|
Good morning boys and girls!! What time is it? It's time for my random transformers rant! Yaaaaaayyyyy!! Between now and the last time we chatted I acquired some new toys (all to the chagrin of my bank account). I picked up Smokescreen with Liftor (mid size, $10), the Space Mini-Con team (3pack, $6), and the air defense mini-con team (3pack, $6).
This month I really have to give it up for the mini-cons, they're quickly becoming my favorite sets out of the new Armada series. First lets look a the space mini-con team. It is comprised of Sky Blast, a 4 engined rocket, Payload, a ground transport, and Astroscope, a Space station. Each one has it's own robot mode, however the bot modes are kinda weak. Astroscope is the weakest of the three as its design leads to him coming apart quite often. Where this set really shines is the fact that they combine to become Requiem Blaster. Payload connects to the lower bottom half of Sky Blast to become the grip and stock of the gun. Skyblast is the main body of the gun just connecting Payload to Astroscope. Astroscope is the buisness end of the gun as he holds the projectile. Over all it's kind of impressive when you put them in the hands of a super sized toy (such as Optimus Prime). This team rates a B- mostly because their fragility takes away from their playability.
Second we have the Air defense Mini-Con team is made up of Jetstorm, a concord, Sonar, one of the X space shuttles, and Runway, A Russian SST. Each one transforms into a robot form and unlike the space mini-con team these figs each have a nice bot mode and are quite posable (Sonar does fall prey to the standard "no Knee" limitations however). Like the space mini-con team this group also combines to become a weapon for a larger toy. These three form a sword called Star Saber. They piece together with Sonar as the handle, Jetstorm in the middle, and Runway as the tip of the blade. Star Saber is a solid combination and looks quite nice in any of the bigger bot's hands. I rate this team a strong A overall.
Last for this month is Smokescreen, an Autobot crane (search and rescue style). He is a bright orange truck with an offset (left) crane on a swivel mount and also sports a winch on the back. I was disappointed with the winch because it is difficult to keep wound and while there is a switch to link it to the rear wheels for retraction, this gimmick doesn't work well. The wheels are solid plastic which leaves them without traction most of the time, and for some reason I can never get the toy to sit evenly on a flat surface. The most amusing thing about his relatively simple transformation sequence is that his head is linked to his crane, so when the crane is swiveled around to face his bot mode front the head turns with it. In bot mode the rear winch is now his chest, the front bumper his feet, his windscreen his arms, and his crane shoulder mounted. The winch is a little amusing in this mode as it can be run through the crane's hook and dangled a little ways. The largest drawback of his bot mode is that he lacks real hands. They're molded on, but underneath a cosmetic body part and there is no hole to put things in a hand. Smokescreen's biggest redeeming factor is that he comes with a really cool min-icon. Liftor, while based on a forklift, is well molded and very detailed. He has a simple transformation which leads itself to a good bit of 'fiddle time' as i just transform him back and forth. When placed on Smokescreen's crane peg, Liftor allows the crane to extend and a projectile blaster to unfold. Overall I'd rate this guy a C+, fun to play with sometimes but not the best of the bunch.
My latest techno toy, a Sony Clié, brought this review to you. I recently purchased this as a cheaper alternative to a laptop, but that's a different review . . .
VF-XX - your local Headmaster
|
