Dave's Transformers Studio Series Rant: Voyager Wave 16

#86-14 Junkheap (Wreck-Gar retool)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Studio/VJunkheap

Just this for the wave, Studio Series Voyager waves are often just a
single new figure with older ones sharing the case.

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Studio/VWreckGar - Wreck-Gar mold

Junkheap aka Junkyard is one of the movie's other Junkions, and one of
two who got any lines. The Junkyard name wasn't established into pretty
recently, though, and it wasn't trademarkable so the toys have been Junkheap
(a retool of Reveal the Shield Wreck-Gar was also released as Junkheap,
although neither of those was terribly movie-accurate).

CAPSULE

$34 at Walmart.

#86-14 Junkheap: Original mold was recommended. This is a significant
retool, not just a head-swap with new colors. Some of the changes impede
functionality, but I appreciate the work that went into making the character
distinct. Recommended.

RANT

Packaging: Same no-plastic window box as recent Studio Series Voyagers.

AUTOBOT: JUNKHEAP
Assortment: #86-14
Altmode: Junkion Motorcycle
Transformation Difficulty: 22 steps
Previous Name Use: DotM:RtS
Previous Mold Use: Studio
Movie: Transformers the Movie
Scene: Junkion Dance Party

JUNKHEAP leads the efforts to piece together the remains of ULTRA
MAGNUS.

Packaging: Five plastic ties secure the robot to the inner tray, with a
flap cut to accomodate the backpack and a hole for the butt. The axe is held
to the left side of the tray front by one plastic tie, and each wheel is held
onto the back of the tray by a single tie, further secured by holes for the
hubs.
Same backdrop (and scene) as Wreck-Gar got. The inner tray has some
folded around pillars in back to keep it from collapsing during shipping.

Like the contemporaneous Studio Series 86 Arcee, this is significantly
retooled, so I'll review it as a mostly new figure and just lead off with the
shared parts list.

Shared Parts: In robot mode, the visible shared parts are collar/spine,
shoulder roots, back parts of the shoulderpads, biceps, fists, spikes, axe,
wheels (which are also the same in terms of plastic and paints as
Wreck-Gar's), pelvis, hip pads, thighs, shins, soles of the feet but not the
top bits. (The backpack chunks are similar, but while the engine molding is
the same, the gas tanks on the same piece are not.) In vehicle mode, the
handlebars and windshield glass piece (which also has the headlight) are the
same.

Robot Mode: The new head is molded to look like it's made from the front
end of the new motorcycle mode, with a windshield on top, headlight on the
forehead, horns that look vaguely like handlebars crossed with gnu horns, and
some dials on the back of the head. Junkheap has no "facial hair" and his
optics are molded like red sunglasses. The fronts of the shoulders are more
rounded like fenders, with red almost crystalline spikes sticking out on top.
The chest lacks the nipple cannons but has hoses connecting the sternum to
the sides. There's shock absorbers and springs molded into the inner and
outer faces of the forearms, with new armor panels on the outer faces
(covering up the spring molding). The right arm panel just has short spikes,
but the left arm one has a molded blaster with a large revolver chamber. One
somewhat annoying bug is that while the forearm panels rotate on swivels for
transformation, they can't get enough out of the way to let the wheels attach
to the forearm spikes as shields, even though they retained the sockets
around the base of the spikes. The new spats on the feet are flatter and
smoother.
Warm brown plastic on the biceps, fists, and boots. Light gray plastic
is used for the head, shoulder roots, shoulderpad fronts, forearms, forearm
armor panels, torso front and back, abdomen, hip panniers, thighs, feet, and
axe handle. Bright red plastic is found on the collar/spine, the backs of
the shoulderpads, the pelvis, spikes, and axe blade.
Much of the upper torso front is painted warm brown in a decent match
for the plastic color, and there's some of that color on the sides of the
backpack. The forehead, visor, shoulder spikes, and belly button are painted
red, and there's a red stripe zig-zagging along the outer face of each
forearm armor plate. The forearms are mostly painted in a slightly metallic
pearly yellow, which is also used for some shoulderpad accents. The face is
painted taupe (brownish light gray) and the fake windshield on the top of the
head is painted very light blue.
The articulation is the same as Wreck-Gar's, as are the connection
points other than the inability to put the wheels on the arms. While the gas
tank is retooled, it retains the 3mm socket for axe storage.

Transformation: Obviously very similar to Wreck-Gar's, but with some new
elements to it, such as swinging the armor panels on the forearms around to
form a cowling around the engine, and folding the horns back before stowing
the head. The new foot top halves have extra tabs on the sides that go into
slots on the armor panels to further stabilize the vehicle mode.
The front end is still annoying to transform. I described it as "a
little tricky" in the Wreck-Gar review, but I must've been in a very
forgiving mode at the time.

Vehicle Mode: While the windshield is the same, the housing for it and
the headlight is more angular, and the spiked side armor panels give a
generally more blocky look. The gas tank isn't too different in molding,
just a little beefier. The forearm armor cannon points backwards in this
mode, perhaps to lay an oilslick or smokescreen or something.
The headlight is painted red, and the brown paints on the chest and gas
tank kind of line up. No other paint specific to this mode. Connections the
same as Wreck-Gar's.
Now that I have two Junkions, I can confirm that the little tab on the
seat does go into a slot on the underside of the pelvis of a robot mode
Junkion, but it's a very loose fit and doesn't really help keep the rider
on. You're better off just doing the knee-grip thing. It's an awkward fit
in general, but it can be made to work.
Note, the wheels are nearly identical in terms of paint and plastic
colors, so you could just give one of Wreck-Gar's wheels to Junkheap to make
a trike altmode (but only Wreck-Gar can become a four-wheeler in vehicle
mode, the new armor panels keep Junkheap from putting wheels on the spikes in
vehicle mode too).

Overall: They could've gone the easy route and just done a head swap and
new colors, but they went the extra mile to make Junkheap a distinct
Junkion. Some of the changes did reduce functionality, but the wheel
compatibility helps with mix and match altmodes.

Dave Van Domelen, thinks reviewing Legacy Metroplex is kinda becoming
Infrastructure Week for him....

On Friday, November 18, 2022 at 11:52:24 PM UTC-5, Dave Van Domelen wrote:
> Dave's Transformers Studio Series Rant: Voyager Wave 16
>
> #86-14 Junkheap (Wreck-Gar retool)
>
> Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Studio/VJunkheap
>
> Just this for the wave, Studio Series Voyager waves are often just a
> single new figure with older ones sharing the case.
>
> https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Studio/VWreckGar - Wreck-Gar mold
>
> Junkheap aka Junkyard is one of the movie's other Junkions, and one of
> two who got any lines. The Junkyard name wasn't established into pretty
> recently, though, and it wasn't trademarkable so the toys have been Junkheap
> (a retool of Reveal the Shield Wreck-Gar was also released as Junkheap,
> although neither of those was terribly movie-accurate).
>
>
> CAPSULE
>
> $34 at Walmart.
>
> #86-14 Junkheap: Original mold was recommended. This is a significant
> retool, not just a head-swap with new colors. Some of the changes impede
> functionality, but I appreciate the work that went into making the character
> distinct. Recommended.
>
>
> RANT
>
> Packaging: Same no-plastic window box as recent Studio Series Voyagers.
>
>
> AUTOBOT: JUNKHEAP
> Assortment: #86-14
> Altmode: Junkion Motorcycle
> Transformation Difficulty: 22 steps
> Previous Name Use: DotM:RtS
> Previous Mold Use: Studio
> Movie: Transformers the Movie
> Scene: Junkion Dance Party
>
> JUNKHEAP leads the efforts to piece together the remains of ULTRA
> MAGNUS.
>
> Packaging: Five plastic ties secure the robot to the inner tray, with a
> flap cut to accomodate the backpack and a hole for the butt. The axe is held
> to the left side of the tray front by one plastic tie, and each wheel is held
> onto the back of the tray by a single tie, further secured by holes for the
> hubs.
> Same backdrop (and scene) as Wreck-Gar got. The inner tray has some
> folded around pillars in back to keep it from collapsing during shipping.
>
> Like the contemporaneous Studio Series 86 Arcee, this is significantly
> retooled, so I'll review it as a mostly new figure and just lead off with the
> shared parts list.
>
> Shared Parts: In robot mode, the visible shared parts are collar/spine,
> shoulder roots, back parts of the shoulderpads, biceps, fists, spikes, axe,
> wheels (which are also the same in terms of plastic and paints as
> Wreck-Gar's), pelvis, hip pads, thighs, shins, soles of the feet but not the
> top bits. (The backpack chunks are similar, but while the engine molding is
> the same, the gas tanks on the same piece are not.) In vehicle mode, the
> handlebars and windshield glass piece (which also has the headlight) are the
> same.
>
> Robot Mode: The new head is molded to look like it's made from the front
> end of the new motorcycle mode, with a windshield on top, headlight on the
> forehead, horns that look vaguely like handlebars crossed with gnu horns, and
> some dials on the back of the head. Junkheap has no "facial hair" and his
> optics are molded like red sunglasses. The fronts of the shoulders are more
> rounded like fenders, with red almost crystalline spikes sticking out on top.
> The chest lacks the nipple cannons but has hoses connecting the sternum to
> the sides. There's shock absorbers and springs molded into the inner and
> outer faces of the forearms, with new armor panels on the outer faces
> (covering up the spring molding). The right arm panel just has short spikes,
> but the left arm one has a molded blaster with a large revolver chamber. One
> somewhat annoying bug is that while the forearm panels rotate on swivels for
> transformation, they can't get enough out of the way to let the wheels attach
> to the forearm spikes as shields, even though they retained the sockets
> around the base of the spikes. The new spats on the feet are flatter and
> smoother.
> Warm brown plastic on the biceps, fists, and boots. Light gray plastic
> is used for the head, shoulder roots, shoulderpad fronts, forearms, forearm
> armor panels, torso front and back, abdomen, hip panniers, thighs, feet, and
> axe handle. Bright red plastic is found on the collar/spine, the backs of
> the shoulderpads, the pelvis, spikes, and axe blade.
> Much of the upper torso front is painted warm brown in a decent match
> for the plastic color, and there's some of that color on the sides of the
> backpack. The forehead, visor, shoulder spikes, and belly button are painted
> red, and there's a red stripe zig-zagging along the outer face of each
> forearm armor plate. The forearms are mostly painted in a slightly metallic
> pearly yellow, which is also used for some shoulderpad accents. The face is
> painted taupe (brownish light gray) and the fake windshield on the top of the
> head is painted very light blue.
> The articulation is the same as Wreck-Gar's, as are the connection
> points other than the inability to put the wheels on the arms. While the gas
> tank is retooled, it retains the 3mm socket for axe storage.
>
> Transformation: Obviously very similar to Wreck-Gar's, but with some new
> elements to it, such as swinging the armor panels on the forearms around to
> form a cowling around the engine, and folding the horns back before stowing
> the head. The new foot top halves have extra tabs on the sides that go into
> slots on the armor panels to further stabilize the vehicle mode.
> The front end is still annoying to transform. I described it as "a
> little tricky" in the Wreck-Gar review, but I must've been in a very
> forgiving mode at the time.
>
> Vehicle Mode: While the windshield is the same, the housing for it and
> the headlight is more angular, and the spiked side armor panels give a
> generally more blocky look. The gas tank isn't too different in molding,
> just a little beefier. The forearm armor cannon points backwards in this
> mode, perhaps to lay an oilslick or smokescreen or something.
> The headlight is painted red, and the brown paints on the chest and gas
> tank kind of line up. No other paint specific to this mode. Connections the
> same as Wreck-Gar's.
> Now that I have two Junkions, I can confirm that the little tab on the
> seat does go into a slot on the underside of the pelvis of a robot mode
> Junkion, but it's a very loose fit and doesn't really help keep the rider
> on. You're better off just doing the knee-grip thing. It's an awkward fit
> in general, but it can be made to work.
> Note, the wheels are nearly identical in terms of paint and plastic
> colors, so you could just give one of Wreck-Gar's wheels to Junkheap to make
> a trike altmode (but only Wreck-Gar can become a four-wheeler in vehicle
> mode, the new armor panels keep Junkheap from putting wheels on the spikes in
> vehicle mode too).
>
> Overall: They could've gone the easy route and just done a head swap and
> new colors, but they went the extra mile to make Junkheap a distinct
> Junkion. Some of the changes did reduce functionality, but the wheel
> compatibility helps with mix and match altmodes.
>
>
> Dave Van Domelen, thinks reviewing Legacy Metroplex is kinda becoming
> Infrastructure Week for him....

Great review - how tight is his ab crunch? My copy of Wreck-Gar is fairly loose, and separates too easily for my liking, the one thing holding me back from picking up Junkheap...

In article <08a8171d-155f-494c-82b2-cf9155656715n@googlegroups.com>,
Codigo Postal <codigopostal959@gmail.com> wrote:
>Great review - how tight is his ab crunch? My copy of Wreck-Gar is
>fairly loose, and separates too easily for my liking, the one thing
>holding me back from picking up Junkheap...

Mine's currently in vehicle mode being ridden, but I don't recall any
issues with loose joints, abs included.

Dave Van Domelen, now to post another review.

On Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 11:11:11 PM UTC-5, Dave Van Domelen wrote:
> In article <08a8171d-155f-494c...@googlegroups.com>,
> Codigo Postal < wrote:
> >Great review - how tight is his ab crunch? My copy of Wreck-Gar is
> >fairly loose, and separates too easily for my liking, the one thing
> >holding me back from picking up Junkheap...
> Mine's currently in vehicle mode being ridden, but I don't recall any
> issues with loose joints, abs included.
>
> Dave Van Domelen, now to post another review.

Fantastic - thanks!