Toys

Review – Transformers – G1 – Rodimus Prime

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before and chances are you already know, but a while back, Hasbro re-released several of the old G1 toys in commemorative packaging with, unfortunately, commemorative pricing. They ran 30 to 40 dollars each and were exclusive to Toys R Us. A few people bought it, but most didn’t. They made it to clearance and the occasionally discount clearinghouse store.

That’s why I picked up Rodimus, sort of. Unlike Perceptor or the Incecticons, I wasn’t interested in him at 40 dollars. But for 8 bucks, I figure, how can one go wrong. Well, it’s possible you can.

Let’s make a positive upswing for a second. I like Rodimus Prime’s vehicle mode. There is something really classy about a supped up RV with flames and huge pipes. Seriously, who came up with this design, it’s brilliant. Vacationing in style.

It’s also huge. He dwarfs the Autobot cars and is pretty large even when compared to modern deluxes. The whole thing is pretty solid and the 6 rubber tires are really cool. This mode is the reason to buy Rodimus.

The robot mode is pretty lame unfortunately. Granted I’m all about Articulation and proportions but I can be flexible. I’ve also recently picked up G1 Smokescreen and he’s got a really slick robot mode. Rodimus is way too tall and his limited articulation (shoulders only) make for a very boring toy. His shoulders also end up set a bit low on his body making the ugliness shine through even more.

The legs all end up under the trailer anyway, so it’s not like they could not have easily remedied the “too tall” thing. Sixty to Seventy percent of the body is legs. I’m not saying Hasbro should have remolded this toy for the re-release, I’m just commenting on the original design here. I guess the point of the toy being tall was to help him stand out as the leader of the Autobots.

When in robot mode, his trailer/camper back becomes a gun emplacement. The height is adjustable so shorter Transformers cam operate it just as easily as Rodimus can. It also includes a pair of attachable shield panels to help protect the user from incoming fire. My only real complaint with the gun base is that 1, you can’t open it while it’s attached to the Rodimus car and the turret doesn’t rotate at the base, just at the top, which is better than nothing. Otherwise it’s pretty slick.

So overall, Rodimus is still a decent toy. The robot mode leaves much to be desired but the Gun Base and vehicle mode are really nice. He’s probably not worth the original steep price, but if you can get him cheap, you might consider it. Still he’s likely to be a bit bland for anyone who is not a G1 enthusiast.

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Eye Guy

Jan 30th, 2023

by Ramen Junkie.

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Of all of these Lightning Collection monsters, Eye Guy is one that differes quite a bit from the show design. For one, he’s a lot more bulked out. The original costume has a weird design and you can tell the person inside is a lot smaller than the suit by the weird arms. It’s not inaccurate, it’s just a bit more stylized.

The eyes are also a lot less detailed than the actual suit, which is likely a cost cutting measure. That said, there are a lot of eyes and it’s kind of creepy.

I also think the accessories are neat. I have no memory of this monster on the show but there is essentially a separate dismembered eye, I’m not sure if this is intended to be the same eye that makes up the main head or a second large eye since most creatures have two eyes. Both are compatible with a beam effect that can be attached over the iris itself. The beam effect is a bit short but I’m not sure a long beam would have been much better, so it’s probably just fine in the end.

The big monster’s eye also has a closing eye lit that let’s it “blink”. The power Rangers Wiki suggests that this eye is the weak spot for this particular monster. He’s a creepy huge beast though. I like it quite a bit.

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Pudgy Pig

Jan 29th, 2023

by Ramen Junkie.

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For some reason I always think of Pudgy Pig as the first monster that the Power Rangers fought, but that is not accurate. It’s like the 5th or 6th, and heck, even King Sphinx was earlier than that that. There were two releases for Pudgy Pig, one early on for SDCC which included a Lunch Box case. And that’s essentially the only difference I think,. which is why I was kind of glad I skipped it. There was a bit of a controversy because the promo shots kind of implied that the Lunch Box version included a bunch of extra accessories, to recreate the food fight picnic area from the show, but in reality it just came with a couple of pieces of food.

I ended up with the regular version, which is just the pig with it’s weapons. Which is fine because that’s all I really care about. Something notable, despite the shape, the figure works pretty well to keep itself upright. It’s a big heavy ball with legs, it should be a balancing nightmare.

The fun part of this thing is the huge opening jaw that lets it eat all sorts of things, which is goofy and fun.

The articulation design is pretty neat as well given the shape and style of this figure, the arms and shoulders are particularly clever and overall it’s a much more poseable figure that one would expect.

Jakks Pacific Chaos

Jan 26th, 2023

by Ramen Junkie.

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Along side Big the Cat, I also picked up Chaos, the villain from Sonic Adventure. I honestly don’t really remember much about Chaos aside from being the villain. But he is part of my favorite cast and the figure has this really slick transparent blue going on that kind of sucked me in to picking it up.

Also funny enough, while he is way more articulated than Big, it almost works less well, because he has the weird “Sonic Proportions” of big head, long feet, and skinny body that all work against making him actually pose in any sort of meaningful way. This is especially worse with his neat but odd pointy hands. Everything feels like it’s bumping into itself.

He also has this gigantic Chaos Emerald.

Jakks Pacific Big the Cat

Jan 25th, 2023

by Ramen Junkie.

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I’m not super into “Sonic Lore” but Sonic Adventure has always been my favorite cast and game. One of the characters in that game was Big the Cat. His entire shtick is being big and being a cat. Well, and Fishing.

Sadly, this version of Big does not include a fishing pole, but I am sure I can find something that will work later. He does come with a couple of tiny rings. I’m not exactly sure if this is the normal size for Jakks’ Sonic line and it’s rings, but they feel a little small.

Something else he doesn’t come with a ton of is articulation, but that’s almost expected given his size and that this line is fairly inexpensive. Most of his little articulation isn’t really hindered by anything at least. He is also a huge fat cat, so, not exactly a ninja.