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

 

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TF PRIME RID KNOCK OUT- 2012

Knock out is the Decepticon medic in TF Prime. So at last the Decepticons have a medic. He is very vain and he does not like getting any scratches on his car mode. During battle he is always worried about damage to his paint and finish. He often  yells at the Autobots to "Watch his finish".
In his spare time he polishes up his paint but also he races with humans in car mode in street races.
until one guy keyed his car mode and Knock out rammed him off the road for it.
Knock out does not actually have a gun but he has a melee weapons instead. On his right arm he has a saw blade and on his left arm a drill. He also has an electrical spear which he uses to stun Autobots.
There is one case in which Knock out captures a human who he thinks is one of the Autobots human companions but he wasn't. The Autobtos still rescued him and Optimus Primes ripped Knock outs door off. He was not impressed with that.
At this time Megatron was in stasus and Starscream was leading the Decepticons. Starscream did not approve of Knock out street racing with humans.  So when he found out that he had been racing again and had lost a door he had his finish scratched off as a punishment.
Knock out was originally on earth and he was called to the Nemesis by Starscream. Knock out  had break down with him. Starscream wanted him to assess Megatrons condition as a medic.
When Megatron was in stasus Knock out was a little treacherous to him as him Starscream wanted to pull the plug on his life support machine but Soundwave would not let this happen.
Much later down the line when Megatron had the Phychic patch on Starscream to find out his true intentions for rejoining the Decepticons. Megatron found Starscreams memory on the  discussion with Knock out about pulling the plug on him so he knew of Knock outs treachery.
But for whatever reason Megatron decided to overlook this. Knock out knew that he had been discovered and was thinking about pulling the plug on the psychic patch and trapping Megatron inside Starscreams mind. but he was interrupted so he did not do it.
When the Decepticons capture Smokescreen for the Omega key inside him. Knock out used the faze shifter and used it to pull the Omega key out of Smokescreen. Megatron ordered Knock out to kill Smokescreen. Smokescreen  pulled himself free and grappled with Knock out using the power of the faze shifter and they walked through a wall but Smokescreen broke free and Knock out was left stuck in the wall.
Megatron knew Knock out had failed him he would not free him from the wall and he used him as an example to the other Decepticons. He did free him in the next episode.
When the hunt for the relics first begins Knock out is sent with a bunch of Vehicon drones and a Insecticon to an underground subway in New York. This was to find  a relic that turned out to be the faze shifter  but the Autobots got there first.
Knock out ends up getting hit in the face with a train which completely scratches up his entire front paintwork so he was not having a good day.
Knock out does not have a super huge role in the cartoon but I still enjoy his character..

 

FUNCTION; Medic

 

BIO; Knock out is oily slick; the ultimate salesman. Everyone knows his weapons are dangerous and prone to malfunction, and his instillation methods often leave Decepticons scarred or crippled. But who can resist having Quantum disintegration at his finger tips?

 

SATS; Strength 6, Intelligence 8, Speed 8, Endurance 5, Rank 7, Courage 4, Fireblast 5, Skill 5

 

 

 

car mode side

 

 

car mode front

 

 

Robot mode

 

His car mode is small for a Deluxe but is pretty sleek as it should be being Knock out.

There are some inaccurate paint apps though. He has this dark reddish brown which I don't remember at all on the show model.

His side racing stripes should be silver. There is some on there but it abruptly stops and looks like it has been sprayed on so untidy. Knock out would not put up with a shoddy paint job and I think  this is due to quality control on mine.

You could paint them yourself or there is the Japanese arms micron version of this which is red all over like the show model.

The reddish brown does make it look interesting though.

He does not have any tail lights but as they would have been red and he is red you would not really see them.

If you like you can attach the electric spear to the side of his car mode which does look kind of stupid. There is not a port on the roof so you can't put it there. The spear does split apart but there is only a peg on the rear piece so you are forced to have the spear on one side or just leave it off in this mode as I do.

I still like this mode though despite it's problems

His transformation is not too hard or complex but it does have a complex one. Don't look at the instructions as the way they have the arms makes it look horrible.

He has a reveal gimmick like all TF Prime RID Deluxe. When head springs up on a panel.

In robot mode he is cartoon accurate although his chest pieces are not as high.

His face sculpture is pretty good and he has a cocky smirk and some nice red light piping which does work well.

You attach the electric spear to his hand by splitting the spear in half then sliding one piece of the spear into his hand and reattaching the two pieces

 The spear is well detailed but it is blue on the box art but unpainted on the actual figure which is a shame.

There are various ways you can have his chest pieces but the way I see it is that they are suppose to go is to clip onto his main torso unit.

He has decent posability and you can get him into some good poses.

You have to be careful though as when you transform him the waist pieces can drop off so don't loose them and no matter what piece you lose it will ruin one of his modes.

 

The electric spear can attach to two ports on his back but it sticks up and looks stupid.

He has ports on his legs as well.

One thing which is a shame is that he does not come with his saw blade and drill. He used these far more than the spear. I am hoping a third party will make and add on kit for this guy that will give him his saw blade and drill. I would like that.

This figure is not without its problems and I highly recommend him.

If you don't like these colours then you have the for mentioned Tekara arms micron who comes with a micron crab which transforms into his electric spear

There is also a Japanese exclusive Smokesreeen out of this mold w. I can see why they did that and repainted him as Smokescreen as they do look similar in the cartoon.

There is also a translucent green version of this that was part of the BBTS Exclusive dark Energon series.

Not matter which version you get it is a mold worth getting.

You need him in your collection and he is a fun character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAST MACHINES TANK DRONE ( Tankor) - 2001

This is the tank drone but it is also the most cartoon accurate Tankor that came out. So he can also double as Tankor. This is why this toy is sought after as he is so accurate as Tankor unlike the official Tankor toy.
In the Beast Machines cartoon the tank drones did not do that much but go around and blow things up so this back story is mostly about Tankor because he had a mind of his own so will be a more interesting read.
Back Story

Megatron conquers Cybertron with a transformation freezing virus and he also captured other transformers removing thier sparks and converts their bodies into Vehicon drones. Rather like in Dr who with the Cybermen
They were designed to hunt down and destroy the survivors of the virus. There were three main classes of drone. The tank drones which were ground assault. The Ariel drones were air assault, The Cycle drones were motorbikes and were high speed assault. There were also the Mole drones which were underground assault. They were were like big tubes with blades attached and a big gun.
When the Maximals landed on Cybertron they were effected by the virus and that took away their Transmetal forms returning them to  their series 1 Beast Wars forms but unable to transform out of their beast modes. On top of that they also had a form of amnesea so they could remember nothing and the virus would also be fatal in time.
While they were running around confused the Tank drones were after them. Optimus Primal was called by the Oracle of Cybertron which is part of Vecta Sigma and the Matrix. The Oracle lead them to the rest of the Maximals and down deep into the depth of Cybertron to the Oracle itself. The Oracle reformatted them into Techno Organics to save them from the virus.
Once they had mastered their techno Organic forms they absolutely annihilated the Vehicon Drones as they are telepathically controlled by Megatron and  are therefore all mindless. Megatron came up with the idea that if he created a Vihicon with individual minds they would be able to outsmart the Maximals. He built the Vehicon generals. Jetstorm was the general of the Ariel drones. , Thrust was the general of the cycle drones and Tankor general of the tank drones. For a while they were a lot more formidable with a tank general to command them in the field.
Tankor is basically a dimwit and it not bright. He runs around shouting "Tankor smash"! He is slow in more ways than one but is powerful in strength and firepower.
When the Maximals realised that two members of their team were missing being Silverbolt and Rhinox they set out to find them . At the same time Megatron sent out the generals to hunt down the Mamimals. It was Tankor who found them. He managed to capture the Maximals and brought them to Megatron in the Citadel.
Optimus Primal convinced Tankor to let them go as he entered Tankors mind using the oracle to make hhim change his mind. Tankor helped them escape the Ciidel. He did but Megatron thought he had a good idea by targeting the mind so he erased Tankors memory from the last twenty minutes so he went back to trying to capture the maximals . Optimus tried to reconnect to Tankors mind but Megatron would not let him. Optimus said he sensed a familiar spark in Tankor. It continues on like this until the episode "Revolution".
The Maximals discovered that Megatron had used the sparks that he had captured to make the Vihicon generals including Silverbolt and Rhinox. Megatron had used Rhinox's spark to create Tankor. They managed to bring Rhinox's spark to the service and he took over Tankor. Rhinox , when in limbo had become evil so he thought that all organics should be destroyed and Cybertron would remain totally technological. Cybertron was once  an organic planet and still had the organic core. Rhinox was a genius and wanted to make a plan so Optimus Primal and Megatron to destroy each other so he could rule Cybertron. Megatron still had his dragon mode from Beast Wars. Rhinox had Tankors tank mode and was uncorrupted by organic material. So therefore he thought he was a more suitable replacement for Megatron with his dragon mode.
Rhinox made a plan and got the key to Vecta Sigma from the Oracle which has the power to turn organic matter into techno matter ( Metal). He tested it on the Maximal Nightscream turning to metal and turning him insane but he was cured by Cybertrons Organic core.
Rhinox wanted to carry out his plans so he faked his own death. Before this he reprogrammed Mainframe who was the drone adviser of Megatron to help him in this
Because he had tampered with he Oracle he got it to send a fake vision to Optimus Primal showing him the location of the Plasma energy chamber.
The plasma energy does the opposite of the Key to Vecta sigma in that it destroys Techno matter. In the mean time Mainframe was ordered to tell Megatron about the key to Vecta Sigma. There was a mutual assured destruction going on between the Maximals with the Plasma Energy chamber and the Vehicons having the key to Vecta Sigma.
Rhinox did not think that Optimus would use the Plasma energy chamber. He just wanted Megatron to use the key to destroy both the Maximals, The organic core and himself. All the Maximals including Optimus were going insane and turning to metal but when this was happening Optimus opened the Plasma energy chamber which basically destroyed everything on Cybertron. Optimus Primal realised what he had done and went back and closed it dying in the process along with Rhinox and Megaron to save Cybertron.
Optimus and Megatron come back in series two while Tankor/Rhinox does not.

 

FUNCTION; Ground attack

 

MOTTO; " The ground of Cybertron will thunder in our wake"

 

BIO; Tank drone units are a specialised Vehicon element of drones under Tankor command. Formidable front line fighters. Often attack in chaotic formations, firing destributes missiles in unison, then they rapidly retreat in all directions. Anything caught in their path is destroyed. Alloy armour plating protects them from most types of maximal artillery but firepower drops considerably after firing missiles. Not effective during lengthy firefights.

 

SATS; Strength 8.5, Intelligence 4.9, Speed 7.2, Endurance 6.6, Rank 6.0, Courage 8.9, Firepower 9.4, Skill 7.0

 

 

Tank mode side

 

 

Tank mode front

 

 

Robot mode

 

 

In tank mode I think this is about as accurate to the cartoon as they could get in this size class.

It is not perfect and has some gap issues on the back and front but it is still pretty good.

He has his robot head on the back of the tank which those people who complained about Energon Ironhide probably will not like this. But I am fine with it because it is accurate to the cartoon  and he is on Cybertron so he does not have to be in disguise.

He has some nice details such as the hazard stripes which I don't remember him having in the cartoon but ,oh well!

He has some translucent red parts as well as chrome which are nice touches as well .

The most notable thing of this tank mode is obviously the giant cannon which has a gimmick in which you angle the cannon upwards and then roll him along and the gun  barrel spins and he will fire a missile.

This  makes sense because the  tank drones gun barrels spun when they were charging up to shoot in the cartoon.

When the missile is out you can spin the cannon freely.

The missile is translucent red with orange paint on the end to represent fire. Like it is a fire ball or something.

He has his Vehicon spark crystal on the top of his gun. This leads me to believe that he is Tankor as the vehicon drone does not have a spark. If you look at his tech spec you will see that his intelligence is four. If he was just a drone it would be zero.

 

The transformation is quite simple but interesting enough not to be boring.

 

His robot mode is also pretty accurate to the cartoon. It is not perfect as he was bulkier in the cartoon.

He is still more accurate than the Mega class version of Tankor.

 

He does not have a huge amount of articulation.

He is a drone so what dynamic poses would he be in?

He does have wheels on his feet so you can roll him along.

He has claws for hands but no saw blades that he had in the cartoon. On his right arm he has part of the cannon gimmick which could stand in for a saw blade but does not flip out.

 

You can fold out his backpack to give him a over the shoulder cannon. You have to turn the crank manually to spin the end to fire the missile.

 

There isn't much more I can say about the robot mode. Because he is hard to find he can go for quite a bit but I would not pay a huge amount for him. I got him for about £12.00 but I would not pay more than £15.00

He is a very simple figure in both modes but he is still a good figure.

I do recommend him though. If you want an accurate Tankor in your collection then get a Tank Drone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAST WARS TRANSMETAL OPTIMUS PRIMAL- 1998

 At the end of series one of beast wars Optimus Primal died. He was blown up along with the Vox Dooms day machine. The energy from that explosion turned them all into transmetals.
In the " Coming of the Fuzors" the Maximals were facing their darkest hour of the Beast wars as they were leaderless and the Predacons outnumbered them and were also transmetal and were out to destroy them. The had two new recruits the Fuzors Silverbolt and Quickstrike.
Rhinox actually went into the matrix  because when the Vox machine blew up it opened a window into trans space which Rhinx used to bring Optimus back. Dinobot, Rattrap and Cheetor defended the exillon from the Predicons while he was bringing Optimus back.
Rhinox came back from his stasus and defended the base along with the others. They were all badly damaged by the Predecons.
They found a blank proto form which is a proto form without a spark. This became Optimus Primal. He was also Transmetal as it had been exposed to the blast of the Vox machine. Once in working order he went and blasted all the Predacons and they retreated.
Throughout series 2 he remained the leader, Fighting the Predecons and  Megatron were his main things that he did.
He was Transmetal until the beginning of series 3 when Optimus merged his spark with the Matrix of leadership . Optimus Prime had been badly damaged and when Optimus Primal put the matrix into his chest he became Optimal Optimus.

 

FUNCTION; Maximal general

 

BIO; Changed into a mighty, metal gorilla by a planetary destruction device, Optimus Primal has a built in rocket powered hover board that lets him hang ten on the air-waves of the Beast Wars world! Stronger and faster than ever, he converts to become the huge, organically enhanced Maximal General loaded with weaponry. Predacons who value their health best avoid any monkey business with Transmetal Optimus Primal!

 

Gorilla mode

 

 

On hover board

 

 

Prime guns

 

 

Robot mode

 

Optimus Primal is now a blue chrome gorilla. It says Optimus on the side of his chest.

His gorilla face looks pretty fierce.

He is pretty good and you can get him into a knuckle dragging pose like a real gorilla.

He has two struts which can help him stand but he does have gorilla toes which helps anyway. More secure with the struts.

 

He has good articulation but he cannot bend to beat his chest as his arms are too long.

 

Weaponry wise he has these clubs which store on his back and he can hold them.

The robot feet are folded up against the back of his legs and can look awkward in some poses as there is no where else for them to go.

Overall a good mode

You can use his robot feet to make a hover board which he used quite a lot in the cartoon.

He is a flying surfing gorilla. Who thought that up?

 

There are wheels on the hover board and you can wheel him along if you can get him to balance.

His gun becomes an afterburner in this mode.

 

His transformation is pretty clever and fun. The gorilla modes backpack  becomes his robot modes chest.

His back pack in either mode covers up the other modes chest.

 

In robot mode he is pretty good. He has a different head and has gained in height.

The gorilla feet are now his knee guards.

There are also new hands.

You can still use the clubs and his gun.

The clubs can still store on his back and the gun stores on his leg in any mode.

The gun looks like a hair dryer which is pretty funny.

You can put the club in the gun to fire from . There is a spring in there but you fire it like a pressure launch missile. So it is a cross between a spring launch and pressure launch.

I don't like the look of the club in the launcher so I don't use it.

 

If anything his robot mode chest looks more like a gorilla chest than the actual one with hair mold.

 

His face is like his gorilla face but a bit like Optimus Prime with head Crest, antennae and with organic hair and fa. A techno organic look.

 

He does have one more mode where he folds his pack back over with the clubs attached to it and he gets a mobile gun emplacement. These are called the Prime Guns. the handles of the clubs become the cannons.

It a shame that he does not have the targeting scanner that he had in the cartoon.

I still like the mode though.

 

In robot mode the screws are visible on his shoulders but this is a not pick.

 

In robot mode he is gritting his teeth like he is constipated or something.

 

I highly recommend him . All his modes are solid and transformation is fun .

Good figure all the way through.