Retro

RETRO REVIEW – HASBRO/TAKARA BEASTFORMER (LASER BEASTS) TIGERBURN

Posted by Mighty Mike on May 14, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , .

Tigerburn is the undisputed leader of the Laser Beasts society and The Great Emperor of the Subterranean Kingdom, heir to the Royal Tiger Clan. He leads with intelligence and a cool, calm, rational demeanour and has an endless burning drive inside him to  make sure the Laser Beasts are the most dominant force on Beast Planet.

Name: Tigerburn
Line: Beastformers (Laser Beasts)
Manufacturer: Hasbro/Takara
Released: 1988
Price: Then – $3 USD Now – $65 – $90 USD
Scale: About 5cm in height.
Accessories: Medical Aid Laser MVP Weapon

I knew of Battle Beasts from my childhood, in particular a magazine ad that was in a book at my school library of all places! But only learnt about Laser Beasts and Beastformers later in life when starting to collect more Japanese exclusive G1 Transformers.

One such toy that caught my eye was Tigerburn. One of shops inside Mandarake Nakano broadway used to have quite the selection of Battle Beasts and Laser Beasts quite a few years ago and I happened to buy my Tigerburn from there. 

He was in the display case with a number of other figures and I couldn’t resist buying him to add to my collection.

However, he was missing his weapon, which I managed to acquire later online, but that did make him a lot cheaper as he wasn’t complete.

SCULPTING

Tigerburn’s sculpting is excellent for such a small toy. He is quite detailed and his armour looks great! However, because of the rubber material and size the details can look a little bit soft. But overall he’s a very cool looking toy.

PAINT

Paint is used very effectively on Tigerburn to colour his armour and bring out small details like his eyes. Even though he’s cast in yellow the colour really pops against the cool stone blue armour with pink highlights and those red eyes really help to convey the endless burning drive inside him! I just wish he had tiger strips painted on him, as that’s the only thing missing!

ARTICULATION

Like all Beastformers he only has two points of articulation being: his arms. They can be rotated 360 degrees and that’s it. Even if it’s not much articulation, I still like it when toys give you something instead of nothing. It does help you can pose him a little bit and aim his gun too.

ACCESSORIES

Tigerburn comes with his medical aid laser MVP weapon which he can use to heal his allies on the battlefield. It’s a pretty neat looking gun that has a tiger on the side of it. And it’s pretty cool that he will heal his allies with his weapon. It’s cast in grey plastic and fits in his hand without issue.

Also like other Laser Beasts Tigerburn has a play feature where you can determine which alliance he is, by shining a light through the clear plastic chest piece! This is a pretty cool feature and just adds that little something extra.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I would say you really don’t have a lot to worry about with Tigerburn. He’s rock solid. However, his paint might have wear on it, depending on condition. I’d always recommend getting one in C8-9 condition if you can and if he’s missing his gun it could be a little bit tricky tracking one down.

PRICE

I really don’t remember how much I paid for Tigerburn, but I don’t feel he would have been overpriced if I bought him at least 10 years ago from Mandarake. As always just pay a price you’re happy with.

OVERALL

I really like Tigerburn he’s a very cool looking Laser Beast and stands out from most of the other beasts with his yellow skin and stone blue armour. His characterisation makes him quite cool – being a strong and feared leader. So there’s a lot to like about him. I would definitely recommend picking one up if you are a Beastformers fan as once you have him on your shelf you’ll be glad you bought him.

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RETRO REVIEW – HASBRO/TAKARA THE TRANSFORMERS ASTROTRAIN

Posted by Mighty Mike on May 12, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , , .

Astrotrain is a Decepticon triple changer and changes into a space shuttle and steam locomotive. As a space shuttle he travels at 20,000 mph in orbit and as a train, his top speed is 400 mph. He also acts as a decepticon troop and cargo transport. Creating confusion is his specialty and he thrives on foes’ panic and fear.

Name: Astrotrain
Line: The Transformers (G1)
Manufacturer: Hasbro/Takara
Released: 1985
Price: Then – $11.99 USD Now – $50 – $250 USD
Scale: About 12cm in height in robot mode
Accessories: Ionic displacer rifle
Motto: “In confusion there is opportunity.”

My brother and I were both lucky enough to own Astrotrain as a kid, being the European classics version of the toy. Which we both received as Christmas presents (which we some how found them early, and obviously became quite excited knowing what we would receive) Even though by this stage my brother and I knew to be careful when playing with our G1 Transformers so as not to break them. I still remember at some point one Astrotrain had his leg broken and the other his arm, unfortunately. So many years later I was wanting to reclaim my childhood and was able to purchase one in good condition for myself. I’ve always liked the look of the toy and enjoyed that it could turn into a space shuttle and steam locomotive as well. Being one of the two first “Triple Changers” was pretty cool at the time.

Doing my research I read that originally it was intended to have Astrotrain’s arms extend out to be longer and that he might have been originally intended to be released for Diaclone. I really think the extending arms would have been a great added feature. I’m curious to see if any missing link Astrotrain will fix this problem if it’s ever announced.

SCULPTING

Astrotrain is very nicely sculpted, in robot mode and in space shuttle and train mode. I honesty can’t decide which mode I like the most they are all great! The only let down is his short arms and tiny oddly shaped thighs.   (Which are shaped that way as part of his transformation, but still, they’ve always looked weird) Otherwise, everything else is in proportion and which a nice amount of sculpted detail. The stickers also provide a lot of nice detail too.

For some reason there’s just something about the choice of off white and purple plastic that I just love. The plastic feels of high quality and the tones of each colour have always felt premium to me, I really do think it’s important what colour is picked and what tone of that colour too.

Also, it’s worth noting that Astrotrain’s chest shield can be folded away to better match the cartoon design. But it looks very cool when you have the chest shield out. Even if it does limit his arm movement.

PAINT

Not too much of Astrotrain has been painted. It’s mainly the metal parts of his legs which make up the front part of his train mode. As expected it’s painted well and looks good. Just be aware of any paint chips or wear to this part of the toy.

ARTICULATION

Like most G1 transformers, Astrotrain is a brick. You can move his arms a little bit and they are on ball joints so you get a good range of motion, but that’s it. No leg or head articulation. 

His transformation from space shuttle to robot to train is fun and fairly intuitive and feels satisfying. Even if you are just moving and folding different parts of his body. 

ACCESSORIES

Astrotrain comes with his Ionic displacer rifle and that’s it. His gun is notoriously oversized for the toy and for his tiny arms. Still it looks great and fits in and stays in his hand with no problem.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I would have to say Astrotrain is a pretty solid toy. However, I do remember that as a kid one of his legs broke. So like most vintage transformers you still need to be careful with him. Only real issues if buying one would be plastic discolouration or paint chips/play wear.

PRICE

I was able to get my copy of Astrotrain from Transformerland and was happy with the price for the condition of the toy. As always just pay a price you are happy with.

OVERALL

I really like the Astrotrain toy. Astrotrain is definitely a good background toy to have to help build out your G1 collection and a pretty great toy in its own right, even with its limitations. As an adult collector there’s not too much to worry about with this one. He’s a great toy to own. Perhaps the main question is do you have the chest shield out or folded up?

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RETRO REVIEW – KENNER SGT. APONE

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 26, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , .

Please note: Originally posted back in August 2014, but I’ve gone back and retaken the photos so it matches the most recent Kenner Aliens figures photo sets and just in time for Alien Day too!

Kenner’s line of ‘Aliens’ Space Marine toys were fairly short lived. After only 1 & 1/2 series of figures the Marines were dumped in favour of Predators instead to do battle with the Aliens. What marines we did get however were quite cool and in most cases had action features to add more play value. Apone, a character that appeared in the Aliens film franchise, also received a figure in this toyline.

Name: SGT. Apone
Line: Aliens
Manufacturer: Kenner
Released: 1992
Price: Then: $10-$16.  Now: $10 – $26 MOSC or less if loose
Scale: 4 -5 Inches in height
Accessories: Machine gun, two grenades

I really can’t remember why my brother and I decided to collect the Kenner Aliens toys when we were kids – being a toyline based off an MA 15+ series of movies – but they did look cool. The Alien designs were nice and there were a variety of figures. But you can’t just have Aliens… You need Marines as well! Regardless of what collectors at the time and collectors now think of this toyline, I still like what Kenner did with about 90% of the figures they made. Now on to the review!

SCULPTING

Kenner has taken a lot of liberties with their interpretation of each space marine character; they sure do not look like how they appeared in the movie. However, to me, what they have come up with, is still in its own way charming. The sculpting overall is pretty solid there are a lot of nice details on the figure, like the robotic arm or the harness or even the leg armour. I also like the head sculpt too. It may not be the best likeness of Al Mathews, but it still provokes the character of SGT. Apone to me. Like Ripley he has been sculpted in a set pose with articulation added later.

PAINT

The paint on Apone, isn’t too bad, there is the occasional slop here and there, like on the silver shoulder pad on the chest. However, the bulk of the paint is quite good – which is another thing I enjoyed about Kenner’s toys, they were always well painted and well made. The colour scheme is a bit funky too: bright yellow shirt with teal pants and a red cap to top it off. The colours really didn’t bother me too much as a child and I still have a soft spot for Apone even now; but I can understand to some collectors this is one of the main deal breakers for this figure.

ARTICULATION

Apone sports a whopping six points of articulation, swivel head, arms and legs. The waist does swivel too, but it’s only to help with the action feature so it will snap back into its normal position once moved. Apone’s action feature is that he “throws” the gold grenades he comes with, which involves placing a grenade in his hand, raising his robot arm up and then turning his waist and letting it snap back, theoretically throwing the grenade away.

He may have a robotic arm enhancement, but it doesn’t help him throw grenades very well at all. Apone should just stick to using his machine gun and that’s it.

ACCESSORIES

Apone comes with a couple of accessories, his machine gun and two grenades. Besides holding each item in his hands, he can also store them on his back or store the machine gun on his leg too. This is pretty neat as he doesn’t always have to be carrying all his weapons in his hands all the time.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

None that I can think of; Apone is rock solid. What would you expect from a early 1990’s toy? Just make sure your one has a good paint job before you buy it.

PRICE

I was happy with the $10 + shipping costs; however, I wouldn’t pay too much for this figure, as he is not worth any large amount of money.

OVERALL

Apone has a couple of faults and short comings; he’s not a very good representation of how the character appears in the movie and his action feature is a bit weak. But like Ripley I think he really captures the idea of the character well, which is a battle hardened space marine sergeant. The toy’s colours may be a bit funky for collectors these days, so I really think he’s only worthwhile if you are buying him to reclaim your childhood or if you really want a set of retro Aliens marines in your collection.

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This post was originally published on August 18, 2014.

RETRO REVIEW – HASBRO/TAKARA THE TRANSFORMERS SLIVERBOLT

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 22, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , , .

Sliverbolt is the leader of the Autobot Aerialbots team and transforms into a Concorde SST jetliner and can reach speeds of Mach 1.9. He is also afraid of heights and tries his best to overcome this fear. As commander of the Aerialbots he is a mature and responsible leader and forms the main torso and head for Superion.

Name: Sliverbolt
Line: The Transformers (G1)
Manufacturer: Hasbro/Takara
Released: 1986
Price: Then – $11.99 USD Now – $30 – $300 USD
Scale: 20.3 cm in height in robot mode.
Accessories: Gun and multiple parts to make Superion
Motto: “Don’t look down, look straight ahead.”

I was fortunate enough to have Sliverbolt when I was a kid; most of transformers I had were from the European Classics line. My brother and I were lucky to have all the original “Scramble City” combiner teams when we were young, as well as a few Autobots and Decepticons between us. I definitely remember having a lot of fun playing with the combiner team toys. They are definitely some of my favourite toys put out by Takara, and I’m glad they found a home after the Diaclone line finished because the concept of putting together teams of robots that combine to make a larger robot that you can swap the limbs of with each team is a very fun one, in my opinion. 

SCULPTING

Sliverbolt has excellent sculpting details as a robot; he has plenty of panels, vents and line work. As a plane, he looks great and is fairly proportional, too. He’s very detailed and visually interesting, too, and he’s got a pretty unique face sculpt, too. He’s a great-looking toy.

PAINT

Not a lot of paint on Silverbolt. I guess you could count the vac metal as paint, perhaps? Sliverbolts’ details are made up with stickers mostly. If you are buying a used condition piece, make sure to check the chrome condition of its arms and legs.

ARTICULATION

Like most transformers any articulation with these first transformers toys are going to be part of the transformation process. His arms move about 90 degrees, and his head can look down. That’s about it. He is definitely a brick with questionable legs to stand on. The legs have always been a bit weak and flimsy – even when brand new as I remember the one I had as a child having loose legs right out of the box.

His transformation is quite easy, as you are mainly flipping and folding parts of his plane mode around onto his back, and a little bit tricky leg transformation can be annoying, but it does seem fairly unique. 

ACCESSORIES

Sliverbolt comes with his electrostatic discharger rifle, a ramp and all the parts to help you build Superion (head, chest pieces and two hands and feet) all are nicely detailed and well-made. Obviously, the parts are great because they enable you to assemble a larger robot if you have the other Aerialbots.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Sliverbolt can have a fair few problems even when it’s almost brand new. The biggest problem being you can break his legs if you are really unlucky. This was the fate of the first Sliverbolt my brother and I received as kids. Other than normal wear, yellowing of the off-white plastic can be a big problem, too. I would say he definitely feels delicate and best to handle him with care. But, also be aware of misplaced or wrongly placed stickers as well!

PRICE

I was happy with the price I paid, but I did pay collector’s prices. You can find Sliverbolt in various conditions, which will affect the price. Just pay what you are comfortable with.

OVERALL

Sliverbolt has its fair share of problems and design flaws. However, I still think he’s a great addition to anyone’s G1 transformer collection. He looks great as a robot, transforms into a neat-looking plane and combines with his fellow Aerialbots to form a larger robot. There’s definitely a lot to like about the amount of play value you get with this toy. Just make sure you handle him carefully.

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RETRO REVIEW – KENNER LT. RIPLEY

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 18, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , .

Please note: Originally posted back in April 2014, but I’ve gone back and retaken the photos so it matches the most recent Kenner Aliens figures photo sets!

Kenner’s line of ‘Aliens’ Space Marine toys were fairly short-lived. After only 1 & 1/2 series of figures, the Marines were dumped in favor of Predators instead to do battle with the Aliens. What marines we did get, however, were quite cool and in most cases had action features to add more play value. Ripley, the main character in the Aliens film franchise, also received a figure in this toyline.

Name: Ripley
Line: Aliens
Manufacturer: Kenner
Released: 1992
Price: Then: $10-$15.  Now: $15-$25  mint on card,  less if loose
Scale: 4 -5  Inches in height
Accessories: Flamethrower, Small gun, set of stickers and comic

I really can’t remember why my brother and I decided to collect the Kenner Aliens toys when we were kids – being a toyline based off an MA 15+ series of movies – but they did look cool. The Alien designs were nice, and there was a variety of figures. But you can’t just have Aliens… You need Marines as well! Regardless of what collectors at the time and collectors now think of this toy line, I still like what Kenner did with about 90% of the figures they made.

SCULPTING

Kenner’s sculpting has always been pretty solid. There other lines of figures like Jurassic Park or Star Wars featured good, if not great, sculpting. The Aliens line and Ripley figure is no different. What I like the most about this sculpt is that, even though it’s not a very good likeness to actress Sigourney Weaver, I believe it still captures the feel of the character. Also, this is one of my favourite female head sculpts for a small-sized figure.  The rest of the figure is also well done, albeit that she’s stuck in the one pose. But this is mainly due to the action feature the toy has.

PAINT

Not too much paint here. It’s mainly used for detailing on the figure, and that’s about it. The paint application is fairly crisp; minimal to no slop on this figure. One thing to look out for is the placement of the eyes. They seem to be a bit of hit and miss, and in some cases, really aren’t applied very well at all.

ARTICULATION

Here, we have fairly standard Kenner – and to an extent, most 1990s articulation – swivel head, arms, waist and legs. Due to the figure needing to hold a two-handed weapon, most of the articulation suffers due to the need to cater for this function. The action feature is quite neat and works well. On the flamethrower there is a small red peg, which is placed into the yellow pouch on Ripley’s leg, when you turn Ripley’s upper body, the flame “shoots” out of the end of the flamethrower. I always liked the action feature. It does its job flawlessly by adding more than enough extra play value to this figure.  Below is a scan of the instructions that came with the figure, showing you how to use the action feature.

ACCESSORIES

Ripley comes with a small number of accessories. The big ticket item is of course, the flamethrower. It’s slightly oversized and not really a good representation from the movie. But, It looks great in its own right. The other accessories are a small gun and a comic (the comics weren’t very good, but did help establish the characters a little bit as there was no TV show tie-in for these toys). There are also stickers included, but my problem with these are they don’t tend to stick very well.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t see there being too many problems with this figure, beyond getting one with a bad paint application. It’s well-made and durable, nothing really too fragile here.

PRICE

I was happy with $10 + shipping costs; however, I wouldn’t pay too much for this figure, as she is not worth a large amount of money.

OVERALL

I have fond memories of playing with this figure and the other marines/aliens/predators from this line. I feel the figure itself, although limited in some aspects, still stands up fairly well today for children’s toy standards. From a collector’s point of view, this is only worth picking up if you want to reclaim your childhood or like having a variety of Aliens collectibles, both old and new, in your collection.

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This post was originally published on April 24, 2014.

RETRO REVIEW – TAKARA TRANSFORMERS GOD MASTERFORCE RANGER

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 16, 2020
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , , .

After the original Transformers US cartoon series ended in 1987, A Japanese exclusive series The Headmasters continued the story and was followed up in 1988 with Super Godmasters. The series had a very human-centric story where humans connected with Transector bodies to become the power source and personality of the Transformer and also included the more traditional Transformer characters as pretenders.

Name: Ranger C-305
Line: Super-God Masterforce
Manufacturer: Takara
Released: 1988
Price: Then: 1,980 YEN.  Now: 45,000 YEN more or less.
Scale: 5 1/2 Inches in height
Accessories: Godmaster Transtector, Napalm Blaster

Variations:  Joyride (The powder blue plastic is replaced with green)

When it comes to G1 Transformers there are a lot of toys to be collected if you want to go all in, then you have a choice of if you want to collect the Japanese exclusive repaints of the tail end of G1 (basically recolours of toys released by Hasbro in the US and in my opinion the Japanese versions got the better colour scheme too)

The only problem in doing that is not only are they harder to come by, but the price increases quite a lot too! (Especially if you are looking to buy Minerva or Grand Maximus among others)

I’ve been lucky enough to acquire most of these toys over the years and decided I’d at least cover one in my blog seeing I’m sure lacking a lot of Transformer based reviews, for being such a big fan. Tonight I’m looking at Ranger from the Godmaster series of Transformers first released back in 1988!

SCULPTING

Most G1 Transformers are quite blocky looking toys and Ranger is no exception. He’s quite square and chunky. His dune buggy car mode has a lot of nice details, like his suspension etc. Plenty of smooth surfaces too. Not too much detail in robot mode, these later toys relied more on their stickers for the details than anything else. He has a pretty nice face sculpt too.

PAINT

The only paint on Ranger I can see is on his face. it’s neatly applied and a yellowy brown colour. other than that he’s got plenty of stickers to make up the details on him. and everything else has been cast in the colour it’s meant to be. His body is a really nice powder blue, with red arms and legs and a bit of grey here and there. Really nice colour choice I have to say pretty much screams Autobot.

ARTICULATION

As with most G1 Transformers, his articulation is due to his transformation which is just his arms have any real movement. he can bend his elbows and partly swivel his arms at the shoulder and that’s about it! pretty much the definition of a ‘brick Transformer’. His Transector has more articulation then Ranger does.

ACCESSORIES

Ranger comes with his ‘Napalm blaster’ and his Transector and that’s all he really needs right? A gun and his engine (not necessary required to transform the toy, however.)

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

He’s a pretty rock solid toy, if you are taking the plunge, I would make sure you are buying one that hasn’t yellowed (if you look at mine, in the pictures one of his mirrors and his suspension are slightly discoloured.) Other than that be prepared to potentially pay through the nose.

“I have the POWER!!!”

PRICE

Ranger commands decent prices on the secondary market I picked up mine for about $450 AUD about 5 years ago, he was pretty much unused and in great condition. I would expect you would be paying more if you happen to find one Mint in sealed box after all.

OVERALL

I like the colour scheme of Ranger a lot more then Joyride, I can appreciate this toy a lot more than I would if I had just bought Joyride instead. Also, it helped that I watched the original Godmaster cartoon series as well so at least I was familiar with his character too. It’s really up to you if you want to buy him or not, just be happy with the decision as you can pay quite a lot for a simple repaint, but in my opinion, the colour scheme is far superior and makes the toy look a hundred times better.

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RETRO REVIEW – KENNER CORP. HICKS

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 12, 2020
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , .

Kenner’s line of ‘Aliens’ Space Marine toys was fairly short-lived. After only 1 & 1/2 series of figures, the Marines were dumped in favour of Predators instead to do battle with the Aliens. What marines we did get, however, were quite cool and in most cases had action features to add more play value. Corporal Hicks, a fan favourite character that appeared in the Aliens film franchise, also received a figure in this toy line.

Name: Corporal Hicks
Line: Aliens
Manufacturer: Kenner
Released: 1992
Price: Then: $10-$16.  Now: $10 – $26 MOSC or less if loose
Scale: 4 -5 Inches in height
Accessories: Rocket Launcher, Claw, Two Alienator Missiles  

I really can’t remember why my brother and I decided to collect the Kenner Aliens toys when we were kids – being a toyline based off an MA 15+ series of movies – but they did look cool. The Alien designs were nice and there were a variety of figures.

But you can’t just have Aliens… You need Marines as well! Regardless of what collectors at the time and collectors now think of this toyline, I still like what Kenner did with about 90% of the figures they made.

Hicks was the one figure we would never see at the store, besides the Panther Alien, maybe they were short-packed? So neither I nor my brother owned him when the toyline was originally released.

It wasn’t until later in life where my brother finally picked one up. (He is the bigger fan of Corporal Hicks out of the two of us, even if I think he’s pretty cool in general, I always preferred Hudson over Hicks.)

SCULPTING

For the most part, I’d like to think Kenner did a good job of taking the source material and putting their own spin on it. Apparently, there was going to be a cartoon to tie in with the toys so that would make sense changing the characters a bit. I think Corporal Hicks looks pretty good, It’s a passing likeness and he’s not an accurate match to the Aliens movie, but ticks a lot of the boxes of what you’d expect from a Corporal Hicks figure in my opinion for the time period.

PAINT

Generally, the paint on Kenner’s products was always to a fairly high standard. The paint application on this particular Hicks is quite good, no bleed, no slop. The quality of the older toys sometimes puts a lot of newer companies to shame. Plenty of greens and blacks make up Hick’s uniform the tan looks a little out of place but the gold/silver mixture looks excellent.

ARTICULATION

Hicks has the typical amount of articulation for a toy of this time period, Swivel everything! Swivel head, swivel shoulders, swivel waist, and swivel hips. You can move his joints but you can’t really do a lot with him besides simple poses. It’s decent articulation, but nothing to write home about.

ACCESSORIES

Hicks comes with a rocket launcher, Some kind of Claw/gun arm weapon and two missiles for the rocket launcher. The firing action on the rocket launcher is quite good the claw/gun arm is a bit miss-placed it just clips on his arm and that’s it. It would have been cooler if he came with a Pulse Rifle like Vazquez did, as I think that would be a more appropriate weapon for the character.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

None that I can think of;  Corporal Hicks is rock solid. What would you expect from an early 1990’s toy?  Just make sure your one has a good paint job before you buy it.

PRICE

I was happy with the $10 + shipping costs; however, I wouldn’t pay too much for this figure, as he is not worth any large amount of money.

OVERALL

The Corporal Hicks figure lacks the fun action feature many of the other Aliens Space Marines have, but it’s made up for with a missile-firing rocket launcher, this doesn’t make the figure as great to play with as Ripley or Drake, for example. Hicks is still an important character in the Aliens universe and this is his first real toy/collectible figure made of him, it’s worth picking him up, if you are a Kenner completist of their Aliens line or if you like Corporal Hicks in general.

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RETRO REVIEW – TYCO DINO RIDERS ANKYLOSAURS WITH STING

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 11, 2020
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , .

Dino Riders was a short lived toy line by Tyco started in the late 1980s; it also had an accompanying cartoon series and combined very detailed dinosaur models with futuristic weaponry. Each dinosaur came with its own unique armour which, depended on the size of the Dinosaur included 1-3 small humanoid figures, in scale with the dinosaur.

The Ankylosaurs’ role for its Rulon masters, was to be used as infantry support weapon with a crossbow mounted on its back which fired a ‘high explosive projectile’. Being a small toy, it didn’t have any action feature or motorised walking action. 

Name: Ankylosaurus with Sting
Line: Dino Riders
Manufacturer: Tyco
Released: 1988
Price: Then: $7.00 – $ $17.00 MIB Now: At least $20.00 Loose
Scale: 1:24
Accessories: One Rulon mini figure, one mini figure weapon set.

The Ankylosaurus was one of those toys I vividly remember receiving as a child. The closest toy store my parents would take me and my brother to was the Big W in Chullora. (which is still open today) we were bought all manner of toys from there, Lego, Transformers, Toy Biz wrestling figures and even Dino Riders.

I remember seeing the shelves stacked with the many Dino Rider toys, my brother and I came away with an Ankylosaurus each and did end up receiving a few larger ones for Christmas and Birthday gifts. That memory for whatever reason has stuck with me all these years. So, of course I plan to review most of the Dino Rider toys that were made. (Even if it takes a while to do so)
Also this Ankylosaurus is one of the many of Tyco’s Dino Rider toys that fall under the “Colours may vary” label as the prototype shown in the toy box art and catalogue is orange as opposed to the released figure which is grey.

LIST OF PARTS

Inside the box you get the following items:

One Ankylosaurus dinosaur
One Sting Rulon mini figure
One Brain box and harness
One crossbow
One mini figure weapons set

PACKAGING

The artwork on the front of the box features a very colourful battle scene portraying the Ankylosaurus engaged in battle the Dino Riders. Upon lifting the flap, you are able to view the toy inside the box as well as a number of pictures listing the highlights of the product.  A cropped section of this artwork is displayed on both sides of the box, with the back of the box showing all products from the current series engaged in battle with each other.

The excellent graphics do a great job of attracting you towards the box. (This was one thing I loved about Dino Riders when I was a child.)

SCULPTING

Tyco have done a great job with the amount of detail on not only the dinosaurs in this series but the mini figures too. There are lots and lots of great details all over the Ankylosaurus’ body, it looks great!

The Rulon mini figure looks excellent too and has the same body as the other standard Rulons; he also has the same head type as Antor. For a small scale figure, it is very detailed and has many creases in the clothing as well as smooth armour sections.

PAINT

Besides paint on the Ankylosaurus, the paint applications have been kept to a minimum. I really think Tyco tried very hard to get the best application possible on all the Dinosaur toys. The end result is wonderfully blended multi-toned grey colours for the Dinosaur. The colours work really well to contrast with the plastic grey and purple of the armour and weapons!

Sting has a little bit of paint application – mainly just for extra details on his costume or on the toys head. It’s all nice and neat. The rest of the figures parts are cast in the colour they are meant to be, which is perfectly fine as this works really well for the toy.

ARTICULATION

The Ankylosaurus has very limited articulation being his four legs with are all swivel joints, it’s not much, but this is a basic figure after all and it still helps to add plenty of play value to the toy.

Sting has the same amount of articulation that all the other Rulon figures have: swivel head, swivel arms – where the arm meets the body, swivel legs – where the legs meet the body and hinge joints at the knees.

For an older figure, this is more than enough for it to not only work well with the accessories but be put into a number of poses too.

Obviously, articulation has come a long way since then, but you still get quite a lot with Sting.

ACCESSORIES

All the Rulon toys in the first series came with the same weapons: one crossbow, one binocular, one shield, one bazooka, one electronic whip or ball and chain and one ladder. You get a good number of weapons for each Rulon and I really like the red colour it’s been cast in, it really pops!

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I would be careful with the brain box/harness when you are taking it off as you can potentially create plastic stress marks on parts of it due to the age of the plastic. Otherwise just avoid samples that have been yellowed.

PRICE

Depending weather, it’s MIB, MISB or loose will affect the price you pay. However, from time to time you can grab a bargain on eBay.

OVERALL

This is one of the more basic figures that Tyco released in their Dino Riders line, obviously the cheaper price point for children whose parents wouldn’t buy them the larger toys, I have fond memories of not only receiving the Ankylosaurus, but plenty of hours playing with it and the other Dino Rider toys my brother and I were lucky to get as children. It makes for a great army builder, I actually have about four of these myself and in a group, they look pretty impressive. Worth picking up if you really want to have a complete Dino Riders Collection.

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RETRO REVIEW – KENNER SGT. DRAKE

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 5, 2020
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , .

Kenner’s line of ‘Aliens’ Space Marine toys was fairly short-lived. After only 1 & 1/2 series of figures, the Marines were dumped in favor of Predators instead to do battle with the Aliens. What marines we did get, however, were quite cool and in most cases had action features to add more play value. Drake, a character that appeared in the Aliens film franchise, also received a figure in this toy line.

Name: Drake
Line: Aliens
Manufacturer: Kenner
Released: 1992
Price: Then: $10-$16.  Now: $10 – $26 MOSC or less if loose
Scale: 4 -5 Inches in height
Accessories: Smart Gun, Bayonet

I really can’t remember why my brother and I decided to collect the Kenner Aliens toys when we were kids – being a toyline based off an MA 15+ series of movies – but they did look cool. The Alien designs were nice and there were a variety of figures.

But you can’t just have Aliens… You need Marines as well! Regardless of what collectors at the time and collectors now think of this toyline, I still like what Kenner did with about 90% of the figures they made.

When my brother and I first saw these figures, normally each one of us would choose which ones we liked best, my brother owned Drake so from a nostalgia point of view, I don’t really have that same connection as say Ripley or Hudson figures which I personally owned.

SCULPTING

For the most part, I’d like to think Kenner did a good job of taking the source material and putting their own spin on it. Apparently, there was going to be a cartoon to tie in with the toys so that would make sense changing the characters a bit. Drake has all the key elements: blonde hair, tank top and camo pants. All things the character had in the movie, even if it looks nothing like actor Mark Rolston. Still, overall I think it’s a great looking figure.

PAINT

The paint on most of Kenner’s toys and figures tend to be quite neat. Drake is a pretty good example of this, but there is a little slop around his hairline. Otherwise, it’s all very neat and expertly applied, as always, if you are able to get a good look at what you are buying you can pick one with a good paint job.

ARTICULATION

Drake technically has about six points of articulation, swivel head, arms, legs and waist, however besides the arms and legs the rest will all move when using Drake’s action feature, where you rotate his waist, it moves his upper torso with the head staying in place, so it looks like he’s maneuvering his Smart Gun around at different targets. (You can still move his head independently if desired.)

This is a pretty cool action feature and really captures the action from the movie quite faithfully, however, it does limit Drake as he’s essentially stuck in the one, unchanging pose.

ACCESSORIES

Drake only comes with a bayonet which can be attached  to the end of his Smart Gun, it makes sense that you would want to keep aliens as far away from your person as possible and this would help to do that, but just the Smart Gun by itself would be enough, I’d like to think. I guess it’s just thrown in there for extra play value.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

None that I can think of;  Drake is rock solid. What would you expect from an early 1990’s toy?  Just make sure your one has a good paint job before you buy it.

PRICE

I was happy with the $10 + shipping costs; however, I wouldn’t pay too much for this figure, as he is not worth any large amount of money.

OVERALL

Drake is a pretty solid figure, even if he is sculpted in the one pose. His action feature is fun and really adds a great amount of play value to the figure. He may not be the most important character in the Aliens franchise, but memorable nonetheless. If you are looking to complete your Kenner Aliens collection, Drake definitely needs to in there.

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RETRO REVIEW – KENNER JURASSIC PARK YOUNG T-REX

Posted by Mighty Mike on March 21, 2011
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , .

The Young T-Rex was one of the many dinosaurs released for Kenner’s original Jurassic Park line of toys, based on the hit movie. Even although the young T-Rex never appeared in the first movie, it did appear in the novel and was sort of a cheaper alternative to the full sized T-Rex from the same line, but never the less, still cool in it’s own right.

Name: Young T-Rex
Line: Jurassic Park
Manufacturer: Kenner
Released: 1993
Price: First released – $30 AUD (guestimate). Now – varies $200-$450 MIB
Scale: 6 Inches in height
Accessories: JP Collector card #1.

I have a little bit of a long story about my original Young T-Rex (it’s not this one in the photos) that I owned as a kid (so I’ll try and keep it short). One night one of our family cats decided to have a fight with my Young T-Rex and rip up most of his face, needless to say I wasn’t very happy about this, but kept the toy anyway.

But you can bet what was at the top of my Christmas wish list that year – yes, that’s right a Jurassic Park Young T-Rex.

Unfortunately what I ended up receiving was the Triceratops from the series instead, although happy with it, it wasn’t what I wanted so badly. (The surprise of also receiving a G2 Megatron took away some of that let down, however)

Skip to years later and I decided I wanted to re-claim that part of my childhood and purchase a new Young T-Rex for myself, which is what I went and did, although this was a few years ago now. I decided I may as well review him now, in all his mid-1990s glory.


SCULPTING
This T-Rex has always had one of the more amazing sculpts out of the plethora of dinosaur toys my brother and I had as children. I’ve always loved how cool it looked and how much it evoked the look of the movie T-rex, even if on a smaller scale then the larger version (owned by my brother). There are a lot of great details here – skin folds, scales, claws, every little bit of detail looks great. Whoever sculpted this for Kenner went above and beyond in my book, kudos to them!

PAINT
The paint on the Young T-Rex is kept to a minimum, mainly skin pattern and things like the claws or the white underbelly of the dinosaur. That’s fine with me, I feel the base colour of the figure works great, it doesn’t even need a wash to bring it up either. All the paint apps are nice and neat, no problems there, just watch out for paint rub on the figure.

ARTICULATION
The Young T-Rex doesn’t have much of anything in the way of articulation, only his little arms, which are swivel joints and can be rotated 360 degrees without any problem. the T-Rex’s whole body is bendable, due to the rubber, but it doesn’t hold any poses, unfortunately.

The Young T-Rex also has a “Dino Damage” feature where a section of the side of the dinosaur can be removed to show internal organs, its cool, but never something I bothered too much with.

ACCESSORIES
None. Unless you are counting that collector card and I wouldn’t count that.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
There isn’t too much to watch out for here, besides paint rub and perhaps tears in the rubber body, discoloration maybe?

Dino Damage!

PRICE
I paid a decent price for a new mint in box, even although I can’t remember how much I know it wasn’t over $250. This figure was important to me, so I was happy to pay a bit more for one that was going to be in excellent condition and this one did not disappoint.

Don’t forget kids, if your dinosaur has the JP logo on it, then it’s a genuine Jurassic Park dinosaur!

OVERALL
I think the Young T-Rex toy is great, it has really excellent sculpting, nice paint application, even if it’s limited in actual play value. I’d still take this over anything Hasbro has put out for the most recent movie any day of the week. If you are a fan of Kenner’s Jurassic Park line (and who wouldn’t be?) or just dinosaurs in general, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a spot for this guy in your collection, if you already haven’t.

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