Tyrannocon Rex / Autobot JP93
Transformers - Collaborative (Hasbro) - Jurassic Park
Rated 3.75 stars by Karl T. Face
Jurassic Park was a hell of a movie. It's seen a lot of toys, but never like this. I finally bit the bullet, so here we are. Right off the bat, I must address the packaging here. It'd be an amazing display backdrop if it didn't have those slots cut into it for the plastic tray, but it's still a nice diorama, with the paddock in the rain and the flipped car and whatnot. Also, they snuck Mr. DNA onto one of the inner flaps. It's almost enough to make me ignore the weirdly unimaginative names. Unlike Gigawatt and Ectotron, this one's a micro-continuity all its own, a simple dino-hunt story with no comic tie-in. It's good enough for my multiversal display. Beginning with JP, this is a really good altmode. Licensed car design, impeccable paint apart from a few odd spaces in the lettering...[See More]

Skulk and Trancula
Sectaurs (Coleco) - Beasts
Rated 4.60 stars by Karl T. Face
Sectaurs had oddly complex characters. Take Skulk here: the sniveling, plug-ugly toady that often accompanies cartoon villains, he's secretly well versed in political intrigue, and also an excellent scout and trapper. Take into account his Quasimodo-esque origin story, and he reads more like a modern reboot than a c-list 80s property. Anyway, dude's roughly the same height as anyone else in the line, but with beastlier extremities and the only fully insectile face in the line. The balljoints at the hips have far better range than the shoulders, but that's how this line rolls. The swivel neck and hinged knees round things out. Paint is great as always, with the facial features picked out neatly, and some really nice airbrushing on the limbs. The real draw with these guys is the...[See More]

Ultra Magnus
Transformers - Generation 1 (Hasbro) - Series 3
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Magnus was an interesting toy. We hadn't really seen any major upgrades to existing Transformers yet, and here was this white Optimus with a car carrier trailer that becomes an exo-suit. But that point has been discussed ad infinitum, so how's the toy? Right off the bat, mine's not in the best shape. Everything's nice and tight (worryingly so in some cases), the chrome is just near death. Which hardly matters to me, as it's only ever getting displayed in two modes; vehicle(s) and robot. In that order, we've got a very boxy car carrier here, with room for four cars. The rocket launchers stick straight out the front, but I haven't figured out what to do with the hands and rifle. I do know the helmet fits on the chestplate to form a sort of mobile gun emplacement. We get a pretty full range...[See More]

Slimestone
Rock Lords (Tonka) - Evil Rock Lords
Rated 4.75 stars by Karl T. Face
It's the mineral to Beast Wars' animal, Rock Lords! No, really. An offshoot of the main Gobot civilization took on naturalistic altmodes too, just with rocks. And here's one of the bad guys now! Slimestone is a silver nugget, but seems to enjoy hot oil baths, which is apparently disgusting to others. He's implied to be pretty low-down and sleazy, using a slime gun to, presumably, make his opponents feel really icky. As it should. The toy is a thing to behold, really. A short little robot with enormous shoulder pads and gigantic, wide-set feet. His vicious little nubbin of a head has crablike eyes above a slack-jawed jack o' lantern mouth. And it's almost entirely chromed. I'm terrified to handle it without a microfiber cloth handy. The aforementioned slime gun looks more like a scanner...[See More]

Burnheart
Super Naturals (Tonka) - Forces of Evil
Rated 4.40 stars by Karl T. Face
Well, that's all three. The final member of the villainous trio has arrived, and he is almost great. Right off the bat, this is the usual 4 POA spread. These are stiff, stoic figures. That said, they generally look good. The leather of his boots and the grey armor on the upper body are picked out cleanly, and a crosshatched texture does a surprisingly good job of suggesting scale mail. The chestplate is picked out beautifully in red, as are the spooky belt buckle and a few gems. This guy is just overloaded with early fantasy tropes. The visor, a slatted number with harsh angles, is hinged rather than being removable, and offers a decent glimpse of the hologram. Taking off the chestplate reveals the full image: a muscular fellow with a maniacal grin and a large bat necklace, turning into a...[See More]

Stridor
Masters of the Universe - Origins (Mattel) - Accessories
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Well, it's Stridor. Never the most exciting toy, but I really wanted that base, so I jumped on it when it hit deep clearance. Did it surprise me? Read on. Right off the bat, it's got a lot on the old one. Side by side, the legs are slightly chunkier to accommodate the articulation, making it look a lot beefier despite the torso actually being a touch narrower this time around. That's 3 balljoints in the neck,3 hinges for each leg, and a spring-loaded hinge in the jaw to grip the bit. That's unexpected. I take issue with the color, though. It's got a more reddish sort of brown, and the legs, seat, and rear gun have gone from caramel to orange. Less war machine and more parade float, really. Kudos for the old-school stickers, though. Eat it, Classics version! Unlike the rather disappointing...[See More]

Psycho
Go-Bots (Tonka) - Super Go-Bots
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Now this is an interesting design! Psycho was the stock "crazy guy" on the villain team, and it's said that only Cy-Kill can control him. Sort of a goofy trope, but apparently he disassembled Leader-1 at some point (he got better), so that's points in his favor. Who else has taken out a hero like that? Serpentor? Megatron? These are the big leagues, son! Speaking of big, Super Gobots are hefty and solid toys, and this one doesn't disappoint. I'd describe it as a "zeerust automobile", but I guess that's to be expected with this one: like most of the series, Psycho is a fundamentally unchanged release of a Machine Robo toy. No shame in that, Hasbro mined at least 2 companies. Anyway, this particular piece is the Psychoroid, which some of you may remember from Space Adventure Cobra. In fact,...[See More]

Road Hauler
Transformers - Legacy - Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection (Hasbro) - Voyager Class
Rated 5.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Why didn't somebody tell me this mold was so good!? Okay, Hauler. A bit of a cipher for many years, he got a single name mention in the first season (and was obviously meant to be Grapple) and a quick shot of his vehicle mode, and that was that. It fell to E-Hobby's parade of G1 redecoes to explain him back in '03, and now he's here. As support staff for an important race on an alien planet. Okay then. The altmode is quite nice. Not quite the old Fuso, but close enough. It's nice and solid. The wheels roll well, and the crane arm has a decent range of motion, plus a decent extension. The hook folds away to reveal a 5mm socket, which can take either a log grapple or laser/fire nozzle. There's also a rifle stored on the side. Transformation is just complex enough to be satisfying. Robot...[See More]

Spay-C
Go-Bots (Tonka) - Super Go-Bots
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
I unapologetically love Go-Bots. They are indeed mighty, as their tagline suggests. Spay-C (not the most original name) was a sort of action politician, a council member who sometimes aids the Gobots directly. She was female in the cartoon universe, but male everywhere else. Depends on where you know her from, I guess? As a space shuttle, this is quite impressive. A little simplified, but a well-built Challenger-era shuttle. Not having to worry about a purple train mode, they used correct wing colors. We even get retractable wheels! Transformation is solid but worrisome; the hips are terrifyingly stiff. I thought I broke it 3 times. I'm not used to that with this much die-cast construction; not sure if that's a point in its favor or not. Robot mode looks pretty good too. Most Super...[See More]

Finn Balor
Masters of the WWE Universe (Mattel) - Wave 1
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Another modern character I'm only somewhat familiar with, Finn Balor was built for this line. Maybe not to the extent of, say, Berserker, but that ain't happening. Anyhoo, Finn's Demon persona works well here, other than one minor niggle. A Beast Man-esque collar forms the lower jaw of his usual makeup, but it goes all the way around, somewhat lessening the illusion. Just somewhat. The bracers are new to me, but possibly reused. They're a good look. And on the accessory front, the streamers he wears on his wrists have become grasping tendrils. Two pairs, one black, one red. Happily, one can get all four on at once, and they look halfway decent grasping at other figures from halfway across the ring. Just flexible enough to eliminate any fear of breakage. My only major complaint is another...[See More]