Sunday 17 June 2012

Third lot of June Transformers

Yesterday I checked the postbox, and in the week since I last checked it, there were four items waiting for me. (I was expecting a couple others, but must still be on their way... maybe next weekend)
(click on any image to see the full size version)

On the left is the big black Jetwing Optimus (a limited edition item in Japan).
In front of it are Gen1 Kabaya model kits (brightly coloured bits in bags).
In the middle is the JP Zombie/Terrorcon Cliffjumper from TFPrime (done in translucent purple plastic), and in front of it is it's Micron (which you have to build).
On the right at the front are the limited edition Dark Microns (also have to build).
And at the back are three BotCon art prints from the Hartmans (the founders of BotCon, and now have the Hall of Fame fan-vote award named after them).
The Tigatron was done by Dan Khanna for BotCon 2002 (each person was randomly given one of three prints, and now I have all three), while the other two prints were for the OTFCC "not BotCon" 2004 by Makoto Ono (I didn't go to that convention, so have had to acquire the exclusive items from other people).

A comparison pic of Dark Jetwing with the regular one, showing off how much shiny bits it has...

The odd thing about this figure was how it arrived.  When I removed the Jetwing box from the shipping carton, I found four small white boxes at the bottom.  Each one was fairly heavy and packed with something granular.
My first thought was drugs... which had me worried that I ended up being an unsuspecting drug mule for someone to later track down (or the police)...  so I opened one up and am just hoping that this is just kitty litter.

But even if it is kitty litter, the question is... why?  As you can see, the four packs total 1.8kgs in weight, which equals the weight of the toy itself (in the next photo).
So, until I get an answer back from the seller (if at all), I'm left wondering why it is there.  It meant paying more for shipping, but then how does that benefit the seller?  Could they have added it, fearing battery acid leakage? If so, there isn't enough in the toy's batteries to even make it outside of the toy itself, nor would it be expected to leak into the direction of those four packs... and be able to penetrate the cardboard before running out onto the shipping carton.

Back to Transformers... Zombie Cliffjumper.
In the TFPrime Cartoon, Cliffjumper becomes a zombie, and both Hasbro and TakaraTomy have done their own toy version to "homage" that.
Hasbro's is coming out in July at the SDCC, and will be more screen-accurate with red and purple highlights. TakaraTomy on the other hand did theirs entirely in translucent purple, as if he turned into Dark Energon.
They both use the Zombie Cliffjumper head (missing a horn and damaged), and I wanted to get this one because of the different colouring/plastic. (I like the occasional translucent Transformers toy)
Below is Zombie Cliffjumper next to the First Edition version (and the Micron in between).

I started putting stickers on the Zombie Cliffjumper, but stopped at just the arms, because I'm not sure if I want to be covering up large portions of the translucent plastic with black stickers.  I'll transform it to car mode, and decide... but for now, I'm leaving him as he is.

These are the four Shadow Microns, which are all in translucent smokey black plastic (and no stickers like the regular Microns).

And the other interesting items from this batch - the Gen1 Kabaya Model Kits.
These are from Japan, and appear to be released during the late 1980s. I couldn't find much info on these either, so am just guessing (hoping) that these are legit Transformers items.
The boxes don't say much, but do have "70yen" printed on the back, so if these were only about AU$1 each, it wouldn't have been too recently (supporting the claim that these are from the 80s).
Inside each box were a bag of toy bits (in one of several random colours apparently), an instruction sheet, and a piece of candy coated chocolate.

No, I didn't eat the chocolates.  The candy shell looks really weird, and the chocolate inside was snow white. These were after all, about 25 years old.

The Models done up in vehicle mode. VERY very bright colours.

And in their robot modes (the pieces are for both modes, with a few left over in the vehicle mode (above).

As you can see, the vehicle mode was the priority design with these, as the robot modes are quite deformed on each - Sideswipe's chest is upside-down, Optimus is a block that can't hold his gun to shoot it (he just holds it midway along the barrel as if he is just carrying it), Prowl's head is barely above the chest and holds his shoulder guns in his hands, while Starscream has the wings out the back and a big groin-piece.

Still very interesting, and a nice addition/sample to my collection of JP Transformers... especially since I've been collecting the recent Kabaya Models (so have had a growing interest in previous ones - which surprised me that they had been doing Transformers model kits since the original 1980s series).

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