I’ve had this incredible toy from Takara since it was first released from Japan and I can say that it was worth every penny. Loaded with gimmicks, multiple points of articulation and a transformation scheme unique from its smaller scaled G1 counterpart this is a must-have for any serious collector of Transformers.

This gallery was on my Flickr page, and until I renew my Pro account, I am hosting the Convoy gallery here. Enjoy!

More carded figures from The Rise of Cobra line of G.I. Joe toys. It’s amazing that in a 2-month period, 37 figures spread over 2 collections and 3 waves have been released. I have 34 of them and only missing Wallace “Ripcord” Weems v2 [Reactive Impact Armor], Conrad “Duke” Hauser v3 [Delta-6 Accelerator Suit] and Storm Shadow v3 [Arctic Threat]. This gallery finishes off the remainder of Collection 1 Wave 2, Collection 2 Wave 3 and introduces 4 of the 7 figures available from Collection 1 Wave 3.

Collection 1 Wave 2
• Snake Eyes v2 [Paris Pursuit]
• Storm Shadow v2 [Paris Pursuit]

Collection 1 Wave 3
• Baroness v2 [Paris Pursuit]
• Para-Viper [Cobra Paratrooper]
• Rex “The Doctor” Lewis [Chief Experimental Doctor]
• Snake Eyes v3 [Arctic Assault]

Collection 2 Wave 3
• General Clayton “Hawk” Abernathy [Attack on the G.I. Joe Pit]
• G.I. Joe Pit Commando A [Covert Military Force]
•  G.I. Joe Pit Commando B [Covert Military Force]

This Target exclusive toy is by far and away my favorite vehicle so far. It is massive and rewards you with a high play value and space to hold many figures. Cobra does not stand a chance!

Originally released in the Venom vs. Valor line in darker hues (black and grey), the Rapid Heli-Integrated Neutralizing Offensive vehicle has been recast in blue with gun metal grey accents found mainly on the canopies, doorways and hatches. Basically, it is 2 vehicles in one: a solid ground-based APC unit that houses a detachable helicopter unit with collapsable rotor blades. A number of weapons adorn the R.H.I.N.O. — 2 rocket launchers (that hold 3 rockets each), a single rocket launcher and twin-barrelled machine gun. There are a number of posts on the vehicle that allow you to customize the configuration of these weapons.

The helicopter is deployed by pressing a button on the back of the APC. It rises out of its mooring and can be detached; what’s great is that a panel lifts into the helicopter’s place so there is no visible hole when it is removed.

The vehicle also comes packaged with a driver, Rampage, whose appearance is based on the vintage Heavy Metal (driver of the MBT Mauler). That he should be manning a massive heavily armed vehicle seems fitting. His body construction shows off a nice combination of previously used parts and demonstrates how such reuse can still look good.  Basically, he has the head of Mutt (w10), the torso of a Cobra Viper (w7), the arms and thighs of General Hawk (w9) and legs/feet of Sgt. Flash (w5). Surprisingly, this effective combination has led to high prices for just this figure alone on the secondary market!

This incredible toy sells for $49.99 MSRP. However, you really feel that you are getting your money’s worth.

***** stars out of 5

Here are some carded and boxed shots of the latest vehicle packs to come out.

The Dragonhawk XH1 is a Bravo Class vehicle that includes Wild Bill.

The four carded vehicles are from the first wave of Target exclusive 2-packs. These include:

• Air-Viper Commando / Cobra C.L.A.W. — a repainted A.V.A.C. (Vehicles w2) and Cobra C.L.A.W (Vehicles w3).
• Cobra Eel / Wave Crusher — a repainted Cobra Eel (w11) and vehicle from the 2003 “Spy Troops” sub-line.
• James “Grand Slam” Barney / Air Assault Glider — a repainted Grand Slam (Target Exclusive Vehicles w1) and vehicle from the 2003 “Spy Troops” sub-line.
• Snake Eyes / Arashikage Cycle — a frankenjoe Snake Eyes (top half from DVD w4) and a repainted Ninja Lightning Cycle (from the 2004 “Valor vs. Venom” sub-line).

Hoo boy. Here is a gallery of more carded RoC toys. These things are popping up like crazy and look great!

Collection 1 Wave 2
• Cobra Commander {no holes in armor}
• Conrad “Duke” Hauser v2 [Reactive Impact Armor]
• Ice-Viper
• Shana “Scarlett” O’Hara v2 [Desert Ambush]

Collection 2 Wave 2
• Heavy Duty v2 [Reactive Impact Armor]
• Elite-Viper [Elite Regiment Officer].

Collection 2 Wave 3
• Agent Helix
• Anthony “Flash” Gambello
• Cobra Eel
• Crimson Neo-Viper.

Toys ‘R Us Headquarters for Heros
• Barbecue.

Hoo boy! Ever since pictures first surface many months ago the long wait is finally FINALLY over! The latest online exclusive 7-packs have arrived and these are straight from bigbadtoystore.com

These sets are amazing and offer 13 new characters!! The only repeat is a Cobra B.A.T., but who’s complaining? It’s the battle-damaged B.A.T. that initially only was available through the Hall of Heroes subset.

While I prepare a more in-depth review, I offer this gallery of the boxed sets to whet the appetite.

With the upcoming release of the G.I. Joe movie (which, to me, does not look all that great), we get the release of the toyline in advance to drum up interest and support. Initially, upon seeing the figures being discussed on the internet, I was reluctant to buy into the toys because I am a fervent supporter of the 25th Anniversary/Modern Era line and would rather see more updates of classic figures. The movie line of toys effectively killed or put that notion on hold (with the exception of the incredible online exclusive Cobra Island 7-packs coming soon).

And so I was not looking forward to the movie toys and was actually glad that perhaps I could save money this Summer. Boy, was I wrong!

I think my desire for anything new from G.I. Joe was channeled into getting the toys; that and the constant updates and sightings on forums such as Hisstank and The Terrordrome fuelled my excitement.

Overall, I think the figures are successful. The Joes suffer from some bland looks and the Cobra forces look great. They come with many accessories, the most notable (and most unfortunate) are the spring-loaded weapons that are HUGE and ungainly. They DO NOT belong in any toyline! They do provide playability and when I was a kid, I loved spring-loaded weapons. So kids may love ‘em. I do not.

The following gallery is not a complete collection, but they are the ones I bought that I thought looked pretty cool. Enjoy!

Finally, the Storm Shadow I ordered has arrived. Thus my Hall of Heroes collection is complete.

Storm Shadow (HoH:4) uses the same body construction as Storm Shadow (CBP#3); he doesn’t come with his bow, but does come with a grappling hook. 

Oh yeah. I resisted these guys when the news 1st broke that these repacks would be coming out. But once again, packaging wins out!

These figures are worth it for the display quality alone, but in addition to the gold foil goodness, each figure has subtle paint improvements and comes with many accessories. I’m glad I gave in to my weakness and ordered this set. Though at this time I am still awaiting the arrival of Storm Shadow (HoH:4).

MP-08 GRIMLOCK — Dinobot Commander

What can I say? The folks at Takara have really outdone themselves this time. The Masterpiece edition of Grimlock impresses on many fronts, looking faithful to the G1 robot and dino-modes with added detailing, employing a satisfying transformation scheme and including several gimmicks and accessories that make this toy fun to play with.

Packaging 
Grimlock comes in the now familiar Masterpiece box. The front shows off the character in both robot and dino-modes against a rich black background. The back of the box displays the many accessories and gimmicks you can expect from the toy within. The main thing you will notice is how thick the box is in comparison to the other Masterpiece toys — it’s almost twice the depth of MP-05 Megatron, the 2nd thickest box.

When you open the box (single tape enclosure on the top and bottom), you slide out a plastic tray in which Grimlock and his accessories reside. Grimlock is packaged in his robot mode.

Robot Mode
Grimlock feels solid and sturdy; his die-cast metal parts (dinosaur feet) add a nice balance. His joints are tight and stable and there is no fear of accidentally snapping or breaking a piece off. His chest is covered with vac-metallized gold.

He displays a wide range of articulation allowing for any number of cool poses. His head and shoulders are on ball joints, his elbows can twist and bend, his wrists can rotate and his thumbs are on ball-joints. His hips can tilt up and down, his thighs rotate, his knees bend and his feet have some yaw mobility to allow him stand on level surfaces.

In this mode, Grimlock has two weapons as options: his Energo sword and his twin stunner rifle. Both can plug into his right hand, which leads to our first gimmick. On his right shoulder is a tab, that once removed, allows the user to push a button on the back of the same shoulder. This activates a light-up feature that illuminates the blade of the sword and the barrels of the rifle.

The second gimmick of his robot mode involves changing his visor color. Normally, Grimlock’s visor color is blue, tipping us off to his allegiance with the Autobots. However, an unobtrusive lever on the back of his head allows you to flip a red visor over the blue one; this allows you to recreate the television episode in which Grimlock turned evil.

Transformation
The designers at Takara display much ingenuity in translating the transformation scheme from the G1 version to this version. They manage to make it complex enough that it is not a direct 1-to-1 translation though it is close enough to feel familiar.

Dinosaur Mode
Grimlock’s alt mode is a fantastic and mostly seamless appearance. A minor quibble is how wide his body is, but it’s only very apparent when looking at the dino-mode head on. In this mode, his teeth, claws and tail-end are vac-metallized silver. His dinosaur arms have a ball joint at the shoulder and only bend at the elbow. Also, the three claws on each hand can move independently of each other.

It is in this mode that the majority of the added play-value gimmicks occur. You can change his eye-color from blue to red by flipping open his cranium to rotate the piece that allows this. His mouth his hinged so you can open his jaws and close them either manually or by pressing a button on his left cheek. Inside his mouth you can also find a small laser cannon that can tilt up and down.

If you move his tail from side to side, it swivels the head in opposite directions. The tip of his tail can also swivel left to right independently of the whole tail.

The lion’s share of accessories also revolve around his dino-mode, and all come from scenes from the animated tv show. From the episode “Madman’s Paradise” you can insert a black bow-tie into a small slot in his upper chest; you can also tie an apron around him (clasped at the neck and around the waist by velcro strips) and place over his claws a serving tray pegged with an assortment of glasses. From “Grimlock’s New Brain” comes the intelligence transfer device — a helmet that goes over his dino-head from which a tube leads to the corresponding transfer end. Now all we need would be a Masterpiece edition Computron to be on the receiving end!

Conclusion
Overall, I am very impressed with this figure. This Masterpiece edition continues the strong run of Transformers at a larger scale and successfully translates the G1 character into a well-detailed and articulated figure in both robot and dinosaur modes. The many accessories and gimmicks further heighten the pleasure that comes with owning this amazing toy. I eagerly await the next Masterpiece character (Soundwave? More Dinobots?) while I enjoy playing and displaying Grimlock.

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