Review #30: The Classics Seeker Mold
Part II: The Bootleg Seekers
Click here to return to Part I: The Original Trio and The Coneheads.
So yeah... I'm very much against bootlegs. So why does this part of the review exist? Because I had a moment of weakness, I suppose. These bootleg figures had been kicking around for awhile, and I was aware of them. But I never felt a great need to get them. But then, one day, a prominent online seller of knock off toys was having a sale. I think it was actually a, "Oh crap, Hasbro noticed we exist, let's off load this stuff quick!" sale. And around the same time, I happened to be contemplating how my Classics Autobots far outnumbered my Classics Decepticons, which makes it hard for the Autobots to maintain their heroic underdog status. So yeah... I gave in. I thought I'd order a few of the bootleg Seekers. And "a few" somehow ended up being eight.
So yeah... I'm very much against bootlegs. So why does this part of the review exist? Because I had a moment of weakness, I suppose. These bootleg figures had been kicking around for awhile, and I was aware of them. But I never felt a great need to get them. But then, one day, a prominent online seller of knock off toys was having a sale. I think it was actually a, "Oh crap, Hasbro noticed we exist, let's off load this stuff quick!" sale. And around the same time, I happened to be contemplating how my Classics Autobots far outnumbered my Classics Decepticons, which makes it hard for the Autobots to maintain their heroic underdog status. So yeah... I gave in. I thought I'd order a few of the bootleg Seekers. And "a few" somehow ended up being eight.
We'll start by looking at these three purple jets. Three identical toys designed to represent the many background cannon fodder Seekers that frequently appeared in the television series, often (as seen in the graphic to the right) sporting purple colour schemes.
The three of them started out identical, but have been given a touch of uniqueness (important for generic characters!) with some Reprolabels. |
Picture from. TFWiki.com.
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Reprolabels has two different sets of six stickers available of chrome Jet stickers, and I ordered one of each of these sets to get some options to play with to augment my various bootleg Seekers. This definitely improved their esthetic. They do have some painted on detail, but without the stickers they do look somewhat plain. Unlike more reputable third party products, the makers of these guys had no problems including Decepticon logos on the wings of these guys, but the stickers I have placed over them look so much better.
For all of these bootleg Seekers, the plastic feels significantly cheaper when you handle them, the pieces aren't fitted together quite as well as on the official offerings, some joints are exceptionally loose while others are exceptionally tight, and the paint applications there are are sometimes rather sloppy. If these were official toys, I would never stand for it. As bootlegs that originally cost about the same or more then what the Hasbro ones retailed for, I would never stand for it. As bootlegs I got on sale because the website selling them wanted to get rid of them fast... well, they're still somewhat underwhelming.
They look nice if you don't get too close, and look better with the stickers helping them out, but that's about all I can say. They can be frustrating to handle sometimes, because when you transform them sometimes things don't quite do what you expect them to, and even if all does go well you can't escape the persistent feeling that if you're not extra careful, these things might fall apart in your hands.
Up until the point where I wrote this review, I had not yet had any such fears become reality with any of these figures. However, when shooting the photos for this review, one of the above purple generics had a slight break occur. When trying to get the foot to fold down as far as it it supposed to for robot mode, I heard a small snapping sound, and then observed a small crack in the plastic around the metal pin that holds that joint together. It is not (yet) a debilitating injury, as the joint is still holding together. Hopefully with some slight care this crack shouldn't get worse. Sadly, as we shall see, this wasn't the worst I was about to suffer.
They look nice if you don't get too close, and look better with the stickers helping them out, but that's about all I can say. They can be frustrating to handle sometimes, because when you transform them sometimes things don't quite do what you expect them to, and even if all does go well you can't escape the persistent feeling that if you're not extra careful, these things might fall apart in your hands.
Up until the point where I wrote this review, I had not yet had any such fears become reality with any of these figures. However, when shooting the photos for this review, one of the above purple generics had a slight break occur. When trying to get the foot to fold down as far as it it supposed to for robot mode, I heard a small snapping sound, and then observed a small crack in the plastic around the metal pin that holds that joint together. It is not (yet) a debilitating injury, as the joint is still holding together. Hopefully with some slight care this crack shouldn't get worse. Sadly, as we shall see, this wasn't the worst I was about to suffer.
The next trio we are looking at is a rather distinctive set based on a trio of Decepticon Seekers seen in an episode of the original G1 television show titled Divide and Conquer. They have collectively become known as the Rainmakers, due to their abilities to produce acid rain. Only one of them has even been officially given an individual name, the green one is called Acid Storm. I have decided to dub the other two as Acid Wash (the blue one) and Acid Trip (the yellow one). Acid Storm did, I must admit, get an official toy using this mold. I didn't get it when it came out as (a) it was a character that seemed silly as an individual rather then as part of the trio, and (b) the deco Hasbro gave it was so far removed from the one seen in the television show so as to make it not really resemble who he was supposed to be, anyway. Still, this does leave me with some slight, "I hate bootlegs!" based guilt, and I think karma was about to hit...
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Picture from TFWiki.com.
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Overall, not bad. If we ignore the fact that the Rainmakers never were presented in fiction with Earth based alt-modes (instead still having their Cybertronian "tetrajet" alt modes that even the main Seeker characters sported prior to coming to Earth) then these guys look like decent representations. There's some additional colour added to break things up a bit, but they look like who they are supposed to be. Again, this is helped by the Reprolabels. Even though I am somewhat sure that the design of the stickers predate the release of these bootlegs, based on the colouring of some of them it seemed clear that Reprolabels had in mind people who might want to create their own custom Rainmakers.
Then, I transformed them to take the robot mode photos for this review... and... well... I suppose I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Then, I transformed them to take the robot mode photos for this review... and... well... I suppose I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
To say I was disappointed in this development would be... putting it mildly. I cannot say I've never had an official Hasbro toy break on me... but this was a different feeling. When an official toy breaks, since I don't really abuse my toys I suppose the blame feels more externally placed. "Wow, Hasbro should have designed this better! Aaaah! Rage!" In this case, though, the blame felt somewhat more internal. "Well, what do you expect when you buy a crappy, cheap feeling bootleg? Hell, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner."
I'll eventually pick up some sort of bonding material to attempt a repair. (A proper, not adhesive tape based repair, that is.) But the break was on a piece that will continue to be stressed each time the figure is transformed, so I'm not sure how well it would take. Worst case scenario, I suppose Acid Storm is permanently stuck in robot mode. Ah, well.
Two more to go!
I'll eventually pick up some sort of bonding material to attempt a repair. (A proper, not adhesive tape based repair, that is.) But the break was on a piece that will continue to be stressed each time the figure is transformed, so I'm not sure how well it would take. Worst case scenario, I suppose Acid Storm is permanently stuck in robot mode. Ah, well.
Two more to go!
Sunstorm is a character with an interesting history. He started out as another nameless generic in the background, not even being the most prominent one in his brief appearance behind and to the left of a purple generic. No dialogue. No name. Just a few seconds on a screen shooting at stuff, and that was it.
Then, in 2003, nearly two decades later, Japanese online retailer e-HOBBY decided to use this character's deco on a recolour of Starscream's original G1 mold and released it as an exclusive toy named Sunstorm. Floodgates open, the character soon made appearances on other toys, in comic books, and in at least one video game. Heck, Takara is coming out with a Masterpiece Sunstorm soon! Not bad for two-second-no-name-background guy. |
Picture from TFWiki.com.
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I'm actually kind of surprised Hasbro hasn't done a Sunstorm using the Classics Seeker mold, not even as a convention exclusive. If one ever was made for general retail release, I would definitely make it a point to get one. For now, though, one of the last two we will look at today is a bootleg coloured to be him. The other we will look at now is no one in particular, just a black, grey, and gold version of the mold that I thought looked cool.
I was originally hoping to take group photos of all of the Seekers to close the review with, but I suppose the will to do so drained away after Acid Rain's mishap. So instead I shall substitute in this group shot I already had of my season one Decepticons. (I suppose, technically, the Autoscout was from season two...) For seekers, we have Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and finally pre‑Reprolabeled versions of all of the bootlegs.
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Also in the above photo, Voyager Class Megatron, Soundwave and his minions, and Reflector.
The official Hasbro offerings, I love them and am happy to recommend them. The bootlegs... not so much. Overall, I cannot not recommend them. I suppose if all you want them to do is stand there and fill out your Decepticon ranks, they'd be okay... But try to find them cheap (not always easy, alas), be prepared to be frustrated at their lack of quality, be careful handling them, and try not too get to upset if and when they break. So yeah, I went to the dark side briefly and picked up some bootlegs. But in the end, they didn't really change my feelings on such products and I feel most unlikely to ever do such a thing again.
Review added 16 June 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment!
The official Hasbro offerings, I love them and am happy to recommend them. The bootlegs... not so much. Overall, I cannot not recommend them. I suppose if all you want them to do is stand there and fill out your Decepticon ranks, they'd be okay... But try to find them cheap (not always easy, alas), be prepared to be frustrated at their lack of quality, be careful handling them, and try not too get to upset if and when they break. So yeah, I went to the dark side briefly and picked up some bootlegs. But in the end, they didn't really change my feelings on such products and I feel most unlikely to ever do such a thing again.
Review added 16 June 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment!