KRE-O Transformers Year 3 (2013) Review

Ripclaw & Lazerback vs. Beast Blade Optimus Prime

    2013 was an interesting year for the KRE-O Transformers subline. At first glance amongst most store shelves, you would think that the line was dying out-- but on the other hand, considerably more products (and a more diverse array of them) were released throughout the year. First let's focus on the more "traditional" KRE-O building sets, which were all related to the "Beast Hunters" subline of Transformers Prime (prices are in U.S. dollars):

-Autobot Command Center set (contains jail, weapons armory, and front gate set; Optimus Prime truck build; "Rippersnapper" dragon build; along w/ Arcee, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Shockwave, & Knock Out Kreons) ($40)
-Battle Net Bumblebee set (contains Bumblebee jeep/robot build and Skystalker dragon build, as well as Bumblebee and Captain [Fanzone] Kreons) ($17)
-Beast Blade Optimus Prime set (contains Optimus Prime truck/robot build and Lazerback dragon build, as well as Optimus Prime and Kicker Kreons) ($25)
-Dragon Assault set (contains Trailcutter Microchanger Kreon & Grimwing dragon build) ($4)
-Mech Venom Strike set (contains Windcharger Microchanger Kreon & Corhada snake build) ($4)
-Ripclaw Strike set (contains Ripclaw dragon/robot build as well as Ripclaw and Col. Witwicky Kreons) ($17)

    The sets were a bit of a mix this year, with most of the earlier ones focusing on previous KRE-O sets' styles, with a larger "robot or beast/vehicle" either/or build and then a few small Kreon partners. Despite being relatively small compared to last year's sets, these "traditional" sets managed to look a bit beefier for the money, particularly the "Ripclaw Strike" set, which is my favorite KRE-O release of this year. The dragon mode in particular looks really great, and the "wings flapping" gimmick works surprisingly well. The "Dragon Assault" and "Mech Venom Strike" sets were barely sets, being more like the Kreon Microchanger releases with a little Predacon animal release in the same box. The "Autobot Command Center" set-- released later in the year than the others-- was the first large KRE-O TF set to actually be made entirely for Kreons, with no large alternate builds. Although it makes sense, given that KRE-O seems to be trending towards smaller and smaller releases, I don't think their playsets are as good as LEGO's, whereas the alternate robot/vehicle builds were at least a bit more unique. The creativity and diversity of different pieces just isn't there yet. It should also be said here that the animal-only Predacon builds are iffy at best, with Lazerback and Rippersnapper looking particularly spindly and just weird.
    The blind-bagged Kreon Microchangers continued in a big way in 2013, with 48(!) total releases for the year, spread in four 12-figure waves. Like the previous year's "preview" Microchangers, these little $2.50 guys could be constructed into either a Kreon mode or an alt mode-- most of which ranged from passable to bad, but hey, they're little cheap things. There was a huge variety of different Kreon builds this year, covering well-known TF characters to the quite obscure (the Armada Minicon Iceberg, seriously?!), which I loved. Unlike the "preview" Microchangers, all of these came with their own little 2x4 "KRE-O block" stand, which was much better than trying to stand them up on a flat surface. With such a large variety of Kreon builds, to me it showed just how much more versatile Kreons are than LEGO minifigures, what with the ball-jointed shoulders and hips and extra holes in the sides of their feet-- there was no way you could create these kinds of builds with LEGO minifigures, that's for sure. With the Wave 2 minifigures for this year, a much-needed "small one-sided neck bib" piece was introduced, which allowed you to both connect things on the back in robot mode while also leaving all that nice paint detailing on the front uncovered-- it was no longer an either-or option. In Wave 4, instead of including the individual Microchanger's instruction sheet in with each Microchanger, a larger sheet containing instructions for all Microchangers within the wave was included with each, which meant you didn't have so many little instruction sheets to save anymore-- another positive move.
    Although the Microchangers were "blindbagged", if you were to look at the last two numbers of the product code on the back of the bag, you could determine which Kreon was inside without opening it-- certainly a big blessing, as I'd hate trying to track all of these guys down with them being truly blind-bagged, as hard to find as they were. Here's the codes for each wave in case you're looking for a particular one:

Wave 1 (Red packaging):
Singe (aka Scorch) - 40
Inferno - 41
Springer - 42
Warpath - 43
Quickslinger (aka Slingshot) - 44
Rampage - 45
Insecticon - 46
Blast Off - 47
Decepticon Hook - 48
Dirge - 49
Airachnid - 50
Bludgeon - 51

Wave 2 (Blue packaging):
Bulkhead - 66
Hardshell (aka Bombshell) - 67
Blight (aka Blot) - 68
Arcee - 69
Acid Wing (aka Acid Storm) - 70
Vehicon - 71
Scourge - 72
Powerglide - 73
Perceptor - 74
Lugnut - 75
Hoist - 76
Groove - 77

Wave 3 (Green packaging):
Nosecone - 50
Thrust - 51
Nemesis Prime - 52
Ramjet - 53
Huffer - 54
Kickback - 55
Long Haul - 56
Guzzle - 57
Sharkticon - 58
Cheetor - 59
Beachcomber - 60
Seawing - 61

Wave 4 (Yellow packaging):
Alpha Trion - 33
Barrage - 34
Brawn - 35
Cyclonus - 36
Demolishor - 37
Iceberg - 38
Kup - 39
Rhinox - 40
Rodimus - 41
Sandstorm - 42
Slipstrike (aka Slipstream) - 43
Breakneck (aka Wildrider) - 44

A smattering of the many Year 2 Kreon Microchangers

    In a first for Botcon, in 2013 there was also a $30 exclusive set of Kreons based on that year's boxset (Hoist, Megaplex, Obsidian, Strika, and Skywarp), though none of them were Microchangers. (They didn't come with their own "KRE-O block stands", either.) Cool if you went to Botcon, but a bit overpriced and an easy skip otherwise. (Also at Botcon, the G2-colored Devastator Kreon that was previously only available as part of the Toys "R" Us exclusive "Autobot Assault Devastator" set was available singly as a giveaway).
    Continuing with the Microchanger mania, there was also a "Microchanger Combiner" assortment released in 2013. For a mere $10 each, you got a bunch of small parts that could form either four Kreon robots, four vehicles/beasts, or you could combine them all together (with a bunch of other included parts) to form a gestalt. The gestalts tended to look a bit iffy, being overly skinny and only using four members when they were all based on gestalts with at least five members each. That said, getting four Kreons for $10 with even more functionality is a pretty good deal, even if with these (as opposed to the individually packaged Microchangers) you had to apply several stickers to these guys. The way the gestalts were constructed-- with the main body and feet consisting of the Kreon "main bodies", and with accessories and gestalt-only parts forming most of the rest-- it would be relatively easy to "switch out" one Kreon's parts with another's, which was all but actively encouraged given that the other members of the Combiner teams were also sold in various waves of this year's blind-bagged Microchangers assortments. Listed below are all the Microchanger Combiner sets released this year, which covers all of the G1 gestalts except Monstructor:

-Abominus (comes w/ Hun-Gurrr, Rippersnapper, Twinstrike, & Windrazor Kreons)
-Computron (comes w/ Afterburst, Lightstorm, Scattorshot, & Strafe Kreons)
-Constructicon Devastator (comes w/ Bonecrusher, Mixmaster, Scavenger, & Scrapper Kreons)
-Decepticon Bruticus (comes w/ Decepticon Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, & Vortex Kreons)
-Decepticon Piranacon (comes w/ Nautilator, Overbite, Snaptrap, & Tentakil Kreons)
-Defensor (comes w/ Blades, First Aid, Hot Spot, & Streetsmart Kreons)
-Menasor (comes w/ Breakdown, Dead End, Dragstrip, & Motormaster Kreons)
-Predaking (comes w/ Divebomb, Headlock, Razorclaw, & Torox Kreons)
-Superion (comes w/ Air Raid, Firestrike, Silverbolt, & Skydive Kreons)

    Finally, late in the year the first wave of "Custom Kreons" were released. Sold for $4 each, these included Kreons of the most popular Transformers characters, but with several interchangeable parts (usually chrome and transparent pieces). With a "weapons rack" for each filled with so many accessories and swappable parts, this was another way of showing the superiority of Kreons over LEGO minifigures. I do wish that the Custom Kreons came with an alternate vehicle build, though-- despite all the extra bits, these aren't Microchangers. Here are the Custom Kreons released in 2013:

-Bumblebee
-Ironhide
-Megatron
-Optimus Prime
-Soundwave
-Starscream

Some Microchanger Combiners & Custom Kreons

    With the increasing resistance the KRE-O line was getting from most retailers for adequate shelf space, I suppose the increasing reliance on Kreons for the line was inevitable and a smart thing to do-- and for sure, the line provides much more variety this way and makes possible such things as playsets. The Microchangers and Microchanger combiners are generally a joy to collect, though I find the Custom Kreons a bit unnecessary and the sole playset released so far okay, but not all that interesting. I am going to miss the larger Transformer KRE-O builds, though, with the last ones being phased out early this year, as complex alt mode builds go with them. Still, overall this year was considerably better than 2012 for KRE-O, and now that they've definitively decided on a direction for their line I look forward to seeing all the Kreons they come out with in the future.

Overall Rating:8/10 Great
 

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