Dave's Transformers Universe Rant: Voyager Wave 4 Vector Prime (redeco, Cybertron Series, not reviewed) Inferno (firetruck, Generation 2 Series) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/U2/Voyager4 Well, at least they didn't try to make the big Veccy redeco into another Scattorshot (the Legends one has been), but I have two copies of the toy already thanks to the Voyager Starscream two-pack, so I'm passing on the new one. It looks fairly nifty, though. http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Cybertron/Mega1 - Vector Prime original version. CAPSULES Vector Prime: Original mold was recommended, and it's a nice enough redeco. If you don't already have a version of this mold, you might want to pick this one up. $20 price point. Inferno: Pretty good vehicle mode, well-done shellformer transformation that leaves minimal kibble on the boxy but very posable robot mode. Recommended. $19.99 at HasbroToyShop.com. RANTS Packaging: Same as previous Universe Voyagers, but now with the 25 Years foil banner in the upper right corner. The co-sell on the left side is just of the other toy in this wave, while the co-sells on the bottom are Tread Bolt and Blades. The back panel adds the era slider graphic, which identifies Generation 2 as 1992-1995, calling it "GENERATION 2: The Adventure Continues!" A bit odd that they decided to launch the G2 Series with a character who has equal claim to G1, I guess they already had him designed before the new Series-ing was decided on, and he was the first one who could grab that bit of namespace. The instructions are loose in the box, no catalog. Mottos and functions are my creations. And just a reminder, when I list previous name or mold use, I only mean U.S. mass market...I leave out Japanese and convention-exclusive releases. AUTOBOT: INFERNO Series: Generation 2 Altmode: Fire Rescue Function: Search and Rescue Weapon: Chemical Foam Arm Cannon (with "Launching 'water' blast!") Previous Name Use: G1, G2, BW, Armada, Energon, Universe, Movie (TRU exclusive) Previous Mold Use: None Motto: "I'll put out the fire once I'm done putting out your lights!" Though search and rescue is his primary function - and one he happens to be very good at - INFERNO loves nothing more than a good fight. In fact, he will often abandon his duties or even ignore direct orders, just to go antagonize DECEPTICONS. He especially loves to get up close to his enemies, where the energy-damping field he generates to help suppress fires can eliminate the effectiveness of their weapons. He uses the chemical foam sprayed from his arm cannon to blind opponents as often has he uses it to put out fires. STR 9 INT 6 SPD 4 END 8 RNK 5 COUR 9 FRB 6 SKL 6 Avg 6.625 Wow, Inferno's a jerk. "Yeah, I know your house is burning down, ma'am, but I gotta go annoy that Decepticon right now." Packaging: Two big twist-ties all the way through the cardboard tray hold the fire truck in place, the missile is held by a third twist-tie that only goes through the plastic tray. It can be easily removed without undoing the tie, though. A plastic shield keeps the rear top together or something, I'm not really sure what good it does. Vehicle Mode: This is a rare vehicle mode for Transformers, a fire engine that is NOT a ladder truck. Oh, there's a few out there, like Firebot the Mini-Con, but most (including the original Inferno) are ladder trucks. In doing some research for the specific model, I found that six-wheelers like this are very rare on regular fire engines, the extra axle being reserved for tanker trucks and ladder trucks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E28_b.JPG is a real fire engine that looks a lot like Inferno, other than having only three axles. It still has six wheels, mind you, but the rear four all share an axle, where Inferno's are on separate axles. http://www.mulvaneemergencyservices.org/Engine%20401.htm is a real Engine 401, but it looks nothing like Inferno. Still, googling shows that 401 isn't unique as a call number for fire engines. Anyway, Inferno is a very boxy fire engine with a water cannon on top near the back. Not counting the water cannon, it'd fit in a box 6.5" (16.5cm) long, 3" (7.5cm) tall and 2.25" (6cm) wide. It's a darkish red for the most part, with colorless clear windows and lightbar. Most of the visible bits are darkish red plastic. The water cannon, wheels, very shallow seats and steering wheel in the driver's compartment and an odd structure on top that might be intended as an additional lightbar are black plastic. The front bumper, some tech panels on the sides, and the four hose intake attachment points in back (no, they're not rocket engines) are dark warm gunmetal gray plastic. The main lightbars, front windows, headlight and missile are colorless clear plastic. Half of each headlight chunk is open at the back, so those who are into such things could easily add LEDs. A pretty good color match on the red plastic is used to paint the hubs of the wheels. The side windows that aren't on the front chunk are painted gloss black. Most of the grille, some panels on the sides and what look to be hose outlets on the sides are painted silver. White paint is used for stripes on the side of the cab, plus printed "401" on either side near the top rear of the cab. "FIRE RESCUE" is left unpainted as negative space in each stripe. On the front, white paint fills in some of the non-clear headlights, with an other 401 on the passenger side and a white Autobot symbol outline on the driver's side. The business end of the missile is painted clear aqua. Despite the obvious profusion of folding panels, it's reasonably stable in vehicle mode. Some of the dovetail-shaped links near the back are a little looser than I'd like, and the gunmetal side panels don't even pretend to lock in place. The water cannon can elevate about 20 degrees and has full spinning range, although since it's actually hooked to one of the arms the center of its rotation is oddly offset and it looks wrong in some positions. The missile doesn't fire very well, but I did leave the thing loaded overnight before starting this review. Transformation: It's a shellformer, but a rather elegant one. Lots and lots of folding panels, to be sure, but since the vehicle mode is essentially a rectangular prism the panels can be set to fold up flat and mostly get out of the way. Unlike, say, Big Convoy. All in all, though, pretty simple for a large toy. Not as simplistic as Universe Silverbolt, mind you, but it's pretty straightforward. The one tricky bit is that there's an autotransform on the head. Pull the driver's side lightbar forward and the head pops up automatically. This is only tricky in the sense that you can force the head without pulling on the lightbar, so could break the trigger if you don't know about it. Also, you can pop the arms off if you force them the wrong way while trying to transform it. Robot Mode: 7" (18cm) tall, every inch the blocky stereotype of a G1 Autobot. The front section of the cab is his torso, but most of the other vehicle bits are folded up or hidden away. And yes, he does have the "right" head and distinctive forearms. No ladder, though. Much of the rear cab paneling is folded up in cape-like pieces hanging off the backs of the shoulders, reminiscent of Fortress Maximus. The thighs are gunmetal plastic, and the front bumper section swings down as a sort of armor kilt. The upper arms, fists, head, inner pelvis, knees and toes are black plastic. The lightpiping is clear colorless plastic, although the eyes are painted clear aqua. The shoulders, forearms, boots, front pelvis and "spats" on the feet are darkish red plastic. The only dedicated paint apps for the robot mode are the eyes as mentioned, plus silver on the face, helmet details, kneecaps and the molded hydraulics on his feet. The head is on a ball joint, but it feels like a non-round ball so that there's some slight ratcheting. The waist does not turn. The shoulders are universal joints, and the cape panels hanging off the shoulders are hinged so that they don't have to follow the arm up when you lift it. The swivel part of the shoulder is ratcheting, but the hinge out to the side is smooth. Smooth (and kinda loose, plus easily popped off) upper arm swivels, smooth hinge elboes and smooth swivel wrists. The hip jointing is really weird. The pelvis sides are hinged and can wobble up and down some. Then there's a vertical swivel, and below it a front-to-back hinge. All the joints are smooth, and the overall range of motion isn't quite as good as a ball joint, but it's solid. It also allows the figure to shift its weight to one side or the other, for a more natural-looking stance. The knees are smooth hinges that bend 90 degrees, and there's a smooth swivel below each knee. The feet are hard to figure out without disassembling them, but I think there's a ball joint connecting the instep of the boot to the foot itself. There's also a transformation hinge for the black part of the foot, and it can provide useful articulation. The water cannon is attached to the right arm, and folded panels keep it from swiveling. No other gimmicks in this mode. Overall: A fairly realistic and reasonably stable boxy vehicle turns into a very posable boxy robot. Could stand to have a few more clear paint applications on the clear parts (something I can fix now), but otherwise a good toy, and a worthy new addition to the size class. Dave Van Domelen, notes this is the first new Classics-style Voyager mold since Classics Jetfire.