Friday, 10 October 2014

ROBO-SYNERGY - PROWLERS


Intro
Robo-Synergy is a fan created project idea of mine for this international toy line which never got any real story behind the toys, they got given names but that was all and it was only the original Japanese versions that got actual given a story and bios of each toy/character. The name Robo short for Robot and Synergy meaning when 2 things work together as one, which I really liked the sound of. The Prowlers designs are all based on the toys and toy art work designs which I have tried to stay true to as much as possible and made my own redesigns along the way to suit my personal interest in robot and colour designing. I wanted to create my own original names for the toys/characters but with some sounding similar and resonating very close to the original toy names which I found still cool and appealing. Without further due you can read the information below on the characters which will feature in a fan comic I'm creating for them all in the future!

Character Bios


SolRoar
Role: Commander/Instructor/Advanced Specialist Combat Warrior
Synergize mode: Lion

The leader of the Prowlers and like also a lion who lives with a pride, SolRoar is the whole Pride of the Prowlers. What allows him to lead successfully is his complete trust in his comrades and his powerful emitting like aura of solar sunlight that the Prowlers feel safe among and the gentle calm but a commanding roar to lead his Prowlers with strong courage. He will do what ever it takes to protect anything and everything that deserves freedom and justice, even if it means to self sacrifice himself for it. The experience he gained over a long period of time taught him to always learn and synergize with total harmony with yourself and everything around you. Only then you will be the strongest you can possibly be without doubt.

Abilities/Weapons: SolRoar excels in every attribute as a Prowler, iron strength, intelligent combat, attuned sensors, agile capabilities, but the most strongest he possesses is his natural leadership and his special solaris solid mane that protects him and others with great defense. The next is his unrivaled melee claws that are retractable in both of his modes. They are specialized in any situation and they possess energy within them which have secrets behind them. The special mane allows him to not only protect himself but his comrades, he can create a emitting Solaris shield around himself or around a comrade for short period of time, repelling immense amount of damage.
He possesses 2 unique rocket missile pods on his shoulders that can also be alternated to his front or back side legs in Synergize mode. The missiles are special types that home in their targets and when hitting their target or landing somewhere they don't immediate explode as they are modified for SolRoar's command to detonate them at will by using a deep roar which echoes a vibration wave to the missiles and allows him to detect his enemies heat source and only then he can choose to explode his missiles or it marks them for him to hunt them down. These special missiles also allow his fellow Prowlers to have the ability to sense the missiles location and use them help locate their enemies.

Weaknesses: No weaknesses have been recorded.



PierceStrike
Role: Second in Command/Specialist Combat Warrior
Synergize mode: Tiger

The second in command and closest comrade to SolRoar. His sharp mind is what allows him to assist his leader as second in command and his fellow Prowlers into safe and advantageous situations. He does not always speaks his mind but he is a ferocious warrior in battle with skills almost on par with his leader and potentially surpassing them one day. He cooperates well with his Prowlers by using his special combative skills to help further support them in the line of duty. At times SolRoar gives him full command to lead the Prowlers on missions to help further them grow as a team and syngerize their teamwork skills which PierceStrike as more than willing to do if necessarly.

Abilities/Weapons: Like his sharp mind, he has sharp claws in Synergize mode hidden piercing missles under the paws that are so precised at hitting their targets with high accuracy. He has many agile techniques to move freely on most terrains due to his adaptive claws. One of his strongest attribute is his diverse combat warrior skills, which in close or long range combat he can achieve great results by moving, attacking, evading, and being strategic. He possesses 2

Weaknesses: He does not like to fail missions and takes the fault which this sometimes can make him vulnerable and disappointed at times and allow enemies to take advantage of.


SprintBurst
Role: Scout/Reconnaissance/Melee and Long-range Warrior
Synergize mode: Cheetah

The carefree sprinter is what hat drives her is being faster than the air itself and by doing this she feels free to challenge it by racing the force that tries to pull her back but never allows it. Anytime her leader gives commands to scout the unknown terrains or dangers, SprintBurst is more than willing to do it as to stretch her legs and see how fast she can do it without breaking a circuit wire. Her friendly nature allows her to get along with her comrades and she is very close friends with Furequence due to their abilities to work together so well. In her spare time she creates maps of the unknown terrains she discovers and time records of her travels and studies them thoroughly to improve herself and uses them to help her Prowlers gain knowledge what is always up ahead without having to struggle what could be more dangerous for them to not know is out there, this puts her at peace knowing she can do this for comrades.

Abilities/Weapons: Wields a double-edged blade that can be used for melee combat, a boomerang slicer, twin daggers, and bow and arrow. This gives her an advantage in many different battle situations by adapting to melee or long range combat.

Weaknesses: Her confidence in her fast agile abilities can be used against her as she acts too quickly for her own good thus giving her enemies a chance to find a opening to counter-attack her movements making her extremely fragile and vulnerable.





Furequence 
Role: Intelligence Gatherer/Inventor/Long-range Warrior
Synergize mode: Lynx

The communications expert. He has the largest sensory abilities among the Prowlers, which his allows him to hear and sense the smallest sounds being made within his frequency audio sensors. This makes him perfect for long range intel gathering missions without needed to be in a danger zone and report back any useful information. He sometimes eavesdrops without him knowing it and likes to talk about it with his close friend SprintBurst. This becomes a troublesome thing for him as he might hear too much for his own good but one thing is for sure is, he will tell you if you heard right or wrong.

Abilities/Weapons: Carries 2 double rocket launcher packs and can serve as rocket boosters. This is what makes him able to avoid danger in close range battles and plan ahead what decisions he can take to his favour and for his fellow Prowlers. It is the reason he acts as the Intelligence Gatherer and use any vital information he obtains to assess a safe situation through his high sensitive audio ear receptors that have a special unique frequency detectors.
 
Weaknesses: His worst enemy is close quarters combat, he does not have the same combat skills as his fellow Prowlers giving the enemy a chance to take advantage of him.










VanishPounce
Role: Spy/Reconnaissance/Expert Melee Warrior
Synergize mode: Black Panther

The silent and elusive night warrior of the Prowlers. What makes this Prowler silent is his ability to hide in the shadows without trace or notice making him the perfect stealth assassin. He tries to stay close to his fellow comrades but he becomes distance at times due to his nature of wanting to be elusive in the shadows which gives him total peace. He respects his Prowlers and especially his leader but has a temper when he fails a mission which can be high unlikely due to his perfectionist experience but his skills are unique where he will always perform them elusively and deadly where he can acts so quickly to create scratch marks on his opponent/s and when his ready he will pounce with extreme deadliness and vanish into thin air.

Abilities/Weapons: Has 2 double paralyzing launchers attached to his arms. This gives him the ability to immobilize his enemies for a a short second and striking them with pure swiftness from the shadows. They can also shoot smoke bombs making his enemies blind and confused while he can choose to attack with clear precision and leaving little no room for error. His greatest ability is to hide in the shadows and become almost completely stealth during night, making him perfect for spying or recon missions. His second best ability is his dual melee laser claws. They can cut through some of the hardest steel armour or leaving a mark that will damage the enemy immensely.

Weaknesses: His stealth ability works best at night but during day time he has limited shadows to hide in which gives the enemy a clear vision of where he will try to strike.

Saturday, 30 August 2014

DINO SQUAD / DINO-ROBO / DINOSAUR TEAM

The next set I mentioned I would do and here it is, some dinosaur robot action!

DINO SQUAD / DINO-ROBO / DINOSAUR TEAM
( TEK TOYS - DINO-ROBO - Front and back view toy packaging. )
MY COMMENTS
Here I have my first ROBO-DINO set, which I was always curious about whenever seeing it online for sale. The 4-pack box is very nicely done with the front packaging having clear sealed bubble plastic for the toys and the character art work inside behind the toys on a card so whenever your opening these toys up and want to preserve the artwork on the card be careful and cut them out precisely as possible! The back shows common transformation photo instructions along with some toy wonderful toy artwork again. This set clearly reminded me of the G1 Transformers, Dinobots!



( BOLEY - DINO SQUAD - ARTWORK. TYRANNO BOT, STEGO BOT, TRITOP BOT, and, BRONTO BOT. )


( TEK TOYS - ROBO-DINO - "TYRANNO BOT" the Tyrannosaurus. )
( TEK TOYS - ROBO-DINO - "STEGO BOT" the Stegosaurus. )


( TEK TOYS - ROBO-DINO - "TRITOP BOT" the Triceratops. )


( TEK TOYS - ROBO-DINO - "BRONTO BOT" the Brontosaurus. )
( All in robot and dinosaur modes. )



( Boley - DINO SQUAD - Front and back toy packaging, COMPLETE SET from A, B, C, and D. )
TOY INFORMATION
Company Manufacturer - Boley
Series Name - DINO SQUAD
Release - Single card back collectibles. A total of 4 DINO SQUAD toys to complete the set. Each sold separately. This was also available in 4-pack box sets. 
Year - Around the late 1980s and early 1990s
Designs - Japan
Made In - China
( KING KONG KING - DINOSAUR TEAM - Complete set. Photo credits found randomly on the internet. )

 ( My version I found recently while walking pass around a discount store! Obtained 5/9/14. )

TOY INFORMATION
Company Manufacturer - KING KONG KING
Series Name - DINOSAUR TEAM (Very original, I know!)
Release - Single card back collectibles. A total of 4 DINOSAUR TEAM toys to complete the set. Each sold separately. This was also available in 4-pack box sets.
Year - Around the late 1980s and early 1990s
Designs - Japan
Made In - China
REVIEW

GOOD SIDES
 > These toys are really fun for their simple play-ability transformations and chrome accessories they come with.
> Each have unique consistent looking designs from robot mode to insect modes and their colour schemes are very bright and colourful which is another appealing feature about these toys.
> In robot mode each have basic articulation from the arms and elbows and some have knee articulation, mostly for the transformation process.
> In dinosaur modes some have basic articulation like 360 or 180 rotation. The legs flip out or slide out.
> They share similarities to the Kats, Reptiles, and Insects that I have reviewed already in terms of quality, design, having chrome molded heads and accessories and a few pre-applied stickers.
DOWN SIDES
>  For their time they are fragile toys and I have had experiences where parts broke off, so be extremely careful when handling them!
CONCLUSION
Being a Transformer G1 fan, I fell in love with these toys and their wide range of packaging. They have inspired me to dedicate more to them by doing a illustration project based on all their toy designs and toy art work.


MY STORY AND COLLECTION - PART 2

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to MY STORY AND COLLECTION - PART 2
Here I will talk about and show more of my current collection and the growth of it!

This is where it starts to get larger in 2014, I got some amazing hauls!
(A huge thank you to Transformerland.com for the great hauls and photos! )
TRENDMASTERS - MASTERBOTIX - ANIBOTS (COMPLETE SET)

TRENDMASTERS - MASTERBOTIX - REPTILIBOTS (COMPLETE SET)

TRENDMASTERS - MASTERBOTIX - WINGED-BOTS (COMPLETE SET)

BOLEY - DINO SQUAD (COMPLETE SET)

TEK TOYS - ROBO-KATS
TEK TOYS - ROBO-REPTILES

TEK TOYS - ROBO-INVADERS

TEK TOYS - ROBO-DINO

PAT.P. PATENT LEADER SHINE - V WORLD - INVADING INSECT (FAVOURITE SET!)
(Many thanks to ebay seller pierlucca22!)

POLYFECT - QUICK CHANGE - INSECT BATTLE ROBOTS (COMPLETE SET)

COMMENTS
During the time I've started collecting this toy line, I always learned new information about them which makes it a endless journey to know who else made them but knowing that it is amazing and fantastic to know a lot of toy companies put a lot of effort to produce them as affordable Transformer-like toys. I am very proud to own them and share the love of them as they are also "MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE"!

I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing and will continue to update this blog website from time to time!

Sunday, 24 August 2014

MY STORY AND COLLECTION - PART 1

 INTRODUCTION
Here you will see multiple photos of my collection and my story through comments relating to them over the course of when I first started collecting these toys and fell deeply in love with them! 
To make things easier I will refer to each toys as:

FIGHTING ANIMAL / ROBO-KATS / ANIBOTS - Kats
INVADING REPTILE / ROBO-REPTILES / REPTILIBOTS - Reptiles
FIGHTING INSECT / ROBO-BUGS / WINGED-BOTS - Insects / Good Insects
INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS - Insects / Bad Insects

It all started around March 2013 and discovering old but to me new G1 styled Transformer looking toys that drew me in with great nostalgia and excitement!


Here is the whole set of "MAXI - INSECTO ROBOT" complete and sealed. It is my very first complete set of the Insects from this toy line along with my single "V WORLD - FIGHTING ANIMAL - LION".


Transformers G1 Insecticon looking right? Which is the one main reason I had to get these, they reminded me a lot like them in a more colourful way, perhaps like the Transformers G1 Deluxe Insecticons. They also have that G1 block/brickiness designs and simple transformations which makes it very nostalgic and is my favourite style I love about transforming robot toys!


Insects in alt modes with the G1 Insecticons.




Insects in robot modes with the G1 Insecticons.
This is where my Insecticon Syndrome begins and where my Insecticon Army grows!
The size comparisons are almost the same size as the G1 Insecticons, it was perfect!


The next set of toys I wanted to complete which was the Kats! When I first obtained the LION I saw the other 4 Kat members you could collect and I was so excited and motivated to find them pronto! I managed to get the CHEETAH, TIGER, and BLACK PANTHER in ROBO-KATS versions nicely sealed on card-backs. Later on I managed to find the last 1 I was eager to get which was the WILD CAT but I was sadly was missing its accessory and knowingly I saw it was a different version from the FIGHTING ANIMAL and ROBO-KATS series and I was curious which series it came from and I believe it is from one called TATSUMIYA - FIGHTING ANIMAL series which is different from the V WORLD series because of the paint jobs that were done on the with plastic molds. 
But once I found this 4-pack of ROBO-KATS it was gold to me! When I found this set with not only the last Kat WILD CAT with accessory which I needed, seeing all 4 Kats in one box set, oh my thanks God ! When I first got the LION I knew I wanted the rest of these Kats and to finally have them all now completed together, I knew my TRANSFORMERS/VOLTRON Kats are ready to prowl out!

The next set of toys I found out about from the toy line being the Reptiles! I managed to obtain 2 from the V WORLD - INVADING REPTILE series, the CHAMELEON and GILLA MONSTER both nicely sealed. The last 2 I needed I obtained from the MASTERBOTIX - REPTILIBOTS series, the ALLIGATOR and IGUANA which completed all 4 Reptiles and it was a new discovery finding out about another toy company producing this toy line.

Reptiles in alt modes. Simply love the design and colours on these toys and the red IGUANA colour paint job always got me curious why red instead of another green like its fellow Reptile members but I believe it was just to make it different.

Reptiles in robot modes. Looking all cool, although its unfortunate that the ALLIGATOR is the only Reptile that can hold his accessories as hand held weapons but as for the rest they can still rotate them around so all good! I never imagined too much about transformer reptiles until now owning these toys which puts a better perspective on how much more creature G1 like transformers we can imagine to existence!




Now here is the accumulation of this toy line when I started collect them perhaps over the past few months or so and wanting to complete all 5 Kats, 4 Reptiles, and 8 Insects. Oh it was a challenge since I was so driven to find them all but along the way I kept learning more information about them and just the vast majority of different releases they possessed. I would literally enjoy seeing another version of a Kat in a different colour scheme paint job or in a different style of toy package with interesting designs which makes it always eye catching then from there I ended up with multiples of the toys.




All together both in altt and robot modes. They are so bright and colourful, makes them look so appealing and fun! As for the 4 toys at the back row, they are from a toy series called ROBO-DINO which I'll have a separate blog for. Overall they all share same qualities, toy quality, paint jobs, sticker quality, designs, articulation, chrome, chrome accessories, and all in all functionality as good ol school transforming robot toys!
 
MY STORY AND COLLECTION - PART 2 coming soon... With more updates of my collection that I have obtained from 2013 to 2014!







Sunday, 17 August 2014

INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS

Now for the last set of the series!

INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS
( Front and back view toy packaging by LH, PAT.P.LEADER SHINE ENT. CO., LTD.
Single plastic seal box card-back.)
COMMENTS

The INVADING INSECTs are great, they have great different colours on them with some also sharing a consistent colour scheme themes that allows them to look like a deadly insect team! Like the other previous 3 sets, these exist in different styles and have learned there is literally endless versions from what I've seen. As for my thoughts on the whole look of this fourth set in the series, I love it just like the rest and it continues to teach me more about them and how much fun they are!


( Front and back view toy packaging by LH, PAT.P.LEADER SHINE ENT. CO., LTD.
Single plastic seal box card-box. Great photo credits to ebay seller "kreatobergas". )
MY COMMENTS 

This is another interesting type of toy packaging that stands out uniquely like the rest. The choice of colours on the packaging is what really grabs me due to mostly in the V WORLD series they stick with the consistent colours that represent each teams but in that case they change it up even more with a soild botanical green which I really like since it relates to insects living mostly in that environment. It stuns me again to see more variety of how these toy companies approach on marketing these toys, I never get enough of it!


( Toy art work of FIGHTING INSECT. )
( INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS - "SWAT" the Fly. )
( INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS - "BITE" the Mosquito. )
( INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS - "STING" the Hornet. )
( INVADING INSECT / ROBO-INVADERS / WINGED-BOTS - "MOTH" the Moth. )

( All in robot and insect modes. )

( INVADING INSECT - Complete individual cardbacks. Last photo credit: not sure, if you know let me know! )



( Toy 4-pack box set. ROBO-INVADERS front and back view. )

( LH, PAT.P. LEADER SHINE - V WORLD - INVADING INSECT - 4-PACK BOX SET, ALL VIEWS (MADE IN TAIWAN). Special thanks to ebay seller "pierluca22" for the great photos! I wanted to use the seller's photos instead of my own to show my gratitude for putting it up for auction. )
COMMENTS
This is one of my most priced possessions from this toy line and I am grateful for the seller who kept it in near perfect condition! When I first laid eyes on this version of toy packaging I was blasted away and excited at the same time because I have never seen a version like it. It has the clear thin plastic see through material to allow you to see the toys in a different way with all the fantastic name designs and toy artwork all around with many colour choices to compliment everything you see which makes it very appealing. The top part of the box has a think plastic handle allowing you to carry it like a suitcase, boy I would of been super happy to do that as a kid if ran into this in the store. The bottom part has clear writing of what the toy line series is called. The left and right side parts of the box show the wonderful toy artwork transformations of all the 4 Invading Insects. Now for my favourite part which is back of the box, as you can see it shows all of the toy artwork of the toy/characters that you can collect and apart of the V WORLD series. I've always been wanting box set where it has all them ever since seeing Choryujin's FIGHTING INSECT 4-pack box set version which is similar since it shows all the toy artwork characters as well at the back of the box and to finally have my own is very special to me.
Now for inside the box you get all 4 Invading Insects with all accessories included on styrofoam which blew me away even more and it reminded me of good ol G1 Transformer toy packaging so I was so happy to see this apart of the box set since it was another new discovery that the toy companies have done many more toy packaging desgins to market them better with a wide range to choose from.
Overall this completes my satisfaction of finding a all round perfect toy packaging of this toy line since it has everything on it to make it worth keeping no matter what and without a doubt this is one of my holy grails which I'm proud to have!

OTHER VERSIONS



(  WINGED-BOTS toy packaging. Single card back. )

Company Manufacture - TRENDMASTERS, INC. 
Series Name - MASTERBOTIX
Group Name -WINGED-BOTS
Release - Single card back collectibles. A total of 10 WINGED-BOTS to complete the set. Each sold separately. This set is different as it came with 2 extra new insects instead 8 which was the total you couldn't collect from the INVADING INSECT and ROBO-INVADERS series. 
Year - Around the late 1980s and early 1990s
Designs - Japan
Made In - China
  MAXI, INSECTO ROBOT toy packaging. Single card back. )
Company Manufacturer - PACICPA
Series Name - MAXI
Group Name- INSECTO ROBOT
Release - Single card back collectibles. A total of 8 INSECTO ROBOT to complete the set. Each sold separately. A 3-pack set was available but they are of lower design quality and quality in general.Year - Around the late 1980s and early 1990s
Designs - Japan
Made In - China


REVIEW

GOOD SIDES> These toys are really fun for their simple play-ability transformations and chrome accessories they come with.
> Each have unique consistent looking designs from robot mode to insect modes and their colour schemes are very bright and colourful which is another appealing feature about these toys.
> In robot mode each have basic articulation from the arms and elbows. 
> The Mosquito has the most articulation of all the Invading Insects, she has 6 ball joints in her arms which allows her arm/legs to move all around, impressive!
> In insect mode some have basic articulation like 360 or 180 rotation. The legs flip out or slide out. You can move the heads left and right.
DOWN SIDES
>  - For their time they are fragile toys and I have had experiences where parts broke off, so be extremely careful when handling them!
CONCLUSION
Being a Transformer G1 fan, I fell in love with these toys and their wide range of packaging. They have inspired me to dedicate more to them by doing a illustration project based on all their toy designs and toy art work.