Transformers Review: Skids/ Mudflap – Ice Cream Truck (ROTF Deluxe)

Intro:

            When the Revenge of the Fallen movie was released back in 2009, the Twins, a.k.a. Skids and Mudflap received so much flak from so many quarters. Honestly, I don’t know what the fuss all was about. Sure, they swear and curse a bit too much, but the characters in South Park do it all time and I don’t see anyone complaining about them. So what gives?! They might not be the best of characters in the movie, but heck, they sure weren’t that bad…

            Anyways, I have to admit, I’m not much of a fan of the individually-released Deluxe-class figures of both, and I almost skipped them entirely until I finally decided to give Tuner Skids and Tuner Mudflap a shot – although I wasn’t too badly disappointed with them, I wasn’t entirely too happy with them either. I, however, was more interested in the ice-cream truck, for which the Twins were first depicted in the movie. The moment I saw that scene, I knew instantly that I was going to get it the moment HasTak decides to release them. As most of you loyal Cybertronians may know by now, I am a huge sucker for unique Transformers, and this ice-cream truck version of the Twins absolutely fits the bill – both combining to form the vehicle mode, that’s unique in my book.

            So I’ve waited patiently for months, before my prayers were finally answered. So, here we are now, reviewing these highly anticipated figures.

Alternate Mode:

            Well arguably, this is the main attraction of the set itself – having 2 robots/ characters combining to form 1 singular alternate mode. The size is that of a regular Deluxe-class figure and predominantly pink and white in color – a color combination that I would normally have a problem with, but in this case, it’s an exception. 

            For one, this mode looks horrible from the bottom as the kibbles are fully exposed. The front half of the vehicle mode’s windshields are made from see-through plastic and the robot legs are arranged in a way that they look almost as if they are the seats in the cockpit, which is nice. 

Kibbles

            The truck rolls quite well on all four wheels and apart from the upside-down Autobot insignia at the back of the truck, I think the detailing are quite nice and accurate. 

From left to right: Skids & Mudflap

Robot Mode (Skids):

            To be honest with you, I used to not be able to remember which of the Twins is which – the obviously differentiated green Chevy Beat and the maroon Chevy Trax were somehow a topic of identification crisis for me. So you can just imagine my utter confusion when in ice-cream truck mode, with both having the same color-scheme in robot mode, it was almost impossible for me identify which is which!!! Then finally, it hit on me – Skids have an oversized right arm, while Mudflap has an oversized left.

            In my humble opinion, Skids is the weaker mould of the two. Skids is very top heavy and having a set of very scrawny little legs really doesn’t help a lot. However, you will still be able to pose or stand him once you find those sweet spots. 

 

            Despite being small in size – approximately 3-inches tall – the little has quite a number of articulations to him. The head is on a ball joint, but it’s very, very, very tight to use. The upper shoulders have a two-point swivel articulation that provides the upward and downward motions to the arms. Unfortunately though, due to the sheer size of the shoulders and the monstrous mess that is his back may hinder a lot of possible movements. Lower shoulders are on rotational joints. The elbows are ball-jointed as well as having rotational joints – so the lower arms have all range of motions. The hands however, are different between both arms. The bigger right hand (dark grey in color) is on a swivel that swivels inward and back, while the left hand (pink in color) is stagnant. 

The Face only A Parent Could Love

            Skids also comes with a waist movement, which is always a welcome. The hips are on very loose ball joints (then again, this might be just in my case), which worsens the lower body stability. The legs rotate and bend at the knees and finally, the ankles are on very tight ball joints and all a swivel that provides inward motions.

            Personally I think the arms are somewhat overwhelmingly – gorilla arms, if you would – that it makes him look even more awkward.

            All in all, Skids is probably my least favorite of the set. He’s not bad, just could’ve been better. 

Verdict: 7/10

Robot Mode (Mudflap):

            Proportionally-wise, while Skids has everything wrong, Mudflap has everything right. He doesn’t have gorilla-arms and feet are bigger (maybe a bit too big) – Mudflap looks way better in comparison to his elder brother. On the flipside, just like his brother, Mudflap can be a bit back-heavy too. You just have to look for that sweet spot when posing him.  

 

            Mudflap also has that cape-thing going on at the back, which is kinda cool and they also double-up as an extra support for the back-heaviness at times.

            Articulation-wise: the head is on a much looser ball joint, in comparison to that of Skids’s; the shoulder pads (guards) also swing inward and out, and rotate upward and down; the shoulders themselves are on ball joints; the elbows bend and rotate; unlike Skids, Mudflap’s larger left hand now is on a swivel joint instead of the right, and it is pink in color instead of dark grey; no waist movement; hips are all loose ball joints; the knees bend and rotate; and finally the toe-flaps swing up and back down. 

            Both Mudflap and Skids are almost the same height with the former being slightly, very slightly, taller.

            Generally-speaking, quite nice.

Verdict: 8.5/10

Overall:

 

            Despite their shortcomings, I really do love these guys, probably even more than their Chevy-versions. Eye-piercing color scheme aside, this mode is quite unique and is generally a fan favorite due to the memorable Shanghai scene at the start of the ROTF movie.

            If you haven’t got one of these yet, I suggest that you do.

Recommended.

            Final verdict: 8/10.

Transformers Review - Soundwave (Music Label)

Intro:

            Ask around who are some of the most memorable and iconic characters from he G1 cartoon, only a few names who will make the mark, namely Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream and last but never the least, Soundwave. Soundwave was popular because of several factors: 1) because he was one of the most prominent, trustworthy and reliable member of the Decepticon – a rare quality amongst their rank; 2) because of his synthesized voiced that sets him apart from the rest of the casts – which made him very cool; and 3) he is literally a leader of his own subgroup – the cassette-bots consisting of Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ratbat, Buzzsaw, Ravage & several other comics-only characters. Also, the fact that he could transform into a life-sized mini cassette recorder made him truly a robot-in-disguise, disregarding the size-shrinking factor.

            Back in those days, we were wondering, what if the-powers-that-be could come out with a real functioning Soundwave – a real working cassette-recorder? Unfortunately, it never actually happened. However, now, as we arrive in an era where almost nothing is impossible, and having a fully functioning Soundwave cassette recorder seemed to be an actual possibility, the cassette recorder has literally become obsolete.

            So to keep up with the currents, Takara finally decided to turn Soundwave into an MP3 player. To actually have a real functioning Soundwave figure is truly a dream come true for many fans out there, regardless of whatever his alternate mode may be. When I first heard about it, I know that I was gonna get him, especially when I have never owned a G1 Soundwave figure before (which was way back in 2007/8).

            There are 3 versions of Music Label Soundwaves available– the all-white iPod-like version; the predominantly black-colored Soundblaster-esque version; & of course the classic G1-styled predominantly blue version – the version that I was looking for. The problem was, the blue Soundwaves were limited in numbers in Malaysia and all I could do was to wait and pray for it…

            When they finally arrived in my local supplier - Teencom, there were only 2 blue Soundwaves, and I was one of the few that was privileged enough to grab hold of him, but at a hefty price – the blue-boy cost me a good RM 380, inclusive of the 2 GB memory card. So finally, I have owned my first G1 Soundwave.

            So was all the anticipations and insane price tag worth it? Well, you have to read on to find out.

Alternate Mode:

            Soundwave is packed in MP3 player mode. Appearance-wise he looks just like his animated self. I can’t really compare it to the original G1 Soundwave, but I reckoned Music Label Soundwave is much lighter than that of G1’s, since the latter is made from die-cast rather than plastic. Unlike the original G1 version where you can store the guns and blaster at the back of the cassette recorder as batteries, the battery compartment behind it is literally for a real battery – 1 AAA-sized battery. The entire surface of MP3 looks smooth and slick, in contrast to its other predecessors, which is cool. If you expect the cassette compartment would eject and release Ravage or Laserbeak, you’ll be half-disappointed. Instead of any cassette minions, you can only insert memory cards into it.

Robot Mode:

 

            Transformation is rather simple, and it doesn’t differ much from its other predecessors I presume – and I know for a fact that it is almost as similar to Titanium Soundwave. He’s literally a spitting image of its G1 animation counterpart. This is exactly how Soundwave should have looked like. Standing at nearly 6-inch tall, he’s the size of your standard deluxe-class figure. 

            Articulation is fantastic: his head is on a ball joint; the arms rotate 360-degrees and moves up and down; elbow and wrist articulation; also hips & knee articulation. Overall, this is probably the most animation-accurate Soundwave we’ll ever gonna get – barring the lack of his cassette minions. 

 

 

Gimmicks:

            This is a dead giveaway. As mentioned earlier, he is a Music Label Soundwave – designed to be a transformer with an actual working alternate mode. He is an MP3 player, which includes a pair of normal working earpiece which you would need to attach to the shoulder socket where you would insert the shoulder cannon in robot mode. This bit would eventually be solved when Takara-Tomy released the Music Label Rumble/Frenzy earpiece set, to be paired up with Soundwave, which I will be reviewing some time soon. Once the MP3 player is in operation, a blue LED on his top right chest will flicker.
            As far as an MP3 player concern, he is just plain dumb – you could play music with it; Play/Pause, Volume Up, Volume Down, Previous Song and Next Song. Those are practically it! There are no Shuffle option, or fast forward/ rewind button, or repeat function or any other basic or advance function that you would normally find in a standard MP3 or iPod player.

            He doesn’t have a built-in memory, which means he’s pretty useless straight out of the box. You would need to purchase a mini SD memory card so that you could download songs into. I don’t read Japanese, but after browsing through the box’s descriptions, it seems that it can only handle a 1GB-sized memory card. However, there are those who say that a 2GB memory card would work as well, based on which I have bought accordingly. This however may not yield the best of result, (or maybe this could only just be my case since I’ve never heard anybody else complaining about it), since certain downloaded song doesn’t play that well – they either keep on stalling or fail to play altogether.

            Soundwave comes with 2 cannons: the shoulder cannon and the wave blaster. The shoulder cannon has the words “Destron Soundwave, electric launcher” inscribed on it, while the blaster has the words “Destron Soundwave, Wave bluster (I’m perfect sure it’s supposed to be BLASTER instead of BLUSTER – typical Japanese English mispronunciation)” inscribed on it. 

            Soundwave also comes with extra 2-pairs of hands, which in my honest opinion is absolutely pointless. What do you need the extra hands for? Spare parts?

Overall:

            So does Soundwave worth the hype and money? Well, this could well depends on what you expect Soundwave to deliver. If you expected him to be the super-cool, state-of-the-art, advance iPod or MP3 player, then my answer is NO – you would definitely be disappointed and regret the purchase, and besides, there are waaaaay better options out there.

            If you are looking for just a good looking Soundwave figure which would not cost this much, I think you’d probably be advised to invest on the Classic Soundwave figure instead, which would includes some of his cassette minions (or so I’ve heard).

            However, if you’re like me, which means that you are simply expecting the magic of a fully functional Transformer, which combines an animated-accurate action figure complete with a working alternate mode, then I say “Hell Yeah” Music Label Soundwave is a dream comes true for a die-hard fan like me. Of course, he ain’t a perfect figure. There are plenty other suggestions that I could make to make it a better figure such as to include at least a shuffle option; one or two insert-able cassette-bot (Laserbeak and Ravage at least); a built-in memory at least or a pocket/waist clip so that we could bring Soundwave anywhere – but I think this is not what this figure is all about. This figure is all about realizing an old fond dream. Since those days, we were hoping for a Reflector camera that would actually snap pictures, or a Megatron that actually shoots real bullets instead of pellets; or a Blaster boom box that booms – all of which would probably come to be I reckoned. Now, here we have, an actually Soundwave that works – a realization of a childhood dream.

           This is what this Soundwave figure is all about, and for that, I highly recommend him to any of you out there.

            Final verdict, I give Music Label Soundwave 9.5/10. Get him if you can ever find him.

Transformers Review – G1 Perceptor (Universe Commemorative)

Intro:

            Perceptor – the Autobots’ number one scientific nerd, has been one of those well known characters that has received only a handful of starring episodes, one of which was called Microbots where he received constant verbal abused from Brawn for not participating actively in open battles – which Perceptor was clearly not meant for. Anyways, having said that, Perceptor has been involved directly in a gunfight, as depicted in the 1986 movie where he was seen defending the Autobot City on Earth valiantly. 

            I never thought that I would ever owned an actual G1 Perceptor before, but in one of my recent trips to Sabah (Borneo), I was surprised that the Kota Kinabalu’s Toys “R” Us  (1 Borneo Branch) has one on the shelf when I can’t even find him anywhere else in the country. 

            Anyways, needless to say, I didn’t hesitate for even one second. So, on to the reviews…

           

Alternate Mode (Microscope):

            This mode is probably one of the reasons why Perceptor still remains quite popular with the fans. His unusual alternate mode, which is an actual-scaled microscope, is actually a functioning microscope! No, you can’t really use it for your scientific research or projects, but yes, it functions. Scalpel, from Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen – his alternate mode was clearly inspired by Perceptor, and yes Michael Bay, we, the fans appreciate that. 

 

            Anyways, I think it’s a really neat alternate mode.

Alternate Mode (Tank):

            To be honest with you, I initially didn’t quite like this mode, probably because it wasn’t really a part of the G1 continuity, but as I am doing this review, I feel like the mode is starting to grow on me. One thing’s for sure, unlike most 3^rd Modes that I do not like, this wasn’t a half thought mode. When this figure was released in 1985, it was based on an older Microman figure, and back in those days, it featured a small Microman figure piloting this tank mode. 

 

            The mode is held on three free rolling wheels and has a tilt-able turret, which is formed by the scopes. 

            It’s a neat mode.

 

Robot Mode:

            Yep, this is Perceptor alright – unmistakably him. It has the shoulder cannon, formed by the scopes, which can either be placed on the left or the right shoulders. 

 

 

            The set also comes with 2 guns – one, a molded gun; the other is supposedly a spring-loaded gun with 3 bullets. On mine, however, this function fails to work due to a missing spring, which is kinda sad. 

            Standing at about 6 ¼” (to the head) or 7” (to the top of the shoulder cannon), the figure comes with a set of commendable articulations, which is surprising for a mould his age: there is no head articulation; shoulders turn 360°; the elbows bend (yay!); hips swings awkwardly outward; bendable knees and the toe-flaps flap up and down. 

            My only complaint of this mode is probably the head sculpt, which has a mouth plate instead of his normal animated look. 

            A wonderful mode and he still looks cool even when posed with his Generations counterpart. 

 

Overall:

            Nostalgia rules. Perceptor is one of those characters that has one of the most unique alternate modes. A wonderful design and he is definitely a must for fans that grew up with the Generation 1 series.

           

            Highly recommended.

            Final verdict: 9/10. 

20,000 Views Appreciation Note

Wow, I can’t believe it, the New Planet Cybertron has yet again crossed another milestone – we’ve made it across the 20,000 views mark, and it all goes down to all of you Cybertronians out there!!! We would like to thank each and every single one of you out there, who have all been with us since Day 1. 

We hope that you've enjoyed all of our reviews and articles so far, and trust us, there will be more to come. Stay tuned for more...

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