TF's: 3/15/10

What is there to be said about The Fallen? Ignoring any storyline from The War Within and past characterization, and also that Michael Bay claims that the character in his film is the same… I can pretty much say that The Fallen sucks balls. The fact that Megatron refers to this guy as “My Lord” in the second film pisses me off to no end. And that is even considering that Megs is most surely only using him for the time being and will eventually disown him. Still, it bugs me. And speaking of bugs, the f’n guy looks like one big mosquito or some shit. I know all of the Film designs have been jumbled, and Megatron himself looks like a bag of glued together rocks… but bringing a Bionicle into the mix? That’s not to say that he doesn’t look like an evil bastard, but I’d like to see them all get a bit less alieny in design, and to get blockier. So how about The Fallen’s good traits? I don’t know, he was voiced by Tony Todd. Does that help? Perhaps I’m just bitter that these two movies could have been far superior to the gonzo bullshit that they actually are.

The Fallen Burning Version is a Target Exclusive in the US and retailed for 22$. Of course, there’s no way in hell I would have paid that for this Voyager sized figure… but after a while of sitting on the shelves, the price was reduced thrice and I finally picked it up today for 5$. Mine didn’t come with any instructions, which is not good at all since this toy is extremely difficult to comprehend (everything about it is weird, the joints, the design, ect) and I have no clue as to what in the hell his alt mode is supposed to be. Some sort of Cybertronian Jet, I guess. Apart from my dislikes, the toy is actually pretty damn sweet. It’s fun to handle and mess around with, and it does look a lot prettier out of the package when you can pose it dramatically. It’s got closed spring loaded feet which they’ve been doing on a few figures lately. This feature is sure to bug the crap out of some people, but it is a little bit neat how when you set his down-pointed toes to the table and his feet just open up.

It’s a sturdy toy and while all of the new toys could use some extra paint apps for details, this Repaint (different color plastic actually) Exclusive is a rather cool representation of ol’ Fally since if he is who he really is, he should be constantly on fire! So the great pumpkin orange is a nice touch. I wouldn’t advise paying more than 10$ for any Fallen figure, but after checking this guy out for a while, I’m glad I picked it up.

Skystalker is a non-movie Scout Class figure from the RoTF line. First of all, this guy is completely badass in both Stealth Jet mode and Robot form. Colors: Black, Grey… tiny shades of purple. He’s got one eye since he’s ‘supposedly’ a drone (and a sneaky near-cowardly one at that), landing gear (they didn’t have to, they just did and it’s great), some kickass hook swords (which hide into his wings), those pesky spring loaded toes, and he can ride humpback on the supremely awesome looking big brother Voyager Class Mindwipe! Check it out.

From the first second I saw a picture of Mindwipe I was all over it. This guy and his little drone both are the most killer looking new figures to come out in the last few years… and come on, they’re both Black Decepticon Stealth Fighter Jets! The only problem is I can’t seem to find the hypnotizing bot anywhere, and there haven’t been too many sightings online either. All in due time I guess. Takara and Hasbro have put out a few damn ugly as all shit toys as of late, but when they come up with dudes like these, it’s all forgiven. Hopefully they’ll quit with the non-transforming crap, the Tonka Toy TF’s that have been littering up the shelves, and those damn Matchbox cars. What the hell Hasbro? Focus! Bring it back old school and deliver some sweet products.