Transformers 2007 Dairycon Exclusive Checkers

QUICK INFO:
Name: Checkers
Line: Dairycon Exclusives
Year: 2007
Price: unknown




Function:  Urban Surveillance
Quote: " I like Mankind just fine; it's people I don't trust. "

Profile:  Checkers signed up with the Autobot army to travel to strange new worlds and seek out new life. He ended up stuck in major American cities watching for Decepticon activity. To quench his boredom, he began listening to right-wing political talk-radio. He found kindred spirits in the hosts, even though some of their views can border on the extreme. Some Autobots (Beachcomber, for example) cannot even stand to be assigned with him due to his right-wing leanings. Wreck-Gar thinks that Checkers sounds a lot like a character from the ancient TV sitcom All In The Family. Openly campaigns for political candidates by attaching ads to his vehicle-mode roof. Dislikes being assigned to Milwaukee, and absolutely refuses to operate in Madison.

Abilities:  Checkers can monitor all radio, infrared, and microwave frequencies, including secret police and military channels. While his vehicle form isn't particularly fast or durable, it is dependable. With regular maintenance, he is virtually immune to breakdowns.

Weaknesses:  Sometimes takes his political views to the extreme. His roof light is permanently stuck in the "off duty" position.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 4 Speed: 7 Endurance: 7

Rank: 5 Courage: 9 Firepower: 7 Skill: 6

Finally! I was able to track down another awesome Dairycon (Spychanger) exclusive. We'll take a look at one of 2007's exclusives from one of the wackiest Transformer conventions....Dairycon!

Wow, all I can say is that I am so impressed with the packaging of this guy. For this to be a fan made toy offered at a unofficial convention I'm blown away. Whoever handles the graphic design for the packaging @ Dairycon should get a raise! While the box and insert tray are made from thin cardstock it has a very professional look. From the black and white street layout in the background to the checkered pin stripe around the bottom of the box...this thing is beautiful. Did you notice the age group listed in the upper right corner? Ages 30+ ...hilarious!

The back of the box is just as beautiful as the front. As you can see there is a nice "illustration" showing you how to transform Checkers from robot mode to his taxi mode and the equally awesome 'quote' below: "errrarrrarrerrarrerrarearaaarr..." As with the Ages 30+ on the front of the box you can see a in the bottom left corner a image stating that is not intended for ages 0-29. Classic!

Top, bottom and sides of box

Now let's do the unimaginable and open the sealed box! Here's a closer look at the inner plastic tray that houses Checkers and his gun along w/ the paper tray.

Here's a close up of the inner tray that uses the same street map layout as on the outer box.

Checkers is a repainted Prowl 2 Spychanger from the Robots In Disguise (R.I.D.) line. The thighs, front car grill and robot face have been painted black while the the outer car parts have been painted taxi cab yellow. The rest of the head is a nice shade of gray while the eyes have been carefully painted a line green color. I can't stress how good the robot's head has been painted. Great care was exercised here. The large checkered area w/ the Dairycon cow logo is actually a sticker.

As with the hood the rest of the design on the sides of the car as well as the 555-TAXI on the back of the car also stickers. The light bar on the top of the car has been painted white. Until I took a closer look at the toy I didn't realize the windows has been covered with a dark brown colored sticker. There is one small Autobot symbol still exposed on the back window.

Top and bottom views



Generation One styled Tech Specs

Overall this is one of the best fan made toys I've seen to date. There are several different characters made from various Spychanger molds for the Dairycon convention over the years. The only other one I have is Domino from 2008. I would gladly pay good money to acquire the others. If you are a fan of fan made Transformers, Spychangers (as I am) or just a crazy fan who likes taxi Transformers then this is a must have. I'm not sure how many of this toy were made, but because of the convention being so regional I don't see a lot of these exclusives available for sale on the secondary market. Because of this they can tend to be a tad on the expensive side...but well worth it. It is so obvious that a lot of thought and care go into the planning, creation and execution of these toys. A+ in my book.

Transformers R.P.M.s: Sideswipe

QUICK INFO:
Name: Sideswipe
Line: Transformers R.P.M.s
Year: 2010
Price: $2.99

Bio:
There have been a lot of Decepticon masters of the blade over the years, but every one of them has fallen before Sideswipe. In the history of Cybertron, there is no finder swordsman. Sideswipe is single-minded in his pursuit of perfection with a sword.


Vehicle Data:
Max Speed: 8  Horsepower: 8  Ramming Power: 8  Armor: 6

Today we'll take a few moments and look at a toy that combines two of my favorite toys from my childhood, Transformers and HotWheels.

With the box office success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallan movie Hasbro decided to milk the movie for all it was worth and introduce a new toy line. With the introduction of the R.P.M. line I feel as if Hasbro was trying to appeal to a wider audience (die-cast car market) than the standard action figure market. For the most part I think the line has been a success. R.P.M. is an acronym that stands for Robot Powered Machines. The vehicles are in scale with most die-cast vehicles like HotWheels and Matchbox, however the toys lack the die-cast metal. The gimmick is the Transformers robot is molded to the underside of the vehicle and you can stand the vehicle up to "transform" it per se. The packaging for these have been handled very well. The colors are a little on the dark side, but still look beautiful. The vehicle itself is packaged in a standard blister bubble and you can see the robot through the bottom of the blister.

On the back side of the packaging you'll see a picture of the robot as well as some additional info on the character. In typical Transformers fashion you get a character bio. Something new is the vehicle data which basically replaces the old tech spec rankings from the action figures. I get the max speed, horsepower and even armor ratings...but ramming? That just seems a little out of place. The R.P.M. toys are also broken down into subclasses which Sideswipe here being part of the Speed Series. Other toys in this subclass are Bumblebee and Jolt from the Revenge of the Fallen movie.

Sideswipe is a beautiful metallic silver Chevy Corvette. I have only bought a few of these so far - mostly upon their initial release and I didn't intend on buying many more if any. I couldn't resist picking up Sideswipe though due to his alternate mode. After my father passed in 1997 I started picking up the occasional Corvette HotWheel to honor his memory...so I was pleased to see that Sideswipe was eventually included in the R.P.M. line. One of the first things I noticed upon opening Sideswipe and the others I own is they are very light. I didn't expect any die-cast metal, but these vehicles seem so light they have a cheap feel to them. A friend told me he stepped on one accidentally and it basically shattered. I find it hard to believe since toys these days have to pass rigorous child safety tests. Weight aside Sideswipe is a fun little car. He rolls very well on hard smooth surfaces and I can only imagine if you were to use him on a HotWheels track that he would rather quick. I guess the light weight of the vehicle would help this and may not be such a bad thing after all. Hasbro has made one play set for these toys to date, but I don't have the room for such a thing nor do I have the expendable income. The only paint applications on Sideswipe are on the front and back. The front grill is painted black while the rear lights are painted red. The windows a very dark almost smokey translucent plastic. There doesn't appear to be a dashboard, steering wheel or seats molded inside the car. I can't complain too much about the paint apps since Sideswipe resembles his action figure brother and CGI movie model fairly well, but perhaps some detail on the front headlights would have been nice. The wheels are a nice shiny chrome 5 spoke design. Only other thing to mention about the vehicle is the rear exhaust pipes. All of the R.P.M.s have some sort of pipes or pegs that allow the card to stand up to reveal the robot mode. I like how Hasbro incorporated the exhaust pipes in the design to allow this feature instead of just adding some blaring obvious pegs. Overall it is a great vehicle and would blend in fairly well to any die-cast car collection.

Front and Rear views...notice the exhaust pipes/pegs on the rear.

Here we have a look at Sideswipe's robot mode. This is where the majority of the details lie. Hasbro did a good job sculpting the robot and cramming it onto such a small and narrow area. The nice thing about these robot modes so to speak are they are 3 dimensional and not simply a flat image. There is a good deal of detail to the robot. In fashion with the bio you can see Sideswipe is armed with his large blades. For some reason these blades have been painted red which seems out of place. Above Sideswipe's head you'll see a small red circle sporting the Autobot symbol and his name printed just below the feet.

In closing I can see how this line has been a winner for Hasbro. If I was a kid I was totally love these and would have probably begged my mom to buy me all of them. I believe the price has recently been dropped a dollar from the initial $3.99 price to $2.99. When compared to a HotWheel or Matchbox which are typically $1.00 each it doesn't seem like a good deal. However they must have sold well since Hasbro is bringing them back in the spring of 2010 (under a new name). Sideswipe makes the 5th R.P.M. I've bought and I may pick up a few others since the price is a little more reasonable now. If you are a fan of this scale vehicle or just a Transformers fan then you at least ought to pick up your favorite character and give the line a chance. Even though the vehicles lack the weight of die-cast metal they are still fun little toys that deserve to be part of the Transformers family.

UltraForce: Ghoul

Today's toy reviews fits the name of the blog well...random. We'll take a look at a figure from Galoob's UltraForce line based off the short lived Malibu comic book and animated series of the same name.

Ghoul is a member of the UltraForce team of super powered heroes. For more info on the character click here. I obtained this toy sealed for a few bucks. I was curious about the quality of these toys since I had purchased a few UltraForce comics recently at a show. First off I have to say I like the packaging. The bright yellowish orange back ground really makes the large red Ultraforce logo pop out. The sticker on the blister bubble featuring comic style art showing off the features of the toy is a nice touch. The little box on the upper left corner depicting a head shot and number is a direct reference to the comic series.

Back of the blister card isn't anything like we've seen before. It features your standard cross sell toys for the line (figures such as Hardcase, Nightman, Prime & Topaz) as well as 2 vehicles that I'm not entirely sure were ever released. The upper portion does feature a small bio on the character as well as a comic book style instruction panel on how to activate the figure's special ability or function.

Here we have a good look at the figure itself freed from his cardboard and plastic prison. He is the standard 5 to 5 1/2 inch size action figure. I count 10 points of articulation. His head swivels a full 360 degrees & arms rotate 360 degrees at the shoulders. The arms bend at the elbows, legs bend at the knees. Figure features a "t crotch" so there isn't a lot of articulation at the waist, but the legs can be positioned into a sitting form. I really have to say that I was impressed by the level of detailing on the figure. Most of it is molded into the plastic, but that is OK. The trench coat is nicely done. Notice how the rolled up sleeves almost hide the elbow joints? The paint applications are also nicely applied. The white paint on the chest and facial bones isn't sloppy nor is the white on the bandages. The blue on the jeans isn't too bright. The plastic is very sturdy. The only exception to that is the bottom portion of the trench coat. Since it is removable it is made of a softer more pliable plastic.

The special ability or feature of this figure is that you can disassemble the figure. I guess since he is basically a decomposing dead person it makes sense! The neck and shoulder joints are your traditional ball and socket joints allowing the head and arms to easily pop on and off. The waist is more of a peg. I found this a little tighter when removing the torso, but I'm glad since this would hopefully help keep the figure intact with extended play wear and tear.

The only accessory Ghoul comes packaged with is a rather large wooden coffin. It is rather nice looking I might add with the wood grain sculpted into the plastic and a little black paint to give it a worn look.

I should have zoomed in more on the inside lid of the coffin as it's hard to see the scratch marks. I thought that was a nice added touch as it gives me the impression that Ghoul had to scratch and claw his way out of the coffin. On the inside part towards the bottom you may notice a raise area with 2 small pegs. Once you place Ghoul inside the coffin you can plug those two small pegs into the bottom of his feet. There is a small brown trigger on the side of the coffin that makes the pegs go up and down. You are supposed to be able to move the trigger and make Ghoul stand up and pop out of the coffin. It's a neat gimmick, but the weight of the figure makes it hard to pull this off.

In closing I have to say that I am rather impressed with this figure. The sculpting is top notch and the resemblance to what I've seen in the comics and the animated show is spot on. While the figure may not be the best of the bunch it does stand out thanks to the attributes of the character itself. I can't think of many rotting zombie action figures where you can pull off the head or arms! Galoob did a very nice job. I've only associated Galoob with Micro Machines so I give them 2 thumbs up on this figure. I'm glad I only paid a few bucks since I'm not a huge fan of UltraForce, but I found this to be a slightly above average 90's era super hero action figure.

Lego #30002 Police Boat & #30010 Fire Chief

QUICK INFO:
Name: Police Boat #30002 & Fire Chief #30010
Line: Lego - City
Year: February 2010
Price: $2.99 (each)


Thanks to Adam Pawlus over @ www.16bit.com it was brought to my attention that Target had already put out 4 new Lego sets (2 City & 2 Star Wars) in their newly set Easter section. I'm a sucker for small, cheap City themed Lego sets so I had to check these out.

We'll start off by looking at the Police Boat. It consists of 30 pieces. It's a very small and simple set by design, but a very nice set. The colors are almost all traditional blue and white. One of things I like best about the boat are the controls. You may expect to find a steering wheel, but instead of the more traditional controls you'll find 2 black levers. They look like wrenches, but when attached to the bar piece they make convincing steering controls. The engine is nicely constructed. I'm not sure I've ever seen the piece used on the top of the engine.

Another feature about the boat that is a nice touch is the spot light that clips onto the left side of the boat. Minifigure is your traditional police officer. Nothing we haven't seen already.

Now we'll shift our focus to the Fire Chief. It consists of 31 pieces. This is my least favorite of the two sets, but this one isn't a complete throw away. First off all I would call this more of a Fire ATV than car as you can tell from the pictures. It's a very small and compact set, but the wheels freely move without problems and the water cannon on the back is different. You can position the fireman mini figure forwards like he is driving, or backwards like he is operating the water cannon. Mini figure pretty standard. I really can't say much else about this set other than it's what you would expect out of a $3.00 toy.

For $2.99 you really can't go wrong with these sets. They are very easy to construct and have charm, esp. the Police Boat. If you could only afford one set however go with the Police set. It just feels more well rounded of the two.

Transformers Beast Wars: Icebird

Sage-like leader of the mutants. Very wise and powerful. Possesses colossal size and strength in bear mode - silent aerial abilities in owl mode. Resentful of his lost ability to convert to robot mode. Believes mission is to nullify technology completely and evolve into a purely organic existence. Does not fight with the Maximals, but believes they are a necessary component of the organic evolution. Can communicate telepathically, become invisible, read minds and shut down machinery at will. Views Optimus Primal’s heroics with forgiving tolerance. Greatly feared by Megatron.

Strength:	8	Intelligence:	8
Speed:	7	Endurance:	7
Rank:	10	Courage:	9
Firepower:	8	Skill:	9

The story behind the Mutants:
Megatron developed an anti-conversion virus, intended to prevent the infected host converting into robot mode, resulting in eventual shutdown. The Mutants were previously Fuzors, and the virus reacted in an unanticipated way with their physiognomy; it caused their conversion abilities to change, trapping their robot modes between two different beast modes. The virus also bestowed 'potent extrasensory powers' upon the former Fuzors, with each member having several unique abilities, such as invisibility, teleportation, or technokinesis. Unsurprisingly, the foursome managed to escape Megatron's clutches and then went renegade, calling themselves the Mutants.

A few years into the Beast Wars run of Transformers Hasbro decided to try something a little different and introduced the Mutants subline if you will in Beast Wars. These were robots that were essentially trapped in their organic beast modes by Megatron. We'll take a look at the leader of the Mutants today, Icebird.

I'll start off with Icebird in his snow owl mode since that is what is depicted on the packaging. Of the 2 modes it is my least favorite, but I can live with the design. Let's start with the positives. The owl face is done really well. The feathers that are sculpted into the plastic give it a nice touch. The beak is spot on and is ever so slightly articulated. The wings are the other highlight of this beast mode. While the feathers on the face are very lightly molded, these are large feathers that really stand out. Because of the transformation each wing has 3 points of articulation. Tip of the wing, middle of the wing and where the wing attaches to the body. This does allow some different poses for the wings which is a nice touch. Now to the negatives. In my opinion the most blaring obvious down side to this mode is the bright red claws. I'm guess they are supposed to represent blood, but it's just too bright and really detracts from the overall look. The paint deco on the lower half of the chest again is too bright. I'm not sure what kind of owl they were trying to imitate here, but I can't find any kind of specimen that has colors or patterns like this. Closet thing I can find is the Snowy Owl...at least the wings on Icebird are a match. The tail features are nicely molded, but they are on a spring mechanism and they don't like to stay in once place very well.

Icebird's other beast mode is that of a polar bear. I really like this mode and how they pulled it off. As you can see from the photo he's got big feet that allows for some good poses. I've got Icebird displayed @ home like this...makes him look more intimidating (and takes up less space on the shelf!). The figure has more heft in this mode and feels more solid. There are 9 points of articulation in bear mode. Ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists and jaw. The front paws split into halves to form the owl's claws, but you can rotate the entire claw. The shoulder joints are ball & socket, but mine are incredibly tight. More so than I've seen on other toys with similar construction. You can open and close the mouth too so you can have a more subdue or growling facial expression. Like feathers were molded into the plastic for the owl, this mode has molded fur. The things I don't care for in this mode again are the red claws. If it is meant to be blood then it makes a little more sense for a bear to have bloody claws than a snow owl, but they are just too bright. The other distraction carries over from the owl mode too, the colors on the chest. It didn't work for the owl and it definitely doesn't work for the bear.

Here is a side view of the bear mode. Where did you think the owl's wings would go once folded up?! If the wings had been molded in the same white plastic it would blend in much better, but at the same time I don't think it looks too bad. You can also get an idea just how much larger the front legs and paws are compared to the back legs.

All of the mutants have their own faction symbol molded on the toy. Icebird's is on his right shoulder. If you flip up the panel you'll notice some robotic circuitry of sorts underneath. This was a nice little touch and gave the character a more robotic feel.

The other robotic feature of the mold is the inclusion of a robot head. Yes, while the toy cannot transform into an actual robot it does have a robot head. Sorry for the blurry picture, it was hard to get a good close up. The head still has a beastly look to it in my opinion, but so do most of the robots in Beast Wars. This head is on a spring mechanism behind the polar bear's head. You simply lift you the panel on the back of the bear and you can fold in the bear's head and flip out the robot's head. I've seen some people pose the bear standing up with the robot head exposed for a pseudo-robot mode. The head is very tiny so it looks weird on such a large body, but it's still a nice added touch.

There were only 4 Mutant toys produced and Icebird is hands down my favorite with Soundwave a close 2nd. Where Icebird's owl form is light and almost hollow feeling, the polar bear is heavy and solid. If you can forgot about the mass difference between the two modes the owl and the bear forms work hand in hand. While the toy may not have the same feel as a regular Beast Wars toy since it lacks a true robot form the toy makes up for that with the inclusion of a 2nd beast mode and it's on unique charm. If you're looking to expand your Beast Wars collection Icebird is a good place to start.

2010 Topps first impressions

2010 Topps Baseball, Series One
First Impressions



Alright, so this has absolutely nothing to do with toys. My first hobby dates back 20 years to 1990. A friend of mine got me into baseball cards on the way home from a vacation in the mountains. We stopped at a rather large roadside flea market of sorts and I walked away with a large stack of 1990 Topps and Donruss baseball card packs. I guess as they say is history.

With the release of the 2010 Topps Baseball cards I've bought/collected baseball cards in some capacity now for 20 years. Just typing that makes me feel old! I thought it would be kinda neat (at least to me) to give my first impressions of the first baseball cards of the season since it's kind of a bench mark for me.

After reading some blogs and viewing some pictures of the 2010 Topps Baseball series 1 I decided to hit a few Target stores in my area to see what I could find. My first trip found one of those large gravity feeders of packs. I was particularly looking for the "blaster" boxes...but nothing could be found. A trip the following day to a different Target found me one lone box. I snatched it up with a little reservation. Since I'm not into set building I cringed a bit at the $19.99 price tag. Since it was the only box though I decided to go ahead with the purchase anyhow.

These "blaster" boxes give you 10 packs, each with 8 cards for a total of 80 cards. I guess the main draw of these boxes is that you get one exclusive patch card. I saw these with the 2009 cards so I knew what I was getting here. Nothing special since the patches are created just for these cards and not game used. The checklist for these patch cards is 50 cards long and features names such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ryne Sandberg, Ichiro, Chase Utley & Albert Pujols. The other draw is that 2 of the packs are Throwback parallels. These cards are essentially the same as the base cards except they are printed on the old style brown cardboard. The Topps logo is also the old logo. I like these myself so the inclusion of these made the decision to buy the box a little easier.

So, what did I end up with you may wonder? For starters I got a Hank Greenberg (Detroit Tigers) 1935 World Series commemorative patch card. Nice looking, but I had rather have Chipper Jones or Pujols. Oh well. At least I got a Pujols from one of the Throwback packs.

As a Braves fan I was happy with some of the pulls. In the Throwback packs I got a Javier Vasquez. From the base set I got a few more Braves: Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, Reid Gorecki and Javier Vasquez.

Also ended up w/ 2 of the Million Card Giveaway cards. This program really intrigues me, but I'll have to wait another week or so before the program goes live. Pulled a few of the Cards Your Mom Threw Out (even one of the original back versions), one When They Were Young (Johnny Damon) and a few of the other low odd inserts.

I love the basic and clean design of the base set. The team logos are large and colorful and the names are easy to read. I could have done without the silver foil, but I'm afraid that foil stamping and the glossy U/V coatings are here to stay on the regular Topps set. Backs of the cards have been improved over last year's set as well. Biggest change I noticed and I know a lot of others noticed is the card number in the upper right corner is MUCH easier to read. I've never been a set builder so the card #s have been irrelevant to me, but it's nice to see that Topps listened to the complaints and rectified the issue this time around.

All in all this set is a home run in my opinion. Great base design and pretty good inserts. Yeah so people may be sick of the gold parallels or the ToppsTown inserts, but they are OK additions in my book. Without new kids coming to the hobby it'll start to die off so if Topps has to use the ToppsTown program or something else to attract kids I'm fine with that. So, what are you waiting for? Head on down to your local hobby shop (if you're lucky to have one) or to your local Target store and pick up some packs. I think after you've busted a few packs you'll be glad you did.

Transformers Micron "Mighty" team

QUICK INFO:

Name: Mighty Bull, Mighty Dozer, Mighty Sutora
Line: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Takara Tomy)
Year: 2009


To celebrate the release of Revenge of the Fallen in Japan a few retailers partnered with Takara Tomy to give away special Micron toys with the purchase of 2,000 yen or more. While they are simple repaints of Mini-Con toys released in the west under the Classics banner, many many Mini-Con/Micron collectors have sought these out to add to their collections. Are they worth the effort in tracking them down? Read on and lets find out.

We'll start off by taking a look at Mighty Bull. He is a repaint of the Classics Mini-Con Sledge.

Let me start off by saying that I love Mini-Cons/Microns. I have found myself buying just about every one that I can find. I was thrilled to hear Hasbro was bringing Mini-Cons back w/ the Classics line a few years ago and was even more thrilled to find out there would be new molds. Then I got my hands on this mold (as Sledge). My excitement was quickly dimished. I hate this mold hands down. In vehicle mode it's passable.

Now that I've got my rant out of the way, let's take a look at the mold. Mighty Bull was available in Japan at Bic Camera and Yodobashi stores and free with a purchase of 2,000 or more yen. In vehicle form it's a decent figure. The front shovel lifts up and down and the back shovel arm can pivet from side to side while the shovel itself can swing up and down. That is where the good ends though. It has a very weak feel overall. The wheels are free rolling, but getting all 4 flat on a surface isn't as easy as it should be.

If you thought the vehicle mode was bad, well the robot mode is just plain ugly. Come on, this doesn't even look close to a robot in my opinion. It just isn't very convincing. There is little to no articulation in this form. The "arms" (and I use that word loosely) only rotate up and down. You can't pose the arms very much at all. The waist is a ball & socket joint which doesn't give the robot a whole lot of stability. The legs...well if you look at them wrong they fall off. When I first fiddled with this mold as Sledge I thought the problem may be unique to my toy. I've got 4 of this mold now and they all suffer from the same issues. This is just a poor, sloppy executed toy. Unless you are a completist stay away from this mold.

I snapped a few comparison shots so you can see how the mold compares to one of it's counterparts, but I dislike this mold so much that I didn't even feel the desire to post the pics. So you can just click on the links here and here to take a peek.

Next we'll take a look at my favorite of the trio, Mighty Dozer. Growing up I loved the G1 toy Wideload.

Mighty Dozer was available exclusively at Toys 'R Us Japan stores and was given away with more than a Revenge of the Fallen purchase of 2,000 or more yen. When I first saw pictures of Mighty Dozer on in the internet images of Wideload immediately popped in my head. First thing you should notice is the eye popping orange. The flash of the camera makes the orange appear a little brighter than the actual color, but it looks great on this mold. Originally this mold was released by Hasbro in the Classics line as Wideload (interestingly enough). Hasbro should have used the color scheme. This is one of the better new Mini-Con/Micron molds...at least in vehicle mode. The dump truck design is very well designed. The mold holds together really well. The bed of the dump truck sadly doesn't lift thanks to transformation restrictions. The wheels are free rolling, but the back wheels have an extra tire molded into the plastic on the inside of the rolling wheel to give it that needed size appearance. This molded wheel isn't painted though so at least to me it looks odd, though it really isn't that obvious unless you flip to toy over and look at the bottom. The only other complaint I have with this mode is the robot's head is partially exposed on the rear of the mold. The face is looking down, but you still have this little robot head protruding from the back.

Here we have Mighty Dozer's robot mode. While it's not nearly as bad as Mighty Bull's robot mode it doesn't quite hit a home run. First thing you may notice is the, um, chest...boobs. Yes, this is the first "male" Transformer I've seen with giant man boobs. Again this robot mode just fails on some many different levels. Ignore the mammary glands for a moment if you can and lets take a look at the rest of the robot. You should notice the arms are simply the dump truck's bed split into two halves. The ends of the bed has a articulated flap that I guess is supposed to be passed off as fingers? Just doesn't cut it for me. The feet are the front part of the dump truck. OK, that I can deal with. The part of the feet that bothers me is the front wheels being fully exposed make it hard to stand this figure. There aren't any plastic tabs that stick down to help balance this guy. Make one wrong move, breath, cough or sneeze near this guy and down he goes. At least the robot head sculpt is pretty good.

As with Mighty Bull, here and here are some comparison pics of Dozer with the Japanese Micron Booser Refuser.

Lastly we'll take a look at Mighty Sutora, or also known as Mighty Stra.

Mighty Sutora was exclusively at Bic Camera & Yodobashi stores and free with a purchase of 2,000 or more yen. Mighty Sutora is a repaint of the Classics Mini-Con Strongarm. It's obvious the alt mode this time around is that of a police car. While the color scheme may not invoke the image of a police car you or I would think about, the colors work really well. I like the "TF Police" stamp on the sides of the car. It would have been nice to see some extra paint apps on the light bar or to have the side windows painted black like the front windshield, but we are talking about a Mini-Con/Micron here. Not else much to say about this mold other than it's a rather long car and the wheels roll just fine.

Not again! This is yet another new Mini-Con/Micron mold with a decent alt mode that suffers from a horrible robot mode. The best thing going is the transformation. It's rather cleaver I have to say. The whole car basically folds in half to form the robot. Unlike the other Mighty partners, Sutora does have limited articulation in robot mode. The arms bend at the elbows so at least you can some what pose him. The long vehicle mode also makes this figure taller than other Mini-Cons/Microns. Another good head sculpt is present, although it seems to get "lost" in between the arms. The paint apps are exposed in robot mode which helps the overall appearance. I still think the robot mode is weak, but when compared to Mighty Bull & Mighty Dozer it wins.

I was going to pull out Strongarm for the comparison shots, but I simply love the deco & name Hasbro decided to use on this mold for their 2nd Mini-Con 10 pack. Click here and here to see shots of Mighty Sutora and Overcharge side by side.

In closing I really can't recommend this trio of Microns. As I said earlier in the review I'm a sucker for these little TFs and I tend to buy as many as I can. If I weren't a fanatic I would be sorely disappointed in these 3 molds. I tend to display all my Mini-Cons/Microns in vehicle form so at least these look half way decent on my shelf (excluding the horrid Mighty Bull mold!). The decos Takara Tomy went with are an improvement over their Classics counterparts, but the price tag for them (thanks to their exclusivity & people like me) tends to be a little high on the secondary market. If you want the molds, then just stick to the Hasbro Classics versions.

WWE Basic Collection Series 1: Batista

This is a first for Random Toy Reviews today. I often review toys from lines of which I grew up playing with, but today I'm going to venture into a type of action figure that I've never played with as a kid or even owned. Wrestling figures. Today we're going to take a look at one of the figures from Mattel's newly acquired WWE licensed series 1 action figure line. If you are like me and wondered how Mattel would handle the WWE super stars as compared to Jakks Pacific (the last company to hold the license) then take a few moments as we look at Batista!

I gotta say that I really like the packaging...well at least the front. The blister card is rather slim in design and allows a good view at the wrestler depicted on the back of the card. The back of the card however is another story. I understand Mattel's desire to want to sell other figures, but the cross sell is a little overkill here. There is only one small picture of the actual product and it is at the bottom of the card. Usually the item you're buying is largely depicted on the card with the thumb nail like pictures of the cross sell items across the bottom. Yeah it really isn't that big of a deal, but it still bugs me some.

Upon the first time picking up on these packages I was surprised to notice the air holes on the sides of the blister bubble. The first time I had ever seen this done was with Mattel's very own Masters of the Universe Classics line. I'm guessing this is geared to the collector's who don't want to open their figures, but worry that the plastic could degrade and break down inside the package without proper air flow. Personally I think that idea is silly. I understand the desire to collect figures and not open them (I have all of the Cobra figures from the 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe series carded, in display cases on my wall @ home), but the idea of the plastic deterating inside the package? I'm sure though to a lot of fans and collector's alike the air holes are a welcomed addition to the packaging. You can also see a small action shot if you will of the product printed on the small piece of cardboard insert.

Here you can see Batista freed from his plastic & cardboard prison. My first impression of the figure is that he seems pretty solid and the likeness is fairly spot on. I know that Dave Batista is a very chiseled athlete, but the sculpting of the muscles on this figure just seems to rigid and stiff. The tattoos resemble the real thing which really surprises me. The red used for his outfit is too bright in my opinion and that really takes away from the overall presentation.

Just take a look at the detail on the large tattoo that covers the majority of Batista's back. Amazing. Kudos to Mattel for giving this as much detail as they did. Too bad this detail can't be seen while packaged as I think this could be one of the figure's strong selling points.

As I mentioned earlier I thought Mattel did a fantastic job capturing the likeness of Batista in plastic form...especially in the face. While the figure may not be as bronze or oily as Batista on a episode of Friday Night Smackdown, they were able to capture a lot of his facial features down to his signature gotee. Having never bought or paid much attention to the Jakks Pacific figures in the past it's hard for me to comment or make comparisons, but I'm going out on a limb and say the likeness of the Mattel figures is much greater to the athletes than what was produced in the past.

What good is a wrestling figure you may ask if you can't pose it in a number of ways? Well I'm happy to report that this figure isn't lacking in the articulation department. I count 20 points of articulation to be exact. The head and rotate a full 360 degrees as well as up and down. The arms can rotate 360 degrees at the shoulders, biceps and wrists. Both the elbows and the wrists also bend back and forth. You can rotate the figure 360 degrees at the waist. Legs are articulated at the waist, but can only be moved back and forth. Knee joints bend as well as the ankles. The feet can be swiveled 360 degrees as well. There isn't any toe articulation as seen in other 8 inch scale action figures...but I like that. It gives the foot a more solid look and stable base. Batista's right hand is sculpted in manner which would give you the idea that he could hold something while the left hand is sculpted in a more open position. I'm also happy to report that the plastic used for the elbow and knee pads is made of a soft flexible plastic so it doesn't hinder the articulation in those areas. The knee pads on my figure do slightly move up and down, but for the most part are fixed into place...they are not removable.

I'm a sucker for action figure stands and I'm happy to see more stands included with the toys. The stands are rather simple, made of black plastic with the now classic WWE logo recessed in the center of the stand. There is one peg that firmly rests in either peg hole on the bottom of the figure's feet. Also included is a thin cardboard name that clips into the front of the stand. While I feel this was a cost cutting measure versus stamping the names on each stand it still is a nice little touch. I just foresee these name tags easily being lost or damaged down the road.

I grew up watching wrestling with my grandfather and older brother. Many of my memories of my grandfather include gathering at his house to watch the then quarterly pay-per-view events. We watched more NWA/WCW growing up, but I remember the flashly WWF broadcasts back the in the day. Flash forward to 2010 and it's clear to see that the WWE hands a firm grasp on the professional wrestling genre. I can see from a business perspective why Mattel wanted to jump in the ring (no pun intended) and manufacture wrestling toys, specifically WWE toys. I'm sure this will be a cash cow for Mattel if they continue to make the figures as they have with this newly released series 1. All in all I have to say that I'm fairly impressed with Mattel's take on the 8 inch scale wrestlers. The attention to detail, articulation and overall likeness of the characters are handled very well and I'm sure the WWE loyal will appreciate this and gobble up just about everything that is released. Will I buy any more of these figures? I doubt it, but that isn't because the figures lack quality. If you are a die hard wrestling fan I believe you will like what Mattel has done with the license. As for me, I'll just stick to watching wrestling on TV and stick w/ my other action figures.