TFC-007 Rage of the Hercules

RAAAAAAGE!!!!

How about that? Something new! For the longest time I was on the fence about this "upgrade" set because I really thought Hercules didn't need it. He was originally designed so that most of his combiner parts were integrated into the individual robot modes. Although unfortunately TFC couldn't find a good way to hide the hands. But I figured I had already purchased everything else Hercules related so I thought why not go ahead and finish him off? I really hadn't taken a long, hard look at all of the upgrades included in this set, but I was looking forward to the forearm replacements.

The Masterpiece Starscream Saga

Starscream has always been my favorite character. Always. Ever since I first saw him on TV in 1985. I don't know why, but for some reason I identified with this lying, cheating megalomaniac. I felt like he never quite got his due, except in the 1986 movie when he was finally crowned Decepticon leader for a few brief moments before being destroyed at the hands of Galvatron. But his toy was abhorrent. The figure came from the Diaclone mold and was more or less a parts former (which means you remove the parts from the robot and put them back on in a different way to form the jet). Very little of the figure actually transformed.

TFC Neckbreaker and Madblender, Hercules is complete!

It has been an exciting ride, and unexpectedly short! When we first learned of the release schedule for the six members of the Hercules combiner these final two figures weren't even due until March and April. So imagine my surprise when they showed up at my doorstep two months ahead of schedule. I really must commend TFC Toys for not only sticking to their schedule and releasing everything ahead of time, but for providing excellent customer service throughout this entire process. As many people know Heavy Labor's waist has a fatal flaw that eventually destroys the ratcheting mechanism inside. Neckbreaker comes with an entirely new waist for Heavy Labor since attempting to fix the existing one usually destroys part of the figure. In the same vein Heavy Labor came with a replacement shovel for Exgraver because there was also a fatal flaw in the original shovel which caused stress and eventual breakage. Throughout the entire process they have refined their methods and produced a very high quality product on par with any other official figures I own. I don't believe we'll ever see a better representation of Devestator in both the combined mode and individual robot modes. Hercules feels exactly what a modern Devestator should be, not that unholy monstrosity that came out of Revenge of the Fallen.

Neckbreaker and Madblender hold up amazingly well when compared to their original counterparts. Neckbreaker deviates from the design a little more, but appropriately. Madblender is almost a completely faithful homage to Mixmaster, except of course that his mixing barrel splits into eight pieces as mountable weapons.

I need to reprolabel my Bonecrusher, he's naked.

"SUPAH MODE!!"

I am also really pleased with the final Hercules combined mode. The figure is very stable, all the individual members connect very well, and there are no extra parts to keep track of (except maybe the hands). Although the figure can't be picked up by its head (a usual indicator of combiner strength), he is still very sturdy and holds up well with handling. He also has a wide range of motion and a lot of articulation which is something the original was sorely lacking. Finally, this guy is huge. Like bigger than Primus huge. I always found it odd that he was supposed to be the strongest and biggest combiner figure in G1, but his toy was most certainly the weakest. It falls apart if you look at it wrong. But this figure takes care of all that. He towers over every other classics figure, but still feels like he fits in. He is appropriately larger than Fansproject Bruticus and Superion.

His face also calls back to the original figure while still giving us a nice classics style update.

I really like the built in symmetry of this figure. Combiner figures by nature usually don't have a lot of symmetry due to being made up of different types of robots, but TFC did a nice job of making the forearms match each other bringing as well as appropriately weighting the figure with a large right shoulder to balance the crane of Dr. Crank. Of final note is Hercules' weapon. Each figure came with one small purple and red gun, all of which combine into a purple superblaster and a translucent red superblaster. I like the purple one myself so I'm using that one with my figure, but the 12 individual weapons allow for I don't know how many different combinations.

Old and New

I never really thought anyone could top Fansproject in terms of quality and execution, but due to figures with solid construction and ease of transformation, TFC has proved they are in it for the long run and are the new top dogs in my book.

TFC Hercules: Structor and Dr. Crank

I hope everyone had a good holiday these past few weeks, I've been out of town spending time with friends and family but it is always good to get back home for some more Transformerin'.

I ordered these guys a few months ago from Robot Kingdom overseas mostly due to them being such a good deal. RK's policy is to wait until all the items in your order have arrived before they ship; in other words they won't ship individual items unless you place individual orders. After I placed my order I realized I probably should have ordered them separately since I didn't want to wait on Dr. Crank to be released before I got Structor. Well fortunately they were released within a week of each other! So my Hercules count goes instantly doubles! Also the release of these two figures marks the first time fans can actually start assembling Hercules since they have all of the body (Heavy Labor and Dr. Crank) and at least one leg (Structor). I've seen a lot of people do this online and I've decided to wait until I receive the final two members before I assemble Hercules. I can remember doing a similar thing for Devestator when I was a child; I got all six members over the course of a couple of months but I didn't put them all together until I had every part. I just feel like the characters themselves wouldn't decide to combine until all members were present and who am I to tell them they are wrong?

At any rate, these are two great figures again from TFC Toys. Part of what I really like about these figures is the transformations feel very G1. They aren't too complex and transformation only takes a few seconds. I really feel like ease of transformation has taken a real backseat to complex transformation in modern toys. Sure, I like a challenge just as much as anyone (MPM Starscream and Leader Prime, I'm looking at you!) but it also becomes a chore if you just want to fiddle with your figures for a few minutes. TFC is bringing that simple feel back with Hercules. When all six figures are released it should only take 5 minutes or so to transform them all from one mode to the other and then to combine them into the gestalt.

So we are four down, two to go! C'mon Neckbreaker and Mad Blender!

Structor aka Scrapper

Nice details in vehicle mode

Dr. Crank aka Hook

This bad boy has one hell of a crane!

TFC Toys Heavy Labor...a sturdy Long Haul

Two down, four to go. Heavy Labor has arrived. I must say that after receiving Exgraver from TFC Toys I was not very impressed. The 'bot mode seemed spindly and the transformation clunky. However after opening and playing with Heavy Labor I am much more satisfied. This figure is very nicely constructed and gives me a lot more hope about Hercules (Devastator) than Exgraver did. Plus he is a lot more fun to play with. TFC seems to have refined their processes to produce a superior figure with Heavy Labor. I only hope this trend continues. I'm not sure who my second Constructicon was as a child, for all I know it could have been Long Haul (which would make this very appropriate) but again it may have been Hook. For some reason I can only remember getting Scavenger and none of the others. But I can also remember playing with all of them and I still have them all from my childhood so I know I got them somewhere! Anyway, this is the Long Haul for my grown-up inner child, if there is such a thing.

That is one big dump truck!

The robot modes match each other nicely. Good color combinations.

Vehicle modes

I imagine all of these figures in this set will be about the same size, as they should be. However it is too bad there isn't a way to make all of the vehicle modes in scale with each other and still make the robot modes the same size. Apparently when you do something like that you end up with this monstrosity.

Keep it up TFC, I am getting really excited about Hercules now!

Some Third Party Love...

If you know anything about the Transformer collectibles community you know that the Third Party companies have begun their slow and eventual takeover of everything fanboyish. These companies have been coming out of the woodwork to showcase and sell items that are either too cost prohibitive for Hasbro or that have too little demand. Case in point: see my previous post on the Wreck-Gar updates. While not technically a 'Third Party Company', Maiden Japan is still filling a need left open by Hasbro. Its funny, ten years ago I never would have guessed that most of my Transformers purchases would be from companies other than those that actually hold the Transformers trademarks! Not that I am complaining by any measure, I just find it interesting that the community can support so many different companies at the same time. For example, I received the following two figures just recently. They are from completely different manufacturers, have different aesthetics, and yet both are updates of G1 Decepticon characters and thus go on the same shelf. I thought this would be a good opportunity to show off just what some of these 'Third Parties' are up to:

First off is Fansproject Causality Thundershred (aka Shrapnel)

Wolverine pose

Alt mode: about as convincing as the original

 Shrapnel was my first Insecticon when I was little (an consequentially my only Insecticon until I was a teenager) so I thought it was very cool that he was the first to be released. Fansproject is planning the other two Insecticons which should be out in the next couple of months.
Next is TFClub's Hercules (read: Devestator) Exgraver (aka Scavenger)

Not a bad likeness, and substantially larger!

Oddly enough Scavenger was my first Constructicon when I was young so it is doubly appropriate that he be the first one I receive out of the set of six. TFClub does a nice job, but Exgraver isn't as refined as the Fansproject releases although I am looking forward to the other five members of the team to make a substantially huge Devestator.

Personally, I hope all this Third Party madness continues. If this trend continues there may even come a day when I won't bat an eye as receive an updated Getaway and a few Pretenders!

He-do-ma-su-tai! Or something like that...

Since all my items from Botcon finally arrived today I can start showcasing them! These two items were complete impulse buys; I had absolutely no intention of purchasing them at the show and they weren't on my radar at all. However upon seeing them in person I thought they were neat little items and I got them for a great deal on Sunday. (Sunday @ Botcon is always my favorite day as it is 'deal day' and usually when I purchase the most stuff). First up: TFClub Justice Leader (Optimus):

Robot Mode

Alt Mode

Headmaster Mode (yeah, its a triple changer!)

Looking good on Chromedome.

Pretty even stats for Prime if you ask me.

Next is Tactical Officer (Soundwave)

Robot Mode

Alt Mode

Headmaster mode

Mindwipe seemed like an appropriate choice.

At least there is some variation here.

I really like these little guys a lot more than I thought I would when they were first released. I'm really not sure what 'universe' they fit into, so I'll just put them with all my other Headmasters as it seems many companies are starting to produce them nowadays. I also look forward to future releases, I would love to see TFClub try and pull off Megatron or Bumblebee but I guess we'll have to wait and see.