Transformers

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RETRO REVIEW – HASBRO/TAKARA THE TRANSFORMERS ONSLAUGHT

Posted by Mighty Mike on July 9, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

Onslaught is the leader of the Combaticons team and transforms into a missile trailer. He is capable of launching 6500-mile range photon missiles. He believes the key to a mission’s success lies in the perfection of its planning. As commander of the Combaticons he is a relentless and furious fighter and forms the main torso and head for Bruticus.

Name: Onslaught 
Line: The Transformers (G1)
Manufacturer: Hasbro/Takara
Released: 1985
Price: Then – $11.99 USD Now – $30 – $300 USD
Scale: 19 cm in height in robot mode.
Accessories: Gun and multiple parts to make Bruticus
Motto: “The mind is the greatest weapon”

My brother was the bigger fan of Onslaught than me. When growing up being a twin, we often had to decide between each other who got what, in terms of sharing certain Transformers – for example, my brother owned Onslaught and Sliverbolt and I owned Motormaster and Hotspot.

Out of the Combaticons I had Brawl and Vortex, while he had Onslaught, Swindle and Blastoff. When you have a sibling you just make it work. 

I appreciate the character of Onslaught even though I technically didn’t own him as a kid. However, that hasn’t stopped me later in life tracking down a version for myself.

My brother is still the Onslaught expert owning at least three or more versions of the original toy, it’s definitely one of his favourite characters along with Thundercracker and Hot rod.

SCULPTING

Onslaught is very nicely sculpted. There is a good amount of detail in both vehicle mode and robot mode.  He’s a very long vehicle and also a pretty tall robot too. I always liked how long the missile trailer was and that you could put other Combaticons on the back as well.

PAINT

Not a lot of paint on Onslaught and the stickers make up a lot of the interesting details on him. What paint there is on my figure is nice and tidy – no slop here. I do really like the black camo pattern on the vehicle mode it really adds something special to the deco.

ARTICULATION 

Like most Transformers from this era his articulation is just a trade off from the transformation. You can move his arms, head and technically his legs too. But he’s pretty much a brick, but a cool looking brick at least.

The transformation is very fun and straight forward, you are just folding out and folding up certain parts of him and extending other parts. Not too hard. But still pretty satisfying for what it is.

ACCESSORIES

Onslaught comes with his sonic stun gun, a ramp and all the parts to help you build Bruticus (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 Combaticons.

There are also a couple of slight variations to Onslaught/Bruticus mainly being the colour of the grey plastic – it comes in sliver and a light grey. I have both variants and they are great in their own individual ways.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

There are definitely a few things to watch out for with onslaught, he’s always been a little bit fragile even when brand new. And gets even more fragile the older the plastic gets. Definitely be gentle when transforming him as the navy plastic can get brittle and easily break if too much force is applied. And don’t lose that small chest plate for Onslaught either!

PRICE

I paid for a second hand Onslaught from a reputable Transformers reseller that included the box with my purchase. So the price was a bit high after the exchange rate. However, it was in absolutely excellent condition and I’m glad I paid a little bit extra for it. Always with vintage Transformers: pay  a price you are happy with or even purchase a reissue.

OVERALL

Onslaught is not a perfect Transformer toy. But he does have his strengths and weaknesses in his design. He looks great in vehicle and robot mode and helps to form a really cool looking combiner, being Bruticus. Just watch out for possible weak arm and leg joints as you don’t want to break him. He’s definitely a fun toy to have and looks great with the other Combaticons on a display shelf. 

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 – 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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REVIEW – TAKARA TOMY MASTERPIECE SERIES INFERNO

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 19, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , , .

Inferno first appeared in the original Generation one cartoon in season two, with no explanation what-so-ever as to how he arrived on earth. But proved himself a competent and helpful fellow Autobot whether fighting Decepticons or a blazing fire. Although his eagerness to engage in combat sometimes distracts him from his rescue job. His character had a memorable southern style accent and featured in a number of season two episodes after his initial appearance. He Transforms into a red Mitsubishi Fuso fire truck with ladder and has Ceramic plated armour to resist the extreme heat he has to deal with.

Name: Inferno (MP-33)
Line: Transformers Masterpiece
Manufacturer: TAKARA TOMY
Released: 2016
Price: 11,990 YEN
Scale: Roughly 22cm in height
Accessories: Blaster Rifle, Water Spray Effect, Fire Hose, 3 Chest Plates, 2 Heads, 4 face Plates, 2 Nozzles/Wrist Blasters and 2 Wrist Communicators

Firstly I’ll address the elephant in the room. If you have already checked out my Best Of 2016, then you already know this figure is a home run as far as I’m concerned. So, in a lot of ways, it makes writing this review a bit redundant. However, I really loved taking photos of this figure, even if he was a pain to light correctly without any horrible glare from the light reflecting off the red. I eventually got into the mood after taking more photos of him (You’d think I’d have taken all my photos of him back when I did my list, but no, I’m not THAT organized or committed!)

As a child, I was lucky enough to own the original G1 Inferno along with Sideswipe and Beachcomber among others. Unfortunately, I ended up giving away both Inferno and Sideswipe after losing many of their accessories as you do when you are a small child with these type of toys. I never regretted the decision as I reasoned at the time, ‘Where would I be able to get the parts I needed?’ (pre-internet and all that) However, once aware of the power of the internet I did go out of my way to get a sample of both original G1 figures I was happy with.
With that said Inferno was always one of my favorite Autobots and favorite Transformers in general.

With the announcement of Masterpiece Inferno I was quite excited as the prototype images of Inferno, looked really amazing. Also, he was scheduled to by released in November when I would once again be over in Japan. So the prospect of having him on release day was pretty exciting too! (Even if it was two days before I left Japan, but I got him none the less!)

SCULPTING
I’m really happy with the amount of effort it appears Takara Tomy are putting into their Masterpiece Transformers. Inferno in hand is breathtaking, I love the size of the fire truck and it just oozes detail and quality. It really took me back to when I was young and my memories of receiving a G1Transformer that came in a proper box with numerous accessories. I spent a good 10 mins just pouring over the fire truck mode and all of its details. Upon transforming Inferno a lot of these details are carried over to robot mode. The face plates and helmets are on point and Inferno matches the animation model almost flawlessly, even if this makes him quite boxy in appearance. I love that the ladder disappears into his chest in robot mode. One minor nitpick with Inferno’s sculpting is that there was a bit of excess molding on the eyes on the faces plates which I ended up trimming off. The factory should be doing this, not me.

PAINT
I’d like to assume most of Inferno is cast in the colour its meant to be. But, I’m pretty sure some parts a painted and matched to those plastic parts. I’m not going to take Inferno apart to find out. One thing Takara Tomy can work on is their paint applications, you don’t call your line of high-end Transformer toys “Masterpiece” and then drop the ball on quality sans MP Thundercracker. In my experience, the paint applications have always been hit and miss, but thankfully most of the time hit.
For example, the blue eyes on the yelling/screaming face plate have been rubbed a bit and need a touch-up or on Inferno’s left shoulder there’s a little bit of red paint/scuff mark on the grey shoulder part. These are minor nitpicks, but sour my confidence in Takara Tomy with each new release I receive.

ARTICULATION
Inferno has a lot of thoughtful articulation, some of it because of the transformation technique and some of it is just designed that way. He has lots of satisfying ratchet joints that make you feel confident that he will hold the pose and not have much trouble with his joints loosening up over time. Even though these Transformers look great in the heroic “museum pose” as seen in some of my photos you can still get very dynamic poses with Inferno if you want and he still looks great doing it and doesn’t look awkward.

ACCESSORIES
Inferno comes stacked with oodles of accessories Takara Tomy shows everyone how it’s done (Bandai and Hot Toys, I’m looking at you) with useful and even cartoon episode-specific accessories. I had a lot of fun playing around with the many different chest pieces and hand/arm blaster combinations you can have. The options are almost endless and you can find a mix your happy with (to make it clear as if it’s not already, my go to is: animation model head and toy truck parts for the chest and arm). Plenty of posing options with the water spray effect for example.
I’m really satisfied with the amount of accessories Takara Tomy have done an excellent job here.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
Besides minor paint app and factory molding clean up issues Inferno is pretty much problem free. I guess try not to loose some of those small accessories by keeping them in the box and all that jazz.

PRICE
Amazon JP had a great price for Inferno of 11,990 Yen and this was me being late to the pre-order party too (not so for MP Megatron 😉 ) Most other retailers will have him for this price or around that depending on exchange rate, so shop around if you feel the need to. Just pay a price you are happy with, but he’s really an awesome figure so he’s easily worth it.

OVERALL
Inferno definitely lives up to the title of “Masterpiece” he is another great example of how far Takara Tomy have come with their MP line since it was rebooted and another great addition to my ever growing Masterpiece display, his larger bulk and height make him tower above the standard Autobot cars and he commands my attention when I glance over at the display. With Grapple on the way, the Decepticons are starting to look a bit outnumbered!

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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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REVIEW – HASBRO TITANS RETURN TRIGGERHAPPY

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 3, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , , , .

Triggerhappy is wild and unpredictable, apparently too busy laughing uncontrollably to look where he’s shooting and loves the sound of his guns blasting away. He transforms into a Cybertronian Starfighter and is partnered with Titan Master Blowpipe.

Name: Triggerhappy
Line: Transformers Titans Return
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2016
Price: 24.99 AUD
Scale: Roughly 14.5 cm in height
Accessories: Two Blaster Weapons, Blowpipe mini figure, Tech Spec card

I didn’t really want to get sucked into buying anything from Hasbro’s Titans Return line initially. Even after the reveal of  Skullcruncher, I thought the design looked amazing but, I didn’t want to commit if they were just going to drop the ball like Combiner Wars did.

Unfortunately for me, I came across Triggerhappy in Big W out at Rouse Hill last month and after staring at the toy in package for about 30 seconds I knew I was picking it up then and there.

Now I’ve managed to pick up some of Takara’s offerings (Skullcruncher, High Brow etc.) you can pretty much say I’m all in. If Triggerhappy didn’t do it, Trypticon, certainly would have.

SCULPTING

Hasbro have done a great job here, Triggerhappy is absolutely covered in detail! Plenty of raised sections, paneling etc to make him look quite good, in both robot and plane mode. I really like the head design too, finally, a Triggerhappy toy has a cartoon-accurate face!

PAINT

There’s not too much paint on Triggerhappy, it’s mainly just used for small details. I’m fine with that, they just help to break up the solid blocks of dark blue and grey. What paint we do have, is nice and neat overall.

ARTICULATION

Triggerhappy has a lot of ball joints, swivel joints and hinge joints, which makes him really fun to play around with. Most importantly the shoulders and hips are ball joints, this really helps you achieve some great poses. If I had one complaint, it’s that his feet don’t pivot so it makes it hard to stand him up properly, the further apart his legs get.

ACCESSORIES

Triggerhappy comes with two guns and the Titan Master mini figure, that turns into his head. The guns are pretty cool with plenty of detail, they can even be combined together to make a larger gun the mini figure can sit in.

The Titan Master mini figure is all kinds of cool! He’s got articulated head, arms, and legs, the only thing I don’t like about the Hasbro version is that Hasbro doesn’t tend to paint the faces of them, whereas Takara does!

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t really see anything to watch out for, except you could misplace the mini figure if you aren’t careful!

PRICE

I paid about 24.99 AUD for Triggerhappy. I normally don’t purchase toys from stores locally, but I’ll make the exception if I want to try and get one with a good paint job. For the price, I’m quite happy with what you get in the blister card.

OVERALL

Triggerhappy is a great addition to the Titan Returns Toy line. He’s what you would expect when you take an older toy or character design and update it, it’s good to see this happening not only in just the masterpiece line anymore, as I really think Hasbro are doing an excellent job with Titans Return so far! It will be interesting to see if Takara plans to release their own version and how much it will differ from Hasbro’s.

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