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Bombshell, Kickback, Shrapnel

Though I have picked up a handful of G1 toys through eBay or comic shops, I haven’t yet bothered with any of the G1 reissues from either Takara or Hasbro. I find the price to be a bit too high for my taste mostly. Also I don’t really have too much attachment to most of the original toys. Growing up I always had Go-bots or Turtles, I don’t think I ever owned any of the original Diaclone cars or jets. I had a few gestalt pieces here and there and there’s an old broken Kup up on the shelf, but I just never really had many real Transformers. I do remember watching the show though and many of the newer offerings certainly have my interest.

The point is of course, I’ve never owned a set of Insecticons before either. They are some of the cooler characters though from G1. Right up there with the likes of Shockwave and Ultra Magnus. So what drew me to this set, I suppose primarily interest in the characters. On the other hand I like Prowl too but I didn’t put down $30 for him. However for a small bit more than that you can get all three of these guys. It’s almost a three for one deal, though these guys are each a bit smaller than the Diaclone cars. Also they have a general lack of Die Cast metal that the cars have.

On the other hand, you’re still getting three basic sized toys for 36 dollars. That’s about twice the going rate for a new toy this size. Still, the cost of toys is on the rise a bit, and the whole package doesn’t really feel like it’s overpriced. Plus you can factor in that these are a fairly limited run import item, the price tag comes off as a steal.

There are other nice aspects to this set besides the (relative) value. The packaging is really nice. I don’t usually care about the package on the stuff I buy and most of the time don’t even mention it, but this box is really nice. The whole thing is made of nice thick sturdy cardboard with lots of nice graphics and design. This set is marked as number 16 of the reissue series (Japanese TF all have numbers). The box also features a Velcro flap with a small book inside. Book is a bit too strong probably. It’s a handful of informational pages. It’ all in Japanese however and as such the import audience isn’t likely going to be reading it.

The front cover of the booklet features the G1 artwork for the Insecticons and labels it as “T/F World Card No.16”. I guess all of the reissues come with similar books. Page 2 has a lot of Japanese text on it with a few screen shots from the TV show. I’m guessing it’s sort of a bio/origin for the Insecticons. Pages 3 and 4 feature a short synopsis of several episodes of the show. The synopsis covers the following episodes (19-27?): The Quintesson Journal, The ultimate Weapon, The Big Broadcast of 2006, Only Human, Money is Everything, Nightmare Planet, Grimlock’s New Brain, Call of the Primitives, The Face of The Nijika. Pages 5 an 6 have a short catalogue of toys that I only vaguely recognize. These pages also fold out to reveal a two page poster of the Insecticons. The poster is the same Dreamwave art used for the cover of one of the recent G1 comics (it’s the one with the three Insecticons in a forest).

Page 7 and 8 is a techspec/data card for Shrapnel. Page 9 and 10 is a techspec/data card for Bombshell. Page 11 and 12 are a…. wait, no they aren’t, there is no page 11 or 12. For some reason there isn’t a bio page for Kickback. Maybe it was included with an earlier release or something. It’s actually a bit of a disappointment, the whole set seems incomplete without this page.

Anyway, the whole book could probably be removed if you were so inclined to do so and each page is perforated and hole punched to fin in a small sized binder. The package is also highly collector friendly and you can easily remove or replace the toys from in the box.

Aside from the three Insecticons themselves, you get a chromed weapon for each of them, a trading card for each, a set of stickers for each, as well as three little Energon cubes. The Energon Cubes are a new item for this set that wasn’t included with the originals. In fact, I’m pretty sue (though not positive) that they haven’t been included with anything before an these are possibly the first officially released Energon cubes ever. Each cube is roughly 1cm square and made of pink rubber material similar to a rubber pencil grip. They are sized perfectly to fit inside the chest hatches of each of the three Insecticons (Bombshell can hold two). As for the other accessories, the cards look nice, the stickers aren’t really much of an accessory and the guns are tailored to their respective owners so you won’t get them mixed up (the “grips” are all different).

Another neat feature are the rub signs. Just like their 80s counterparts, the Insecticons have heat sensitive faction symbols to reveal their true allegiance.

Now, I suppose it’s appropriate during a review to actually mention something about the item you’re reviewing at some point. I’ve included photos if you want to know what they look like, so that part is covered. Perhaps instead I’ll just continue to rattle off observations as I think of them.

Kickback is the cricket/grasshopper, Bombshell is the Rhino bug, Shrapnel is he locust(?) with the two long pincers.

Firstly, and what sticks out the most in my mind. These are a lot smaller than I remember them being. I’m sure they are actual size but I kept expecting something slightly closer to a deluxe in size. These are definitely basics.

I would suggest, if you’re interested in this set or own it, that you be very careful with Kickback’s head. I can tell already those antenna will be easy to snap right off and you almost have to apply some pressure to some part of them in order to rotate the head and complete the transformation. In fact all around they don’t seem too sturdy. It’s not really due to cheap plastic, but it’s more a matter of design philosophy. Kickback has those long thin wings, Bombshell and Shrapnel both have fragile protrusions on their heads. All three have some sort of “landing gear” type legs that just seem kind of like a weak spot. Kickback’s rear legs are hanging out there waiting to be snapped off.

The unified black purple and yellow color scheme is great. The ascetics overall on each of these guys is great.

Transformation is simple but effective all around. They look like robots in robot mode and robotic insects in their alternate modes. There is a little bug “kibble” in the robot modes but it looks nice and helps give them character. The articulation is about as expected. All three are pretty much limited to a little shoulder movement. These are however G1 toys so it’s to be expected.

That’s really what it comes down to on a final recommendation really. These are G1 toys. They are also limited collectors based items. You’re probably not going to want to buy these for your kid. However if you were going to, I’d say they could still hold up as being interesting fun toys. If you’re already collecting Japanese reissues there certainly isn’t any reason not to pick up this set. Even if you’re not, it’s still a pretty decent value. Recommended.