Unique Toys Y-01 Fuel Supply Provider (3rd Party Octane/Tall Tankor)

Unique Toys seem set on making Masterpiece scaled figures of characters from the third season of The Transformers. They've made Blurr who we looked at previously and their take on Sandstorm is due out in the near future. And then there's today's focus - Fuel Supply Provider, their take on a Masterpiece Octane/Tankor (and as such this figure will be referred to as Octane from here on out).

Unlike his fellow triple changing Decepticons Octane only really featured in two episodes of the original cartoon. In one he teamed up with Trypticon to steal world monuments for Carbombya (yes, this "joke" nation is as offensive as it sounds). In the other he palled around first with Sandstorm then later Starscream's ghost while trying to escape bounty hunters sent by Galvatron.

Truck mode:

Octane's land based alt mode is a tanker truck. When I first saw pictures of this mode I must admit I was unhappy with it. For some reason I had in my mind that this should be a truck cab and trailer set up. A Google image search quickly showed me I had the wrong sort of truck in mind and knowing what the designers were going for this has become my favorite of the two alt modes.

There are a lot of nice details in this mode. The head and tail lights are clear plastic pieces as are the windscreen and side windows. Each of the wheels has chromed rims and rubber tires so the truck mode rolls really nicely. The guard rails to the rear of the tank are also a very nice touch.

From side on you can see a bit of plane junk hanging out under the truck. Some parts have detailing on them to do their best to blend in. For example the plane tail fin has the steps up to the truck cab molded onto them. The part that probably stands out the most are the jet engines sitting between the rear wheels. And it's pretty obvious that the rear of the tank is the front of the plane despite the nose cone tucking inside for the most part.

Like most official Masterpiece figures Octane has an attack mode. One where you plug his gun into the top of his vehicle mode. I haven't taken a picture of it. The plug hole is partway down the tank and allows the gun to be plugged in either way. Which means the plane also has an attack mode.

Octane makes for a small truck. But small trucks do exist. I think the scale here is up for debate. It probably is a tad smaller than it should be but I don't mind it.

Plane mode:

Octane's plane mode looks very nice. When the first pictures came out I was sold on this mode before the truck mode. Everything holds together solidly so you can swoosh this plane around to your hearts content.

The top portion of the truck cab is tucked under the rear of the plane. And the truck mode wheels end up visible on the plane mode engines. This sort of thing is unavoidable really. I personally think the wheels/engines pairing is a clever work around that gives the plane the right silhouette even at angle when the tires are clearly visible.

While the truck modes scale may be debatable the plane modes is not. As nice as it looks this alt mode is way to small next to other Masterpiece Transformers. That said a plane was never going to scale well with a tanker truck to begin with. The truck mode should be able to fit inside this sort of plane!

Transformation:

I'm not going to try and describe the whole transformation this time around. I think the important thing to mention here is just how well the transformation works. Sure, there are some noticeable plane parts in truck mode and vice versa but on the whole each mode is it's own distinct thing.

Octane uses a lot of panels to achieve his transformation but isn't a shellformer. A number of these panels exist to make transformation easier. Fold them out of the way, move what you need to move and then fold them back again. Everything tabs together solidly.

The whole process is involved but not difficult. Which, in my opinion, is what makes for a fun transformer. Octane is fun to play with.

Robot mode:

From truck to plane to impressively chunky robot mode. Octane has all the articulation of your standard Masterpiece Transformer. With relatively large feet he's nice and stable when posed as well. His hands firmly grip his gun and the wings don't impede on his articulation. They do make him a bit of a shelf space hog though.

The robot mode is carrying a decent amount of kibble on his back. And I'm not counting the wings as kibble as they clearly reference the original toy and his cartoon/comic character model. While most of the front of the plane becomes Octane's arms there's still a good amount that ends up layered on his back. It does collapse down as much as possible but if kibble offends you won't like what's left.

The head sculpt is very angular. This and his gaunt cheeked face might put some people off. It seems to take cues from the style of the IDW comics over the original cartoon. If you don't like it remember that it could be worse. Unique Toys could've used Marvel comics bug eyed design!

Even if the scale on his alt modes is iffy I think Octane looks right at home among the other Masterpiece Decepticons. He's just a touch shorter than a Seeker. While you can't really trust the G1 cartoon for accurate measurements this does seem about right for when Octane interacted with Starscream's ghost.

Final thoughts:

I own a number of Unique Toys figures and have been really happy with them. Octane is no exception. I imagine the engineering involved in making a Transformer is not simple. Making a triple-changer must be even harder still.

With Octane Unique Toys have succeeded in making a solid triple-changer. While a bit of the plane mode is visible in truck mode (and vice versa) each mode still feels distinct. I don't feel any mode was sacrificed for the sake of the other two or that one of the alt-modes was worked in as an after thought. The scale may bug some people but Octane is very welcome to stand with my Masterpiece Decepticons.

Unique Toys Y-02 Data Courier Buzzing (3rd Party Blurr)

The Transformers: The Movie was a game changer for the original cartoon version of The Transformers. Most of the beloved characters of the shows first two seasons were gratuitously killed off and replace with new characters in order to sell more toys. While some fans whole heartedly accepted this new cast others hate them with a passion. Some even go so far as to suggest everything post season 2 has been a huge mistake.

One of the new toys characters introduced in the movie was Blurr. A jittery, impatient, fast talking Autobot. He was little more than a side character in the movie, getting enough screen time to establish his character but otherwise just present as events unfolded. But his little panicked rant about the defence of Autobot City stuck in my mind and made Blurr one of a number of toys I wanted but never got as a kid.

Third party company Unique Toys have been around for a few years now. Some of their more notable figures include Mania King, a version of Galvatron, and their Ordin series that homages the Terrorcons. They recently started making Masterpiece-styled figures with Y-01 Provider (Octane/Tankor) and now Y-02 Buzzing. As I already owned Ordin and have been very happy with the quality of those figures and have been wanting a G1-style Blurr since I was a kid I couldn't resist Buzzing.

(From here on out I'm referring to the toy as Blurr. We all know that's who Unique Toys meant this toy to be.)

 Vehicle mode:

Blurr's alt-mode is a sleek, futuristic hover car. The look is true to the G1 toy and the cartoon, sort of. Like many things in the G1 cartoon Blurr's alt-mode was drawn inconsistently. But the main features are there - two tone blue coloring, sloping three pronged front end, rear thrusters in either corner and that swept back antennae thingy on the roof.

The design is very flat and wide. As you can see in the side on "hovering" shot above. It's got that Star Wars landspeeder feel which can't be a coincidence. There is a plug hole in the underside that works with the display stand included with MP Tracks & Road Rage, or with the Tamashii display stand as I've done here. Just be careful plugging him in as I've heard of a couple of display stands losing their pegs because Blurr's port is a little too tight.

The alt-mode has one major concession - the gap behind the windscreen. This was made to accommodate his Targetmaster partner (more on him later). It does break up the look of the alt-mode and I can understand why this would bug some people. If you're not into the whole -master gimmick this is probably going to be a big black mark against this toy.

Transformation:

I'm going to put this right at the start. Blurr cheats with his transformation. If that bugs you this isn't the toy for you. He also does a lot of really nice tricks to turn his very flat alt-mode into a very well proportioned robot mode.

The trickiest part of the whole process involves that gap in the alt-mode - the seat for his Targetmaster - that's upset some people. There are a number of folding panels here that become Blurr's heels. The first couple of times I found it a little difficult getting everything to line up properly going from robot mode to alt-mode.

The front half of his alt-mode become his arms and the front of his torso and the rear half his legs and back. To get the ball rolling you unhook the two blue panels at the back of the seat. Then lift up the back of the car and swinging out the two panels either side of the antennae thingy. The side skids of the car mode then untab and swing inwards lifting the long parts up to clear the front of the car.

At this point everything should be free to move and it's a fairly straightforward process going either way. The arms untab and swing out, straightening at the elbows. This is where the first cheat presents itself. The shoulder thrusters are not those of the car mode. Flipping the windscreen down allows the head to be flipped out. And here we have the second cheat. The head antennae is not the one on the roof of the car.

The front skid of the car (which was a shield on the G1 toy) splits and collapses to fill in the middle of the torso. The middle rear of the car all folds in on itself to form the back of the robot. While there are a number of hinges involved everything works together to give the robot next to no backpack. Nothing is wasted. Everything folds away tidily. Just fantastic engineering.

The backs of the legs open to fold in the alt-mode thrusters. The legs rotate and straighten. There are panels that slide up from the shins to hold the transformation joints in place. The seat pieces all collapse down to form Blurr's heels.

Robot mode:

The robot mode is spot on Blurr. The colors, the chest, the head design. This is the guy having a mild panic attack about Decepticons at the start of the '86 movie.

The head Blurr ended up with was not the first Unique Toys designed. The first design was much rounder. But they listened to fan criticism (well, the constructive ones at least) and redesigned the head to the one we got.

Blurr's cockpit has received some criticism in robot mode as well. Many feel it's too flat. Looking at pictures from the original cartoon it does look like it protrudes further there than on this figure. So not unjustified but I personally don't have a problem with this Blurr being a bit more flat chested.

Blurr ends up more articulated than most official Masterpiece figures. This is partly due to his transformation but I wouldn't be surprised if Unique Toys put those joints in places they could be used in both modes. The arms especially make me think this with the dual swivels and double jointing right on the elbow.

One of the oddities of Blurr's design are that the skids from his alt-mode end up on his elbows. Unique Toys have designed this toy with those pieces on springs. You get full range of movement out of his arms and the springs keep the skids as close to the body as possible without hindering movement. It's a very nice touch.

Accessories:

Blurr comes with a blaster and Metroplex's transformation cog. The cog featured in a few episodes of season 3. This fits in with the pattern set by official Masterpiece toys of including an accessory (or many in some cases) that relates to a specific event from G1. 

The blaster is based off of the one Blurr used in the movie when defending Autobot City from Decepticons and ranting about it the whole time. It's nicely sculpted and fits well into his hands. It can also tab into the roof of his vehicle mode which seems to be a requirement of all Masterpiece figures - offical or otherwise.

Blurr's last "accessory" is a little black and gray transformer. As far as I know this guy wasn't given a name by Unique Toys. He's based on and clearly intended to be Blurr's Targetmaster partner Haywire.

Haywire's decently poseable given his size. Ball shoulders and hips and hinge knees all work well enough. I have heard of some people's Haywires having one hip that's prone to popping out of it's joint.

Haywire more or less transforms into a second gun for Blurr. He has a fair go of it, he really does. But on mine at least I can never get him to plug together completely straight. That said he looks more like a gun than some official Targetmasters we've had in recent years.

Haywire can combine with Blurr's other gun to create a longer rifle. The intention here is good. Sadly Haywire's alt-mode never being quite straight is exaggerated by the length of the rifle. I prefer to display Haywire as a robot or as a second pistol for Blurr, not combined.

Going back to that controversial seat - Haywire can ride in Blurr's alt-mode. He can't sit down normally, Blurr's spine doesn't leave space for Haywire's legs. Instead he ends up kneeling in the gap. It does add a little bit of play value to them as a pair. But if you don't like Haywire then all this means is Blurr's alt-mode has a gap in it. And, as I've said before, this has upset some people.

Final thoughts:

I really wanted a Blurr toy as a kid and never got one. So having Unique Toys take on the character does fulfill that for me. I like the alt-mode, I love the robot mode, and I think he looks great with my other Masterpiece figures. Unique Toys have put together an awesome toy.

But he does have his flaws. If any or all of these bother you then this is probably not the figure for you. I don't know of any other companies that are doing a Masterpiece styled Blurr (there is a Generations scaled and Legends scaled option out there) at the moment so I can't suggest any alternatives other than to wait.