warp if you tried to hang the hook on anything. I'm sure this was done for various child safety laws. On the back side of the backpack are 4 rectangle pegs that allow it fasten onto the back side of the body armor. I found it a little tricky to get 2 of the 4 pegs to firmly stay in place, but with a little effort they plugged into place and haven't given me any problems.

As I mentioned above the spider legs do have a good bit of articulation allowing you to fold them down behind Webstor. That way if you aren't a fan of the 200x design you can have a more classic looking villain.

I love the spider leg look to Webstor, but I have to say I'm just as impressed with his "classic" look as well.

Webstor also comes with his classic orange blaster that he can wield in either hand. Ever since this figure was revealed I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I loved he character in the Mike Young Productions cartoon series and this figure does a great job at capturing the animation model...although this figure seems to have more muscle or heft than NECA's staction figure resin statue. Whether you're a fan of the classic design or the more modern 200x do your self a favor and pick this up. As of this post the figure has already sold out on MattyCollector.com, but thanks in part to the subscription service that kicked in in September 2009 the figure lasted much longer on the website. This has also helped keep the price at a respectable level with third party vendors. I've read some reviews were people nit picked about some small blemishes on Webstor's back or with the softness of the plastic, but I honestly don't these things take anything away from the figure. My only quip with this figure is that the rope on the backpack is rather long and can get in the way. Other than that this figure is a must have and fits in well with Skeletor's other evil henchmen.