New Planet Cybertron: February 2013

Cybertronian Family - The Dream Girl (Valentine's Special)

Greetings to all Cybertronians & Planeteers,

All of us at New Planet Cybertron and The Planet's Journal would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers:

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 2013 & GONG XI FA CAI...

May all your dreams come true in this year of the Water Snake...

The Family (Updated Feb 2013) - The Pics and Video

Hello there, my fellow Cybertronians,

It's Chinese New Year again, so for us at New Planet Cybertron, it can only mean ONE thing -- Annual Photo Shoot Session. As with the years past, I would update you on our collections, for your viewing pleasures.

This year, I've decided to do something a little bit different. In almost all of my previous "Family Photos", the figures were usually arranged inside the cabinets, and thus it doesn't give an overall view of my humble collection. So since I was in the midst of cleaning up the cabinets, I thought I might as well snap a few shots of them.

There are still 2 more boxes of mostly lower grades knockoff stuffs, which I haven't opened in years -- those are somewhere in my room.

The Family Video

So yeah, there are still loads of stuffs to review.

So I hope y'all will enjoy this year's New Planet Cybertron Annual Family Photos...

Transformers Review: Gari Gari Robo Kun

Intro:

Throughout history, we have seen quite a number of strange-looking Transformers. In fact, we at New Planet Cybertron have reviewed quite a number of these so-called unconventional-looking Transformers; the Sports Label Convoy, Device Label Broadblast and most recently, Capticon. So yeah, we have seen some fair share of unconventional stuff.

This time, however, I believe we’ve finally hit the jackpot! Introducing to you right now, the Gari-Gari Robo Kun, a collaboration between Takara-Tomy and one of Japan’s most famous Ice Cream company – Akagi Nyugyo, based in Fukuya, Japan.

Garigari-kun (translated as Mr. Crunchy) is the mascot for this company, and is quite popular in Japan. Somehow, someway, Takara-Tomy saw the potential and decided to make some money out of it by doing this collaboration.

I don’t normally talk about the packaging and I just have to give props to this packaging. The box itself looks like some ice cream box, and the inner plastic looks like some ice-cream wrapper. The best part is the plastic wrapping is re-sealable.

Anyways, without further ado, let’s head on with this review.

Alternate Mode:

Of all things, although it makes a lot of sense here, Garigari-Robo-kun transforms into an ice-cream – a Cola-soda flavored ice-cream to be exact.

Still, it looks to me like a normal chocolate-flavored ice cream.

From left: United Bumblebee & Gari-Gari-robot-Kun

Anyways, I absolutely love this mode and it looks pretty darn life-like and in-scale. In fact, I’ve even managed to fool a few people and letting them think that I was eating an ice-cream.

Absolutely fantastic alternate mode and this is definitely one of those perfect 1:1 scale Transformers.

Robot Mode:

So far, I’ve been pretty much in awe with this figure, and little that I know that this figure would provide me with even more pleasant surprises.

Based on the photos that I’ve seen prior, I would’ve thought that the transformation would be quite simple. I was half-wrong. For a figure like this, the transformation is satisfyingly intuitive and it does involve a lot of folding and twisting; a little bit of part-forming, as well as shell-forming.

I love how the ice-cream breaks off into a few pieces; i.e. the sword, the shield, the robot itself and even a mini ice-cream for Gari-Gari Robo-kun to enjoy! Yep, you heard right.

The head sculpt has a little bit of Optimus Prime influence on it – the helmet is clearly an Optimus homage.

Takara-Tomy is quite creative to turn the ice-cream stick into a sword that can be wielded. I also like the idea of how every single loose piece can combine and be stored on the robot mode itself.

Articulation-wise, there is not much of it: the shoulders are on ball joints and the fists can rotate, that’s all.

From left: United Bumblebee & Gari-Gari-robot-Kun

Despite the lack of articulation, this little guy is quite fun. I can imagine the girls falling for its utterly adorable cuteness.

Overall:

What else can I say, but WOW! I can’t believe that I actually enjoy this little dude. I can’t believe that I actually let this little guy on that store’s shelf for at least 3 to 4 months before I finally decided to make the purchases!

Luckily no one picked him up, or else they would be the one having fun with this little guy instead of me.

Lucky me.

Highly Recommended.

Final verdict: 9.5/10

Transformers Review: Armada Demolisher (Cybertron Deluxe)

Intro:

One thing about HasTak that most fans have already known by now is that they are prone to re-releasing the same mold over and over again, even in different toylines.

Demolisher is one of these fine examples. Although he never appeared in the Transformers: Cybertron series, the figure was still released in the line, after previous releases in the Armada and Energon toy line, albeit different color applications.

Rather strange for a Cybertron series action figure, Demolisher does not come with any Cyber Planet Keys, or even a Minicon partner.

To be honest with, I am not much of a fan of the character, but since he did play a considerably huge role in the Armada and Energon series, I thought I might as well give him due recognition and give him a shot.

Alternate Mode:

Demolisher transforms into a Cybertronian Tank, or you might even call him a Air Assault Tank, if you so want to, because that’s what he looks like.

There is also a seat at the back of the tank, and you could probably place a small humanoid figurine on it.

The turret can turn 360°. Demolisher has two missiles on each side, and this is where things go a bit awkward. While, the left missiles can be launched using a Minicon figure, the right “holders” only hold the missiles and cannot launch them. It doesn’t make sense, why couldn’t they do launchers for both sides? Surely there’s not much cost to save from that, isn’t it?

Anyways, it’s an okay alternate mode – not spectacular, but just okay.

Robot Mode:

The robot mode is fairly accurate to his TV portrayals, and he still maintains his foot-soldier look.

The colors are different from what we’ve seen from the Armada and Energon series – the colors seems more vibrant here.

The head sculpt is quite unconventional too – with his right eye being bigger than his right, and he has a huge grin.

Articulation-wise: the head rotates, but the movements are heavily restricted; the shoulders rotate; the elbows are double-jointed, but somehow, they can’t bend like one; the waist rotates; the hips swing forward and back; and finally the knees bend.

Overall, I like the robot mode – not spectacular, but definitely better than the alternate mode.

Overall:

All in all, Demolisher may or may not be the figure for you. He was a prominent character in both the Armada and Energon series, and was fiercely loyal to Megatron – a rare trait amongst the Decepticon fold, but he didn’t appear at all in the Cybertron series, thus making him one of the surprise inclusions in the toy line.

If you don’t like what you’re seeing now from the photos, then probably having him won’t even change your mind.

Final verdict: 6.5/10