Add Some Sumptuous Silence to Your Halloween Watchlists with Lon Chaney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ September 20, 2021
Witness the Birth and Evolution of a Genius: Three Early Makoto Shinkai Films Land on Blu-ray June 16, 2022
ShareTweet 0 It’s the time of the year when everyone is scrambling, trying to figure out last-minute gifts. If you have a Transformers fan on your list, Hasbro has made sure there’s a wide variety of figures to choose from for fans young and old. Hasbro recently sent me two big mailers, one celebrating Transformers’ 35th anniversary with exclusives from every current toy line, and another showcasing BotBots Series 3 (and teasing next year’s Season 4). Let’s dive in and take a closer look. BotBots Bakery Bytes Color-changing only adds to the fun (Image: Anthony Karcz) These Bakery Bytes sets on Amazon are fun repaints of characters introduced in Series 1. The difference is that they have color-change decos! Heat activated, once you hold your finger on the BotBot, stains and drips will be revealed. It reminds me a bit of the color-changing faction logos that used to be on everything from Transformers to Battle Beasts back in the ‘80s, and I love it. You can pick up a mystery five pack on Amazon for $9.99. Transformers: Cyberverse If you’re looking for something from the current Transformers: Cyberverse show, then your next stop should be Target for the exclusive Slipstream and Cheetor figures. Still the best thing to ever come out of Transformers: Animated (Image: Anthony Karcz) Slipstream (introduced way back in Transformers: Animated) is a cool purple and teal redeco and light retool of Starscream. Her deco is one of my absolute faves, reminding me of late ‘80s, early ‘90s Transformers. She’s 20% off this week at Target. But cats hate water! (Image: Anthony Karcz) Cheetor is part of the absolutely fantastic Spark Armor line. Here, the kitty-bot is paired up with the battleship drone, Sea Fury, that splits and becomes his armor. There’s really no thematic thread here (like Optimus Prime and his Ark armor), but that doesn’t make it any less fun. They had me at “spring loaded anchor weapon.” He’s also on sale right now. 35th Anniversary Cel-Shaded Optimus Prime and Megatron With colors that pop so much, you’ll transported back to afternoons after school (Image: Anthony Karcz) The main event for any G1 fan in the 35th anniversary box is undoubtedly these cel-shaded Megatron and Optimus Prime figures. Targetmasters not included (Image: Anthony Karcz) They’re straight redecos of the original War for Cybertron: Siege figures, but the bright colors and faux reflections really capture the feel of the original characters from the 1984 cartoon. 35th Anniversary Megatron (front) vs. regular release Megatron (back) (Image: Anthony Karcz) The new decos make the design of the Siege figures shine as well, making clear details and panels that their darker, muddied decos obscured. You can pick them up (along with other actual G1 figures, if your local store is lucky enough to have them) at a nearby Walmart. BotBots Series 3 The best gifts come in giant packages (Image: Anthony Karcz) The other box from Hasbro contained a massive amount of Series 3 BotBots! That box in the back is chock-full of mystery singles! (Image: Anthony Karcz) In addition to the repaints we’ve come to expect in each new series, there are also four new tribes. The Goo Goo Groupies are all baby-themed items. (Image: Anthony Karcz) Season Greeters are Halloween and Christmas items. Playroom Posse is made up of toys and games. And finally, the Fresh Squeezes is made up of a few cup-based BotBots and new fruit-themed characters. (Image: Anthony Karcz) While all the new decos are fun, it’s really the new molds in the Season Greeters that take the spotlight here. Adorable enough that they get to be out with the decorations (Image: Anthony Karcz) Halloween Knight the jack-o-lantern, Meltzdown the snowman, and Wizengreen the Christmas tree are intensely fun (and will be much sought after). But check out the entire Series 3 set and see if there’s something you want to hunt down! They’re out now in 8-packs, 5-packs, and mystery singles. BotBots Series 4 Also included in the box was a teaser for BotBots Series 4 coming next year! The big surprise in Series 4 will be the inclusion of incredibly rare, all-gold (not real gold) BotBots in the Winner’s Circle tribe. (Image: Anthony Karcz) In addition, we’ll see new bots as part of the Magic Tricksters, Movie Moguls, and Science Alliance – Dr. Flaskenstein is going to be a must-have. (Image: Anthony Karcz) There are also some great redeco tribes coming in 2020. Los Deliciosos is my favorite of these. But then again, who can risk a BotBot called Lunchador? Take a peek at the full Series 4 checklist and let me know what’s your favorite! You Might Also Like...
Interviews Charles Bernstein Goes Behind the Board and Reminisces About His Score for ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ By Jamie GreeneNovember 5, 20190
Add Some Sumptuous Silence to Your Halloween Watchlists with Lon Chaney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ September 20, 2021
Witness the Birth and Evolution of a Genius: Three Early Makoto Shinkai Films Land on Blu-ray June 16, 2022
90 Days of Huel: I Drank My Food for Three Months. Here Are the Results. September 23, 201959392 views