thoughtsofsparky

[thoughtsofsparky]

Kingdom Rankings- #15

Moving on from Rhinox, we have Deluxe Class Fossilizer Ractonite! Just like last time, my full thoughts will be under the Continue Reading bar.

Now, let's get the Styracosaurus in the room out of the way. Yes, this character, Ractonite, did not appear in the Beast Wars cartoon but was conceived purely to be included in the Kingdom toy line. Ractonite is part of a new group of Transformers called Fossilizers, which will be explained in detail later in the review. Even though the Fossilizers did not exist in the original Beast Wars cartoon, they match the overall aesthetic of the rest of the figures in Kingdom, so I treat them as Kingdom Beast figures.

Anyways, on to Ractonite. Robot mode looks really good! I love the knight helmet motif his head has going on, and the whole aesthetic of a robot warrior made of dinosaur bones is so cool. Some points are deducted because of the lack of proper hands, however. The package art shows the 5-millimeter posts as blasters, but the figure itself does not convey that. Another Fossilizer character we'll get to later also lacks proper hands, but the hands still have 5mm ports so the figure can still hold other compatible accessories.

Moving on to the Styracosaurus fossil alt mode, it's pretty good. Compared to Rhinox, the transformation is doable without any hang-ups. Other than that, it's just kind of... there. It isn't bad by any means, but it also isn't a mind-blowing alt mode. Now, onto the main aspect of this figure that places it so far down the list.

As previously mentioned, this figure is what's known as a Fossilizer. The main gimmick of the Fossilizers is that their alt modes are that of fossilized beasts and like actual fossils, they split apart into a variety of parts that can then be used to weaponize other figures using the native 5mm post and port system.

Now, I love this gimmick. I sought out every figure across the War For Cybertron Trilogy that works this way. Weaponizing other figures or even creating abominations is such a blast. Ractonite however is just a bit underwhelming in this respect. The central torso piece is the heaviest component of Ractonite and since most of the other components have hinges to facilitate articulation in robot mode, it makes it hard to incorporate the torso into any combinations.

Note the torso laying next to Sideswipe here, not incorporated into this Fossilizer layout. Also, even if you do find a way to incorporate it, it'll cause the figure's limbs to droop or just cause them to fall over if you equip it to a Deluxe Class figure, which is the size class that works the best for single Fossilizer combinations.

Overall, Ractonite is just kind of an underwhelming figure. The main appeal of the figure to me is ultimately undermined by having some of the components not being able to integrate smoothly. Not bad by any means, but I can officially say that it's all uphill from here in terms of Kingdom Beast Wars figures.

[thoughtsofsparky]

Kingdom Rankings- #16

Just want to preface this first ranking by saying that out of all of the Beast figures from Kingdom, none of the figures are inherently bad. Some are more underwhelming than others, but none of them have qualities that make them bad action figures. With that out of the way, let's get onto the first figure!

Starting this ranking off, we have Voyager Class Rhinox! To keep things semi-brief, I put my full thoughts under the Keep Reading button.

As far as looks go, he definitely fits the bill. Like the previous entries in the War For Cybertron Trilogy, the designers of Kingdom focused on giving us figures that were accurate to their show models, and Rhinox is no exception. Other than some minor, missing details and the head not matching, he looks like he came right out of an episode of the show. His weapons, on the other hand, are a different story...

As you can see, the show depicts his guns as massive machine guns. It makes sense for a Transformer with a rhinoceros beast mode to have weapons that reflect the brutish nature of the said beast mode. The Kingdom figure's weapons are much smaller to facilitate storage in alt mode, and as a result, just look like dinky plates. I think I would have rather had the guns be full-sized and attached to the sides of the rhino mode. Speaking of the rhino mode, this is a perfect segue to talk about it.

The alt mode is a brick in every sense of the word, which I guess is fitting for a rhinoceros. The beast mode has very little articulation, which doesn't bother me since this rhino still has to fold into a robot. As opposed to the robot modes, the beast modes of the Kingdom figures go for a more realistic look, and I personally don't mind that. It looks like a rhino and that's enough for me.

You may be asking "So if both modes are good enough for you, why is Rhinox at the bottom of the list?", and that is a very good question. The answer lies in the thing the toyline was named for: the transformation. The transformation from robot mode to rhino mode or vice versa just is not enjoyable. All the panels have to sit a certain way, and when transforming, you are moving parts past other parts when there is barely enough room to do so. It isn't too bad if you follow a very specific set of directions to get from Point A to B, but even doing that still does not result in a flawless transformation. To me, the transformation is just as important as the robot and alt modes, so when the transformation is not enjoyable, I cannot fully enjoy the figure in question. In Rhinox's defense though, I have handled figures where the transformation is so frustrating that I do not want to handle the figure at all. I still want to handle Rhinox especially in robot mode.

Like I said previously, Kingdom Voyager Class Rhinox is not a bad figure. If you just want a modern, obtainable representation of Rhinox for your Beast Wars display, he fits the bill perfectly. If you want a fun figure that turns from a robot to rhinoceros, you may be a little disappointed. Overall though, he is just okay. Far from the worst Transformers figures I have handled in my time collecting.

If you made it this far, thank you! The Kingdom figures are only going to get better from here, so I hope you stick around for that. If you enjoyed, I would appreciate a reblog to help get my thoughts out there for those who might be interested in what I am talking about.

[thoughtsofsparky]

Transformers WFC Kingdom Rankings

If you are into the toy side of the TF fandom, you probably heard about Kingdom, the third installment of the War For Cybertron Trilogy. While this line had some favorites from the Generation 1 cartoon such as Warpath, Ultra Magnus, and Galvatron, Kingdom's main claim to fame was updating nearly the whole lineup of characters from the first season of Beast Wars, the successor series to the very first Transformers cartoon. This series follows the adventures of Transformers who can turn into animals, hence the name.

Beast Wars was more so my childhood than the G1 cartoon my dad showed me. I remember borrowing a box set of the whole series and watching through it all at some point. Fast forward to 2020, when Hasbro announces a Transformers line with the warring beasts as the focus. I and many others are really excited, not just for updated figures of a cast that had not gotten fully updated in the past, but also because it showed that Hasbro was willing to shift the focus to other areas of the franchise. It was going to be hard on the wallet, but I knew that I had to get every single figure of the Beast Wars cast.

And that I did. Over the course of 2021 and a bit into 2022, I was able to get every show character that was released in Kingdom and adjacent lines, as well as new characters made specifically for the line. After getting the full Beast Wars collection off of my display shelf, I remembered just how good (or how bad in some cases) the Kingdom Beast figures are. I then figured, what better way to kinda breathe life back into this blog than to do a ranking of each figure, so that's what I'll be doing. Over the next little while, I will be ranking each Beast Wars figure from Kingdom that I own from the worst to the best. I hope you join me on this adventure!

[thoughtsofsparky]

Thinking about Weaponizers

So about a week ago, I picked up Transformers Kingdom Slammer. For those unaware, Slammer is part of a sub-set of figures known as "Weaponizers". The gimmick with these figures is that their limbs come apart and can then be used to, well, weaponize your other figures. An unintentional side effect though is that you can take multiple Weaponizers and combine them utilizing the numerous posts and ports on each figure. Here, I have included images of Slammer, as well as his corresponding figure, Sixgun, in their individual robot modes:

As well as a combined form I came up with utilizing all of the components from both figures:

This combination is not in the instruction booklets for either figure, yet it feels intentional the way everything comes together. All of this has made me think though: could it be possible to design two Weaponizer figures with the sole intention of combining them? Like, have them be separate figures on their own with separate robot and alt modes, but also have them deliberately use all their components to combine. Would be an interesting thing to see nonetheless.

[thoughtsofsparky]

Hello! This is a companion blog to slasher1113.tumblr.com. I have a lot of thoughts about things I like, and as such, they will be posted here. Topics include, but are not limited to:

Transformers Dungeons and Dragons Minecraft Metroid Other video games Other sci-fi and fantasy entertainment

Hope you enjoy my ramblings about things I like!