... I would have waited an eternity for these...

[heroic_decepticon]

Hmm... I've always considered Sludge to be a Brontosaurus, and its what is in official G1 cannon and in diaclone material as well. If Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus can be used interchangeably, then I'd prefer the latter!

I think the part about Diaru being an Iguanadon is just speculation on the part of Derik from TF Wiki (as much as a lot of other things on TF Wiki that has the smell of speculation to it, meaning I personally trust it only 60-70% of the time).

This is from one of the links in TF Wiki and it states its 'fanfic':

"How'd you decide on Iguanadon for Dial? I always favored
Hypsilophodon for his scout function."

Original link here.

According to TFwiki the robot mode is seems to be an Iguanadon. Is there anything on the box or inserts that indicates what the robot-dino mode is meant to be? I checked TF Generations, but it doesn't say.

Gok, I have no idea what the package says, but I'm sure you would!

Here is a close up of the back of package, which may or may not shed any light.



Again from the link above, this appears to be the translation of the back of package.

Dial
Cybertron Natural Resource Scout
STR 5 RNK 5
INT 6 CRG 5
SPD 8 FPR 7
END 7 SKL 8
Fleet of foot, can run at up to 200 km/h in
dinosaur mode. Both thumbs contain sensors
that can rapidly detect energy. Cheerful and
brimming over with curiosity, Dial sometimes
gets too carried away in his duties, leading to
major system failures. Carries Wave Blasters.
Combines with Zauru to form Legout.

Hursti / SS, 'thumb sensors' sound like thumb spikes? Perhaps there is credence to the Iguanadon proposition?

Nice acquisition HD! Dino mode looks great on this example, as the chrome, paint and stickers look excellent.

I thought that Dairu's dino mode was a little off left field at first. But the more I look at it and toy with it (pun intended), the more I like it and think that its one of the better conceived cassettes. In terms of the complexity and the design that went into it, I think its easily one of the most intricate and complex cassettes in G1.

[heroic_decepticon]

this is #5 of 6....

Posting a little earlier than usual today, well, because its a Sunday and E is resting, so I have some time (oh, we just watched Green Lantern in 3D...pretty awesome, but really, I would have stuck to the comics).

Presenting, Gurafi's partner in crime and top-half combination for Decibel - C-122: Noizu (aka Noise)!

I really like this guy's colour, the almost deeper tone of baby blue that is not so baby-bluish as Ultra Magnus but has a bit of heaviness to it (yeah, I got no idea what I'm talking about either).

On first glance, I thought that Noizu was a lot like Overkill, in fact other than the colours and the weapons, I'd almost say it looks almost 70% like Overkill. I think Noizu, like Overkill and Grimlock, are meant to t-rexes. Not much contention over that, I think.

However, I don't think there is a chance to custom an Overkill into a Noizu because although they look alike, Noizu actually has an added layer of complexity to it, thanks to the need for it to combine into Decibel (which is a cool name by the way).

Again, this is one Transformer, I'm very very happy with!











Man, the weapons are massive!


Gurafi and Noizu MIB


Gurafi and Noizu combines into Decibel!

[Hursticon]

Hursti / SS, 'thumb sensors' sound like thumb spikes? Perhaps there is credence to the Iguanadon proposition?

That's actually quite an interesting observation there dude and I reckon it's probably the best indication of this little guy being an Iguanadon - Whilst they've not been able to realise it in physical form, they've been able to do so with the Bio so I'm feeling more acceptive of him being an Iguanadon now.

I thought that Dairu's dino mode was a little off left field at first. But the more I look at it and toy with it (pun intended), the more I like it and think that its one of the better conceived cassettes. In terms of the complexity and the design that went into it, I think its easily one of the most intricate and complex cassettes in G1.

Likenesses aside, I agree HD that this little guy is a pretty damn cool figure as his Bot mode is easily one of the best of the Mini Cassettes.
His colour scheme is an interesting turquoise type colour, which I quite like but more to the point - Holy Cow!, 2 down 2 to go!

[Hursticon]

Man, I spoke way too soon!
This is so awesome HD, I'm really ecstatic for you mate as you've clearly achieved what you've set out to - 3 out of 4 so far, will it be 4-4?

Noizu certainly does seem to share a hell of a lot of similarites with Overkill when it comes to the Box art, but IMO, that is where the similarities end.

I see what you mean about the colour HD, it's a deeper hue of Baby/Sky Blue that's for sure and it's quite intriguing indeed - Much more along the lines of Hot Spot.
His head/face sculpt is cool but I get a slightly more 'monster-ish' vibe off of it that a T-Rex, though that being said he's definitely a T-Rex - That's for sure.

His combined mode is cool, if not a little... what's the word... underachieved maybe?
I don't know, he looks quite cool don't get me wrong, I love the concept of combining cassettes and his silhouette looks awesome but I feel his upper torso seem to be let down a little for not having arms capable of bending at the elbow or rotating forward.

That's my only gripe really but at the end of the day it means nothing because just obtaining this guy is a true feat in itself!

Another Huge congrats HD, this one's box is in far superior condition to the last's too!

[GoktimusPrime]

Man that combined mode looks silly! You can clearly see that they improved on that concept with the following year's combiner cassettes (Slamdance and Squawkbox).

heroic_decepticon: that tech specs states that his transformation is.... wait for it...









cassette tape!
Naturally the cassette mode is the alt mode and the dino mode is the robot mode, so the tech specs only describes the alt mode and not the robot mode. So unfortunately there's nothing there that clarifies what kind of dinosaur it's meant to be.

Maybe one day if you or I ever get to meet Ono Koujin or Yoke Hideaki we can ask directly ourselves (although unless someone reminds me, I probably won't remember )

P.S.: I like how Legout's tech specs says that his hobby is listening to rock music. Heh. I can imagine him jammin' with Twincast.

[LordCyrusOmega]

My soul HD? F$%^ It!! You can have it.
Man they are nice! I really can't think of anything else to say other then nice job.

[robwin1974]

Brandon

Congrats! Only a few more to go!

Regards
Robert

[heroic_decepticon]

Man, I spoke way too soon!
This is so awesome HD, I'm really ecstatic for you mate as you've clearly achieved what you've set out to - 3 out of 4 so far, will it be 4-4?

Noizu certainly does seem to share a hell of a lot of similarites with Overkill when it comes to the Box art, but IMO, that is where the similarities end.

I see what you mean about the colour HD, it's a deeper hue of Baby/Sky Blue that's for sure and it's quite intriguing indeed - Much more along the lines of Hot Spot.
His head/face sculpt is cool but I get a slightly more 'monster-ish' vibe off of it that a T-Rex, though that being said he's definitely a T-Rex - That's for sure.

His combined mode is cool, if not a little... what's the word... underachieved maybe?
I don't know, he looks quite cool don't get me wrong, I love the concept of combining cassettes and his silhouette looks awesome but I feel his upper torso seem to be let down a little for not having arms capable of bending at the elbow or rotating forward.

That's my only gripe really but at the end of the day it means nothing because just obtaining this guy is a true feat in itself!

Another Huge congrats HD, this one's box is in far superior condition to the last's too!

Yes, 3 out of 4 so far! Very happy, and certainly helping me recover from the blow of not finding them in Osaka...

I agree, I think it's closer to the Hot Spot colour, but I do so like this particular hue of blue.

The robot mode is strange yes. I don't think that its an afterthought like many commonly says. Holding these guys in my hand, I can see the thought and complexity that went into designing and building them. I think the difficulty was trying to make them dinosaurs (a difficult form to work with) and then also make them transform into a robot. Slam dance is probably the best looking cassette combined, but then, it wouldn't be very difficult to design s nice robot mode because the jet and the tank can be worked backwards from the robot mode - these are generic vehicles that have no semblance to anything (unlike dinosaurs that at least have to look credibly dinosaurs).

Man that combined mode looks silly! You can clearly see that they improved on that concept with the following year's combiner cassettes (Slamdance and Squawkbox).

heroic_decepticon: that tech specs states that his transformation is.... wait for it...

cassette tape!
Naturally the cassette mode is the alt mode and the dino mode is the robot mode, so the tech specs only describes the alt mode and not the robot mode. So unfortunately there's nothing there that clarifies what kind of dinosaur it's meant to be.

Maybe one day if you or I ever get to meet Ono Koujin or Yoke Hideaki we can ask directly ourselves (although unless someone reminds me, I probably won't remember )

P.S.: I like how Legout's tech specs says that his hobby is listening to rock music. Heh. I can imagine him jammin' with Twincast.

Agree that the 1988 cassettes were an improvement, but could be due to the reasons I articulated above...

Unfortunate the the tech specs didn't shed anymore light.... Sign.

Legout and decibel did in fact jam with blaster in alex milne's version of the spotlight blaster comic!

My soul HD? F$%^ It!! You can have it.
Man they are nice! I really can't think of anything else to say other then nice job.

I think these things ate my soul....

Brandon

Congrats! Only a few more to go!

Regards
Robert

thanks Rob (in case anybody is wondering, I meant you (and 1 or 2 others) when I said there are others with incredibly powerful collections that do not say too much... )

[LordCyrusOmega]

I think these things ate my soul....

In that cse then you can have mine in return for the tapes. Everyone wins

Just kidding I'm just talking out of envy.

Things of beauty

[Hursticon]

The robot mode is strange yes. I don't think that its an afterthought like many commonly says. Holding these guys in my hand, I can see the thought and complexity that went into designing and building them. I think the difficulty was trying to make them dinosaurs (a difficult form to work with) and then also make them transform into a robot. Slam dance is probably the best looking cassette combined, but then, it wouldn't be very difficult to design s nice robot mode because the jet and the tank can be worked backwards from the robot mode - these are generic vehicles that have no semblance to anything (unlike dinosaurs that at least have to look credibly dinosaurs).

As I was unaware that these guys were produced before the Hasbro released Combining Cassettes, I can now see that the Dinos are a stepping stone or design prototype and hence I now view them differently (Cheers for the info by the way Goki) and I've now got a better appreciation of them.
I certainly prefer their independent Dino modes though as they are spectacular for their sheer size.