BOTCON DOUBLE-PUNCH! (Botocon 2010 ダブルパンチ Daburu Panchi)

8:54 PM in Botcon 2010, Doublepunch, Exclusive Repaint, Generation 2, Homage, JUST BOUGHT, Redux, Yet To Arrive

Hi peoples, recently won an auction off Ebay for a Botcon Doublepunch! 

Arriving in approx 2 weeks time. Great homage to the original, more menacing since it uses the uber sold and intimidating looking Energon Skorponok mould. It's my first Botcon official toy added to my ever growing (selective) collection of Transformers toys. 

• Double Punch (BotCon 2010 souvenir set)
  • Accessories: 2 missiles

Limited to 1500 pieces, Double Punch is a redeco of Energon Scorponok, available exclusively at BotCon 2010 withTurbomaster and Shattered Glass Ravage. Double Punch transforms into a fanciful construction vehicle that resembles a mechanical scorpion, with two articulated bucket scoop arms that resemble pincers, along with an articulated crane arm that resembles a scorpion's stinger. Double Punch can also transform into a hover jet mode. He retains Scorponok's firing missiles and flip-out tail cannons, but lacks electronics. Double Punch is made from the original Energon version of the Scorponok mold, with none of the retooled features of Dark Scorponok.  Where both prior uses of this mold had had a Decepticon spark crystal embedded in one of the claws, Double Punch has a featureless blue dome.

• More information on Double Punch at TFU.info

Doublepunch, Botcon, Turbomaster: Copyright Hasbro and FunPub 2010

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WING SABER TOYZ SPECIAL: DECEPTICON ASSASSIN - DARKSTEEL-Bit Camera Japan Exclusive!

3:16 PM in BEAST WARS, DARK OF THE MOON, DARKSTEEL, Exclusive Repaint, Homage, JUST BOUGHT, QUICKSTRIKE, Retool

BIO

"Darksteel is a traditionalist. As a student of some of the most respected Decepticon warriors on Cybertron, he learned there is no substitute for a razor-sharp blade and clever mind. Blasters and cannons get the job done, but may fail in the heat of battle. The blade never falters".

Toys

• Dark Steel (Deluxe, 2011)

• Accessories: Mechtech Blasters/Blades.

Darksteel is a retooling of the Deluxe Dark of the Moon Sideswipe with a new head sculpt and the color scheme resembling Beast Wars Quickstrike. He is gun-metal grey with blue flames painted on the hood, and he now has a red windscreen. His MECHTECH weapon is reminiscent of  his Beast Wars namesake- that of venomous 'fangs' protruding ready to strike his enemies; and is a retool of Deluxe Starscream's weapons. 

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TECHNICAL DATA

STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

He was originally announced in BotCon 2011 as Dark Iron but due to some changes in production, his name was changed to Dark Steel. In Japan, Dark Steel is a Bic Camera exclusive.

More Darksteel info here!

Darksteel Copyright 2011 Hasbro/Takaratomy and Paramount

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WING SABER TOYZ SPOTLIGHT:- BANDAI SHCM-PRO: -1/144 SCALE GUNDAM UNICORN!

10:45 PM in BANDAI JAPAN, DESTROY MODE, Gundam, Homage, not in collection, UNICORN

Hi there, guys and girls out there! Thanks once again for dropping by the random blog of yours truly, Adam aka WSX. I must admit, that the release of  even more accurate, super-poseable figures has had an effect on my hobby collecting ever since. Lately, my shift from being a non-fan to one who has been converted-- is solely due to the sheer brilliance and  flawless toy-engineering put into these highly collectible items.  

 I am happy to report is that, (aside from those who are totally into Gundam plastic kits), which to the casual hobbyist like myself, will always be a total pain in the deriere' to fix up, the utter convenience and level of pre-painted and ready made Gundam toys which are available is  heaven-sent in more ways than one. I did recall that the Bandai SCHM-Pro Gundam Unicorn "perfect" edition sitting by it's lonesome self on the shelve of the toy department in the Bangkok department store sometime last year.  It looked really swell and a good buy, but of course, being the more savvy toy collector that I am, the price-- all 9,000-odd Baht, came up to a ridiculous amount of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 900!! All for a 1/144  scale

(or 13 cm) model made of plastic! The original price, however is about 1/3 that high price of RM900. 

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UNICORN GUNDAM LIVES!

Like a true blood-hound, ol'  WSX has been sniffing around the online sites especially those Japanese ones, all in the name of looking for that killer deal. Although released last year, the general consensus is one of positive disposition. high praise is once again reserved for this particular incarnation of the popular Unicorn Gundam figure. I had, in the beginning, absolutely NO idea  that the new series of Japanese novels starring the Gundam Unicorn saga,  was in actual fact  to coincide with the 30th Anniversary celebration and homage of sorts to the hugely influential  and cult-status mania for the original  Gundam Series of 1979.  That in itself is a really cool nod and a fitting re-imagining of sorts, if you will, that the series has made a true return to its roots. Heck, even the main protagonist form the Gundam Unicorn saga, Banagher Links (バナージ・リンクス Banāji Rinkusu^?) is a direct dead-ringer for the original emo-pilot teenager Amuro Ray' that first piloted the original RX-78 Gundam back in the early days.

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I AM NOT A GUNDAM BUILDER!

Well, the fact of the matter is, I have zero skill and tolerance to build Gundam model kits. I'm afraid it's just simple as that, really! LOL! That theres not shame in owning up for my particular flaw. As passionate as I am for a certain hobby, I am more a Vintage Transformers collector, and only dabbling in the pain-staking and agonizingly long and patient process of building Gundam plastic kits once every blue moon.  Its too much of a hassle, but to some the mere victory and satisfaction of seeing plastic parts being built up into works of art. I applaud and respect those uber crazy-skilled and the most professional of model kit-bashers.  the level of detailing, painting and effect is mind-blowing. 

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Search Tags : Bandai SHCM-Pro Gundam UC

Ptoduct Title	SHCM-Pro Gundam UC 1/144 Unicorn Gundam[Bandai]
Product Code	TOY-GDM-0983
Maker	Bandai
Release Date	late Oct-2009
Series Title	SHCM-Pro
Original Title	Gundam UC
Spec	Completed action model Scale: 1/144
Maker-listed price	9,800JPY
Sale Price	Sale Price 7,696JPY 20%OFF!

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SHCM PRO- THE "PERFECT VERSION" THAT IS READILY BOUGHT?!

In a nut-shell, this is a very aesthetically and practical version of this particular Gundam.  the quality level is unmatched. Add to the additional parts/ weapons.  The coolest feature that the folks at Bandai have managed to achieve is the seamless ability for this SHCM-Pro Unicorn 1/144 scale model to transform into the "Destroy mode" for the default white and less powerful Unicorn mode, into a bad-ass ballistic "psycho-frame" Gundam! Awesome touch, and this is for me, anyway, THE definitive version that should be bought if you have the additional monetary funds. Since this is on sale, and can be bought off the Amiami Japanese English language website, it looks awesome. Its on my to get list, and to be patient, I will wait until the price drops to around 7,000 Yen  mark before making my purchase.  This is a must for all Gundam fans, and the overall design of the Gundam Unicorn mecha is very pleasing to mecha fans as well. A must buy! A++

Copyright

(C) 1979, 2009 SOTSU, Sunrise & Bandai Co. Japan

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SCORPION KING!!TRANSFORMERS SUPERLINK SD-05: MEGAZARAK!!

8:32 PM in Generation 1, Homage, Megazarak, Scorpion, Superlink

Hey all! This is yours truly WSX, once again bringing a mini-blog post, the second one for the New Year! This time around, I thought to myself that Alternity Cliffjumper can wait. Slipped my mind that I had this baby hiding somewhere in my closet of toys.... LOL. Got this collection form a local hobby shop sometime back early 2008. Thought that the character was noble, ruthless and cool at the same time. Proof is in the pudding, as they say! Check out this video clip on Youtube.com. TRANSFORMERS SUPER-LINK Episode # 3: Megazarak's Trap!

Without further delay, ladies and gentleman, I would like to present to you none other than the Super-Destron General : SD-05 Megazarak! He basically has a much more "lighter" colour scheme going for him as he is draped in gold, sea-green/bluish tinge and light brown/yellow plastic parts. To me, he looks the part and definitely resembles his old Western Generation One namesake Scorponok. Overall, I think that the box shots for the Superlink series is pretty kickass, with clear, solid graphics depicted. The usage of the computer-generated character and distinctive blue font in Japanese makes for an attractive collection. The back of the box depicts all of his Three transformation modes, and as usual ,the poses done for the toy is "stylized" for added measure!

Again, I wont go into the boring and monotonous detail of how to transform this bad-ass mofo. The instructions are similar for those of Transformers Energon Scorponok. The kind folks at Hasbro were kind enough to display and allow the general shopper and public access to any instructions/ product safety manuals of all their products. For more reference, the direct link to Megazarak/Scorponock's manual can be found by clicking here.

	Tech Spec
	"If I do not crush you with my claws, I will finish you with my sting!"
	Scorponok is a power-hungry warrior who believes that he is the rightful leader of the Decepticon. He can back up this claim with a three-mode arsenal and a nasty attitude. In scorpion mode, beware of his huge mechanical claws and energon stinger. In vehicle mode, Scorponok is a powerful jet and construction vehicle with a talent for destruction. Megatron beware! This dangerous Decepticon is coming for you.
	Strength	Intelligence	Speed	Endurance	Rank	Courage	Fireblast	Skill
	10	8	7	9	9	9	9	10

Okay, next is just a bare bones run-down on the various modes and strengths / weaknesses of each one. Ill start with the basic form and work my way through his Robot and Cyber-Jet modes.

ROBOTIC SCORPION

Basically his "default" vehicular/ scorpion mode packaged in box. He resembles a heavy-duty shoveler and looks menacing in this mode. As far as posebailty and gimmicks goes, he can open and close his "bucket" claws; swivel his tail/cockpit area with the press of a button, launch missiles from the underside launchers below his pincers. Overall, Id give this alternate mode a big thumbs up-- looks like a big, cybernetic, and well thought of "Scorpion". A++!


ROBOT MODE


Now we move on to his robot mode. Fairly simple transformation. My sincere Thanks and credit goes out to www.tfuinfo.com for the following Transformers Energon Scorponok (which had a much brighter and changed colour scheme--with the light gold being replaced by a much gaudy dark orange colour) So much for being ANIME accurate! He is poesable but limited in that his articulation is such that he only is able to move his head, visor, shoulders, claws, hips can be rotated, however-- he does have elbows and knees which bend somewhat. Overall the aesthetics are meant to be grand and big-- his shoulder pads give him a broader look. The head-sculpt is very G1, and the "pistons" and the body especially the claws make Megazarak every inch the humongous mechanical monster he is! A+

Next up:

CYBER-JET MODE

In this mode, he looks sleek and could do some serious aerial damage. However, to me this is his most "weakest" mode, as he looks as if he is somewhat stuck between robot and scorpion mode. Well, to be honest my gut instinct is telling me that the designers had this mode as an afterthought-- as ALL Transformers fans can attest to-- there is room for personal transformation inventions-- Megazarak's scorpion tale is flattened out, making the front nose of the plane--while the rest of this alt mode is just his scorpion pincers and thread-legs folded-up into a compact position. B+

FINAL THOUGHTS:

For further reading and notes of importance of the toy, please visit super-Aussie review site, Cliffbee.com. As for me, Superlink/ Energon Megazarak is an inspiring Decepticon commander, powerful and imposing. Having THREE modes and the fact he is a pretty awesome homage to his G1 predecessor Scorponok and Zarak makes him all the more one of the more coveted and value buy Destron Figure worth getting!

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