Hercules: Dr Crank

TFC released the 4th figure in their Hercules line back in December. At the time they were running at full steam after a very successful release of Structor.

Dr Crank is a mobile crane paying homage to the character Hook. In vehicle mode Dr Crank features a crane arm that will extend nearly 3 times the original length. He also curiously features a space for placing a counter-weight and a series of pulleys including a crank handle which locks down the pulley system... if only there were length of string tying it all together. That's right - this toy could have an actual working crane if you take the time to customize it. All the parts are provided to make it happen except for string.

Other than the crane arm, the vehicle mode is quite a brick with not much to get wrong. If there is only one weakness to point out is that he doesn't roll very well due to his small wheels and the tendency for the rear wheels to wobble a bit (these wheels are meant to swivel aside on his shoulders in robot mode.) His crane does have an additional swivel to allow it to offset itself for a variety of purposes (like getting out of the way of Hercules' head in combined mode).

In robot mode, The first thing you see is that he's got a large crane arm sticking out of his back. This does help him stand up however the large block behind his head obscures the light-piping effect. His eyes will only "glow" if you turn his head slightly.

The robot is well articulated with all the usual joints freely moving. The hip is ratcheting and it seems TFC learned their lesson and gave this a very forgiving ratchet. The legs have real "knees" this time along with hidden lower joints like Structor. The knees themselves are clever folding "doors" leaving a near-seamless look for the vehicle mode's from windows.

Optionally if you remove the his crane arm, then you have additional ports to "shoulder" his guns (this is how he came packaged originally). To help him stand, Dr Crane also has additional stabilizers in his legs. These flaps are way too tight on this sample and a hook tool is needed to pull them out.

Changing into Hercules's upper torso and head also requires a tool. There is very little leverage available to pull out the connector pegs from their folded positions. Dr Crank has another yet-unresolved mystery - he boasts 7 connectors ever though only 4 are required. Some fans have used the extra pegs in vehicle mode as "outrigger" bits while the crane is extended, but TFC have not explicitly issued a statement about this.

Hercules's has a silver painted face with lots of light-piping for his eyes an several ports. TFC also released an optional "visor" which was packaged with their following figure. The visor is removable, but can remain installed while Dr Crank changes between modes.

Lastly, as mentioned elsewhere, Dr Crank's Hercules connectors appear to be made of an extremely solid ABS plastic. It is very unforgiving and is not at all like the connectors on Heavy Labor (on my Heavy Labor, those leg connector pegs are showing signs of wear). This means: never swamp arms and legs on Hercules! Once you've pegged the arms into place, those sockets have been conditioned for the Dr Crank pegs and will not fit Heavy Labor's. Likewise, the legs sockets are smaller because they've been conditioned to fit the slight wear with Heavy Labor and would be too tight to fit on Dr Crank. You have been warned!

Hercules: Structor

Sorry, I'm extremely late with this review - I'm behind since these figures arrived just shortly before I left on my holidays and I've been sick since I got back. This time I'm kicking off my video review of the 3rd TFC Hercules figure with a serious warning: it appears there is a miniscule difference between the connector pegs for the legs under Heavy Labor and those for the shoulders off Dr Crank. I have ruined my Structor figure by stressing the connector port a little too much by plugging it in the wrong peg while fooling around!

Hercules: Heavy Labor

My first attempt at a vlog review. Runs about 10 minutes.



As usual it needs not be said that is not for everyone. It's a collector's item with limited production run. MSRP is about normal for this kind of thing, but value is definitely in the eye of the beholder.

!!!UPDATE!!!

Seems I'm not alone with the leg that won't straighten out. TFC has helpfully posted the following instructions for a DIY solution. Good luck!

Hercules: Exgraver

After waiting for months, here he is! The first sixth of Transformers Club's attempt to remake their own version of Devastator. Of course, being that TFC is an unauthorized fan group, they aren't allowed to use trademarked names like Devastator (or Decepticon or Constructicon, for that matter). So this is the first part of "Hercules", he is "Exgraver" and "not Scavenger."
Not-Scavenger come out pretty well despite the general reaction that he isn't quite up to Hasbro/Takara standards. Exgraver is made of the same type of solid ABS plastic. He stands about 7 inches high (his head to his feet). Everything on him moves - from shoulders to hips, knees to elbows, even his head is on a ball joint allowing him to look up at you from your desk. This is especially important since he also features light-piping in his eyes. And the "Hercules's right arm" configuration doesn't seem like an after-thought either: the arm also has an elbow and wrist, both which rotate and swivel. Not-Devastator's hand even has articulated fingers.If he's so posable, does that mean Exgraver is playable? Well... this is where I have to deduct points. Hasbro/Takara are in the business of making kids' toys. And kids can be a little rough. I've noticed in recent Transformers instruction manuals that they specifically say forcing parts may cause them to pop off. They don't break; you simply pop the parts back into place. I don't feel so comfortable here. I feel like if a joint is just a bit too tight, I don't want to force it. Part of this is due to design and part due to implementation.

Do this first......then this (the thumb will be behind the head)...
...and then this (plug in and then fold fingers over the face).

One of the first steps in the included instructions is to stow Hercules's hand onto the robot so that it becomes part of his vehicle mode. Well, I discovered that there simply isn't any give. If the hand is in place, there's barely any room to flip the shoulders up and plug into place. Well, there's a little room, but there is the risk of scratching up the parts that meet. I've since discovered it's safer to just reverse the steps - fold up and peg the parts before putting in the giant purple hand.
Myclone Optimus Prime is exactly 2.5 inches tall, to give you an idea how bulky vehicle mode is. With the "Hercules hand" stowed away there are a few more 5mm holes and pegs around to also plug in the two gun accessories. No baggie required for left-over parts. Exgraver may require parts-swapping for the cab (that is actually plugged into an upside down fist when in vehicle mode) but at least he cleans up after himself. And as you could see in the first photo above there are a variety of ways to plug everything in robot mode as well.

The instructions say this......but you can do this if you jiggle the black panel a bit...

Last but not least... the obligatory picture of Exgraver's arm-mode. This is going to be a seriously large figure. The hand compares with Optimal Optimus from Beast Wars. The connector for the shoulder joint is not at the very tip but that makes sense as the prototype photos released by TFC have shown that the head and shoulders formed by "Not Hook" will be very beefy.
I can understand the common complaints - that this figure is too expensive for what it is. But let's be serious - TFC is no Hasbro. They accepted a risk to undertake this project, but they aren't stupid. They have shopped around and must have found the best factory they could afford. And in order to make back the costs of a limited production run, they priced their figure accordingly. "Hercules" is not priced for everyone, but those of us who took the plunge should not regret the decision to support the project. Because I can't wait for the next one!

Vinyl Vehicle Voltron

Originally solicited for April, Toynami delayed the third volume of of their vinyl figure line-up for months... during which they released several repaints of other figures including the limited version of the actual third figure as an exclusive metallic paint job for SDCC2010. But now it is October and I finally have a vinyl Vehicle Voltron in my hands.
Vehicle Voltron is frequently referred to as “the other Voltron” but in my mind – he stands equal to Lion Voltron because even when I was little, I appreciated that the saga “ended.” The evil king Zarkon was defeated in a final epic battle on Planet Doom and I was happy that all would be okay. And it was time to see what else was going on in the universe populated by Galaxy Garrison and the rest of the Drule Empire. It wasn't a matter of who was more powerful than who, I was more interested in seeing the universe expand.

Vehicle Voltron stands about 9 inches tall and is roughly the same height as the volume 1 figure. However, because of his cone-headed profile thanks to his head being formed of a rocket-jet, he generally tapers to a point and thus looks somewhat smaller. Lion Voltron's wings also widen his profile a lot by comparison. On the other hand, being made up of no less than 15 component vehicles, Vehicle Voltron enjoys a sharper sculpting job than Lion Voltron does.
Vehicle Voltron appears to be composed for more forms including a separate (but not removeable) fighter-jet-chest-plate. And he has joints at the hips where his legs meet his torso. A small complaint is that the joints aren't as tight as Lion Voltron. Also the same paint over-spray appears occasionally as expected for a mass-produced figure.
While at first I was disappointed the figure did not include the “spinning laser blades” weapons on his shoulders, it later occurred to me that this is indeed anime-accurate as Vehicle Voltron was rarely drawn with the helicopter props on his shoulders unless he was charging up an attack. That said the sculpt also takes a cue from the older toys and so shows a bunch of tank-treads on the back side. In the actual animation, Voltron sported a pair of engine pods on his upper back. It irritates me to know that the sculptor clearly chose whatever elements were easiest to implement rather than to stick with a particular design choice.

Shadow Demolitions/Shadow Pack review

It's a good thing I had seen a video review of a previous iteration before this arrived or else I might have been severely disappointed. However I've accepted the nature of collecting these extremely exclusive limited-run unlicensed fan-made add-ons: it is quite an expensive hobby.
Perfect Effect's Shadow Demolitions with Shadow Pack finally arrived. As you can see from the photo, entire set comes in a box not much bigger than a deck of playing cards.
The star of the show is the new "Shadow Pack." It's a brilliantly sculpted piece with lots of sharp details and painted highlights. It comes molded in matt-black but detailed with gun-metal silver, navy blue and pale metallic blue to match the Nemesis Prime product line. The plastic is a solid ABS type and the moving parts are on solid hinges. There are two sets of panels that open: one set to attach to Shadow Commander's back in robot mode and the other to attach to the front of the trailer-mode.
Both modes clip in very securely and mostly do their jobs as mounting points for weapons. Unfortunately, I must point out that while I'm not certain this is due to my Shadow Commander set being a recast knock-off set, I can't believe there is any way that tiny slot-peg would fit tightly enough to hold up the "BFG" weapon on Shadow Commander's back as shown on the back of the box.
Overall, as far as limited-run items go, I think the given ten-dollar price-tag is pretty good.
However, thus far, Shadow Pack has only been offered for about $50... because it comes in a set with a new repaint of Perfect Effect's "Shadow Warrior" figure named "Shadow Demolitions." Shadow Demolitions is the 4th iteration of the PE-01 figure (inspired by the Rumble and Frenzy cassette-bots from Generation 1). In this case, the new guy is has red highlights... And that's about it. He's is pretty much identical to all the other PE-01 figures already out. He still comes with back-mounted "winged cannons" that can be hidden in his arm-mounted quad-cannons. He still transforms into a dual-quad weapon for Shadow Commander. And he still needs this little extra "grip" bit to attach to the mounting peg.
And yes... he still doesn't quite fit on Shadow Commander's shoulder (again, could be because my armour was a KO set). But there's just no way that fiddly peg (which is actually part of the rotating piece that forms the robot's neck) will stay in its proper position while you try forcing the peg into the proper holes... It can be do for the perfectly sized holes in the Shadow Pack. And of course it'll work for the matched hole on the grip bit. But not for any other holes...
As it stands, Shadow Demolitions is still just an expensive version of a Target Master weapon-figure. But now, I'll need to track down a matching Shadow Warrior since I realize my truck mode Nemsis Prime with Shadow Commander trailer simply looks lop-sided without one.

God-Sword and Nemesis Cmd Ctr.

Sandwiched after my knock-off Fansproject Shadow Commander set and before the release of Perfect Effect's Demolitions Shadow Warrior pack, more new unlicensed add-ons arrived for my Nemesis Prime figure in the mail.

First up is a rather simple accessory kit. Perfect Effect created the “God Sword” kit inspired by the powerful Cybertronian relic from the comics. Naturally, they reused the mold several times to do one for Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and Nemesis Prime repaints.

The kit comes out of the box in pieces and in essence is a “parts-former” more than a “transformer.” The final completed sword is almost 15 inches long after several snap-together procedures. This black version is highlighted with silver to match Nemesis Prime. The clear red looks good but doesn't match Nemesis Prime other than to remind me of the windows on Scourge (from Robots in Disguise).
To convert the sword into Nemesis Prime's armour mode, the kit also comes with 3 additional bits. A pair of clips to attach the “shields” to the arms. The third bit is a “backpack” piece that connects the sword's hilt and handle into wings and shoulder-cannons. Lastly, the remaining parts can be combined into a smaller sword.
The second add-on set in the mail this week is another trailer. Hasbro and Takara have not released a full semi tractor-trailer toy of Optimus Prime in years often releasing the figure as only a semi tractor. Fans have clamoured for the glory days of Generation 1 when a Prime's trailer would open up to become an outpost playset.

BTS Toys delivers a futuristic trailer featuring several unusual bevels and vents. Unlike the trailer mode of Fansproject's “Commander” kit, BST.Toy has given us a rotating hitch that lets Prime turn corners. And yes, the back panel does become a ramp for cars to drive into the trailer (not all figures fit, however due to the sculpted details inside).Removing the wheels assembly reveals the return of Roller! The trailer then sits on a set of risers.The trailer's side opens to reveal a repair drone and a couple of weapon storage compartments (extra guns included!). The repair drone rises and spins on its mount. The odd shapes come out of the weird “mecha” chunk at the front of the trailer which become a small heli-pad and what looks like a computer terminal.
Unfortunately while the interior is beautifully sculpted and painted, everything is Minicon-sized (actually even smaller than that). Also, while BST offers a very sharply engineered piece, they're not quite up to Fansproject level. The claw arm is a little loose because the ball-joints sit between the next two halves screwed together. The overall shape of and placement of the compartments could have been spaced a bit differently to allow more interior space. The side panels should have been braced when they open to become the floor (they collapse if you put anything heavier than Roller).
Overall, my collection of black variant add-on kits poses a very striking visual and I'm pleasantly surprised that these unlicensed products are as solid as they are.

Shadow Commander knock-off review

First a little primer: Ultra Magnus was actually a repaint of "Powered Convoy" before Hasbro introduced him to Transformers as an all-new character. Conveniently, the white repainted Optimus Prime toy hidden inside the armour was ignored until Dreamwave comics introduced the concept that Magnus was in fact physically identical to Prime underneath the armour. From that point on, Hasbro and Takara started producing white variants of almost every Prime toy and called it Magnus.

And they did so with the popular "Classics" line a couple of years ago selling an exclusive 2-pack of "Ultra Magnus" (a white Prime) and a "Sky Warp" (a black Starscream) through Target stores in the USA... but fans had gotten wise... Enter an outfit calling themselves Fansproject.

Fansproject have released an unlicensed trailer kit to complement the white Prime toy making it truly fully Ultra Magnus in his fully armoured Generation 1 appearance. And they didn't stop there. When Hasbro released a black repaint exclusive to SDCC calling him "Nemesis Prime," Fansproject started releasing repaints too.

Since then, the Fansproject kits have sky-rocketed in price on the secondary market. It was only a matter of time before this happened...But did I pay a premium on the secondary market for a rare variant? No! This is a Chinese knock-off. Yes, even the unlicensed and unauthorized products are getting ripped off now!

How is it? Well aside from being a fraction of the cost of an original Fansproject kit, you kind of get what you pay for. At first glance it looks good. Even the packaging and instruction booklet was KO-ed. The KO includes everything you would find in the original (I've heard previous KO iterations were missing the waist piece or other optional bits like the alternate face-plate or missing clip for the sword which normally stores itself under the trailer). All in all, a pleasant surprise how accurate the copy has become.

Now for the bad news.
Check out the smeared glue over the surface! Thankfully, the nature of the trailer is that it's lots of pieces together. So each piece had a separate level of quality and that was the worst of the mess.
On the other side there's what I call over-trim. The white stress mark is the result of someone breaking off the flash after this part left the mold. Amateur work. But again... it's a KO and this is what cheap gets you.
Finally I wanted to show the shoulder part. One side is great - almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The other... not so much. There are glue smudges and gaps where the seams should have met (too much glue adding thickness). On the other hand, I would point out that the clips are copied accurately so the shoulder armour does indeed connect with the molded details on the original figure's shoulders.

In fact, the only part that is "non-functional" is the right hand (it won't snap into place). So holding the big gun is out of the question. Since it's a hand though posing it in certain positions will allow it to rest in place (as seen in the full-body picture above).

Overall, I guess I'm willing to let the defects slide because I was expecting much worse. But the KO does come complete as the real thing. And although the booklet pages were stapled in the wrong order, and the box has that pale bootleg printing like they have on pirate CDs, well... like I said, you get what you pay for. It's crap but at least it isn't completely worthless.

One Month with a Milestone

Motorola Milestone (aka: Droid) is not only my first Android OS experience, but it's also my first smart-phone.
Android is remarkable in its ability to be entirely unremarkable. At first I was concerned that my new phone did not come with any substantial documentation. But this worry quickly evaporated as I got used to Android's "if you don't see it, it's probably nothing to bother with" attitude.

For example: you never really quit an app. Instead you just leave and do something else. Android will allocate resources on the fly as required.

However, it does lend itself to some unusual quirks. Some of these quirks, I still haven't decided if they're bugs or actual features. The strangest thing that occurs is the auto-resume of media play-back. After a month of seemingly normal operation, this actually happened to me just a few days ago: an MP3 just started playing while I used the phone for something else. I had to switch back the media player, and press the Play button twice: first to reset it to its "play" position, then back to the "pause." This is the foremost irritation of the that "if you don't see it" attitude. You never shut down a function. The MP3 player is never "stopped."

As for the phone's performance, after my first month with the device, I'm fairly pleased with it. Little issues such as unintentional key-presses to the touch-screen, I can blame on myself for being butter-fingered. This is, thankfully, a far-cry from the recent hold-your-iPhone-the-wrong-way-and-lose-signal-strength gaffe. Normal voice is crisp and clear-sounding.
I'm loving the slide-out keypad. It's a nice clicky-feedback for typing a reasonable length email or messaging or tweeting. Overall, it's surprising how comprehensive connected-life with a smart-phone could be. I even got comfortable traveling without my laptop once I had the Facebook and Twitter apps installed. Browsing over wi-fi is great, but 3G is a bit over-rated.

I've only had a few glitches (which will blame on Android rather than the phone itself).

First: there's the weird misfire resume-media I described above. I'm told it's a feature that's supposed to kick in when you hang-up a phone call (because an incoming call automatically pauses currently-playing media).

Second: I don't know why typing a "hyphen" on the keypad doesn't always advance my cursor. I end up putting a hyphen at the end of two joined words instead of between them.
Third: Too many photos on the phone seems to give the media gallery trouble indexing the photos. I reached about 50 pictures taken with the camera (which by the way is a respectable 5.0Mpx) when I noticed I had trouble browsing them. I have since transferred them to my laptop through the Micro-USB cable.

Which brings me to a final and out-of-the-way side observation before I end this post. Motorola got clever with their included cable: their version of the micro-USB plug includes a couple of extra nubs to make it snug to the port on the phone. I only noticed this after getting a spare cable from monoprice which turned out to be slightly too loose causing an unreliable connection (a drop of super-glue to add just a touch of thickness to the plug fixed that problem).

Overall, I've been very pleased with my first smart-phone experience. Now to simply wait for Android to mature a bit and hopefully solved these glitches.