Mammoth's Aren't Extinct... They're Just Made Of Plastic!

So, I have a Universe Nemesis Prime figure in my collection, who has been without his counter-part since I picked him up... Now, I started picking up various black repaints of Optimus Prime (but only those that I already *had* of the original Optimus molds); but they quickly began to multiply like little Petrorabbits & I decided to display them on a shelf -mirrored on the other half by their original Optimus Prime counter-parts... Now, normally; Nemesis Prime is a black repaint of the semi-truck based Optimus Prime... But this one?

Photo from Seibertron.com, by way of TFWIKI.NET

Yes folks, he's indeed a black Wooly Mammoth... What? Did you think I was talking about the Classics Nemesis Prime figure?

I don't know why I like this mold so much, as it's not like I actually toyed around him when he was originally released as a Target Exclusive back in 2004...

Heck, back then I was barely aware that there was a continuation of the *G1* series in Japan, let *alone* the Beast Wars line that this one's mold is from!

But when I started working at A Certain Online Transformers Retailer, I was lucky enough to pick up one of

Why go to the store?

these guys for a reasonable price. I don't really know why I felt compelled to purchase him, since I didn't have the "Convoy/Optimus" the figure takes his mold from; but I knew I wanted him in my collection!  -I fondly recall the shock/horror on (I'll call her) D's face when I pulled out my razor knife & cut the tape on the MISB box after I'd paid for him... :)

As soon as I'd gotten him home, he was freed from his plastic prison. Having been aware of the confusion around this figure upon one's first transformation (IE: The instructions are from Mammoth-to-Robot, while he's packaged in Robot Mode. -And to top it off, his legs are turned around 180* with the legs turned to point the front!), I took my sweet time transforming him...

Now, for those of you who don't know this figure; he's considered of being guilty of being one of *the* biggest Shellformers in the entire Transformers line-up... You can seriously *MAKE* a near-complete Mammoth from all those pieces of Mammoth kibble hanging off of his Robot Mode!

Photo also shamelessly stolen from www.oafe.net

Yeah, that gaping hole in the side there? Those panels are removable from the Robot Mode's legs, but don't actually 'snap together' to the rest of the figure; but there's photographic proof of the nature of the figure's shellforming nature! :)

Even taking that into consideration though, I would highly recommend adding the figure (or one of his repaints) into your collection! The figure's Mammoth Alt Mode may not be anything *super* special, as it has no articulation outside of the ears & tail. But the figure *does* make use of that articulation! 

Pulling back on each of the figure's ears raises the corresponding, blood-soaked tusk to raise up & down in a 'goring' motion, and pulling the lever on the top of the Mammoth's head moves the figure's trunk in a 'trumpeting' motion... Very cool...

The Robot Mode, however; is an early example of a GREAT figure... He is a very posable figure from his time, which features many ball-jointed points of articulation; which can be repositioned in a number of poses (as long as you're not hindered by the Mammoth kibble hanging off the limbs). He is also able to wield his BFG, which is made up from the head & back of the Mammoth. This alone I find to be ridiculously cool!

But, speaking of the other repaints... It was announced that the  Transformers Collectors' Club (the "TFCC") will be releasing a version of this mold in Ultra Magnus colors, dubbed "Ultra Mammoth". While I find the pictures of the figure online to be pretty interesting, have no current intentions of adding that figure to my collection (as I've sold off my other Ultra Magnus figures). However, it *has* pushed me to pick up the original Big Convoy. I figured that the release of Ultra Mammoth will drive the prices up on both Nemesis Prime & Big Convoy & I'd like to get Big Convoy before he gets outside my meager price range... 

Thankfully, a friend of mine named (I will call him) "MJ" has already picked one up for me on eBay. He'd borrowed a few of my figures to review on his Youtube channel a few weeks back, and had mentioned an interest in going out and buying a few of the smaller ones for himself... Since I had started cutting back the focus of my Transformer collection, and as the ones he'd mentioned kinda fell out of that focus; I had offered to sell them to him "for whatever he felt was a fair price for the both of us"... So, he essentially picked the figure up for me in lieu of payment for the figures he wanted... All-in-all, we're both happy with the deal... :)

He gets a few figures that *he* wanted, and helped me to get one of the ones that I'd been wanting to get for the last year or so (and before the price of the figure starts to go up)! 

So, thank you again to MJ; and expect a couple pictures of both my Nemesis Prime & Big Convoy once I've gotten them *both* in hand... (Heck, I'm even planning on sending him both the Nemesis Prime & Big Convoy to review when he gets his Ultra Mammoth from the TFCC! -so I may even link to those video reviews when the time comes!)

Anyway, that's enough from me for the evening...
This little blog of mine is definitely a nice reprise from the recent events that are going on around here... So, expect a little more venting from me, as well as a few more little reviews of some of these figures I have...
(Next time I may even put a few pictures of *my* actual toys in here too, instead of swiping them from other sources!)

-Methusalen