First of all, again, I must remind you that the Robin statue is only available for the low preorder price of $34.95 until next Wednesday, November 10! After that she's $39.95!  Time is running out!

Also, another reminder that I'm going to be at New England Webcomics Weekend in Easthampton, Massachusetts, this weekend!  Come to me and I will love you.

Back to toys!

Oh my god, getting this guy was an ordeal.  I ordered him from HasbroToyShop.com like nearly a month ago, right?  And HTS isn't quite as speedy at shipping as, say, BigBadToyStore.com, which is fine, so I was pretty patient about it arriving.  But a few weeks later I looked at the tracking number they gave me, and the website told me that USPS delivered the package three days ago.  And that they had left a notice.

They had not.

In fact, I was home all that morning, right by the front door, playing Rock Band 3!  Well, okay, fine.  Easily solved.  I'll just go down to the post office and pick it up.  I went down there, told them that I had a package delivery without a notice, and the lady throws her hands up in the air, noting that I am the tenth person who had that complaint that morning, oh my god.  So, hey, an epidemic.  No big.  Just give me my package.

But, ha ha, it's not there.  It's probably on the truck again for redelivery!  All right.  I won't be home to get it and will have to get a notice (since it has "Delivery Confirmation" for some reason), since I'm about to get on the road for the Rally to Restore Sanity, so I'll just  wait until I get back on Monday.  And, ha ha ha, on Monday, there's still no notice.  I go back to the post office.  They still don't know where it is.  Lady takes my phone number and gives me hers, and she says she'll investigate it herself.

So the next day, I'm on the way back from dropping Maggie off at school, and figger I should stop by the post office just in case, to keep in touch.  At this rate, I'm worried the damn thing will be sent back.  (If they can find it.)  I get a different lady, and she says she can't find my package anywhere, and directs me to the bigger post office down the road.  Okay, maybe it's there!

It's not.

Anyway, THAT post office gives me a number to call at 8:30 the next morning, which is crucial, because I have to catch our mail carrier before he leaves on his route.  I do so, talk to the guy, and he has no idea.  He says he hasn't even dropped off any packages on my doorstep for like forever.  (Later, I think to myself, wondering the veracity of such a statement since Maggie's been getting packages all week, and I got my Machine of Death book delivered the day we left for the Rally.  Hrn.)  Anyway, he said he'd keep an eye out for my completely lost package.

Next day, I hear the mail come (very distinctive sound, and it could wake me up even from the deepest sleep, like Christmas morning) and look out on the front porch.  There's my package.  No explanation, no request for delivery confirmation, it's just sitting there.

Well, okay.

Anyway, this is the goddamn fucking The Fallen.  Another one.  He's dark blue and teal, which is the basic color he was in the movie, minus the, uh, teal.  What makes him special are all the retoolings done.  First of all, oh my god, removable face.  His face comes off so that children can simulate the gruesome violence done to The Fallen in the movie they probably shouldn't see.  Underneath is his gasping skull.

This retooling means that The Fallen loses the little spring-loaded "energy panels" that were behind his head for the other versions, but I'd say that's a fair trade.

This new The Fallen also comes with his "Command Staff," the weapon we see him use in the film to levitate tanks and stuff.  For vehicle mode, it folds in half and plugs underneath him, sorta splaying out his vehi-ass.   Since the original Fallen's hands were flat open palms, that means that he needed new hands so he could grasp his weapon, and he does.  They're jointed in an odd way.  The Command Staff plugs into his palm plainly enough, but his fingers fold... backwards, in a way irrelevant to how he holds his staff.  I am not sure why.  It isn't useful articulation, since the hands don't look good if you utilize the joint.  And it doesn't seem to be used for transformation.  So who knows.

Since the Command Staff has to fold in half to store in vehicle mode, that means Optimus Prime can wrest it around The Fallen's neck like he did when he shivved his face off.  That's a neat double feature.  It's a little disappointing that Optimus Prime can't really hold it, though.  He just sorta has to paw at the ends.

Also disappointing is how loosely the Fallen's face falls off his skull.  It has trouble staying on.  There are two very small tabs at the bottom of the chin and the top of the forehead.  These are not enough.  You will spend a lot of time trying to fasten the face back on.

Oh, and, wow, plastic tolerances are crazy bad on this thing.   His legs looove to come off.  It's kind of infuriating.

So, anyway, I'm glad I spent hours trying to track this thing down.  Go me.

Since I love my The Fallens, I was predictably gung-ho about the "Victory of The Fallen" Legends Class five-pack.  It's exclusive to Kmart and it has a tiny adorable version of my favorite The Fallen deco.  You know, the bright orange and black one.  (La Porte Slicers colors.)  It's also nice that the other four guys he comes with -- Prime, Jetfire, Starscream, and Megatron -- are all Legends Class figures that I don't own.

But what I was especially excited for, stupidly, was the "Most-Wanted Decepticons" collectors card that comes in the package.  There's a code on the back that you plug into the official website, promising you the completion to the story which was set up on the back of the packaging.  C'mon, the set's literally named "The Victory of the Fallen!"  There's got to be an awesome finale described where he totally succeeds at killing the Solar System and getting his titular revenge.  Maybe this time it's Optimus Prime who gets his face taken!

Of course not.  Once you register for the site and input your code, all it tells you is the ending to the live-action film.  Laaaaaaaaaaaaaame.  This is not the victory I was promised!  Curse you,  Hasbro.  Your lies sting my gullible soul.

How does this keep happening to a dude who has like two or three Tech Spec stats that are rated infinite?

I've been putting off talking about Leader Class Starscream because he's just so massive and huge and awesome and I could probably talk about him forever.  So to keep me from doing that, since I should really be spending more time getting ready for San Diego Comic-Con (I leave on Tuesday!), I figgered I'd pick an aspect of him and ramble about that instead of everything about him.

But I just know I'm gonna break this personal restriction.  Let's get out our stopwatches.

Anyway, I heard a few folks on the Internet talking about how sucky Leader Starscream's jet mode is.  No jet mode could be cleaner than the ROTF Voyager Class release, after all.  That was one slender jet mode.  The front end's undercarriage is smooth and limb-less.  It's rough to beat.  I can imagine why it would be considered the gold standard.

But I think the Leader Class version gives it a run for its money anyhow.

Yes, the Leader Class jetmode is thicker, proportionally.  But not really by all that much.  If you supersized the Voyager up to the size of the Leader, I think the Leader would have a half-centimeter on the Voyager, tops.

And let's not forget that the Voyager has those robot mode claws hanging prominently out of the backside.  That could be considered a major downside, especially since the Leader carefully hides away those claws.  It's the first version of movie Starscream that hides the arms completely.

Also, let's not ignore the matter of kibble.  Yeah, the Voyager has that clean piece of jet underside, but that just means it hangs off the robot mode's back.  The Leader uses that area more efficiently.  The robot mode feet condense into a shape that recalls exactly the curve of the Voyager's underside.  It's so compact, it's actually kind of awe-inspiring.

Finally, the Leader is fucking huge.  Jets are always better when they're fucking huge.  This is a Fact.  So if you don't agree with me, that means you are stupid.  Pretty simple, really!

(And holy crap, his mouth opens and he has weapons that pop out of his forearms and he has a missile launcher that can attach to his arm or store on his back and his torso is as poseable as hell and...)

(He is sex on legs.)

In the past week I've amassed four new Ravages.  It wasn't my intent!  It just happened!

First was Shattered Glass Ravage.  Why I own him is fairly obvious.

Later during BotCon I picked up a Beast Wars Shadow Panther.  A black and yellow Cheetor redeco, he was originally a Takara release, but Hasbro imported him and sold him on their website for a while.  They couldn't get the name "Shadow Panther," so they called him "Tripredacus Agent."  Later, they'd do another Tripredacus Agent out of Transmetals 2 Cheetor who was supposed to be Ravage, included with a bio that insinuated that Shadow Panther was also Ravage in one of his aliases/disguises.  And then years later Beast Wars Sourcebook said Shadow Panther was a different guy who just has the exact same personality as Ravage so I'm not sure why they bothered, but screw that.  He's Ravage.

After getting home, Graham found me a Legends movie-style Ravage.  He is tiny and adorable and due to the jointing in his paws, he is excellent at waving.  He is a waving fiend.  Legends Ravage, the tiniest of movie Ravages, is easily the best of all of the movie Ravages.  I suggest you get him.

And finally, the day after I picked up the newest redeco of the movie Deluxe mold.  He's all right.  Nothing special.  He just soothes my OCD, is all.

You know it's been a lull in Transformers purchases when the previous batch has already started breaking in the interim.

I was just transforming him out of tank mode!  I noticed Bludgeon on the shelf in tank mode next to the television and he looked like he needed to be fiddled with.  So I start pulling his hands out of his forearms and... oh no.

Well, that won't do.  And Bludgeon is one of my favorites!  And he has to be able to hold swords, so gluing the fingers back on and leaving it the hell alone is not the answer. So he must be replaced.  Immediately.

My mail-in Recon Ravage came with a $5 off coupon, so I ran over to Walmart this morning.  Thankfully, Bludgeon's still plentiful.  If this happened a few months or a few years from now, I'd be in trouble!  The coupon says $5 off any Transformers purchase of $20 or more, which must include sales tax, because this Bludgeon started at a sale price of $19.97 and it still worked.

Let my misfortune serve as a cautionary tale to others.  Be careful with your Bludgeon hands!  Don't shove that sword in.  Of course, you kinda have to shove it in, because it's a tight grip.

So, basically, you're screwed.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Oh my merciful lord, I actually have a new toy to talk about!

My Recon Ravage arrived in the mail today, the one I sent away for with my proofs of purchase and shipping and handling and what have you a number of months ago.  Yay, mail-in toy exclusive!  (For the US, anyway.  Elsewhere he's exclusive to Toys"R"Us.)   He comes in a big white cardboard box with N.E.S.T. markings, with a letter from Optimus Prime and a coupon inside.

He's friggin' pretty, is what he is.  The colors are stolen from the Voltron Black Lion, and used to great effect with the chrome-plated silver they gave him.  This is just plain-ol' vaccum-metalized chrome with no additional coloring, so I can rest easy that it's not gonna spiderweb and flake off.  Other chrome-related hazards may happen in due time, but flaking is crossed off the list.

(Oh, hey, and he's retooled a tiny bit.  There used to be an extra joint in his tail, a tiny balljoint just above the middle hinge.  It's gone now.  Guess tails were popping off too much?  It was kind of an inconvenience on the original version of the mold, and the articulation added little.)

And, hey, guess what, he's a Mini-Con.  What, you say!  Today Hasbro began unveiling the five fan-choice nominees for their new Transformers Hall of Fame, and Soundwave was nominee #1.  (Surprise!)  He got a entirely new bio for the occasion, and, uh, hey, his little animal partners are apparently Mini-Cons now.  Ha ha.  Weird, but not something that bothers me.  In fact, the impotent rage from others who ARE bothered will be fun enough in itself.  I'm an asshole like that.

So.  Biggest Mini-Con toy ever?  Naw, I guess that'd be Alternators Ravage.