Bumblebee Mobile Battle Bunker

Presenting the Transformers Dark of the Moon Bumblebee Mobile Battle Bunker.

Admittedly this is a late purchase. Years late. It was on sale. I think this is the third year that it went on sale. I have no idea where they store these prior to the Christmas season and I have no idea where they sourced these. They just keep popping up around this time.

So I thought "What the hell, might as well." and here we are.

In a nutshell, what we have here is a non-canonical military looking vehicle hauler that can carry up to two Legion Class Transformer figures. The Hauler itself defined as the APC mode; a "launcher" stand that can be used as a base to launch cars with a little boost or as a launch pad for Bumblebee (As a part of the Battle Bunker becomes a jetwing) called the "Battle Base" mode, and; what you see here, a Mobile Battle Bunker - though it's not really a Bunker when you think about it, and it's defined as the "Assault Vehicle Mode"  - that allows Bumblebee to gun away while the Hauler drives backwards.

So it's not really a Bunker.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Sentinel Prime

Presenting Sentinel Prime from the Transformers Dark of the Moon toy-line.

I remember the first time I laid eyes on Sentinel Prime waaay back before the movie was released and the first wave of DOTM toys had hit the market. And I remember that all I could think of was "He's pink!"

For the retail price that the stores were asking for him? Pass.

I kinda regretted not getting him especially after watching how critical a figure he was in the DOTM Movie. But I still didn't feel like paying retain for him. He became rare and I did not want to pay black-market rates for him especially since other Leader class surpluses were now being retailed at half-price. A few months back, there he was, standing on the top shelf all alone. And I grabbed him.

Still pink.

At first I thought that it was because of the type of firetruck that he is. Universally, red is the accepted international color for Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles. But sometimes all you need to do is cross over to the next county - or country - and you'll find blue, yellow, white, black and even green firetrucks. But I haven't seen a pink firetruck yet.

So I popped the Transformers DOTM DVD and realized that Sentinel Prime was not pink. He was red. Firetruck red. He only appears to be paler than Prime's flame red because he was corroded and beat up. He was old.

So this color is really an injustice.

Optimus Prime Armored Weapons Platform

Presenting the Optimus Prime Armored Weapons Platform from the Transformers Dark of the Moon Toyline - by Denis del Callar.

Basically it's a combination of the roughly 3" tall Legends class Optimus Prime and his trailer - which is a triple-changer that transforms from a trailer, a mobile weapons platform to a weapon's base - not bad for a little guy.

The Optimus Prime is no different from the other two or three Legends class Primes released in this series - including the Jetwing Prime and the Battle Steel Prime, save for the Armored Weapons Platform Prime being slightly lighter colored and his being sans the flame-detailing that only the Legends Jetwing Prime has.

Unfortunately the DOTM Optimus Prime Armored Weapons Platform did not make an appearance in the movie - it doesn't even come close to anything that appeared in the movie. It would have been interesting if Hasbro comes up with a trailer that appeared in the movie - the one that transformed into a weapon's storage unit that Prime drew his blade and his shield from when he first encountered Shockwave.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Ark and Roller

Presenting from the Transformers Dark of the Moon Toy Line, the Autobot's Ark with the Autobot Roller.

If you've watched the movie, then you've seen the DOTM Ark as the vehicle used by Sentinel Prime to break free of Cybertron. The Ark was damaged and drifted for ages before crashing into the moon. The discovery of the Ark by the original Apollo 11 team helped kick off the creation of Sector 7. The Decepticons eventually found the wreckage of the Ark and made off with hundreds of Space Bridge Pillars except for five Space Bridge Pillars and the Control Rod which were locked away with Sentinel Prime in the vault.

I've actually had the DOTM Ark for some time - all the way before Christmas where it's retail price dropped from over PhP 1,5000 (US$ 34) to PhP 700 (US$ 15) to PhP 500 (US$ 11.36) which it still retails for today in practically all Toy Kingdom and Toy's R' Us stores here in the Philippines. Kinda makes me feel sorry though for whoever bought him for PhP 700 because it was only at that price for a week before dropping to PhP 500.

I have wanted one ever since the previews for the DOTM Toy Line started appearing. But I always assumed - well, dreamed - that it would be bigger. So I was disappointed with the reality that it was meant for Legends Class Transformers and left it on the shelves. But when the price dropped to such a low, I had to grab it.

DOTM Laserbeak combined with Optimus Prime and Shockwave.

Presenting what happens when you combine the Transformers Dark of the Moon (DOTM) Laserbeak with Optimus Prime and  Shockwave - yes apparently you can combine DOTM  Laserbeak  with some of the major DOTM Transformers - who knew? These are definitely not official link-ups though.

The idea first came to me after a series of great photo posted by Jon Jansen Campos over Facebook. Jon did the links then created some wonderful photos which he posted on his photo-blog jokerjester-campos on Deviant-Art. I was so inspired by the photographs that I decided I had to find out how the link-ups happened.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Sandstorm

Presenting the Autobot Sandstorm and Private Dedcliff from the Transformers Dark of the Moon toyline. At first glance, DOTM Sandstorm doesn't appear to be much - a potboiler figure meant to drain your pockets and a lot of people probably ignored him.

Personally I was also leaning towards ignoring this Scout Class DOTM figure had I not known the history behind the name "Sandstorm." In Transformers lore, Sandstorm (in the Marvel Comics continuity of the Transformers) is a Wrecker - one particularly nasty Wrecker who actually beat the crap out of Optimus Prime himself. He was again listed as a Wrecker in the Dreamwave and IDW comic continuities so I had to get him to help boost my fledgling Wreckers collection alongside other Scout class Wreckers like the Autobot Whirl.

As with his cartoon/comic versions, DOTM Sandstorm is a triple-changer - in the cartoons and the comic books he could transform into a dune-buggy, robot and helicopter - something which makes him akin to the Autobot Springer I suppose. More or less he maintained this... "trademark" through the years, though in 2010, the Autobot Beachcomer - who could transform into a sand buggy was released and a re-painted version was released named Sandstorm which did not have a third form - The helicopter mode was gone. Unfortunately, DOTM Sandstorm does not transform into a helicopter either. Instead he transforms into a mobile weapons chair - yes I said chair.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: DA-28 Striker Optimus Prime

Presenting Takara's Transformers DA-28 Striker Optimus Prime. I've actually had the Transformers Dark of the Moon Striker Prime for close to a month now, but I didn't want to open him till Christmas, so finally here he is.

At first glance, DA-28 Striker Prime seems to just be a colored variant of the Transformers Dark of the Moon Leader Class Optimus Prime and Takara's DA-15 Jetwing Prime.  I'm actually not quite sure what to make of it because he has distinctive parts from both variants.

We first broke news about the DA-28 Striker Prime in October. What I failed to realize back then was that in the movie, Optimus Prime was holding his shield with his right hand, not his left. Also, like DA-15 Jetwing Prime, Striker Prime's shield is not movie accurate. Watch the movie and you'll see that Prime's shield is closer to Sentinel Prime's shield than to the shield that DA-28 uses. Also in the movie, Optimus Prime wields his trademark wrist swords against Shockwave's Driller. DA-28 does not have the wrist swords.

Toy News: Unexpected Toy Score at SM Hypermart, Tiendesitas

I scored big tonight without having to crash into the Christmas meatgrinder in the major malls in Metro Manila.

I park in Tiendesitas - which is next to a major thoroughfare that leads to the major malls in Manila. It's close enough that I can crash into the Christmas rush but far enough that I don't have to really worry about the rush traffic.

And it has it's own mall - small, but still a mall - SM Hypermart (think of it as a community grocery for the rich) and within that mall is a small toy sale far removed from the major Toycon that's on-going just down the road.

It's there that I scored a Transformers Dark of the Moon Autobot Ark for PhP 700 (US$ 16 - US$ 24.89 on Amazon plus shipping); a DOTM Optimus Prime Weapons Platform for PhP 600 (US$ 14 - US$ 34.98 on Amazon plus shipping) and a DOTM Reverb for PhP 300 (US$ 7 - US$ 23.98 on Amazon plus shipping) for a total of PhP 1,600 (US$ 37 - US$ 83.85 on Amazon plus shipping). Not bad for a walk-by and I didn't have to squeeze through an angry mob to get them.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Darksteel

Presenting Tansformers Dark of the Moon's Darksteel. DOTM Darksteel obviously did not appear in the movie. In fact what he is is a repainted DOTM Sideswipe - the DOTM version so this is the top-down Corvette Stingray version of Sideswipe - with the repainted head of a Deluxe sized Starscream - yes Starscream, just look at that lovely kisser.

Normally I'm not a fan of repaints, but being a DOTM Sideswipe fan, I just could not resist getting a "Black" - Nemesis Universe like - version of him (Even if DOTM Darksteel technically isn't a Nemesis character and supposedly exists in the same universe as DOTM Siwdeswipe.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Fireburst Optimus Prime (Voyager Class)

Presenting the Fireburst Optimus Prime Voyager class from Hasbro's Transformers Dark of the Moon toy-line. I have to admit that the first time I saw the DOTM Voyager class Optimus Prime, I thought that it was one of the crappiest toys I've ever seen. I definitely didn't want it and I thought that it was an insult to fans - especially in light of how good the Decepticon Voyager Class toys looked - especially Shockwave.

I felt further justified after watching the movie. However when the Fireburst Optimus Prime hit the shelves, I thought that it was a colorful improvement of the existing Voyager class Optimus Prime and came with a battle axe which is something that Prime would actually use. So on a whim and a bad day, I got it and here he is.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Roadbuster

Presenting Roadbuster from Transformers Dark Side of the Moon. More commonly known as the "Common" released DOTM toy of the Wreckers.

Personally I do not know what to make of the Transformers Dark Side of the Moon and their portrayal of the cult-icon Wreckers. Rather than the frustrated Autobots who cleaned up after their pacifist companions, you instead had what appeared to be engineers strangely pumped up on steroids and who appear to have spent too much time playing video games that they've gone rude and battle crazy.

They were also quite ineffective in the movie despite packing a hell of a lot of hardware - even if they were taking on Shockwave - who was damaged more by humans than the firepower of all three Wreckers combined.

And strangely they all survived. Including DOTM Roadbuster. DOTM Roadbuster also has the most lines in the movie. 

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Topspin (DOTM)

Presenting Transformers Dark of the Moon's Topspin. For those unfamiliar with DOTM Topspin and who he is, Topspin is a member of an elite special-forces group of Autobots called the Wreckers.

The Wreckers are Autobots who decided that the pacifistic ways of Optimus Prime and company were not enough and that the only way to end the Cybertron War was to kill specific individuals within the Decepticon ranks. Think of them as Wolverine's X-Force to Cyclops' X-Men.

As a result the Wreckers have gained a cult standing among Transformers collectors. Partly because in certain continuities the Wreckers are let by Ultra Magnus or Rodimus Prime - mostly Ultra Magnus. Other known leaders include Springer and Impactor - the original leader who died.

Most of the Wreckers end up dead - including Topspin. So don't expect a long life span for Topspin who makes an appearance in Transformers Dark of the Moon. Chance does not favor his survival. Most of DOTM Topspin's fellow wreckers have already made their Transformers DOTM toy appearances namely: Roadbuster, Sandstorm and Whirl.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Shockwave (DOTM)

Presenting from the upcoming Transformers Dark of the Moon movie: Shockwave (DOTM Shockwave). I've always been partial to Shockwave.

I mean seriously what's not to like? He's got one eye and dresses in purple. Shockwave is like putting Cyclops and Magneto into one character. Shockwave is cold, calculating and just as powerful - if not more powerful - than Megatron.

In fact in the original Marvel continuity of Transformers, Shockwave kills all the Autobots, makes a toy out of Optimus Prime's head, beats up Megatron twice and makes him swear fealty to him. So without a doubt, Shockwave rules!

And the DOTM Shockwave is just as scary. Shockwave's  fireblast has the maximum 10 rating. I am so looking forward to seeing him in action in the DOTM movie and I'm sincerely hoping he won't be a wuss.