Fall of Cybertron Shockwave

HONEEEY!!!! I'M HOOOMMMEEE!!!! 

Presenting the Fall of Cybertron Shockwave.

Shockwave is literally a mad scientist in the city of Kaon on Cybertron. His relationship with Megatron started when Shockwave started providing weaponry to the arena gladiator - so we can assume that that big Fussion-Cannon that Megatron uses is something that Shockwave created for him.

Ironically, FOC Shockwave only befriended Megatron because he wanted to create an army of Megatron-like clones.

Are you feeling lucky punk?

Instead he ended up becoming Megatron's second-in-command. In the War for Cybetron DS version, there's supposed to be a part where Shockwave rebels against Megatron and you have to beat him and his friends up. Unfortunately I only have the X-box version.

In the yet to be released Fall of Cybetron video-game, Shockwave finds and starts to experiment with Space Bridges in an attempt to steal energon from other planets to reboot the dying Cybertron. Along the way he finds prehistoric Earth. Impressed with the savagery and power of dinosaurs - and the intricacy of insects, Fall of Cybertron Shockwave goes home and creates the Dinobots - Transformers with immense power but sadly lacking in intelligence - and the Insecticons. Naturally the experiment goes awry and the Dinobots turn against their creator.

Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime

Finally got that itch!!!

Presenting the Transformers Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime - wielding the 3rd Party Corbot V Optimus Prime Battle Axe.

Transformers Fall of Cybertron is the highly anticipated sequel to the very successful shooter Transformers War for Cybertron - the game that presented one of the most unique versions of Optimus Prime in the market. This Prime is one of the first characters released as a toy preceding the video-game in order to help drum up support along with Jazz and the Decepticon Shockwave.

I'm not so sure why they bothered with a re-make of a good-design (Maybe they read my comment about the War of Cybertron Optimus Prime having stubby arms). But change him they did, and here he is.

Weaponizer Optimus Prime

Presenting the Weaponizer Optimus Prime from the Transformers Prime toy-line.

I'm personally not sure if this particular incarnation of Optimus Prime is canon. But given the fluid nature of Transformers as has been manifested in both the cartoons and the movies, I would not put it beyond Prime's abilities to manifest a pair of chain-guns.

And I've always thought that Optimus Prime is a bit under-gunned. Those big-broad shoulders definitely have room for additional weaponry. God-Ginrai showed us how cool it looked. But shoulder mounted weapons for Optimus Prime did not truly manifest. It took third-party groups to produce shoulder mounted weapons for Prime, particularly the Gears of War-2 Pack and the TAW-Sword:

Transformers Prime: Soundwave

Presenting Soundwave from the Transformers Prime Toy-line (Robots in Disguise - not the Takara one).

I once stated that I am not a fan of the "Animated" versions of things - especially when they start distorting the heroes. But I have to say that I really like what Hasbro has done with the Transformers Prime: Soundwave.

In the Transformers Prime Animated series - and practically all Transformers canon, Soundwave is, and remains Megatron's first recruit and number one die-hard fan faithful to his unappreciative leader to the very end.

And a faceless master spy who never fights alone because he has his own loyal sidekicks - in this case he has only one, Laserbeak.




In this incarnation, Soundwave transforms into a Predator Drone (General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper AKA Predator B or Guardian)


Soundwave also actually has a... third form - kinda, sorta, could-be.

Transformers Prime: Vehicon aka Eradicon (First Edition)

Presenting a Vehicon - AKA Eradicon - from the Transformers Prime Animated Series First Edition. There are a few issues that I have with the Vehicon.

The biggest happens to be its gender. It has a waif like figure which is fine because most Transformers Prime figures have waif like figures. But the Vehicon figure kinda also has... breasts (Like Arcee)... whereas the more macho male figures like Cliffjumper and Optimus Prime have flat barrel chests. Face it, with the glass on her chest, it even looks like she has lace covering her cleavage.

The only other booby looking chest that I know of would be Bulkhead's but then he's built like a Gorilla - complete with nipples.

It makes me wonder if this is a design flaw since the Vehicons were voiced by a guy.

But then the Vehicons have always been a source of much confusion.

Power Core Combiners: Bombshock & the Combaticons!

Presenting Bombshock and the Combaticons from the Transformers Powercore Combiners toy series. We first showed Bombshock and his Combaticon drones when we showcased Grimstone and his Dinobots, but we only used him as a reference comparison between the two Power Core Combiners.

But since we'd already shot, him, why not showcase him?

Unlike Grimstone, Bombshock does exist in regular Transformers lore. Originally he was an old, bitter, backstabbing Decepticon Micromaster - literally tiny fuel-efficient Transformers. Although later on in the "Return of Convoy" Manga he was a childlike, joyous Autobot. He again reverted to being a bitter, old Decepticon with "Fight till I die" (And he did at the hands of Optimus Prime) in the novels.

Powercore Combiners do not exist in the regular lore of the Transformers so like Grimstone, Bombshock is a figment of someone's imagination at Hasbro. However, unlike Grimstone who I saw as a juvenile Autobot out to prove himself, Bombshock is still pretty much the same little Micromaster - which fits because some Micromasters are Combiners (Only Bombshock combines with Drones - who won't backstab him - and not other Micromasters) - especially after you read his blister card.

Though when combined, he looks like a wannabee Bruticus - or his younger brother.

Pledge Your Support to Transformers: Robots in Disguise by Andrew Griffith!

02.09.2012 – If you haven’t been picking up the latest Transformers comics’ right maybe you should as there are two issues that’s been out the past month. There is one significant issue that’s been going around that just released its first issue and that is Transformers: Robots in Disguise!

Transformers Prime First Edition: Optimus Prime (Voyager Class)

Presenting Optimus Prime (Voyager Class) from the Transformers Prime Animated  First Edition Series.This is the big brother of the SDCC 2011 Exclusive "Matrix Prime" that we reviewed back in October. Only this time this one doesn't come with kick-ass packaging (A Matrix of Leadership that can be hung around your neck and a nice magnetic case) that we have here on the right.

Transformers Prime Voyager Class Optimus Prime debuted on the retail store shelves around December and I got him for Christmas along with Transformers Prime Bulkead. But since Transformers Prime: Optimus Prime is quite common and Bulkhead was rarer - and has those lovely baby-blue eyes -  I came out with him just now.

Transformers Prime Voyager Class Optimus Prime was purchased at the retail price of PhP 1,499.75 (Roughly US$ 34). Strangely he's available on Amazon for a whopping US$ 49.95 (Roughly PhP 2,200 plus shipping), which makes me wonder if he's rare in the U.S. If he is, give a shout out because it might be cheaper for you to get it all the way here from the Philippines where they fill toy-shelves throughout the Metro.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Sandstorm

Presenting the Autobot Sandstorm and Private Dedcliff from the Transformers Dark of the Moon toyline. At first glance, DOTM Sandstorm doesn't appear to be much - a potboiler figure meant to drain your pockets and a lot of people probably ignored him.

Personally I was also leaning towards ignoring this Scout Class DOTM figure had I not known the history behind the name "Sandstorm." In Transformers lore, Sandstorm (in the Marvel Comics continuity of the Transformers) is a Wrecker - one particularly nasty Wrecker who actually beat the crap out of Optimus Prime himself. He was again listed as a Wrecker in the Dreamwave and IDW comic continuities so I had to get him to help boost my fledgling Wreckers collection alongside other Scout class Wreckers like the Autobot Whirl.

As with his cartoon/comic versions, DOTM Sandstorm is a triple-changer - in the cartoons and the comic books he could transform into a dune-buggy, robot and helicopter - something which makes him akin to the Autobot Springer I suppose. More or less he maintained this... "trademark" through the years, though in 2010, the Autobot Beachcomer - who could transform into a sand buggy was released and a re-painted version was released named Sandstorm which did not have a third form - The helicopter mode was gone. Unfortunately, DOTM Sandstorm does not transform into a helicopter either. Instead he transforms into a mobile weapons chair - yes I said chair.

Transformers Prime: Bulkhead

Presenting Bulkhead from the Transformers Prime Animated Series. Think of the Transformers Prime Bulkhead as the smaller version of his Transformers Animated Series Legends class cousin - down to the wrecking ball.

Transformers Prime Bulkhead is the sterotypical gentle giant - down to the big-blue eyes (Hats off to Hasbro, something that small is actually pretty good detailing).  While he  seriously looks like a green gorilla on steroids, he also delivers on being the green gorilla that can drive you into the ground and both dish and take on a lot of punishment.

Bulkhead never saw himself as a genius and started out as a Wrecker but eventually followed Prime and was one of the last ones on the Earth-bound Ark - ironically the Wreckers, led by Ultra Magnus held off Trypticon long enough for the Ark to escape. The Wreckers stayed vowing to take apart Shockwave's new empire.

On Earth, Bulkhead befriends, and is most protective of, 15 year old Miko Nakadai who accepts his clumsy but well meaning ways.

It is this friendship that brings Bulkhead back from a coma after he accidentally gets into a situation akin to what happened to Spike Witwicky in the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen movie - except that because Bulkhead is... intellectually challenged... it overloads him, literally.

Transformers Prime: Arcee

Presenting Arcee from the Transformers Prime animated series. Arcee is a Cybertronian Scout - when is she never a scout? One of Optimus Prime's best actually.





Except this particular Arcee is suffering from a severe case of Survivor's Guilt. Before the Autobots in the Transformers Prime universe abandoned Cybetron in what would be later called the Great Exodus, Arcee was paired with an Autobot named Tailgate.

During a mission, Arcee was captured and tortured for information by the Decepticon Airachnid. When Arcee refused to reveal any information, Airachnid brought our Tailgate - who was apparently also captured. Tailgate was tortured will Arcee admitted that she did not have any valuable information. Satisfied, Airachnid killed Tailgate. Arcee was rescued before Airachnid could do her in as well.

After the Exodus, Arcee was again paired with another Autobot, Cliffjumper. He not only looks like Tailgate, he gets killed too - well later he gets re-animated as a psychotic Zombie, cut in half by Megatron and scattered in a mine. Anyway, this drives Arcee - understandably over the deep-end and Arcee ends up hating having to be paired with anyone. Ironically, she's assigned by Optimus Prime to protect the human Jack Darby. You can imagine her joy at having to protect someone from the Decepticons.

Arcee, Elita 1 and Chromia Combined - Tripartite Cybertronians

Presenting Arcee and her sisters Elita 1 and Chromia, Transformers the Movie's Tripartite Cybertronians and one of their POSSIBLE combinations.

I'd like to take this moment to point out the following:

• The Transformers movies changed the general cartoon history of Arcee and her sisters. In a nutshell, Elita 1 and Chromia are dead. But a Decepticon experiment to create Tripartite Cybertronians brought the two back to life as nothing more than extensions of Arcee. They were supposed to combine in the second movie but the producers passed on the idea and in fact hinted that all three died by the end of the second movie. However the individual figures' blister cards still list all three with distinct personalities.
• Tripartite Cybertronians are three transformers who can operate as individuals but only share one personality - like the Decepticon Reflector. 
• Hasbro has never acknowledged the correct transformation sequence for the three sisters

Frankly it does look like a crappy car-wreck, but it does work.

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. 

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.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Drag Strip

Presenting Drag Strip a Human Alliance Decepticon from the Transformers Dark of the Moon toy-line. Yes, that's a Decepticon.

I don't normally collect Decepticons. Shockwave and Laserbeak were exceptions because I liked what they looked like. DOTM Drag Strip is another exception. "Why?" Well we'll discuss that later.

If you were a fan of the Transformers cartoon, then you might remember Drag Strip as one of the Decepticon Stunticons - he was the yellow weirdly six wheeled (yes, count them, six)  F1 race-car that became the left arm of the Mighty - and very mentally unstable -  Menasor.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Fireburst Optimus Prime (Voyager Class)

Presenting the Fireburst Optimus Prime Voyager class from Hasbro's Transformers Dark of the Moon toy-line. I have to admit that the first time I saw the DOTM Voyager class Optimus Prime, I thought that it was one of the crappiest toys I've ever seen. I definitely didn't want it and I thought that it was an insult to fans - especially in light of how good the Decepticon Voyager Class toys looked - especially Shockwave.

I felt further justified after watching the movie. However when the Fireburst Optimus Prime hit the shelves, I thought that it was a colorful improvement of the existing Voyager class Optimus Prime and came with a battle axe which is something that Prime would actually use. So on a whim and a bad day, I got it and here he is.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Laserbeak

Presenting Transformers Dark of the Moon: Laserbeak. I purchased Laserbeak at the recently concluded Hasbro/Toys R' Us two day DOTM Toy launch at Robinson's Galleria. So I was able to get him at the retail price of PhP 699.75  (Roughly US$ 15, US$ 18.99 to US$ 21.45 on Amazon) - the price of a regular DOTM figure.

I have to admit I was quite impressed with Laserbeak's versatility in the movie. I'm quite sure he'll be quite an opponent in the video-game. Though I'm sadly disappointed at how whimpy the writers of DOTM wrote him when it came to something as simple as killing or capturing Sam Witwicky - who, by the way, I feel ruined the movie (It was like watching Lord of the Rings and wanting to forward all the parts with the Hobbit love scenes).

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Topspin (DOTM)

Presenting Transformers Dark of the Moon's Topspin. For those unfamiliar with DOTM Topspin and who he is, Topspin is a member of an elite special-forces group of Autobots called the Wreckers.

The Wreckers are Autobots who decided that the pacifistic ways of Optimus Prime and company were not enough and that the only way to end the Cybertron War was to kill specific individuals within the Decepticon ranks. Think of them as Wolverine's X-Force to Cyclops' X-Men.

As a result the Wreckers have gained a cult standing among Transformers collectors. Partly because in certain continuities the Wreckers are let by Ultra Magnus or Rodimus Prime - mostly Ultra Magnus. Other known leaders include Springer and Impactor - the original leader who died.

Most of the Wreckers end up dead - including Topspin. So don't expect a long life span for Topspin who makes an appearance in Transformers Dark of the Moon. Chance does not favor his survival. Most of DOTM Topspin's fellow wreckers have already made their Transformers DOTM toy appearances namely: Roadbuster, Sandstorm and Whirl.

Transformers Reveal the Shield: Perceptor

Presenting Transformers Reveal the Shield Perceptor. I have to admit that I wasn't too keen on collecting Perceptor because I really hated that he transformed into a Half-track ATV instead of a Microscope. But then I chanced upon Reveal the Shield Perceptor's entry in Seibertron.com and was quite happy to see that Reveal the Shield Perceptor had a fans-concept third transformation mode: a Microscope. So when I chanced upon Reveal the Shield Perceptor in Toys R'Us at a shelf price of PhP 699.75, I grabbed him. I have to admit that its not a perfect transformation, but the lenses and knobs do line up where a microscope's would which makes it good enough.