Blog #832: Toy Reviews: The Loyal Subjects X The Transformers Series 2 and Game Stop Exclusives

The Loyal Subjects X The Transformers Series 2 and Game Stop Exclusives

This is mostly old news, but I wanted to wait until I tracked down most of last year’s Loyal Subjects before I did a blog.  I’ll probably do that differently this year, if I decide to continue buying them at all (more on that later).

There were a lot of problems with this year’s Loyal Subjects figures.  Many of mine have parts that fall off, or parts that are incredibly hard to put on.  I had one whose arm peg almost twisted off the first time I moved his arm.  Many of them come apart at the waist and won’t go back together no matter how much force is applied.  Additionally, they changed the design this year, especially in the arms.  I think the idea was to make them more poseable since they were trying to bill them as “Action Vinyls”.  All they succeeded in doing was make the arms look like they were falling off, not stay in place, and break.  The first years toys looked so much better.

Series 1 Chase Version 2

Chase Metallic Silver Megatron (1:24)

Chase Metallic Gold Jazz (1:48)

Chase Cliffjumper (1:96)

Before we get to series 2, in a shameless cash grab, Loyal Subjects released a second round of Series 1 boxes with DIFFERENT chase figures.  Series 1 had Black Megatron, Black Jazz, and Black Bumblebee.  The second release had Metallic Silver Megatron, Metallic Gold Jazz (who they could have called Stepper), and Cliffjumper.  Considering how expensive these chase figures are this absolutely sucks.  I still haven’t been able to get a Cliffjumper since they go for $150-$200 and that’s more than I’ve been able to spend on it.  Even the Silver Megatron and Gold Jazz were more than $60 each.  This was a disgusting way to get rid of overproduced toys.  I was so close to not buying any more Loyal Subjects toys after series 1 when I heard about this.  I kind of wish I’d stopped then.

Series 2

Mirage

Prowl

Ramjet

Shockwave

Shrapnel

Sideswipe

Slag

Thrust

Chase Talking Optimus Prime (1:24)

Chase Dirge (1:48)

Chase Skywarp (1:96)

Series 2 included some really great figures including Shockwave and the chase talking Optimus Prime.  What really rubbed me the wrong way was including main characters as chase figures.  In Series 1 the chase figures were re-colors.  I suppose the talking Optimus Prime being a special figure is okay, but two of the six jets as chase figures?  That sucks royally.  It would have been bad enough if just one of them was a chase.  It’s hard enough and expensive enough to collect these without having main characters as expensive chase figures.  This really sucks.  I did luck out and got Dirge from the blind box in my Lootcrate.

Hot Topic Exclusives

Grimlock

Snarl

Chase Bluestreak (1:48)

To make the whole chase mess worse, Hot Topic got their own boxes of Series 2 with different figures.  Hot Topic’s boxes contained a new Grimlock with additional snap on parts from the Series 1 version and a new figure, Snarl.  Hot Topic omitted Mirage and Sideswipe completely.  They also changed the ratio.  I think, though I’m not 100% sure, the talking Optimus Prime chase was a regular non chase release in the Hot Topic boxes.  Prowl was also omitted from the case, replaced with a repainted Prowl as Bluestreak, who was a chase figure.  This all makes for a convoluted mess and really hard to tell which figures are truly rare.  I was lucky (at least I thought I was) to pull a Bluestreak from a blind box, the only blind box I bought.  Unfortunately he came with Snarl’s Tech Spec card.  I contacted Loyal Subjects and after being strung along with promises of a replacement for five months, I’m shit out of luck.  Apparently there weren’t enough of us who didn’t get the right card to justify reprinting them.  Frankly, one person should have been enough.  This is a lousy way of doing business.

Game Stop Exclusive Window Boxes

Nighttime Edition Optimus Prime

California Highway Patrol Edition

Red Alert

Slag (Red Version)

Nighttime Edition Sideswipe

Animated Series Edition Shrapnel

In December Game Stop stores got a series of six more figures.  These, mercifully, were not blind buys, they were packed in window boxes.  This is a very odd mix of repainted figures with truly bizarre names.  Optimus Prime, called Nighttime Edition is painted more like the G1 toy.  Prowl has had his insignias changed to the California Highway Patrol.  Sideswipe was repainted into Red Alert, the only new character in the series.  Slag has been given a red head and other parts to look more like the “Red Slag” G1 variant.  Talk about one that’s out of left field.  A Sideswipe repaint, also called Nighttime Edition is different from the regular version, though the name doesn’t seem to have any particular meaning.  Shrapnel is supposed to be the Animated Series Edition, not that I know what that means.  It almost feels like Game Stop wanted some exclusives and they just made some paint changes to which ever figures were being manufactured at the time with no rhyme of reason.

Frankly, between the poor quality and missing Bluestreak Tech Spec card, I am seriously considering not buying any more Loyal Subjects products in the future.

Thanks for reading!