Whaddup peeps? I’m gonna spend
some time today to talk about something which I seldom talk about these days as
opposed to the customary Star Wars or Marvel Legends-related stuff of late. One
of my favorite pastime is to dig through discount bins at the toy department in
retail outlets (or ‘el cheapo bin’ as my 8-year old kid like to say it because
he says his daddy likes ‘cheap but cool’ stuff…hahah, sue me) for hidden
treasures and fantastic toys of yore that had somehow escaped the hawk-eyes of
hungry collectors.
Talking about Hasbro’s/Takara
Tomy’s Transformers action figures, I am usually partial to the Voyager/Deluxe
scale and I don’t find myself intrigued that much with scales other than the
two. I’ve only just recently ventured into the Masterpiece line (probably about
a year or so I think) so I think I have progressed into the bigger sized TFs
rather than scaling down. So what I’m gonna say next is probably a shocker to you
readers and me alike.
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.
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I just bought myself a
‘Legend-class’ Transformers action figure. The Transformers Generations
Powerglide figure.
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.
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Yeap, that’s right. Legend class figures
are those small TFs you see annoyingly warming the pegs everywhere
(*cough*….Dark of The Moon Cyberverse figures…..*cough*). When I say annoying it means that Hasbro
Malaysia will usually let these unwanted pile of Legend-class figures until
they are destined to be chucked inside some discount bin. However, the
‘Generations’ Legend figures tend disappear faster than the less popular DoTM
Cyberverse Legends for very obvious reasons. One’s a faithful reproduction of
the all-time favorite G1 cartoon series and the other’s from the very
controversial movies by a certain Michael Bay.
I usually steer clear from even
touching the Cyberverse figures because they don’t mean as much to my
collection of mostly G1 characters and designs. Heck, there was even an
instance where they were going on clearance (I think it was RM5 per pop or
about a buck and a quarter American dollar each) back during a warehouse sale
but even then I wasn’t even intrigued to pick them up.
Two things. Firstly, Legends scale
is way smaller than the Deluxe/Voyager scale. My OCD-ness will never allow me
to pick any Legends up and mix them with my preferred scales. Secondly, I can
never bring myself to buy a small TF figure with such a premium asking price.
They’re about RM50 each here in Malaysia at their full retail price (or
USD12.50) when it’s only 8 or 9 bucks in the states.
Okay, so it’s the price that
really bothered me the most. I terribly want Powerglide (yes, even at this
Legends scale) for my G1 shelf. I missed out on the Voyager scale versions many
years ago although that one has a less-than-impressive sculpt and design. But
hey, it’s Powerglide we’re talking about and there ain’t seem to be enough of
him around for us collectors. Screen-accurate ones I mean. So when I saw this
one sitting pretty in the discount bin all by himself in a sea of other peg
warmers (i.e. Rodimus and the likes) I knew it is time to finally snag him. If
you’re wondering, I got him for a mere 6 American dollars. I don’t how cheap
this would be for you in the States but in Malaysia a Transformers toy could
only get oh-so low. I have been looking for him extensively but somehow I
didn’t find him in the open. Ebay prices were so ridiculous that I was ready to
go without him in my collection. Lady luck seemed to be smiling on me today.
Right.
Let’s get on with the figure.
The packaging - I kinda like the way Hasbro’s blister card
packaging style with the character art at the top of the card and all. The
blister/thermoformed plastic pack works really well here since the figure’s
kinda light anyway for it to drop off from the card. Anyway, the packaging on
mine was full of tape, presumably the blister plastic was starting to fall off
from the card. Well, the line did come out way back in 2014, so the glue must
have been wearing out after two years. Nothing that a good ‘ol X-acto knife
can’t handle!
Let’s see him in his ‘bot mode!
He looks awesome and seems to be
an almost accurate reproduction of his classic 80s look from the G1 cartoon
series. I love everything about him, that face sculpt especially. His design is
top-class except for the bulk in his legs….*ugh*….but I believe Hasbro/Takara
Tomy will work to correct/reduce the bulk in the near future should they ever
decide to revisit Powerglide (and at a bigger scale I hope!).
This aircraft is very faithful to
the A-10 Warthog aircraft design! It’s THE design that inspired both the Cobra
Rattler from GI Joe and Powerglide here! How cool is that? Talk about throwback
to the 80s.
For most G1 fans, when you talk
about Powerglide, you’d probably be reminded of ‘The girl who loved Powerglide’
episode, because this is one awesome homage to that character we know and love.
Scale wise?
I can’t help it but scale issues
will always bug me in the Transformers action figures collecting environment.
Sure the Legends scale is smaller than the Voyager/Deluxe scale but judging
from pictures from the G1 cartoon, Powerglide does not look that much bigger
than the humans after all. So I guess the Legends scale works for Powerglide
here.
But hey, it’s the TF universe
after all….and the mighty Allsparks controlled the sizes of them ‘bots at will!
So who’s to say the scales are all wrong eh?
The Rebel’s verdict:
It’s a tad frustrating, since I
think this figure could have been up-scaled to work as a Deluxe or Voager with
very little tweaking. Nonetheless, if you look at Powerglide here as a
stand-alone figure, this little guy simply can’t be beaten and seemed to be the
best G1 Powerglide ever produced by Hasbro. Personally, I think it is ironic
that Hasbro is seen to be focusing some of their design work into the Legends
Class scale rather than the Voyager/Deluxe scale. One can only hope.
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