Transformers Review – Generations Wheeljack

Intro:

Wheeljack – a name quite synonymous with the term “Mad Scientist” has been one of the most popular characters from G1. Back in the era, Wheeljack was professionally listed as an engineer. He created some of the wildest and weirdest gizmos in G1. But amongst all of his inventions, the most one that left the most legacy was undoubtedly – the Dinobots, although he did that with the help of Ratchet. Since G1, the name Wheeljack had been reused several times throughout the history of the franchise. 

The first reincarnation of the name appeared in Armada, in which his character was that of an Autobot who had defected to the Decepticons’ fold. Then, in the events of Energon/Superlink, a car named Wheeljack (Downshift in America) also appeared, whose designs were heavily influenced by his G1 self. The name again appeared in the Cybertron/ Galaxy Force line, as a robot that transformed into a Plymouth Barracuda-esque car, although he was never portrayed in the animated series. The last time the name appeared again was in the Animated series.

So yeah, the name Wheeljack has appeared repeatedly in the franchise, but none of them had any similarities in term of character and background.

Clockwise from Top: Alternators Wheeljack, Cybertron Downshift, Generations Wheeljack & Energon Wheeljack

So, after appearing in various lines, including Binaltechs/Alternators, the character finally reappeared in the highly touted Generations line.

Car mode:

 

 

            This time around, Wheeljack takes the form of a retooled Tracks mould, which is heavily influenced by the G1’s Lancia Stratos form. Although a retooled figure, I pretty much love this version of the alternate mode compared to that of Tracks. Although I’m pretty sure that this alternate mode too can transform into that flying car mode, just like Tracks, the instruction manual doesn’t state anything about it. Even if it can, I just really don’t bother about transforming him to that mode. Just for the record, I just love the front spoilers.

 

Robot mode:

 

            The robot mode is a dead ringer for its G1 counterpart. The original G1 figure was known to be one heck of a beefed-up robot. This time, he doesn’t look too bad either. Apart from the head sculpt and the paint job, Wheeljack is virtually identical to Tracks in every sense of the word. The main difference between the two, however, is the way you transform the lower body part of the figure. In Wheeljack’s case, you’d just turn the lower part of the body around, and have the duck feet as his heels instead, and its front bumpers as his feet, which is another huge nod to his G1 counterpart. 

            Articulation-wise: head and shoulders are on ball joints. The elbows have a two-point bending axle. The wrists can only turn. The waist rotates and the hips are on ball joints. The knees bend and there is a hint of ankle articulations.

            Although I prefer to have 2 shoulder canons, the instructions actually say that he should have 1 shoulder canons and two wrenches instead. Well, I’d say you can have any other way you like.

Generations Wheeljack vs Reveal the Shield Autobot Tracks

Overall:

            Overall, I love Wheeljack, to an extent, much better than Tracks, despite him being a retooled figure. I really like the paint designs that really harkens back to the original G1 figure. G1 Wheeljack is a definitely one of those characters that I can really relate to because both of us have the same profession, although err… I don’t create that many whacky gizmos like he did… heheh… Anyways, I think Hasbro did another good job with the Generations line. Keep it up guys…

Final verdict, 8.5/10. 

Transformers Review – Masterforce Knockoff Overlord

Intro:           

            Now, first of all, let me get this out of the way first. For the first time ever, in the history of Planet Cybertron blogs – all the way back since the Friendster days – Planet Cybertron will be reviewing the first ever knockoff figure. As far as knockoffs goes, there’s probably no one better to review, than one of the most iconic characters in the Japanese G1 era Transformers – Overlord.

            I have to admit, Overlord have been one of the Holy Grails of my collection. Unfortunately for me, and most other collectors in this region, Overlord was not, and still not readily available. From the information that I’ve gathered, Overlord was sold only within Japan, and for a time, it was also an European exclusive. So the rest of the world can only watch in admiration as Japan and the European continent get to enjoy that luxury.

            Overlord has yet again proven elusive and there wasn’t even a knockoff version anywhere in this region. So for a time, I abandoned my hope, until the day I met a friend of mine, Big Daddy. He was looking for a buyer for his 20-something year old knockoff Overlord, which he had gotten from Hong Kong. I’ve actually heard of it before that a good knockoff version of Overlord did exist up there in Hong Kong, which was pretty much show accurate. Well needless to say, when Big Daddy laid to me the news, my eyes twinkled like the Northern Star.

            As mentioned, Overlord was a Decepticon general during the events of Transformers: Masterforce. Overlord had two powermaster partners, a husband and wife team of Giga & Mega… I know, the name sucks, but oh well, not my problem. Overlord was formed by 2 vehicles – a jet and a tank. He has proven time and again to be a constant tough-rival-to-beat for God Ginrai.

            So here we are, on a momentous day, for which Planet Cybertron will be reviewing its first ever knockoff figure – Overlord. History will be made.

Base mode:

 

The base mode looks awesome. It’s so massive that it’s even a bigger base than Metroplex. There are repair bays, satellite antennas, weapon attachments, a platform-of-sort, and a really convincingly good-looking tower, which is formed by the jet’s cockpit. While the base looks massive, it does have one major drawback. The base itself consists of 3 separate parts – and the problem is that nothing is holding them together. The ramps provided only serve as a bridge. So you can’t pick the entire base up like you would with Metroplex. And if you notice from the photos, I don’t have the front ramp for my set, which is a bit of a shame. But nonetheless, it’s an issue too small to be dealt with.

The base has a lot of play value to it, and I can imagine kids having so much fun playing with it. Collectors too will have a lotta fun displaying the base along with various Minibots and Minicons.

Alternate mode:

            Now as far as memory serves, Giga (the guy) is supposed to be the pilot of the tank, while Mega (the girl) is supposed to be the pilot of the jet. 

            The jet itself is so doggone huge!!! It’s even bigger than Metroplex’s base mode, and that alone is saying it a lot. The jet is predominantly black and white in color, with a little bit of purple here and there. The cockpit and the compartment below, where you would be able to stash Mega in are made from translucent orange (or yellow to some) plastic. My only complaint with the jet, is the obviously pointless front landing gear, which is literally too short to reach the floor. This point I have looked up the internet, and found that it was also an issue with the original – obviously a flawed design issue. 

Flawed Design

            The tank itself is literally half the size of the jet, and is predominantly white and blue in color, also with an orange translucent compartment cover to house Giga in it. The turret doesn’t really turn here, due to the transformation, with only the gun being able to tilt upward and back down. The wheels don’t really wanna turn on mine, probably due to old age.

           

Robot Mode:

 

            Overlord is simply gargantuan.  Standing at about 13-inch tall, he easily dwarves all other G1 figures out there. Being a G1 figure, Overlord is generally a brick. His head turns left and right. As far as the arms go, he only has a rotatable shoulder joints, and finally, the hips can only go back and forth. 

Overlord with Built-in Weapons Deployed

            Now, regardless of the articulations, this is still an awesome figure. The two Powermasters – Giga and Mega can be inserted into the two compartments in the chest cavities to reveal even more weaponry. Being a knockoff figure, the quality of the material used may have suffered as one of the Powermasters – not sure whether it’s Giga or Mega – have actually broken off.

            The cockpit of the jet, which would normally form the shield in robot mode can’t really be detached easily from the main body. It can be done so, I think, but I’m just not confident enough to force the cockpit off. I’ve already seen some crack marks appearing on the cockpit’s plastic, and I am really not ready to take that risk. 

            As far as my figure goes, all of the Powermaster gimmick mechanism still functions, which is always good. Due to the condition of Giga and Mega themselves, I tend to activate these function just by pressing the buttons in the Powermaster slots by hand. 

Built-in Weapons Deployed

Overall:

            Even though that the version of Overlord that I got is only a knockoff, I have to say, it is very, very close to the real thing. And for most of us in these parts, this is probably the best Overlord figure available to us. It’s a very massive figure,

            Final verdict, 8/10.

Transformers Review: G1 Omega Supreme (Encore Edition)

Intro:

In the days before the appearance of the behemoths that were Scorponok and Fortress Maximus; even before the city-sized Metroplex hurled his equally huge counterpart—Trypticon into the pacific (or was it the Atlantic?); and even before Optimus Prime suffered his first ever on-screen death and Megatron reformatted into Galvatron; the largest Transformer of that era came in the form of a rocket launcher pad, and in the series, he soon established himself as the regular sparring partner for Devastator. He is none other than one the legendary Guardian Robots, the former protector of Crystal City – Omega Supreme. 

The first ever Omega Supreme I ever had was the Energon version, or rather the knock-off version of the Energon version. But to me, the Energon version just wasn’t convincing enough. Just look at it, the carrier didn’t look like a carrier, and the other part didn’t even look like a train that it was supposed to be!!! The only thing okay with it was the robot mode. The Transformer: Animated version is a perfect reincarnation of the G1 version – they almost looked the same in appearance. I wonder if the action figure looks just as good.

Anyway, the fact of the matter is, no matter how many reincarnations of Omega Supreme there ever will be; the G1 version will always remain a benchmark.

            I had always been impressed with Omega Supreme, the action figure, but surprisingly, I didn’t actually purchase it the first when I saw it at Teencom. It’s not that I wasn’t interested, but I just had other options. At first, it was a gamble between Omega and Masterpiece Megatron. I had to choose Masterpiece Megatron instead, and hope that Omega would still be there the next month. When the time came, I chose Masterpiece Starscream instead. In the following month, I chose to grab G1 Metroplex instead, while one of the two Omega Supremes still decorated the shelves. The following months after that, I grabbed the Collector Set Voltron instead. Then eventually, my lottery paid off – Omega Supreme was still there after 5 months on the shelf. It was inevitable that Omega just had to join The Family.

Robot Mode:

 

           Omega Supreme comes packed in a disassembled robot mode. Once you manage to figure out to assemble together all the loose parts, which is fairly easy, you get a bot roughly the size and height of G1 Metroplex. There are actually two ways to arrange the train tracks onto the back of Omega. The first way is actually similar to the way depicted in the show. However, you will end up with four more extra parts with nowhere to keep. This tends to bug me since I hate to have the risk of losing vital pieces of my Transformer.

The second method will solve this problem, but then you’ll have to contend with a hideous looking robot, as depicted in the photo. This method is actually recommended in the instruction manual.

How you arrange the tracks on his back is really up to your own preference. You can even take off the standard tracks and replace them with others, as depicted in the photo.

             In robot mode, Omega seems blocky and bulky. He also tends to look off-proportioned, with an unusually long pair of arms, not to mention that he had no fingers. However if Omega wants to hold anything, he can use his right arm. 
            The head sculpt is also nice, and it differs slightly from its original G1 release, by having a removable faceplate underneath.

Articulations-wise, the arms are as good as normal modern Transformers. It rotates at the shoulder and it can lift its hands. The elbows also work wonderfully. The legs have virtually no articulations at all and no knees. This would normally bug me to no end, but somehow it contains a very interesting secret, which I’ll elaborate more later on. The head turns 360 degrees and that’s about it.

Rocket Base Mode

 

Back in the G1 days, inter-planetary travel was a chore, even with the technology available to the Transformers. The Autobots did not have the luxury of Space Bridge as the Decepticons did. All they had was Omega Supreme. Throughout the history of Transformers, we’ve talked about how Optimus’s trailer and Megatron’s silencer tends to disappear mysteriously and magically reappear during transformations, the same thing also should be said about Omega Supreme.

Omega Supreme is often depicted in this mode in the animated series

View from another angle

Autobots usually travels from planet to planet via the rocket, which is formed with Omega’s hands. However whenever Omega lands at the destination, the base would always reappear! Logically, since the tank, the launcher and the tracks forms a large part of Omega’s bot mode, Omega shouldn’t be able to transform into robot mode upon reaching his destination. Plus, how the heck do those parts travel through space anyway?

Omega in a jumbled mess, during transformation

Leaving the mysteries behind, let us get back to the review. The base span is quite huge. The circular track provides the path for the tank to move around in order to protect the base from unwanted Decepticon attacks. Not as convincing a base as Metroplex, or Fortress Maximus or any of the Decepticons bases, but Omega does make a convincing rocket launcher base. Below are the photos of the tank mode.

Gimmicks:

            Back in those days, the most popular gimmick available was automated movement. Just as Sky Lynx was made to walk and roll with a push of a button, so was Omega Supreme. As mentioned earlier, Omega’s tank mode is able to travel around the tracks with no effort, with the turrets turning round and round simultaneously.

            In robot mode, Omega can walk! Omega doesn’t make much distance in a step, but at least he walks in a straight line. Children may get easily confused with the transformations, but once transformed, they sure gonna a hell lotta fun.

Summary:

            With all said and done, Omega Supreme stays true to his cartoon form, from robot mode to rocket launcher base mode. The set would provide a lotta fun to those expecting a good play-set, with all the automated movements.

            As far as I’m concerned, this is the Omega Supreme. People will always remember Omega as the rocket, just how they will always remember the Megatron as the gun, Optimus as the blocky truck and Soundwave as the cassette deck. They will tend to be the benchmark to all of their character reincarnations, for better or for worse.

            In my case, I’m quite happy with my Omega, which I consider an even better figure than the Energon version. In all, it’s a very good robot by G1 standards, and makes a helluva good play-set.

            Highly recommended.

Rating – 9.5/10

Condolences to the Citizens of Japan

Hey everybody,


We at Planet Cybertron and New Planet Cybertron would like to extend our deepest condolences to the citizens of Japan. The news of the 11 March tragedy came as a shock to everyone all over the world. As various news have reported, it is the most powerful earthquake ever to hit Japan in 140 years. It’s so horrifying to see video recordings of the devastation resulted from the massive earthquakes. As if that wasn’t enough, 10 feet high tidal waves/ tsunami just crashed into the seashores, and you could see hundreds of people screaming for help.

But never lose hope, our Japanese friends. Help will always come to you in time of need. Humans are strange creatures. They squabble amongst one another everyday. They kill each other. They fight each other. But then, when tragedies like this comes, humans of various races and backgrounds somehow can put aside their differences and band together for a common goal.

Stay strong our friends, our brothers.

.:PEACE:.

Transformers Extended Review: Rodimus Convoy Collector Coin

On my last review of the Masterpiece Rodimus Convoy, I’ve forgotten to mention the most significant piece of accessory that came with the set, which is the collector coin. My coin came 2 weeks after I got my Rodimus Convoy figure, partly because my supplier ran out of stock.

Apparently, the coin is only available with the Hong Kong release of the Masterpiece figure, or so I’ve been told. Anyways, the coin itself is a very neat accessory and comes packed in a CD-size envelope. There is a hole in the middle of the cover flap which reveals the coin with Rodimus Prime’s face on it and the year and month of the figure’s release. On the cover, it is written “The World of Transformers” & “Masterpiece”.

            Once you open it up, the back of the cover reveals the trademarked Rodimus/ Hot Rod flame decals. There are also a few paragraphs introducing Rodimus Prime/ Hot Rod character based on their G1 history.

            “Hot Rod is a young soldier in Transformers: The Movie. Because of his youngness, he shows great heroism and tend to rush to the enemy during a battle. He battled with Galvatron inside the body of Unicron and retrieved the “Matrix of Leadership”. While liberating the Matrix’s power, Hot Rod is modified into Rodimus Prime and defeated Unicron. After the war, Rodimus leaded the Autobots to win back Cybertron, and declare end of war. However, the peace is not long-lasting, second war was reheated due to Galvatron’s rebirth in 2010.”

“One day. an Autobot shall rise from our ranks… and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour. Until that day, till all are one.” – Optimus Prime.

Now, you may have noticed there are several grammatical errors in the paragraphs above, and I can assure you that they are not typos. Despite the fact that it has a Hasbro logo at the back of the packaging, somehow I don’t think that this Commemorative coin ever went through any Hasbro’s QA/QC department, or else the grammars might have been a bit better.

Now, a lot of collectors may choose not to open up their coin and leave it as it is, but for me being me, I’m not the kind of guy who can leave something stay minted for long. My itchy hands and curiosity would get the best of me every single time. 

The coin feels very hefty and is coated in a gold-like paint. The gold is not as golden as say United Bumblebee’s; this one’s rather pale in comparison. In fact, I’ve tried taking photos of the darn coin, but the gold just won’t show, as you can see from the photos below. 

At the back of the coin, it says “TRANSFORMERS MASTERPIECE – MP09”. The coin is rather neat, and they probably didn’t have to do it, but I really appreciate it nonetheless.

The coin is really a neat display piece, and if you’re like me, and you’ve already, or thinking of opening yours, I’d suggest that you tear of the packaging nicely, and repack it once you’re done with it.

Anyways, a huge props for this item.

Final verdict: 8/10

Transformers Review – Allspark Wingblade (2007 Movie Voyager)

Intro:

Several months back, I did a review on my MOCOM Galaxy Force Galaxy Convoy figure, and what a magnificent figure it was. And as was mentioned in that particular review, one of the most significant gimmicks of that figure was its ability to combine with other figures – namely Leo Breaker or Wing Saber. I didn’t have any of those figures, so it was ashamed really. From pictures I saw online, the combination between Galaxy Convoy and Wing Saber really looked damn good. For a time, I actually went for Wing Saber hunting, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. So when the 2007 Movie came rolling in, I kinda miss the reissued Wingblade figure as well. Eventually, sometime in 2010, I did manage to find the original Cybertron Wing Saber, but they were selling it at an insanely high price, which was about RM 600, and I wasn’t really prepared to spend such money on a Wing Saber figure. So the dream went into hibernation for awhile.

Then I met a friend of mine, whom I will call him as Big Daddy, who was looking to sell off his Allspark Wingblade for about a hundred bucks. Needless to say, I wasn’t going to miss out on such a bargain. All of a sudden, my long lost dream was alive again… and kicking.

So finally, I have the tools and means to transform Galaxy Convoy into Sonic Convoy, albeit the different color scheme.

Oh, the excitement is mounting!!!

Alternate mode:

 

            When it comes to airplanes, I really have to clue on the models. The air craft itself looks plausibly real, but I can’t really be sure. Wingblade is an Ultra-class figure that is predominantly greenish-grey. The aircraft is armed to the teeth and really does have a hefty feel to it. I really like the design of the aircraft, in the sense that it is very detailed. 

Tons of kibbles underneath the Jet

            As most Cybertron figures, Wingblade comes with an Autobot Cyber Planet Key, colored in red. Inserting the key into the slot on top of the cockpit will cause the side of the cockpit to swing outward, revealing more firepower. There is button on top of the cockpit that when you press, it will reveal some sort of a laser firing sounds and also a light-up LED in front. 

With Cyber Planet Key Activation

            Generally, the aircraft doesn’t do anything more. There are a whole lot of kibbles underneath that aircraft, and I guess we’ll just have to get used to that, won’t we?

Robot Mode:

 

            In robot mode, Wingblade looks awesome. Due to its color combination of green-grey-yellow, some fans in the Transformers community have dubbed him as Springer, and declared that this is actually homage to Springer. Regardless the case, I am sticking to the name Wingblade. Here, he is your standard Ultra-class figure, which is very huge and bulky. If you’ve watched the Cybertron/ Galaxy Force animated shows before, he really looks show-accurate.

            Articulation-wise, he’s okay for a Cybertron figure, but kinda lagging compared to the newer-designed figures. The head turns and can’t look up or down. The arms are kinda unique in the sense that they are not really attached to the body, but rather to the wings. The joints at the wings allow the arms to move up and down, which to me is kinda awkward. The arms rotate slightly above the elbows. The elbows, due to its transformations, consist of a double-joint, which is nice, and also there is no wrists articulation available. Wingblade also has a waist-joint, and the hips are on universal ratcheting joints. The knees are also on ratcheting joints and finally Wingblade has ankle joints that only allow forward and backward motions. 

Wingblade's Articulations

            In this mode, you can have Wingblade wielding a pair of guns, which were previously stored in a compartment under the tailfin, and also a pair of swords, which are his wing flaps.

            Inserting the red-colored Cyber Planet Key again will reveal more weaponry in the cockpit, which you could arm them over his head. 

With Cyber Planet Key Activation

Sonic Convoy Mode:

 

            Honest to God, this is why I had looked for Wingblade/ Wing Saber in the first place. The combination mode looked nothing short of amazing. Galaxy Convoy retains all of his articulation points, but gained in weaponry and grandeur. In this mode, Sonic Convoy wields 2 shoulder canons, formed by Wingblade’s arms. The extra long wingspan also adds to the general awesomeness of the figure, for the lack of a better word.

            The color maybe a bit off, because Sonic Convoy is meant to be a combination between Galaxy Convoy and Sonic Bomber, but I’ve learnt to accept this Wingblade version as Galaxy Convoy’s combination partner, and they actually look good with one another.

            Sonic Bomber’s Cyber Planet Key still works in this mode, just in case if you’re wondering.  

With Cyber Planet Key Activation

Overall:

            I really love the Wingblade figure, although the colors are not really as good as that of Sonic Bomber’s, but we gotta do with what we have, right? But truth be told, Wingblade itself looks quite nice, and it’s really an awesome bonus that he is able to combine with Galaxy Convoy.

            Overall, it’s a nice figure, although I have to say this again, I still wished HasTak had done differently with the hands design. I think it could’ve been done better.

            Also, another shout-out again to Big Daddy for providing me with this awesome figure – thanks dude!!!!

            Final verdict, 8/10.