STAR CATS Dino Combiner: BIAO SHEN (AOE STRAFE)

One of the best and probably tied with another figure as my favorite on the line up.. I'm not a fan of swoop or strafe (whatever you wanna call it) since I hate flying dinosaur.. But this one is by far the best Pterodactyl Transforming figure I ever have. Even better with the Hasbro releases.. 

PACKAGING:

I forgot to differentiate the sizes of these figures.. Grimlock is a voyager size toy packaged on a leader class box.. While the remaining four figures are all deluxe class on a voyager size packaging..

LEFT GRIMLOCK ----  RIGHT STRAFE (SWOOP)

ROBOT MODE:

FRONT

BACK

BIAO SHEN resembles Strafe from the AOE toy line.. And for the sake of this review, I'll be calling it Strafe to avoid frustration of pronouncing it's chinese name.. 

Strafe's robot mode is sleek and well proportion.. I really like how the blue and silver gray mixed together, specially the black linings on the feet.. It compliments the overall appearance greatly of the figure.. This is something I forgot to discuss on the last review.. The whole STAR CATS dino team has fantastic PAINT DETAILING!!! they made an effort to properly paint each part of the figure without going sloppy like the usual china company does.. THUMBS UP!!!

And unlike the Grimlock.. Strafe has an incredible articulation able to execute dynamic aerial poses.. Due to time constraint, I'm limiting myself to one to two dynamic poses shot in order for me to cover the rest of the figures.. But trust me, you'll love this figure for it's playability.. 

Maybe a small nitpick would be the two pegs on each side of it's head.. Making it look frankensteinish.. But it adds to it's appeal.. so yeah

DINO MODE:

Strafe transform into a Pterodactyl flying dinosaur.. And I like how they designed this to be similar with the G1 toy with a bit of modern touches.. I don't know how to properly describe it but it has this jet like vibe.. Maybe it has something to do with the wings or missiles.. 

IMPRESSION:

Just when I start to loose hope, this figure quickly revives my interest and excitement on the dino combiner team! Both the robot and dino mode is a winner!  CHEERS!!

PART 2 -----------

STAR CATS Dino Combiner: GANG BA (AOE Grimlock)

This is the first time I'll be reviewing five different toys at the same time.. And it's quite a challenge..  I only acquired this yesterday and considering the work and other stuff that I need to do only adds up to the challenge.. Pressure is on, so bear with me guys! :D

I'll start the review with the main component of the team..  GANG BA!!  yep, you read that right.. It's name almost sound something naughty so we'll be calling him "Grimlock" instead.. 

PACKAGING:

OPPA GANG BA STYLE!!!

ROBOT INSIGNIA!   Looks like an iguana to me.. LOL!

ROBOT MODE:

FRONT

BACK

Being a Tyrannosaurus Rex and sporting the AOE toy color.. It's obvious that this toy is heavily based on Grimlock..  But unlike the awesome Voyager AOE toy.. This one is a let down and I can understand why..

Grimlock forms the torso of the team.. And with that, the engineering team decided to compromised the proportion and articulation of the toy.. I believe they can do a better job since there's already parts (Hip Joint) that shows hinge extension for better proportion.. But they decided not to continue the concept and that is something I don't get it..

The toy has a very wide hip and very very very awkward and poor shoulder joints.. Despite the POA's, he is almost a brick since you can't have him utilize those POAs properly.. Just seeing him stand is a pain.. here's a sample to properly visualize it:

BUILD KING Grimlock = SAME SHOULDER ISSUE!!

With a little tweaking, I was able to have him on a decent pose.. And YES! that's the most dynamic you can do with him looking cool.. *SIGH*

It's tail forms a shield.. NEAT IDEA!

Head sculpt is kinda a mixed of Grimlock and Prime.. But I think it works! :)

DINO MODE:

I'm glad that despite the dreadful robot mode, its dinosaur mode shines!  It may not be the most T-rex accurate toy out there but at least it's not painful to look at.  The more I look at it, the more it resembles "Megazord Red Tyrannosaurus".. They even have the same concept for the thigh connectors which may explain the similarities..

IMPRESSION:

I have nothing good to say on its robot mode... It's the weakest among the five dino team and that is sad considering it supposed to be a representation of our beloved autobot T-rex.. 

It's dino mode is good but not enough to compensate for the issue.. Thankfully, the rest of the gang is there to cover it..

PART 1  --------

Transformers: Rescuebot Heat Wave

Another Quickie Review!

If there's a reason to pick this up aside from being a dinosaur-robot toy.. It's darn affordable!

Even cheaper compared to a legion size toy..  For less than P300, you can have your kids (or even you :D ) a quick, fun and solid transforming toy!

PACKAGING:

The toy comes package on an open type cardboard thing.  Secured only by two paper string on it's torso and feet.. I'm not a fan of this kind of packaging since it provides little protection against the environment.. But I understand why Hasbro did this since it gives kids a better feel of the toy and gimmick.. 

DINOSAUR MODE:

Heat Wave's dino mode is base on a Brachiosaurus.. A long neck type dinosaur.. I really don't dig the color scheme, but since Heat Wave is supposed to be a fireman, I kinda understand the theme they're going to.. 

He looks like a dino wearing a shades!!  

GIMMICK:

Aside from the obvious gimmick of the toy line (tranformation).. Hasbro decided to include an action gimmick.. By pressing the blue button on it's back, you can have heat wave do a weird "pecking attack".. LOL!

A nice little rescuebot insignia

Transformation is super easy.. You just need to crack the dino head open, push it all the way down together with the tail.. And you'll have him on his robot mode!

Unfortunately, mines comes with a defective right arm.. It doesn't wanna lock all the way down.. Resulting to uneven arms and fail action gimmick.. 

But no worries! Good folks of our local toy shop were kind enough to replace it with a new one.. WIN! :D

ARTICULATION AND SIZE COMPARISON:

ZERO articulation - well you can have him flap his arms sideways but that's due to his transformation.. So nadda! hehehe  I'm well fine with that.. :) 

CONCLUSION:

It's a solid toy! Fun, easy and cheap.. Even though it's a complete brick on bot mode.. The action gimmick and the amount of plastic chunk makes up for it.. Will I recommend this? YES!!

So expect his "Other" buddies to make a show soon.. :)

CHEERS!!!

Transformers Generations Legend Class StarScream

QUICKIE REVIEW!!

I got these little sucker for roughly $2 (P100) after I bought AOE voyager class Grimlock ( Awesome TOY!! :D ).. It was tuck away on a small corner and was surprised to see it hanging there.. Lucky Me!

 ROBOT MODE:

Detailing is nice.. I like how Hasbro was able to add the smirking expression on Starscream's head.. The head sculpt is just amazing specially for a tiny toy.. Limbs and torso are well proportion.. The only thing I don't like are the null rays.. They're too blocky for my taste.. 

ARTICULATION: 

The toys comes with a swivel head, ball joint shoulders, hinge hips and ball joint knees.. But all are useless.. The most decent pose you can achieve is to stand it straight..

ALTERNATE MODE:

Nothing much to say on this mode except it works.. It manage to capture the similarities of both classics and Masterpiece class..

Starscream looks like a mis transform robot after Megatron played him.. LOL!

CONCLUSION:

This is something I'm missing with the new AOE line.. A fun little toy that doesn't cost as much as a deluxe figure.. I hope Hasbro will consider releasing the Legends or Legion class again.. But with the floodfull of simplified AOE kiddie toys peg warming the shelves - chances are grim.. *sigh*

All in all- despite the fake cockpit and it's blocky null rays.. I'll give my thumbs up on this one.. :D

Cheers!!

Transformers: Age of Extinction Optimus Prime (KO)

"Well what can I say.. Almost 6 months of no reviews despite of me saying that i'll try my best to post one toy review per month.. Not having my usual toy review table and lightning setup only contributes to my laziness as well.. The good thing is i'm already starting to get used in my new life, and I'm really excited getting back on sharing my opinions on different toys I encounter everyday.. I have so many materials waiting to be reviewed so expect reviews to keep on coming.. Let's get started!"

Packaging:

The packaging is somewhat similar to the First Edition - leader class Optimus Prime.. Except the word "Transformers" is now spelled as "TAIKONGSHENRS".. I have no idea what it means but they done it very nicely.. Hard cardboard with opening window that shows Prime's Alt mode and the AOE logo on the left.. 

No Instruction manual included.. But I doubt you'll need it since the transformation is super basic.. 

At the back it shows Prime's Robot Mode together with it's Alternate Mode.. I find it interesting to see Grimlock at the back of the box.. Maybe a possible KO release in the future?? who knows

At the side of the box you'll find an autobot logo with comet-like design.. I'm not that familiar with the AOE packaging but I find it really COOL!!

Accessories:

Prime comes with two accessories.. A sword and a shield..  The detailing is very nice and I really like how they painted the shield.. The red and yellow compliments one another.. 

You can even see the small electric detailing on the shield.. Very cool!

Robot Mode:

He is a down scaled leader class.. Roughly the size of a voyager class.. I like it because it helps minimize the car junk on prime's robot mode which the leader class suffers greatly.. It scales nicely with other AOE figures unlike the first edition..  

The paint job on this toy is surprisingly good, specially for a KO toy.. They made an effort to paint it with chrome silver which helps give the toy a premium feel to it.. Even the smoke stack are painted silver! 

Another difference between the original is the simplified transformation.. The side and leg panels are now one solid piece.. But the interesting part is that the side panels can now flip the other way around thanks to the new hinges and ball joints.. It now supports the figure better and shows flame detailing on the side.. Very cool!

Articulation:

I'm loving this KO toy, except for one thing.. It doesn't have a FREAKING NECK ARTICULATION!! And it hurts the toy's poseability to the max!

It's very frustrating because you can have it on many cool posses but it always ends up looking dumb because you can't move the head.. 

EEERRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Another thing that bugs me is the peg size of the sword and shield..  It can't properly fit on prime's hands and forearm.. So you'll end up having prime carry the shield as a gun..  fortunately, you can easily remedy this by sanding down the pegs so no biggie.. 

Alternate Mode:

Well If you can't have Prime on your preferred posses then just have him on truck mode.. 

Because it doesn't fail you ------------ Almost.. 

----------- Because the sword and shield doesn't have a place to store on alt mode because of the pegs size..



Size Comparison: 

Conclusion:

If you hate the idea of shelling out some cash for a super basic leader class toy, then you may like this. It's not perfect but it makes up with great paint detailing and size.. Until Hasbro comes up with a better engineered AOE prime.. I'm sticking with this one.. Cheers!