Transformers Legacy Evolution: Dinobot Sludge (Core Class)

   

I've been sitting on this figure since February where I picked it up from a comic shop while I was in Wilmington, NC for a wedding. I'm glad I went ahead and grabbed it because the initial distribution of this wave of Core Class figures in my area was horrible. 

The draw here is that the Dinobots combine. I've never been a fan of this idea (and won't be displaying them this way), but with this combining feature in mind, I do believe we may see these toys released as the Japanese exclusive Dinoforce team. Afterall, those toys did combine (well, the inner Pretender robots did) to form the combiner Dinoking.

I'll start off with saying for a Core Class figure, this isn't a bad representation of the Dinobot, Sludge. It doesn't faithfully re-create the G1 toy on a smaller scale, but you can tell who he's meant to be. Sure, he has dinosaur kibble hanging off his hips and the "wings" he normally has in robot mode aren't attached to his back (they are on the back of his arms), but the sculpt isn't bad. I quite like the head as it looks like the classic character.

Articulation wise the arms do move at the shoulders a full 360 degrees. The legs are attached to the hips with a disc shape joint and allow the legs to move freely, however the dino kibble on his waist will hinder some of the overall leg movement.

Sludge's dinosaur mode (Apatosaurus?) has all sort of issues...where do we start. First of all the tail is almost non-existent. It's more of a stub than a tail. The back legs are also way out of proportion that it throws off the look of the dino. Most of the toy features gray, non-painted plastic. He does feature some silver paint on the upper portion of his back and of course the gold highlights on the back and head. The legs do move, but you're limited in your posting due to short, squatty legs.

If you so choose to combine Sludge with his fellow Dinobots, he does form the lower upper body/waist of the combiner. Getting him combiner ready is fairly easy as you just rotate his arms straight up, fold up the legs and position them on each side of his waist. Doesn't look like much, but once you start attaching some of the other Dinobots it's not a bad design...I just don't like combining Dinobots in my world of Transformers.

Overall I find Sludge to be a charming Core Class figure, but it's not without it's faults. Usually I like to display my Dinobot figures in dinosaur mode, but this is one of those rare cases where I feel like the robot mode is the strongest of the two forms. I think you can pass on this figure (and the rest of the Core Class Dinobots) unless you are a major Dinobot fan or a completionist. There are far better figures in of this price point in the Legacy series.

Nonnef Productions: Transformers Legacy Crankcase Upgrade Kit

I've not been one that has felt the need necessarily to purchase many upgrade kits for my Transformers figures, but when I saw that Nonnef Productions was releasing a kit for Legacy Crankcase I was excited. I thought Hasbro did a pretty good job with the figure, but what made the original G1 toy so special was it's Triggercon gimmick. While this upgrade kit isn't adding spring loaded weapons that flip out, it does give you the look of the original toy, with a modern flair of course.

The kit contains two blue guns, two pegs, two arms, two thigh filler pieces and a set of silver hubcaps. The guns are also available in black if you prefer. 

On the original G1 figure, the guns were embedded into the roof of the car when not deployed. With this upgrade kit attached the guns can be folded back, but obviously are not embedded. You can rotate these forward however to have the same look of the guns deployed on the G1 toy.

The other included part for vehicle mode is a set of 4 silver hubcaps. The front two simply peg into the wheel posts, where as the back two are attached via small glue dots which were also included. All of these parts were easy to assemble and install.

Hasbro did add a small set of faux shoulder mounted blasters to Crankcase, however they were small and just didn't give the same effect as the original G1 toy. Once you've installed this upgrade kit you can simply fold these guns down so they aren't in view.

Once installed you now have a pair of proper shoulder mounted guns that you can fold up and down depending on what look you are trying to pull off. When not deployed, they do hang off the "backpack" of the figure...which does add a little bit of extra weight. I already felt this toy was already a little back heavy, so just be sure to position the legs/feet in a manner to support the weight on the back of the figure, especially if you don't have the guns deployed forward.

The last included piece are two blue thigh fillers. These simply plug into the hollow cavity on the inside of the thighs. I don't usually bother with buying simple kits that only fill in gaps like this, but since it was included with this set I'll gladly add them to the figure.

Overall I felt this was a worthy purchase and a fun and easy upgrade kit to add to Crankcase. I've bought a few kits from Nonnef Productions in the past and they always do great work. Priced at just $8.99, I feel this set really "transforms" Crankcase and makes an already great figure even better. Be sure to check out their site for more awesome kits they have available.

Transformers Legacy: Bomb-Burst

When I learned that Hasbro was making another attempt at bringing the Generation 1 Pretender characters into the Legacy line, I was beside myself with excitement. The G1 Pretenders have always been some of my favorite toys and characters, despite missing out on them when they were originally on retail shelves. When I first started to re-build my G1 collection the Pretenders were the first I went after. I always found the monster like Decepticon Pretenders to be more interesting and the monster vampire, Bomb-Burst, is a great example.

Bomb-Burst is part of the Core Class size of Transformers in the Legacy series. While I would have preferred him to be a deluxe class size, I'll take modern version of these characters however I can get them.

Pulling off a G1 Pretender type shell with modern toy making could be done I suppose, but Hasbro decided to go a different route and basically merge the shell and the inner robot together. Bomb-Burst retains the look of his outer monster vampire shell look, complete with large bat ears, snub nose and sharp teeth. The back of the figure does give you a peek at the inner robot's vehicle mode. I'm not wild about this "backpack", however I can live with it as the rest of the package is pretty awesome.

One of Bomb-Burst's pack in weapons just happens to be a smaller version of his classic sword.

The other included weapons are two blue, arm mounted lasers. On the G1 version these guns were wielded by the inner robot and a part of the robot's alt mode. With the Legacy version these guns double as the bat wings that were originally attached to the shell's shoulders. One side of the guns' fins are painted like wings. These attach to the nose cone "backpack", however said nose cone has to be positioned outward from the body, and well just looks a little odd. Looking straight on its not that bad, but viewing the figure from an angle or the rear you can see the flaw. The nose cone can also store the sword accessory which is a nice touch.

Hasbro nearly nailed the look of the G1 inner robot's alt mode, which you'll see more in some comparison pics below. It's not an exact 1:1, but it retains most of the look. From the maroon cockpit, to the VTOL engines on the top of the aircraft, it's still a jet that is formed by literally folding up a robot. By the way, the sword's hilt makes the gun for the ship's cockpit, wasn't expecting that.

I know that the original G1 toys aren't everyone's cup of tea. Some of them aren't that great and some of the toys haven't aged that well, however some of the designs and characters found in the original 80's series are fantastic. Hasbro found a way to bring one of the more obscure characters into modern form, and while I wish it was larger this is still a great toy. I hope we see more of the Pretenders brought back to life (in either scale), whether that be in the Legacy line or in a future Transformers series.