Transformers Generations Voyager Class Springer 30th Anniversary action figure review

Following up this week's Transformers Generations Blitzwing review here's the second triple-changer in the wave, Autobot Springer. You may get mixed, biased reviews about him online because of the massive influx of Warbot Defenders, the 3rd party Springer, that went up on ebay when he was announced. A lot of the elite collectors who shelled out a hundred bucks for a smaller, less articulated, lego-brick-esq 3rd party figure are raging because it's no longer desired. Some have gone so far as to demand hasbro provide them with renumeration for their loss (you didn't make the character soon enough so it forced me to overpay for a copyright infringing stand-in!) and one internet manchild even started a propaganda plot on multiple sites trying to convince everyone the line was cancelled so they'd drop their preorders. It was a sad, sad day for Transformers fandom but it just goes to show you how passionate fans get about the Transformers license. Springer actually had a deluxe Generations done of him just last year in the form of the Asia exclusive repaint of Tomahawk that I reviewed here so you can have both scales in your collection. How does he stack up against his buddy Blitz and today's current offerings? One word: DAMN.

Springer's sculpting is to put it lightly, absolutely 100% astoundingly amazing. He looks like Springer, his proportions are perfect, his headsculpt is flawless, and I cannot find one gripe about how he appears in robot form. In an era of hollow Transformers Springer is not one of them. Ok I take that back. The insides of his thighs have hollow spots BUT THAT IS IT. Every other part of him is filled in solid with sculpt. His hands are even sculpted with more detail than normal. I was floored by the difference of design between him and Blitzwing. Heck, him and any other Transformer I own. Springer is just that impressive looking. Hasbro even went to the extent that you can extend his shoulder pauldrons up and to the side to simulate his look in Last Stand of the Wreckers. The moving pads serve no other transformation purpose other than to give you a bonus look to him. Bravo!

But with an amazing sculpt you're expecting a brick right? Nope. Springer's articulation is above and beyond what we have previously had and borders on Masterpiece level. His ball jointed shoulders can be raised an lowered on dual joints, his head has a great ball joint, hinged and swivel wrists, waist that turns, and full range of motion on every limb including moving toes and heel. His feet are sculpted in a side-step angle so he has no ankle rockers but that's the only missing part. Springer can hold his sword in both hands (or at least mimic it since the handle is too short for that), aim any direction, side kick, uppercut, it's truly amazing. This range of articulation coupled with the sculpt means you will get some great looking poses out of him.

Paint application here is very clean and consistent over the entire figure. His main colors are molded in plastic with little painted details here and there to break up the colors. Springer's chest is very bright yellow and you may want to do some panel lining or something to bring out the detail that's on there but lost because of how bright the plastic is. The inside of his rims are painted, yay! That's been missing on what, 90% of all recent Transformers? Even the tiny wheel nubs of his knee guards are painted.

Springer's accessories include a large double barrel missile launching gun and a transforming sword that doubles as his rotor blade. Both are excellent, the gun having a double-trigger that fires off the missiles separately depending on how far you push it. Springer's rotor sword has multiple hinge spots that allow you to twist, transform, and lock it into place in both modes. It also looks awesome in both modes without sacrificing sculpt for functionality. The sword stores underneath in car mode and the cannon attaches with a special hidden clip underneath in helicopter mode. The cannon's handle is also hinged so you can aim it up/down when it's on top of the car, how cool is that? You can also combine both weapons to form a Gunblade!

Uh-oh here comes the transformation part. A triple-changer that looks good in robot form, but what about the other two? They're perfect, done, go buy him. That could be the end of the review, heh...but I'll elaborate. Springer's armored car mode rocks. It's sleek, large, and there's no kibble from his other modes. In fact there's no feet, hands, head, or anything sticking out of ANY of his modes. This is a first for me because even Transformers with just two modes usually have some kibble or parts showing. It's even all hidden when you flip the car upside down. What sort of wizardry is this hasbro...and why haven't you been doing this from the start?

Helicopter mode is no slouch either and it's remarkably simple to get Springer from robot to car, or car to copter, or any direction of transformation simply because each part of him is engineered perfectly. Everything pegs securely into something. Arms become doors which become fins. Feet become wheels which become tail sections. The hood of the car slides back and the sides lock on to become the cockpit and the copter mode doesn't suffer at all. I could very well see someone buying three Springers just to display him in each mode because they look that good.

I apologize if I sound like I'm gushing over this figure and have a bias. I actually look for problems and love figuring out fixes (like poor Blitzwing's issues, yikes). But I have nothing to fix on Springer and enjoyed him right out of the package. This is very rare for me and I'm still looking at him thinking we just got the next Generation of Transformers figures right here. Springer even looks good from the back! Compared to his buddy Blitzwing in the same assortment you have a Masterpiece figure here.

So what's the verdict on Springer? You buy him. You find him, you order him, you trade for him, you add him to your collection and never let him go. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has him, Blitzwing, and even his remold/repaint Sandstorm who looks equally awesome. You can also snag him from Amazon and get free shipping when it's sold directly from Hasbro not a private store, and you order $25 or more. So there you go. Springer is my favorite Transformer in my entire collection now. Not because of the character but because he's a solid, super articulated voyager class figure with great accessories, three great modes, and thoughtfully designed in every aspect. Hasbro/Takara if you keep making figures like this you'll put 3rd party companies right out of a job.

Transformers Prime (Robots in Disguise) Wheeljack figure review

The show Transformers Prime has people either loving it or hating it. But no matter how Transformers fans disagree about the show we all can agree on one thing: we got some neat toys out of it. From the first official release of the main line (called Robots in Disguise by some retailers oddly enough) comes none other than Wheeljack. He's less of a scientist and more of a samurai/swordsman this time but it works for the Prime universe.

Wheeljack's sculpt is nicely done having a stocky appearance as his shoulders protrude higher than his head. While he's solid all the way around there's less finesse in the way his body segments match up than what we saw with the First Editions. The forearms look a little thin but it's nothing major. His head sculpt is a thing of beauty with a stern look. His ball jointed hands are large, detailed, and would look great on a voyager custom. They have ball posts on the end and remove easily too, perfect fodder parts.

Articulation in the legs is great with full sitting motion and ball ankles. He has no waist but doesn't suffer any from it. Wheel's ball jointed head can look almost straight up. It's only when we get to the arms that we run into problems. Wheeljack has fold-down arms that lack a bicep joint, but partially make up for that with a pivot shoulder. This means he can only cross his arms if his shoulders are at maximum angle and doesn't have full 90 deg elbow unless the upper joint is moved too. For a bot that uses swords, arm articulation should have been a priority.

Wheeljack's bright white, solid plastic is much better than the white plastic of other Transformers like Jazz or Drift. Paint app are crisp and well applied. Transformation is simple but interesting. His dual-hinged upper torso joint works great to raise/hide his head. The legs rotate, drop down, and the lower sections spin to lock in well. But when all is said and done he's missing all the points of motion/separate sections held together by metal pins that Arcee, Starscream, and the other First Editions have. It's almost like they came from two separate lines.

Wheeljack stands just a bit shorter than normal Deluxes but fakes height with his back fins. These only spin to open into a 'V' and aren't posable up or down. He comes with two swords which can be plugged into his alt mode under the bumper, stored underneath, on his back, or pegged on the car sides. They're nicely sculpted and work well for his overall design. However the front card art shows him with his arm-cannon out like Cliffjumper but neither figures have them. Only first edition Cliffjumper has swing-out blasters.

Alt mode is a seek sports car and tabs together sturdily. That's partially because of the fold-up arms that have no swivels lock in tightly against his body. The overall design of the car is great but without the swords in the front there are two blocky gaps under the front end that look a little out of place. The rear end of the car is missing where a bumper/lower trunk would be, instead just his folded shoulders sitting there out in the open. Huh, maybe he lost that in battle.

So what's the verdict? Wheeljack is a nice transformer, make no mistake. He's similar to a Universe or Generations. But when matched up against his First Edition friends he unfortunately falls short in design and articulation. He has nowhere near the number of parts or moving sections the others do. Wheeljack makes for a great swordsman-bot and the lack of all those moving parts means he would be easy to paint up for a custom ninja type character. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has him in stock and he can be found everywhere that sells Transformers, tho he's being snatched up quick.

Walmart Exclusive Sideswipe Transformers Dark of the Moon Figure Review

Strolling through Walmart I stumbled upon a really brightly colored Autobot, Sideswipe. Normally plain silver he's been decked out as a Walmart Exclusive in dark blue and Spawn-eye green. I know what you're thinking, recolors are usually bleh but this one is quite good since he's the Sidearm Sideswipe mold. He comes with two allspark-blue guns and some neat features that make him worth picking up. 

Transformation is much simpler than his previous versions and his head is on a neat spin-n-spring up feature that hides it away in alt mode. Sideswipe has excellent articulation and a head that can look straight up. His knees are a little hindered by the black piston in the back and you can just cut it off for better range of movement. His little crotch pistons don't hinder his movement at all.

Paint is what's new here and man is it nice looking. The lime yellow stands out great against the blue and there's just enough silver and black to blend. Not sure why they made his guns and inner thighs bright blue but it's a minor quip. Sideswipe has Transtech symbols on him! This is pretty cool considering the line got scrapped and replaced by Amada...ugh. The giant Autobot symbol on his hood was a great touch too.

Sideswipe's feet can be spun around to recreate his skating action with his toes serving as hidden balance points in the back. In alt mode the gullwings of the car open up to deploy his guns or store them inside. These along with the hide-a-head gimmick make him really neat to play around with. However you'll have to find him first. He's a Walmart Exclusive so check there first or just save time by snagging him at Past Generation Toys seeing as he's been out for a while and everyone has snagged him up. Ebay is another option (all eBay links are eBayPartnerNetwork affiliate links that help me out!) to find him. There's a repainted Bumblebee in the same exclusive wave but he's pretty forgettable seeing how he's based on the first movie mold we ever got.

Transformers Cyberverse Autobot Guzzle action figure review

Transformers Cyberverse has plenty of already Deluxe and above sized guys such as Optimus Prime and Megatron but there's also the G1ish gems like Powerglide thrown into the mix. Another such character is Guzzle who hasn't been seen since his G1 Sparkbot toy. He's a green tank that turns into a yellow chested robot with some rather large limbs.

Guzzle has some pretty decent articulation for a Cyberverse like ball shoulders, elbows, hips, moving toes, tho his head is restricted to barely a swivel. His knees are jointed but more of an unfolded transformation, still they do the job. Guz's long reach is great and he can grapple other figures like a wrestler. I wish the giant cannon folded down over his shoulder but it can be swung out of the way.

Detail, detail, detail! Guzzle is loaded. His head is tiny yet you can see the inner eye detail and beak-like mouthparts. All over his body is excellent detail and on his alt mode every rivet is pronounced. His paint is pretty good too tho a wash would have really brought out the detail. Like his G1 form he has a bright yellow chest and tan/silver sections.

Tank mode is nice and compact. The turret doesn't rotate which may be a deal breaker for some. His gun comes in two parts and the larger section folds allowing it to be held in both hands, one hand, or split up on top of the tank. There's lettering on the sides and it looks like a great little military green tank. Overall he's a great little pocket-sized character like Powerglide and I hope Cyberverse starts to focus on the lesser known characters like Guzzle.

Autobot emblem/logo for your vehicle

Hey everyone, you may have been asking yourself where the blog went over the last couple of days. All the post are gone! That's because I've redesigned the theme of this blog to feature daily action figure/collectible reviews. My plan is to take 4 pictures of a new figure, item, or product related to the genres we love and write up a 5 minute review of them. I say 'daily' but we'll see if I can keep my promise. I get pretty busy customizing. I'll do my best however! And now for our first review...

If you've seen Transformers you know how psyched Sam was to have a giant transforming car. While our cars may not transform we can deck them out in Transformers gear! One such item I'm reviewing tonight is an Autobot hood emblem. It's 4" tall by 3 3/4" across at its widest point and about as thick as your average figure cardback.

 What struck me first was now sharp and crisp the actual logo was. There's no rounded plasticy-edges because the whole thing is made out of milled aluminum! On the back is a super sticky foam pad which probably isn't removable because it's REALLY STICKY, like 3M quality sticky. This is good because you don't want someone peeling off your logo and putting it on their own car.

Upon closer inspection you'll see that there are tiny striations, those little carved lines in the sculpt that help it reflect light. This is some really nice machine work. The red is quite brilliant with the silver behind it. You could effectively stick this thing on the back of your laptop, computer tower, front of your wife's car as a surprise (my plan to do so soon), on your door, I mean really the possibilities are endless! Heck, put one on all of those! Well...that would be expensive right? Nope. You can order this thing for $4 shipped to your door by going here and snagging one. They also have them in silver and black!

I mean really. A pack of paper Transformers stickers is more expensive than that. I'm still looking for a Decepticon faction symbol of this quality that has a border around it, not cut out. You'll notice this Autobot logo is contained within one and looks all official like Prime's hood logo in the movie. And that's it for my first new blog entry.