July Transformers Round Up

I guess this blog is slowly transforming (see what I did there? 🤣) into a Transformers blog. Don't worry peeps, as the spooky season comes along (which we all know starts on July 5th) I will be incorporating much more Halloween events so look forward to seeing those popping up soon! But, until then, let's see what July has brought us in the Transformers space.

Dr.Wu DW-ES07 Cyber Excavator & DW-ES08 Cyber Bulldozer

This pair is Dr Wu's take on Scrapper and Bonecrusher, based on the War Within comic designs rather than the classic G1 look, and I have mixed feelings about that choice. On one hand the angular, almost armor plated Cybertronian mode is a nice change of pace from the usual construction vehicle molds everyone recycles. On the other hand it means these two don't really look like "Scrapper and Bonecrusher" to anyone who isn't already deep in the weeds of Dreamwave comic lore. At 5.6 cm tall the sculpting holds up better than I expected for something this small, there's real detail in the paneling instead of just smooth blobs of plastic. The bulldozer mode in particular has some nice proportions. Where it stumbles a little is the color separation, there's some visible seams where paint apps should probably be doing more work, and a couple of early images even had the two figures mixed up in labeling before people sorted it out. Still, as a combiner limb it does its job, and the fact that it folds down small enough to hide the robot mode joints reasonably well is a small miracle at this scale.

Dr.Wu DW-ES05 Cyber Crane & DW-EES06 Cyber Dump Truck

Hook and Long Haul get the same micro treatment here, and honestly this is probably my favorite of the bunch visually. The crane arm on Hook actually looks like a crane instead of a vague gesture at one, which is not something I take for granted at this scale. The dump truck bed on Long Haul folds cleanly and the wheels don't look like an afterthought, which happens a lot with these tiny vehicle modes. That said, the plastic they used feels a touch thin in a couple spots, particularly around the ankle joints where all this Devastator weight eventually has to rest, so I'd be cautious about how much stress you put on the combined mode if you actually plan to pose it standing on its own. Price wise these are creeping up compared to the earlier releases in the line, which is a little frustrating for what's still technically a two pack of very small figures. But if you're already committed to building the full team there's no real reason to skip this one.

Magic Square MS-B66 Afterburner

This one is part of Magic Square's Legends scale Technobots project, forming into Computron alongside the rest of the team, and it's clearly the more premium option out of everything in this post. The sculpt on the thighs surprised people when the gray prototype dropped, there was a lot of talk about how they nailed a clean G1 cartoon feel without it looking flat or lazy, especially from behind. Where the criticism lands is the chest area, which still looks a little unfinished in prototype photos, kind of hollow and open in a way that probably needs a paint pass to hide before release. There's also some genuine uncertainty about whether the cannon on the chest will be removable or permanently stuck in place, and that's actually a meaningful functionality question for people who care about swapping accessories between team members. Scale wise it sits in that in between zone, bigger than the Dr Wu Micromasters but still compact enough to display as a full five figure team without needing a shelf of its own. I like what I've seen so far, but I want to see the final colored version before I get too excited.

Dr.Wu DW-ES03 Cyber Shovelloader Scrapper & DW-ES04 Cyber Mixer Truck Mixmaster

These were actually the first pair revealed in this whole Dr Wu combiner project, and going back to look at them after seeing the later releases is interesting because you can tell the sculpting has gotten a little more confident over time. Scrapper's shovel loader mode is fine, nothing spectacular, but Mixmaster's drum on his back has been a genuine point of contention. There was real back and forth about whether the drum should be green or purple based on which comic reference material Dr Wu was using, and the purple they went with doesn't quite match the rest of his color scheme, which bugs me more than it probably should. It's a small thing but it's the kind of small thing that sticks out once you notice it. Functionally these two are competent, they transform cleanly and combine the way they're supposed to, but they don't have the same wow factor as some of their later teammates. Feels like an early entry that hadn't quite figured out the formula yet.

Galaxy Toys MINI17 Jet Ramjet

Ramjet here comes out alongside Dirge and Thrust, essentially a shrunk down homage to the G1 Coneheads, and it's a fun little release even if it's not going to blow anyone away. Galaxy Toys, formerly MPH Studio, has carved out a niche making these slightly oversized Micromaster scale figures that split the difference between the Dr Wu tiny stuff and the bigger Legends scale offerings, and Ramjet fits right into that identity. The jet mode is simple but recognizable, and it comes with a little flight stand and some laser effect parts which is a nice touch for something this size and price point. The complaint I keep seeing is that the three Coneheads end up looking almost too similar to each other once they're side by side, the sculpt reuse is pretty obvious and the paint deco is doing most of the heavy lifting to differentiate them. That's a fair criticism, but for what is essentially an impulse buy sized figure I don't think it needs to be a masterpiece. It's a cute shelf filler and I don't regret picking it up.

Galaxy Toys MINI16 Impact Thrust

Thrust is the one I was most curious about going in, mostly because his jet mode has always been the oddball of the three Coneheads thanks to those turbine wings. Galaxy Toys actually nails that detail at this size, which surprised me since a lot of the smaller third party seekers tend to smooth that stuff over for the sake of durability. The proportions in robot mode read as properly Thrust too, not just a recolored Starscream shell with a different head, and that alone puts him ahead of a few other budget Coneheads I've handled over the years. Where the shine wears off a little is in the joints. Mine has one hip that feels looser than the other, and I've seen enough comments floating around from other buyers to know it's not just my copy being unlucky. Paint apps are mostly clean, though the wing turbine detailing on my unit is a touch sloppier than what shows up in the promo photos, which is a pattern I keep running into with this whole New Mini line. He's a fun little guy to fidget with at a desk, and for around sixteen bucks I can't be too mad, but I'd be lying if I said the quality control worries weren't starting to creep into how excited I get for each new release in this scale.

Galaxy Toys MINI15 Battle Song Dirge

Dirge ended up being the pleasant surprise of the coneheads for me. His sculpt has a bit more personality to it than Thrust, especially around the cockpit and nose cone shaping, and the deco on mine came out sharper than I expected after Thrust's slightly muddled paint. He transforms just as easily as the rest of this line has so far, snapping into jet mode without any of the fiddly alignment issues that plague some other pocket sized Seekers I've owned. That said, he's still working with the same small footprint and thin ankle joints as the rest of the New Mini figures, so don't expect him to hold dynamic poses without a little assistance from a stand or a wall. I also noticed his shade of blue runs slightly darker than official art usually depicts him, which isn't a dealbreaker but did throw me for a second when I lined him up next to Thundercracker. Compared to what Dr. Wu and NewAge have been doing in similar scales, Galaxy Toys is still the more affordable option, and for what it's worth I'd rather have a slightly imperfect Dirge at this price than no Dirge at all in this scale. He's not going to replace a proper Masterpiece version if one ever shows up, but as a shelf filler he's earned his spot.

Transformers: The Movie Studio Series The Matrix of Leadership

It is cool, a fun little thing that really is a nice desk piece. The middle area is a pretty sparkly blue that the pictures don't do justice. You can pull the sides open and it plays "The Touch" from the '82 movie. It is pretty cool and I would be raving if not for the price. It is waaaaaaay too expensive though. It is a hunk of plastic with a shitty speaker and a light, so why in the world is it over a hundred dollars? Another strike in my mind against Hasbro for being greedy. If you are an OG transformers fan of the '82 movie, then this might be a necessary evil. But, if you are a newer fan or don't care about the movie, you can pass on this thing.

So there you have it! July brought us a bunch of purple and green mini's, which I enjoyed. July was a change of pace for sure. What do you think? Was it too sparse or just right? Let me know down below!