Darth Robo's Debut!

(Am I back? Maybe...)

The Star Wars Transformer line - an attempt to appeal to two groups of obsessive collectors. Unfortunately, no toys that have been put out for the line look remotely worth buying. Until now.


The Transforming Darth Vader / Death Star. This thing is GREAT - except for one aspect. The toy is huge, comes with a bunch of phrases, lots of pretty lights, decent poseabilty, and little TIE fighters and action figures that look like they're in suspended animation. The kibble on the robot is conspicuous, but not intrusive.

The lightsaber lights up and sound emits from the toy when the saber is pressed into the hand. The black blaster fires a green missile which I lost pretty quickly in my struggles to transform this thing (more on this below).

The lights in the center of the "robot"

This LED lights up the lightsaber

Posed with saber and very hard-to-see blaster

Transformation? AAAAARGH!!!!

Okay, let's go into some history. Back in '99, BEAST WARS NEO was out in Japan. Quite a few of these toys were "shellformers" - the shell of an animal wrapped around a robot twisted the right way. The epitome of this was Big Convoy (eventually repainted and sold as Nemesis Prime in the US). When I finally got Nemesis Prime, I transformed the thing into mammoth mode ONCE. It was just too much pain.

The price for Darth's great robot mode is that the panels around him have to fit together into the Death Star "shell" after he's wrapped up. The official planet Transformers, Unicron and Cybertron Primus, had a few "shell" pieces, but for the most part transforming them was just wrapping them up into a ball.

The transformation of the pieces has to be done in a certain order, or you have to go back and redo parts of the Death Star shell, which can undo OTHER pieces you previously transformed. The toy needs LOTS of "massaging" to fit together right. I took two hours to transform this toy the first time, and even then didn't finish one piece.

The arm armor comes off way too easily, and it's a pain in the neck to put back on.

The full-on Death Star

The main laser of the Death Star lights up and fires a missile, which (as I mentioned) I promptly lost as soon as I opened the package. Small TIE fighters are provided to put into small bays on the DS.

The LED

This thing will cost you a pretty $50 bucks, which tells me this thing will be a shelfwarmer unless they're not producing many of them, which may be the case. Transformers are nuts enough to pay $50 for transforming Uncron and Cybertron toys, but I doubt they care that much about Darth.

I have no idea what Star Wars collectors think - simple action figures are boring to me.
If they buy this thing and try to transform it into the Death Star, they are in for a world of pain. Same for any actual children who get the thing - beware parents, you'll be in for a LOT of frustration helping your kid transform this.

I'm not a huge STAR WARS fan myself. Of course I've seen the movies - the first 3 (IV-VI) were decent and the last (SITH) was tolerable. PHANTOM was awful and I never brought myself to watch CLONES. The original trilogy was a triumph of execution over originality - there's not much wrong with the films; the old cliches are used well, but there's nothing that makes me go WOW.

Classic robot corner? Not really, but I am reminded of Satangorth, the main villain of MEGABEAST HUNTER JUSPION, the 1985 Metal Hero show. While lots of anime and TS villains aped Darth or preceded him (Hakaider, GORANGER's Musha Kamen), Satangorth was the closest justification for a plagiarism lawsuit by Lucasarts.

The main difference between Satangorth and DV? Satangorth was large and in charge (i.e. he was the size of a giant robot), except when he was cringing before pictures of a bluescreened toy Golden Bird "attacking" him.

Final verdict? If you can afford it, get it - the robot mode is fun and looks great on a shelf, and the Death Star mode is nice if you can manage to finally get it transformed. And, of course, you don't lose the ONE pretty light green missile provided with the toy.

MP Megs is out...

http://www.seibertron.com/news/view.php?id=9849

Now I just have to find one that either

A) isn't altered
B) is altered so as not to interfere with the play value.

I don't care THAT much about orange paint, but I don't want some ugly thing attached to the toy that will interfere with the scope and silencer accessories that some crazy TF fan will undoubtedly mold up.

Or I could just wait two or three years for the MP-05 PERFECT REFLEX SUPERIOR that will come with accessiories included.

(That last sentence is a joke...for now).

And you thought vintage Jumbos were expensive...

A 250,000 Gundam. Yeesh.

So where's the Gold Lightan and Goldoran made out of real gold? Korea needs to get working on some gold Goldwings...

(HT: James Hudnall).

Triton of the Sea Episode 27

Very busy right now. I will add pictures to this later, but I don't want anyone to die from the stress of not knowing what happened in the grand finale of TRITON OF THE SEA. :)

NOTE: This summary is based on an imperfect translation (I am not fluent in Japanese). Please let me know of any inaccuracies.

TRITON copyright 1972 by Office Academy. This summary is by a fan for fans.

"Welcome the sunrise to the Atlantic Ocean"

Poseidon tells Gylbess to attack Triton while he is at sea and to neverlet him get close to the base. Gylbess is ordered to retrieve the Oriharucon dagger. He orders his troops to kill Triton on sight.

Morsejellies is attacked by fish as Triton's army heads toward Atlantis.Suddenly, Gylbess's troops attack the army. The dolphins tell Tritonto head to Atlantis as the dolphins fight off Gylbess's men. Marcusesjoin in the fight too, spitting spikes into fish (much as they did whenexecuting Poripeimos). Luka tells Triton to ignore them, so he can savethe Oriharucon's energy for fighting Poseidon. Suddenly, he hears thebeeps of Morsejellies and spots Atlantis. Rays, anglers, and sawtoothed fish come to the defense of the Poseidon, as do the rest of Gylbess's army.

Triton faces off with Gylbess. "Ah - I see those two were your parents."Triton gasps "You know about my parents?" "You like quite the same."Gylbess tells Triton that he tortured his father to get information aboutthe Oriharucon dagger, and killed both of them. "If the Triton hadgiven me the dagger, I wouldn't have killed them. Acting against thePosedion without knowing how to use the weapon was just asking fortrouble."

Triton yells, "If the Poseidon hadn't made a mess of the sea, theTriton wouldn't have fought them. "

"After we kill you, the Triton will be completely destroyed."

Triton and Gylbess face off, and Gylbess is no match for theOriharucon dagger. "It seems to draw in my whole soul!" Gylbess criesas he runs to Poseidon. Poseidon tells Gylbess to destroy Tritondespite his fear.

Gylbess attacks Triton again, and the Oriharucon dagger at fullstrength melts Gylbess, as well as shining into the base of Poseidon, making the statue shudder. "Is this the shiningOriharucon dagger?" Poseidon asks in fear.

Triton faces the statue as Poseidon both draws his sword and simultaneously begs him to put the dagger away."Cover the light of the Oriharucon dagger! If you don't put itaway, something terrible will happen!...A kid like you knows nothingabout the use of the Oriharucon dagger! It has more terrible powerthan you ever imagined!"

The sword of Poseidon extends, preparing for battle.

"That's the power to defeat the Poseidon! The power of justice!"

The statue steps down from its pedestal.

"No, it is a different power. The Oriharucon power is the power to destroy everything! Hurry up and put the dagger back in itsscabbard! Don't get the dagger close to Poseidon! If you get closer,Poseidon will cause some horrible consequences! Triton, please! Put the dagger back in the scabbard!"

Triton wonders, "What's wrong? Is that Poseidon's voice?"

"If you get any closer, the Poseidon tribe will be completely destroyed! The Oriharucon power is the power to move the Poseidon statue."

Suddenly, a shark rushes in to attack Triton, who fends it off with the Oriharucon dagger.

Poseidon sees the light and destroys the whole temple as he comes to life and screams.

"The Poseidon tribe will die with the curse on you and the Oriharucondagger!" Poseidon's voice cries as the Poseidon statue screams.

Triton realizes that the speaker is not the Poseidon statue. "Who is speaking?" He puts the dagger back in the scabbard, despite Luka's pleas not to believe Poseidon's words. As he puts the dagger back,the statue slows down and eventually freezes completely.

Triton swims below the base to find out where Poseidon's voice camefrom, despite Luka's pleas. "As long as the Poseidon's secrets aren'tdisclosed, the fight can never end." Triton goes into a strange ruined city below Atlantis, filled with corpses.

He hears Poseidon's voice. "Here is the sin you committed. The statue was created by the Oriharucon, and the power was used to build this town. You took away the sun of the Poseidon."

Triton comes upon an old man, with a yellow conch similar to his. A voice tells him to use the Oriharucon dagger to activate the conch. However, once he draws out the dagger, he will draw the statue of Poseidon into the town.

"Why was that statue your sun?" Triton asks. "The entrance you came inwas just like the sun. The Oriharcon energy supported our lives here.But you have destroyed it." "You forced me to do that!"

"That dagger was created to destroy the statue of Poseidon. All wewanted was that dagger." "That's why you conquered the sea." Triton exclaims.

"we used the energy of Poseidon to try to get out of this underground world. But it's all over now."

Triton hears rumbling, as the statue of Poseidon makes its way down intothe city. "Your dagger is drawing the statue of Poseidon down. That'salso what happened to the Atlantis people." The conch tells Triton thatthe Atlanteans sacrificed the Poseidon tribe to the Poseidon statue after they created it.

Poseidon descends into the town. As he falls, the conch continues. "Ofthe people sacrificed as offerings, some used on the Oriharucon energyto survive. So we used the energy to get revenge on the Atlanteans. Butjust before Atlantis sank, the Atlanteans created a dagger superior toPoseidon, with minus energy - the Oriharucon dagger."

"You fought to kill less than ten thousand Poseidon people who were struggling to survive" the conch states. "I did this to bring peaceto the sea! That's why I destroyed the Poseidon!" "All we wanted wasto escape this world. We wanted to destroy the Triton to have a peaceful life."

The statue reaches toward Triton. "The one who moved the statue of Poseidon? You! The one who killed all of the Poseidon tribe? You! The person who will let the Poseidon statue destroy the whole world?Triton - YOU!"

The statue screams and attacks Triton with waves generated from its wings. Triton manages to barely evade the attacks of the statue. Using the Oriharucon dagger, he only manages to be drawn in by "plus" Oriharucon power from Poseidon's eyes. Fortunately, hemanages to evade Poseidon's sword and strike the statue inthe neck. The Poseidon statue screams in agony as Triton flees the ruined city of the Poseidon tribe. The massive energy of Oriharuconcauses the ruins of Atlantis to be destroyed.

Fortunately, all of the heroes make it out alive and start in the direction of the sunrise. Triton begins his new journeys...

Triton of the Sea - Episode 26

NOTE: This summary is based on an imperfect translation (I do not speak Japanese). Please let me know of any inaccuracies.

Triton of the Sea is copyright 1972 by Office Academy. This summary is an effort by a fan for fans.

"The Sea of the Devil Poseidon"

Triton and the others continue on toward the Atlantic. Triton vows
to kill Poseidon and finally bring peace to the sea (we get it, buddy).

Morsejellies tap that Triton is about to reach the Atlantic. Gylbess tries to raise the morale of his defense team, but Minotus arrives and tells him that only an attacker will beat Triton, not a defender. A lizard-like creature, Mybes, arrives and tells the two of them that a large group of fish and birds are gathering to back Triton up.

Well, it's "don't SHOOT the messenger". Slicing is A-OK.

Mybes

Mybes looks WAY too much like Kermit the Frog here...

The three of them argue about who the best is, and Poseidon angrily
reminds them that their dead colleagues all said the same things.
He sends Minotus and Mybes to deal with Triton. Poseidon calls up
evil whirlwinds to destroy Triton.

Triton hears a strange sound, and Luka warns them that Poseidon must be near. Suddenly, a whirlpool appears. The group attempts to escape, but is sucked into the whirlpool. Poseidon tells it to take Triton to the "seas of the devil" (?)

Triton wakes up alongside a ruined ship. Suddenly, a leechlike flower
attacks! The Oriharucon dagger destroys it, but more soon attack.
Triton goes onto the ship to escape. Suddenly, he notices something
like a two-headed shark leaping into the air. Pipi runs onto the ship,
but a giant tentacle catches her. Triton goes underneath, seeing a
squid resembling Doriate's. He kills the beast with the Oriharucon
dagger.

Triton joins Pipi on the ship. The dolphins attempt to join them, but
the leech flowers attack. Triton cuts a hole in the ship's hull to allow
the dolphins inside, where the flowers cannot go. Suddenly, Triton
hears Pipi's voice. He follows the sound...to a room full of
dead humans!

Triton walks among the humans...and notices a dead ringer for
Heptapoda! Pipi suddenly spots Minotus...or, rather, a human who
looks exactly like him (but with white skin and brown hair). Suddenly,
they hear Minotus's evil laugh...and Mintous and Mybes break through
the wall! Minotus introduces Mybes...and his already-fishlike human
form behind them. Triton realizes that the Poseidon generals were
made from human beings!

Mybes's human form. The lizard is an improvement, however Muppetlike

Minotus freezes the Oriharucon dagger, and the two monsters attack. Triton lures them away from Pipi, who notices a lamp and realized Minotus might fear it. (She doesn't like it too much either).

Yeah, Pipi annoys me too. Oh, wait, you're afraid of THIS...

Pipi comes to the surface of the ship and manages to use it on Mybes. Mybes tries to extinguish the fire by leaping into the leech flower-filled ocean, and manages to burn quite a few of the flowers. Meanwhile, lobsters attack the dolphins inside the ship.

Mybes Flambe'

Triton uses the flaming sections of the ship to warm the Oriharucon up enough to use it. Suddenly, he hears the birds and fish come en masse!

Triton manages to free his dagger and kill Minotus, and the ship burns.

The group continues toward the Atlantic...

Poseidon tells Gylbess that they can never let the Oriharucon dagger glow in the ruins of Atlantis...

Triton and the army of King Snorky swims on...

Triton of the Sea - Episode 25

NOTE: This summary is based on an imperfect translation (I do not speak Japanese). Please let me know of any inaccuracies.

Triton of the Sea is copyright 1972 by Office Academy. This summary is an effort by a fan for fans.

"The Sand Jail of Golsenos"

Poseidon recounts Triton's progress through the seas, and tells
Golsenos not to let Triton get past the Mediterrenean. Golsenos tells
Poseidon that he has a good plan to deal with the Oriharucon dagger -
the Sahara is close to the Mediterranean, so the situation favors his
style.

Golsenos heads off, and Posedion warns Neleus that he has overlooked Neleus's failures again and again. Neleus and Kylebase are ordered to rearrange the armies for the defense of Atlantis. Gylbess laughs and tells Neleus that his head should have been off before Triton reached the Mediterrenean.

Triton and the group wander past some sunken ships. Triton comments that this area was where men began to use ships, and that the Atlanteans might have also been there. Luka warns them that the area is very dangerous. Suddenly, a sandstorm from the Sahara envelopes the group, and a large school of fish run by. Triton grabs one and asks why the school is running. The fish warns them of the terrible Golsenos. Ero laughs it off, saying that Triton's Oriharucon can beat anything. Triton comments that the Poseidon have probably been thinking of ways to counter the dagger.

Golsenos, riding the giant trilobite Marazzi(?), attacks the group.
He attemps to crush Triton and the Dolphins into the sands, but
Triton attacks. Golsenos whips up a sandstorm which sucks Triton
into an underground cave. Triton attacks Golsenos with the
Oriharucon dagger, but Golsenos has a reflective shield which
blinds Triton.

Feeling around, Triton notices that sand is continually flowing into
the cave. He realizes that he's in an anteater-like trap. Golsenos
taunts Triton, telling him to climb up the sand jail's walls. Triton
cannot, and the trilobite continues to push sand into the trap.
Triton is buried, but is able to repel the sands with the Oriharucon
dagger and suck the trilobite into the trap itself, destroying the beast
with the Oriharucon dagger. Golsenos warns him that he hasn't seen
his strongest power yet.

Golsenos whips up a storm...and generates gray sand copies of himself! He turns himself gray to hide amongst them, and they attack. Triton can't figure out which one is the real one. He can only evade the attacks of the Golsenosi until the Oriharucon dagger regains its strength.

The dolphins and Pipi, looking for Triton, are told by the fish that
he was sucked into a sand cave. The gang eventually finds the cave
and surfaces.

The Golsenosi chase Triton, who races toward the water. Suddenly, a
clone freezes when water is dripped onto it. Ero spits water onto
some of the clones to freeze them, and Triton reaches the water.
Enraged, the real Golsenos follows the dolphins. Triton, with a
recharged Oriharucon dagger, performs a surprise attack and kills
Golsenos.

This is all we see of the corpse of Neleus, sadly - a toga and a hand.

At the ruins of Atlantis, Poseidon tells Marcus to call Minotus and
Mybes to fight Triton. He then orders Gylbess to execute Neleus, and
Gylbess does so.

Triton continues toward the Atlantic...

Triton of the Sea - Episode 24

NOTE: This summary is based on an imperfect translation (I do not speak Japanese). Please let me know of any inaccuracies.

Triton of the Sea is copyright 1972 by Office Academy. This summary is an effort by a fan for fans.

"The Rush of Gondowana"

On Rakan's advice, Triton and his friends are heading to the Atlantic
through the Mediterranean. But first they must pass through
the "choke point" of Gondowana.

Morsejellies inform Poseidon of this, and he decides to set a trap
at the choke point.

Triton and the gang pass through the Red Sea, which makes Pipi
feel ill. Triton tells everyone to be very careful passing
through, when suddenly Fin sees a mermaid in the water.

James

Checking it out, Triton finds a baby manatee (who is afraid it's
about to become Triton's lunch) who knocks itself out. After
the manatee James is persuaded that it's not lunch, he tells the
gang about Gadaru, but cannot describe him (except to say that
he will eat them one by one). He takes the team to see his
fellow manatees.

Below, a spiky blob fires spikes at manatees, disintegrating them.
Triton faces the blob, but when he chops it with the Oriharucon,
it doubles. Ero, Karo, and Fin try to help, but unexpectedly
many of the blobs become one BIG blob. Finally, the Oriharucon
dagger at full strength destroys the blobs.

In Atlantis, Neleus again says that Gadaru will make the Gondowana Triton's graveyard...

Meeting the manatees, Triton reveals his plan to go through
Gondowana, and the manatees direct him through, warning him about
Gadaru at the pass. Triton is confident the Oriharucon dagger can
defeat the monster.

The gang goes to the cave they must pass through. A manatee
guide warns of other monsters in there besides Gadaru.

Triton goes into the cave, where he fends off spike attacks directed
from nothing. He realized that Gadaru is the spikes themselves,
which can combine into one life form. Gadaru blocks him inside a
cave without the Oriharucon dagger, and Triton slides below,
only to face rubber (like that which connects the spikes)
that attacks him in the form of a starfish.

Blowing off the fears of the manatees, Pipi and the dolphins go
into the cave (along with James, who wishes to prove his bravery).
They find the Oriharucon dagger (Pipi picks it up, but it does
not glow) and the blocked cavern. James takes the Oriharucon dagger
and the others draw away the Gadaru from the cave.

James gets the dagger to Triton, and he emerges, drawing away
the Gadaru. The Oriharucon disintegrates the Gadaru, but
destroys the passageway. Triton is able to survive the collapse.

(Sigh). Yes, James survives. He's so irritatingly cute that I REALLY wanted him offed somehow.

Poseidon reports this failure to his generals. They plan to send Golsenos to the Meditarrenean, who has an idea to counter the Oriharucon dagger's power...