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~

Happy 4th of July!

If you're one of my non-American friends, happy Saturday!

Ravage is stalking my mouse.

Get it? He's stalking my MOUSE!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Shut up, there are worse puns.

Seriosuly though, RotF Ravage is awesome. Expect a review.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen MOVIE REVIEW!

Okay, first off, I know that many of you have not seen this movie yet for various reasons. So, here's what I'm going to do. First up, I'll have a basic review. Technical stuff, my overall opinion, non spoilerific things. Then, after ample warning and a bit of a gap, I'll talk about anything with spoilers. If you haven't seen RotF, skip that stuff, AND GO SEE IT RIGHT AWAY.

It all started upon my arrival in the theater. There were so many people there, I had to wait until the 12:11 showing, instead of 12:01. There were other showings as well. They all pretty much sold out. So, I walk in, with my chili cheese nachos and Coke float, and I was surprised to find that they had put in leather seats! Comfy! Then I discovered that a good friend of mine was there as well. I didn't even know he was in town. Finally, before I get on with talking about the movie, during the trailers there was a Twilight preview, and I yelled out something along the lines of "VAMPIRES DON'T FUCKING SPARKLE!", causing the young woman in front of me to turn around and glare at me. All this meant I was in a jolly mood, and felt that my $9.50 was already well spent.

Okay, here's the shit you actually want to read.

Now, the movie hasn't done well with the "professional" critics, at least according to Rotten Tomatoes. But here's a secret. "Pro" critics are dumbasses when it comes to this sort of movie. They don't want robots beating the holy shit out of each other. They want giant robots talking about their feelings, or some shit like that. No, this movie isn't for them. It's for us. The normal people. The nerds. The TransFans.

So, how does it do? Well, I'll start with the looks of the movie. Visual effects are Michael Bay's trademark. And they're just as great, if not better, than the first movie. The robots looked real, the fights were epic, and there were explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. The camera work was Bay's usual style. Always moving, with something always happening in front of them. I've always liked this, but it did get a bit dizzying at one point, as it spun and spun and spun around Sam and Mikaela.

Speaking of them, they were both much better in this one. Not only has Megan Fox's acting improved (Making me somehow want to look at here even more!), but their characters were more fleshed out. All the humans were, Sam's parents, Leo, Sam's roommate, Epps and Lennox, even... Well, that's a spoiler, so you'll have to wait. It was the same with most of the robots. All of the returning characters had much more personality. Megatron was VERY evil and cunning. Starscream was a treacherous coward. Optimus was, well, Optimus. And so on. Except for Ratchet. Seriously,. he got shafted. I think he maybe got one line, and he was completely absent for the first part of the movie. Even when... Oops, almost said another spoiler. The new bots were kinda half and half. Other than The Fallen, most of the new 'Cons were just there. The Constructicons were almost drone like, and Devastator was more or less an animal, though he's really always been that way. Sideways didn't even get a chance. Amongst the 'Bots, Sideswipe showed some character, but not much. The Twins, however, got a lot of focus. I thought they would be annoying, but they were hilarious.Then there's Jetfire and Wheelie, who aren't really in a faction. They were both enjoyable. Jetfire was funny, and I rather liked him. He was, of course, old, and falling apart. Wheelie was, incredibly surprisingly, NOT ANNOYING! He didn't rhyme once! I actually liked him! WTF?!

Finally, the story. I t was much deeper this time. The story was entertaining and engaging. The writing and actors went together great. I felt for the characters. I shared their hope. Their despair. Why the fuck am I getting so deep here? Just still amped up, I guess. Anyways, throughout most of the movie, I was leaning forward in my seat.

Overall, I loved it. I'll probably see it again tomorrow.

SPOILER ALERT. AFTER THE FOLLOWING GAP, THERE ARE SPOILERS. DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE.














SPOILER ALERT. THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Okay. The whole movie was FILLED with Transformers references. Optimus actually died, in an epic fight with Megatron, near the beginning of the movie. Just like in '86. BUT! He was brought back! Again, just like... every other time an Optimus has died. Guess what brought him back? THE SLAGGING MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP. FUCK. YES. It only shared a passing physical resemblance to the G1 Matrix, but it functioned similarly. At one point after Sam temporarily died, he actually had visions of long gone Cybertronian leaders, within the MAtrix. There was also some references to the idea of a group of original Transformers (The aforementioned dead leaders). However, this time it was 7, not 13 or one.

Energon played a major role. It was actually the entire reason the Fallen and other 'Cons were on Earth. Basically, it was the power within the AllSpark, and could be created by devouring the power of a sun with a special machine, activated by the Matrix. The Fallen wasnted to use this on a world with life, which is why he broke off from the other Primes (Those old leaders), becoming The Fallen.

Ravage, he was perfect. Not only were his weapon on his hips, but he was used to infiltrate a human base. He generally spyed on everyone, like Ravage has always done. He had a good death, being torn in half by 'Bee (Wgo I love even more after what he did to get rid of "Alice"). Soundwave though, I was kind of disappointed with. His voice lacked a lot of the magic, I liked it, but it was too deep, and lacked the musical quality of G1. And he never converted into robot mode. What the fuck is up with that?

Lastly, a few incidentals. Simmons (The main Sector 7 agent from the first movie) returned, but this time he was a hero. John Turturro was just as quirky and funny as before. The weird Decepticon infiltrator/Terminator like... thing named "Alice" was fucking nightmare fuel. Soooo creepy. Same with "The Doctor". The appliance bots given life by the AllSpark shard were a nice bit. Finally, repaints definitely exist in the movie universe. A lot of 'Cons shared body types, even with guys from the first movie.

END OF SPOILERS.














THE SPOILERS ARE OVER. YOU MAY RESUME READING IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE.

So, my final conclusion is this: If you dislike this film, you suck. You're not a real TransFan. There were plenty of G1 references, and every complaint I've heard about the first movie was fixed. You just need to accept change. If you can accept change, and you're a TransFan, go see the movie right away. If you want an enjoyable 3 hours, go see it.

Basically, if you're alive, go see it.

New Transformers M&M's are out!

I just got these new M&Ms packs:



The plain packs have "Chocl-O-Bots" (Autobots) while the peanut packs have "Delect-O-Cons" (Decepticons). I have not found the Skids and Mudflap "Strawberried Peanut Butter" M&Ms, but a source says "Those will be released when the movie actually comes out", and "They are amazing."

Transformers 25th birthday special commemorative review: WRECK-GAR!!!

(Click the badge for more TF25th birthday blogs!)
Okay, this is a bit later than I said. Cut me some slack. I was busy, okay? (That's such a lie. I was asleep on the couch.) Shut up. (No.) Jerk.

Anyways, FREAKING WRECK-GAR YEAH! I've got pics, I'm listening Dare to be Stupid (The album, with the most awesome song of awesome, Dare to be Stupid), and, of course, it's a special day in TF history. SO LET'S DO THIS!


As you can see, Wreck-Gar's alt mode is a motorcycle. It has a rather random color scheme and isn't the most sporty looking bike, but remember, they're called Junkions for a reason. Still it looks nice, with no incredibly obvious robot bits, a bit of a rarity for motorcycle TFs. Well, maybe his feet and hands are kind of obvious, but too much.
His legs end up on the side of his motorcycle, looking like some sort of running boards. This also makes him pretty wide.


All in all though, he's got a nice satisfying alt mode. What about robot mode? Well, his conversion is pretty easy. He is a G1 toy, after all.

Wreck-Gar's robot mode has a very G1 body. Rather blocky, and all that. The sculpt is simple, but with some nice details thrown in. Because the unsculpted details were done with stickers back then (My Wreck-Gar, which I got used, is missing a lot of them, but I do plan on ordering the Reprolabels set for him), pretty much everything is molded in color. The only paint is on his metal shoulder pad thing (Metal parts are one of the things they no longer use anymore, like rubber tires) and face. All the toys based on new movie characters were designed before the character models were finalized. This is why Wreck-Gar looks different from the cartoon. This is also why he lacks his awesome mustache and goatee. =( He also has red eyes. Toy Wreck-Gar (Who was billed as a Decepticon in the commercials) must be from before Kup and Hot Rod showed up and managed to save the day instead of messing everything up like Hot Rod usually did. You see, the Junkions thought the Autobots were invaders, so they attacked to protect their home, nearly kicking the Autobot's asses. While Dare to be Stupid played in the background and Wreck-Gar, voiced by Eric Idle, said silly things. Then, after the universal greeting had been delivered, a Junkion kissed Grimlock ( =D ) and everyone danced to Dare to be Stupid. It was awesome.


Wreck-Gar is slightly above average in terms of articulation for a G1 toy. Yes, his legs are bricks below the hips, which only move forward (It looks like he has knees, but they bend backwards so he can convert), but his arms. His arms are great. They have some of the first ever balljoints on a Transformer, along with hinge elbows and swivel wrists. His arms are basically as articulated as a modern TF.

Wreck-Gar's accessories are his awesome ax, a "Decelerator Laser" gun, and his shield, which is really his front tire. While there's no real place to store his weapons in motorcycle mode, you can place them in his hands for a sort of attack mode.
The ax and shield were what he mainly used in the cartoon, so they're obviously the most classic weapons, but the gun is also nice. Wreck-Gar was deadly with that ax. He nearly beat the crap out of Springer (Who's known as a great swordsman) with it. Then Daniel had to screw things up.

There's really not much more to say. Other than some limitations due to his age, Wreck-Gar is basically perfect. Easily my favorite toy in my collection. In the picture above, you can see how Transformers have evolved in their 25 years. Then, and now. Here's to another 25 years!

~Raw/Monty


Wreck-Gar (G1): "Whatta beaut!"
Wreck-Gar (Animated): "I am Wreck-Gar! This is the best part!"
Shhh. I'm trying to watch.

25 years of awesome robots, great stories (Well, other than RiD), and a lot of fun.

Today, May 8, 2009, marks a great day in history. Why? Well, exactly 25 years ago today, Transformers #1 was published and shipped out by Marvel comics.

That was the first anyone was really introduced to Transformers, so it's Transformers 25th birthday!

I think a song is in order here.


I'll post a commemorative review this afternoon.