B I O – H A Z A R D O U S

So, I ended up with some store credit at BBTS because I canceled an order. I needed something to waste that credit on because hey!–I can’t wait for it to go toward my other orders, right? I had been looking over the CrazyDevy stuff cause I liked what they were doing with the G1 Devastator. Awesome ideas, but I didn’t have a G1 Devastator. Oh noes! I did have a G2 Devastator that I’ve had forever, though, but the main add-on I wanted (the legs) would look dumb on a G2 Devastator. Well, that changed when they came out with the special version that had silver legs. I guess purple would have technically worked, but eeeh. I think it looks better with silver.

So, the legs for the original Devastator was kind of lackluster. He couldn’t move them all. It was just sort of a plate that held the figures together. There was no articulation with it at all. With the CDMW-02* add-on, your Devastator now has full movement of his legs! That’s right! They can go one-infront-of-the-other! Of course, even as cool as that is he kind of has balance issues now. Getting him to stand on his own was a pain in the ass. I’ll just leave it at that–but it’s still a great addition to the G1/G2.

Also, I’d like to explain with the asterisk is for on the CrazyDevy stuff. It’s their way of differentiating the sets. For the most part, it deals with a difference with the knock-off and the original Hasbro productions. The tooling on the originals pegs (for the forearms where they connect) is a different size on the knock-offs, which means it won’t fit if you happen to have the knock-off version. For most of the other asterisked sets, it’s just a difference in the color scheme from what I’ve seen.

The head for this is a definite improvement. I found it looked kind of funky since I was so used to how the original head looked, but this one is more accurate to what it’s shown as on the show and in the comics. Plus! It has an LED inside of it and you click a switch on the back to turn it on. …I didn’t take a picture of it with the light on, but you can imagine. It looks cool–trust me.

The forearms are kind of a throw-away item. I could have certainly lived without them, but the swivel and give him a bit more poseability that really brings the character to life. Not to mention, supposedly if you use the new fists in the old forearms there’s possibly an issue with them not fitting in correctly. Also, instead of the purple forearms of the original, they’re black–which is more G1 accurate, since they’re supposed to be formed from the treads of the vehicle. Or, at least, that would make sense…

The fists are pretty cool. Again, they’re kind of throw-away since you really don’t need them. Also, it comes with an enlarged version of the gun. It makes sense, since the original has such a small gun for such a big robot. The fingers are articulated, but they work on this odd hook-based system. When I was first moving them, all of the fingers just fell off. I feel they could have engineered that a lot better. But, it’s not a huge deal since once my figure’s in its pose, that’s the way it’ll be for a loooooong time.

So, that’s what I think of the add-ons. There is another add-on that makes his arms swivel a bit more at the shoulder, and replaces the mixing barrel on Mixmaster, but I won’t be getting that at all. The only reason I picked these 4 sets up was because I had the cash to throw around (which I guess is the only reason I buy any of this… but… oh well…) I really can’t recommend this to anyone without very deep wallets or a questionably weird lust for Devastator. It’s great at what it does. It makes a classic toy into what it could have been. But, at the price point of $30+ per add-on, you end up having to pay quite a bit just to improve an old toy. And that’s even if you have the old one. If you don’t, then you’re destined to get a knock-off and then buy the parts, or get the Hasbro ones off eBay … and then buy the parts. If you were to buy all of the sets out right now at $30 a piece (some are more) you’d end up spending $150 to fully upgrade this guy according to CrazyDevy’s idea. It’s just really not worth it to me. And, it’s probably the last piece I’ll buy from CrazyDevy unless they release something REALLY amazing. (And 24k gold wing extensions for Predaking don’t count…)

Pros:

• Great upgrades for a classic.
• Adds some nice touches and gives the figure “mobility”.

Cons:

• COST. OMG. WTF.
• Aside from the legs, it’s all just very minor adjustments and tweaks that make it slightly better.

This is a mini review for an impulse buy I made for a Domo Kun Qee figure. It’s painted up to look like a Skeleton. I think skeletons are awesome. It can move its arms and legs a bit. That’s about it. It’s a nice desk accessory to pose around. It’s actually sitting on one of my shelves, though. I like it.

Pros:

• DOMO KUN!
• Skeleton.

Cons:

• ???
• Profit.

So, here we have Alternity Cliffjumper. There’s the choice between Cliffjumper and Bumblebee for this figure mold. I thought about it for… about a second before I picked Cliffjumper. I think Bumblebee is kind of overdone, so I’m not a big fan of him. It all came down to personal preference. Plus, I think Cliffjumper was a better character in G1, so I got him.

I also think this mold works better on Cliffjumper than on Bumblebee. The red just really stands out and makes this figure. It’s a deeper shade of red than Prime/Convoy.

Just like all the previous Alternity figures, this is a complex piece of engineering and looks great in both car and robot mode. This was actually my first Alternity figure, and I was very pleased with it. From pictures of it, many people hated it due to the chest since it’s kind of overbearing. It all really kind of works out when you look at it in person, though. It doesn’t look off at all. At least, not to me. He comes with 2 gun which hook to the legs.

My only complaint with this figure is that transforming it requires some definite “omg, I’m going to break it” force. Of course, these pieces are die cast and probably won’t break. But it just seems like it will.

I’m keeping this review short because really there’s no need to repeat myself time after time. It’s an Alternity figure. It’s complex, it’s well-made, I’m happy.

Pros:

• Complex transformation
• Does the character justice.
• Die cast pieces

Cons:

• Price, as always ($50)
• Feels like you’re going to break it sometimes with certain transformation moves.

So, next on my list on things to finally get the reviews out for is Alternity Megatron. Of course, like everything in this line, it’s all cars. Seeing good ol’ Megs as a car is weird (about as weird as seeing Prime as a car) but it works. Just like all the other figures in this line, it’s a car. Everything’s a car! Arrrgh! Nah, but seriously, it works well enough. I had to get the silver version because it wouldn’t make sense to have a different colored Megatron. For as dumb as it sounds, I have to have them in similar colors to their respective G1 colors. A black Megatron wouldn’t work for me. Just like a Silver Prime doesn’t work (But a white one’s ok! Ultra Magnus! Not racist or anything…)

The box is the standard Alternity packaging. It’s clear plastic with the information printed on the box. The cool thing about this is that you can open it and transform it, then put it back in the box and pretend like it was never opened (aside from the broken tape at the tab). It’s much better than the Alternator boxing since it’s easier to put it back in. It kind of worked with Alternators until they made that horrible domed bubble packaging. So yeah, Alternity boxing is much better.

As far as the figure is concerned, it’s a decent representation of the character. I’m not entirely convinced of certain aspects of it, but I can overlook it, I guess. This figure in particular HAD to be silver for me to get it. It only looks JUST enough like Megatron to pass as him. And then, as you can see, he comes with swords. Seems a bit odd for him to have swords, but again–I guess I can look over that. They go underneath him as exhaust pipes.

Just as all the other Alternity figures, he’s highly poseable. His transformation is a bit tricky, and can lead to some very confusing moments until you really understand what you’re supposed to do. The bad thing about Alternity figures is that they have to be transformed a certain way. There is no deviation on this–or if there is, it’s very little. I do like how complex the transformations are, though. I kind of enjoy the idea of just going at it and trying to figure it out on my own, but then again, it’s never quite that easy with something as complex as these.

So, can I recommend this figure? Well, I mean, if you’re really into Megatron, or if you just have to catch ‘em all (that’s my problem), then sure. Pick it up. Of course, if you have to have it because it’s part of the collection, then you didn’t need to read this at all–you’ve already bought it…

Pros:

• Complex transformation
• Die Cast pieces.

Cons:

• Pricey for how big it is. ($50)
• It’s a car and it’s Megatron…? Didn’t really work for me.

Here’s a Revoltech figure of Professor Layton, from the series of the same name. So far, we have Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. We also have another game coming out sometime in the next year to further his adventures in puzzle-solving. The games are great, so it makes sense they’d make a figure of this amazing character.

We get what we’d expect from a Revoltech at this point. He’s about 5 inches tall, comes with a variety of hands and 2 interchangeable faces. One’s serious, the other’s with an open mouth. All things considered, and how serious of a guy he is in the games, this is all you need. He even comes with a small table and a some accessories for it. You get some tea cups, a book that opens and that he can hold, and some other really British stuff.

I apologize for the pictures being so horrible, and this review being so short, but this was one of the toys I took pictures of ages ago. I just wish I’d have taken more effort on getting some quality out of the shots!

Either way, I certainly recommend this figure. It’s a fun little desktop piece. The cost is right at $37 on bbts.com, if you’re wondering. Soooo, for the breakdown…

Pros:

• Accurate representation of the figure
• Highly posable.
• Many accessories.

Cons:

• Price. (might be an issue to some)