What a KOLD way to finally get Henkei Black Convoy

Nothing really noteworthy happened this week, so I'll skip straight to the hauls.


Wednesday, KOTOYS.COM, I received KOLD Henkei Black Konvoy LE-05.

This here is a knock-off of the once planned WonderFest convention exclusive Henkei Black Convoy, but as we all know it never came to fruition (much to my extreme annoyance). Yes, there are a few 'NOT FOR SALE' prototypes that surface on eBay every now and then, but the prices I've seen for them are bloody ludicrous (£750+ for a black repaint, are you fucking kidding me?!), thus the decision to travel down the route of obtaining a infinitely cheaper alternative was decided upon.

Without getting into the whole knock-offs are evil, knock-offs must burn in hell or whatever your stance on the subject is, this is actually of fairly decent quality. It does have its issues like some pinned connections being replaced with screws, a few loose and misshaped pins, left over jagged bits from the plastic sprues, no (clicky) ratchet joints, and a few casting defects (his face has no fucking nose, man!), the worst being unable to plug the small smokestack gun into the big wind vane gun because the holes were done wrong (one should be positioned lower than the other, but here they're on the same level making it slant to one side if you do manage to connect them).

Given that all that, I couldn't recommend him to everyone. But if you're like me and want a version of this ill-fated black repaint, then by all means get him, just don't expect an exact replica of the original toy though.


Now it's time for the obligatory comparison shot with Universe Classics Nemesis Prime.

The differences are minor and apparent, but of the two the Henkei colour scheme wins me over just that little bit more because its more akin to that of RiD Scourge (and the Nemesis Leader is pretty similar to it too).


Thursday, the_book_depository, I received Last Stand of the Wreckers TPB.

My second copy of Wreckers arrived with minimal damage, but not 100% unscathed (Nemmy's a perfectionist, deal with it). Besides that, I pretty much said what I wanted to say about Wreckers last week.

Scuffed Wreckers, Fooly Cooly and Bruticus appendages

Real life wise I'm still not feeling too great, but apart from that I've just finished Chapter 3 of ef - a fairy tale of the two. (thus far, this VN looks stunningly pretty what with all the effects and animations).

I didn't do too bad on the haul front either.


Tuesday, Amazon.co.uk, I received Last Stand of the Wreckers trade paperback.

First things first, I'd like to say a massive fuck you to the postwoman who was stupid enough to roughly shove this through the letterbox and damage the corners of my Wreckers TPB! I do have a second copy on order, but I'm going to keep that one as mint as possible and use this as my main reading copy.

Nevertheless, everyone and their extended family goes on about how great this comic is, and I'm very much a follower of that sentiment because it truly is that damn good. It got me wanting (no I should say needing) to buy the TPB unlike any of IDW's other work on Transformers in recent memory. There's just something about it (besides of awesomeness of my childhood favourite Rotorstorm) that really appealed to me and made me take a keener interest in this band of Autobots.

The comic alone deserves all the praise in the world (and rightfully so), but seeing as we get Bullets to expand on it as well, what more could you ask for? Now I'll be the first to admit text-only stories grate on my nerves as I get bored (and somewhat intimidated) very easily when there's nothing except walls of text presented before me. However, once I finally got through those 11 pages all I had to say was "holy fucking shit" (and that's all I will say about it for now).


Thursday, mvm_entertainment, I received FLCL Vol 1-3.

Now I've seen a lot of anime in my time, but Furi Kuri is certainly one of more stranger ones. Even when I recently watched it again I'm still left with a sense of confusion and scratching my head, its weird, too weird, so weird that I'm not sure calling it weird is actually fitting.

I wasn't going to pay the price I originally saw it for (which was about £18), but I bit the bullet at £10.


Saturday, Kapow Toys, I received...

• XFire 02A Explorer And Combat Unit Appendage Add-on Kit A
• XFire 02B Munitioner And Combat Unit Appendage Add-on Kit B
  

Let's cut the bollocks, I'll be referring to Explorer and Munitioner as Blast Off and Swindle from this point on cos let's face it, that's who they really are (I did the same with the Warbot Defender after all).

I can't comment on the individual robot modes of Blast Off and Swindle as I didn't want to risk the chance of something breaking (that would really annoy me after the shit that happened with my Universe Classics Bruticus Maximus), so I put these suckers straight into XFire Bruticus Colossus and they'll probably remain connected as him for the foreseeable future.

The combination process wasn't hassle free mind you as the new head was a little tricky to attach, the backpack doesn't properly align with the holes on Onslaught's back, and connecting the hands had some scary moments.


But even with those niggles, the end result is jaw-droppingly awesome. It totally removes the need for Universe Classics Blast Off and Swindle to exist (unless you want to consider them as drones), leaves you a much more poseable gestalt than the XFire Superion Antaeus (and its Snowman repaint), and gives him an lethal assortment of weapons to boot.

Now if we get a repaint of this set that matches the colours of Super Link Bruticus, I would gladly purchase it without hesitation.

The Chosen One strikes again!

I'm still not feeling all that great after hearing about my nan's death earlier this week, so I'll be keeping this post short.

Besides, I haven't been in the mood to do much else expect for playing through the beginnings of ef - a fairy tale of the two. (one of my more major back burner VNs) which I just started for some peace of mind.


Tuesday, HobbyLink Japan, I received Animated TA-33 Rodimus.

Well, there's not much to say here that I didn't say when I got the Hasbro Rodimus.

My opinion is still the same, but unlike that one I had trouble transforming this one easily. However, the main selling point here though is of course the paint job which is lovely and shiny (save for a few dodgy areas).

Rest in peace, Lilian Heard 1918-2010

A few hours ago my last surviving grandparent, Lilian Heard has died.

She reached the age of 92, so you can say she had a good life.

However, I think the news has yet to fully sink itself in as I haven't submitted to the grieve of losing another member of the family.

Actually, I don't think I should yet as I should remain strong for my dad; this will really hit him later cos he was the first to learn of his mum's passing.

How long until my PC gives its final Swan Song?

The fun and games with my PC are still ongoing. I think (and I'm saying that loosely) I've solved the 'NTLDR is missing' problem. However, the floppy disc drive on it seems to be fucked and won't work properly (I know I'm behind the times, but the PC in question is around 5 years old now).

On another note, over the last few days I started and finished Swan Song (again, a back burner VN). I can see why some folk might call it depressing as it doesn't exactly show humanity in the greatest of lights (especially in the Normal Ending, the Good Ending was just too fucking convenient and happy after all the inhumane shit that occurred throughout the story).


Tuesday, oceankingtoy, I received Animated Cybertron Mode Ironhide.

Its Cybertron Mode Ratchet with a new head (and in this case the correct paddles too), end of story.

Truly a week Nemmy would like to forget

I'd honestly like to forget most of this past week...

For starters, my PC for some reason or another is now giving me 'NTLDR is missing' errors on each and every attempt to boot the bastard, and I'd be in a much worse standing if I weren't able to borrow my friend's old PC (you have no idea how grateful I was for that) and burn a (boot) disc as a temporary fix until I get the problem sorted.

On a more brighter note (if you can call it that in spite of everything else), I did manage to complete Sekien no Inganock (another VN that's been on my back burner list).


Tuesday, masabon2006, I received Animated Optimus Prime Black Ver.

Now here's something else I'd like to (partially) forget...

This lovely looking black repaint got stung by HMRC. Delayed in its delivery by almost a week thanks to Parcelfarce's procedures. And as icing to a well burnt cake, the little tab on the inside of the grill which locks that (annoying) rotating transformation gimmick goes and sodding breaks on me!

I might be able to fix it somehow, but it's not looking good at present.


Thursday, ehobbybase, I received Animated Prowl Elite Guard Ver. and Tokyo Toy Show 2010 Dreadwing & Smokescreen.

Prowl is just Prowl, still somewhat loose as buggery only with a new lick of paint. The G1-esque colour scheme does look rather nice in person, but I think his original colour scheme suited him better.

Dreadwing & Smokescreen, what can I say about them?

Well, I had little interest in these RotF moulds until I saw them as this homage to a pair of G2 toys I own in their Robots in Disguise and Robot Masters incarnations. Yeah, I must admit the combined mode of these two is rather shit compared to their G2 predecessors, but the G2 colour scheme works on them (and that's good enough for me).


Friday, hongkongtoysshop2010, I received Universe Classics Challenge at Cybertron.

I could sum this set up simply by saying Cyclonus is good, Rodimus is meh and Galvatron can go die in a fire, but I won't cos I have other gripes with them.

Cyclonus is easily the gem of this set and is as good now as he was when I first got him, only with a much nicer looking colour scheme.

However, he loses points by my having to force the nose-cone to extend with vice clip thingy because it was jammed right in (to the point of leaving nasty 'teeth' marks).

Rodimus I wanted cos his prices on the secondary market are insane (I guess FanProject's Protector has some blame for that), and there's no way in hell I'm opening my MOSC Henkei Hot Rodimus (I do have the original Classics release, but he came to me with no paint on his face).

This repaint of him however is cack and sloppy. Part of the yellow paint on the spoiler is now stuck to the (horrible Allspark blue painted) windscreen, he has an excess of silver paint where the chest folds down, and that red they used is far too bright and needed to be darker.

Galvatron is still the same floppy piece of shit that crumbles apart if you so much as look at him, except a hell of a lot worse than my original. There's nothing at all to like about this guy, he's just that fucking awful a toy (Galvatron deserved better than this).

He wasss once a Minooor!

This week didn't grant me much in terms of items, but it did grant me other meaningful things.

For starters I finally started and finished Kikokugai, another VN I've had installed on my PC for awhile but never got around to playing (shame I didn't get to it sooner cos it was quite enjoyable).

However, I was most humbled at being asked if I wanted to assist in posting stuff on the front page of TheTransformers.net, to which I accepted and was also granted Moderator status on the forum as a result (now that was a surprise).


Monday, supermart_usa, I received G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero The Movie Special Edition.

I basically got this to complete my collection of Shout! Factory G.I. Joe DVDs, and also for the fancy new widescreen presentation and special features.


Friday, oceankingtoy, I received Animated Rodimus Minor.

This toy is awesome, but the bow kinda sucks. That was my first impression of Rodimus Prime (was this guy ranked a Minor in Animated?) once I transformed him. It's the only quibble I have with him, and that's mostly down to the missile getting in the way when he's holding it.

Weird cases for Linking Angels

After the haul I had last week, this week was pretty dull.

But to be truthful, I didn't spare much thought on it cos I've been looking after The Nerdsphere while everyone else is at Auto Assembly (lucky fuckers) and finishing off Moero Downhill Night 2 (I'd have been done quicker if the bloody SKIP function worked properly).


Monday, the_disc_connection_am, I received Angel Links Complete Collection.

I thought I was gonna get the Anime Legends release, but instead I got this one. Not that I mind because the discs are the same anyway. The funniest thing about it though is the case, cos never before have I seen two DVD cases stuck together on an official release quite like this.

As for the series itself, I last watched it roughly 4 or 5 years ago, and even then it was because of its ties to Outlaw Star, so it seemed like a good idea to purchase this as well.

Nemmy and stress, not a good combination

Like last week, I'm still feeling the same, only way more stressed from having another dealing with those fuckers at HMRC and Parcelfarce that cost me £31 in fees!


Monday, Fan2Fan, I received...

• Kotobukiya 1/8 Kuroko Shirai
• Alter 1/8 Yui Hirasawa
• Alter 1/8 Mio Akiyama
  

Monday, Fan2Fan, I also received...

• DX Chogokin VF-27β Lucifer Valkyrie Grace O' Connor Custom
  
• Busou Shinki Altlene (with bonus helmet)
• Alternity A-04 Starscream White Pearl
  
• Alternity A-04 Skywarp Witch Purple Pearl
  
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Skull
• figma Mio Akiyama
• Henkei! Henkei! Gentei! Gentei! Dark Skyfire
  

Thursday, Kapow Toys and derbycitymedia, I received...

• Generations Cybertronian Optimus Prime
• Generations Cybertronian Bumblebee
• Revenge of the Fallen Autobot Skids & Mudflap
• Generations Autobot Drift
• Generations Thrust
• Air The Motion Picture
  

I won't be commenting on the items themselves cos a lot of them are still unopened (some were going to remain like that anyway) and I don't really feel up to it on the ones I have opened (not even on the Air movie which is exactly the same as the last one only packaged different), but I will give a word of thanks to Kapow Toys for the gratis Skids and Mudflap.

There is no enjoyment to be found even in having these arrivals

How should I feel about this last week: pleased? depressed? stressed?

I seriously don't know an answer to that, nor do I desire an answer, but I do know that my completing Muv-Luv Unlimited (loved it, but after viewing Meiya's ending; the rest of them kinda bored me cos they were so fucking repetitive!) and playing through Moero Downhill Night 2 (which I'm liking more than the original thus far) helped take my mind of that shit for awhile.


Tuesday, SMALLJOES.COM, I received...

• G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Cobra Commander (M.A.S.S. Device)
• G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Cobra Commander (Hooded)
  

Not a lot can said about these two figures other than I hate their bloody stiff elbow joints (I shouldn't feel like I'm gonna break the ruddy thing just by moving the sodding limbs)!


Thursday, hongkongtoysshop2010, I received S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Decade Violent Emotion.

Basically, this is just the original S.H.Figuarts Decade with two new heads, and a 'Fury Form' (sorry, but that just sounds better than calling it Violent Emotion) one at that (I stuck the other head on my first Decade figure cos it looks that much better).


Friday, Frankie (a.k.a. toyspark), I received G1 Commemorative Decepticon Piranacon.

Compared to the original Piranacon I own, this new release is nowhere near as good quality wise (even my God Neptune has a better sense of quality about it, and that bugger isn't exactly fault free).

For the price he isn't too bad I suppose, but it just aggravates me when parts don't stay connected properly (like Tentakil, the silly bastard who hates being a leg and tries to escape every time I lift-up Piranacon).