‘Til All Are Displayed! The Collection… well most of it.

I was just looking at the pictures on my “‘Til All Are What Now?” page and thought it was just about time for an updated shot of my Transformers display.

As I sit at my computer typing this out a turn to the left reveals three shelves, each roughly six and a half feet tall, as well as an assortment of smaller satellite shelves. To my immediate right is display shelf 1. Topped by three (soon to be three and a half) shelves of the star of Transformers — no, despite what they would have you believe recently, not Bumblebee: Optimus Primes and Convoys of all shapes and sizes.

Working our way counter-clockwise, shelf-by-shelf from there we have:

• Half a shelf of Hot Rod/Rodimus Primes.
• Ultra Magnus’ (Magni?) and Blaster and his tapes.
• Smaller Constructicons and a slew of Micromasters.
• Constructicons (old and new) and other combiners.
• Scorponok, SkyLynx, and Omega Supreme.
• In the middle is the Dark of the Moon shelf and Kre-O Optimus, which is a bit of a mess at the moment.
• My wife’s “girl Transformers that could kick your tailpipe” shelf.
•  The multiple incarnations of Mirage, Prowl, and Jazz.
• The Targetmasters.
• Finally, the Headmasters and Wheeljack.

On the wall opposite display shelf 1, there are shelves 2 and 3 and two more ancillary shelves.

For this one, I’ll do each shelving unit individually, starting on the top left:

• Various incarnations of Star Saber (except an actual Star Saber, sadly) and Dai Atlas (with an actual Dai Atlas, happily.)
• Two shelves of Minibots and their updates.
• An entire shelf of Grimlocks.
• The rest of the Dinobots, as well as Grimstone and his Dinobot drones.
• The G1 repaints from the newest movies; such as red Ironhide, white and blue Jazz, and Revenge of the FallenSkywarp (look! I finally found my G1 repaint Movie (2007) Starscream!)

Display shelf 3, starting at the tippy top:

• AssortedGods, Monsters, Primes, and one tiny Fortress Maximus.
• The Animated Shelf, including the full 2011 Botcon set and TFCC Exclusive Animated Cheetor.
• The G2 and G2 Classics with all the glorious colours of the rainbow.
• The first section of G1 and G1 Classics Autobots.
• Shattered Glass and the second section of G1 and G1 Classics Autobots.
• The Movie (2007), RotF, and DotM Leader and Human Alliance class toys.
• More Combiners! Predaking!

Display shelf 2, from top to bottom:

• Shockwaves, The Fallen, and movie Megatrons.
• G1, G2, Masterpiece, Classics… just a whole bunch of Megatrons as well as Classics Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge and their updates.
• TheshelfoftheSeekers.
• Soundwavesgalore and mini-cassettes (and updates) galore.
• G1 and G1 Classics Decepticons.
• Japanese Beast Wars, including my beloved Tako Tank.
• Another shelf full of combiners.

The last little shelf is a mishmash of stuff:

• Smokescreens G1, Classics, and Alternators (soon to be joined by RotF and Cybertron Smokescreens once I dig them out.)
• The Generations Junkions.
• Scan series Bumblebee, Sideswipe…
• …Ratchet and Ironhide.
• The Power Core Combiner Autobots.
• The Power Core Combiner Decepticons.

Oh yeah, also Supreme class Beast Machines Cheetor standing to the side.

With the exception of G1 Metroplex and Cybertron Metroplex that stand ever vigilant above my computer (which is itself named Metroplex) and an extra Micromaster Tailwind, that is the entirety of my current display.

However, though admittedly a lot of floorspace is taken up by the display (and yes, I am aware that I am very, very lucky to have a wife that is not only ok with, but actually encourages my collecting and displaying), it only amounts to a little under half of my total collection. The rest are in plastic bins in a closet.

One day I will have an entire room devoted to the collection, until then, I’ll keep enjoying them by occasionally pulling them out of their bins to take pictures of them for this blog. That way I get to share the joy this collection brings me (and yes, a little showing off too.)

Putting the “work” in “teamwork”, The Stunticons and Menasor!

In both G1 and Animated the Stunticon’s greatest weakness, as a whole, is each other. Conflicting personalities cause endless bickering and fights that inhibit, if not completely counteract their ability to be effective soldiers. The one thing that both teams excel at is complete mayhem, in or out of their alt modes.

Speaking of alt modes, these are some pretty great G1 toys with such a wild assortment of colours and choice of vehicles, yet somehow they still feel like a team.

Also, speaking of alt modes, I have to say it again, the Botcon folks did a grand job of translating these guys into Animated.

I am always amazed at how much unique personality they manage to get out of molds that we have seen before, just using paint applications and the occasional new headsculpt.

No slouch in their own right — even despite their disproportionate, rectangular leader — the G1 Stunticons are still great display pieces.

However, let’s face it, unless you have two sets of G1 Stunticons, you’re not displaying them individually.

These toys were meant to be Menasor.

Here’s where Motormaster’s blocky body is put to good use. Menasor is one solid looking combiner.

Of course, almost everyone with a set of Animated Stunticons is just counting down the days until some 3rd party group figures out how to make Animated Menasor out of them. In the meantime, they remain one heck of a… Stunti-convoy.

…Sorry.

A G1 toy designed by a committee of six year olds, an Animated toy that looks like pure rock ‘n’ roll, Motormaster!

“The good thing about Transformers is that everyone is someone’s favourite.”

My friend said this at Botcon this year and I firmly believe it to be true. It’s a good portion of why the weak comic book writers killing off random characters left and right annoys me so much. Someone is going to care that you just killed off their all-time favourite Transformer.

The reason I bring this up is because I absolutely know that Motormaster is someone’s favourite. Heck, this guy painted his entire truck into a Motormaster homage:

It was a lot of fun to get up close and personal with this giant truck at Botcon 2010.

So, to this guy and other Motormaster fans, I apologize for the following:

G1 Motormaster’s robot mode is sooooo bad. Suprisingly bad. Granted, I bought this set because I wanted the combined form of Menasor, but all the other Stunticons have such decent robot modes that I was frankly surprised by Motormaster’s. Keep in mind this is coming from someone whose favourite G1 toy is Powermaster Optimus Prime.

Motormaster, though… all those rectangles, the horrible proportions, the truck cab clown shoes; the whole thing reminds me of a child’s drawing of a Transformer made into an actual toy.

"Graaaaargh!" Actually, this picture does a better job at proportions than the toy.

Ok, sorry, that was mean, let me rectify that by using his boxart instead.

And this is the Takara boxart, because both versions of Hasbro's boxart show his legs mistransformed, making him even stockier and more disproportionate.

Huh. I can’t figure out which picture is less flattering. Luckily his Animated incarnation breathes some much needed life into Motormaster toys everywhere.

"Hey, look, elbows!" "Shut up!"

Using the Voyager Optimus Prime mold, Animated Motormaster (occasionally called “The Motor Master” for copyright reasons) keeps the black while majorly playing up the purple in his colour scheme. More importantly, he retains his signature head-in-a-box look. G1 Motormaster’s head is somewhat bland and lifeless,

Amazing what a couple paint apps on his eyes could have done for this toy.

Animated Motormaster’s head is meant to reflect his “wrestler bad guy” personality, but from the day his new headsculpt was revealed, I have said that he is a dead ringer for Lemmy from Motörhead (I think I gave the right “o” the diaeresis there).

"Good evening… We are the Stunticons… and we play wreck ‘n’ roll."

This, of course, means that I have been dying to put together this shot:

Motörmaster

As the torso portion of his combiner team, G1 Motormaster carries Menasor’s weapons, a rifle and a sword. His Animated mold carries a cannon and replaces the sword with a gigantic double-bladed axe.

Alt mode is one area where G1 Motormaster is a decent toy. Unlike the majority of Semi Truck Transformers, he actually transforms into both the cab and the trailer. Unfortunately the one drawback of this is that his truck mode is rather small. Animated Motormaster uses paint applications along the sides of his axe that transforms into the back half of his alt mode to duplicate the stickers and Decepticon symbol on the sides of the G1 toy’s trailer.

Like the other “Scramble City” style combiner commanders G1 Motormaster also has a fourth mode, his base mode. This base mode is the perfect size for the “Roller Car” that comes with Motormaster and forms the chest plate of the Stunticons combined mode. “Roller Car” is what it is called in Motormaster’s instructions, but it is not referenced anywhere else, even missing as the chestplate of Menasor in every character model up to Dreamwave’s comic series.

Just about the time you’re thinkin’ it’s alright; breakdown, takedown, you’re busted. Breakdown!

Bob Seger lyrics as a post title? Really?

I can’t help it. Every time I hear Breakdown’s name, I think of this song, which inevitably leads me to Beverly Hills Cop II, which reminds me of the 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS from the movie, which is mistakenly swapped with a Ferrari 308 in one of the chase scenes, which is the alt mode of Breakdown’s fellow Stunticon, Wildrider.

See how I brought that back around to the point of the post?

I am nothing if not to the point.

Maybe I should just start this post over.

Right, Breakdown. He is my favourite of the G1 Stunticons. He’s great toy-wise, but personality-wise, he is definitely the most interesting:

“When Breakdown is in his car mode, he thinks everyone else is staring at him. Not just living creatures such as other Transformers and humans, but humans’ cars, stoplights… anything mechanical”

Whereas this just translates into paranoia elsewhere, the interesting turn is that on Earth he’s actually self-conscious that someone will see through his disguise and that it might affect his job performance.

“He’d be happier if he were a human – that way he feels he could just anonymously fit in anywhere and be in a better position to help conquer the Earth!”

It’s like some kind of neurosis-inducing Decepticon job ethic? Love it.

I think he might be my favourite Animated Stunticon as well, but this time because of his toy more than his character. Personality-wise, his Animated toy bio only makes it as far as his severe paranoia, adding in that he is,

“Profoundly unlucky and saddled with an inferiority complex”

His toy, however is a remold of my personal favourite of the entire Animated line, Rodimus, with an all-new head. When they first announced him, my only concern was that, just like Animated Dead End, the weapon included with this mold, the energon bow, seemed very out of place for him. Somehow it seemed too… elegant a weapon for a Stunticon? Animated Drag Strip handled this by changing his/her personality enough to make the weapon actually make sense. For Breakdown, in the convention exclusive comic book, they went the opposite direction, highlighting how little finesse the Stunticon posseses.

You wouldn't think you would need to point out which is the business end of an energy bow.

"Again? You're making my performance look stellar by comparison."

I’ve typed it three times before and will type it again: Stunticons need guns.

"Now this one I know which way to point."

Of course, don’t tell Animated Breakdown that the gun he’s holding is actually a Targetmaster. He would probably just think that Pinpointer there is judging him.

I totally lied yesterday when I stated that Wildrider was the only Animated Stunticon to provide a weaponized alt mode like their G1 limb counterpart. Though, given my feelings on Breakdown’s use of an energy bow, I hesitate to include it, here it is in all its strangeness.

Once again, I ask, how do you fire it without hands?

G1 Breakdown transforms into a Lamborghini Countach, which this Animated mold’s “futuristic racecar” imitates quite well.

Wait. Who are those other guys? It turns out that Animated Breakdown actually marks Breakdown’s third official, or fourth unofficial, appearance as a Botcon toy.

Unlike the rest of the Stunticons, Breakdown’s garishly coloured G2 toy was the only one to see official release: as the first ever Botcon exclusive in 1994 and then the next year at the Florida Extravaganza Collectibles Show.

My favourite part: "Realistic Styling!"

Then, ten years later, at Botcon 2004 — the only unofficial Botcon — Breakdown saw his first unsanctioned Botcon appearance in the form of a Action Master G2 Breakdown.

This strange history made Breakdown too good of an opportunity to pass up when the whole Botcon boxset went G2: Redux in 2010. Still paranoid and worried about his job, he now has the added level of stress that is having the lunatic Galvatron as his boss.

“He’s afraid that without Menasor, he’s nothing, and that the only reason Galvatron hasn’t destroyed him yet is because the Decepticon leader can’t remember who he is.”

Along with doing his original personality quirk justice, they perfectly recreated his wonderful new G2 paintjob, all the way down to the great big G2 Decepticon logo on his hood.

Using the Universe Sunstreaker/Sideswipe mold, his new headsculpt was spot on to the original G1/G2 mold’s head.

They even name dropped the original G2 release with a reference to the very first Botcon in his license plate.

BCFW94: Botcon Fort Wayne (Indiana) 1994.

The fourth Breakdown in the alt mode picture up there is actually not Breakdown but Brakedown.

Released in the Revenge of the Fallen line, despite his slight variation on the name he is definitely meant to be an homage to the original G1 toy, all the way down to his headsculpt.

Speaking of headsculpts, of the many heads of Breakdown, the most dissimilar are actually his G1 cartoon and toy models. So, where do the other homages and updates fall on a scale of Cartoon to Toy?

Animated is most similar to his cartoon model with RotF falling pretty evenly between the G1 cartoon and G1 toy. Of course, his G2: Redux is meant to be a straight update of his toy headsculpt.

Sheesh, you might see why a guy could get paranoid when he gets so much attention.

Either way, I am still going to have “Shakedown” by Bob Seger stuck in my head for the rest of the day…

Once a lunatic, now the Michael Bay of the Animated Transformers Universe, Wildrider!

Let me just start this post with a general warning: be very, very, veeeeeery careful when doing an image search using the keyword “Wildrider”. Kinda like how you have to be very careful doing a search using “Nexus Maximus“.

Both Animated Dead End and Drag Strip were straight repaints, using well placed paint applications to identify them as new characters. The rest of the Animated Stunticons, got all new headsculpts.

Animated Wildrider, using the Blazing Lockdown mold, replaces Lockdown’s skull like head with a saw-toothed, crazed-looking Frankenstein’s monster vaguely reminiscent of the Masters of the Universe character Trapjaw.

The spikes that are on this mold’s neck actually help to further the homage. Though missing on the G1 toy, the character model for the original Wildrider had two spiked protrusions on the sides of his head.

G1 Wildrider is one of many examples of character models being very different than the toy itself. Aside from the missing protrusions, Wildrider’s toy doesn’t actually have a face, but instead an ill-defined, corrugated faceplate type… thing.

Even his boxart ignores his toy’s actual features, chosing instead to give him a nose and mouth.

Also: angry eyebrows. Grrrrr.

The ironic thing is that, though Animated Wildrider’s head is the more lunatic looking of the two toys, it is actually the G1 character that is the crazier. Animated Wildrider is a case of “don’t judge a book by its cover”, looking like a crazed serial killer while he is actually the team’s talented, intelligent pyrotechnics director, “always brainstorming bigger, badder, louder, and more dangerous looking stunts, and he’s got the processing power to coordinate them flawlessly.”

On the other hand, for G1 Wildrider, ” those who know him better realize it’s not an act – he really is that nuts!”

“As his fellow Stunticon Breakdown puts it, “When he’s driving, I’d rather take a plane.”

While both Animated Dead End and Drag Strip look most like their G1 counterparts when in alt mode, the same can not be said of Animated Wildrider. Just like G1 Dead End has his single offset strip, G1 Wildrider has a very distinct feature in alt mode: a carbon fiber patterned hood, something Animated Wildrider doesn’t attempt to duplicate.

Although, he is the only Animated Stunticon to provide a weaponized vehicle mode like his G1 limb counterpart.

Guns can be activated on Animated Wildrider in vehicle mode as well, I just like the idea of a chainsaw wielding muscle car.

Truthfully, Animated Wildrider only has a passing resemblance to G1 Wildrider in both alt and robot modes.

What is a rather bright red colour on G1 has been turned into a — admittedly pretty — dark magenta on his Animated incarnation. At least this Animated Stunticon comes with his own gun so he doesn’t have to steal someone else’s.

Thanks to his portrayal in his toy’s bio, in the comic book, and in the Botcon script reading, I am willing to forgive Wildrider for his severe deviation from G1 Wildrider.

I think I've met this director a couple times.

Toy-wise, he only gets a pass because he has his fellow Stunticons to tie the whole thing together.

From egotist to psychopath, Drag Strip!

Possibly the biggest surprise of the “Stunti-Con-Job” boxset was Drag Strip.

Definitely not because of an unexpected alt mode choice; the Cybertronic “Rocket Car” is the Animated toyline’s closest approximation to G1 Drag Strip’s sleek six-wheeled Tyrell P34 racing car alt mode.

Granted, attaching a giant cannon to the top of your racing car really doesn’t do much for your aerodynamics.

No, the surprise was a gender swap. This wouldn’t be an issue amongst adults, but a good deal of Transfandom, though chronologically adults, are emotionally about five years old. That’s why, shortly after they announced her, the internet rang with,

“*Drag* Strip. Get it? Huh? Huh? Get it? He’s in draaaaag. *giggle*”

"One more drag queen joke and I start with the stabbing."

Just like Dead End, Drag Strip is a straight repaint, this time of the wonderful Animated Arcee mold. Also just like Dead End, the TFCC folk used paint applications on the face to add character and distinguish Drag Strip from Arcee.

Overall there isn’t much to say about G1 Drag Strip. He’s your textbook “warrior appreciated for his skills in battle” but such a blowhard that,

“Even Decepticon Leader Megatron finds him insufferable and would sooner smelt him than talk to him.”

All things considered, Animated Drag Strip is a serious upgrade in personality. Gone is the obnoxious free-wheeling braggart, in his place is a… social malcontent with a “high lust for violence”. Ok, so more like a lateral move than an upgrade. Once again, Stunticons need guns, so Animated Drag Strip had to borrow some.

And you thought Dead End's borrowed weaponry was overkill.

Though Animated Dead End’s accessory, the nunchaku, are woefully out of place on him, Drag Strip’s “laser swords” not only seem to fit well with her distressingly violent personality, they also complete a sort of secondary homage. Just before her official toy reveal, the Botcon Twitter feed linked to a trailer of the movie Kill Bill. Drag Strip’s paintjob is a nod to “The Bride”, Uma Thurman’s role as the main character of Kill Bill.

"Five-Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique kills too fast, I prefer slicing off parts until the energon stops flowing."

 

“We are all just food for rust”, the robot fatalists, Dead End!

This week we have two times the amount of Stunticons, but still only one combiner! The five G1 Stunticons combine to form the devastatingly powerful, but violently unstable Menasor. The five Animated Stunticons combine to form… well, a traveling stunt circus act. Using the Crash Test Dummy symbol, the Animated Team Stunticon even has their own take on the Decepticon emblem.

First up, Dead End!

In G1 Dead End was portrayed as a rather interesting dichotomic personality. He is a rather stoic fatalist while remaining vaingloriously proud of his appearance.

“Sullen, fatalistic, sees little reason to continue Transformers’ war. Motivating him to fight is always a problem. Vain — Spends most of his time shining himself.”

This amusingly complex personality became perfect fodder when the Stunticons made their Animated appearance thanks to the 2011 Botcon’s “Stunti-Con-Job” boxset. In Animated, this “sullen, fatalistic” attitude reveals itself as a “Theatrically morose” beat poet who “composes poetry so bleak as to be farcical.” This all culminated in David Kaye’s hysterical portrayal of Dead End as nothing short of the Transformers equivalent of Eeyore. It was easily the highlight of 2011 Botcon’s “Stunti-Con-Job” Script Reading.

Animated Dead End’s paintjob is a wonderful homage to his G1 incarnation, though it’s really only apparent in alt mode.

This is because, in robot mode, G1 Dead End’s distinctive stripe is on his back. Thanks to his mold, Animated Dead End’s stripe appears on his chest and left leg.

Animated Dead End is a straight repaint of the Animated Jazz mold. This hearkens back — intentionally or not — to the G1 episode “Masquerade” in which Jazz is disguised… as Dead End. Circular homages are the best! Further reinforcing his beat poet personality, he sports a mustache and goatee.

The only real issue is in weaponry. G1 Dead End comes with a gun. Now Animated Jazz is a Cyber-ninja (I will never tire of typing “Cyber-ninja”), Animated Dead End is very much not. Though his mold retains the exhaust pipe nunchaku accessory, Dead End attempting to use them would probably resemble one of the many Youtube videos showing dudes knocking themselves unconscious while swinging around a pair. Now, his bio mentions something about “mini-bazookas” but I’m not entirely sure what that actually refers to, perhaps to the exhaust pipes attached to his arms? Anyway, in my opinion, the Stunticons need guns, big guns. A good portion of the “Stunti-Con-Job” storyline revolves around the Stunticons stealing extra weaponry and, luckily for the sake of taking pictures, my home is replete with extra weaponry.

Ok, maybe this is overkill, but I have a feeling these new Mechtech weapons are going to be showing up in a lot of shots moving forward.

When it comes to guns, G1 Dead End has the advantage in alt mode. All of the G1 Stunticon limbs include a massive double-barreled weapon that attaches to the back of their alt mode.

I don’t quite understand it, but it’s probably the reason that I have always associated the Stunticons with heavy weaponry.

Me am Bizarro Optimus Prime, me am not Animated Toxitron!

At Botcon in 2005 a panel was held displaying some of the “TF Rarities”. This included the proposed, but never released Universe Toxitron.

Glorious pea-soup and purple.

A repaint of the original G2 Laser Optimus Prime done in amazingly garish (and awesome) colours, sadly Toxitron would never see the light of day due to the fact that the Universe line was swiftly running out of steam. He was then used in Botcon 2007′s “Things you’ve never seen before (and will never get)” display.

The morning of my flight out to Pasadena for Botcon this year, I checked my phone to see an announcement by the Botcon folks over Twitter in which they named one of the souvenir sets as “Toxi./SS”. I immediately thought “Toxitron?!?!” This naturally lead me to suspect a repaint of the recently released Reveal the Shield Optimus Prime. Being a new mold based on the G2 Laser Optimus Prime, it seemed like the most obvious answer.

What I forgot to take into account was this year’s theme of Animated.

I was in the Botcon registration line later that same day when my phone went off again. It was Botcon twittering images of the exclusives.

Animated Toxitron in all his glorious pea-soup and clashing purple! The best part is that his bio then sets him up to be a failed clone of Optimus Prime. He is powerful, leaks toxic fluids, and dumber than a nail. He wields illegally modified copies of Optimus’ weapons, the ion axe and toxic sludge spewing cannon.

Acting the opposite of the heroic Optimus, this failed clone is pretty much the Animated universe’s answer to Bizarro, the anti-Superman. Toxitron even tends to drive backwards while in vehicle mode. True to his toxic nature, his paintjob features splotches of oozing, dripping toxic fluids.

Just like with Optimus, you can remove his axe and cannon pieces to form a standard semi-truck tractor.

All-in-all the souvenir exclusives this year went from awesome to even awesome-er, with this guy standing right near the top of the pile. There was only one that trumped him, by having an even more garish paintjob.

But that’s a post for another day.

 

Fisitron, reporting for duty… as Animated Ironfist!

I figure since this blog is supposed to be about the pieces of plastic and my Botcon photos were relatively light on said plastic, I would make today a two-for-one spotlighting two of the plastic pieces picked up at said Botcon. Full circle, right?

Here we have Animated Fisitron:

And by "Fisitron" I mean Ironfist. Skirting copyright infringement is fun!

So, here’s the deal (and why this particular homage is so freaking cool): Ironfist first showed up back in G1, but not American G1. He appeared as part of the Lightformers sub-group (using the word “group” loosely, as there were only two of them) in Europe in 1993, two years after G1 had ended in America. He was then re-released in the G2 line the next year. He kind of sat there as a relative unknown all the way until 2010. Completely by coincidence, this was the year that both Fun Publications and IDW choose to rescue him from obscurity and use him in separate stories, creating two different versions of him, one in the IDW G1 universe and one in the FP Timelines universe.

Ironfist met his untimely demise in IDW’s “Last Stand of the Wreckers” series, a series I have already addressed my opinion on in an earlier post.

He then met a second untimely demise in part 6 of FP’s “The Coming Storm” storyline. Fun Publications has, albeit to a lesser degree, fallen back on the exact same death angle for shock value. Different writers, same weak writing.

Sorry, that’s enough of my whining about bad comic book writing.

Hey! You know what universe seems to have consistently awesome writing? Animated. Ironfist has been portrayed as a weapons specialist in all of his appearances and it is in that capacity that he plays a part in the Botcon 2011 “Stunti-Con-Job” story. Granted, he does get roughed up, but he lives, thanks to the timely appearance of field medic Minerva. When we meet him, Ironfist has been knocked around pretty seriously by thieves that have stolen a number of his experimental modified weaponry, including a duplicate of the axe Ironfist made for his old friend, Optimus Prime.

For his toy, the problem is, thanks to a certain Marvel Comics character, the name “Ironfist” is off limits. This is why our expert in weapons modifications was released as “Fisitron”.

"I wonder if I could modify this gun to fire guns." (Wheeljack would be so proud.)

“Fisitron”, an anagram of “Ironfist”, was the screenname used by Ironfist in the IDW comics for writing his fanboy entries about the legendary Autobot task force, the Wreckers — making this an homage within an homage.

The mold used for Ironfist was first used in the main Animated toyline for Cybertron Mode Ratchet. It was then released, with a remolded head for Animated Ironhide. His alt mode has been described as a “Cybertronian Minibus” but to me it looks more van than bus.

Once again with a remolded head, it has been used for both Botcon 2011′s free attendee toy, Ironfist, as well as the 3 -pack “Troop Builder” set of Autotroopers.

The one part of the Botcon exclusives I did not buy this year. The Animated Autotroopers just didn't do it for me.

Setting aside that I have the mold in Ironfist and the bland white and black paintjob, the Autotrooper harkens back to the Autorooper characters used in the unsavory, obscenely inappropriate Kissplay series. [Clicking on that link is not suggested. I am not being prudish when I call a majority of anything related to Kissplay obscene.]

Anywho, I absolutely love Ironfist. I have not been this happy with the free attendee exclusive yet and those colours make for a wonderful display piece.