Toy Review: Transformers Generations Legacy United Sandstorm (Leader)

Review:  #803

Name:  Sandstorm

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Legacy: United

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Leader (Wave 2)

Mold Status:  new

HELICOPTER MODE:

Sandstorm, based on his G1 design, transforms into an orange and black helicopter.

This is a really good helicopter mode, especially when you consider that he is a triple-changer.  There is basically no vehicular elements present, it's really impressive.

While sold as a Leader classed figure, he is only slightly larger than a Voyager figure.  He makes it for it with some added complexity to his transformation scheme, so he feels more dense.

It's only when you look underneath that you can see elements that betray he is a triple-changer.

His main gimmick is having three modes, but there are small plastic wheels that allow him to roll on a flat surface (kinda as the "front" wheels are the vehicle's wheels which doesn't quite work in this mode) and the rotors which rotate.

The two robot weapons can peg to either side for storage.

The figure comes with a cage, complete with a working winch.  This can be plugged underneath the helicopter mode, and if you have a Transformers stand (like from the Masterpiece figures), then he features a slot for that too.

An excellent helicopter mode, and it is surprising at how good it is.

TRANSFORMATION (TO VEHICLE MODE):

This part is where you realise how they were able to manage to get such a good helicopter mode, basically because he is a shellformer.  The helicopter is mostly panels that will fold away.  The majority of the back folds on top of the front, and then you flip the figure upside down.  Unfold the wheels to the sides and then realign a few other panels, such as the windshield and roof, and you're done.

VEHICLE MODE:

Sandstorm second alternate mode is an off-road buggy, and... it's definitely not as good as the helicopter mode.  This mode suffers the most and has the most compromises.

The back isn't that much better either, given you can see halves of the helicopter's cockpit, as well as the tail rotor, which tries to pass itself off (unconvincingly) as a spoiler.

Size-wise, he stretches out a bit here and is bigger than a Voyager, but there are more hollow areas compared to the helicopter mode, which was very compact.

In terms of where some of the robot accessories go, part of the cage (the part with the bars) is removable from his back, but the buggy looks better with it.  The grey plastic piece can peg onto the bottom of the vehicle.

From the side, you can tell how heavily compromised this mode is.  The vehicle looks like a mess, and doesn't gel together properly.

The gun can peg on top of the cage for storage.  Of note, while the wheels aren't quite rubberized plastic, they are close as they are softer than normal plastic.

This is not a good mode, but you will give it a bit of leeway given it is a triple changer, and usually, one mode has to suffer.

TRANSFORMATION (TO ROBOT MODE):

Considering he's a triple changer, he isn't actually that hard. The front splits into two, and extends to form his legs.  The sides are his arms, and then you just flip the head up from beneath the windshield.  Most of the complexity is going from buggy to helicopter, as most of the helicopter is already folded away in buggy mode, ready for robot mode.

ROBOT MODE:

Sandstorm's robot mode is another mode where it is compromised for the sake of bring a triple changer.  At first glance, he isn't too bad and to be fair, it is fairly decent.

However, he has pretty much all of the helicopter mode folded up on his back, creating a very decently sized backpack, which is as awkward as it looks.

The head sculpt feels very G1, it's big and blocky.

He isn't very tall in robot mode, in fact, he's shorter (when you compare to the height up to his head) than a typical Voyager.

Articulation is okay, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a fair few accessories, including two guns, and a cage.

The grey gun can peg onto the outside of either forearm, which looks pretty good there.

While the bigger black gun can be held in either hand.

There is a design flaw with the figure that should be noticed, and that is his chest assembly, which includes the shoulders, does not stay pegged well, so it will constantly come loose and detach.  This is quite annoying since it'll detach whenever you want to move his arms.

Finally, the cage can be held in his hand, it looks okay, and you can kind of store it on his back if you don't want to use it via the 5mm peg.

A decent robot mode, but one that can definitely be improved upon, at the very least, fixing the loose torso assembly.

OVERALL:

Sandstorm is a nice figure.  He has a lot of flaws, particularly surrounding his buggy mode and robot mode.  The helicopter mode is frankly, amazing, while the buggy is heavily compromised, and the robot mode is passable.  There's just a bit too much kibble on his backpack for it to be good though.

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Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2 (2022)

The second part of Attack on Titan: The Final Season is 12 episodes long. It begins straight after the previous season, and you get two full episodes of fighting. While it is not quite the same desperate battles of the characters against the titans you still get big titan on titan action. Although with the advancement in tech and the introduction of more contemporary weapons, it’s lost a lot of its charms.

However, the fighting is secondary to the plot given that Eren is on the cusp of something big and important. There are still too many things that we don’t know about, and the season continues the trend of cutting off from the present day or the current scene to do some exposition. It’s not ideal, and what we find out wouldn’t blow your mind. One thing though is that the anime continues to give you some incredibly tense moments and cruel surprises. The fate that befalls some characters will leave you speechless, although you suspect that there might be one or two ways out of it.

As the viewer, you also feel the same frustrations as many of the characters. People whom you had trusted flipped around to betray you. With the invasion by an outside force, you now must make the decision on whether to help that very traitor to protect your city. Making it even more complicated are that it is not black and white. Every person has their own, often understandable, reason for fighting. It’s only really Zeke and Eren that are either still shrouded in mystery or have irrational reasonings.

Part 2 has some crazy developments. For better or worse, the anime keeps a lot of things in the dark and even when it explains things, it doesn’t explain everything at once, leaving a lot unsaid. This allows unexpected developments and plans nested within plans. It doesn’t get to the point of being too confusing or ridiculous, but it gets close. You’ll get things where Eren is portrayed as morally grey and even eventually becomes the villain, with some retcons coming out of the blue.

Another good thing the anime does it evoke emotions from the viewer from things such as characters doing all they can to do something that might not be the right thing. Even when you don’t fully understand their motivations, enough is show that you still feel some sort of support, such as Annie from the first season. There are idealistic themes being portrayed here about family and bonds.

Part 2 continues with the slow pacing that is interspersed with significant movements in the plot. Progress feels deliberate and meaningful. You know and feel that the story is heading towards its ending, and it makes you wonder how it can possibly end with all sides satisfied. It builds into the iconic scenes of giant titans walking in the background giving a chilling feel like the apocalypse is arriving, and it is.

Characters are a bit scattered, but the various groups and factions are slowly converging to a single point. Due to both sides hating against each other, understandably, given the situations when they were growing up, there is extra significance when the characters being to slowly set aside their differences. They don’t forgive each other, but at least they respect and see each other’s perspectives, which is an impressive thing to do. Characters are shown to constantly make extremely tough decision that you can see that it hurts them physically. They are backed into a corner and are forced to do what they must to survive and move forward.

The season finale has high stakes for its battles, so all the characters on both sides are giving it their all to protect and achieve what they believe in. the sad part is that you can understand the reasoning on both sides, and it is hard to pick one to win. You know which side will win of course, but it is still tough to see characters die, seemingly when they didn’t have to. It truly highlights the lack of a distinct right or wrong between the two factions.

The constant flashbacks are not great for storytelling pacing purposes. It’s kind of annoying when the last episode is dedicated as such, but it somewhat finally bridges the gaps in the events. By the end of this part, we have seen the whole process from start to finish and there shouldn’t be any gaps of knowledge left.

Overall, Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2 is good. It can be somewhat slow in the middle but not largely so. Part 2 is bookended by some great titan appearances and battles, particularly the one that is towards the end of the season. These battles feel meaningful and isn’t battling for the sake of action. The finale showing the destructive power and impending doom from the titans is impressive and felt like what the series was building up towards.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Shockwave (Bumblebee) (Voyager)

Review:  #802

Name:  Shockwave

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Voyager (Wave 24)

Mold Status:  new

TANK MODE:

Shockwave, based upon his (short) appearance in the beginning of the Bumblebee movie, transforms into a Cybertronian tank.

This is a "H" tank, which is usually quite lazy for a Transformer.  This is also not a great tank mode because you can clearly tell most, if not all, of the focus went into robot mode as it's quite gappy and sloppy here.

However, Shockwave is big for a Voyager, although in tank mode due to how it is the robot mode spread out, he's not as heavy as he looks.

There are small plastic wheels at the bottom to allow him to roll on flat surfaces.

The turret / cannon can rotate, although it only had a range of around 180 degrees due to the plastic hose attached between it and the back of the bank.

The hose is a soft rubbery plastic, so it probably will eventually disintegrate.

The front of the tank is the robot legs and no effort has been made to make it look more like a tank...

This is only a barely passable tank mode, which is too flat and too elongated.

TRANSFORMATION:

The transformation scheme is heavily inspired by the Core figure, but with a few new extra steps allowed by the much bigger size.  The front are the legs and contains his torso.  The back are his arms, and the turret itself is the gun that pegs onto the arm.

ROBOT MODE:

Okay, this is where the figure really shines.  The robot mode is amazing in almost every aspect.

His left arm is a cannon, as per usual for the character, with the plastic tube attaching to his back.

The head sculpt is nice and in a rarity these days, he even contains some lightpiping.

Another impressive aspect is how big he is for a Voyager.  He towers over most Voyager figures, and is approximately the height of contemporary Leaders now.  Of course, he isn't as mass heavy as a Leader figure but he's no slouch either.

The cannon is removable, he actually has both hands.

A quick comparison with his Core class version and of course, this Voyager version is nicer with the additional budget his larger size allows.

Articulation is good, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a cardboard stand depicting a scene from the beginning of the Bumblebee movie.

He doesn't have any other accessories, so his (huge) cannon is the only weapon that he has.

The only flaw the figure has is that the design has his thighs / legs being proportionally slightly too long, so that it can look a little bit off.

Otherwise, this is a fantastic robot mode that's more than worth the price of admission.

OVERALL:

No one really asked for a Core version of this character, so it is welcome that a Voyager sized version was released.  While having a subpar alternate mode, the robot mode more than makes up for it and it is fantastic.  He looks awesome and he feels very much worth his price point given his size.

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