TRNS-01 Valkyrie - Transformers Arcee

Presenting TRNS-01 Valkyrie also known as the illegally produced version of the Transformer Autobot Arcee.

It's always bothered me why Arcee was never made by Hasbro after all these years. They clearly own the design, and Impossible Toys - the makers of TRNS-01 Arcee (Valkyrie) have shown that the transformation is possible. So why have they neglected this key figure in Transformers lore?

My personal take on the matter is that, till today, there is debate as to why robots like the Transformers should have genders to begin with. And, if they do have genders, then do they reproduce sexually? Personally I don't care if they do or do not. What matters to me is the character and you cannot possibly be a Transformers fan without giving a nod to Arcee, arguably the most popular female Transformer of our time. So when the opportunity to acquire a TRNS-01 Arcee (Valkyrie) came by, I had to grab it.

Transformers Reveal the Shield: Mindset

Presenting the Autobot Mindset from the Transformers Reveal the Shield series. I don't actually know much about the Autobot Mindset. I'm quite sure that he wasn't in the movie and I definitely haven't seen him in any of the cartoons. 

In fact if you bother googling him, you'll most probably end up on TFwiki.net looking at the Decepticon Mindset - who was fathered by Onslaught (One of the Combaticons that form Bruticus) through budding (Think of it as a pimple that explodes from your chest and gains sentience) and goes on to be killed by "The Swarm" (Which was nothing more than a killer pimple gone mad) which will also lead you to the Autobot Mindset, but there's not much there. 

Personally, I think the Decepticon Mindset - which also transforms into a Multiple Lauch Rocket System (MLRS) is a lot more intriguing as a character and at least has some link in Transformer lore. To make things worse, the AUTOBOT Mindset, is a re-deco of the Decepticon Hailstorm, who is a character based upon the mini-con Hailstorm who transforms into a missile launcher. Why Hasbro just didn't create Mindset as a Decepticon is a mystery. 

Anyway, I bought the Autobot Mindset because I have a soft spot for MLRS launchers. I've always thought that multiple-rocket launchers were cool ever since the Russians started using the Katyushas - Stalin's Organ (No dirty minds please). The MLRS is a beautiful step up. 

And he was on sale. 

All Hail MP-11 Starscream!

10.21.2011 – Who would love to hate Starscream? The entire Decepticon legion hates his guts. Even Megatron would like to give him some serious fusion cannon indigestion. When he got reformatted he even disintegrated him (See Transformers: The Movie, 1986). So what’s to love about Starscream? He’s got more toys and merchandise than all the three coneheads combined and he was voiced by the same person who breathes life to Cobra Commander (Chris Latta remembered). With all said about being trivial on who Starscream is get ready for another stunner. Null rays may be his primary weapon in the original animation and definitely Takara Tomy added another figure for you to take home in your shrine of Starscreams. For a price of 11500 YEN you get this new improved Masterpiece Edition.

Jump after the cut...

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Arcee

Presenting the Autobot Arcee (Target Exclusive Cyber-Tattoo version) as she appears in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - though Arcee is credited as part of the Transformers Dark of the Moon line (A movie she did not appear in)

There's a lot of continuity issues when it comes to DOTM Arcee - or the movie line Arcee - thanks in part to the fact that she was written out of the 1st Transformers movie and IDW (Idea + Design Works) Comics ran a comic book like in between the movies which involved Arcee (Whom a lot of people assumed to have perished in Revenge of the Fallen), and the novelization of the movie.

Then of course there are her sisters Elita 1 and Chromia. If you buy the individual toys, you'll note the different personalities at the back of their blister cards - I know I have a Chromia here somewhere (Hmmmm. Must be in storage). But if you follow the novelization of the movie - and even IDW's comic books, then you'll note that Arcee's two sisters died and they were animated only by a crazy Decepticon (Flatline) who wanted to create a new breed of what we call a "tripartite Cybertronian" - or Transformers that can operate separately but more or less have the same personality or combine - much like that camera guy Reflector. As a result the movie versions of Elita 1 and Chromia are supposedly nothing more than extensions of DOTM Arcee.

Transformers Editions and Exclusives at NYCC 2011!

10.13.2011 - The New York Comic Con is a few days away and check out what Hasbro have in store for those who would drop by this event. The tickets have been sold out and people are lining up to catch one of the biggest conventions in North America. Notable exclusives are up for grabs once the gates open this Thursday to this event which is “NYCC 2011” from the same organizers who has brought you the Singapore Toys Games and Comic Convention which wrapped up last August 2011. For this event Hasbro’s Transformers exclusives will be one to keep an eye at the exhibit booth.

Jump after the cut...

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Darksteel

Presenting Tansformers Dark of the Moon's Darksteel. DOTM Darksteel obviously did not appear in the movie. In fact what he is is a repainted DOTM Sideswipe - the DOTM version so this is the top-down Corvette Stingray version of Sideswipe - with the repainted head of a Deluxe sized Starscream - yes Starscream, just look at that lovely kisser.

Normally I'm not a fan of repaints, but being a DOTM Sideswipe fan, I just could not resist getting a "Black" - Nemesis Universe like - version of him (Even if DOTM Darksteel technically isn't a Nemesis character and supposedly exists in the same universe as DOTM Siwdeswipe.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Air Raid (Hasbro)

Presenting the new Air Raid from Transformers Dark of the Moon (Deluxe Class). Let's make it a bit clear that this is the Hasbro release of Air Raid. Though I have not seen an actual piece, there is supposed to be a Takara released Deluxe Class Air Raid (the gray guy to your right) that's basically a re-paint of Thrust and also has a MechTech weapons system attachment..

Sadly, neither of the Takara version nor the Hasbro version - which is a new mold by the way, not a re-paint - look anything like the Air Raid that appeared as one of the bosses in the Transformers DOTM video-game - which was a prequel of the movie.

At any rate, here he is. DOTM Air Raid transforms from a... I really don't know what he transforms into. DOTM Air Raid transforms into a reconnaissance jet with a huge AWACS (Airborne Warning |And Control System) dish up top. Unfortunately DOTM Air Raid is kinda small. At best he's a small hybrid between a Northrop Grumman E-10 (Which is the only AWACs bearing airplane in military service today with twin jet engines) and a Gulfstream - I'll have to ask my friend who worked for the US Navy to confirm.

But I feel that, given the weird location of the intakes (on top of the plane) and the fact that an airplane with a Control System requires more space as it's supposed to coordinate other aircraft, that this probably just fell out of someone's imagination in Hasbro and is not based upon anything real.