Well, as usual, I’m 500 words in and I haven’t started talking about the figures. Ideally, the 30 pictures will do most of the talking, but I have a few things to add so I should get to it.

Generally, I like all the figures. There are a few quibbles. Namely that they’re not the best updates to the originals because they’re mostly repaints. The original versions were all-new molds that had little to nothing in common with the more famous trio. FP did a great job of making decisions on deco and with the new head sculpts to create some great figures. If you’re like me and weren’t all that interested in Barrage or Chop Shop, then these are near perfect in that regard. If you’re waiting for modern versions of those original though, these may just be a really cool thing to tide you over.

All the figures transformations are a mix of amazing and aggravating. One thing I’ve learned from Third Party toys is that Takara & Hasbro tend to do things the same way over and over. I’m used to it. Most of us are, we can figure out how to transform (most of) figures unaided, like we’ve been doing for thirty years. FansProject usually has me glued to the instructions for at least the first or first couple times. There are some odd twists, diagonal movements, or weird steps that boggle the mind. Plunder (the repaint of Backfiery that homages not-Ransack) somewhat traumatized me. He hasn’t been a locust since the first couple days of having him and he may never go back.

As such, Plunder is probably my least favorite of the set. He’s not a bad figure. He’s probably the best homage of the set in both his bot & alt modes, but just something about him hasn’t set as well with me as the other two. It may be that his transformation annoys me, but I don’t find much notable about his bot mode. The giant bug head is a plus as are the giant orange wings, but someone has to be my least favorite in the set and Plunder has taken his spot with little challenge.

Blockade found himself in the middle. I love the brown & orange deco and the Chop Shop head sculpt looks great, but some transformation issues here rob me too. It’s really cool who his arms fold into his legs during transformation, but it’d be cooler if I had someone else to do it for me. I think I’ve gotten the hang of it, but it took a few times. There are also a few parts that have to be removed and added back on somewhere else. I’m okay with it, but it does feel like cheating a bit.

Like Plunder, Blockade features a ton of great articulation with multiple ball joints (or de facto ball joints) throughout the legs and arms, but Blockade gets extra points for waist articulation and all those ball-jointed bug legs. Also like Plunder, Blockade is relatively close to his G1 incarnation.

Teardown is really the one that Fansproject had to make the most changes too. He’s a yellow & green beetle, but after that the similarities between Barrage & Teardown more or less end. It doesn’t matter one bit though, because, as expected, I love Teardown. The yellow & green deco is fantastic. The new head sculpt does a great job of updating the questionable old one (Barrage’s alt mode horns simply stuck off the top of his head).

Teardown also gave me no transformation problems – he’s got this cool diagonal cut for his arms. His articulation is similarly top-notch and, like Blockade, he moves surprisingly well for being such a blocky figure. His “boots” are a little too bulky for Teardown to achieve a vanilla pose, but I’ll take it. Did I mention I love the colors?

All three figures include a weapon (you actually need part of Teardown’s gun to complete his alt mode – the barrel becomes the tip of his horns) and those weapons fit great in their hands. When I ordered, I also get an extra set of the guns wrapped in green paper as a free gift from TFSource & FansProject. Pretty cool.

Overall, even though I’m not in love with each & every one of the figures. I did end up loving the set. I can’t break it up. Blockade & Teardown look amazing in their bot modes and Plunder’s like their not-as-cool friend that you hang out with because you enjoy the company of the other two. I do wish the figures were a little taller overall, but that hasn’t been a deal breaker. And these guys are done so well, that they do make me long to go back and snag a few, well at least Stormbomb, of the standard black/purple versions. I’d be interested in one or two of the original Takatoku Toys colorways if FP chose to do them. I am a little interested in the “Warbug” versions shown at TFCon, but most of all, most of all, FP needs to figure out a way to do a not-Venom. I mean, c’mon. Only making three out of the four of a team? Who are they, Hasbro?

As of this writing, the Holiday Editions are still back in-stock at TFSource.

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