FansProject WB004 - Revolver Core

‘This one will be an easy pass’, he said.

‘There’s a Hasbro version of Roadbuster coming out’, he said.

‘I have no need for two Roadbusters’, he said.

And  y’know what? I think he was right.  Cos this thing is 'effing epic.

The fourth in FansProject’s Warbot series and the second in the ‘Core’ line of robots introduced with WB002 - Steel Core, Revolver is a big blocky thwack of Third Party fun. 

And in true to form fashion, the designers at FP have put their own stamp on G1. One glance at him in the box and you know where you’re at here. It’s definitely Roadbuster. It’s just not particularly accurate to any one take on the character. What it is, however, is definitively FansProject.

Unapologetically about to kick your ass

Angular, chunky, squared off and pointy with that distinctly anime flavour, Revolver Core is a military muscle machine, presenting a look that screams not only strength but agility with it.

One of these days, these poses and that canal are going to become acquainted

And he’s got some pretty great articulation to back up that aesthetic. Nagging things like the armour around his ball jointed head blocking full movement bring it down a bit, but double jointed knees and foot rockers lift things right back up again.

But not today

Some joints are not so much loose, but a bit more ‘fluid’ than I would like. The waist and one elbow on mine. I can live with that. I’ve been putting this thing through its paces too.

Like any good Wrecker, sorry.. Warbot, Revolver comes packing heat. Twin pistols, a laser rifle and a cannon. And these beauties, as you can see from the photos, are modular too.

An engine resides in Revolver’s back.

This piece is a transformable robot, with ball joints and swivels and an overall spot on attention to detail.

Tiny dude of goggled awesome

In the fiction FP has given us to accompany this line so far, these smaller robots combine with weaponised larger bodies. Very, um.. very Masterforce. No complaints here though – it's an extra element of play and integral to the Warbot story. But if you don’t like it you can hardly tell it’s there.

Transformation to vehicle mode is surprising. Somebody has been taking notes from Jizai and the Function X line and I’d like to buy that somebody a round of high fives. Arms twist and fold in myriad but understandable ways. The legs are clever too, folding backwards into themselves while the shins go and meet his back panels to form the rear of the car.

Plenty takes place during the conversion and while it isn’t in quite the same league of oil based origami that the F(x) line has treated us to, it's a well thought out and enjoyable slice of engineering.

That bumper.. that bumper is made of GUNS

We end up with a halftrack jeep slung low to the ground, slow looking but powerful.

To be honest this mode is never going to set the world on fire but getting here was eye opening and it’s a lot of fun having his smaller self interact with the vehicle. Because pilot.

It doesn’t roll freely which is a shame – no tiny wheels within the treads, alas

Admit it, the fact we have a tiny goggled dude of awesome driving a car with a bumper made of guns makes you smile

In closing, this is a damn fine release from FansProject.

Revolver is full of play features and badass good looks, meaning the Warbot line is back with a bit of a stormer. The modular weaponry is a lovely touch, the transformation is a lot of fun and I enjoy the 'Core' interaction with the smaller robot.

Above all else though, he's scratched my Roadbuster itch with consummate skill.

Let's go to work

(NB. Revolver can interact with the recently released Riftshot and Recoiler Core retools, each of whom comes with attachment pieces. This adds further modular options to the figure, not just in terms of weaponry but in armour options for both robot and vehicle modes. Sadly, these have been a FPC exclusive thus far. Let's get them on a general release, eh?)

Takara MP-19 Smokescreen

Cows are full of milk. This milk is profitable to exploit. So we milk them.

Masterpiece Transformers are full of win. This win is profitable to exploit. And as with the humble bovine, Takara milk their MP molds with the fury of a cheated Emmerdale farmer.

MP-19 Smokescreen is the third use of the excellent, excellent Datsun body type. Previously released as the almost universally adored Prowl and Streak, this one features some significant retooling, a killer paint job and has also managed to raise eyebrows and cross arms in some quarters of the fandom.

Revisiting the toy for the purposes of this review was an opportunity to get down and dirty with the Datsun mold again.

And it is a wonderful thing. The conversion mimics the transformation in the cartoon and manages to be challenging yet intuitive. Taking Smokescreen back to car mode was the first time I had done it since Christmas Day. It was pretty damn fun, with no ‘?!’ moment, the only thing I found a bit tricky being the legs coming back together.

Paint. Paint everywhere. Lovely stuff.

The vehicle mode looks awesome. 

A licensed Nissan Fairlady 280Z-T painted up in red white and blue racing livery. The colours are beautiful and the car has a new, ground hugging bumper as well as a spoiler.

Loving nods or missed opportunity?

While the sponsorship tampos across the car are fake, they do look good. The ‘Slot Fever’ one in particular tickles me up. Smokescreen really was a bit of a dick in ‘The Gambler’ episode, throwing Prime et al to the wolves when he blew it on the slots and I admire him for wearing his addiction with pride.

Of course this sponsorship fakery has prompted understandable criticism (this is a Masterpiece figure) and a Reprolabels set is available to fix this. Personally, I’m not about to cover up the brilliant paint job with stickers just yet. I’m glad the sticker set is available though. There has been a huge call for it.

Wheels up on shoulders? Check. Jamming Launchers? Check. Disruptor Rifle? Check. Ability to divide fandom? That's a big check.

In robot mode, Smokescreen does what every Masterpiece since MP-10 has done and looks as if he has walked out of the cartoon. Ironically that’s probably his biggest flaw. 

The new front grill makes him look a bit on the chunky side, as it does in the show.

'Do I smell.. cake??'

The headsculpt is accurate but..

'..caaaake.'

..the headsculpt is accurate. For some, this one has been a real problem.

My main issue is that he just seems a lot more - and I struggle with saying it cos he is one (albeit at the higher end of things) - ‘toylike’ in robot mode than his brethren. I don’t know if it's a case of his colour scheme being so much more in your face than the other two or if it's his tubby little features, but something doesn't sit quite right with me here lining them up. 

It’s a cartoon accurate Smokescreen and I’m dissing him for it..  There’s my ‘?!’ moment.

What does shine through regardless is that this is one fantastic figure to fiddle with, being highly poseable and rocking excellent build quality. Personal feelings regarding aesthetics cannot do a disservice to the shapes that Smokescreen can throw, the overall finish and the quality of the toy.

Undeniable articulation, balance and love of slots.

It's just strange how a couple of changes can alter ones perception of a figure essentially bought and loved twice before. 

Robits, eh? 

Generations Whirl

Back in the olden days of the mid 80’s, when hair was big, shoulder pads were bigger and dancing in the street looking like this was not only acceptable but encouraged by musicians who really should have known better, there were (more importantly) Transformers.

While fusing Takara’s Diaclone and Microman series together to create the core of the line, Hasbro were also busy appropriating licences from other toy manufactures to bolster the ranks of the Autobot and Decepticons.

Enter Whirl.

Hailing from the Armored Trooper Dorvack series, the toy originally known as Ovelon Gazzette was given a new lease of life in his tech specs by Bob Budiansky as a reckless, faux crazy, wild flying Autobot. It’s a nice character template, ripe for development.. except it didn’t happen.

Whirl never appeared in the cartoon. His appearances were limited to the Marvel comic where he was introduced as one of the (soon to be) fan favourite Wreckers. But his was a low key, minor role.

Of course, being a background character full of brooding potential is guaranteed to get you noticed by more industrious folk. And the good people at IDW comics have let Whirl leave an indelible mark on their universe.

Past form meant he was destined to bag a cameo in the Roche/Roberts penned Last Stand Of The Wreckers, but the guy made more of an impact through his (violent) unnamed appearance in the trades accompanying prose story 'Bullets'.

Depending on who's telling the tale

He then cropped up in a massively pivotal (and violent) role in the pre war tale Chaos Theory.

And then became one of the main draws in More Than Meets The Eye. Egotistical yet broken, sociopathic, tragically flawed and incredibly funny.  

James Roberts, take a bow.

(And yes, he’s violent in it.)

Off the back of this notoriety comes the toy. 

One thing I will say right from the start is that Whirl feels like a ton of effort has gone into making him.
While cost cutting is happening across the board, this one seems like the designers blocked, countered and won the fight. He's solid, made of excellent materials, and comes with four lots of attachable weaponry and a sticker sheet to reference the original toy.

Whirl's helicopter mode is decent if flawed. The biggest offender is the robot thighs up front. It's not so much them being there as I can see what they're meant to be doing aesthetically, it's the gaps they leave either side of the cockpit.

Having said that, there's plenty to appreciate here.

Proper nice colours, the blue plastic is both baby and darker metallic. The blue metallic paint nails the plastic colour pretty much dead on. Details aplenty. Rivets everywhere.

And it's a love letter to the G1 design (the stickers increase this, I haven't applied many).

Copter blades use the same yellow as G1 Whirl did. He has the skis. Even the shoulders end up where they do on the original toy. These design homages will be this figure's blessing and curse.

You can add Whirl's plentiful artillery to the Helicopter mode.

You may hum Airwolf's theme while thinking of blue Pampers for boys.. NOW

One of the toy's selling points is a third mode.

Like ED-209 with a discount Dalek upgrade

Heliped.

Bear in mind I am one those heretics that dismiss the Macross gerwalk modes as a half arsed thing, so don't expect any gushing here. It just looks like a helicopter halfway through transforming into a robot.

It is a dedicated mode though, with two transformation steps that commit to it so I can't say it's an afterthought. It's just not this Manfish's bag.

Pretty straightforward to transform, another legs fold down, arms swing out affair with some folding and compressing at the back. Just take care with the tight joints beneath the thigh swivel. 

Whirl cuts an impressive figure. The colours suggest a friendly good guy. The rest? Well...

Guns, guns guns!

..fairly unique aesthetically, he has claws instead of hands and is packing those controversial since '07 chicken legs along with massive hooves and a cyclopean visage.
You can attach the weaponry to ports underside his forearms as well as clip them onto his legs.
He's not a particularly welcoming looking individual.
And I like it.

Though it did take a bit. 

And this is in no way any fault of the toy, rather an appreciation for his current comic book form over the choice of homage. What we have here in the (very) blue corner is a fantastic update of the G1 toy, while over there in the red is MTMTE's spindly spiky Geth wannabe.

But the more I fiddled, the more I thawed. He's a lot of fun to pose, packs a ton of gun and the head and legs call out to the current comic design.

Those thin gangly shoulders the instructions leave you with can actually be pushed into the chest.

This makes them tighter for holding poses and improves Whirl proportionally. You can find a sweet spot doing it that lets you still freely use the ball joint and gives him some brilliant arm articulation. 

Be careful with the legs. His thigh joints are incredibly tight and there have been reports of breakage. 

I haven't broken mine. I am a clumsy, hamfisted guy too. Mileage may vary here. Just take your time with those joints. 

SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

For a dude with no face, Whirl manages to pack in plenty of character from both the poses you can put him in and the difference in aesthetics to the other Transformers in your collection. He's not gone behind glass yet and that's a big thing for me.

Happy. Angry. Sad. Confused.
Feel the emotion!

And if you truly hate the chicken legs you can spin 'em out for a more traditional look.

Bottom line, I'm glad I bought the nutjob. 

The definition of a grower, Generations Whirl packs in an impressive homage to the characters roots while still throwing in elements of the current IDW design that people are so enamoured with. Top stuff.

Time to weapon up, wallflowers!

____________________

Whirl tech spec and G1 box art courtesy of Botch the Crab's awesome site.

Maketoys Trash-Talk & Cogwheel

I have a lot of time for 3rd Party Transformers.

Having said that, there are so many of them these days it's pretty damn easy to get swamped in a mire of multiple releases, and the trend these days seems to be multiple releases of the same characters.

Take this IDW comic inspired twin pack by Maketoys in their 'Manga Mech Series'.

iGear already have their analogues of Swerve and Gears on the market, SXS have their Continuously Variable and its comedy retool. And lets not forget that we also have the considerably cheaper Hasbro releases in the Generations line.

So what makes this worthy of consideration?

In a nutshell, it is excellent.

The biggest selling point in this set is undoubtedly Trash-Talk, an homage to the G1 character Swerve, a character relatively few were aware of until master-scribe James Roberts took the metallurgist under his wing and gave him a standout role in the More Than Meets The Eye comic

If you've read MTMTE, you'll know why Maketoys gave him the moniker of Trash-Talk.
If you haven't, get it sorted, pour a large glass of your favourite tipple then come back and thank me.

(As an aside, when you buy the pair, they come to you packaged in a box that contains a box containing another box. That's almost another MTMTE reference right there.)

Both toys share the same mold with tooling differences in both modes.

Starting with the vehicles, Trash-Talk is dead on to the source. Cogwheel...well we haven't seen Gears in alt mode yet but Maketoys have done a good job of making him look Cybertronian while referencing his G1 vehicle mode.

Small but perfectly formed

Everything is well pegged together, clearance from the ground prevents any scraping and while these are small (you're talking slightly larger than a Commander class figure) they look sharp and the colours are spot on. Accessories can be pegged into alt mode.

Alcohol storage

As a little extra injection of character into the vehicle mode, Trash-Talk's canopy can open to reveal an optic on a stalked ball joint.

You can open Cogwheel's hood to reveal a rounded pair of lights.
It's a lovely little touch.

Transformation is a standard fold out the legs, flip out the arms, extend the forearms, fold in the wheels affair.

That's to be expected at this size but I'm glad Maketoys didn't over complicate the process.

It works, and it's easy, and you go back to doing it a lot more than with your average 3P figure.

One fly in that ointment though, is when initially pegging in the wrists. It is tight. Teeth gnashingly tight before you know how to do it. Carefully applied pressure either side of the hand will work. If you want to pop off the hands for a bit of room, feel free, they will go straight back on.

Subsequent transformations have seen this issue fade to practically nothing. 

Robot modes, and this is where these guys utterly shine.

Trash-Talk looks like he walked out of the pages of the comic. Grinning from auditory sensor to auditory sensor, he oozes character. The silver paint that picks out his vented details is a welcome addition to the dominant white and red.

I would have preferred to see the visor painted, as lightpiping with no means of the light getting through to actually pipe is a bit of a waste, really.

Apparently Cogwheel is harder to balance - I respectfully disagree

Despite being a retool and redeco, Cogwheel manages to look like his own character and there is no doubt you are looking at Gears. Again, his comic appearances have been slim on the ground but from what I've seen it's doing a decent job of pulling off an IDW styled Gears. I like him a lot but he wasn't the draw of the set.

Articulation on these little fellas is genuinely excellent.

You're going to regret that

I mean it.

You've got ball jointed and hinged shoulders, bicep swivels, ratcheted elbows and ball jointed wrists.

Ball jointed head, ball jointed waist.

Ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, ratcheted knees and ball jointed ankles.

It allows for some serious fun in posing them, although the heads are difficult to turn with man sized fingers and the hands can pop off easily.

Told you

As you can see, in addition to the two figures you also get a few accessories.

Trash-Talk comes with his drinks tray and a few drinks (he becomes the owner of a bar in MTMTE), the Shoomer weapon and the resulting effects of mishandling the Shoomer (that being an alternate, skull face).

Cogwheel comes with two heads, one toy accurate, one comic accurate and what looks suspiciously like the Rivet Gun from issue 6.

Yeah, this won't end well either 

While pricey, this release has got class, quality and character.

Maketoys products have a reputation for being top notch and this is no different.

The plastic is great, the paint apps are crisp and clean and the joints are good and sturdy.

Highly recommended. And hopefully the first of many more to come in the 'Manga Mech Series'.

Not even the prospect of free booze was enough to put a smile on Yanigerswipe's face

MP-12G Lambor G-2 Ver (Or G2 Sideswipe to me and you).

In 1992 the 'Robots In Disguise' came crashing back onto the shelves looking like they had taken their war to a paintball tournament by way of a rave. Genius or insanity or a dash of both at whisky fueled late night Hasbro meetings?

While the line introduced new molds such as the Rotor Force and Lazer Rod toys, and gave us the Cyberjets (which were the forerunners of the great articulation we became accustomed to from Beast Wars onwards), Generation 2 launched with a series of repainted and gunned up classic '84 and '85 characters.

Naturally there was a TV show to accompany this. The original cartoon was aired with a new CGI intro and cutaways. 

Then there was the  Generation 2 comic. A balls out, guns blazing, OTT kill fest that reveled in the excesses of its time.

And this is where the newest Masterpiece comes in.

Using the well received MP-12 Lambor mold, MP-12G comes roaring out of the box in an eye catching deco that is impossible not to look at and swoon.

Glorious

It's a licensed Lamborghini Countach LP500S in high gloss black paint with blood red translucent windows. And it looks gorgeous.

You can attach the robot modes weaponry in one handy package to the car roof.

It's comic accurate too.

Car porn meets gun porn

MP-12G comes with a sticker set so that you can present your figure in either toy or comic deco (I opted for something in between, although that neon green is so so tempting).

G2. Where everybody knows your name

Transformation to the robot mode is a fairly straightforward affair, the legs being the complex side of it but one you have the order of things in place it becomes a breeze to switch back and forth.

And you will want to. 

Because MP-12G looks amazing in both modes.

That balls out, guns blazing OTT kill fest I was speaking about? That's G2 Sidewipe in a nutshell.

And the robot mode encapsulates pretty much everything about the characters presentation in the comic perfectly.

While missing the bandolier, bazooka and grenade, we do get the spiked shoulder wheels (non functional in vehicle mode, alas), two big guns, the huge blade and the snarl.

I'm always angry

Yes, Derek Yaniger's grimacing, angry, gun toting Sideswipe is nailed here. I can see how this may be divisive for some, especially those unfamiliar with the source. Kind of stands out among the Masterpiece Transformers released so far.

But it was this that sold the figure to me despite owning two versions of the mold already.

It's a welcome shot of personality into the MP lines stoic face sculpts and I find myself drawn to MP-12G constantly to pose and fiddle about with. 

This is one of the good guys? 

Whilst the paint job in vehicle mode was flawless, I did notice some spotty paintwork on one of the guns and feet. The foot is only visible during transformation though.

The gun is disappointing but I have not seen anybody else come forward with the same issue.

And despite being the fourth use of the mold, all the joints are nice and tight here.

All in all, a glorious combination of deco, relatively obscure homage, sticker set, personality and accessories make this figure a bit of a win in my book.

And if he doesn't fit in with your Masterpieces he certainly looks the part with another trigger happy nutjob.

'Know what I like best about Nails?'