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In summary, it's a cute novelty and a fun, if flawed figure....
Japan Resident and Seibertron.com member Diem has gotten his hands on the latest Disney Label figure - Donald Duck. Disney Label mixes Transformers and Disney characters into one. The first was Mickey Mouse and Optimus Prime, while this time around Bumblebee and Donald Duck are as one. However the third figure in Disney Label line, Buzz Lightyear does not resemble a Transformer, but simply transforms. Check out what Diem has to say about the Takara figure below.
Like his precursor Mickey-Robo he's a scout-sized figure with a voyager-sized pricetag and has been designed more for display or novelty.
He's got a couple of fun features in robot mode. His snorkel can slide up onto his forehead, and pressing a button on the top of his hat makes his mouth open and close for traditional Donald-style incoherant ranting. The "real" Donald is inside Donald-Robo's head and automatically pops up when the head is turned. Unlike Mickey he comes with an accessory: a surfboard which is rather awesomely styled to look like Donald's body with a yellow beak-like section and a red cross on a blue background. The surfboard (or skateboard, I guess) has a minicon-esque button on it; plugging the board into Donald's foot causes the engine and exhaust pipes to pop up.
The figure itself is fairly hit-and-miss. He boasts only modest articulation (ball-jointed shoulders, rotating neck, waist and ankles, flip-down feet) and suffers from kibble-issues. His car doors are stuck on his arms and his headlight farings are stuck to his legs. Worst of all, his car mode bonnet, roof and boot all end up on his back as kibble. It's not an unforgivable problem since Donald canonically has a lot of junk in the trunk and the silver used for the car parts is the same as the silver used for his hands, face and lower torso (ie. what would be white on the "real" Donald) so the kibble does look kinda like a tail. It restricts his waist movement though. Also his hands are moulded open.
Transformation is way tricker than on Mickey. I would have felt confident that a young child could easily transform Mickey but Donald is nore elaborate. He's something of a shellformer and folding his various little tabs and pegs in. It'll present no problem to anyone who's transformed a movieverse figure or Universe Sunstreaker but it may be worth noting for anyone planning to buy this for kids.
The car mode is very small and neat with a small amount of undercarriage kibble but no other real problems. The driver Donald pops up semi-automatically and is seated in the middle ofvthe car, oddly enough. The surfboards mounts neatly to the top of the vehicle. I like the faction badge on the front
I guess his paint scheme in vehicle mode is one of the big points of contention for most fans. The bonnet, roof and hood appear to be styled after Herbie the Love Bug while the doors and wheel-arches are yellow. I'm not going to go into possible explanations or excuses as to why this is but I think the colours will grow on people. It's not unusual to see real life cars (especially beetles, and especially at the beach) having paint jobs like this.
In summary, it's a cute novelty and a fun if flawed figure but it's up to you whether you can afford to drop that kind of money. The figure is obviously far less TF inspired than Mickey who was more or less half Disney, half Optimus Prime, so it may be harder to justify fitting it into your collections.
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Mix Transformers comics and exalted news administrator tigertracks_24 and you've got one very entertaining review. Check out Transformers Ongoing #4, as the drama and action continue this week...
“If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, expands to new territory, and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously.”
“No, I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way.”
-Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park (by Michael Crichton)
“Megatron acted as if the humans were beneath his attention. But he couldn’t have exterminated them even if he wanted to. Life will find a way.”
-Thundercracker, Transformers Ongoing #4 (by Mike Costa)
As you can see, Dr. Ian “Thundercracker” Malcolm, has been doing some deep thinking during his recovery on Earth. He studies the plants, the buildings, the weather, and of course, the television signals. He’s trying to find a greater purpose for himself, and the Transformers on the planet. After making an ultimate sacrifice that finds him to be the enemy to some of his brothers (‘All Hail Megatron’), he looks to the future, and what it might mean for himself and his fellow Decepticons. For some reason, Skywatch seems to be able to find a lot of Transformers that were able to move and transform to hide, but could not find the remains of Thundercracker as he had some epiphanies laying, crawling, and rusting in the streets of the Decepticon demolished New York City.
“But the Autobots were in hiding, too. The humans took away their victory, just as they took away my war.”
“So we fell in behind the only one who can lead us. The cheat. The fast-talker.”
As Thundercracker narrates his version of the story, another piece of the story is getting unfolded from the more omnipresent point-of-view. Swindle and his Decepticons and Hot Rod and his Autobots, make final preparations to their ship for the trip off of Earth. Their tentative alliance seems to be taking both groups in a direction that before was unheard of in the Transformers war.
And here we have an interesting set of relationships happening. We get to start to see a side of Hot Rod that we had not really seen before, he’s showing he’s more than a little conceited. Of course, a certain bot knows it, and is playing on this part of him.
"I just want you to know we see what you’re doing. Your followers, and me... We see your destiny. You know what they’ve started calling you? Rodimus Prime."
-Swindle
And to make matters worse, after his appearance in Bumblebee #2, Ultra Magnus makes his way to this Autobot group, still a dually appointed officer of the Tyrest Accord, etc., etc., and he is not happy with Hot Rod and Swindle’s arrangement. Magnus and Swindle have more than a little history, and this leads to...won’t spoil it for you.
The Transformers are 'transforming' in a way we have not really seen before, and it drives this issue, and the next few to come. It leads to conflicts of old ‘tried-and-true’ ideas and alliances, and leads to...unknown, uncharted ways of thinking and being for our favorite characters.
All this leads up to what looks to be a very exciting issue #5 next month! Do you still care about Transformers Ongoing? No. Yes. I hope so. It is getting better. When read alongside the other two books, we are seeing quite an interesting interweaving of stories that when read individually are fun, and interesting, but when read together, they really are creating a wonderful story in this IDW-verse.
For the record, I still don’t like Don’s art as much as I do Nick Roche’s (Transformers Last Stand of the Wreckers). I think I like it better than Chee’s (Transformers Bumblebee) though. Each book has a nice style to it, but Don’s really, really is a stretch as it is much more of a new direction when compared with the other two styles. I could get on board with the intricate looking bodies, and panels everywhere, but the faces, and heads, they still seem to bother me a little too much. I have gotten used to them though, so I can start paying attention more to the story, and worry less about my dislike, and uncomfortableness with Don’s designs of faces and heads in this series.
It does seem that the writing and the art do head nicely in the same direction as we see the Transformers making changes in new and interesting ways in Transformers Ongoing #4. One can then see why Don might have tried to adapt a new style, as adapting and transforming old habits seems to be the theme here by Costa. But...
“Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
-Dr. Ian Malcolm
I’m sure Mike and Don did think if they should change our Transformers, even if we don’t think so. I’m interested in their direction, hopefully, it will continue to intrigue us.
Thanks to IDW Publishing and Seibertron.com for the ability to read this issue a day early, and review it for our community. I love the Transformers comic book mythology, and while I am always a bit cautious with all the reboots, and new ways, looks, etc., I still enjoy a good story, good art, and Transformers, and IDW is still allowing us to do this, even if it is not exactly what you or I would like to see, or read happening.
Pick this issue up. It gives us some very good insights into Mike Costa’s writing direction (which he also talks a little about in a column in the end ‘letter’s page’ of this book). And I would say it makes a pretty big impact tremor for the whole Autobot and Decepticon IDW future.
“That is one big pile of s***.”
Nah, it’s not, in fact, I am quite sure you will enjoy this book much, much more.
Transformers Ongoing #4 is due to be released this week in comic stores everywhere! You can see our coverage of the five-page preview here!
Credits:
Written by Mike Costa
Art by Don Figueroa
Colors by J. Brown
Letters by Robbie Robbins
Associate Editor, Denton J. Tipton
Editor, Andy Schmidt
Seibertron.com - The Ultimate Transformers Resource!
When we first sawPE-01 Shadow Warrior, we thought it was a possible Classics Rumble/Frenzy. Four months down the road, the third party figure is ahead of it's release schedule and looks to have been shipped off by many of our site sponsors. One of the first fans to get the figure is Slave, a member of the Canadian Transformers website Cybertron.ca. He's taken several pictures, has written a review of the figure, and even goes over the figure's transformation! We've taken some samples for your viewing pleasure, and you can check it out below.
*He is really tiny, I was really surprised to see the size of the box he came in. I thought I ordered an old Cassette Tape. He's actually a little bit taller than a Match box.
*His Backpack Guns can be stored in his Cannons
*He's very loose in Shadow Commander's hands
*Incredibly detailed and perfectly articulated
Be sure to check out the entire gallery and review in the forums of Cybertron.ca.
Keep it at Seibertron.com for the fastest Transformers news on the net!
The month of February has been Voyager Seaspray's time to shine. He's been revealed several times, most notably in our coverage of Toyfair 2010 here. To top it all off, we have a video review from famous Youtuber peaugh. He goes over the usual - articulation, gimmicks, posing and transformation. You can form your own opinion of the figure by checking out the video embed below or via Youtube.
The dates for Seaspray's release are still to be announced, however we can speculate that we should be seeing the figure sometime in the summer.
Keep it at Seibertron.com for the fastest Transformers news on the net!
Famous kitbasher FrenzyRumble has uploaded a video review for PerfectEffect'S Shadow Warrior.
You can check it out by clicking here or right here on seibertron.com.
If you like what you see just check out our sponsors to purchase him!
Stay tuned to seibertron.com for all your Transformers related news!
February 17th you have a chance to increase your enjoyment of Transformers. Last Stand of the Wreckers, and Transformers Bumblebee are both set to be released in just a few short days. Unsure whether you want to pick them up? Check out the advance review of LSOTW here, and keep reading for a review of TRANSFORMERS Bumblebee #3. Beware readers, there are spoilers ahead.
Thanks to Blurr’s interference, Bumblebee was able to counteract the locking, tracking, and control mechanism of the ‘badge’ that Skywatch has bound their Autobot ‘allies’ with. Now with his plate removed and placed on a decoy, Bumblebee, along with Ratchet’s help, hatches a plan to free the rest of his comrades before things get even worse for them. Hunting down rogue Decepticons was one thing, but when the Autobots were assigned to bring in Blurr, they became even more challenged about their uneasy alliance with the humans. Issue #3 does not see these expectations by Skywatch getting any easier for the beloved good guys.
Bumblebee now traveling in cognito and ‘off the grid’ must act quickly to find a way to free his allies before Skywatch finds out that they are being duped.
In the first step of his journey, Bumblebee tries to recruit former Constructicon Scavenger claiming that there are no sides anymore, and that the Decepticons actually won anyway. Scavenger turns him down cold, and Bumblebee continues on his journey.
Issue #3 picks up with Skywatch trying to replace and fix Bumblebee’s badge. (Check out the five page preview for the beginnings of this issue). The savy tech starts to get suspicious, a theme built upon again throughout this issue.
The development of Bumblebee as a leader is as one would expect, not going too well. He’s still very unsure about his decisions, and needs the support of his closest friends to feel any success, and to gain support from his Autobot disbelievers (even though they elected him by popular vote). However, he is sure about what is morally right, and that he will do whatever he can to help his friends.
In direct conflict with the Last Stand of the Wreckers, this book is much more slowly-paced. This issue Bumblebee spends most of the pages trying to befriend a young, human girl, the daughter of the creator and maintainer of the control grid that the colonel uses to keep the Autobots in line by activating/controling their badges.
Moral issues arise for poor Bumblebee, and the savy Skywatch tech from earlier makes another huge discovery about the Autobots that may quicken the pace of this series.
If you have been enjoying the previous two issues of this series, this is another issue that you will like. If you read this after reading LSOTW, you may feel that this story is missing something, and that the artwork is perhaps not as fun. Fans of the ongoing space odyssey will not enjoy this as much, but fans of the Earth faring bots ongoing conflicts with being accepted by humans will enjoy this parallel story to the Transformers Ongoing.
IDW seems to be creating a little Transformers for all the fans out there, and if you are a fan of Transformers like I am, you are reading them all. However, if you are being picky-and-choosy for whatever reasons, this may be one that you want to skip.
Of note: A nice, little side story building slowly in the background of TF Bumblebee and TF Ongoing is Skywarp’s desire to be ready for Megatron’s return. It seems that Skywarp’s activities will be bringing him into conflict with the Skywatch Autobot team very soon (but not this issue).
Writer:
Zander Cannon
Artist:
Chee
Colorist:
Moose Baumann
Letter:
Chris Mowry
Associate Editor:
Denton J. Tipton
Editor:
Andy Schmidt
Seibertron.com for all of your Transformers news and resource needs.
Due to hit stands this week (February 17th domestically), LSOTW, as it has become affectionately called (‘cause face it, LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS is a mouthful), is the second issue in this five issue mini-series. This should be a nice week for Transformers fans at the comic shop, as Bumblebee #3 also comes out the same day! Read the two reviews and you can figure out which one to read first after this week’s trip!
LSOTW #2 picks up with the action and excitement right where issue #1 left off (Check out First Gen's review of Issue #1). I want to keep the spoilers for this issue vague, but intriguing, you should know I will be referencing plots and characters in issue #1 as if you have read it!
First of all, for those of us who have begged and pleaded to start seeing more variety (and Verity, I suppose) in the cast of Transformers used in the comics other than Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of the old cartoon series, this series is a ‘must read’ for you. With the introduction of uber-Decepticon baddie Overlord as this series main villain, and obscure new Wrecker recruits such as the later G1 lightformer Ironfist, UK aerial acrobat Rotorstorm, and Optimus Prime wanna-be firefighter and Pyro, we get some new blood to enjoy characterizations of.
Then there are all the numerous background robots who just make you salivate because you want to see and hear more of them. Issue #2 continues to build on this and should not disappoint. This reader was happy with a huge revelation, provided by the inclusion of one of these characters...
The plot continues to thicken as in issue #2, we learn more about Overlord’s motivations, and origins. Kup generously provides these, partially from first hand experience, as the Wreckers learn from last issues climactic character reveal... Impactor... that Overlord is the cause of the Garrus-9 situation, and then the nightmares begin to be shared. As we saw the fear created in the eyes of the Decepticons attacking Garrus-9 in issue #1 when Overlord showed up and took leadership of the mission from Skyquake, we now see the same fear reflected in the Wreckers’s eyes as they hear the Decepticon commander’s name mentioned with the incident they are now going to navigate. Overlord’s character development in this issue has made THIS Overlord fan feel like IDW has treated this Decepticon with the amount of respect he deserves.
Interested in some character development? How about learning more about Overlord and Megatron’s relationship? Or if Autobot’s are more your ‘kup of tea’, the Springer and Impactor dynamic is beginning to unfold and the rockiness of their relationship makes even the reader feel awkward for the two of them. And as the Wreckers start forming their plan of attack and retrieval, a new mystery is revealed in the name Aequitas. Who or what that is will have to wait until future issues of the mini-series.
Nick Roche and company have clearly created a book worth reading and continuing to read. The characters are new and fresh, and yet the story also gives us new insight into some previous characters. The art is top notch and fun, leaving the reader secure in knowing they are reading a Transformers comic, and that they can pretty freely identify characters, both known and unknown without too much wonder. The dialogue and writing is also witty, and yet, interwoven with a sense of straightforwardness, and also a bit of psychoanalysis, as one wonders who might betray whichever team they are routing for first, and just how will the Wreckers survive this, or will they (note, the title of the series is, “Last Stand of the Wreckers”).
There are some great moments that I don’t want to spoil, but you should enjoy this both intellectually, and artistically, but mostly as a TRANSFORMERS fane. It should leave you impatiently waiting for the next issue.
I was disappointed that, even though we have added the huge new cast of characters that may or may not be recognizable to others, they opted to leave out the “More than meets the eye” profile this time. More pages for story, or advertisements? Regardless, I really enjoyed reading more about Rotorstorm last issue, and was looking forward to seeing another on Ironfist, Overlord, Pyro, Guzzle, Impactor, Snare, Fortress Maximus, or even Skyquake, or Kick-off. There are plenty of new characters to choose from, and it can be used as a device to help tell more of the story that we are perhaps not going to see in the panels of the comic.
If the sellout, and 2nd printing of Issue #1 are any indicators, this is an issue you should not miss.
TRANSFORMERS: Last Stand of the Wreckers
Written by: Nick Roche and James Roberts
Script by: Nick Roche
Pencils by: Nick Roche
Inks by: Nick Roche and John Wycough
Colors by: Josh Burcham
Letters by: Neil Uyetake
Associate Editor: Denton J. Tipton
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Seibertron.com for all of your Transformers news and resource needs.
This is the first time that I am doing a toy review of any form, of either an official or 3rd party product. When I received the toy, I had mixed feelings. The reason is I knew in advance that I needed to conduct a toy review, which gave me a certain amount of pressure. However, I have come through and would like to present to you: Knight Morpher Commander!
The dilemma I am facing is how should I treat this toy and give an objective view. Do I compare it with an official product? How about I compare it with a 3rd Party product? Not much to compare it to though, as there are not many to compare with in terms of 3rd party figures. FansProject? Nope, not until they release a full figure. So far FP’s products are mainly add-ons, thus it is not fair to do a straight comparison.
Anyway, as we are considering this as part of our collection, I will review it with my personal opinions and preferences. You may find that your views may differ from mine.
Rating: 5 ★s is full marks
Colour & Material: ★★★★
The main colors of the robot are dark red and dark blue. The rear cabin of the train is mainly grey and dark blue. I do not wish to comment on color choice as sometimes color is more of a personal preference, however the quality of paint applications on the figure aare reasonably well done.
Material used for the figure is ABS plastic and it feels solid. The joints and rotating parts of the figure are acceptable, however, I still believe MMC can further improve on some of the connections and joints.
Train Mode: ★★★★
The alternate mode of Knight Morpher Commander (KMC) is a locomotive train. The length of the toy is about 9 inches long making it about as long as a Generation 1 Optimus Prime trailer.
The train is formed by 2 parts. The front part of the train transforms into the robot, and the rear part can become KMC's battle station, just like his G1 counterpart.
Both parts of the train are connected by two slots as shown, and it holds on firmly. The train also rolls on it's wheels pretty well.
In the back of the train, there is a connector that enables it to tow another train, if one should be available.
There are no accessories such as weapons that need to be stored separately. All can be kept within the train mode, which I like. I love figures with this provision, such as Beast Wars Optimus Primal.
Transformation: ★★★
The transformation from train to robot or vice versa, is rather simple. The transformation difficulty level is probably about the same as Classics/Henkei Optimus Prime. The front cabin of the train transforms into the robot, with the smoke stack turn into his hand gun. The rear cabin can be transformed into a battle station.
Robot Mode: ★★★★
The robot mode of KMC is pretty comic accurate.
KMC is a bit taller than Classic/Henkei Optimus Prime.
The head sculpt can rotate 360 degree and comes with light piping, which is a nice touch. The shoulders can rotate 360 degree upwards or downwards. The upper arm can move inwards or outwards and at the elbow to connect with lower arms. The waist is capable of rotating 360 degree. The upper thighs can move forward, backward, and outwards. The knee and lower legs also able to rotate forward, backward and rotate 360 degree. In another words, this figure has plenty of articulation and can do some crazy moves.
The chest of KMC is able to open up and inside shows an object resembles the Matrix of Leadership. Unfortunately, there is no articulation on KMC’s hands, so he is unable to hold onto the matrix.
KMC's fists are able to interchange with normal a straight fist or slanted fist. The reason for this is mainly for holding his weapons, especially the sword as it will look better with the slanted fist. The image shows that the fists are light blue, however I've been informed that the mass produced versions will have dark blue fists instead.
The rear cabin can be open up, ala G1 trailer, and a huge canon can be used by KMC. KMC’s sword is stored within the canon. The canon can be pushed forward or backward, and rotated 360 degrees. One side of the cabin door can form his shield in robot mode.
My only complaint is the connection of the canon parts is a bit loose for my liking.
Conclusion: As an Optimus Prime collector, I warmly welcome KMC into my Prime lineup. As a 3rd party company, I think MMC did fairly well on their first attempt.
KMC is a fun figure to play with, however, I personally still prefer a Galaxy Convoy/Fire Convoy type of figure rather than G1 Optimus Prime type of figure as I always feel its more fun to have Prime in “Super Mode” by combining the robot mode with his trailer rather than having a seperate battle station.
Finally, below are some of the creative ways of playing this figure:
Stay tuned to Seibertron.com, your Ultimate Resource for Transformers!
The Voyager class Sea Spray toy has been on top of the news since he was revealed at Toyfair UK. A video review has recently surfaced giving us an in-depth look onto the upcoming toy, and size comparison with Optimus Prime from the 2006 Classics series. To view the video, click here.
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* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
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