#i know he fits the big guy with a gimmick thingy but i like that 3 headed clown guy i think the three heads r cool n also clowns r awesome

[wannabemasterofwindintraining]

Hidden side had mamali then gave up on the rest of the ghosts

[oneheadedcerberus]

Transformers Review #2

Here I am again with the second installment of my very own incredibly self-indulgent toy review (potential) series that is an obvious and thinly veiled excuse for me to talk about the things I like + substitute for true socialization in the wake of quarantine.

And since he’s the one I keep on my desk to hold my tablet pen like a tiny, evil secretary who is no doubt plotting against me:

This is War for Cybertron: Earthrise Voyager Starscream.

Right off the bat, it’s a good first impression. The shape and colours are very classically ‘Starscream’, which is no surprise, given the entire gimmick of Earthrise (and the wider Generations line, really) is essentially ‘G1, but newer’. Nostalgia is a deep pool that companies like Hasbro are never afraid to dip into, what can you say?

The reds and blues are lush as hell (although I have seen a bit of chipping on the red paint! Blue seems to be coloured plastic, tho), but frankly the grey is a bit dull and boring. It wouldn’t be so bad if the back of him wasn’t such a wall of grey. Face him forwards on the shelf, I suppose?

The orangey-yellow of the cockpit is a nice splash to really bring the A-game of the primary colours, very eye catching, and all of it topped off with a glossy black head.

His eyes don’t have much to bring to the party with how small and strangely sunken into his face they are, especially with the awning of his forehead casting them into eternal shadow. They’re honestly a bit difficult to see. Maybe its a statement on Starscream and his duplicitous nature? Yeah probably not. They are a lovely red when I shine my phone light on them, however. 

The face sculpt is a good point as well, with nice, clear features and even a bit of a sulky frown, for extra Starscreaminess.

And even if his neck is a kind of hilariously thin, it does give him a good amount of mobility in his head, both tilt and swivel.

His whole body is riddled with sculpting and detail, absolutely covered in little roboty looking lines and bits and bobs that help bring him to life and help the weapons ports and seams blend in. Much like the colours, there’s more on the front than the back, but seeing how the back is mostly jet as a opposed to robot, and thus largely flat and smooth, I can forgive.

His proportions are just the tiniest bit off to my eye - arms just a touch short and his head just a bit small, but that’s probably so it can fit into the nosecone kibble-hat hanging gracelessly off his back, which I would have an easier time being mad at if it didn’t allow for my favourite feature of the whole toy

would you believe this is the first thing I did after opening the box? Because it was.

He’s got large, stable feet perfect for balancing, stepping over ones enemies, or climbing the ranks. You go, Starscream.

Good, solid legs with no awkward hollow sections. Unfortunately the big ol’ solid stompers are about the highlight of the legs- the posing ability on this guy is lackluster, to say the least

His shoulders and elbows are about standard, nothing spectacular, but that up there is as far as his knees and legs will bend. The knees manage 90~ degrees, but he can’t even really sit down, and to move his legs up at all you need to raise his little red skirt crotch flap thingy. They don’t move backwards at all, being blocked by part of the alt mode. Hm.

But, y’know what? He does have those classic turbine tits, so there’s that. Silver linings.

The transformation is about 30 steps, and once I’d done it a few times I found it to be easy to memorize and a decent amount of fun to do. It had some neat little steps such as folding his forearms around the rest of his arms and then hiding them in his chest- after removing the cockpit, of course. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cockpit in his chest is the actual one in the alt mode, I’m far more used to Seeker molds using a fake-out for that. Although it does leave his chest with a bit of a gap in it in alt mode. Eh. Give and take.

The actual act of opening his chest was damn difficult and a touch nerve racking, it was stuck fast and I ended up having to pry it open (thank you, trusty prybar thing I keep on my desk) all the while being sure I was about to break it. Luckily, it didn’t break and is opening easier now that I’ve done it a few times. The wings did pop off, tho. Good thing they go straight back on.

His legs are pretty simple, pull his shins open, fold them up, clip them together and click them in place, in a move that is similar (but much simpler) to his arms. I actually managed to get to that stage without the instructions before realizing I was baffled by where to stick his arms. I’m not the best at puzzles, ok?

Or, if you are so inclined, you can skip the legs and make a bit of an awkwardly upright gerwalk

y’know. If you really wanna.

Once you get through all the major steps, the alt mode snaps together pretty satisfyingly.

The nosecone really beefs up the length of this thing (it’s actually a bit too long for the lightbox I use for my photos, damn), and the sheer jet-ness of this alt mode makes me kinda want to woosh it around the room making my own low-flying aeroplane sound effects. So I did. At least I resisted the urge to toss him. For now.

On the downside, the underside kinda shatters the illusion a bit. He’s head is well hidden, if technically still visible if you know where it is, but damn does his torso look like a torso. The rest of him might be disguising itself as not-a-body a bit better, but it sure as shit ain’t disguising itself as a jet. And there’s no landing gear. *Siiigh* I suppose you can’t have everything.

The topside, while very jet-y, is a bit of a slab of grey as well. Only the touches of red, white and blue and the lovely purple Decepticon badges stop it from looking kinda unfinished. But, hey the cockpit is semi-transparent, and you can just about make out a lil seat in there for a hypothetical pilot which I think is cute for some reason :). My one issue with the topside is the weapons port smack dab right in the middle there, like some kind of space-robot blowhole.

As for accessories go, he comes with his two null rays and that’s about it. They got well on his arms in robot mode and on his wings for the alt mode (or you can stick one in the blowhole if you really want, I suppose?), but he can’t really hold them in his hands like pistols, just in case you wanted him to do that.

They go pretty well on either his upper arms, as I prefer, or you can turn his arms and put them on his forearms if you so desire.

Sadly, no crown... though I’m sure one is available online if you really, really want.

His box, strangely enough, doesn’t have a secret code in it to fit with the Earthrise gimmick of decoding a star map. It did come with the little red bit of plastic for finding the codes, however.

In conclusion: The alt mode is pretty great and a lot of fun to play with, and I’m pretty happy with this to be the main Starscream of my collection and I‘m certainly not hankering for a new one anytime soon, I do kinda wish he had better posing. And the disappointing legs almost make me wish I gotten the Siege one instead, which I hear has some pretty amazing legs, with super deep knees. Fortunately for me I am a bit of a sucker for an Earth jet alt mode over a Tetrajet, so I can’t despair too much.

And he does do a superb job holding my pen.

Like so.

[sternerstufftoys]

Thunder! Thunder! Thunderwing! Hooooo!

Alright, this one is going to get a little bit personal. See, this guy is a big deal in this house. I've talked about all your favourite leaders, so now let's talk about mine. Let's talk about Thunderwing.

I'd have been about five or six years old when, one Christmas, I got Thunderwing as my Big Present. I was genuinely overjoyed. Not only was this a big name character, a major lead in the comics and everything, but he was a leader. This was like getting a Galvatron or an Optimus Prime (no, I never had anything close to anything like that)... except even better, as Thunderwing was the latest thing. And on top of that, it was the first (arguably only) Pretender toy that didn't suck! That's like... four jackpots in one! My brother had had an Ultra Magnus for a few years now, and at last our Decepticons could have a commander of their own. Oh, it was on.

Six months later I'd lost the bloody thing.

Or rather, not lost exactly, I knew pretty exactly where it was, but being left in the grass on a campsite on the wrong side of the English Channel made rescue attempts apparently too difficult? Whatever, mum. I knew I could do it. If you'd given me the use of a speedboat I could have grabbed him and been back in time for Allo Allo. To make things worse, I didn't lose all of Thunderwing, just the outer shell. You know, the good bit. The bit that is recognisably Thunderwing. The inner robot came home safe and sound with us, and sat in the toy box ever since, taunting me, shaming me, reminding me that he would never be complete again. All in all the experience was a bit of a downer, you know?

Thunderwing's presence in the comics would continue, and hells yes was it ever a highlight for me, even if the experience was somewhat soured by the loss of the toy proper. This was a Decepticon leader who stood out through the virtue of... and it's unusual to be saying this... actually being good at the job. Not only an effective and brutal fighter, but one who actually seemed to give a toss about his underlings. And more to the point, over the course of the Matrix Quest storyline, actually ended up winning. Sure, Ratbat might hold the title for the number of victories (though we still need to consult VAR over that) but Thunderwing's achievement as the only Decepticon to ever use the Matrix itself trumps everything. Everything.

Roughly 4 million years passed, and just as I was starting to find collecting Transformers toys was getting to be something of a drag, what should find its way into the shops but Generations Thunderwing. My jaw dropped. I knew that I needed to get it. I've never ordered anything so quickly in all my life. A brand new super-articulated modern toy of my childhood pride and joy for less than £15, and I could have it delivered right to me? This was a big moment.

So right off the bat I need to make this clear. Generations Thunderwing is a good toy. A great toy, in fact. He fits right in with the other deluxe Decepticon jets that make up a substantial portion of my collection, transforming as he does into a modified F22 with all the zig-zaggy details scratched in (someone at the design desk clearly got a real kick out of those zig-zags). He looks good, poses good, even tips his hat to the old G1 toy by having an extended nosecone that can be removed as an independent drone thingy. So... why am I unsatisfied with him these days?

I've said in the past that deluxe is a good size for a Transformer. I'm totally happy with Bludgeon and Straxus being that size - it doesn't make them feel too small. And I do like my jets in deluxe size, since it's the most common size for them to be released and this way they all match up. And robot mode shouldn't be an issue here, seriously. Made-up toy robots do not have a relative scale. There is no 'proper' size for any of them, since they don't actually exist. If you want to harp on about scale, then real-world alt modes should be your guide. So a deluxe robot can't be the problem either.

Is it the Stormbringer-inspired jaggedy-mouth face? Well, I'm not a fan, but it's not the end of the world either. How about the lack of a mini robot to homage the pretender gimmick properly? It'd be nice, but it's not a deal-breaker. The super-visible arms and feet under the fuselage? Yeah, that's a bit lazy to be honest, especially from the same line that gave us Drift, for crying out loud. Perhaps they used up all the complexity-karma on Straxus. Is it that his G1 toy has a great big sporran on his crotch and therefore must have a growly Scottish accent and this is now reduced to a tiny green wart that probably makes him Welsh or something? Well, yeah. I guess.

Inevitably, it's a bit of all of these things. Especially the sporran. Each little niggle takes him that little bit further away from the toy I'd really like, and with nearly 10 years on the clock our tastes and expectations have changed. Since Siege was in many ways a rehash of Universe 2.0 and Earthrise seems to be cautiously continuing this trend into 2010's Generations, there's a distinct chance we're going to see a new Thunderwing before 2021 is out. And I assure you, I shall be there the day that preorders go up, wallet in hand and ready to go. Ain't nobody gonna keep me from my man, etc. The fact that a cheap-and-easy Titans Return toy wasn't crapped out from the Sky Shadow mould lends credence to this idea. Someone in Hasbro likes Thunderwing enough to want to do him properly.

Sigh. Here's the kicker. So a couple of years ago I discovered Leicester Old And Vintage Toys, and was amazed to see, there on the shelf, right there, a battered and worn-out-looking G1 Thunderwing shell. No inner robot, but that wasn't a problem, right? I had the original at home still! I can finally reunite the two! Cash was exchanged, shell was brought home, and when I looked for my old inner robot... it wasn't there. Or anywhere else I looked. I have literally no idea what happened to it. I still have one of the guns, but not the robot itself.

Honestly, this fresh heartbreak has made it all worse. I still want a new Thunderwing, and now I need a new old Thunderwing to replace my old old Thunderwing who was parted from his old Thunderwing shell only for me to buy a new old Thunderwing shell and and and and and and... am I cursed? I think I'm cursed. God dammit.

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Tokyo Treat Feb 18

Hello Cuties! Here we are with the February Tokyo Treat- but before I begin I thought I’d let you guys know that the Tokyo Treat family has recently opened up Tokyo Haul! An online shop full of items and goods found within these crates; as well as special items available in prize form, and items that haven’t appeared in the crates too; from toys to snacks to makeup

There are also several ways to earn points upon signing up and purchasing items, so if you see anything you wanna try I recommend you check there!

(As you can see, they returned to the booklet format starting with this one, but again we’ve lost our favorite Mascots DX)

Personally I can’t wait to cover the DIY item ♥ Pretty Cure is yet another series I grew up with it and I really really liked KiraKira Precure~

Okay, so first up will be the special Strawberry Shortcake Pepsi you see in that first pic. It is a special Japanese Pepsi that comes out around the winter season- as I’m sure you can tell from the package. It also has 43kcal O_O

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

With promises of tasting a real shortcake I was pretty enticed by this strange Pepsi. It’s essentially a white, stronger version of a Vanilla Pepsi, if you have ever seen or tried that before. It tastes pretty good, and I have to agree- when I picture or see a shortcake this is the taste vibe I get (•’╻’• ۶)۶

Although... I don’t essentially taste any strawberry. I taste a bit of coconut, and I can’t say it’s a drink I would want often. But it isn’t bad. I can see enjoying it during the season when it’s out.

(Sorry for the relative in the background~)

I thought I’d switch things up by starting with favorite items- and due to the romantic sweetness of the Holiday, we were limited to two. A bit of a bummer but I’m still happy regardless.

First up is this large (but don’t be fooled by the size) bag of Koikeya Sour Plum Chips by a popular brand I’ve only tried once or twice honestly. Sour plums (or Ume) and Sakura flowers go together to create a lovely motif befitting of the pink sprinkled on the chips

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

When I took my first bite I wasn’t sure what to think about these. But they’re good if you like sour things; they reminded me a lot of those Salt and Vinegar Chips- which I like but usually avoid eating, since it usually burns my lips and is overall unpleasant ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ But the flavor of these is lighter, and I didn’t feel any sort of pain while eating them.

Our other item is this Umaibo - Shrimp Mayonnaise flavor. I love Umaibo but so far I haven’t been a fan of fish ones. For a while I was on a shrimp kick and enjoyed eating it but as of late I haven’t touched any. But I do enjoy mayonnaise and I’m always up for trying a new Umaibo :3 so...

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I’m not sure if it tastes as good as real Mayonnaise Shrimp- but this was very good; so good in fact that I think this might be my new, second favorite Umaibo!

Next is our chocolate category :D Or at least part of it. It was pretty big this month.

First we have some Strawberry Barley Puffs, which I have reviewed ages ago so I’ll just summarize my first review on them; they’re kind of strange in taste and the strawberry shell doesn’t change it too much. But they’re not bad.

Another item I’ve tried before on the right-hand side is the Chocolate Wafer, which featured One Piece last time. This time it featured a series I know nothing about called Ultimate Muscle. I remember seeing and finding it very unappealing as a young girl- no offense if you like it though. Again I’ll summarize because these chocolate wafers usually do not change.

However- this one I didn’t like nearly as much as last time. I don’t know if it’s because I got to it a few months late (which I don’t think should matter because it was sealed), or if my taste was off. It just wasn’t as good as I remembered.

Next up is this came broken item that wasn’t listed in the book, known as Chocobar-Z (I think). It’s basically a chocolate Umaibo.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It being broken hasn’t deterred me from it’s taste. It’s really good x3 It has a crispy, slightly bitter taste but it’s also a little creamy~

Our last item in the picture is not actually on the plate. I kept it in its package- and it’s like a prior item I had before as well known as the Ice Cream Lolly, this time in Strawberry. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s basically a Strawberry Ice Cream Chupa-chups lollipop- but that isn’t bad if you like those

Now we’re onto the strawberry-chocolate! My favorite~♥

We’ll continue going in order, so first is this interesting box of Ginza Rusk in Strawberry. Rusk is essentially a dried dough or bread-like product that is usually covered in some type of flavoring or fried and coated in sugar.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

As much as I love strawberries, I wasn’t too crazy about this one. It’s packaging is neat, and I love it’s creamy-crunchy texture, but the flavor itself as a teensy-bit off putting to me.

I had higher hopes for this next item: Maroyaka Milk Chocolate - Strawberry Party Pack. Look how sweet they look, and look at that packaging~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Not only do they look irresistibly kawaii and sweet, but they taste so good!! It tastes exactly like a strawberry dipped in chocolate, and while you taste strawberry chocolate, you also get the tartness from an actual strawberry. They’re also very smooth and melty; just how I like my chocolate~

Our final item is another object not in the booklet. I think this is because it was a last-second replacement for the Lotte Pie No Mi we were originally supposed to get. Something happened with it, I don’t remember the details but I got an email months ago about it .

Anyway, instead we have this really cute package of heart-shaped Strawberry Pocky. I’m not a huge pocky eater but I do love the strawberry ones, it also included these adorable illustrations of this boy I do not recognize. I wish I did though, he’s such a cutie ♡ 

The back of the box (visible above) also featured a profile on him. From what’s on the box, I guess he’s from a manga or game called Love With Pocky?? If anybody knows anything about this please let me know right away!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I don’t really have special feelings for pocky- but how can you go wrong with the strawberry ones? Plus I adore this person, whoever he is so call me biased if you must~

Lastly are our unique items- including two cola products; my most favorite of favorites~

Our first item is a popular brand known as Sour Long Gum, a dagashi snack known for its sour take on sweet flavors.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It tasted good, but oddly enough it wasn’t actually sour. It got sweeter after a few minutes but I did not taste anything sour. At all.

Speaking of sour, we also have a 5-pack set of Cola Gummies. I know you’re recommended to share these but who am I kidding. I’m willing to share but I will be doing most of the eating ;3

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

They taste really good, I love them! But I also like the fact that they are soft gummies.

Our final item (and probably the most unique) is this elegant box of Rose x Berry Glamatic Tablets made by Lotte. These are perfect if you’re preparing for a quick smooch or suffer from last-minute bad breath- and they just make your mouth feel nice~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

They taste like their name, Berries and Rose. I know rose is a flavor people either like or don’t, but I’m one of the people who does generally enjoy it so these taste really nice to me. The flavoring/effect lasts a few minutes in the mouth once you chew/dissolve the tablet, and due to their small size you’ll probably want a few to make sure they actually work.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality - 4 out of 5. I liked everything, although there was damage done to the choco Z-thing I got. I can’t really fault them on that though because I know damage happens. I can fault them for this continued trend of lessening items to give us a share pack set though. I mean if you actually have people to share with or like the item enough then great, but for someone like me who was drawn in due to the amount of items, it’s a little bit let down.

Content - 4 out of 5. I generally liked everything, I’d say maybe better than the prior months box. I was a bit displeased to get a handful of repeat items though.

Theme - 5 out of 5. Not only did the items fit the Valentines Day theme it went for, but they put extra effort in the booklet as well to make each item feel Valentines special~

Total Rank: 13 out of 15 Cuties. I do miss our cute toys/bonus items they would give us, which hasn’t been happening as of late unfortunately, and I’m not found out these 5-pack singular item gimmick either; but I still really love the box. I’ve never really come across one that displeased me yet.

♥ Cutie’s Scale of Yummy ♥

1. Cola Gummies - As much as I liked things, this was no contest. 

2. Strawberry Milk Chocolate thingies - They are perfect~

3. Umaibo - I didn’t know if I would like this but it ended up pleasantly surprising me :3 

4.  Sour Plum Chips - They taste good, and they make a fun prank chip for people who don’t like sour things.

5. Rose x Berry Mints - I’m used to mint-mint flavors, so I really enjoyed this. I usually don’t buy them lately so I take when I’m given.

6. Shortcake Pepsi - It was good but I wouldn’t drink it frequently, even in season.  

7. Cola Gum - It was good, but I didn’t taste the sourness and the flavor was overall lighter.

8. Choco Thingy - It was a little bitter but I like dark chocolate. I loved it’s crispy texture~

9. Ice Cream Lolly - Nothing too special. A different type of strawberry cream chupa-chups. 

10. Barley Puffs - They seemed stale; not like before...

11. Wafer - This one was skimping on something- it just wasn’t as good as I remember.  

12. Strawberry Rusk - For some reason I just did not like it much.

13. Strawberry Pocky - It’s my favorite flavor, but I was more attracted to the boy and the lovely packaging then a snack I’ve eaten a million times.

Alrighty Cuties, we’ve come to another end of another Tokyo Treat Crate! I recommend checking this brand out if you like what you see or read, and remember you can check the online stores as well for any specific items :3 next I’ll be covering the DIY product so stay Cute!

[bwprowl]

More cool new toys of weird old Transformers tonight, as well as a more formal piece for serious collectors of serious props. Also more of those fantasy-people figures from Boss Fight get revealed. There’re also pre-orders up for a new figma and a new old one, plus a HUGE Hot Toys release that’s been a long time coming. All this, plus a man and his van, here on Tuesday Night Toys!

New Stuff: Enemy of the State

TakaraTomy has a new exclusive set coming out of Masterpiece tapes, and they continue an utterly bonkers tradition started a few years ago. Fans went nuts when they made official toys using G1 molds of Stripes, Nightstalker, Wingthing, and Enemy, characters of varying levels of deep obscurity. Now that completionist crew is back again using the best molds available for their characters, and seeing weirdos like Enemy and Stripes rendered in high-end form is pretty surreal. Most notable beyond the character choices is Nightstalker, being based on a Masterpiece Steeljaw mold we haven’t seen yet, and which pretty much confirms a Masterpiece Blaster down the line. So there’s a lot to look forward to with this set.

Remember, Enemy is red, Rumble is black

High-end prop production company Visual Time is doing a very limited run of a replica Autobot Matrix of Leadership, the bendy, pointy, chromy version from the live-action films. It’s a neat thing to see in person, and should make a very nice display piece. If you can get one, that is, since they’re only making 350 of them, purportedly. Which means they’re probably gonna cost a buck or two, as well.

And Boss Fight Studios’ Vitruvian HACKS series keeps rolling out cool-looking new entries in their current fantasy-setting series. There’s a skull knight guy and a mage and-look, I am mostly here for that badass-looking Drow lady. I hope they have those kits they do so I can custom up my own versions. That goblin gal can probably come along too.

Wishlist: Do you have it?!

I have not heard good things about that current Berserk anime. But hopefully the myriad fans of that magnum opus can find other entries to console themselves with. For instance, the original Guts figma is getting a repainted version (hey, all those new bad guys they’re releasing need someone to fight), and given how hard that original version was getting to find, this is welcome news.

The opposite of a big guy with a sword is a small girl with a gun, and so Max Factory also has figma Rikka Shiina up for pre-order, second in their Little Armory lineup. She comes with much of the same type of cool stuff that made her predecessor Miyo so appealing (I particularly like the mag holder on the front of her chest rig). Her pop-up box accessories also include a little wall that would be totally at home at any of the airsoft ranges I’ve played at myself, which really sells this thing to me, honestly. I hope future releases all include bits like that, so you can build a decent field for them to fight it out in.

After numerous delays, Hot Toys's Hulkbuster Iron Man figure is finally set for release soon. They’ve really taken their time fine-tuning this figure, listening to fan concerns and trying and re-trying things out, all to make sure this monumental release is as perfect as possible. It should be a big moment for Sideshow once the figure is finally released, as well as for anyone who’s finally able to order one, provided they have over eight-hundred dollars on tap.

On Desk: Towing the line

You gotta love buying random old TFs off eBay, particularly from my favorite red-headed stepchild of the franchise: Energon! Today’s nifty nobody is Tow-Line, a weirdo structural homage to the G1 Ironhide/Ratchet design who is otherwise his own guy (though he’s also got Skids color scheme there. Energon was kind of a three-car-pile-up of half-assed homages). Been wanting this guy for a while out of sheer curiosity, so I finally went on eBay and snapped one up!

And then the seller couldn’t find the one I’d bought so they refunded me so I went back on eBay and bought one again!

So I got him for real and he’s a really solid little treat of a toy. Really, the vehicle mode is a rock-hard shell of a snapped-together thing, particularly apparent if you know how it transforms. On its own it’s just really unique though; it’s got a more dynamic, ‘animated’ look to it that isn’t as prominent on many of the other Energon figures, and its actual function is one-of-a-kind. How many other news van Transformers are there? Having the little broadcast rig up there with the dishes and arm able to pose give it a decent amount of play value.

Now the transformation. As mentioned, it’s an homage to the G1 Ratchet/Ironhide toy, so you just open up the van sides, pop off the top and fold a robot out of that. The remaining van slice slides out into a battle sled thing, so you put the weapon either on that or in the robot’s hand, and you’re set. The resulting robot is kinda nicely basic looking, fitting the boxy aesthetic everyone remembers Ironhide and Ratchet having, but mixing it up with a much more interesting color scheme and of course plenty of solid posability. The sled thingy, for its part, is a goofy little accessory he can just sit on, but it’s kinda supposed to be this dumb fun idea, isn’t it?

The robo-torso and the sled-bed connect together using Energon’s standard combiner clamps, meaning that’s how they interact with other Autobots for the line’s combining gimmick. Tow-bot’s battleshirt mode is pretty simple: just rotate his legs over his head as cannons and pop him onto someone with a more robust pants mode. The sled does even less, you just smash someone in top-half mode onto this doofy thing, and marvel at how it never doesn’t look stupid and hilarious.

And Tow-Line can of course combine this way with himself.

It’s like a late-series RX-78 upgrade

There’s so much going on with Tow-Line, and so much of it is fun. Silly, weird, and often stupid, yes, but all fun because of it. That’s a lot of what drove the whole ‘Unicron Trilogy’ branch of Transformers, and it’s why they’re ones I go back to a lot when I need a quick eBay pick-me-up.

Hope you enjoyed all that, everyone! And I hope you have fun until I see you next time!