DX9 Hattori Hanzō Review

Can DX9's ninja fight off all contenders and be the best Sixshot of all?

Learning to Love Transformers Again.

TransformMission Disorder Review

Newcomers TransformMission have released their first figure - a Masterpiece scaled version of Wildrider called Disorder. With a huge number of third party products hitting the market, is this one worth your hard earned cash?

From Stars to Scrap - Yesterday's Must Haves, Today's Ebay Auctions

When it comes to trying to put together the perfect Masterpiece G1 line up of figures there are some which are obvious stand ins until something better comes along, but others we can never imagine being replaced...until they are.

Prototype Transformers Masterpiece Ratchet gallery

Prototype Transformers Masterpiece Black Tracks gallery

Masterpiece MP-28 Hot Rodimus Review

Background

Hot Rod, Hot Rodimus, Rodimus Minor and just plain Rodimus are the names of the same character from Transformers history. From hereon in, I shall be referring to the character as Hot Rodimus.

Originally a generation one character from the 1986 movie, Hot Rodimus was one of the first figures to be released that were made especially for the Transformers toy line and not borrowed or licenced from elsewhere.

Unique Toys Buzzing Review

They're not my favourites! All of your favourites!

The 1986 animated Transformers movie proved just how brazen a toy company could be when promoting new product, its first twenty minutes a masterclass in murder and mayhem focused on systematically slaughtering your favourite characters, callously thrusting their replacements down your throat while screaming alien names in your ears and affording you no time to mourn. And hey, it worked on me. In Transformers and in life.

The Darker Side of Transformers #5

This article is written to explain the legal wrangling behind the scenes and what led to the issue between Takara and Philip Morris Inc. In accordance with legal agreements, the images displayed here are for educational purposes only and pictures of the Masterpiece toy have been kept to a minimum. 

Exhaust

"Perhaps you had better start at the beginning"

In the 1970s car company Lancia designed the Stratos specifically for entering into rallying but after numerous successes was entered into racing where it also performed well, making the Stratos a no-brainer for inclusion in Takara's Diaclone Car Robots line.

(c) Great Racing Cars

MP-27 Masterpiece Ironhide

Introduction

Ever since July 2015, when Masterpiece Ironhide was sighted at Transformers Expo Taipei, Transformers fans have been waiting patiently to see just how good a job Takara Tomy had made of one of the fandoms favourite G1 characters. With it's recent release, we all finally get to make our own minds up as to whether or not Ironhide made the transition from cartoon to Masterpiece figure in one piece.

Maketoys MTRM-04 Iron Will Pre Release Sample Review

Bit of a mouthful that title, eh?

Thanks to some very kind souls, I have been granted an opportunity to take a sneak peak at the latest Maketoys releases. And with Cupola riding high in a lot of people's end of 2015 lists, there is a definite air of expectation surrounding their next Headmaster analogue; Iron Will.

Based heavily on the 1987 Japanese Headmasters character as well as the original G1 toy, Maketoys newest effort takes Hardhead's no nonsense, karaoke loving (yes, really), Sunbow swerving animation model (Rebirth lovers, you have been jilted) and applies some platinum 2016 design flair and finish to proceedings. Straight out of the box, this is a beautifully retro looking yet modern feeling hulk of a toy.

Iron Will has a strong silhouette made from simple blocky shapes, partnered with a well considered level of surface detail allowing the clean lines of the figure plenty of room to breathe.

The way that backpack forms is an absolute treat

Although you'll still find vents, pistons and tech details dotted about all over the place, these are here to spice up, not overpower the visual proceedings. Similarly the paint applications are sparse but effective and serve to enhance the clean look of the toy rather than distract from it.

Like Cupola before him, Iron Will takes that unashamedly retro futuristic aesthetic the post '86 Movie universe developed, runs it through a Masterpiece inspired filter and never looks back.

Now before we move on, there is an elephant in the room. You've possibly heard of it, might be waiting for me to get to it and it needs addressing so that it may take its leave. There are two visual flaws in robot mode that come about from the figure's transformation scheme. The first is in the elbows.

After you get past a certain degree of bend, a gap becomes apparent. I'll level with you; it doesn't keep me up at night as it's the sort of thing I've seen a fair few times over in Transformers. Yes, it could've been handled better. No, it doesn't end the enjoyment of the figure at all to me.

The second is at the knees and it's here where the dynamic posing available at your fingertips kind of undoes some of Iron Will's imposing cyberbeef.

Y'see?

This is to accommodate the rolling tank treads and an inventive leg transformation but has become a sticking point for a fair few people and I can see why. The knee joint ends up looking tiny and the gap between knee and shin looks painful from certain angles. In hand, it's better than in pics. But it's there. This is not something I want to gloss over. Nor dwell on for that matter. You're going to get on with it or you're not. Relationship therapists charge £100 an hour for that kind of advice, here you get it for free.

According to Hardhead's tech specs, these shoot diamond hard shards of.. diamonds?

Onto more of the good stuff. The poseability is fantastic. Pictures speak louder than words and I hope these shout, as he can rock all manner of hard ass moves and the diecast metal in his legs and heels help ground things very well indeed.

The guns slot into the hands in that same secure manner that Cupola nailed first time

On that metal content, there is plenty. In addition to the heels and lower legs, you'll find cold slag in his thigh pieces and the robot torso as well. Now as much as some love it, in reality the weight of diecast can often hinder rather than help a figure, but here its judicious placement means we're definitely talking about the latter. It also lends a significant heft to Iron Will that certainly adds to his premium feel. Very well done.

He was totally hoping for boobs

The chest contains a panel that flips open to reveal the (non functional) SPD STR INT readouts as expected. The whole chest area doesn't seem to want to tab in tightly on this sample copy, but I imagine this is a tolerance issue that will be remedied in the final retail release.

As the pics show, you get two choices of face with Iron Will. One homages the original toy and its artwork, the other his appearance in Headmasters.

'Give'

'Me'

'Your'

'Face'

'Because I have this lovely treat for you!'

I'd like to thank Optimus Prime for demonstrating how easy a switch out it is between the two and this does feel a thoughtful inclusion *hears the grinding of teeth from Rebirth fans*. In all seriousness this is actually something that might put people off but it was clear with MTRM-01 that Maketoys were aiming to marry the G1 toy with the Toei anime and have done so again here with considerable aplomb.

Transformation is certainly less involved than with Cupola and definitely more intuitive. It's not a simple state of affairs though and I really dig the manner in which the legs transform by opening his thighs (wut?) and using sliders to condense them down into the tank treads. As this is a pre release sample I did not receive an instruction manual and got by fine without one, a first for me and big ticket 3rd Party items. A refreshingly accessible conversion and undoubtedly a repeatable one.

Iron Will makes for one intimidating piece of treaded artillery. This is a big bastard of a tank, layered with armour plating and decked out with three turrets because he's a professional taker of names and consummate kicker of ass. There are six functional rubber treads which roll very well on most surfaces. I like this a lot. It adds play value and a touch of class to the vehicle mode. The two handheld guns attach well but their pinned hinges are very loose on this sample copy so they flop down when aiming them upwards. Hopefully that gets tidied up for the final release.

And with this being a Headmaster, of course you get a transforming head component too. Officially named Duros or Ros, unofficially this is.. oh, they don't actually name them in the Re:Master line.

John Doe is a neat little guy in his own right. Sharply detailed for his size, he features light piped eyes and some fairly decent articulation. He's also less cumbersome to pose than Cupola's bonceman, feeling like a revised and refined 2.0 version of the basic design.

The Headmaster can be placed inside the cockpit to pilot this ground hugging, no prisoners taking, shatter blasting beast of a machine. The cockpit can rotate but its range of motion is fairly limited so it helps that the primary cannon has almost free reign of movement.

I love this tank mode. Like the robot form it does a great job of rolling back the years while bringing the Headmasters hurtling forward into the Masterpiece dominated present.

Iron Will is a very, very good toy. There remain the issues brought up earlier surrounding the elbows and knees but personally speaking there's too much going the right way with this one for these to be a deal breaker. This figure is visually sublime, well articulated and has a transformation that quickly becomes second nature.

Now, the $1,000,000 question: Is he as good as Cupola? As great as that guy is and as much as I rate him, I will also be the first to admit that the transformation could put people off enjoying the toy. That's just not a problem here.

When you have them side by side, Iron Will feels very much a companion piece to his predecessor, one that does some things better while fumbling others and it's hard to deny how good they look together.

Is he as good? Probably not. That's hardly a criticism though. Catching lightning in a bottle once is hard enough and just because it didn't quite happen again does not stop Iron Will from being a damn fine addition to the Re:Master line and your current best (and it's gonna be hard to beat) option for a Hardhead by a country mile.

MP-26 - Masterpiece Road Rage

We all knew that Masterpiece Tracks would be repainted as one of the many versions of the mold that have been seen before but the repaint into Road Rage was not only a repaint but a slight remold to make the figure more feminine.

Road Rage was an eHobby exclusive release from around the start of the 21st century. It was a repaint of the original Tracks molds which itself has it's roots, like a lot of G1 Transformers toys, in Diaclone. Originally some of the European release of Tracks figures were actually reboxed red Diaclone toys. But Tracks was meant to be blue in the Transformers fiction and so the oddity that was red Diaclone Tracks in a Transformers box became legit when eHobby released Road Rage.

Anyway, let's see what we have got.

The standard Masterpiece box

The Contents

The box contains the usual plastic shell to hold the figure as well as the accessories. Sadly, unlike Tracks, you don't get a nice flight stand to go with the figure but luckily most Japanese flight stands work a treat and if you are lucky enough to have bought one of Takara Tomys new official flight stands then you will be rocking a 100% official display piece.

You don't get as much as Tracks this time

Once you remove the plastic shell you get to see the contents in the flesh, as it were. The figure comes with a new weapon which is an upscaled version of the weapon that came with the original Road Rage release. You also get a repaint of the Broadcast beatbox from the Tracks figure, this time it is Twincast. Also in the package is the same nosecone that came with Tracks and 2 sets of wing mirrors which can be applied to Road Rage to complete the vehicle mode look.

Personally I would love the wing mirrors to come attached to the vehicle to begin with. Trying to get them to sit securely in the holes for them is a challenge at best and an exercise in frustration at worst.

Everything out of the box

So with everything out of the box and the nasty wing mirrors kind of attached to the figure, let's see how the camera likes it.

Vehicle Mode

Yummy. I am loving the colour of this figure. 

Zoom Zoom

From the front the mold is still as impressive as it was when Tracks was released. The bonnet still doesn't quite sit flush for me and I haven't yet worked out if that is my fault or a fault of the mold but either way, it isn't too bad and certainly not a deal breaker.

Visible undercarriage is fine by me

Side on, the figure looks lovely. The red just seems to pop and, even though is not metallic like Tracks was, is still great to look at. When you consider how average a job the red paint work on Masterpiece Sideswipe was, you have to admire how wonderful this figure looks.

No junk in this trunk

From the rear the vehicle mode looks fantastic. I love how the dark colour of the grills hides the fact that a lot of robot mode is hangout out the bottom of the car. The sound choice of colour scheme creates the illusion of the car being a lot thinner than it actually is.

Still Zoom Zoom

Another shot from the front as the camera just seems to soak up this figure and it's lovely paintwork.

Robot Mode

The transformation to robot mode is identical to that of Tracks. There isn't much to complain about it once you have done it a few times. In fact, when you become familiar with the figure you will find yourself switching modes in a couple of minutes.

Road Rage is just as posable as Tracks and also benefits from these lovely feet which are really quite flexible and able to hold a pose that balances the whole of the figure with ease.

Balancing is not a problem for this figure

Look how much range those feet have

Flight Mode

So let's discuss the sore point that is the lack of flight stand. Tracks got one. Road Rage didn't. A part of me thinks this is something to do with Takara Tomy releasing their own official Transformers flight stand but that may just be my paranoia creeping in.

It's certainly worth getting a flight stand because this figure looks lovely in that mode.

 

The Differences

Let's take a closer look at the main differences between Road Rage and Tracks.

Firstly the face has been remolded to make it more similar to the original release and also more obviously feminine.

Compare this to the Tracks face sculpt to get an idea for just how much work was done to realise the Road Rage character facially.

It's really great to see Takara Tomy going to this length to differentiate the two characters.
 
Also, the thighs have been remolded to make Road Rage's more curvy and feminine.

Whereas Tracks thighs were kinda boring and traditional for a Transformer.

Once again, it's the little details like this that really make Road Rage stand out and not just another repaint.

Summary

For me, Road Rage is a much better figure than Tracks in a lot of ways. I love the face sculpt and the remolded thighs. For some reason they seem to fit the figures better than the original Track face and thighs.

The colour scheme works as we as Tracks but I do wish the red was metallic like the blue on Tracks. That kind of finish really shines when seen through the lens.

A flight stand would have been a great idea - if Tracks gets one then why doesn't Road Rage?

Other than that, it's a buy from me. In fact it's a buy twice from me as I liked it so much I want to display one in vehicle mode and one in robot mode.

Postscript

I always take more shots than I need to let's take a look at some of them.

Broadcast and Twincast

Something is not right here

Those damn wing mirrors just don't want to fit flush for me

Road Rage and Red Bobby

You can buy Road Rage, Bumblebee Red and other Masterpieces at Masterforce