G1 GEARS 1984

Gears is one of the more obscure characters in G1. He is also one of these characters which has kind of been forgotten. He has only had two official toys at  this time.
Gears in the cartoon is the Victor Meldrew of Transformers. He is really grumpy and grauchy and basically a miserable old git. He does not do an awful lot. He goes around and makes the odd comment about Bumble Bee being late again to a  meeting. He moans about everyone and he is also anti-social which they depict well in the cartoon such as one time when all the Autobots are playing in the snow and Gears is sitting  inside with Optimus. .He does not have any specific ability other than he has headlights which have an infared settings.
He does not have much patience with the young Autobots but like most minibots he does get his own spotlight episode which was called "Changing Gears" Gears gets captured by the Decepticons and it is not really known why as he did not have anything they wanted. Their plan was to build this giant tower to drain the power from the sun and convert the solar energy into Energon but this process would enevitably cause the sun to go Supa Nova and take out the whole Solar stystem.
It turns out Gears is not actually the grumpy old fart that we thought he was as he has a key card in his circuitry which makes him grauchy because otherwise he is such a nice guy and would do anything for anyone so to change his personality the Autobots put in this card at some point.. he would be a securuty risk otherwise as he would tell anyone anything or do anything for anyone.
The Decepticons ripped out this key card and he changed into a nice guy and was then a slave to the Decepticons.
You have to see the plot holes here. The Decepticons built this giant tower which they were going to get this mountain of energon from and they obviously did not want the Autobots knowing about this so why did they go and capture one of the Autobots and bring them to the tower  that before the Autobots were completley cluless about. Surely it would have make more sense to take the Autobot prisoner to the other side of the planet away from the tower so the Autobots would no nothing about the tower until it was too late. they used Gears for a goffor. It is not like they needed a hostage to stop the Autobots from attacking or anything they already had a perfectly good forcefield for that. It is not even clear how they knew about his key card. It was not a random capture but they set out specifically to capture gears and set a trap to capture him. It does not make any sense. In the end Gears does help the Autobots as they tell him too. The solar tower was distroyed and the Autobots considered whether or not to leave the key card out of Gears but they decided to put it back in him.
that was the end of "Changing Gears" and all its plot holes
You don't really see Gears after this episode

I am not sure if you see Gears in the G1 movie but I think he is killed like so many other Autobots.

In the comics I don't think that he did that much either but right at the beginning of the Marvall comic he was a sidekick for Spiderman. Just a little cross over thing they did once  and hopfully they will not do it again. As I don't read the comics that is the most signifiant thing he did

G1 is really the only time you run into Gears. The only other one is Revenge of the Fallen and he was only in one issue of the comics. he just stood there and did not do anything.he was a repaint of Movie Stockade and he was not painted in the right colours and did't even look like Gears.

 

FUNCTION; transport/reconnaissance

 

MOTTO; Nobody wins a war-somebody loses

 

BIO; gears is anti-social, a self proclaimed misfit. Finds fault in everything and everyone. Acts this was to help cheer others up as they try to cheer him up. tremendous strength and endurance. Totes heavy loads long distances. Launches to height of 20 miles, floats down on compressed air. Becomes an easy target due to limited maneuverability. Can detect infared.

 

SATS; Strength 8, Intelligence7, Speed 6, Endurance 8, Rank 6, Courage 9, Firepower 1, Skill 7

 

 

Car mode side

 

 

Car mode front

 

 

Robot mode

 

 

Gears has to be my favourite G1 minibot. He is not fiddly like Brawn or clunky like Huffer and not weirdly proportioned like Bumblebee and Cliffjumper

He is a dinky little vehicle. He is solid and looks good. I wish the back of the vehicle would stay together a little better especially the left half. It moves up and down a bit too easily.

Other than that I don't have any real problems with him.

 with his very nice blue and red colour scheme.

He has chrome on his legs and front grill which uis a nice touch

He has really big studded tyres meaning you can roll him on some pretty hard surfaces such as carpet

He is a generic off road truck

He has some nice detailing and a very simple

transformation. All you have to do is fold down his legs and pull out his arms and there you have him.

I can't help liking his robot mode. He is very solid and his colour scheme is still very nice in robot mode.

He does not  have much articulation as any G1 wouldn't and

he bends at the knee in a weird bend as the rest of his leg is static.

His only other points of articulation are his arms and they can move up and down meaning the only pose you can get him into is a Frankenstein impression.

I quite like his face but it is a visor and mouthplate. In the cartoon he has actual facial features but I still like it none the less.

Overall I think gears is a fun and dinky little toy and if you are a G1 fan  I think you should get yourself a Gears. There are not many Gears toys out there and you can't go wrong getting the original. I don't think you will regret it.

I think five pounds is good to pay for him. Do not go overboard unless you really like the character.

 

He was only repainted once into Swerve. They did him a maroon colour

He was a completly different character who did even less in the cartoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIRTHDAY BLOG 2013- PART ONE CYBERTRON OPTIMUS PRIME 2005

It was my Birthday recently and I was lucky enough to receive several Transformer Figures to add to my collection. This is the first of these.

Cybertron Optimus Prime is a figure seen by many to be one of the best Optimus Primes released. He is known as Galaxy Convoy in the Galaxy force line. Obviously this is the Hasbro version
Optimus Prime character wise is pretty much the same as in every series being the leader of the Autobots and being the courageous battle hardened warrior and so forth.


Optimus prime fights Megatron and other Decepticons dozens of times seeming it is a fifty episode series.



When the destruction of Unicron results in the formation of a massive black hole, Cybertron is threatened, and its population is evacuated to Earth, taking the forms of local vehicles and machinery to hide from humanity. As this occurs, Optimus Prime's elite team of Autobot warriors are approached by the ancient Transformer Vector Prime, who has emerged from his resting place outside of time to inform them of the legendary Cyber Planet Keys, ancient artifacts of power which can stop the black hole and save the universe. Lost due to an accident during an attempt to create a cross-universal space bridge network, the Cyber Planet Keys now reside on four worlds somewhere in the universe—unfortunately, Vector Prime's map showing their location is stolen by Decepticon leader Megatron, and both forces relocate to Earth as the race to find them begins.
On Earth, the Autobots befriend three human children named Coby, Bud and Lori, who aid them in locating the Omega Lock, the control device for the Cyber Planet Keys' power. With new "Cyber Key Powers" awakened in them, the Transformers battle on many fronts, searching for the Lock on Earth while Hot Shot and Red Alert head for Velocitron, the "Speed Planet", resting place of the first key. As Hot Shot competes in the planet's grand racing championship to win the key from planet leader Override, the Lock is located on Earth in the bulk of the crashed Transformer spaceship the Atlantis. Soon after, Autobot Overhaul heads for the next world, Jungle Planet, where the power of its Cyber Planet Key re formats him into Leobreaker. Megatron ingratiates himself with Jungle Planet ruler Scourge, while at the same time, his scheming lieutenant Starscream teams up with the mysterious Sideways, working towards his own goals.
Ultimately, the Autobots succeed in acquiring the Keys of both Velocitron and Jungle Planet, at which point the existence of Earth's own Cyber Planet Key is revealed. Starscream makes his power play and overthrows Megatron, stealing the Omega Lock and all three keys from the Autobots and using them to grow in size and power. Their forces bolstered by the ancient Autobots from Earth and the arrival of Wing Saber, who combines with Optimus Prime, the Autobots fight their way through a vengeful Megatron and defeat Starscream - but the battle is not without casualties, as Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot are gravely wounded and rebuilt into the even more powerful Cybertron Defense Team.
Returning to Cybertron, the Autobots use the Omega Lock and Cyber Planet Keys, which awaken the spirit of their deity and creator, Primus and transform Cybertron itself into the god's body. After a battle in which Starscream taps the power of Primus and grows to planetary size—only to be defeated by Primus himself—the location of the fourth and final key is determined as Gigantion, the Giant Planet. Bested by Gigantion's leader Metroplex, Megatron taps into the power of Gigantion's Cyber Planet Key to become Galvatron. Sideways, now joined by the equally mysterious Soundwave, reveals himself to be an inhabitant of Planet X, a world destroyed by the Gigantions, upon whom he and Soundwave seek revenge. Galvatron blasts them and Starscream into another dimension and finally acquires the Lock and Keys for himself, intending to use their power to accelerate the universal degeneration caused by the black hole and remake the cosmos in his own image. Vector Prime sacrifices his life to get the Autobots back to Cybertron, and the five planet leaders confront Galvatron within the black hole and defeat him. With all the Cyber Planet Keys now in his possession, Primus uses their power to finally seal the black hole, ending its threat.
As the planet's various civilisations attempt to return to life as normal, Galvatron attacks the Autobots for one final time. Without any troops to call his own, Galvatron engages Optimus Prime in a one-on-one duel, and is finally destroyed for good. With this final victory, Optimus Prime begins a new space bridge initiative, and the Transformers set sail for the four corners of the universe, and new adventures.

BIO; Optimus Prime is a leader in the best sense of the word, taking part in every mission and never sending his team into any situation he would not go himself. Dedicated to the protection of all life and the preservation of freedom fro all sentient beings. He serves as a role model for his fellow Autobtos. It is through his keen intelligence, even hand, steady nerves and endless compassion that the Auotbots continue to frustrate the Deceptiocns evil plans again and again

TECHSPEC; Strength 10, Intelligence 10, Speed 9.5, Endurance 10, Rank 10, Courage 10, Fireblast 10, Skill 10

 

Fire engine front view

 

 

Fire engine side view

 

 

Cyber key mode

 

 

Vehicle flight mode

 

 

Truck cab front

 

 

Truck cab side

 

 

Robot mode

 

 

Open matrix compartment

 

 

Holding matrix of leadership

 

 

Cyber key super mode

 

 

 

 

Super mode

 

 

Base mode

 

 

 

 

Once again Optimus Prime is a fire engine. Slightly reminiscent of RID but with more of a Cybertronian vibe.

He has giant water cannons which both have a Cyber key gimmick in. The one on the left deploys two extra missile launchers. The one on the right splits open the cannon barrel to some sort of charged up cannon blast or something. It is hard to operate this gimmick as you have to ram the key in there.

He has lights and sounds in  the right hand cannon.

When the cannon is closed and you press the button he makes a laser shooting noise and the end of the cannon lights up red

Then when you deploy the gimmick he makes a power up noise.

When the button is pressed again when the barrel is open it makes another weapon firing noise. maybe some sort of heavy duty cannon noise.

He shoots three missiles from the left hand cannon.

and he rolls OK but sadly not all the wheels touch the ground and the wing pieces sit along the side and do not peg in anywhere.

He does have side windows made up from his chest panels but I forgot to flip these out for the photos.

I prefer the chest panels in even if these cover the ports you plug these into. I think they look out of place.

His robot head is clearly visible from the top of the cab and so are his robot hands on the front bumper but his hands could pass for a secondary grill or something.

He has also got two other cannons that flip out if you want them.

Overall it is a nice mode with details. It is a shame that he does not hold together just that little bit better.

 

There is a flight mode which you can do in truck mode where you fold the entire trailer out to form wings. It is OK and pretty large and he does use it quite a bit in the cartoon. It has some issues staying together and the wings drop with the weight of the cannons.

 

You can take the trailer off and leave him with just a truck cab mode which is reminiscent of his G1 sami truck self.

The truck cab is good but the truck bed is way too long to be realistic so it does look a little silly. His feet stick out like sore thumbs and help clip the truck to the trailer.

The front of the cab has a tough look and looks like a Prime. He and looks like he is ready for battle.

He does have spring suspension in the back wheels but I don't know why the others don't.

His robot mode is where this figure really starts to shine. He looks very buff and powerful. It really works for him.

I do see a couple of omages to Star convoy from G1 mostly in the face. He has the same silver panel on his forehead.

He does have a mouth plate gimmick. You can mess around and do what you like. The mouth plate up in robot mode makes him look more like Star Convoy.

He has pretty good articulation and you can get him into some pretty good poses.

You can pull the end of the cannon off the trailer and it becomes his rifle in robot mode.

You can also open up his chest and he has the matrix of leadership and it can be removed and he can hold it but somewhat awkwardly.

It is an grey matrix with the cetre painted orange but only on one side which is a little cheap

Just like Master Piece Rodimus he has a weird circle thing molded behind his matrix. Not sure whether or not if this is his spark or something.

 

As for his trailer in this mode. You can form a base mode but that is just  literally folding the wings out and making sure the guns are deployed and that it is. It is really not that much at all. I think you can make a fan mode which is better

I think it looks more like a mobile artillery platform than a base

His transformation is easy but interesting enough not to be dull

He has a head reveal where a lever on his back slides his head out of his chest

 

His transformation to super mode is just like the cartoon.

you dis attach part of the trailer to form super leg extensions. This helps stabilise him in super mode.

The rest of the trailer  just forms a giant wing jet pack which attached to his back by a harness.

 

The water cannons become giant cannons for the super mode.

 

You flip out some super antennae extensions and flip up his mouth plate to complete his super mode

 

This is one of the only Optimus Prime super modes which is really good.

He looks very powerful and looks ready for battle with his giant cannons.

 

He does have leg cannons which can fold down as secondary thrusters

 

You can access all the cyber key gimmicks and electronics.

 

This mode is amazing and it is almost worth buying this figure just for this mode. Who would not want a giant Optimus Prime with giant wings and cannon's. He dominates any shelf you put him on.

You can also combine him with Leo breaker/Lidajack to form Savage claw mode which is the same as super mode but with giant  claw arm.

He also combines with Wing saver/sonic bomber to form sonic wing mode which is a completely different flight mode.

 

I can't recommend this figure enough. if you are a fan of the Cybertron/Galaxy force series then this figure is a must have.  If you love oversized Optimus Primes then he is a must have.

 

Get it if you can. He might cost quite a bit though

 

 If you can't get hold of this version then there is also Galaxy convoy from the Tekara Galaxy force line. He also got an exclusive re issue in the Universe 2.0 line which was a two pack in with a re issue of Crumplezone,

He was re painted only once later on in the Cybertron line when they painted him a darker shade of red and I think the blue was replaced by black to make him more menacing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MASTERPIECE RODIMUS PRIME ( HOT ROD) - 2011. -100TH REVIEW

This is the Hasbro version of MP Rodimus Prime not the Tekara version. The differences between them are that the colours are different and the Tekara version comes with a trailer where as the Hasbro version comes with more accessories.

Back Story

Hot Rod was first introduced in the G1 Movie. He was young, flashy and cocky. Hot Rod first raised the alarm on the attack on Autobot city. This gave them about two minutes warning that the Decepticons were coming but it was still a slaughter on the Autobots part.
Hot Rod was best friends with Daniel Witwicky. Blitzwing and the Insecticons are sent to kill Hot Rod and Daniel. They ended up being saved by Kup. The Decepticons moved on to attack Autobot city and that led on to the battle of Autobot city. Hot Rod and Kup raced back to Autobot city to try and help but they nearly got locked out as Springer and Arcee were ordered by Ultra Magnus to transform Autobot city into defence mode.
The Decepticons sent the Insecticons to eat the door so they could flood in but Kup and Hot Rod ran over the insecticons Shrapnel and Kickback and jumped over  and through the door stopped them from entering it.
Hot rod was fighting in the battle but you did not see much of it. There were too many Autobots being blown up so they cut the scene down as they did not want it to be too long.
Optimus Prime arrived with reinforcements including the Dinobots. They fought the Decepticons off and Optimus fought Megatron in the final fight. Optimus would have won if it were not for Hot Rod as Megatron found a laser pistol lying on the ground. Optimus did not see this but Hot Rod did and he rugby tackled Megatron and Optimus did not shot as they were in such a tangle but megatron got Hot rod in a head lock and shot Optimus four times. Optimus still managed to get up and punch megatron right off the roof of Autobot city. Optimus Prime then succumbed to his injuries. It was Hot Rods fault that Optimus died.
On his death bed he predicts that one day an Autobot will rise from the ranks and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour. "Until that day when all are one"
Optimus  drops the Matrix and Hot Rod catches it and the Matrix chooses Hot Rod. he gives it to Ultra Magnus though as Optimus wanted him to be leader.
Later Gavatron arrived with his minions to kill Ultra Magnus Hot Rod is one that leaves earth with Ultra Magnus. When he catches up again with them in space they do the emergency separation from thier ship to escape. Hot Rod, Kup and the Dinobots ship crashes on Quintessa while the others crashed on the planet of Junk. Hot Rod and Kup fall out of their ship when it crashed. They landed in the water in Quintessa. Hot Rod is attacked by these robotic fish which he manages to kill with his saw blade. he  then helps out Kup who is being attacked by a giant robot squid. he defeats the squid when he shoots it in the eye with his arm cannon. he repairs Kup with his welding torch.
Hot Rod and Kup are found by the Sharkticons. They try to reason with them using the universal greeting " Baa weet grana weet ninibun" This does not work and they attack Hot rod and Kup and take them to their masters the Quintessons who put them on trial. They are dropped into the Sharkticons pit by the Quintessons who intend to execute them. They survive quite a while fighting the Sharkticons and are eventually rescued by Wheely and the Dinobots.
They steel away on the Quintesson ship and sail to the planet of junk to meet up with the other Autobtos. How they knew their comrades where on the planet of Junk I don't know? They made peace with the Junkions using the universal greeting and the Junkions help them to go home. They go back to Cybertron which is  at this point being attacked by Unicron. They crash through Unicrons eye and they all fall out when it crashes. Hot Rod falls separately and finds Galvatron who earlier got swallowed by Unicron. Galvatron has the Matrix of leadership and he wants to help the Autobbots fight Unicron but Unicron still has control over him. Unicron forces Galvatron to fight Hot Rod and that is what they do. Hot Rod manages to get hold of the Matrix and this turns him into Rodimus Prime. he then tosses Galvatron out of Unicron and opens the Matrix using its power to destroy Unicron. Rodimus Prime then becames leader of the Autobots.
I am not going to do Rodimus Primes G1 cartoon history as I have already done it with the G1 Rodimus Prime so please feel free to read that.
Hot Rod came in and out of series three as when he lost the matrix a few times he turned back into Hot Rod. In the "Dark awakening" when the Quinessons zombify Optimus prime. Rodimus gives the matrix back to Optimus because he did not know he was a zombie. The Quinessons turned him into a zombie so he  could lead the Autobots to their doom. Optimus eventually came to his senses and gave the matrix back to Hot Rod so he turned back to Rodimus Prime. Optimus flew the Autobot flag ship right into the Quinessons bombs which blew the ship up with him on it.
There are other times that this happened  when Rodimus gets the matrix stolen by the Decepticons in " The burden hardest to bare" because at this point Rodimus has had enough of  leading the Autobots and wants to quit. he has had enough of the war going on and not being appreciated by the humans as well as his usual self doubt. he refuses to help get the matrix back and goes off. he does came back and takes the matrix back off Scourge who the matrix turned into a Prime in his own right.
In the " Return of Optimus Prime" rodimus gets infected by the hate plague and Optimus has to take the matrix off him so he could go back to being a Prime and find a cure for the hate plague. Hot Rod gets cured by the matrix which turned out to be the cure. This does drain the matrix of all its power. Hot Rod goes back to his cavalier rank and Optimus prime is the leader again.
In  "The Rebirth" Hot rod is on Cybertron with the others Blur, Kup etc. The Insecticons arrive to open the plasma energy chamber. The Autobots managed to get the key but their ship gets hit by the plasma energy and gets knocked half was across the Galaxy where they crash on the planet Nebulos. The Autobtos join forces with  Nebulons rebels and become head masters and Target Masters. When the Decepticons arrive on Nebulos they attack the Autobots and Hot rod, Blur, Kup, Point Blank, Cross Hairs and Shore Shot get captured by them. They take them back to their ship and interrogate them to where the key to the energy chamber is. They get rescued by the Autobot Head Masters. The Decepticons joined forces with the Nebulon Hives and became head masters and Target masters. The Decepticons attacked and they got the key to the plasma energy chamber. During the battle Arcana who is the partner of Brain storm was able to scan Night Stick who was Cyclonus's partner so they were able to make their own target Masters. Blur, Hot Rod, Kup, Point Blank, Shore Shot and Cross Hairs all become the Autobot Target Masters. Hot rods partner is Firebolt.
That is it for the Sunbrow cartoon

Tekara Headmasters

In Tekara head masters they completely discount the Re Birth so they are continuing the story form the return of Optimus Prime. Hot Rod does what he does in the Sunbrow cartoon . When Optimus goes to Cybertron to find Vecta Sigma which is going to explode for some reason. he does not have the matrix with him as it is empty because they cured the hate plague with it.  Optimus hid the matrix on earth and Hot rod set out to find it to take it to Optimus to help him. he does not know where it is and he thought it might be where the energy is most pure on earth such as Antartica. He eventually found it on a base in the middle of the desert. He goes to Cybertron and  with the help of Fortress maximus find Optimus. there is one big fight between Optimus and Galvatron at Vecta Sigma. The ghost of Alphs Trion who is helping Optimus. Whe Hot Rod turns up Alpha Trion gives up his own life force to refill the matrix.and Hot Rod becomes Rodimus prime. Optimus sacrifices himself and absorbs all the energy form Vecta Sigma which kills him. Rodimus becomes the new leader.

In the comics I don't know much about him but I think he is the same character and I think he might have been a wrecker at some point. he becomes Rodimus prime at times as well.

Hot rod has not been in too many Transformer series mainly G1 but he has omages mostly in colour schemes such as RID Side Burns power up mode, Armada Hot Shot Power Linx mode and Cybertron Hot Shot.

FUNCTION; Cavalier

MOTTO; " My actions speak louder then words"

TECH SPEC;  Before the coming of Unicron Rodimus  was already a talented warrior, recognised by his comrades by his potential and his lack of patience. When he became Rodimus prime he immediately set out to lead from the front. he was always the first on the battlefield and the last off, thrusting himself onto the deepest danger rather than asking any of the robots under his command to sacrifice themselves

SATS; Strength 10, Intelligence 10, Speed 9, Endurance 10, Rank 10, Courage 7, Firepower 10, Skill 10

car mode front

 

 

Car mode side

 

 

interior

 

 

car mode with photon rifle

 

 

car mode with off shoot/firebolt

 

 

Robot mode

 

 

Robot mode with off shoot/firebolt

 

 

Robot mode with visor, saw blade and welding torch

 

 

Rodimus Prime in robot mode

 

#

Rodimus prime matrix of leadership

 

 

Rodimus prime holding the Matrix

 

 

Showing the Matrix open

 

 

Off shoot/Firebolt robot mode

 

 

In car mode he is superb. He is very sleek, no kibble just exactly what a master piece should be.

He is quite big as well. Ultra class size at least

In this mode he has details such as the ability to lift up the canopy to reveal the interior details. The steering wheel, the seat are his robot mode feet so a bit weird. I would not like to sit on these seats as they look quite uncomfortable.

Unfortunately some of the Orange paint has chipped off and is covering the interior but it is not a huge problem.

He has a chrome exhaust pipe which is pretty nice as well.

he has rubber tyres and can roll along very well. Just make sure his head is turned around for car mode or it will drag along the floor and stop him from rolling properly.

This does not look like it is road legal though as the rear spoiler is like a blade. Too close to the kerb and he could decapitate someone. he also has spikes at the back so I would not like to tailgate this guy.

The tail spoiler is his signature feature but it is a little wobbly on mine. A minor nitpick.

His weapons can be plugged into his engine block like the original toy.

The way that it is engineered is that the top of the engine block folds back to reveal where you plug the guns in. this is so you do not end up with a big hole in the top. Either of his photon rifles or his target master Offshot or Firebolt as he should be called can be pegged on to the engine block.

You can lift the bonnet up to reveal the matrix of Leadership . he is powered by the Matrix rather than an engine.

He has flames on the bonnet and a Autobot Insignia. He does come with a sticker sheet as an extra including an Decepticon insignia which I stuck  on my G1 brawl as I can't think why I would put it on this figure. The other stickers are arrow stickers and not sure where they go. he also has an Autobot insignia with a white outline which I have put on my G1 Bumblebee as he needed stickers I don't think he needs them .

I really have no complaints about it. It is really well done and a superb figure.

when you are transforming him into car mode make sure his hands have the clips deployed as though you are going to use his welding and saw blade as it will make it a lot easier to slide his arms into the side panels of the car. This is unofficial. His fingers get in the way if you use his actual hands.

 

 

The Transformation is a little scary in parts because some parts of him are fragile. He is not as bad as the Tekara version though. I have heard of some people getting that and it broke on their first transformation. Hasbro have somewhat fixed this problem but the little tabs at the back are very thin plastic, thicker than Tekara but not thick enough. I have transformed this guy four times and there are already some stress marks. It is short sighted of Hasbro. They did not make it thick enough on the tabs. I will make this the last time that I transform him as he is a master piece.

The rest of the transformation is not too bad.

They put his engine block on a spring as when he transforms it pushes against the windscreen for robot mode.

Another improvement is that there is a panels on his legs which are on these swinging arms which slide out for car mode. On the Tekara version they where on a pin which broke very easily. Hasbro replaced this with a different pin so it pops out and can pop easily in again.

 

In robot mode he again looks amazing and exactly what you would expect a master piece to be. he has great articulation so you can put him in many dynamic poses.

He does have some problems as his forearm is hooked into his upper arm by a little tab and this has a habit of becoming unhooked and makes his arm floppy and broken looking.

His back has a habit of falling down with the weight of the spoiler. You have to make sure it is clipped in properly.

His feet are made of dye cast to give him stability. All master pieces have die cast in them.

Die cast is a bit of a lost art with transformers. A lot of G1 was die cast but now mostly limited to master pieces.

he looks just like he does in the cartoon.

In the Tekara version his hands and face are light grey and the red is more a pinkish red. his lower legs are black and his flame design is more stylised. they made him look more like the G! toy.

Hasbro went for the G1 cartoon look.

I prefer the colours on this version as I once saw the Tekara version in the London store Forbidden Planet.

His hands and feet in this version are silver. The lower legs are red rather than black. His flames look more like flames are and not stylised and have no black outline.

 

He has his two photon rifles which he holds. There are tabs on both sides of the handles and they slot onto pegs on his hands. His fingers then fold round to make him look like he is holding it.

some times his guns are a little croaked so you have to adjust.

His guns are from the original toy and you only see him use one red gun in the cartoon not the others. In the movie he did not have any guns at all but used his arm cannons.

One gun is slightly smaller and has some blue panels on the side with a longer and fatter barrel. The other one has some red panels on the side and a shorter and smaller barrel.

 

The target master Off shoot aka Firebolt. as a gun he looks OK. To attach him to the engine block you have to fold up the gun handle and attach it by another part. He does hold him in gun mode but not well. he can look croaked and it does not look good.

This target master did not come with the Tekara version as this is an exclusive to the Hasbro version.

The gun mode is black and silver and he does have a bit if kibble. You can see the robot mode hands.

In mine there is a problem as the clip that attaches the gun barrel to the figure came off and I had to screw it back on again but the hook will not hook back in and it is a little floppy in gun mode.

His transformation is quite complex 

I robot mode Offshoot/Firebolt is a nice representation of him. He has some nice articulation.

he is is a nice bonus to this set but I wish that Hot rod could hold him better.

 

I feel like Rodimus Prime is more geared up to be Hot Rod seemingly he does not come with the trailer unlike the Tekara version as you cannot do the Winnebago mode.

You can flip down his visor using some swivels on the side of his head.

You can fold up his hand to reveal a clip which you can use to hold his saw blade or his welding torch.

His saw blade is made from translucent blue plastic and the rest including the blade is silver.

This was used to fight some fish and giant squid on Quintessa.

His welding torch is completely red and he used this to repair Kup when he was damaged by the giant squid. You do not see him actually do this though so we just have to presume he had a welding torch in the movie as you don't actually see it. 

 

In Rodimus Prime mode it is a fairly easy transformation and you pull a new face out. Rodimuses face is longer and has more lines to make him look older.

I like to pull the hips down a but so he can gain some height.

I also bring the spoiler up to more prominence.

In Rodimus mode he has the same articulation but his photon rifles combine to make his photon eliminator rifle.

His rifle is quite big, even too big but I suppose he is a Prime now so needs a big gun.

His chest opens up and he has the Matrix of leadership which is quite small. It does remove but does not open and he can't hold it so no point removing it. There is some nice detail behind it. I wonder if it is his spark as there is a little circle thing.?

Tekara only came with the little one that goes in his chest but the Hasbro come with the big matrix which came with Master Optimus Prime and it opens. It has some nice detail on it and he can hold this..

 

I do display him in Hot Rod mode just because I like it better and I already have G1 Rodimus on my shelf and I don't have a Hot Rod

I really like this figure. It was the first master piece that I got. It is amazing. Such a shame it does not come with the trailer and I would highly recommend getting him. Get him if you have the means. A must have if you are a Rodimus and Hot Rod fan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAST MACHINES ULTRA JETSTORM- 2000

Jetstorm is one of the Vehicon generals in the cartoon. He is the general of the aero drones. He was created along with Tankor and Thrust because the vehicon drones were being annihilated by the Maximals because they did not have a leader out in the field. Megatron created the Vehicon generals to tackle this problem. The Vehicon generals compared to the drones have sparks and individual minds.
Jetstorm personality wise likes to enjoy himself and is outgoing and talkative.
Jetstorm is also a nasty character as he removed Blackarachneas spark with a spark extractor but Nightscream got her spark back and brought her back on line. Jetstorm was in the cartoon for quite while from episode three in series one till around the middle of series two when he written out the series.
 When the Maximals found out that Megatron had used a Maximal spark to create the Vehicon generals. They found out that Rhinox's spark was inside Tankor but that is a different story. They where wandering who the other two were. Balckarachnea thought that Silverbolts spark was inside Thrust because Thrust started acting weird and saved her a couple of times but it was only when Balckarachnea used some Organic core on Thrust that she realised that it was Waspinators spark not Silverbolts. Jetstorm acedently got splattered by the Organic core and it turned out Silverbolts spark was in Jetstorm. Blackarachnea saved Silverbolt by dropping Jetstorm into an entire pool of Organic core. A modified DNA scanner was used to scan a fossilised eagle which reformatted Jetstorm into Silverbolt.

 

FUNCTION; Aero drone general

 

MOTTO; " I am not bound by the law of the land"

 

TECHSPEC; The appointed general of Megatrons Aero drones, Jetstorm is the hotshot lord of the skies over the enslaved planet of Cybertron. Quite a talker, tends to engage in tactics of verbal intimidation. headstrong attitude and less then modest personality often cause friction with the other generals- but impressive combat abilities speak for themselves. Outfitted with various types of energy blasters and plasma bombs. Extremely swift and manoeuvrable in vehicle mode, rather flighty- jetstorm never touches land- must convert to robot mode when he hovers over the ground.

 

SATS; Strength 8, Intelligence 8, Speed 10, Endurance 8, Rank 9, courage 7, Firepower 9, Skill 8

 

 

Jet mode front

 

 

Jet mode side

 

 

Jet mode with turret deployed

 

 

Self guided drones

 

 

Robot mode

 

 

Hover mode

 

In jet mode Jetstorm is more cartoon accurate than the Deluxe version.

The cockpit which also doubles as a head is nicely posable with a hinge up and down.

It also has a gimmick where you spring the turret up and turn it left and right which will turn the head with it.

There are also LEDs in the head and the turret. It is a fun gimmick to play around with .

The turret is deployed with a leaver and can be a bit fiddly to get back into place.

I wish you could turn his head left and right with out the turret.

He also has two firing missiles which you can also fire in normal jet mode without the turret.

Jetstorm is pretty well armed as he has two guns on the nose of the plane and he also has two self guiding drones which clip under the wings. It think they they would work like recon drones and look kind of  like Depthchargers shark drones and have light piping.

He has flip away landing gear and also the colours are very accurate to the cartoon

He has blue chrome on the top so you have to watch out for transmetal syndrome.

His robot head does kind of sit in the back and there are two panels that flip up to cover his face which is pretty nice which is good but you can still see his head. and I suppose his bunny ears could be extra tail fins

He is very nice in this mode and I like it a lot. It is sleek and is very cool.

His feet though do stick out the back and I wish they were hidden away. His robot legs are also at a weird angle but these are just nitpicks.

He is a really nice size, big but not too big.

 

In Robot mode again he looks good.

OK there are some problems as his arms  as they look quite weird. They are short and are quite kibbly. The kibble  sticks out of his wrist at weird angles out and a shame you cannot fold them flush as I think it would a lot better. He has three fingered claws. He has no thumb or little finger.

His face is not a perfect likeness to the cartoon but close enough and his bunny ears are not as long or flared as in the cartoon.

He has translucent plastic eyes but no light piping.

His gimmick is only for jet mode but  now the turret gives him cannons which he can fire from his shoulders which makes up for it. They worked the gimmick quite well as this is not too intrusive and does not effect the robot mode too much.

He has legs in robot mode so he can stand but if you want something that is more like the cartoon then transform him into hover mode.

Obviously he cannot stand in hover mode so balance him against something or better get a figure stand.

The recon drones have no where to go on this mode  as the ports for them are not accessible so attach them to screw holes his thighs. They then look like guns in holsters.

His articulation is OK but because he is top heavy because of the turret it is better to get him into a standing pose.

His spark crystal is behind a panel on his stomach

 

He is not perfect but I still like this figure and recommend him if you want a large accurately painted Jetstorm with an accurate Jet mode then you should get this.

 

This figure only saw one repaint to my knowledge and that re paint was Cyclonus who was a collectors club exclusive if I remember it correctly.

I can see why they re painted it as Cyclonus because Jetstorms jet mode is the same kind of design as him.