Transformers Generation Deluxe Chromia - Pictorial Review

Enough with combiners (for now), it's time an official release of a character whose 'type' doesn't make appearance quite often in Transformers universe especially in CHURG line (original mold). In fact, its 1 out of 2 of its kind to be officially release under the Neo-G1 line, both under the same wave (excluding TFTM All Spark Power Fracture who uses Classics Mirage's mold). Chromia, the Autobot Fembot.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Along with the other Fembots, Chromia first appeared in G1's The Search for Alpha Trion. Chromia, along with Moonracer and Firestar who are working under the orders of Elita One, sneak into Shockwave's headquarters to raid the energon cubes stockpile. As the mission went south, they escape and return to Elita One only to be ambushed by the Decepticons and Elita One captured.

The Fembots
Pic Credit : TFWiki

After the Generation 1 timeline, Chromia (at least the name) made few other appearances in both cartoon and comic book, the most recent would be in the IDW Generation 1 continuity. Born from the hot spot (filled with unborn sparks) in Caminus, Chromia is a part of a distant colony of Cybertronians whose citizens had adapted to their new life by developing differentiated genders. Joined by Nautica, Chromia went to Cybertron as bodyguards for the Cityspeaker, Windblade.

Chromia and Windblade
Pic Credit : TFWiki

Generations IDW Deluxe Crosscut - Pictorial Review

Now, a release from the same wave as Windblade, Generations Crosscut. Crosscut is one of the new "original G1 characters" in Transformers universe, an ambassador to almost every world known especially earth.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

In IDW Dark Cybertron Chapter #7 The Dead Are Not Enough, Crosscut can be seen battling the Ammonites with the help of Swerve...who he confused with Rung...

Pic Credit : TFWiki

G1 Crosscut was released on 2002 as e-Hobby Exclusive and sold togather in set with Road Rage. G1 Crosscut is a retool of G1 Skids and comes with a different head and hood.

Generations IDW Deluxe Windblade - Pictorial Review

Now for the release that lots of fans have been looking forward to. Back in 2013, Hasbro started an initiative for fans to be involved in creating a whole new character, the "Fan-Built Bot".

There were 2 polls conducted, the first one commenced from April 18th 2013 to May 5th 2013 for fans to decide her faction, alternate mode, weapon, color scheme, and also personality; while the poll from May 10th 2013 to May 17th 2013 was conducted to select her name, gender, origin, and specialty. And all of that gave birth to Windblade.

Art By Sarah Stone
Pic Credit : TFWiki

Windblade has a four-issue miniseries, published by IDW from April to July 2014 while a second miniseries was planned under the title "Windblade Returns" which was changed back to "Transformers : Windblade"

Windblade comes from Caminus, a place whose inhabitants were cut off from Cybertron for millions of years. This change when Thunderclash came to seek help from Cityspeaker in order to aid Metroplex.

Generations Leader Class Jetfire - Pictorial Review

Now, time for another exciting official release. Just to be clear, I tried my best not to be biased in my reviews and being that my collections focused mainly on [Official] Neo-G1 figures, there's been up and down in terms of the excitement of HasTak releases. My last Deluxe wave (Scoop, Rattrap, Tankor, etc) was a big disappointment while Voyager Roadbuster is kinda great (better than Skybite). But this here, is one of the best official figures for 2014, the 2nd biggest original Neo-G1 CHURG mold after Metroplex and the first of it class in this line, Leader Class Jetfire.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Jetfire (also known as Skyfire) first made his appearance in G1 cartoon, Fire in the Sky episode. He was a friend of Starscream from way before the war but an exploration mission gone bad causes Jetfire to be lost (presumably dead) for millions of years.

I could go on and on about him but the best thing about Jetfire is his G1 toy. Not all original G1 toys originated from HasTak. Jetfire is one of the example, taken from Macross Super Valkyrie VF-1S of Takatoku Toys. And perhaps due to legal reasons, Jetfire in the animation was changed to not resemble his G1 toy.

Pic Credit : TFWiki/Seibertron.com

Generations Autobot Scoop - Pictorial Review

This is one review that I've been dreading to do for reasons that I'll explain later. Once in a while, Hasbro choose to release few obscure characters that are sometimes even fans are unfamiliar with. They did that back in 2011 for example, with the release of Generations Darkmount, Sky Shadow and Thunderwing.

For 2014, Hasbro released Generations Autobot Scoop, a character that is new even for me.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Scoop is an Autobot Targetmaster, the 4th Autobot Targetmasters to be released under CHURG after United Stepper, Artfire and Henkei Strafe. Known as one of the best field infantries, Scoop uses both cool-headed logic and battle-hardened tactics to fight and crush his enemies on the battlefield. I have no idea in which media did Scoop first appeared but he's in Marvel continuity, Generation 2 and also the more recent IDW Generation 1, among others.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Generations Deluxe Tankor - Pictorial Review

One would thought that Beast Wars was the most unorthodox and controversial Transformers franchise when it was aired in the 90's. But then 1999 came in and we have Beast Machines (BM), a 26-episodes sequel to Beast Wars.

Season 1 of BM focused on the Maximals (Optiumus Primal, Rattrap, Cheetor and Blackarachnia) being back on Cybertron...but not the Cybertron as they know it. All that's left is a deserted Cybertron with streets patrolled by mindless Vehicon Drones serving Megatron and at the same time, the Maximals are infected with a deadly virus that'll kill them. The problem was solved with the help of a supercomputer, the Oracle which reformats them into technorganic bodies.

On the other hand, we have Drones serving Megatron evil plan, specifically Tank Drones, lead by the tank general, Tankor. Tankor along with the other Vehicon Generals, leads Megatron mindless army in keeping the planet under control and to fight against the Maximals.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Tankor and the other generals are the only ones granted sparks, as opposed to normal drones. Tankor fought again and again with the Maximals, holding onto Megatron's promise of "fabulous prize to be won!" for getting them into captivity. And the Maximals anything they can to defend themselves from Tankor brutal attacks. However, much to their dismay, Tankor turns out to be their beloved comrade that fought side-by-side with them during the Beast Wars, Rhinox

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Rhinox was one of the unlucky ones during Maximals' returned to Cybertron. Unlike the Transmetals that were able to stay mobile for a short period, Rhinox was held captive by Megatron and had his spark forcibly removed. The spark was later used to power Tankor, the tank general with hope that the Maximals will be less willing to fight him. But Megatron failed to foresee that Tankor end up being only slightly more intelligent than the rest of the Tank Drones.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Despite Optimus Primal attempt to reach Rhinox's spark, he was too late as the spark was already tainted by his time inside Tankor, rejecting the Maximals and supporting Megatron's idea of technologically-pure Cybertron....but only the idea, not Megatron himself. This resulted in a fail coup d-etat and Tankor was killed. Rhinox expressed his regret over his actions when Optimus Primal met him (his Spark) one last time within the Allspark.

The widely-inaccurate BM Tankor
Pic Credit : TFWiki

Generations Deluxe Rattrap - Pictorial Review

One thing that I was worried about with the release of Age Of Extinction line : Generations line not reaching Malaysia's shore. It was the case back in 2011 with the last wave of Generations didn't hit the shelves and I got the same feeling this year when even after months it was released, the wave that consist of Deluxe Scoop still nowhere to be seen and the newest wave consisting of Deluxe Rattrap and Tankor might suffer the same fate. Luckily, new stock arrived yesterday with Deluxe Scoop, Armada Starscream, Skywarp, Minicon Assault Team, Tankor and Rattrap altogether in a carton.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

One of the main characters in Beast Wars series and the earliest crew of Maximals, Rattrap is perhaps the most annoying character the Maximals have to deal with, with the constant negativity, sarcasm and being dowright rude to almost everyone even his commanding officer. He's a fine soldier nonetheless, been at the frontline of countless battles between the Predacon and Maximal.

Generations Whirl - Pictorial Review

For now, 2014 seems like a well-balanced year, with interesting releases from both HasTak and 3rd Party companies. There's still no sign of the Generations Deluxe Wave 4 here in Malaysia, kind of worrying; considering this won't be the first time I have to outsource some of the regular releases. We are lucky though, since the Wave 4 (if not mistaken) of Generations Voyager has already arrived.

Pic Credit : Web

Whirl....the weird character both in term of his design AND personality. Don't get me wrong Geewunner, I have nothing against his design, just calling a spade; a spade. Whirl is a member of the Wreckers, which recently given more spotlight in the Transformers world. Honestly, I think it's because of that spotlight that fans could have a chance to get our hands on an obscure characters like him (and not long after, Voyager Roadbuster).

Wreckers are well-known to be 'reckless', not abiding to most rules written. But Whirl take it to another level. None can determine whether Whirl is in fact insane OR he just believes that insanity makes an extremely effective weapon.

G1 Whirl
Pic Credit : Web

Generations Rhinox - Pictorial Review

Yet another release that caught the fans by surprised, after the release of Generations Waspinator. The Ironhide of Beast Wars era, Rhinox. Thanks to my friend, who's a hardcore Beast Wars collector, for this piece

Pic Credit : Web

One of Maximal's aces, Rhinox is the most dependable of all of them. A mix of Ironhide's brawn and strength with Wheeljack's intelligence, Rhinox are both effective both on field work and as a strategist, pulling the strings to make sure the Maximal won the battle. He's part of the Axalon's crewmember that crashed on earth during the pursuits of Megatron and his Predacons army

Beast Wars Rhinox
Pic Credit : TFWiki.net

Even with the glory of Beast Wars era, Rhinox received a cruel life in Beast Machine era as he and Silverbolt were captured and stripped of their organis bodies and placed into the body of Tankor and Jetstorm respectively

Tankor/Rhinox
Pic Credit : Web

Generations Doubledealer - Pictorial Review

*First of all, I would like to apologize on how brief this review is and I kinda half-assed on transforming the figure. Was actually a bit dissapointed at how this figure turns out*

Now, another official release. Hasbro decision of releasing a repaint of Generations Blitzwing as Doubledealer surprised me. Sure, repaints are inevitable but for Blitzwing, I would've guess the next logical variant would be Overcharge, considering he's a redeco of G1 Blitzwing, released as an eHobby Exclusive on 2005.

Pic Credit : TFWikiNet

Before we begin, let's make things clear. Don't confused Doubledealer and Doubleclouder. Although sharing the same toy, Doubleclouder was a character from Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers : Super-God Masterforce. Despite being the same, both Doubledealer and Doubleclouder has different background and stories to them

Doubledealer (also known as Dealer) is on both sides of the war but at the same time, on neither. His real side, his only concern is himself. Allegiance on sale, Doubledealer is the best comrade a bot could have if they can pay him enough. As valueable he is to both sides, neither choose to fully trust him.

Generations IDW Goldfire - Pictorial Review

Death in G1 Transformers was not a common thing. Having children as the target audience, the dark tone and storyline were not introduced in the series, up until Transformers The Movie (1986) where almost everyone died. Literally! Death was everywhere, I s**t you not!

Pic Credit : Web

Apparently after 2 years, killing a bot is actually easy
Pic Credit : Web

While some stay dead, making way for newer characters, some return as either their ownself eg Optimus Prime, or they are being reformatted into new bot, eg Megatron to Galvatron, much stronger and powerful (at least till the end of the episode). A lot of people debated whether the later can be count as death since the bots were alive prior to the reformatting. But lets keep it short and consider it as the death of the character itself

Pic Credit : Web

Part of the rescue team led by Rodimus Prime, Bumblebee and the crew fall into the trap set by a Transformers-Hating couple by using the body of the deceased Optimus Prime as bait. Exposed to the hate plague, the Autobots ran amuck and started battling each other. Severely damaged by the Superion, Bumblebee body was reconstructed by the Quintessons, saying that he's no longer a 'Bumblebee' but a 'gold bug' (referring to the shiny body) thus dubbed Goldbug by Optimus Prime 

The resemblance is uncanny!
Pic Credit : Web

Generations IDW Autobot Skids - Pictorial Review

Glad to see how the new Generations take on a more obsecure characters, not only the frontliner. Now, it's time for Skids!

No, not THIS retarded abomination! Don't get me wrong, I like the movie franchise, enjoyed every one of them. But THIS here tainted the name of Skids soooo much that I think it's one of the reason Hasbro decided to fix that

Now, THIS is Skids!

Not initially seen in the initial Autobots crew that crashed landed on earth, Skids first appear in episode 45, Quest for Survival and the second (and last), episode 50, Triple Takeover. Skids is usually 'absent' where he spend most of his time inside his on head but one of the best theoretician onboard.

Initially part of the Diaclone toy line, Skids transform into a Honda City Turbo in blue while there are also red and black color scheme

Generations IDW Waspinator - Pictorial Review

Hasbro surprised many with their choices in the new Generations 3.0 (Thrilling 30) lineup, starting from Springer and Blitzwing, then the gigantic Titan Class Metroplex. Not only that, they also released a character from a line that its reboot back in 2008 was long forgotten, Waspinator of Beast Wars!

The Maximal

Many not know Beast Wars, some even call it an abomination for me personally, Beast Wars had on of the best storyline of all the Transformers series, albeit with some shady computer-animation (but understandable considering the time it was aired)

Pic Credit : Web

Either people had watched Beast Wars or not, most of them WILL know him. Despite being a fan's favorite, the universe (well, Beast Wars universe, at least) hate him! Imagine any bad circumstances, any disaster, any battle, you can bet that most probably Waspinator sustained (at least some) damage.

Pic Credit : Web

However, all the tortures, the humiliations, the disrespect, the constant explosions and everything the universe throws at him, Waspinator is a survivor and loyal to the Predacons'cause

Beast Wars Waspinator (1996/1997)
Pic Credit : Web

Generations Calvin Johnson Exclusive IDW Megatron - Pictorial Review

First of all, I would like to say that there's not much info on this variant so even my post's title is likely to be wrong. Pictures of this figure surfaced on the internet months ago bearing that name and that's it, nothing else known about it (at least not to my recollection)

Did some googling about Calvin Johnson, he's actually an American football wide receiver for the Detroit Lions of the NFL, nicknamed 'Megatron'. I'm really interested to know how Hasbro will release this

Pic Credit : Web

Not much I can tell (since I know sooo little about him) and this will be a short review since the mold has been reviewed here

Generations IDW Deluxe Megatron

Generations Hoist - Pictorial Review

Generations 3.0 continues, now with 2 additional Deluxes through the 2nd Wave release, Generations Hoist and Thundercracker. Sadly though, Thundercracker is FOC Starscream's repaint which by default, I won't buy it. So that left me with Hoist. Who is Hoist?

Pic Credit : Web

A familiar face to the fan (maybe because he looks like Trailbreaker), Hoist is one of the favorite recurring character in the G1 cartoon. Most notable episode would be "The Master Builder" where upon rejection, Hoist and his trouble-mate, Grapple, turns to the Constructicons for help so they could build the Solar Power Tower (which back then, was a big deal)

Although not apparent, Hoist was a doctor to the Autobots, almost as much as Ratchet was. Hoist never really played a big role throughout the series but he were there for the most of it. Before we move on, here's a blast from the past

G1 Hoist
Pic Credit : Web

Okay...moving on.....fast

Generations IDW Orion Pax - Pictorial Review

Now, for the best of the bunch, the last of Generations 3.0 First Wave Deluxe, the most anticipated (I know I did), iconic and obscure character in the G1 continuity.

Before there was a Soldier, there was a civilian, before there was war, there was peace, before there was the greatest leader Autobots had ever had, there was the run-of-the-mill bot, Orion Pax

Orion Pax and Ariel (the former Elita-One)
Pic Credit : Web

Based on the G1 continuity, before the war broke out and devastate Cybertron, bringing the inhabitants to the brink of extinction, Optimus Prime was known as Orion Pax, hard-working dock worker that knew nothing about war, let alone commanding one side of it.

Towards the end of Golden Age of Cybertron, a new generation of Cybertronian surfaced, more powerful  with the new robot-mode flight, lead by the one and only, Megatron. Fate brought them together, Megatron took interest in the dock warehouse where Orion Pax was at and the clash begin...but ended shortly with Orion Pax and Ariel being critically wounded. 

End of Orion Pax
Pic Credit : Web

Brought to Alpha Trion who in return, helped to save them, Orion Pax and Ariel were both used as the first subject to his new reconstruction process, restructuring and reconfiguring them as Optimus Prime and Elita-One respectively. (Elita One's name shares the same root meaning as Optimus Prime's: "Best First")

G1 Orion Pax and Dion
Pic Credit : Web

Generations Trailcutter - Pictorial Review

Next, let's go back to basic to one of the key characters that was there since the beginning of G1 Series, Trailcutter

Not, it's not a hat

Trailcutter (formerly known as Trailbreaker, changed due to trademark issue) was part of the Autobots crew on board of the Ark that stranded on earth for millions of years. Awakened in 1984, Trailcutter was reformatted with Toyota 4WD Camper Truck as his Alt Mode

Stop watching the TV!
Pic Credit : Web

Trailcutter assumed quite a number of role in the cartoon, from strategist, spy, you name it. However, his most notable role would be saving all the Autobots with his force field from being disintegrated by the sun in "Megatron's Master Plan Part 2"

Generations IDW Megatron - Pictorial Review

Now, let us move forward to the character whose design mesmerize the fan during his debut in the IDW The Transformers (Ongoing Series), Megatron

Pic Credit : Web

In the event of All Hail Megatron Series, the Autobots counter attack after their previous defeat, and manage to stop the Decepticons. Evil as he was, Megatron ordered the Decepticons to flee and let the Autobots get nuked by the human. However, distractions cost him his life and Optimus Prime landed the final blow.

Picked up by Starscream (yes, Starscream) and retreat, Megatron was put on life support and given a new body, a much powerful body.

Generations IDW Bumblebee - Pictorial Review

Generations 3.0 deluxes made their debut months ago and was frequently discussed on the net. Let us continue the Thrilling 30 line!

This character need no introduction (well, maybe just a little), he was the star of the show in the Micheal Bay incarnations of Transformers and the trend spreads to Transformers Animated and Transformers Prime (up to the Finale, WTF?)

Pic Credit : Web

Bumblebee is a character that strive, that pretty much sums it up. He was since the beginning, one of the characters that received more G1 toy treatment than any other characters. But, Hasbro lost their favorite player right about the time Beast Wars and Beast Machines aired. Apparently, BEAST Wars and BEAST Machines era weren't really kind to him, BumbleBEE

Generations Voyager Springer - Pictorial Review [Part 2]

Robot Mode

Awesome design! Hasbro manage to take the IDW design and bring it to life. If you notice, the shoulder pads are made out of thin plastics. His rotor blades can be use a sword which is solid and design nicely, much better compared to Defender's