New Toy Galleries: Pretenders Metalhawk, Lander, Diver, Phoenix, Blood, Dauros and Gilmer!
Monday, February 21st, 2011 3:54AM CST
Categories: Site News, Toy NewsPosted by: Blurrz Views: 55,022
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Metalhawk is the commander of the Autobot Pretenders. The appropriately named Diver is a sea-based Pretender, who transforms into a submarine. Lander is the group`s land-based tactician, and armed to the teeth. Lastly, Phoenix is the Autobot`s flier and communican officer, and is oddly armed with a... whip?
On the other side of the field are the Decepticons. First off is Blood, a flier and bat-faced Pretender. Dauros is a transforming tank, and is also the basis of the newly released Generations Skullgrin. Lastly, we have the fish monster, Gilmer! Check out what's beneath each Pretender shell by clicking the links or pictures below!
Metalhawk
Diver
Lander
Phoenix
Blood
Dauros
Gilmer
Keep it at Seibertron.com for more galleries and the fastest Transformers news on the net!
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Posted by Rated X on February 21st, 2011 @ 7:27am CST
By the way, nice galleries Ryan !!!
Posted by fenrir72 on February 21st, 2011 @ 8:08am CST
Posted by xtsaur on February 21st, 2011 @ 8:42am CST
Posted by amtm on February 21st, 2011 @ 9:18am CST
xtsaur wrote:Pretenders... the bane of the Transformers. What a terrible idea in my opinion. For all the love i have for the Transformers Movies why they put "Alice" in still boggles my mind to this day.
Agree. When I got Pretenders as a kid, I was like, "What? These aren't Transformers!" I saw the Transformers logo on the box. But I couldn't believe it.
Posted by cannonfodder4000 on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:02am CST
amtm wrote:xtsaur wrote:Pretenders... the bane of the Transformers. What a terrible idea in my opinion. For all the love i have for the Transformers Movies why they put "Alice" in still boggles my mind to this day.
Agree. When I got Pretenders as a kid, I was like, "What? These aren't Transformers!" I saw the Transformers logo on the box. But I couldn't believe it.
Hey, look at the bright side, at least it gave us Bludgeon!
Posted by NemesisScourge on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:13am CST
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:32am CST
NemesisScourge wrote:You've got Waverider listed as Wildrider. : X. Just a friendly heads up.
Here's a little bit of trivia, Waverider was the only Pretender to have a minor difference when released in Japan. US Waverider has blonde hair, while JP Diver has brown hair. The rest are all completely the same.
Posted by Quaternion on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:37am CST
I just realized that had Lander as a kid but I completely forgot about it. It feels really eerie deja vu when new galleries pop up and then a bunch of memories of that figure just come flashing back to me. But then again, I suppose Lander was a rather forgettable figure.
Posted by Noideaforaname on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:59am CST
Hey, it's these guys. And Skullgrin.
And with Bludgeon, Thunderwing, and Alice, we've been getting a lot of Pretender references lately.
...Just without the Pretender concept (except for Alice, but she didn't get a toy).
Here's hoping for more.
Posted by fenrir72 on February 21st, 2011 @ 11:08am CST
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 11:20am CST
NemesisScourge wrote:You've got Waverider listed as Wildrider. : X. Just a friendly heads up.
Fixed. Thanks!
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 11:21am CST
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:NemesisScourge wrote:You've got Waverider listed as Wildrider. : X. Just a friendly heads up.
Here's a little bit of trivia, Waverider was the only Pretender to have a minor difference when released in Japan. US Waverider has blonde hair, while JP Diver has brown hair. The rest are all completely the same.
That's what I always thought until I had my American Landmine alongside my Japanese Lander. There's definitely something different going on with the paint applications for his eyes, unless I just have an odd variation. In that case, I'd like to know which one is the variant. My Japanese version uses less paint application for the eyes and eyebrows than the American version.
Any other variations that you see in this photo is just me playing around with my new camera. The image on the left is with the correct settings, the image on the right has a bluish tint to it.
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 11:37am CST
It also didn't help that before I discovered the Internet, I had found a dealer at the Motor City Comic-Con in Novi, MI that was selling bootleg tapes. He had a Masterforce tape playing on the small TV he had on display. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Japanese cartoons of Pretenders and Powermasters. Unbelievable! The cartoons didn't end, just in America! I bought a couple of the bootleg tapes and quickly became obsessed with finding out as much information as I could about the Japanese cartoons and their exclusive toys. The video tapes I bought were a collection of early Masterforce episodes and some Victory episodes spliced in between. I was quite simply in awe watching animated cartoons of the Pretenders. It was very fascinating to me!
Without having the Internet at the time to read about this stuff, the next year was a pretty wild year of discovery for me about the Transformers. I think that year might have been one of my favorites of the 26/27 years I've been a fan. You couldn't duplicate that year in today's world because of sites like Seibertron.com, YouTube.com, Wikipedia, and events like BotCon. It was a rather priceless and dated moment in my life that eventually lead to the Transformers fanzine (Trans-Forum) that I did from 1996 to 2000 and to Seibertron.com which launched in 2000.
I've wanted to do these galleries for the past 7 years. The fact that it took me 7 years to do galleries of 6 of my personal favorite Transformers demonstrates that I don't take pictures of toys that are only of interest to me. Reflector and the Technobots are another example of more Transformers that I can't wait to do galleries for.
Posted by Solrac333 on February 21st, 2011 @ 11:46am CST
Posted by Gauntlet101010 on February 21st, 2011 @ 12:30pm CST
omega666 wrote:This proves you can slap a faction symbol on anything and it will be called "Transformers".
That's more a comment for Actionmasters. The inner robots of these guys still transform.
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 1:09pm CST
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on February 21st, 2011 @ 1:49pm CST
Seibertron wrote:FYI ... it's going to be all out Pretenders for a little bit. I'm working on finishing up the galleries for Finback, Groundbreaker, Splashdown, Iguanus, Bugly, and Sky High right now. I also finished taking the photos for Thunderwing, Crossblades, and Vroom over the weekend.
That's great! Speaking of Pretenders, have you managed to get your hands on their Crossformers cousins, Black Shadow and Blue Bacchus?
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 2:18pm CST
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Seibertron wrote:FYI ... it's going to be all out Pretenders for a little bit. I'm working on finishing up the galleries for Finback, Groundbreaker, Splashdown, Iguanus, Bugly, and Sky High right now. I also finished taking the photos for Thunderwing, Crossblades, and Vroom over the weekend.
That's great! Speaking of Pretenders, have you managed to get your hands on their Crossformers cousins, Black Shadow and Blue Bacchus?
Unfortunately I have not yet. Been watching for a good deal on eBay for a few years now but haven't had the right ones in the right condition show up for the right price yet. One day.
Posted by MGrotusque on February 21st, 2011 @ 2:28pm CST
Seibertron wrote:FYI ... it's going to be all out Pretenders for a little bit. I'm working on finishing up the galleries for Finback, Groundbreaker, Splashdown, Iguanus, Bugly, and Sky High right now. I also finished taking the photos for Thunderwing, Crossblades, and Vroom over the weekend.
Glad to hear it. With all the Pretender hate out there I'm sure people will have plenty of negative comments for each gallery as they pop up.
It's giving me a chuckle at how pumped you are for Pretenders. A TF line i've never heard anyone ever say a good thing about (me being one of em) and your going all out with the galleries. Just now finally giving the figures you love the attention they deserve.
Good on ya.
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 2:39pm CST
monstergrotusque wrote:Glad to hear it. With all the Pretender hate out there I'm sure people will have plenty of negative comments for each gallery as they pop up.
I'm sure there will be. As a Transformers collector that buys just about everything out there, I don't discriminate. The Pretenders will get just as much love as the upcoming DOTM Sentinel Prime and Leader class Ironhide.
monstergrotusque wrote:It's giving me a chuckle at how pumped you are for Pretenders. A TF line i've never heard anyone ever say a good thing about (me being one of em) and your going all out with the galleries. Just now finally giving the figures you love the attention they deserve.
Good on ya.
Hopefully their moment in the spotlight here on Seibertron.com will give me an opportunity to take a second look at these unique Transformers toys. The concept must not be too out there since we got Alice in ROTF. I think, done right, that the Pretenders is one of those concepts that we'll get at some point again. The appeal of having two action figures in one is too tempting in my opinion.
Posted by Blurrz on February 21st, 2011 @ 3:40pm CST
Posted by Galvatron X on February 21st, 2011 @ 4:56pm CST
Yeah, I still think they're God-awful, lol, but I really like 'em for some reason. Partly because of nostalgia and partly because they're just so friggin' over-the-top.
NIce galleries, Ryan!
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 5:16pm CST
Energon Is My Drug wrote:I used to hate Pretenders until I got my hands on a G1 Crossblades.
Yeah, I still think they're God-awful, lol, but I really like 'em for some reason. Partly because of nostalgia and partly because they're just so friggin' over-the-top.
NIce galleries, Ryan!
Crossblades is my new current favorite, especially after fixing his yellowing with some hydrogen peroxide bath over the course of a week.
Posted by NTESHFT on February 21st, 2011 @ 6:21pm CST
Posted by DISCHARGE on February 21st, 2011 @ 8:12pm CST
Ohh, Metalhawk
Posted by Amelie on February 21st, 2011 @ 9:39pm CST
Posted by GetRightRobot on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:11pm CST
Seibertron wrote:The original Pretenders are 6 of my all-time favorite Transformers toys, even to this day. I don't know why I have such affection for those guys, but I do. Maybe it's because my Mom wouldn't let me buy Fortress Maximus at the time because she thought it was too much money for one toy so instead I ended up buying the wave 1 1988 Pretenders. They were featured pretty heavily in the American comics. There was just something about them that I loved.
It also didn't help that before I discovered the Internet, I had found a dealer at the Motor City Comic-Con in Novi, MI that was selling bootleg tapes. He had a Masterforce tape playing on the small TV he had on display. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Japanese cartoons of Pretenders and Powermasters. Unbelievable! The cartoons didn't end, just in America! I bought a couple of the bootleg tapes and quickly became obsessed with finding out as much information as I could about the Japanese cartoons and their exclusive toys. The video tapes I bought were a collection of early Masterforce episodes and some Victory episodes spliced in between. I was quite simply in awe watching animated cartoons of the Pretenders. It was very fascinating to me!
Without having the Internet at the time to read about this stuff, the next year was a pretty wild year of discovery for me about the Transformers. I think that year might have been one of my favorites of the 26/27 years I've been a fan. You couldn't duplicate that year in today's world because of sites like Seibertron.com, YouTube.com, Wikipedia, and events like BotCon. It was a rather priceless and dated moment in my life that eventually lead to the Transformers fanzine (Trans-Forum) that I did from 1996 to 2000 and to Seibertron.com which launched in 2000.
I've wanted to do these galleries for the past 7 years. The fact that it took me 7 years to do galleries of 6 of my personal favorite Transformers demonstrates that I don't take pictures of toys that are only of interest to me. Reflector and the Technobots are another example of more Transformers that I can't wait to do galleries for.
Hey man, I'm with you, just a little behind. I started collecting about 5 years ago heavy. When R.I.D. came out, I went on a rampage digging out old toys. A few years later I found Ebay. As I learned more than I knew as a child fan, I "discovered" that some of the really cool toys I had as a kid that were not in the cartoons, actually WERE in cartoons in Japan (Like Powermaster Prime, Waverider, and Dreadwind)! I was at Megacon in Orlando in 20069on a total whim), and saw bootleg DVD's of Victory, Masterforce and Zone. I bought 'em and realized I had practically zero exposure to the bigger Transformers picture. It was a fun time to constantly make connections to series and figures. I love the obscure, not so popular toys. Personally, I have a very soft spot for Micromasters. I grew up with Micromachines mixed into my Transformers battles so now I just love the little guys. Anyway, I feel ya homie, I feel ya.
Posted by Optimutt on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:24pm CST
Quick questions in regards to Crossblades - how exactly did you lighten his colors? Did you actually soak the whole toy in hydrogen proxide for a whole week? Does that work on any TF? Have you tried it on G1 Jetfire, who is a notoriously bad yellower?
Posted by Seibertron on February 21st, 2011 @ 10:43pm CST
Optimutt wrote:Great galleries, as usual, Ryan! I'm with many others here in that the pretenders definitely have a place in my heart. I had T-Wing, Landmine, Grimlock, Starscream, and the 4 air and land 'con Pretenders and all are a whole lot of fun despite their simplicity.
Quick questions in regards to Crossblades - how exactly did you lighten his colors? Did you actually soak the whole toy in hydrogen proxide for a whole week? Does that work on any TF? Have you tried it on G1 Jetfire, who is a notoriously bad yellower?
Thanks for the compliments about the galleries guys.
Apparently it works on any of the plastic that has yellowed. I submerged the entire shell and mini-robot in a clear container of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (which you can buy at just about any store -- it's just regular Hydrogen Peroxide) for a week next to a window that gets the most sun every day in my house. I started to notice a difference after a few days, but left it for an entire week since I didn't notice any damage happening. There are a lot of different theories about how it gets fixed, but if you read about the science behind it ... you'll realize all you need is hydrogen peroxide and some ultra violet light to reverse the yellowing caused by the bromine gas used in the fire retardant that's in the plastic.
Here's the science behind fixing your yellowed Transformers: http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Ultra+Violet+Energy
I didn't make the retr0bright, I just used regular ol Hydrogen Peroxide in a clear container that sat in the sun. Please note that it will slightly rust the metal screws or diecast pieces. You should either take a figure like Jetfire apart OR make that Retr0bright stuff so that you only have to apply it to the pieces that need it. Let us know how things turn out for you!
Or maybe that CLR you can get at the store would fix the rust on the metal pieces. Hmm ...
Posted by El Duque on February 21st, 2011 @ 11:29pm CST
I think the Pretender concept could be reborn. I would like to see it in reverse. The Transformers could have synthetic human bodies they could either download themselves into or remotely control allowing them to interact with humans undetected. The toys would essentially be human alliance figures though, which could be a good thing I guess.
Posted by MGrotusque on February 22nd, 2011 @ 1:53am CST
I totally forget the name and just remembered it now.
Maybe i'll buy it and post the results if they're positive.
Oh....and as for the retrObright formula. You just need to add a laundry booster to the H2O2 to power up the solution so you get the desired results in just a day instead of a a few. Borax is cheap, natural and is safe to add to H2O2 as a booster.
Posted by The Legend on February 22nd, 2011 @ 9:09am CST
El Duque wrote:Great galleries as always. I find these particularly helpful since the Pretenders are the current G1 figures I'm collecting. Right now I only have Skullgrin, Bludgeon, and the Monstructor crew.
I love Pretenders too. I'll be putting mine on eBay in the next few weeks if you're looking for a chance to get Metalhawk and the others.
Posted by Razorclaw0000 on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:07pm CST
Bugly
Iguanus
Finback
Groundbreaker
Sky High
Slashdown
Keep your optics locked on Seibertron.com for galleries of Thunderwing, Crossblades, and many more in our quest for 2,500 galleries in 2011!
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:18pm CST
Now to decide between finishing the galleries up for the Hasbro and Takara Tomy Masterpiece Grimlocks or the G1 Mega Pretenders. Hmm ...
Posted by Razorclaw0000 on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:28pm CST
Also, do you have the beast Pretenders, like Snarler and Catilla?
I had Groundbreaker and Iguanus as a kid and really loved them.
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:43pm CST
Razorclaw0000 wrote:Mega Pretenders!
Also, do you have the beast Pretenders, like Snarler and Catilla?
I had Groundbreaker and Iguanus as a kid and really loved them.
Snarler, Catilla, Carnivac, and Chainclaw are some of the older galleries on the site.
Posted by Blurrz on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:45pm CST
Posted by It Is Him on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:45pm CST
I've been reluctant to buy anymore Pretenders. Nearly half the ones from my childhood have spotting (like in Bugly's gallery) and sticky, melty paint. They're kinda gross to touch and look at. The only ones that managed to avoid it are the small 1989 Pretenders (Bludgeon, Pincher, etc.). It's all Florida's fault.
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:46pm CST
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 3:51pm CST
It Is Him wrote:Mega Pretenders.
I've been reluctant to buy anymore Pretenders. Nearly half the ones from my childhood have spotting (like in Bugly's gallery) and sticky, melty paint. They're kinda gross to touch and look at. The only ones that managed to avoid it are the small 1989 Pretenders (Bludgeon, Pincher, etc.). It's all Florida's fault.
Hot soapy water did wonders for the "sticky" feeling that the Pretender shells had. I put some dish soap on the toy, rubbed the soap in with my hands, and then rinsed them off with hot water. Took care of the problem! It was just a sticky film that formed on the shells which washed off with the soap and water.
I have a feeling that the "spotting" is the same problem as the yellowing. I bet that's just the bromine gas from the fire retardant in the plastic that's coming to the surface, or collecting beneath the surface. I bet a hydrogen peroxide bath for a week or so with some UV light would take care of that problem as well. Going to have to experiment on my extra Waverider and Skullgrin in the near future.
Posted by It Is Him on February 22nd, 2011 @ 4:01pm CST
Seibertron wrote:It Is Him wrote:Mega Pretenders.
I've been reluctant to buy anymore Pretenders. Nearly half the ones from my childhood have spotting (like in Bugly's gallery) and sticky, melty paint. They're kinda gross to touch and look at. The only ones that managed to avoid it are the small 1989 Pretenders (Bludgeon, Pincher, etc.). It's all Florida's fault.
Hot soapy water did wonders for the "sticky" feeling that the Pretender shells had. I put some dish soap on the toy, rubbed the soap in with my hands, and then rinsed them off with hot water. Took care of the problem!
I have a feeling that the "spotting" is the same problem as the yellowing. I bet that's just the bromine gas from the fire retardant in the plastic that's coming to the surface, or collecting beneath the surface. I bet a hydrogen peroxide bath for a week or so with some UV light would take care of that problem as well. Going to have to experiment on my extra Waverider and Skullgrin in the near future.
That's excellent! I'll have to try the soap trick next time I pull them out of storage. Hydrogen Peroxide baths are a little too extreme in my case. I'd rather live with yellowing than risk melting my toy.
Speaking of fixes, I just heard about the hair dryer trick to fix stress marks. I don't know if you've tried it, but it worked wonders on my Blitzwing's wing tip after he fell off the top of my shelves. The hair dryer isn't a 100% fix, but the stress mark is nearly impossible to see now. And strangely, his wing leg that wasn't very good at catching in place, now works flawlessly. Go figure.
Posted by Razorclaw0000 on February 22nd, 2011 @ 4:01pm CST
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 4:21pm CST
It Is Him wrote:That's excellent! I'll have to try the soap trick next time I pull them out of storage. Hydrogen Peroxide baths are a little too extreme in my case. I'd rather live with yellowing than risk melting my toy.
Hydrogen Peroxide, especially the 3% solution that you can get at any store like Walgreens, Target, Walmart, etc, shouldn't melt the plastic. I don't even think the 30%+ stuff would do that. Here's what a 3% H2O2 bath did for my Crossblades that sit next to a window for a week.
It Is Him wrote:Speaking of fixes, I just heard about the hair dryer trick to fix stress marks. I don't know if you've tried it, but it worked wonders on my Blitzwing's wing tip after he fell off the top of my shelves. The hair dryer isn't a 100% fix, but the stress mark is nearly impossible to see now. And strangely, his wing leg that wasn't very good at catching in place, now works flawlessly. Go figure.
Hm ... i'll have to give this a try. I'm having the stressmark problem with the small wing tips on my Masterpiece Seekers from being in storage. Not sure how to store their wings without damaging them or without putting them back in their boxes.
Posted by Dr. Caelus on February 22nd, 2011 @ 4:28pm CST
Noideaforaname wrote:
Hey, it's these guys. And Skullgrin.
And with Bludgeon, Thunderwing, and Alice, we've been getting a lot of Pretender references lately.
...Just without the Pretender concept (except for Alice, but she didn't get a toy).
Here's hoping for more.
I don't know why everyone refers to Alice as a Pretender - she's much more like a Predacon, or maybe like Animated Sari. If you take into account her off-screen back story she's really just a normal Decepticon.
Really, I like the Japanese version with mass-shifting pretenders (why not? If the two techs are there, why wouldn't you combine them?) and the IDW version with the pretender suits being essentially Mjolnir or Iron-Man armor for Transformers. It's just the G1 Marvel version that got silly.
I also really thought they should have availed themselves of the opportunity to include a Transformer that turned into a human during Beast Wars. The second & third season set up the possibility rather well. In fact, the fuzor-gimmick in Beast Wars would have allowed for some human/animal hybrid alternate modes, many of which might look remarkably similar to some of the Pretender shells. And gee, if you add in the Transmetal gimmick, you could have robots organic-looking robots that change into armored mythological creatures (e.g. armored lizard-man fuzor) and quasi-vehicles (e.g. transmetal motorcycle). You could basically hit all the gimmicks of Beast Wars and highlights of the Pretender genre without the cheap Pretender shells.
Posted by It Is Him on February 22nd, 2011 @ 5:25pm CST
Seibertron wrote:It Is Him wrote:That's excellent! I'll have to try the soap trick next time I pull them out of storage. Hydrogen Peroxide baths are a little too extreme in my case. I'd rather live with yellowing than risk melting my toy.
Hydrogen Peroxide, especially the 3% solution that you can get at any store like Walgreens, Target, Walmart, etc, shouldn't melt the plastic. I don't even think the 30%+ stuff would do that. Here's what a 3% H2O2 bath did for my Crossblades that sit next to a window for a week.
That's pretty amazing. You know, my beat up G1 Jetfire could definitely use an H202 bath, and I don't think I would mind if I accidentally ruin it, even if it is that rare sticker variant. I'll have to think about it some more.
Seibertron wrote:It Is Him wrote:Speaking of fixes, I just heard about the hair dryer trick to fix stress marks. I don't know if you've tried it, but it worked wonders on my Blitzwing's wing tip after he fell off the top of my shelves. The hair dryer isn't a 100% fix, but the stress mark is nearly impossible to see now. And strangely, his wing leg that wasn't very good at catching in place, now works flawlessly. Go figure.
Hm ... i'll have to give this a try. I'm having the stressmark problem with the small wing tips on my Masterpiece Seekers from being in storage. Not sure how to store their wings without damaging them or without putting them back in their boxes.
It's easy. Just borrow your wife's hair dryer, set it to high heat and low blast, or whatever settings those things have, and let'er'rip. Hopefully you'll see a difference after a minute or so. The trick also worked decently well on Animated Arcee's hands. As for storing them, try a little bit of bubble wrap.
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 5:32pm CST
It Is Him wrote:That's pretty amazing. You know, my beat up G1 Jetfire could definitely use an H202 bath, and I don't think I would mind if I accidentally ruin it, even if it is that rare sticker variant. I'll have to think about it some more.
It might be worth taking him apart instead of damaging those Robotech stickers. The H202 will rust the metal / die cast on the figure slightly (which might be removed with a rust remover but i haven't tried that yet). Alternatively, you could try to make this Retr0brite stuff at http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/ and then apply it only to the pieces that need some TLC. I wouldn't damage the near unreplacable sticker variants, especially if it's a carryover Robotech sticker(s) on the wings.
It Is Him wrote:It's easy. Just borrow your wife's hair dryer, set it to high heat and low blast, or whatever settings those things have, and let'er'rip. Hopefully you'll see a difference after a minute or so. The trick also worked decently well on Animated Arcee's hands. As for storing them, try a little bit of bubble wrap.
That's a decent suggestion, or maybe i store the wings in some small rubbermaid kitchen storage pieces or something like that.
Posted by 3.8TransAM on February 22nd, 2011 @ 6:35pm CST
I love the Pretender galleries. Might have to try the soap wash on the few I have as well. I can't believe how that Crossblades u have came out, looks great for a before and after deal.
I can admit to anyone here thinking that a clean up can't do wonders, start busting out 20+ yr old figures u have and played with when u were a kid and put them on display now. I think a few of mine changed colors when I did it over the summer. Warm water with a little soap and then just warm water and nice towels to dry them with(not soaking them obviously)
Pretenders aren't my favorites by far, but I don't understand all the hate poured on them. Everyone wants to army build, now u get two for one
Oh yeah, the original stickers for the Pretenders really sucked it, are those repro labels or whose? I'd be amazed if you say original? Even new the ones I have never stuck well.
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 8:17pm CST
3.8TransAM wrote:No meet up Ryan, heard u couldnt make it at the last minute, was looking forward to meeting you in person.
One day my friend, one day. Just didn't work out that I could go after I found out a few weeks ago that my Dad was coming in from Michigan for the weekend and then my wife worked on Sunday night which made attending the meetup near impossible.
3.8TransAM wrote:I love the Pretender galleries. Might have to try the soap wash on the few I have as well. I can't believe how that Crossblades u have came out, looks great for a before and after deal.
Crossblades came out very well. The paint on his face is slightly pinkish from the sun damage, but if I didn't tell you that and if you didn't have one side-by-side you wouldn't know the difference. I was going to swap heads with another Crossblades shell that I bought last week but upon trying to take out the pin I slammed the piece I was trying to hammer into the pin right through the other shell's face. I decided that after spending so much time giving Crossblades an H202 bath that it wasn't worth damaging it until I could figure out how to knock out the pin without damaging the shell.
H202 is my friend.
3.8TransAM wrote:I can admit to anyone here thinking that a clean up can't do wonders, start busting out 20+ yr old figures u have and played with when u were a kid and put them on display now. I think a few of mine changed colors when I did it over the summer. Warm water with a little soap and then just warm water and nice towels to dry them with(not soaking them obviously)
Apparently the older figures just need a little TLC. After all of the money I've spent on having a complete US collection minus Costco Prime and the 3rd wave G2 Dinobots, I've decided that some of these figures are just going to need some love instead of being replaced.
3.8TransAM wrote:Pretenders aren't my favorites by far, but I don't understand all the hate poured on them. Everyone wants to army build, now u get two for one
I agree 100%. I remember back-in-the-day when I was a kid that I counted Pretenders as two toys in my figure count. Maybe that's part of why I liked them so much when I was little.
3.8TransAM wrote:Oh yeah, the original stickers for the Pretenders really sucked it, are those repro labels or whose? I'd be amazed if you say original? Even new the ones I have never stuck well.
The Masterforce Pretender stickers were applied right before the galleries and I didn't have a problem with any of them. Bomb-Burst already had his stickers applied, as did Landmine (who got a few touch-ups from an additional U.S. sticker sheet that I had for him.
Groundbreaker, Sky High, and Splashdown didn't have their stickers applied until a couple of weeks ago but their stickers were more challenging. I received them in their bubbles sans boxes. I have a feeling that those three figures I received from the Philippines might have suffered water damage at some point or high moisture exposure which is why their boxes were missing. They used to be pretty common on eBay in their bubbles with sealed instructions/stickers/paperwork as were their Decepticon counterparts -- and you used to be able to buy them all for relatively cheap (Groundbreaker for $83, Sky High for $62, and Splashdown for $83). I thought they'd be plentiful for years, but since I bought those Autobots in 2006 you can't find any of those guys for cheap anymore. Some of their stickers didn't want to stick that well so I just used a little 3M Spray Adhesive to get them to stick. Worked like a charm!
As for the Decepticons Finback, Iguanus, and Bugly, their stickers are more like what you'd expect from 23+ year old Transformers toys. Those are the only 3 that were my originals from when I was a kid that made it to the galleries. One of the pegs on one of Bugly's guns had snapped off in his hand at some point so I had to figure out how to get that out and super glue it back together. If you didn't know I had glued it, you probably couldn't tell that there was a problem. If you look on Iguanus' belly (lower torso), you'll see that the hole for the gun peg was shattered at some point so that got superglued as well. Some of their stickers were in pretty bad shape so I removed a couple of them, heated them up with a hair dryer, applied spray adhesive and then reapplied their bad stickers. It worked OK ... not really happy with the results but it was better than nothing for the time being.
Posted by Seibertron on February 22nd, 2011 @ 8:22pm CST
It Is Him wrote:It's easy. Just borrow your wife's hair dryer, set it to high heat and low blast, or whatever settings those things have, and let'er'rip. Hopefully you'll see a difference after a minute or so. The trick also worked decently well on Animated Arcee's hands. As for storing them, try a little bit of bubble wrap.
Um wow. Thanks for the tip. My Masterpiece rear wing tips look like nothing was ever wrong with them. And the one Skywarp tip doesn't look bent at all any more after this. Amazing! Is this a widely known fix for plastic stress?
I also tried this on my Classics Rodimus where the shoulder ball joint connects. I fixed one side with this but the other side was taking too long. I was getting worried about the hair dryer causing damage to the plastic so I decided not to continue.
Definitely want to try this on Henkei Wildrider's shoulder ball joints at some point as well as TFA Arcee.
Great tip!