Christmas haul

So, here's what I got, with mini reviews!

PS2 Slim- Wow, this thing is tiny. I had the original version of the PS2 years ago (It died), and it was huge compared to this. The slim one is about the size of a trade paperback copy of Watchmen. Smaller, actually. Anyways, it's a nice little system, and, unlike when I switched to an Xbox, the controller didn't take some time to get used to. I also got a memory card for it, which is one thing the original Xbox has over the PS2 AND 360- built in hard drive.

Kingdom Hearts 2- This is why I wanted another PS2. I played the KH games years ago, and was starting to miss them. It's a very Japanese game, in that (Aside from being an RPG and all) there's quite a lot of story and videos and mysteries and what not. The gameplay is excellent. It has a lot of Disney's whimsical feel, which meshes surprisingly well with the Final Fantasy elements. Also, you can fight alongside Jack Skellington on one world. How awesome is that?

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories- The card based fighting system isn't really as good, but the game is still enjoyable. You can still kind of tell that it's an upgraded DS game, though.

Tetris Worlds- It's Tetris. Tetris is, and always has been, perfect.

GameStop Edge card with subscription to Game Informer- Free magazine, and a card to get extra money on trade-ins, and money off used games. This will be particularly useful, as you may have noticed I did not get the first Kingdom Hearts (Apparently the main GameStop here (There's almost as many GameStops as Starbucks, including two right across the street from each other and another two next door to each other) didn't have it).

Clothes- You don't care, but I got some nice pants, shirts and a sweatshirt.

So, what did you get?

Trans-Scanning Bumblebee Guest Review

Tonight we have a review of the Japanese exclusive "Trans-Scanning" Bumblebee (More like Dress Up Bumblebee, amirite?) by General Tekno, the artist and writer of the webcomic Big Time Toons!
*Note: Everything in black was written by GT, and eveything in red, I added.

Ahoy-hoy, everyone! General Tekno here with a very special guest toy review for RawToys! Only several months late! (Looks around to make sure he's not about to get shot) [POW! -ed.] Today, I'll be looking at one of the more original figures to spin out of the Transformers movie toyline: TakaraTomy's TransScanning series Bumblebee. To give a bit of background, the TransScanning toys were based off the concept in the movie where generic Autobot protoforms would crash to Earth and scan a new alternate form- as such, these figures are Shellformers, and yet they're not...

Each Trans-Scanning figure is made up of a base protoform robot - a superposable stickman with a sparkcore on the chest and the same generic build/color/head. Both figures that were made, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, share base robots. These suckers are very posable, in keeping with the fact that they're designed to contort like crazy for their transformations.

Snap on the first set of armor that comes with Bumblebee to give him his "landing" mode. As far as I know, this is no different than Prime's re-entry armor save for color - it's basically a bunch of neatish looking clear armor pieces that give the robot some pizazz. However, this isn't THAT recognisable as Bumblebee at this point save for the fact that it's yellow armor.

With this armor applied, Bumblebee has properly placed pegs and holes to transform into his comet altmode. All things considered, it isn't THAT bad - it looks like a contorted body, but honestly there's not much more they could have done. However, in a definite plus, he comes with a stand that pegs in and allows him to at least look like he's re-entering an atmosphere.

Where Bumblebee really gets neat though is when you apply the Camaro shell. Suddenly, he now looks like his movie self!

Sadly, there IS a bunch of kibble on his back, legs, and arms, which seems garishly out of place, he's got a fake chest, and his "wings" don't work quite the same in how they're formed as the movie model. HOWEVER, there is a great tradeoff for this - as aside from the fact that you snap on armor, he is NOT a shellformer...

...he can TRANSFORM. With NO REMOVING OF PARTS. This figure forms a VERY nice Camaro, through contorting around, and no removal of armor is necessary at all to transform it. This is where the Trans-Scanning concept of having modular Transformers with different sets of altmode "shells" becomes brilliant in its execution, and as a proof of concept it is a VERY neat idea. [GT wanted me to mention that the crazy difference in the yellow colors is a result of the camera flash, and not nearly that noticeable in person -ed.]

Plus, you can mix and match the armor, to get more of a Cybertronian mode Bumblebee, and to remove the kibble which restricts his movement at the same time. He can be tricky to balance in poses with all the kibble, but since you can choose to give him as much as you want, it's not that big of a deal.

Overall, this Bumblebee is a VERY cool concept, but if he suffers from anything, it's that he's constrained to the movie designs. As a proof-of-concept though I would LOVE to see a toyline just like this, where we got a core figure with snap-on-armor that could STAY on while he transformed to his altmode.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Pros: Nice Camaro mode, cool concept, very posable
Cons: Kibble, kibble, kibble! Protoform mode kinda weak too.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: If you find one on sale, get him. Otherwise, maybe not.

GT also sent me some other pictures, and I can't really find a place for them, so here they are!:

The back of 'Bee's altmode


Bumblebee with Marvel Universe Iron Man (IM is roughly 4" tall)


Bumblebee close-up


Bumblebee's chest and spark without armor

Transformers Animated Megatron (Leader Class)

One of the interesting story elements from the first season of Transformers: Animated was the fact that Megatron was more or less out of the picture. He showed up at the beginning, was blown up, and then spent more of the season as a head in Isaac Sumdac's lab. Sure, he was able to slightly influence events, such as inspiring the Dinobot's creation, making the Autobots think their new HQ was haunted/trying to kill them, and becoming a voice in Lugnut's head, among other things. It freed up the writers to create stories different from previous TF series, including using a lot of human supervillains. But, in the season finale (appropriately titled Megatron Rising) when Megatron got his new body, it was awesome.

This is the third Animated Megatron toy, and the first with his new, Earth mode body. It was released a few months after the first bunch of Animated toys (And the two toys of Megs's Cybertron mode), which seems to have been planned to not spoil the big reveal of the new and improved Decepticon Emperor of Destruction's body, but, given the long delay of the toy's release, it was pointless, as everyone had seen Megatron rising already. Anyways, this is a beautiful toy. Megatron's Earth mode was based off Super/Ultra Megatron from the Japanese G1 manga, which were upgraded forms of G1 megs, so TFA Megatron here looks very much like the original, yet is still very distinct. As a Leader hetowers ovetr most TF toys, like he towered over everyone in the show. His overall look is accurate to the cartoon. Like most TFs, Megatron is mostly molded in color, but what paint there is has basically no errors, other than a stray bit of red on the helicopter cockpit piece. It's worth noting that I love the red used for his highlights. It's not particularly bright, but has a nice sort of purpleish tint to it. His 'Con symbol is red because of the lights, but I have since painted it purple.

Luckily, Megatron is no slouch in the articulation department (He has articulation! If you didn't get that, you suck and should talk to Darth as he never shuts up about that JaAm comic). He has swivel/pin shoulders, hips, and knees, swivel head, biceps, and wrists, ratcheted hinge elbows, and very nice rocker ankles (You can also use the conversion joints in his feet a little for posing). He can't raise his arms up a high as most TFs, because his big, tall shoulders, which house the pin joint, block them. Luckily, his shoulders aren't tall enough to hit the wings on his back. His elbows are a bit odd. Like a lot of Animated toys, the "default" position for his arms are with the elbows sideways, so you have to swivel hi arms to bend them properly. But, his wrists mean this isn't really a problem, like it is with Starscream and Blackarachnia. There's also a conversion joint that you can use to give his elbows a bit larger range of motion.

Conversion is simple, but still pretty good (I ten to like the tougher ones, but I do appreciate the simple conversions, if they're well done). His legs are particularly innovative, with the outer shell of his lower legs flipping around and moving up. Make sure you push the wings (With the rotors) down and his arms out. That little step was left out of the instructions.

His helicopter mode is nicely huge, and very cool looking. It is, of course, a completely made up model, but still looks like it would actually fly in the real world. The 'copter has various nice details, like the jet engines (Which are used on some advanced attack helicopters) and even a seat in the cockpit. There's landing gear, with working wheels on the underside of the fusion cannon, and on the bottom of the tail. You can also remove the fusion cannon, and flip down another set of landing gear under the cockpit.

Megatron's main weapon is, of course, his fusion cannon. It's nice and large, and has some parallels to the G1 cannon, with the larger bits on the end and in the middle. It's removable due to the conversion process, so it can be put on either arm, though the right is the default place. Unfortunately the base of the cannon is rather large, butIt does look sort of like extra armor to protect Megatron's arm from the recoil such a large, powerful gun would surely produce.

But wait! There's more! Megatron's helicopter rotors can fold up to become twin sowrds. The hilt uses the standard TF 5 mm handle size. You can also leave the words where they go in vehicle mode, storing them on his back.

Like all Leader TFs, Megatron has lights and sounds, plus a few other gimmicks. But, instead of telling you about them, I made this (very low quality) video:



I love that evil laugh.

Now that the movie stuff has come out, and the Animated cartoon has ended, the TFA Leader toys are going on clearance in many places (I got Megatron for half price), but even if you only find him for full price, I still HIGHLY recommend him.

Marvel Legends "Nemesis" Punisher

Hey, you can actually finally find these figures! Over a year after they were first shown at SDCC 2008.

As you can see, there's two variant figures of this here Punisher. There's the basic, black skull t-shirt and black pants modern version, and the green jungle camo version. The camo one is more or less based off a level in the 2005 Punisher game (A very underrated game)
in which the Punisher attacks an island of Russian mercs. I'm not entirely sure which figure is the main one, and which is the variant. Originally it was thought that the green one was th evariant, but when the figures FINALLY showed up, there seemed to be more green, whereas here, there were just as many black as green. In any event, assuming you can find them, you should be able to get whichever you want, or, if you're like me, both.



Both variants use the body from the two pack Ultimate Nick Fury, with new arms and a new head. That Nick Fury figure was too tall, which makes it seem as though the body was meant for the Punisher, who is a big guy. He's got a ribbed t-shirt and baggy combat pants tucked into the tops of his big boots. The wrinkles on the shirt and pants are sculpted nicely, though his knee joints do break up the sculpt a bit. However, I'd rather have great articulation than perfect sculpting. The paint is handled well with few problems. The skull on the black version doesn't line up over his chest joint perfectly. As you can see, they have different skulls. I'm not sure where the black one's skull is from, but the green one is the basic comic skull, with a few small bits from the 2004 movie skull. On both the shirt is a slightly different color from the pants, making them look like different material. The camo on the green Punisher's pants looks like camo pattern, not just random colors thrown on a green background. His head is molded in skin colored plastic, but painted green with the the skull, which is a bit surprising. You'd think it would be molded green. The dark patches around his eyes make him look suitably menacing.

Articulation, though not the best from Marvel Legends, is plentiful. He's got a balljointed head, torso, shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles, swivel wrists and thighs, and double hinge knees. The wrists are disappointing, and double hinged elbows would be useful, but, overall, I'm pleased.

Each Punisher comes with a pistol, that fits in a holster on his right thigh (The pistol is also re-used from Ultimate Nick Fury), and an M-60 machine gun. More guns would be nice, of course, but the ones he comes with are well done (Though, the M-60 is a belt fed gun, and he doesn't have an ammo belt). Both hands have the trigger fingers extended, so he can dual wield, with either one of each, both M-60s, or both pistols. Some people have reported having trouble getting him to hold the M-60 with both hands, but he can hold it using either the handle on top, or like a normal rifle.
Overall, this is a good figure, but we already got a classic Punisher back in the ToyBiz ML series 4, and a movie version (Which is just like the modern comic version) in series 6. This is really a figure that I'd recomend for either big Punisher fans (Like myself), or if you want to complete the Nemesis/Holocaust BAF.

Finally, also in this series is a great Daredevil figure, which inspired me to take a picture mimicking this old Frank Miller era Daredevil cover. I then got some help from Matt Booker, who did an absolutely FANTASTIC bit of Photoshopping to create this:

Transformers Aniamted Jet Twins

I usually spell it "Jettwins" so I'm gonna go with that while writing the review.


Jetfire on the left and Jetstorm on the right, they look pretty badass right?
I'm going to say upfront there's a few small details in which the twins are a bit lacking, but it's to be expected considering the fact that they're combiners. My biggest gripe really is how lame their hands are. My other problem is how easily their hip armor pops off...and how hard it is to get it back on...
If you can get past those two things then it's all up-hill to Awesome Land from there.


Minus the flames on his head/arms Jetfire is pretty show accurate. I assume the flames are a nice little detail added in from the comic. They look better in vehicle mode if you ask me. It's not all that easy to see, but Jetfire has this cute, cheeky little smirk on his face.
On a side note: THE GOGGLES, THEY DO NOTHING.
Legit they do nothing, molded right onto his head.

On another side note my living room carpet is hideous...

Back on topic I might as well mention the flames on his legs, which you pull out when you put him into jet mode...It ups his badassery a few points...



The handsome blue mech to the right is Jetstorm. Other than his head he's basically the same as his twin, other than his little "wind" extensions on his arms and legs...Persoanlly I think his powers should have been ice. Cause fire and ice just sounds better together...
While I love Jetfire's goggles I am SUCH a sucker for visors >.>
Jetstorm, like his brother is smirking, just not as prominently.


Next up is their alt modes; Autobot jets!



This is what happens when a bunch of NERDS get a hold of poor ol' Starscream. Thanks to Percy, 'Jack, and Red these two now transform into jets...We'll just ignore all the size changing, okay? They obviously get it from Perceptor...

As I mentioned earlierabout their leg-thingys flip out become fire and...wind...Obviously Jetfire looks way more badass with this gimmick.





Just a close-up on their alt, chose Jetstorm for this because the camera seems to take to his coloring a bit better. For the record my hands are TINY.

You can now see the nice little detail of the Elite Guard symbol on his hip plates. Naturally Jetfire has this as well.





Another thing I'd like to point out if their "grappling" gimmick. I'm not one for it, but at least they used it in the show, so it's forgivable.








The next topic to cover is the most important of them all; SAFEGUARD MODE.
Yes, they combind! Vertically!
As a warning a lot of people find it hard to get the twins into Safeguard mode for the first time...For the record it was actually one of my partners in crime, Nexas, that put the twins into Safeguard mode for me today.

As far as combinders go I think this too look pretty amazing, very comic/show accurate.

All their arms get folded up onto their back, so the get leg arms and feet hands =D
When the punch you, they're actually kicking you...How awesome is that? I'd LET them punch(kick) me just because of that!
One last thing I want to point out is that their cockpits open...for no reason...It's a nice little detail I suppose...even if it is pointless...

...Also that is so not my lacy bra in the corner...not at all...



Well, that's enough from me for tonight.

~Zel~

Transformers G1 Ultra Magnus

Got my hands on this handsome fellow back in May at Anime Boston. He was in great condition, and a great price. so there was no way I could pass up getting him. Anyways in the pictures you will notice once of his smaller smoke stacks is missing. That's the sad result of my kitten taking a liking to poor ol' Magnus, and Magnus having the unfortunate luck of meeting the floor one day when Madeline (my black little terror), got too curious. Needless to say I am looking for a way to make him a replacement, cause the little black terror ATE the piece that broke off.

Sob story aside I'll get on with the review.

Out of the 3 G1 toys I own (the other two being Optimus Prime and Megatron) Ultra Magnus is by far the best constructed, and the best appearance wise. The plastic making up his "power suit" I believe it's called, is of excellent quality, and I don't expect that to be breaking anytime soon...Unlike his fragile smokestacks on his main body, but we'll get to that in a minute.
As to be expected of any G1 toy he's very easy to transform, both his main body, and power suit (I'm just calling it that from now on).

Minus his armor he is a white repaint of G1 Optimus (who for the record can be put into Ultra Magnus's armor...and actually looks better in it...)

Personally the red optics have always bothered me, makes him look like a Decepticon (obviously). Which makes no sense because this is Ultra Magnus, and not Nemesis...but I guess no one thought about that back then...Oh well...

So yes, you can now clearly see his missing smokestack (again thank you Madeline, you little monster).

In general he was hard to get good shots of because of the type of plastic/metal used on him.

Both bot symbols on him are stickers, as was the custom back in the 80's. Thankfully my Magnus has all his stickers properly applied...unlike my poor Optimus...





His alt mode without his armor is, like G1 Optimus Prime, a semi-cab. The nub on his trailer bed looks like it would plug into something, but it actually doesn't, it's just there to catch on the lip of his trailer. This confused the hell out of me for an hour before I finally sat on the floor and tried to figure out how to make him and his trailer roll together. Once I figured it out I smacked myself because of how simplistic it was...






With his armor he's a...I actually have no clue what exactly they were getting at with this toy...Car carrier? Mobile battle station? A bit of both? Personally I would write him off as both, seeing as in G1 we have seen him transporting his fellow Autobots into battle. As for the mobile battle station...well I mean just LOOK at those missile launchers!


As far as articulation and such goes Magnus (with his armor) is a brick, and the only mobility is in his arms, and that's pretty limited.


Overall Ultra Magnus was a great find for me (being a big fan of the guy). He looks great on my shelf, really holds a nice presence there. If you like G1 toys I'd recommend picking him up, cause other than being a BRICK he's one of the best G1 toys I've had the chance to handle.


Well, there goes my first review here, hope it was decent.

~Zel~

RotF Ejector

He's a goddamned toaster. If that's not enough to make you want Ejector, continue reading.

So, Ejector. As a Scout he's packaged in robot mode, so I'll start there.He has a very different overall look. The most obvious example of this is his VERY cartoony face. He'll stand out well in your collection, which is always a plus. His paint is simple, but it's not like you see many multicolored toasters, you know? Anyways, What paint there is is well done, but he is mostly molded in color. One neat little feature is his tail. It's a string with a little plastic piece on the end that looks like an electrical plug.

His articulation is pretty much standard for a Scout. Balljointed shoulders, elbows, and hips, hinged elbows (4 of them. He has 4 lower arms and 4 hands), fingers (On the inner, main lower arms), and knees, and swivel thighs. Because of the design of his head, he doesn't have any neck articulation, but because of the transformation, you can open his mouth wider. And, of course, his tail is a string, so it's also posable.

So, there you have it. The toaster. It's a nice little toaster, with 4 slots, a painted dial, and a little painted switch. The silver is all paint, so he looks good. The back is rather open though. Reall not much to say about his alt-mode, except that it is awesome.

Really, I got Ejector just for the weird style and silly alt-mode. Luckily, he's a well made and fun toy. Definitely recommended.

~Raw/Monty

Animated Grimlock

Me Grimlock write toy review for me Grimlock's toy! Me Grimlock rule as Dinobot! Me Grimlock have snapping jaws. Soundwave says, "It's not a kung-fu grip, but it'll do." Me Grimlock not know what kung-fu grip is.

Me Grimlock also easily transform to fight stoopid car and truck robots! But not motorcycle robot. Me Grimlock like motorcycle robot. But me Grimlock like spider lady even more.

Me Grimlock wish me Grimlock knew where spider lady and motorcycle robot are.

Me Grimlock also have big flaming sword. Me Grimlock liiiiiiike.....

Me Grimlock done reviewing me Grimlock's toy. Me Grimlock's toy ruuuuuuuuuuuuuules! Me Grimlock say you should buy me Grimlock's toy! Uh what go on over there?

Sorry about that. Anyway, Grimlock is right. The Transformers Animated Voyagers Grimlock is big, has snapping jaws, transforms easily, and has a big flaming sword. See you guys later.

Also, be sure to put Akra Nui on your watchlist as well!

http://akranui.blogspot.com/

Halo 3 Master Chief

There a couple of things I feel I should admit before i start this review. First off, I rather dislike McFarlane Toys (Hereafter referred to as McToys) until about a year ago. You likely know by now that I love great articulation in my figures, and most McToys figures had next to know (McStatues). Three things changed my mind though. First, was buying the great and awesomely articulated Image 10th Anniversary Spawn figure. Next, was conversing with Steve "The Victim" (Who works at McToys) on the Rooster Teeth website. Finally, was the Halo 3 line, the main character of which is the subject of this review.

That brings me to my second admission. I've more or less fallen out of the Halo loop recently.I don't have a 360, so I haven't played Halo 3 or Halo Wars. And I've skipped pretty much everything else since then. However, getting a bunch of these McToys Halo 3 figures has gotten me into it again, so I've been playing the first two games, and I read the first Marvel comic series.

ANYWAYS, the review.

The Master Chief. He has become a video game icon, with his distinctive armor and the mystery surrounding him. Sure, a guy in a mechanical suit of armor might not be the most innovative idea (Iron Man, anyone?), but few games are as fun as the Halo series. Anyways, as this figures is from McToys, the sculpting is superb.Every detailo on the Chief's MJOLNIR armor is covered, from the panel lines to the wrinkles and seams on the black undersuit. McToys has had some issues with paint, but it's well done here. The panels are all outlined in black, which is something Gundam fans have been doing to their toys with markers for years. I also particularly like the brown paint brushed on his feet and shins. I actually looks like mud and dirt. The lighter colored dings on his right chest could be better though.

Now, the articulation. Brace yourself, this might take a while. He has a double balljointed head, balljointed wrists and torso, swivel/pin shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, and toes (yes, toes), swivel biceps, forearms (just by the elbow joint), thighs, and ankles (they also swivel at the top of the joint). As for the hips, well they're a system of swivel and pin joints that replicate the movement of swivel/pin joints. So, not only is the Chief well articulated, but he has extra joints he doesn't even need! This is definitely a turn-around for McToys.

One of the other draws of the Halo games is the large variety of weapons. And the toys don't disappoint. As this is the series three Chief (He's been released with different guns multiple times) he comes with a sniper rifle and a brute spike grenade (Which I forgot to take a picture of...). You might notice the sniper rifle is being held by a Spartan in one of the multiplayer Spartans in EOD armor, while the Chief is dual wielding SMGs. You see, any figure can use any weapon. Anyways, the weapons all have these little removable pegs on the. Each figure has corresponding hles on their back, right thigh, and two on the back of their wast, allowing the figure to carry extra weapons, just like in the game! Pretty awesome, like working holsters on a figure.

And, if you want more weapons, McToys has recently released a weapons pack with 2 Brute Spikers, 2 shotguns, 2 plasma pistols, 2 plasma rifles, 2 SMGs, a fuel rod cannon, a Spartan laser, 2 plasma grenades, and 2 frag grenades. Yeah. A lot of stuff.

So. This is a great figure. Even if you're not into Halo the Chief is a well made, fun figure. Most of the figures in the line are like this. They're pretty much everywhere, so you should be able to find them.

That's the Chief and Sgt. Johnson fighting a Jump Pack Brute.

~ Raw/Monty