Top Gun Transformers

Top Gun Transformers

Hasbro

I'm pretty harsh on the old Transformers/Star Wars crossover for not giving the bot modes unique personas, or the personas/names/designs of Generation 1 favorites...this Top Gun mash-up is borderline.  Maverick?  So is this just a mech suit (like the Star Wars) for the flesh-and-blood Pete Mitchell?  Or is it a robot with a mind of his own who just happens to have the name of his inspiration?  Pretty lazy, no matter how you look at it.  I mean, the Ecto-1 didn't transform into Ray Stantz.  The Delorean time machine wasn't actually Mecha J. Fox.  What gives here?!  I know about every jet/plane title has been taken at this point...Callsign?  Tomcat?

From what I gather, this is an all-new mold...which is pretty surprising.  They could have just repainted a Seeker jet like Starscream, slapped a new head on him, and called it a day.  While all new parts is nice, the overall aesthetic?  Eh, it's just okay.  The arms and legs are a bit long and spindly looking for my tastes, but I guess there was only so much they could do there to minimize "kibble" underneath and stay as close to the real jet as possible.  

While the detail on the helmet is great, I wish he had a more blocky, G1 bot jaw from the visor down.  It's just a tad too realistic. 

Paint/color is another issue.  Yeah, it's a mostly gray jet.  They did try to break that up a bit with some lightly applied "dirty" camo.  That's fine topside, but would have liked the bot pilot to have a more unique paint scheme.  Just some hints of olive drab to suggest a flight suit.

"Maverick" came with some additional accessories (that I seem to have misplaced).  You get a mini Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle in scale with the jet, and a set of alternate hands and volleyball to "play with the boys."  While it's funny to consider someone making a volleyball that size for a giant robot to spike at his enemies, it's a bit too on the nose for me.  All of these lead me to believe that this is just a Pete Mitchell mech suit after all.

Oh well!  Goofy, but fun merch from an 80s classic that I amazed is getting this kind of attention.  Even though Matchbox did a more in-depth line, Hot Wheels put out a 1:64 classic Tomcat before the pandemic.  

It's smaller than the Matchbox line, but more detailed.  It comes with a display stand AND has opening wings.  I think this was from Hot Wheels' slightly more expensive line, close to five or six bucks.  It may be hard to find at this point, so expect to pay more on Ebay.

That's all I've got on Top Gun to date.  I have seen the sequel...Top Gun: Maverick was worth the wait and then some!

Greef Karga, Grogu, and Zutton

 Greef Karga, Grogu, and Zutton

Star Wars - Hasbro Vintage Collection, Hot Wheels

Who would have thought that Apollo Creed and a Mogwai-cute version of Yoda would be the winning combination in bringing Star Wars back from the brink?  The Child has been marketed to death, but why so slow on my Greef Karga fix, Hasbro?!  After having to suffer through seeing a sub-par likeness on the 6-inch, Black Series figure, he’s here and ready to rumble!

It looks just like him...much better than the 6-inch figure.  This is my third Carl Weathers figure (having 2 versions of Apollo in the NECA Rocky line)...and I just can’t get enough of him.  I would have preferred Greef in his season one outfit, but his city administrator gear is a bit more flashy.  Maybe we’ll get season one before the slew of garbage Star Wars shows kill the franchise again?  (Hasn’t Cassian Andor peg-warmed enough already?)

The cape overlay is removable, but like most figures with plastic outfits, leaves him looking a bit long-necked.  The gun can be holstered, but looks a bit off...like it was supposed to fit a different model?  I would have to go back and look at reference photos to be sure.  In any case, it doesn’t hurt the overall presentation.

On the same run in finding this figure, I picked up a Hot Wheels version of Grogu in his pram.  I have a season two model in the form of the weird Mission Series (2-inch figures?!) line that I worked in a Grogu from a Walmart exclusive two pack, but this is the season one pod and it scales quite well with the Vintage line.  

The pod is die-cast metal, and has a nice, clear display stand to complete the hover effect.  It’s also just under $5...good enough compared to the close to $15 Vintage series.  Sure, Baby Yoda isn’t removable, but  he doesn’t necessarily need to be.  He can wield the force in a seated position just fine.  If you want to fast-forward and ruin him by giving him a lightsaber like they do all Jedi, you’re out of luck.

Also found on this run, another Cantina creep:  Zutton.  He’s not a particularly exciting looking alien...a person wearing a cow mask and a fake hunchback.  His “Snaggletooth” is very present in this sculpt, and he completes the Snivvian triad (along with Zutmore and brother, Takeel) in my collection.  

The most this guy has going for him is the controversy of blue/red outfit colors in the original Star Wars line.  His belt has a makeshift holster loop in the back.  Sneaky Snaggletooth...the kid is off limits!

With the Mando show going on hiatus while Disney + attempts to kill the brand via over saturation with shows no one asked for, these may be some of the last Star Wars figures I pick up for some time.  Get ‘em while you can, because you never know if you’ll get another shot.  Despite what some may think, even Star Wars a shelf life.

More Carl Weathers and Baby Yoda goodness from blogs past:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2017/10/rocky.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-mandalorian.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2019/12/baby-yoda.html

Top Gun

Top Gun: Maverick

Matchbox - Mattel

I feel the need...the need for *record scratch*!  (Enter, Coronavirus) “Not so fast, Maverick!”  Yay!  More toys tied to a movie that’s release date is in limbo!  Matchbox/Mattel has just released a couple of 5-packs of 1:64 scale cars and jets from the upcoming (?) sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Top Gun isn’t one of my most beloved 80s movies, but it certainly has a way of sticking in your head.  The soundtrack, the great dogfight footage, the homoerotic beach volleyball scene...plus Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Tom Skerrit, and Principal Strickland...80s megacheese at it’s finest!  And that Ninendo game...who could forget the frustration of crashing into the ocean over and over again while attempting to land your plane on the aircraft carrier?!

Anyway, sticking to my desire to collect famous movie rides in this scale, I couldn’t resist these at $5 a pack.

Worth the sawbuck?  Well, you only get two jets in the mix, and since I haven’t yet seen “Maverick”, I have no idea if any of the cars actually appear on-screen.  They look nice, sure, but nothing too exciting outside of the Aston Martin and the fuel truck.  Jeeps are always a bit wonky scale-wise compared to the other cars.  Must be one of those Jeep things...I wouldn’t understand.

Also, remember when you used to get full, die-cast metal on everything save for the wheels?  The metal is used sparingly, and mostly very disappointing.  The most important bit of the jets, the wings and fins, are plastic!  I foresee stress fractures, if not breakage, from anything more than light play.  Bummer, especially considering these were the real selling point for the set.

I hope there are some better jets coming down the line with more detail, even if they come at a higher price point.  Still, at roughly ninety-nine cents a vehicle, these would make a fun romp in the dirt for any kid of any size or age.  Now if you’ll excuse me...I have to do a flyby on that tower.

Johnny Lightning Ecto-1, Proto-Ecto-1, and the Undertaker

Ecto-1, Proto-Ecto-1, and the Undertaker

Johnny Lightning - 1:64 scale

Silver Screen Machines

Everybody can relax, I found the car!  Johnny Lightning has done the famous Ghostbusters ride a handful of times over the last decade or two, but never like this.  As far as I know, this is the first time out for the busted and rusted, black Caddy.  

It is what it is...nowhere near as ornate as the final product, but they did their best with the detailing on the scraped up paint and wear.  It has the two front spotlights (different models) that the finished Ecto has, and also has the single, red rotating light that it doesn’t.  INteresting to see the couple of red headlights as well.  My favorite detail here is the funeral curtains you can see through the windows.

JL also released an updated sculpt of the finished Ecto-1.  It features the most detailed and accurate roof rack I have seen in this scale.  Everything else, from the logos and license plates to the lines and fins, looks cleaner than ever before.  It even has the "clear" spots in the middle windows!  This beats anything Hot Wheels has produced up to this point.  Be careful with that sniffer though...I could see a tumble from the shelf being the end of that.

Even if you have a fleet of 1:64 scale Ecto-1s in your collection already, these are worth getting.  They look great and won’t break the bank at $7-9 each.  Now bring on the rusted “Afterlife” decos, 2020!

































Since this was a shorter review, I’m throwing in a recent clearance pick-up:  the WWE Ghostbusters Undertaker figure!  This was the only one of the five exclusive Walmart figures I couldn't find when they hit before Halloween.  Taker has a huge following, so this ghostly version was quick to disappear between fandoms...even those lousy wrestling fans who scoffed at the overall crossover.  Way to break up collections for GB die-hards, a-holes!

I found this lone figure in the clearance aisle at one of the worst Walmarts for toys in my area (Branson...yuck)...and for only $8!  I lost many an EBay auction around the $30 mark before giving up and pretty much forgetting about this figure.

































Taker looks great in translucent purple.  The darker ink on his many arm tattoos really pop with some backlighting.  On top of that, he comes with a slime green, translucent, world heavyweight title belt.  Since the wrestlers in this set lean more to the side of Attitude Era and beyond, I am pleasantly surprised to see the winged eagle design, aka the greatest belt design ever.

So there you go, some tiny cars and a weird-looking wrestling icon in a coffin in front of a Twinkies cereal box.  Hey, Ghostbusters merch is still pretty scarce at the moment!

BTW, the cereal was not good.  Too sweet (yes, even compared to the actual snack cake) and powdery.  It didn't taste much like a Twinkie either, which I blame on the lack of attempt to replicate a  cream filling.  C'mon, Post...Krave and Pop Tarts cereal showed you the way and you blew it.  Egon would not approve.

Previous reviews:
WWE Ghostbusters Figures
The Ghostbusters of the Ozarks Try Twinkies Cereal