The Insecticons [Galaxy Version–06,08,09]

This is a post I’ve been wanting to write for a while. Longtime readers know about my affinity for insect-based robots, and that absolutely includes the Insecticons.

They’ve always been this creepy subgroup of the Decepticons that tend to follow their own path. Wherever they go, they consume everything around them, leaving nothing but wasteland behind. You’d think that wouldn’t be such a big deal—there are only three of them, at least in the cartoon—but that’s never really been the case. They can clone themselves, creating an entire swarm.

The Insecticons originally began as the Waruders in Diaclone. While I’ve got various G1 versions of the characters, I’ve never been lucky enough to own the original Waruders themselves. Thankfully, in 2005, E-Hobby released an exclusive recolor set in those Waruder colors. Within Transformers fiction, they were meant to represent the clones—so in a way, they finally brought the Waruders back into the fold. I jumped on that set immediately.

These days, Blokees Transformers Blind Boxes kits (and similar model lines) have become a big part of how I enjoy Transformers. Starting with Galaxy Version Series 06, they began releasing the Insecticons, and I knew I had to complete the trio. Each one even comes with a tiny insect-mode partner, which is absolutely my thing. I’ve always had a soft spot for partner figures, so this set was basically designed to hook me. 

Let’s take a look at each one.

Kickback – My personal favorite of the group. Between the wings and antenna, he’s just a great-looking design. As a grasshopper, it makes sense that his specialty is jumping long distances. He’s probably the Insecticon most people associate with the team. Released in Series 06 Parallel Universe, he comes with a tiny Shrapnel and his Electrothermic Blast Tube.

Shrapnel – The leader of the group. My older brother had one when we were kids, and I’ll never forget thinking his pincers looked like horns. They’re used for his electrical attacks, which always looked great on screen. He comes with a tiny Bombshell and his Grenade Launcher. Released in Series 08 One Shall Fall.

Bombshell – Arguably the most dangerous of the three. His Cerebro-Shells let him control other beings, launched from that dramatic rhinoceros beetle horn over his head. I’ve always had a thing for rhino beetles, so he’s hard not to like. He comes with a tiny Kickback and his Twin Ion Impulse Blaster. Released in Series 09 Darkest Hour.

Each figure comes in a blind box and is fairly easy to assemble. The included insect-mode partners are fun little builds too, and I really hope Blokees continues doing things like that.

As expected, they all include open and closed hands for posing. Kickback, being from an earlier wave, uses the older body style—slightly less articulation and a higher resting head. Shrapnel and Bombshell use the updated construction, which allows for more dynamic posing. It doesn’t make Kickback look bad by any means, but the difference is noticeable when you’ve got all three together.

Even so, there’s a strong sense of cohesion across the set, which is important for a team like this. My only real gripe is that Shrapnel’s Grenade Launcher is purple while the others weapons are gray. It’s not a big deal—likely just a result of mold tree layout—but I do wish it matched the others.

Overall, I’m really happy to have completed this trio. I’ve been picking up more Galaxy Version kits individually lately, so finally assembling the full Insecticon team felt like an accomplishment.

I don’t even like real bugs… but I go crazy for robot ones.

It’s weird. I know.

Pilot Liam [Armorsaurs]

Armored Saurus—adapted into Armorsaurs—is one of those newer toy lines that’s been popping up in certain corners of the internet. I’d been seeing people in Microfans sharing the figures, along with various robot groups showing off the mecha, so when I spotted them at my local Walmart, I decided to take a chance and picked up Liam.

The show itself is mostly CGI with live-action elements, similar in style to Power Rangers, the western version replaces the original actors. From what I can tell, the toys are a brand-new line produced by MGA Entertainment rather than imports.

The premise centers around a group of kids involved in a military program using armored dinosaurs. The twist is that they have a special gene that allows them to communicate with the dinosaurs—so they’re not just randomly chosen and thrown into danger. Instead, there’s a reason they’re being put in harm’s way.

Makes sense.

Liam—“Pilot Liam,” technically—is the red ranger of the group and is paired with the T-Rex. On his own, he’s a nicely articulated 3 ¾-inch scale figure with a modular armor gimmick. He comes with a variety of plug-in armor pieces that you can mix and match, which ends up being a lot of fun to mess around with.

He also includes a sword and a backpack that doubles as a sheath. The figure itself is made from a slightly softer plastic that actually feels really nice in hand, without getting in the way of posing or attaching parts. Everything connects easily, and the included connector pieces give you a lot of flexibility when building out different armor configurations. It’s a familiar kind of gimmick, but it works. The Glyos System fan in me definitely appreciates it.

Overall, I liked Liam quite a bit—and I could easily see myself picking up a few more.

Optimus Prime (2007 Movie Version) [Classic Class]

Lately, a documentary about the live-action Transformers films has been making the rounds, and honestly, the random behind-the-scenes insanity has been pretty funny. It also got me thinking about those movies again—which, despite how much people complain about them, always seem to be playing on some FAST channel. Funny how that works.

As I’ve said before, flaws and all, I have fun with the movies. It felt like a good excuse to dig into my ever-growing backlog and finally build this Blokees Transformers Classic Class kit of Optimus Prime as he appeared in the 2007 film.

This one was a Christmas gift from the Mrs and works as a nice counterpart to the 2007 Megatron kit I covered earlier this year.

 I still remember when early images of this design started circulating around 2006. People lost their minds—mostly because the leak was of the truck mode. Instead of the classic flat-nosed cab, we got a long-nose truck with blue and red flames, and for some reason a lot of folks expected a straight G1 adaptation. Personally, I was kind of hoping he'd be for something closer to the G2 Laser Rod Optimus Prime design due to the truck… and, hey, he did end up with glowing swords.

At that point, after 20-something years of Transformers, I was already used to redesigns. I thought the movie designs looked cool—leaning more into something alien—and I was always ready for something new.

This kit ended up being a really pleasant surprise. Not just because I like Transformers or Blokees, but because the build itself was more involved than I expected. Most Blokees kits are quick, but this one took some time. All those layered details in the movie design? They’re layered here too.

I assumed parts like the chest might be larger, single molded pieces—but no, it’s built up from multiple components, which gives the figure a lot of depth. There’s also a solid amount of paint detail on things like the flame deco. It looks great—likely tampographed, which I’m totally fine with.

One thing that I've always noticed with this design is just how long and skinny his legs are. It never fully clicked until I was putting him together, but they honestly look like a pair of flared jeans with flame airbrushing—like something you’d find at Hot Topic in the late ’90s or early 2000s. I have no idea if that was intentional, but I can’t unsee it now.

Once assembled, Optimus is nicely articulated and can pull off a wide range of poses. He comes with his blaster, both swords, and multiple hands to make the most of it. Like other movie Blokees kits, he also has a light-up feature… and like my robot mode Optimus Primal kit from Rise of the Beasts, the battery was dead out of the box. Awesome.

My only real complaint with the build is that some parts require a very specific touch to get seated properly. I’ve got big fingers, so that didn’t help, but a few pieces definitely tested my patience. The sides of his head, in particular, kept popping off even when they seemed secure. After a few attempts—and some wiener voiced cursing—I ended up disassembling and rebuilding that section entirely. No idea what I did differently the second time, but it worked.

Also worth noting: to equip the swords, you’ll need to partially disassemble the forearms. It’s not a huge deal, but something to be aware of.

Despite a few frustrations, this was a really fun build. I enjoyed the layered construction, and the final result looks fantastic. There’s also an “EX” version with metallic parts and upgraded paint, paired with an “Iceman” Megatron in a two-pack. Based on how good this standard release turned out, I imagine those look incredible.

On its own, though, this Optimus already feels like one of the more premium Classic Class kits—and it looks the part.

Supersize Mech

It's time to start another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure Zone Base readers! I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine sure was! Friday morning I headed out shortly after eating breakfast to get a copy of Pragmata for my PS5 before they sold out. For whatever reason, my local Target didn't get any (they're actually getting terrible at launch day releases). So after a visit to the Mrs workplace to drop off some stuff, I stopped by Best Buy shortly after they opened and got a copy. It's funny, Pragmata is a pretty big deal... and I was the only person who knew what it was at either games department. It's really, really good and I'm looking at some serious time spent having adventures on the the moon. I also picked up Age of the Primes Sideways while out Friday morning! This is a toy I've been looking forward to greatly and am so happy to have one!

Saturday, the Mrs and I went to Daiso. I'd been looking forward to this little trip all week as I'm starting a binder project for the various cards and instructions that come with my models. I'm starting small with Blokees, but plan to work my way up to the larger kits. This is the kind of project that's going to be an ongoing adjustment, so I'm predicting a lot of trial and error. I got some binder pages intended for storing Bikkuriman type stickers, which is just right for the pogs and mini cards that come with the blind box Blokees, this project is going to be fun! While there, I also got some figure stands, a Street Fighter blind pack acrylic stand (got Guile's electrocuted skeleton), and some ramune candy for my desk at work (love that stuff). Also of note, I picked up a bity blocks (their version of Nano Blocks) of a little converterting robot that turns into a space ship. I've got a Nano Block backlog that's demanding attention that it's going into. Maybe those will start showing up here. 

Another neat thing Daiso had was little models of Police motorcycles and helicopters that looked perfect for Diaclone pilots. I didn't buy any, but was super tempted. We then stopped by Walmart where I picked up Age of the Primes Big Convoy and Liege Maximo! I've been chasing Big Convoy all year, so this was a big win for me! Also, they had restocked MOTU Mighty Masters and I got Man-at-Arms and Beastman completing the first series. Hopefully these continue as they're certainly coming to random Wednesday posts here soon!

The rest of the weekend was spent playing Pragmata and assembling a desk for the Mrs. I intended to do some room organizing, but my knee was giving me a lot of trouble so that got put off until next weekend. I had broken my left knee a long time ago and there's lingering pain that comes and goes, especially when seasons are changing. Spring is quite chaotic here in the American South, so you can be sure that I'm feeling it literally in my bones. I spent all weekend in my brace unfortunately. However I did get some Blokees assembled Sunday (Sunday is build day!) and enjoyed an excellent Red Robin dinner Sunday courtesy of my mother. She gifted me a dancing Megatron found on clearance and I'm admittedly fond of the silly thing. 

Well, it's time to get this week started Zone Base readers. I've got a fun week in store for you all. Thank you all so much for reading the site. Please share it with your friends and be excellent to each other!