DANG! It's been a minute since I posted anything in here, and some pretty cool stuff has happened between my B-day and the Holiday season.
First up, I had some sweet birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket. With a tip off from our very own carytheone, I was hipped to a crazy sale on something I had been eyeballing for quite some time.
Fansproject Retro-Future Glacialord.
The set normally sold for a whopping $250, but it was either Black Friday or Cyber Monday at TFSource, and the whole set was priced to move at $60. I couldn't resist!
What always attracted me to this set was that even though it is a 3rd party product, it's an original idea. Not their take on a preexisting TF character. And having one other FP toy, I knew it would be high quality.
Surprisingly, what ended up being the most fun about this toy was the whole weird retro experience of simply unboxing them.
We'll start with the packaging.
The package design is amazingly executed. From the get go it helps build this fictional idea of these being an actual vintage haul. As I unboxed them, I started to imagine I had miraculously discovered 4 out of 5 of these guys at a flea market in Arkansas. And through a stroke of luck I had found the Japanese release of the 5th member for a doable price on Mandarake.
Of course all of this is a farse and just a story I made up to entertain myself.
But the package design has these great derpy G1 style paintings all over the boxes, and to enforce the retro feel, they are printed with wear, tear, and distress. Even Tusker's box is "sun faded". As if it sat in the window of the toy store for too long.
They even came packed in styrofoam inserts, like the old days!
Some more packaging.
The Japanese release to complete the team.
Each figure employs a "Master" type gimmick. The "Masters" even came packed on tiny blisters inside the box.
And of course to add to the vintage feel, there were stickers.
The toys inside were just as vintage rad as the packaging. They are a combiner team made up of prehistoric mammals. Each has a beast and bot mode, and of course combine to make a giant robot. And if that's not old school enough for you, they each include a little "Master" guy! The transformations are G1 simple, and they all have a vintage G1 charm that is undeniably awesome!!!
The "Masters" are most akin to a Power Master idea. They fold up to become some kind of power cell and their heads become the heads of the individual robot modes.
Each one can also ride his respective beast. (You guys know I love that ****, right?!)
This saber tooth tiger is called Fangro.
Let's run through the other 4 bots, shall we?
Razorspike, the wooly rhino
Tailclub, the armodillodon (I made that up. I don't know what these beasts were called.)
Probably my favorite, Megazero, the giant stag.
And the big boss, Tusker, the wooly mammoth.
The whole squad in robot mode.
And then there's the BIG SHOW!!
COMBINE TO FORM GLACIALORD!!!
Comparisons with actual G1 Combiners.
Such a fun and weirdly retro experience with this team. The show completely surpassed the heavily discounted price of admission. Not only was it fun just to play with the toys because they're neat, it was super fun to pretend there had been some awesome zany time machine situation that facilitated their acquisition.
I've been avoiding the rabbit Dia-hole, but damn you make 'em tempting. Gotta stay strong 
