Racetron: Chrysbot

By now you the reader should know that my interest in transforming robots goes far beyond Transformers.  While TFs will always be my first love, I also find other transforming robot toys fascinating.  I have discovered some great toys (see Machine Robo and DiaRobo) and I've come across some not so great, cheaply made toys.

That said I stumbled across a section of Counter-X that peaked my curiosity.  Some of the toy lines they spotlighted I was already familiar with, while others were completely new to me.  During my own research of these toys and hunting for specimens for the blog, I came across a line that I haven't been able to find much documentation on....Racetron.

Without searching the package, I'm sure the design and art work cues you in that this was original released in the 80's.

Now it's a robot!  Now it's a racer!  It's a incredible Racetron!!  Collect all 6 in the series and create your own Racetron Warrior.

Wait a minute...collect all 6 and create your own Racetron Warrior?  Yup, this sucker is part of a combiner!

You probably noticed the robot is missing it's head.  The head is part of the car's front grill and simply slides in and out.  Over the years the piece just worked it's way back down into the body.  Anyhow, if you look closely at the legs and the waist you'll notice those pieces are cast of die-cast metal.  A lot of the Go-Bots sized transforming toys I've seen usually don't contain much, if any die-cast metal.  Behind the toy you'll see a red piece of plastic and a small gray gun located in between the legs.

Gotta love the old school art.  It's a tad on the cheesy side, but kudos to who ever manufactured this thing for taking the time for creating something original.  The robot's face gives me a Darth Vader vibe.

On the back of the packaging is where things get interesting...and confusing.  We knew from the blurb on the front that there was 6 robots in the set that formed the combiner.  Here we see the combiner, Racetron?  Wait a minute.  Is the line called Racetron and the combiner's name is Racetron?

The names of the individual robots are pretty bad too.  The manufacturer named each robot after the make of the alt mode.  Chrysbot obviously is derived from Chrysler, but I'm not familiar of the model.

The bottom of the packaging shows off the simplistic step by step transformation process.  Notice there aren't any directions for changing Chrysbot into a leg/foot for the combiner.

Chrysbot includes a combiner part, a hand gun and a decal sheet.  Did you notice anything off about this picture?  Scroll up back to the first image.  I'll wait a second.  The combiner piece packaged behind my Chrysbot is red, not blue.  This makes me wonder if all the parts come in different colors.  The mystery continues!

It's easy to see that Racetron here (if that is his name) surely isn't comparable to a G1 Transformers combiner or even the Go-Bot's Puzzler.  The chest and waist pieces completely cover up two of the robots.  Talking about cheating!  And the head...that looks more alien than it does robotic.  While I'd love to complete the combiner, it's not one that I'd showcase in my Ikea display cabinet!

One of the biggest mysterious behind this release is the manufacturer.  I have a loose version of the toy and it is completely devoid of markings.  All I can find is the 1985 copyright info.  Now what U.M. stands for is beyond me.  All my Google searches lead to no where, even for John Stanley Industries.  I'd love to hear if anyone out there knows more about the background of the Racetron toys.

  

I acquired my loose Chrysbot before I found the carded version, so unless I can find the other 5 with their combiner parts I'm leaving the carded one sealed.

  

The vehicle itself looks nice, but without any paint apps or stickers its very plain and boring.  Part of the grill is chromed along with the outer border of the wheels.  The wheels themselves are a hard plastic with little notches.  Wouldn't a sports car like this have smooth tires?  The plastic used for the toy is light and feels very cheap.  The die-cast metal is solid, but the legs are loose on mine so the front part of the car wants to flop around unless it's sitting on all 4 wheels.

  

Excuse the dust!

When it comes to robot mode...let's just say I've seen better.  The head pulls up and out from the front car's grill, the arms pop out - fairly normal.  The legs split in half and then rotate up and around.  I mentioned the waist on mine is extremely loose, making the legs floppy.  With the die-cast being on the top half of the figure, it makes the toy top heavy.  Combine with a loose waist and he wants to lean forward quite a bit.

The little square you see on his crotch can be folded back behind the robot, but the instructions show it as-is.

The robot's head is thin, flat and plain ugly.  Some black paint was slapped onto the toy for the eyes.  There is no mouth to speak of, just a slight indentation where a mouth should be.

  

The combiner's foot is made by rotating the legs around and flipping the front of the car outwards.  That square metal crotch piece folds out and forms a heel.  Simple design, but it works.  The legs are essentially hollow, yet there are some marks in the cavity where you can tell an outside combiner piece attaches.  This monstrosity of a combiner really has me intrigued and I'll be searching for the other members to hopefully one day assemble this guy.

All in all I find this toy fascinating.  Is it for everyone?  Hard to say.  I scales well with Go-Bots, Convertors, Convert-A-Bots and other similar transforming toys, so if you are a fan of those other lines like myself the you may just yet enjoy the Racetron toys.  Good luck finding them though, they aren't easy to find on the secondary market.

DiaRobo: Hino Profia Eneos DR-1002

Agatsuma's line of transforming vehicles, DiaRobo, has finally expanded beyond normal Hot Wheels sized cars and trucks.  Granted this isn't really new news as this release I'm spotlighting today was released sometime in late summer or early fall in 2013.

Several weeks ago I ran across a thread in TFW2005's Junkion section advertising DiaRobo toys.  I contacted the owner of the thread via email as requested and waited for a response.  Finally my email was replied to.  Turns out he had much more than what he listed, including the first transforming playset for the series.  I wasn't able to swing the latter, but he did make me a great offer on one of the two new tanker trucks.  Cue DR-1002.

Ever since I first saw images of this toy online I knew I wanted it.  1) it's a big tanker truck and 2) it's a robotic dinosaur!  Unlike many of the other DiaRobo releases, I'm not sure if this one has an actual name or not.  I have him labeled as Hino Profia Eneos, but that isn't his name.

Turns out that Hino is a subsidiary of Toyota and in Japan they are one of the biggest manufacturers of industrial diesel trucks, buses and construction vehicles.  Profia is the model of cab over truck that was introduced in 2004.  Eneos is part of the Japanese company Nippon Oil.

I really wasn't sure how large (or small) these tanker trucks would be, so I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package for the first time.  The truck has some major heft and size.  Scroll down to the bottom for a few comparison pictures.

If you've handled any previous DiaRobo toys then you'll know the plastic used is fairly light, making the toys feel somewhat fragile.  Not in the case of DR-1002.  The toy has some heft and feels much more along the line of a Hot Wheels release, sans die-cast metal.

The front of the truck looks very much like many of the images that my Google search for 'Hino Profia' brought up.  Being an officially licensed release, Hino's logo can easily be seen on the front of the truck's grill.  The truck is molded in several colors which is limits how much paint was used.  One each side of the tranker truck are the only stickers, featuring the Eneos name and colors.

The transformation from truck to dino is rather ingenious.  First step is to pull apart the tanker halves.  These are connected via ball joint pegs.  The legs then fold out via a small hinge, then fold down as you see above.  The tail is folded up inside and simple unfolds.  Then you lift up the center gray portion to expose the dino head and neck.  Fold down the truck's cab and lift and pose the dino as you see fit.

Now in my childhood we would probably call this dino a Brontasaurus.  However a lot has changed since I was wee little so I won't begin to try and label this dino now!  Let's just call him awesome, shall we?

The eyes are painted red and the lower jaw easily opens and closes.  Being that the dino has flat teeth I'm guessing he's a herbivore.  The whole neck piece is comprised of individual pieces, each connected with nall joints.  This gives not only the head, but the entire neck some great articulation.

"What are you looking at?"

I know this pose doesn't make sense, but he looks cool.  Seriously though, would you think a transforming tanker truck to dinosaur would be so articulated?  I didn't.

DR-1002 isn't the first dinosaur released in the DiaRobo series.  Priteradon DR-0008 was released earlier in the line.  It's alternate form is that of a Toyora Prius.  I've yet to do a proper review for this release, but one is in the works.

If you've been on the fence as to whether to import one of the DiaRobo toys or not, I can whole heartedly recommend DR-1002.  There is also a different colored release (DR-1001) that features a different truck shell.  He is high on my list after playing around with the Eneos truck.

Many online retailers offer the DiaRobo toys now, but I would be in the wrong if I didn't point you over to the great guy that supplied my sample.  He is currently working on a new web store, but for the time being you can visit his eBay store, The Agabyss.  Tell him flywheels from Random Toy Reviews sent ya!

Marvel Comics' The New Warriors are back!

All is well within the Marvel Universe once again.  The New Warriors are back...sort of.  When I heard that Marvel was giving the Warriors another chance with a new title I was beside myself.  I wasn't a fan of the previous version of the title that was a part of the whole Civil War saga.  Even though this new line-up isn't exactly the same as the original, it's the closest it's been since the original series was cancelled with issue #75.

Let's rewind a bit to the summer of 1990.  I was on the verge of going into the 9th grade in Junior High.  My appreciation for toys wasn't in place yet and the only real hobby I had to speak of had just started, baseball cards.  My older brother had always been into reading and collecting comics, but I guess at that age I just didn't have the attention span to read a comic book.  However that summer Marvel launched two new titles that my brother would have me read, Guardians of the Galaxy and New Warriors.

Initially I loved both books and continued to use what little money I had at that time to read both titles each month.  After a year or so I dropped the Guardians (a decision I would later regret) and just stuck with the New Warriors.  Perhaps initially I was drawn to the New Warriors because the heroes were all young, like myself.  Or perhaps it was the fact that many of the characters were either new or seldom used characters so they didn't bring a lot of "baggage" to the team.  What I mean by that is if you didn't know that Nova had a title in the late 70's / early 80's or that Firestar was once a member of the White Queen's Hellions it wasn't a big deal.

I stuck with the original title and saw it through until it was cancelled.  I picked up all of the tie-in issues with Darkhawk, X-Force and various issues of Spider-Man once Marvel folded the team temporarily into the Spider-Man family of books.  I bought the Justice limited series as well as Nova and Night Thrasher's ongoing titles as well.  The more I read about the characters the more I was fascinated.  Fabian Nicieza was an excellent writer and Mark Bagley I thought did a great job with the pencils in the original series.  Like all good things however the title eventually came to an end after a decent run.

Marvel tried to bring back the Warriors with a volume 2 that just never caught on.  Of course I bought and read all of the issues, but with the book lacking some of the mainstays from the original team it just felt "off".  Apparently a lot of readers felt the same as me as the 2nd volume didn't even last a full year.  Marvel hadn't given up hope for the young heroes yet as the Warriors then received a mini-series that would lead into one of Marvel's biggest and most controversial summer events ever, Civil War.

The mini-series followed Night Thrasher, Namorita, Speedball and new characters, Debrii and Microbe as the Warriors were hosting their own reality television show.  Where the Avengers have Tony Starks' money to finance the team, the Warriors had Night Thrasher and his bank accounts.  However after the events of the 1st volume, Dwayne Turner Enterprises (Night Thrasher's company) was no longer so the Warriors had to find ways to finance their endeavors so to speak.  During a raid on a house full of super villains located in Stamford, CT the worst possible scenario happened.  Being that the team was being followed and filmed as part of their own reality television show, the events of that day would be forever captured on video.  Speedball crashed through the door only to find Nitro, a villain that has the power to explode.  While on his own Nitro's powers weren't nothing to laugh at, but this time however he and other villains had been playing around with MGH, a mutant growth hormone that amplified their powers.  During the skirmish between Nitro and Speedball, Nitro would detonate himself causing massive damage to the surrounding area.  In this surrounding area was an elementary school where hundreds of children would be killed.

Now I find it hard to believe that a story like this could take place in today's society what with all the school violence and shootings that have taken place in the real world.  But even then I remember reading these events in Civil War #1 and being shocked and almost disgusted.  I know the story isn't real, but it's easy to imagine and picture things in your head, especially when aided by artwork and that scene was disturbing to say the least.

After the events of Civil War #1 the New Warriors were basically no more.  Robbie Baldwin aka Speedball
temporarily lost his powers and was the only surviving member left of his team.  He would later adopt a new persona called Penance and wear a spiked suit of armor, punishing himself for the sins he committed.  He was used as part of the Thunderbolts for a period of time.  During the Civil War period Marvel found a way to launch a 4th volume of the New Warriors, however there really wasn't much of a tie to the original team.  Night Thrasher was mysteriously back, but it was later revealed that he was Dwayne's brother.  The rest of the new cast were mostly comprised of mutant characters I knew little about.  I bought the title because of the name, but I really didn't care for the stories.

There was now a huge New Warriors void.  Thankfully readers and fans of the team were teased with appearances by some of the original members in the pages of Nova's post Annihilation series and in the pages of Young Allies and Marvel Divas (mainly Firestar).  While it was a nice treat, I wanted more.  Then Marvel had the audacity to "kill" Richard Rider aka Nova as he sought to save his on and off again girlfriend and former teammate, Namorita.  I'm still waiting to find out what happened to those characters.  In the mean time we have to watch this new young Nova fly around in the pages of his own title.  I wasn't thrilled about the idea of a new Nova character, but I kept an open mind and read his book.  The stories seemed to get better and better and then Marvel started to have Vance Astrovik aka Justice and Robbie Baldwin appear!

Could a reboot of the New Warriors be on the horizon?!  At the time I was trying not to get my hopes up so I just continued to read Nova (and Guardians of the Galaxy!).  I figured I'd just let the creative team lead me where they wanted to go.

The other Marvel book I had been captivated by was the Superior Spider-Man.  While I won't go into much detail there, I was introduced to a new character by the name of Sun Girl.  It was kinda cool to read about her in the pages of Superior prior to finding out she was going to be one of the new members on the upcoming New Warriors reboot.

Of course I'm still waiting to find out more info on who these other new characters are that have been introduced in the newest New Warriors #1 issue.  From my time with Spider-Man I know a little about Kaine as Scarlet Spider and I knew he had "befriend" a girl (Aracely Penalba) during his time spent in Houston, TX, however I didn't realize that girl had super powers and or she went by the alias Hummerbird!  The musclebound shirtless guy on the cover is called Haechi, who is an Inhuman, but he really doesn't make his first appearance until issue #2.  We know the team will have an Atlantean that goes by the name Water Snake, but not much is mentioned about her in the first issue.  I do find it a nice nod by Marvel to include an Atlantean on the team.  She may not be Namorita, but for now she'll do.

Overall I'm super excited about this new title.  So far writer Christopher Yost has my attention and Marcus To, whom I'm not familiar with, is doing an excellent job on pencils.  In fact, the opening splash page featuring Justice and Nova reminded me a bit of Mark Bagley's work from the original series.  I have high hopes for this series and I really hope the creative team(s) have a chance to answer some questions that are currently left unanswered.  I refuse to believe Hasbro will leave Rich Richard and Namorita in the Cancerverse.  Even though I know that is a stretch, I believe that somehow Dwayne Turner is still alive.  With connections with the Atlanteans and Inhumans I can see several possible future stories there and what about Kaine and his connection to Peter Parker?  We all know that Peter is getting ready to make his triumphant return to the webs so will be see a Spidey / New Warriors crossover again?  And of course what about Firestar?  I'm reading the X title she is in, but she just doesn't fit.  I know she's a mutant and all, but she deserves a place with the team, especially since she has returned to her retro costume!

So until my questions are answered, make mine Marvel!

Man Cave Reorganization

It's no secret.  I have a lot of hobbies.  Some are more active than others, but this means I accumulate a lot of "stuff".  I'm also a married father of 2 young daughters.  This means my hobbies take a back seat to my family and other priorities from time to time.  Add "stuff" to the equation and I get piles of stuff in my man cave.  At times it gets so bad I can't get to certain things in my room, let alone find a place to sit down on my couch.  This all leads to levels of frustration and stress that I don't need.  Hobbies should make you happy, not stressed.

Enter a winter storm that brought levels of snow and ice the South hasn't seen in quite some time.  These last few days I had the luxury of hanging out at home w/ my family since my work was closed.  This lead to some quality free time being spent w/ my kids and my wife.  It also meant I had some time to work on cleaning up my clutter in my man cave.

Next weekend I'll be hauling a good bit of my modern Transformers collection up w/ me to a fairgrounds just north of uptown Charlotte, NC.  Since I'm a collector and not a dealer, I couldn't afford more than one 8 foot table to set up.  I'm saying good bye to most of my Classics and Generations figures plus their Japanese equivalents of Henkei! and United.  One wall in my man cave has track shelving installed that basically goes from the floor all the way up to the ceiling.  Once I started pulling all of these toys off my shelves, it became easier to pull the plug on other toys.  Before I knew it I had cleaned off two 72 foot shelves!  I ended up grabbing most of my Botcon exclusive toys I had left along with a few 3rd party toys and some Web Diver toys I now no longer cared to keep.  I actually have so much to sell now I'm not even sure it'll all fit on my 8 foot table next weekend!

So where am I going with this?  Empty shelves.  Gaping holes in my collection.  I would spend the majority of the last few days taking everything off the shelves and moving them up or down according to how I was re-loading the shelf.  Every Transformer I own has been picked up and moved in way or another.  This has given me the chance to not only dust the toys, but also rekindle certain memories I have attached with specific toys.

Early yesterday afternoon, I finished just one part of my man cave reorganization project.  The wall of shelving is now 99% complete.  My G1 Transformers collection previously resided on these shelves, but I had little to no room to expand.  I only lack 25-30 figures (or so) to have a complete G1 collection.  Problem was if I had bought any of those missing figures, I had no room to work them in.  After all I had Micromasters and Action Masters stacked on to of each other due to lack of space.  That was before.  Now, the G1 collection takes up approximately 4 and a half shelves.  Everything is displayed in order of 1984-1991, by faction.  Of course the Decepticons didn't receive as many releases so their shelves look much better.  The Autobot shelves are still crowded in some areas, but the important thing is I have room for Hound, Jetfire, Whirl and a few others I lack.

I apologize I don't really have any pictures to share as I haven't gotten that far.  I snapped a few cell phone photos and posted them on Facebook, but I plan to do a proper post w/ pictures once the entire project is completed.

I mentioned this was just phase 1.  To the right of my wall shelving I have two large bookshelves.  These too are totally being revamped.  Some sections already have been as had to move a lot of things off the wall shelves.  Once this part is done it'll be on to the final phase, phase 3.

Phase 3 will consist of revamping my entertainment center where my video game consoles reside.  I'm working in an old CRT television for my older video game consoles so this means everything gets moved around.  My light box where I take most of my pictures for this blog sits on a high table.  Underneath it currently sits a lot of trading card binders.  Did I mention I also collect baseball cards?  Well those binders are going underneath the wall shelving on the other side of the room.  But first I have to remove the comic boxes that are there now and trim down my comic collection.  Some of the comic boxes may end up in the closet again, but at least I had previously cleaned the closet out when the idea first hit me of selling off a chunk of my Transformers.

When phase 3 completed, I'll have an additional television set up w/ video game consoles hooked up such as my Sega Genesis/CD, Sega Mark III, PC Engine, Turbografx-16, Nintendo Famicom and possibly my Super Nintendo.  This will by default give me an additional cube in my entertainment center for small TF displays...thinking about sticking the few Alternity TFs in one of the spaces.  I may even have space to bring out my Go-Bots / Converters / Transistor Robot toy collection once again!

When it's all said and done I think I'm going to be extremely happy.  I'll be able to see and better appreciate the Transformers that are on display, while still giving me a little room to expand.  I'll be able to sit on my couch again and enjoy a game of Borderlands 2 or Bioshock Infinite on my 360, or enjoy some retro gaming on my "new" old school TV.  The biggest change I'm opening to get out of this is a sense of relaxing when I walk into my room, not stress.  I'm still a month or two away from having this project completed, but once I'm done perhaps I'll do one of those corny YouTube room tours everyone does.  We'll see.

Video Games & the Hyperkin RETRON 5

In the midst of opening new toys and prepping them for reviews, I've also had a renewed interest in my other hobby (or should I say one of my other hobbies) is gaming.  I've gone back and forth trying to figure out which label applies to me - gamer or collector?  I'd like to consider myself a gamer over a collector, but the truth is I have a TON of games that I've bought and never played.  Well, yet.

I have a lot of different video game consoles hooked up in my room at home.  I'm actually in the process of moving some of the older consoles over to an old CRT tube style TV I just picked up.  When you hear that retro games don't look good on an HDTV, let me tell you those people are right!  I bought a Sega CD set up over Christmas with some money I was given and the Genesis and Sega CD games looked down right horrid on my HDTV.  Cue the CRT television set!

Having so many different consoles makes gaming for me more fun.  I don't usually narrow my focus to any one collection, though if I did it would have to be the PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16.  I would never go for a full collection of games for any one particular system for many reasons I won't go into.  However the collector in me has certain criteria when it comes to buying used games - both retro and modern.

For cartridge based games the criteria differs from platform to platform.  For instance if the game originally came in a cardboard box I don't really care to track down the box.  Here's the breakdown of the criteria I try to follow for each system I own:

MICROSOFT

Xbox - must have original green DVD case w/ instructions

Xbox 360 - must have original green DVD case w/ instructions

NEC

TurboGrafx 16 - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

PC Engine - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

PC-FX - must have original clamshell case or jewel case w/ instructions

NINTENDO

NES - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

Famicom - loose cart is fine

Famicom Disk System - must have disk case, prefer plastic box & instructions

Game Boy - loose cart is fine, prefer plastic case & instructions

SNES - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

Super Famicom - loose cart is fine

Game Boy Advance - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

N64 - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

GameCube - must have original DVD case w/ instructions

DS - must have original case w/ instructions

Wii - must have original white DVD case w/ instructions

3DS - must have original case w/ instructions

Wii U - must have original blue DVD case w/ instructions

SEGA

Master System - must have original clamshell case, prefer instructions

Mark III - must have original cardboard box w/ instructions

Genesis - must have original clamshell case, prefer instructions

Mega Drive - must have original clamshell case w/ instructions

Sega CD - loose disc is fine, prefer instructions

Mega CD - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Saturn - loose disc is fine, prefer instructions

Saturn (imports) - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Dreamcast - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Dreamcast (imports) - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

SONY

Playstation - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Playstation 2 - must have original DVD case w/ instructions

Playstation 3 - must have original BluRay case w/ instructions

Still with me?  Think I'm crazy?  Yeah, I guess I kind of am.  Here lately I've even started using The Cover Project website to print my own custom case inserts for my Sega CD and Sega Saturn collection.  Those games come in huge CD style jewel cases.  Not only are they big and brittle, but they take up more space on my shelves which is already severely limited.  I've also started making cases for my small N64 collection since those cartridges don't have spine labels w/ the name of the game.

also comes in grey

So where does this new Hyperkin RETRON 5 come into play?  It's a space saver!  What I mean by that is this one console will take the place of many in my crowded entertainment center.  I have so many cords behind the shelving unit I use that it looks like a rats nest.  If the Fire Marshall were ever to stop by my house like they did my office, I'm sure I'd get some sort of violation!  

The RETRON 5 if you didn't know is an unofficial game console coming out in April (I think) that will play NES, Famicom, SNES, Super Famicom, Master System (w/ adapter), Genesis, Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance all on the same system!  You can even use all of the original console controllers if the wireless gamepad that comes included isn't your cup of tea.  If that in itself isn't cool enough, the console also hooks up to HDTVs via an HDMI connection, effectively upscaling the graphics and sound.  The console also has built in save slots so you no longer have to worry if your copy of Zelda on the NES still has a functioning battery (though acid leaking from an old battery inside is still a concern).  In addition to the save technology, there are also built in cheat codes that can be turned off via the in game menu.

Now a lot of gamers refuse to use "clones" like this RETRON 5 citing nothing beats the original hardware.  While I do tend to agree that the original hardware is always the route to take, sometimes it's not always an option.  While I can play all of my games on the original hardware there is just something about having an all-in-one system like the RETRON 5 that is really appealing.  Amazon.com just put up the pre-orders this morning (again) for only $99.

Assuming that Hyperkin's claims of the system are all true, this looks to be an awesome piece of hardware.  I'm mainly interested in buying it to save space.  I plan to disconnect my modded SNES to make room for the RETRON 5.  So I guess what I'm saying is the downside to collecting video games is that it can take up a lot of space...both on your shelves and in your entertainment center.  I'm just looking at this new "all-in-one" console as a space saver.

KO Korner: Transistor Robots: Insect Robot

There was a company back in the day called Four Star.  They had a series of transformable toys called Transistor Robots.  Trying to find more solid information on the Four Star company can be tough.  Originally I had labeled many of their toys as KOs as they had some clever takes on Transformer molds, especially G1 molds.  They would take a G1 mold and alter it heavily to create a new character, yet still retained some of the G1 characteristics.  As I've searched out more info on the toys and even acquired a few, I've really grown fond of what they did with the molds.

One of the first Four Star molds I acquired was of the Transformers G1 Insecticon, Bombshell.  Originally Bombshell's insect mode was that of a boll weevil.  Four Star took the mold and added a few extra parts and turned him into a elephant beetle...or so I'm told that is what this new insect mode is supposed to be modeled after.  Looks more like a scorpion to me.

Take a look at the purple and blue areas.  Look familiar?  Those are the shoulder/arm joints on the G1 toy.  You can see the horn section has been replaced with what appears to be a scorpion like tail and the arms are newly casted pieces.  The legs are now large gold chrome die-cast metal pieces with antennae and pincher claws.

Somewhere in the shuffling around of some items I was taking to Charticon last year, one of his antennae fell off and I lost it.  Bummer.  For a off brand toy I really didn't expect to see so much die-cast metal used.  In fact, this version features more die-cast than the original Takara version!

Even with all the new casted pieces and parts, this version of "Bombshell" transformers very much like the original.  Here in robot mode you get a better look at the original mold and how it was altered.  Four Star even elected to to paint the torso purple keeping in line with the Insecticon colors...kind of.

A new robot head was given to the character as well.  Gone is the lower face plate, replaced with a mouth and what appears to be a blue goatee.  Notice the gold panel on the chest?  This opens up just like the original translucent yellow "cockpit" door that harkens back to the Microchange days of Takara.

After getting my hands on this toy I found a new appreciation for Four Star's "Transformers" and sought to find more.  Since selling this guy a few months back, I seem to find him popping up on eBay quite frequently. Maybe he always did and I just didn't notice?  If I can find another one, complete, for a decent price I may just have to snap him up as he's a pretty cool take on the original Bombshell mold.

Beast Saga: Swordbill BS-07

One may think Killer Shark and his crew that came packaged in the Kingdom of Death Sea BS-02 set would be up to taking on Raioga and his crew from the Kingdom of Land Gloria, but Killer Shark's crew was a little outnumbered.  Have no fear as Takara Tomy comes to the rescue with the first individually packaged Death Sea member, Swordbill.

All of the packaging for the single packaged figures is pretty much the same, only swapping out the colored background for the appropriate kingdom.  That said we'll move along.

Swordbill is a marlin.  When I see this character I immediately think he'd make a great mascot for the horrible Miami Marlins baseball club.  Initially I didn't care for this release and skipped it all together.  I thought the choice of animal to be lame and the goofy looking red eyes (or are those glasses of some sort?) didn't help matters.  Swordbill ended up being one of the last figures I picked up.

When I finally got around to opening Swordbill and many of the other Beast Saga figures I had bought, something changed.  No longer did I hate this guy.  I actually kind of dig is unique look.  While he is far from my favorite figure, even of the Death Sea characters, I don't tend to push him to the side as much.  He has a generic sword and shield which is kind of a let down, but with his long and sharp "nose" does he really need a sword?

Swordbill may not be the most intimidating member of the Kingdom of Death Sea, but he's a worthy addition to your collection.  If nothing else you get another cool trading card with some awesome CGI rendered art!

Beast Saga: Long Tsurafu BS-06

The different tribes or lands in Beast Saga are filled with many different types of animals.  The types vary from land to land.  The Kingdom of Land Gloria is comprised mostly of land dwelling mammals.  Long Tsurafu is one of the larger individually packaged figures.

Long Tsurafu is one of the beasts that was used in the original Beastformers and Battle Beasts line from the 80s, known simply as Yellow Giraffe.

Long Tsurafu is bigger than most of the Beast Saga figures and being a giraffe is certainly taller than other figures.  However I feel he just lacks character.  His armor has some nice elements and I like how the armor extends up the neck.  I'm not sure why Takara Tomy opted to paint his helmet a different color, but the orange just doesn't mesh well w/ the turquoise blue armor.

His weapons aren't anything special either.  His sword is made of a very soft plastic and as you can see it has already started to warp a bit.  His shield is decent, but like all of the Beast Saga shields it just has a peg on the back to fit into the fist hole.  It really needed to be a L shaped peg so the character can wield the shield properly.  As is he can really only defend himself from downward attacks.

I really wish I had more positive things to say for this figure, but as it is it's just an average Beast Saga figure.  I can only recommend this guy to those of you that are trying to complete the line.  The Kingdom of Land Gloria has greatest number of characters so save your money and go after one of the other cooler figures.

Beast Saga: Kingdom of Death Sea BS-02

Opposite of the Kingdom of Land Gloria would be the Kingdom of Death Sea.  Doesn't that name sound so cool?  Death Sea.  I bet you can guess what type of animals reside in this kingdom.  Upon the first solicitation images posted online of the early Beast Saga sets, the Kingdom of Death Sea was the one that seemed to garner the most attention and hype.  While the Land Gloria's lion, deer and hamster were cool characters, they just can't compete against a shark, coelacanth and pirahna.

BS-02 shares the same style packaging as BS-01.  Takara Tomy would continue to use this 3 pack style packaging for subsequent releases down the line.  I love the image of the main character blasting the dice from their chest.  In this case we have Killer Shark firing his blue die.  The rest of the box has the yellow tribal like markings.

The back of the packaging gives you a little story update (I think) at the top where you see the image of Raioga.  You can also see that a play mat is packaged inside.  Below are the three characters and a layout of their respective dice.  The right side of the box gives you abbreviated examples of how the dice game plays out.  Underneath those examples is a group shot which is a direct homage to the Beastformer packaging of old.

  

The ends of the box gives a breakdown of the characters and their accessories while the opposite end gives you each character's strengths and weaknesses.

From left to right: Killer Shark, Shirensu and Pirazon

Inside the box you'll find two items.  You get a full color play mat to play the associated game with the figures.  The back and white sheet is a basic set of instructions.

Killer Shark is the leader of the Kingdom of Death Sea.  His arch rival would be Raioga from the Kingdom of Land Gloria.  Killer Shark is based off a Beastformer of the same name.  I absolutely love the sculpt of this figure.  The sharp fin blades on his forearms, the image on his die, his toothy grin...all excellent.  Even his trident weapon looks great in hand.  However I do have one problem with my figure.  Do you see it?  He has two left arms!  At the time this set was still fairly expensive ($30) on the secondary market.  Most e-tailers had already sold through their stock and re-orders didn't seem like they were going to happen.  I know it's a small issue, but it's one that bothers me.  I will eventually buy another set so I can get a Killer Shark w/ the proper arms.

Second in command is Shirensu.  If you aren't sure what fish he is based on it's a coelacanth.  I believe this is the same animal the Transformers Seacon, Skalor, is based on.  He's pretty cool looking and has some nice features.  The armor bits on his shoulders look like the front section of a submarine.  Kinda fitting seeing how this type of fish usually lives in deep waters.  Giving a fish arms and legs couldn't have been easy for the designers so I love how the feet came out looking like flat fins versus more humanoid.  I'm not crazy about the purple armor myself, but I guess it works since it's a darker color.  He comes with a decent looking shield and a spear type weapon.  The plastic used for the weapons especially is a very soft plastic.  Because if this expect to see minor warping of the weapon, sometimes straight out of the packaging.

Pirazon looks fearsome and awesome at the same time.  The beady red eyes, the mouth full of sharp teeth and the double bladed weapon makes him someone I wouldn't want nibbling on my toes!  I also love his animal design on his blue die.  Pirazon's green armor has a slight metallic hue and works very well with the fading yellow touches to the fins on his armor.  He also has a uniquely shaped shield that looks nice in his hands.

Of the three Kingdom themed sets, BS-02 is a strong candidate for the best set.  You get three very strong and fierce looking figures with great weapons.  The artwork used on the playing cards are great looking as well.  I'm guessing I just got a dud with Killer Shark having two left arms, but thankfully I found a listing on clearance at Plamoya for this set that I plan on buying.  I just hope this time around I have better luck w/ Killer Shark!