Two things:
1) WTF is up with shitty hands that barely hold the weapons they're designed to? My 5 yr olds Christmas was pretty much a whole lot of cool looking toys that barely work, especially the He-Man reissues. Those hands are awful. Why are they even releasing toys in this state?
2) Any recommendations for a 5 yr old for Transformers that aren't the standard Optimus, Starscream, etc? Is the Cyberverse line pretty much meant for him?
They make transformers that only have like three steps to transformer. Cyberverse is simple but they might be to complicated for a 5 year old.
The one shot ones are too simple. Can't say I've seen three step ones. He's already got a number of 8 step guys and one Starscream 12 step he has down pat, though legs frequently break off (typical for a lot of Transformers).
Cyberverse seems to consistently have some of the lowest counts to transform, which is why I'm asking. Seems like it's a bit of a crap shoot on whether or not they're easy or hard to transform, regardless of steps as some 12 steps are a simple 12 steps while some 8 steps are hella difficult.
Personally I would recommend the Cyberverse line, and for ones that come in that are a bit more difficult, work with them and help them learn the transformation. It might sound strange but transformers really engage the brain and in my opinion are a great brain building toy for young kids.
This awesome Bumblebee arrived today!
I finished my second model: Windblade. 
I never knew how hard it was to get a toy or model hearse. Not Matchbox size, but like the size of the cars they have displayed in CVS on the big spinny rack. I don't know scale size. The ones I've found online are ridiculously expensive.
Maybe try ebay or etsy.
They're kind of pricey, I'm a cheapskate.
I finished my second model: Windblade.
Keep going back and forth on this. I was onboard with the original design. Then they changed it was kind of off of it. Then it kind of looked cool with the updated design. Then once it actually got here it was more than I thought it would be so was out again. Then I seen some reviews that brought me back in. Then I thought it looked weird in a basic pose. I don't know something about the shoulders were turning me off. However, in action poses it looked amazing.
Well, let me say a couple of things. I think the model itself looks very cool. It is the best-looking Windblade "toy" I've seen, which is why I bought it. Putting it together was a bit of a pain, though. I don't have a lot of experience building models, but the Rodimus model I got a few months ago, which was also a Furai model, was way less painful and maddening to build than Windblade. And once I was done with her, smaller pieces kept falling off when I tried to move her, so I left her in that basic pose to take the picture. I ended up gluing a couple of pieces, and might glue some more before I try to put her in a cooler pose in which she will forever remain, hahaha. So keep all that in mind.
I never knew how hard it was to get a toy or model hearse. Not Matchbox size, but like the size of the cars they have displayed in CVS on the big spinny rack. I don't know scale size. The ones I've found online are ridiculously expensive.
I have a small collection of model cars, mostly late 60s muscle cars. My large ones are 1:24 scale, which translates to about 7.5 inches long. In CVS you're likely to find 1:32 or 1:38 scale, so about 5 to 5.5 inches long.
Anyone have Diaclone toys? If so what do you think of them. I was just looking at a few and the price to size turned me off especially when compared to transformers at the same price. Then I was looking at reviews and see they can do a lot stuff and have many more modes than transformers so maybe the size isn't so bad.
I have a few of the newer Diaclone toys but they are still packed away in storage unopened so can't really give any recommendations. I decided to pick some up right before moving to my new house and so they were left in their shipping boxes to make it easier to move them.
MaxShrek wrote:I never knew how hard it was to get a toy or model hearse. Not Matchbox size, but like the size of the cars they have displayed in CVS on the big spinny rack. I don't know scale size. The ones I've found online are ridiculously expensive.
I have a small collection of model cars, mostly late 60s muscle cars. My large ones are 1:24 scale, which translates to about 7.5 inches long. In CVS you're likely to find 1:32 or 1:38 scale, so about 5 to 5.5 inches long.
I had an old classic ambulance that looked like it could have been a hearse, but I built some small parts on it and turned it into a Ghostbusters Ectomobile. My Ghostbusters car was for returns, so it only had to go back to dissatisfied customers and release the ghosts back where they were caught.
Slammer weaponized.
Chroma taking a ride.
Sixshot riding weaponized board.
Been working on this guy for awhile. I think this is version 5.0.
I'd do it.
Found my old Leila from Vampire Hunter D Blood lust and decided to stick her on team red. She looks good but articulation is horrible. Just getting her on the bike was a pain and getting her to hold the bazooka was a nightmare.
Studio Series 85 Arcee
I like this figure for the most part. Best Arcee I own so far. Some stuff to note. She doesn't have a waist crunch which makes some poses harder. No real ankle pivot but the transformation allows for a fake one that works one way.
Also of note is she has a headmaster slot for her alt mode. So you can have a headmaster riding her.
Transformation is easy but I had a few problems. First the front wheels are weird. They are hard to keep together in alt mode. Also I had problems at first getting one side of her tabbed in. I think the tolerance for her are a little messed up. I managed to get her solid in alt mode by sacrificing the one good side I had tabbed. So now both sides are slightly untabbed but it still feels soldid. If I fully tab one side I wont be able to tab the other side at all. Most people probably wont notice.
All in all I'd give this a 9 out of 10.
That Arcee looks really cool, Baron. I've been wanting one, but the only one I had found that looked good (to me) was the Masterpiece Arcee, but it is too expensive. This one looks awesome and it is much more affordable!
Here's a more action-y pose with Windblade:
Also, I got these two guys:
I had been wanting a Blaster figure since I saw him in the Marvel comic book in the mid 80s:
It only took over 30 years to get one! 
My first zoid model, Cannontortoise. Took about 3 days. Been building models like mad. This might be the sixth or seventh one I built. Maybe I'll post some pics.
Anyway this had some very good ideas going and some very bad ideas. Some stuff was a challenge just because of size. The pilot is smaller than my pinky nail and you have to build him. I almost lost his arm to the carpet void. You can just make him out in the first pic. I struggled with this guy for a long time. I put one part on and another would fall off. Pieces were hard to place using my fat fingers. Finally I used needle nose pliers to place the parts and glued each part once place. I don't know how I will paint it since I never painted anything this small.
I lost one piece to the carpet monster never to be seen again. This part was even smaller than the pilot. I really think they should have included extra smaller parts. The part wasn't very important since you wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. It was a little dangly piece that hangs on the side of the turtle's neck. I am only missing one but you can't make out the one I didn't drop.
One really dumb thing is a number of pieces are identical but have unique shaped connectors so you have to use a specific one in a certain location. And this isn't a left right issue the parts are exactly the same. And to make thing worse the parts are extremely small so I didn't even notice the connectors had different shapes. I spent a insane amount of time trying to shove a square into a T hole or some other shape into a mismatched hole. Madness I say.
Something that I really liked is how the doors fold open to form a ramp and how the gun turret works. There is also a red core inside it that you can pullout by twisting a hatch on the bottom of the turtle. Oh and the underside also looks like the underside of a real turtle. The turtle can even pull it head in and pull its legs up like a real turtle. Very well designed mech.
Back to a negative, the legs are in really tight ball sockets. I feel like I'm going to break a leg when trying to move them. I guess the good thing is that once you have them in place they aren't moving.
All in all I really like the model. I'm going to paint it after I build a few more models. I'm not sure if I will try to mix paint as stated or do my own thing. I'll put on the stickers after I paint it. Oddly they don't state where to place the stickers but I can see them in the promo pics.
I 'd give this 9 dead rabbits out of 10 if they try to out run my turtle mech of death.
Any ideas for good dogs like the one in that comes with snake eyes but comes by itself or is cheaper? Also any good werewolf figures? Oh and the dog doesn't have to be a normal dog, android dogs or demonic dogs or whatever dog would be cool. I looking for good articulation mainly.
Cannontortoise looks awesome!
Here's some pictures of the bad boy that arrived earlier this week:
It's the MDLX Optimus Prime, and it comes with 6 different pairs of hands and even a removable Matrix inside his chest. I love the multiple points of articulation, and his big feet and chunky legs allow him to stand in many different positions. An awesome figure!
The King in Trash Alley.
I have the comic this was inspired by but have to find it. It will look nice displayed behind him. The spawn figure is fully articulated and is a pretty good. I kind of want to use it for custom work.
The throne looks good but there are details that aren't painted. For example bone, skulls, weapons are all in that poo brown. I think it would have look better if the stuff had some color.
On Spawn right wrist the underside of his gauntlet isn't painted, it should be red like the top part. Nearly every spawn figure I have seen has missing paint. I'm starting to think it is done on purpose to cut cost.
Overall I do like it but think it is overpriced at $50. $40 would have been perfect I think. Oh yeah one last thing. The cape isn't real. There is no back to it. The part that is on the ground is attached to the throne.
Arcee Model Kit
This cost $24 and was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. She is just a head taller than a core class bumblebee. Probably wouldn't have bought it at this price if I known it was this small.
The build for this went pretty quick with only a few problems. Her pelvis has a rubber part that I thought was broken but it comes looking broken. Attaching this piece was a pain because it didn't seem to fit. The design seemed dumb to me. They could have done it in a more natural way.
The other problem I had was the right leg kept falling off. I'm 100% I did everything correctly. The pieces for the right leg just didn't fit correctly. I just used glue to fix the problem. That is the only placed I used glue on.
Price aside I do like the model. It doesn't need any paint except for autobot plaque connected to the stand. I do plan to paint the pink parts though because I have a bottle of metallic pink paint. I will also paint the plaque.
The movement is good but there is no ankle pivot or waist bend. You can still get some good poses out of her. Bonus she comes with her own stand so you can put her in the air or do dynamic poses.
All in all a good figure to have on the desk and mess around with.
Thanks for the review, Baron! I almost bought that same Arcee the other day, but didn't. I also thought it was going to be bigger.
I wish I had the patience for building models but I my hands are too shaky and I get frustrated. Overall a pretty decent looking Arcee.
Basic little doll with only 5 points of articulation. Legs go up and down. Arms go up and and head goes left to right. No undies but they are sculpted on so I'll have to paint them on. Well I don't have to. I can't have my dolls running around with no undies.
I got this because I wanted my dolly to have a kid or a little sister. I like the look but the lack of movement annoys me a bit. However, what can you expect for $5 bucks. Great for kids to toss around and chew on. Think I might try to find another one with some articulation.
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