Transformers: Adventure - Psychobat TMC-06

Hasbro and Takara Tomy decided to do a little something with Mini-Cons in their Robot in Disguise (2015) / Adventure series. Instead of just being smaller robots that could aid other Transformers they transformed into various projectile like objects. Think cassettes with Blaster and Soundwave from the original G1 era, the Mini-Con toys interacted with larger Deployer toys such as Fracture. These new Mini-Cons came in various shapes, such as discs, round spheres or torpedos. Psychobat falls in the latter category.

Mini-Cons in the Adventure series came packaged in small window like boxes. Takara Tomy always did package their TFs in cooler packaging than what we received in the West courtesy of Hasbro...at least in my opinion. This packaging allows you to see the actual toy along with the Energon armor bits in the rear.

On the rear of the packaging you get some simple transformation instructions, along with a view of the Energon armor bits and how you can attach them to the figure itself. I believe there is a bio/tech spec of sorts in the blue box, but since I can't read the language this is just an educated guess.

Windra is based on the Robots in Disguise toy Ratbat. Outside of the obvious color change, a clear 5mm port was added. This port allows Psychobat to be attached to other toys or even to be wielded by another Transformer.

In traditional Takara fashion there are more paint applications to the toy than the US version. Psychobat's colors resemble Ratbat's G1 self more so than the toy named Ratbat. Personally I like the light purple more than the maroon that was used on the US release.

Psychobat's alternate mode is a torpedo shape. These type Mini-Cons I feel are the idea versions for the deployer version of Fracture. Not only do these Mini-Cons look great when inserted into the spring loaded launcher, they also seem to launch better.

Like other Mini-Cons, the torpedo shape has an auto-transformation basically. Pull out on each side and you're done. Overall this design does a good job at concealing the robot bits.

The Energon armor bits come attached to a faction shaped symbol. The parts are attached via small plastic sprues. For the older Transformer collectors this harkens back to the days of the original TF toys where accessories had to be removed from little plastic "trees".

In addition to the new deco Psychobat received overseas, so did the color of his Energon weapons.

Some of the Micron/Mini-Con Energon armor bits look good when attached to the toy, but in my opinion this isn't one of those. The armor looks constricting on the toy and doesn't do much in the way of offense like some of the others. I don't care for the armor pieces for any of these Mini-Cons, but if you disagree with me that's alright too.

When the Transformer Adventure Mini-Cons were originally released in Japan they were affordable to import. On the secondary market (at the time of this post) the prices seem to be all over the board, even from Japanese sellers. I used to be a super collector of Mini-Con/Micron toys and that mentality re-surfaced when I learned that the Japanese version of the RID toys would feature different decos. These are fun little toys and I love the new characters and I enjoy them, but your mileage may vary.

Hot Wheels: American Steel - '72 Ford Gran Torino Sport

I believe this new series of Walmart exclusives debuted at the beginning of 2020, but with the current quarantine all sense of time has seemed to disappear! Called American Steel, this collection of 10 vehicles features classic muscle cards from the 60's and 70's. Today we'll take a look at this beautiful 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport which is #06/10 in the collection.

The primary color used here is a metallic blue with yellow racing stripes down the side and hood/roof area. The wheels are a shiny bronze chrome. The interior plastic is cast in shiny plastic. Both the windshield and rear window are clear. The doors do not have windows. The mold has a copyright year of 2010 "T9672".

Personally I'm more of a Chevy guy, but I've got to admit that this car is beautiful, even more in hand. This series has some really nice cars, shame I didn't pick up more of them while they were still on the pegs.

Super7 Keshi Surprise: Transformers (Autobot)

While walking the massive sales floor of the Charlotte Convention center with my family during HeroesCon 2019, I ran across a dealer that had displays of these blind packaged Super7 Keshi Surprise Transformers figures. I had not seen these before at the time or really knew what they were...but the packaging grabbed my attention. Best I could tell these were chibi like PVC figurines. The back of the box stated there 6 different figures/characters in this assortment and came in one of 4 different colors. Priced at $5 each I grabbed one Autobot and one Decepticon box.

The boxes are small, colorful and looks like something you'd find in Japan. I love the artwork featured on the front of the box. The same artwork can be found on one side of the box showing each of the 6 difference characters - Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jazz, Ironhide and Wheeljack.

I ended up with an orange Ironhide. Immediately upon removing the figure from the black plastic bag inside the box I was reminded of the old Decoys from the 80's. Even the small square sticker reminded me of some of the bonus items found with select Transformers from my childhood. These stickers have a prismatic foil background and look fantastic in hand. The back has line art for the same artwork found on the packaging.

While the Decoys from the 80's were made of a soft rubber, these Keshi figures are cast in a harder plastic. The figures themselves stand at about 1.75 inches. I believe the 4 colors are red, purple, blue and orange.

I like this sculpt of Ironhide as it captures the classic animation look of the character. The head is especially nicely done. The fixed arm pose with fists ready to punch a Decepticon is fitting for this old warrior.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Keshi figures look side by side the old Decoys. They are different, but similar.

I love finding stuff like this and at $5 each they are cheap enough to take a chance here and there. I would have been nice to pull a red Ironhide, but that just means I'll need to try again sometime. Highly recommended if you like this kind of collectible.

Quick Changers: Pizza Delivery Truck / Pizza Parlor

The toy shelves in the 80's were full of transforming/converting toys and these Quick Changers from Buddy L circa 1982 are some of the first I remember. I'm pretty sure I had this Pizza Delivery Truck as a kid and when I recently came across a few carded specimens I couldn't resist.

I can't tell if this one has been previously opened or if the glue from the blister bubble dried up. You can see the bubble has yellowed due to it's age so my guess would be that the glue dried. The card features some pretty cool art followed by 4 simple steps to convert the toy from one form to another. I also like the "no batteries needed" blurb for the adults who would be purchasing these for their kids.

The back of the blister card again has a few simple steps for converting the toy back and forth along with a cross sell of the other vehicles offered in the line. I think this is the initial wave of vehicles and as I remember a few others that I don't see pictured here.

The vehicle is chunky and lightweight, but the plastic doesn't feel cheap. It's mostly hollow underneath and the white box of the vehicle is also hollow as it just pegs onto the vehicle's body. The stickers come pre-applied and after 30+ years amazingly still look good. The vehicle features rubber wheels and a pull back friction "motor" allowing the vehicle to travel on it's own once pulled back.

The conversion is the same for most of the vehicles. Take off the top and fold the vehicle body in half. You do have to flip back the front wheel assembly underneath to do so. Once this is done, the top pegs back on and you have your alternate mode.

It looks more like a pizza parlor front the front view than the side, but for something so simple this is fairly imaginative. I imagined as a kid I probably made a little city block out of the few Quick Changers I had. These are fun little toys and at the time of this post is my latest "desk distraction" in my office. These still pop up from time to time on the secondary market if you have the desire to look.

Transformers Monogram Optimus Prime Keychain

Another Dollar Tree find, these little PVC keychain figurines are similar to the blind packaged figures also found at (some) Dollar Tree stores. I didn't care about owning all of them so I just grabbed Optimus Prime.

Monogram did a good job with the overall sculpt. I'm glad the hands are molded as fists instead of open as some of the others cheap PVCs. Paint apps are hit and miss. I had to look at all of them on the pegs and find the one with the best applications. Too bad the smokestacks were painted silver/gray. The tires molded on the back of the legs were painted gray when I would have preferred if they were black.

The keychain is attached to the head and the plastic clip is the larger size. I don't use it as a clip at all, instead I just stood the figure on my Optimus shelf. Not too bad for a buck.

Marvel Battle World: Mystery of the Thanostones (Battle Ball)

While traveling for work last week I stopped in the Target down the road from my hotel to grab a snack after dinner. Of course I checked out both the trading card and toy section. On one of the end caps was this huge Marvel display for their new game, Battle World: Mystery of the Thanostones. I was surprised to see it was made by Funko and not a company like Hasbro. My older brother had told me about these earlier, but this was the first time I had seen them in person.

The top shelf of the display housed three gravity feeder type displays fill of Battle Balls. These retailed for $9.99, but were on sale at the time for $8.99. The bottom shelf had larger packs that retailed for $24.99. 

The display really catches your attention 1) for the sheer size and 2) the artwork used for the characters. In the center was a little display showcasing 6 of the actual figures that are used in the game. Each side of this figure display where images of the other characters available in this initial wave.

While some of the choices for characters is a little puzzling, I was surprised at just how detailed these figures are. They are only about an inch tall so Funko could have mailed it in and just released some crappy painted, non-descript figure. 

After standing there for a moment and looking at the display and the figures, I decided to take a change on the game and grabbed one Battle Ball.

These Battle Balls are made up of hexagon shapes so it's like a large die more than a ball. I noticed the top and bottom of the ball had a recessed section with a peg and a flat groove. The back of the wrapper shows you that contents of the Battle Ball along with an image of a Thanonstone.

Once I got the wrapper off and the ball opened, I found the orange Thanostone, some hexagon shaped cards (one of which was sealed in a black bag), and a small bag with a die and a figure.

The figure included w/ the die was none other than Ant-Man. The figure stands at about 1 inch tall and obviously isn't articulated. The sculpting and paint applications are well done for such a small figure.

In addition to Ant-Man's character card were four other cards. I had to read the included instructions to figure out what these were and how they were used in the game. Essentially each card is a battle playfield.

The Thanostone was interesting. It felt soft and almost like foam, but was hard like plastic. On the front of the stone was an "etched" image on Thanos' himself. I thought that only one figure was included in the Battle Ball, but I was wrong as the Thanostone also included a mystery figure. Once I was able to get it open I found...

Spider-Ham...the Infinity version. This figure is cast in translucent purple plastic to represent the Power Infinity Stone (I think). 

Now I understand why the character card was placed in a opaque black bag so it wouldn't give away the identity of the figure inside the Thanostone.

The instructions on how to set up and play the game are pretty straight forward. I'm not the biggest fan of board games or table top games, but this one looks interesting. I might be able to get my family to play, but that means we'll need to pick up another Battle Ball or two. Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge them.

When you're not playing the game you can use the two halves of the Battle Ball to display both the figure and their character cards. This is a nice addition as some may want to collect the figures and not play the game and this gives them a way to show off their collection.

What are your thoughts? Have you seen the display at your local Target store? Have you purchased one out of curiosity such as I? Have you played the game? I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on both the figures as well as the game.