Masterpiece (US) Thundercracker

Some unexpected Xmas money came our way and the Mrs. said, "Masterpiece Thundercracker." That might sound odd but I had posted a picture of it on the ol' Facebooks with a comment "Hi, I can't afford this" and I guess she took that as a hint. So, hooray to the wife for encouraging me.

I didn't buy it at Toys R Us as the price of the thing just kept going up and up, and recently it hasn't been on the shelves. Then a few weeks ago TRU posted it on their EBAY page. So, what the heck, bought it. It was still way too expensive; I don't think the Starscream or Skywarp figures went for the same price when they were introduced. The latest Masterpiece Prime has been increasing in price through its exclusive retailer. What is that about? I know these are for the adult collectors, but jeez louise adult collectors don't have that much money. They better not. They should be paying their rent.

That reminds me,  if you saw how I was gushing over iGear Brawn, I'm embarrassed because iGear just announced preorders for FOUR more figures, and nearly 5 or 20 dollars more than what Brawn went for. Um, NO THANK YOU? I gotta learn to say no to this cool stuff. I was really excited about these figures and if they put them out 2 figures every 6 months, that's fine. Worth the wait and price with plenty of official Hasbro figures between those releases. But instead the're practically competing with Hasbro's regular output but releasing four (at about $200 or more for all four) the same time.

One of the iGear figures is Swerve, and I just made my own Swerve based on the More Than Meets The Eye comic, so I'll probably just keep that.

ANYWAY, MP Thundercracker: click on the link for images from Seibertron. He looks like the MP versions of the other jets, except that he has a new heel that folds out from his engine/foot part and that helps him stand on his own without the help of the display stand. Also, his tailfin has an image of him holding Soundwave like a boombox. his armpit/shoulder joint, when transformed into airplane mode, has an image of Reflector. Like a tattoo. And his guns have their own swivel stands...on his ARM. I'm not sure what that is about.

Like Sideswipe, Thundercracker was on of the first regular-sized figures I ever had. Actually, along with Soundwave, he was the first. Neither G1 figures had the rubsigns. Sideswipe and Ratchet were the only regular sized Autobots I had for a long time before I started collecting. But anyway, it's cool to finally have my favorite Decepticon in the MP line.

W Cassettebots (link)

Despite their introduction in the cartoon movie (or probably because of the trauma from seeing it), the G1Autobot cassettes were not that well known (though they all appeared in Season 3 of G1). Decepticon Ratbat was probably better known than Ramhorn, Eject, Rewind, and Steeljaw, followed by Overkill and Slugfest, and then a few more tape characters that barely had robot modes (and combined to form what passed for "robots").

The Headmasters series in Japan however featured other characters, including four cassette figures referred to as the dinocassettes in this article with some great pictures. Check it out.

I don't have these figures. I've SEEN them, whooptie do. They are bizarre looking and barely pass as robots or robot animals. They are also supposedly very rare and insanely expensive on the collector side. Anyway, check out that link, it's a good breakdown and some great pictures.