Triggerhappy

First Ever Poll Winner Review!  Generation 1 Decepticon Targetmaster Triggerhappy

(or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Pick Up Stuff in Plastic Bags)

There was a poll awhile back asking readers of this blog to choose what era a Transformer should come from for me to buy at Botcon.  Generation 1 won the poll.  Granted, I bought a lot of stuff, not just this, but this poll was to decide what I would do with this:

Heavy Metal

 

For those curious, that comes out to be this much before Coinstar takes their share:

meh

That gives a pretty fair budget to work with.  Alas, Coinstar is really the only practical way I know of getting this much random loose change turned into something useful.  In this case, something useful is cash.  Banks only take loose change when it's rolled up, and I'm not rolling all that.  Even rolled, many times pennies are not wanted.  This left the budget for this project at around $65, give or take a bit.  It was decided that something like a Targetmaster or Pretender would probably fit this budget.  Good decision.

Enter: Triggerhappy.

He doesn't look very happy

Triggerhappy is my first ever large Decepticon Targetmaster, and joins the ranks of Quake, Spinister, and Needlenose on my shelf of other Decepticon Targetmasters.  For reasons I don't understand, the Decepticon "Large" Targetmasters are significantly larger than the Autobot ones.  Granted, lack of understanding does not equate to giving a crap about that in this instance.  All I can figure is it's yet another way they tried to make up for 1) the Decepticon's Commander in 1987 (Scorponok) being significantly smaller than the Autobot's (Fortress Maximus), and 2) The Autobot Targetmaster ranks numbering at 6 rather than the 5 the Decepticons got.

Rad visor bro

The first order of business I had with this guy, and part of my excuse for taking so long to get this blog up, was to buy Reprolabels.  They're very nice, and I love what those guys do up in Canada, it's an extremely valuable service they offer the hobby and please, patronize them whenever you can.  

Here's confession time: Triggerhappy and the labels got to a total budget of $51 spent on this toy.  The other $14 was used somewhere, sometime, on something else.  That's right, this toy was picked up for the outstanding price of 45 dollars.  Botcon is known for good deals, because of stuff like this, but let me be clear: this is an exception, and a bit of luck was probably also involved (or maybe good karma).  This Triggerhappy was in a baggy on a dealer's table mixed in with a lot of Unicron Trilogy and Beast Wars stuff.  It was labeled at $45 and I assumed something was wrong with it.  The way it was packaged, I figured the small Targetmaster gun extension couldn't possibly be there.  It was.   

Not a fan of the side view, but nothing's perfect

I can't emphasize enough that while stuff like this can be found at Botcon, do not ever count on finding prices on stuff like this at Botcon.  The majority of Generation 1 toys there are massively overpriced.  It was difficult to find a complete Swoop for $100, which is essentially market value on that toy.  Not to mention anything with a box, regardless of the box's condition, will be absolutely gouged to hell just to test the adage of there being a sucker born every minute.  

Continuing on to the actual toy, I really like the head mold on this guy.  The new toys just don't capture the imaginatively cheesy look that several of the bots from the 80s wear like a badge of honor.  I think too often these days, the designers go for extremely stylized looks, and sometimes, that's a very good thing.  Other times, it seems to be for the sake of it.  Give me a blocky plain looking robot head sometime, with industrial looking craniums laced with bodacious orange visor sunglass looking things.  To me, that helps ground Transformer designs on occasion and helps keep in mind that these are robots in disguise.  

8 points of articulation, 0 creativity points for Scotty on this pose

He comes with a Targetmaster partner, Blowpipe.  Yeeah, let that one sink in for a minute.  And you thought some Insecticon repaints had funny names.  He's a pretty cool little guy, and has this pretty different design where there's an extra part that you clip on to make the gun mode after you flip him over.  Blowpipe has a tendency to break at the waist joint.  Mine is not broken, but this gives me cause for concern.

Oh fun, a stress mark

Yep, mine already has a lovely stress mark at the waist, so he's staying in gun mode.  Sorry, a blog post doesn't make me want to risk breaking a figure.

And yes, I realize that picture is blurry and the stress mark is hard to see in it.  One day, I'll get a camera that isn't from 2007.  Maybe.  Possibly.  I don't know, this thing is pretty serviceable for these posts and the manual mode is amazingly powerful for a little point and shoot.  Oh Canon, I'll never go back to Kodak or Sony again.

Another thing worth mentioning if you're in the market for this toy - there are two small tabs below the folded up jet mode cannons that serve to clip them into the body in alt mode.  These break very easily.  Only one is broken on mine, and the broken off piece was actually in the baggy he came in!  Of course, this doesn't idiot proof it, as this guy right here stuck it on his hotel nightstand, never to see it again after the maid came through.  These cannons, which fold up adjacent to the arms, also have a tendency to sag over time, as the plastic is worn down by the pin that holds it vertical.  Thankfully, that's not a problem for this one either.  Finally, the gray can yellow a bit.  Mine is just barely yellowing, which is hard to tell anyway since the front lights I use are incandescent (and therefore give off a warm color temperature).  

I don't know if this belongs

In regards to the stickers, the Reprolabel set came with this faction symbol.  Information on the internet as to whether or not this was present on Triggerhappy originally is tough to find.  I'm not sure if this belongs where I put it, on his cockpit window (which seemed dumb), or not at all.  I like the look of it here and plan to keep it there regardless, but knowing where it should go would be cool.  This is also me fishing for your comments below :D

I love the alt mode on this toy.

Front/overhead

Front/straight on

This thing takes a Blitzwing-type plane alt-mode and makes it actually menacing.  The color contrast for the cannons is perfect, the clear blue canopy/cockpit is a thing of beauty, and the copper highlights on the back thrusters look amazing. 

Angled

Blowpipe mounts above and manages to not be too intruding.  I could care less about realism and aerodynamics on alt modes, especially so on G1 toys, but Blowpipe doesn't look like he'd be too in the way in cartoon non-physics land.  Come to think of it, a lot of Targetmasters end up looking like what they are when you put them in weapon mode: a small robot trying to orally pleasure itself.  Thanks to the way the heels stick up and the separate part extension, this Targetmaster manages to look a bit more like a weapon and a bit less like some kind of obscene symbol of a toy designer's sexual frustration.  My apologies if I just ruined your perception of Targetmasters forever.  One day, I'll work on not thinking like a 7th grader.  Anyways, Triggerhappy does something a lot of Decepticon toys fail at in alt mode - he looks like a Decepticon, not just a plane.  I can say the same for his buddies Misfire and Slugslinger, but I don't own them yet.  Soon, maybe.  Slugslinger is not at all cheap.  

In scale together?  Yeah, basically.

There's a shot of Triggerhappy next to/somewhat behind Scourge, who was another Botcon purchase.  The two are basically in scale with each other, which, ooooh... that's probably why these are the size they are as opposed to the Autobot car Targetmasters.  That epiphany really just happened while I wrote this blog.  Better late than never?  Forget my goofy theories stated before.  I'm going to leave them though, so that you can see one reason writing is helpful - critical thinking. 

In short, in case you don't like to read, Triggerhappy embodies a lot of what Transformers toys were doing right by 1987.  Sure, the articulation is still lacking, but the overall design is great, the sculpting is more evolved than something from '86, the concept is creative, and you can really see some of the love and attention put into the second year of completely original Transformers designs reflected in this toy.  

I give this toy my highest recommendation for G1 Collectors.  If you don't like G1, this toy won't change your mind, but it will look very cool while it tries to.

 

'Til Next time, 'til all are one...

Reference post, move along, nothing to see here...

Just a reference post on what's scheduled to go up here whenever I get some free time at home to write, pics are all made:

- Botcon Haul pt. 2 - detail and thoughts on toys ('con exclusives and other purchases).
- Poll winner review - G1 Triggerhappy
- Cybertron/Galaxy Force line in review - Part 1 of an ongoing retrospective to rule all ongoing retrospectives

Botcon Haul and Musings

Hauling in

(or: Spending a bit North of "a lot", and a bit South of "too much")

I'll just get it out of the way: here's my Botcon Haul in hastily photographed glory.

Kinda just looks like I took a dealer's table and brought it home, huh?

I'll have more detailed pictures, thoughts, etc. eventually, probably over the weekend.  Also planned is the blog review of the winner of my little poll: Generation 1 Triggerhappy!   I have reprolabels on the way for the fig, so it'll be a couple weeks, but may as well announce the winner.  

Some thoughts on this years convention

I'll break this into segments, as some parts of the 'con were great, others left opportunity for improvement.  I will not mention anything "bad" without mentioning good parts and things done right as well - overall, Fun Pub does do a pretty great job all around with it and only mentioning opportunities can seem like an attack.  I assure you this is not, in any way - I'm still a little abuzz about the weekend, so take any complaints with the correct tone (that is, I'm very happy overall). 

Location

Dallas is pretty cool.  Long drive, but driving was a choice.  I don't like the on ramps in Texas and Arkansas, they're too short and unforgiving.  Not enough restaurants in close walking distance to the hotel (due to hobos, long walking distances were not an option).  The restaurants that were close were very good, so that helps.  Hotel stuff was good too, but, you know, ouch on the wallet (as expected).

Lines

There have been years where the lines were extremely bad, others where they were extremely smooth.  This year, most lines were handled very well, and were very orderly.  The one exception to this was the Thursday club store for early package pickup.  

Again, remember before this rant, that this line was the exception to all the others I stood in.  

Candace and I lined up around 45 minutes before the Club Store was set to open for Primus Package holders.  The first line we got in turned out to be the Package Pickup line.  We were in that line, mistakenly, for about 15 minutes, just from not knowing any better (no signs, etc.).  Staff did address this and we moved on to the store line, no big deal.  

We stood in a store line for not long, I found out when getting my order form that it was the Credit Card line. No warning, had to ask, which was annoying, but again, just another small thing.  I had pulled out cash because that line usually moves quicker and it helps me budget better having cash.  So I went downstairs, to the cash only line.  

Not being able to stand in the very short souvenir-only line (because I wanted a headband for SG Soundwave) was a bummer, but whatever, I got some posters anyhow so I don't have room to complain about that.  

My complaint was the speed of the cash line.  Holy cow, it just didn't move for quarter hour blocks at a time.  We weren't even that deep into it and still had to wait over an hour once getting into it!  Then, when Candace gets a chance to go up after me, the next open rep is suddenly only there for Credit Cards.  Wait, what?  I know there was apparently an issue with the machines upstairs, but it was frustrating nonetheless.  Kind of felt like a third class citizen standing in the cash line, we could have stayed upstairs in the credit line and just used my damn card anyhow and gotten through much, much faster.

Custom Class

Two words: Never again.  Well, maybe again, but I'm getting any "withheld" parts, taking my kit, and leaving and building it at home, at my leisure, for fun.  This wasn't a class at all, it was a somewhat guided model kit building session where hard parts weren't so much taught as much as they were just done by staff members.  We left early out of a combination of boredom and frustration, but mostly frustration.  

Nice things about the Custom Class, since I said I would do that - kit is very cool, instructors were good at the beginning (before they got overwhelmed by the class size), and Shawn was cool enough to get out a separate table so Candace and I could sit together since all the large table spots were filled.  Although it is worth noticing we were practically forgotten about once seated and given the basic kit (had to go ask for: Manuals, any tools I didn't bring, extra parts, stickers... if it was handed out after the class started, we didn't get given it like everyone else, we had to go get it ourselves from a swamped volunteer).

Dealer Room

Pretty much exactly what you would expect.  Some awesome deals here and there, but mostly overpriced.  Only had one unsavory type that wanted to charge me more than what they had marked on the toy (their sticker - not one from an 80s Kmart or something!).  I laughed and walked off.   Good variety, and still a good time even without the third party stuff (that's what hotel rooms were for).  

Panels

Meh.  Can we please stop asking VAs the same dumb things every year?  I felt really, really bad for David Kaye.  I wanted to learn more about Armada and the production, characters, etc., not hear Chalk and Kaye stumble through awkward fangirl requests.  Oh well.  Hasbro panel was very bleh, they just don't want to show the bulk of stuff until SDCC anymore.  Seating was fine, sound was good, no complaints on the production.  

Hall of Fame/Casino Night

Oh, there's Bingo?  Fun.  That was very cool, even though I didn't win anything (one space away from that SG Rodimus :( ).  

Hall of Fame was just sort of "eh".  Our table (which turned out to be a heavy portion of folks from Seibertron) got pretty neglected on the food, I think we were the last ones to have anything besides a salad.  Oh well, it was free and pretty good regardless.  

Videos seemed cool and the guests weren't bad, but the audio was nearly impossible to make out until the event was mostly over.  

You People

Are awesome.  Nice meeting lots of new faces, I'll see you around Cyberspace and hopefully at next year's con!  

Good Friday, Indeed

Just a quick post - look at what came in today!

The only Japanese Prime toy I want for something other than the Minicon!

Though I have to say, I'm looking forward to building the Minicon.  Off to get started!

Pointless Entry

Just to remind you to vote in the poll over there -------------------------------------------->

This is -just for fun-, and it's not like I'm not buying other things, so don't take this super serious, just vote :)  31 page views for the last post and only 4 votes out of that makes me sad ;_;

New Poll - You pick one of my Botcon buys!

Hello everyone, going to do something just for fun here. 

I have a change jar on my nightstand that will have roughly $50 - $60 in it by the time Botcon rolls around, and it would be fun to use this collected change to buy a Transformer in Botcon's dealer room. 

I want YOU to decide what I get.  Poll is on the right sidebar.  You choose the Generation, and I'm going to pick something out of that generation that the change jar can buy.  There are multiple options, as prices are pretty unpredictable. 

Some detail on the choices:

Generation 1: If you choose this option, I'm going to have to buy something like an Omnibot (or two), or maybe a cheaper Pretender, because most of the G1 stuff I don't have is around $100 or higher.  Comments welcome with suggestions, of course!

Beast Wars: I have most of Beast Wars, but I do have some noticeably absent entries, such as the original Optimus Primal and Megatron ultras (got the BWX ones), and the Tripredacus combiner.  Your vote here votes for me picking up one of those three, maybe more.

Movieverse: I doubt this will win, but if you really want me to buy a Screen Battle pack or some other weird movie item that I don't have yet (mostly multipacks and imports), choose this.

Animated: Choosing this is a vote for one of the following Takara repaints: Black Prime, Black Rodimus, or part of Elite Guard Prime's cost.  Simple as that. 

Prime: I can buy probably one of these with the change jar: Either Entertainment Pack or FE Vehicon.  Leaning towards the Vehicon but it may get higher than the change jar is capable of.

Other: This isn't an option, but you can comment below!  Comment moderation is getting turned off while this poll runs, unless I begin to regret that decision. 


The winner gets a full blown blog entry review thing, complete with photos of me buying the thing from the dealer room itself.  

'Til next time, 'Til all are one...

A Break From Green Beer (or: Insecticon Dance Party)

A Break From Green Beer

(or: Insecticon Dance Party)

There's one subgroup of Decepticons from the original Transformers (annotated as G1 after this for laziness) that really stands out as... weird.  And no, I'm not referring to Snapdragon and Apeface, but they're weird too.  

This post, if you haven't already gleaned it from the title (and from my other delay tactics), is about the G1 Insecticons.  In All Their Forms.  No, really.  

 

That's pretty much all of them.

Ok, technically, the original, not at all different, Takara releases aren't there.  Oh dear.  Somebody slap me until I care.  I'm going to show all of them in at least a little bit of detail, starting with the purple and black dude pals that you all know.  

In the front are my stickered up, worn out, old school 80s release Insecticons.  In the back are the 2009 Toys R Us Reissues, without any stickers applied.  Now for some pictures of them individually, starting with Kickback.

Aaaand I might (did) forget to take pictures of the Bombshell and Shrapnel individually.  Oops.  No biggie, because they'll be pictured shortly enough.  The reason for this is summed up with three names: Shot Hole, Zaptrap, and Salvo.

These are 200x e-hobby releases, and again, their names are supposedly Shot Hole (lolz), Zaptrap (where's Ackbar?), and Salvo (yeah, no jokes I can think of here).  As you can tell, I have applied the stickers.  We'll take a look at their respective comparisons in both modes, and yes, I did remember to actually take all the pictures of these while I had them out.  

Shot Hole and Kickback, just kickin' back shootin' hole.

Shot Hole and Kickback probably have the best contrast of all the designs in regards to color scheme. The green torso is really what makes the redeco stand out as distinctively different.

Insect mode, where they kick hole and shoot back.  I guess.

The difference is pretty marked in insect mode as well.  Although I would have loved some red antennae for Shot Hole.

Moving on...

Zaptrap and Shrapnel, zappin' traps and um... idk what happens after you zap a trap, but I don't want to find out.

These two may look really, really different to you in insect mode.  That's because I used my 80s Shrapnel for the insect mode comparison, and his lower set of wheel things did not survive the Gobot wars.  Or Power Ranger wars.  Or whatever happened at Castle Greyskull in my parent's downstairs gigantor room when I was a child.

The insect mode isn't very interesting to compare, since these two basically just swap the purple on Shrapnel for red on Zaptrap.  That's not very exciting to look at, or to talk about for that matter.  Meaning it's time to move on to the next Insecticons.

Salvo and Bombshell, Salving O's and... ok, I've gone too far.  Sorry.

These guys are once again a pretty lazy purple to red swap, but probably due to the amount of purple/red, it doesn't bother me as much.  I just really wish the cool green contrast detail color explored with Shot Hole had been applied even a little bit to Zaptrap and Salvo.  That would have, to me, made these recolors much more interesting.  Not that I don't like them, but had I not gotten these when they came out, I'd absolutely not be paying the secondary market price for these little guys.

All in all, the e-hobby recolors are pretty fun, and it really isn't ever a problem having too many Insecticons, since in the show there were always about 40,000 of them with little to no variation.  It never made sense to me, since they had additional designs they could have capitalized on.  These additional designs were, in a word, Deluxe.

Here we have (respectively) Barrage, Ransack, Venom, and Chop Shop.  Sit back, enjoy some pictures, and then I'll continue rambling.

Barrage, Robot Mode, missing LES (Little Expensive Sword, what did you think I meant?)

Barrage, Insect Mode

Ransack, Robot Mode, with pelvis of doom.

Ransack, Insect Mode

Venom, Robot Mode, and damn enamel on metal

Venom, Freaking Adorable Mode

Chop Shop, robot mode

Chop Shop, slightly less adorable mode

I'll say this about the Deluxe Insecticons: they're great.  I thought they would be one of the last 1985 releases that I'd ever get, and they were, but I should've grabbed them sooner.  The transformations are fun.  The accessories are pretty cool, even though they have nowhere to go in insect mode.  Though, as with any G1 figure with small accessories, this has a downside - it can make things expensive.  The only reason I have Barrage is because he didn't have the sword.  I think that thing quite literally adds $50 to $60 to his price.  Ouch, ouch, ouch.

This doesn't detract from their coolness.  They take the Insecticon concept in another direction, and it's a shame they didn't get more attention.

Insectilegacy

The Insecticons, strange as they are, have inspired some homages over the years.  Here are some of them:  

Beast Wars Insecticon, Energon Insecticon (and his rare Takara repaint behind), and RotF Insecticon.  Gee, what happened to names?

   Watch that.  Laugh.  Enjoy.

I can make my own homages too.

In summary, I don't think the Insecticons are quite appreciated enough, though the Fans Project versions are sure to help.  It's not their fault that any appearances they made were kinda dumb, or that their toys were some of the first shelfwarmers ever.  They're misunderstood.  They just want Energon, and that bastard Kup stoled it.

Stoled it.

Well, that's enough fun for one day.  Hope you enjoyed the read, I really enjoyed the shoot and write up.  

'Til next time, 'til all are one....