Dave's Playskool Go-Bots Rant: Basic Wave 2b - Vehicles Aero-Bot II Prowl-Bot Fire-Bot Strong-Bot Note, I've only bought Prowl-Bot and Strong-Bot, so my comments on the other two will be limited (and not have the bio notes). CAPSULES Aero-Bot II: Almost the same mold as Speed-Bot and Mototron, but with the improved hood clip. Very mildly recommended. $7.88 Prowl-Bot: Same transformation and some innards as Speed-Bot et al, but extensively remolded shell. Superior to Speed-Bot in most ways. Mildly recommended. $7.88 Fire-Bot: Prowl-Bot mold, but in G1 Red Alert colors. Mildly recommended. $7.88 Strong-Bot: Cool vehicle mode, decent transformation, good-looking robot mode. Nice undocumented feature action gimmick. Recommended. $7.88 RANTS GO-BOT: AERO-BOT II The bio note makes it clear that this is the same character as Aero-Bot, switching to a new transformation to get into places where his air mode won't fit. This reminds me of the techspec storyline element that popped up when the previous Go-Bots (now Spychangers) went into their first group of recolors. Prime and Megatron were given the ability to reassign their altmodes, to switch between big combat modes or little fast ones, etc. Anyway, Aero-Bot II is the same mold as the first set of Playskool cars, with one important (and invisible in the package) exception. A sighter who bought one and opened it tells me that the hood clip has been replaced with a spring-loaded clip that will not snap off like the ones on the original cars threaten to do. That alone bumps my view of it up a little, although not enough to buy one. GO-BOT: PROWL-BOT Altmode: Police prowl car PROWL-BOT is always on the lookout to stop trouble and save the day. When this brave Bot needs to go somewhere fast, he changes into a high-octane police racer and chases adventure to the ends of the Earth! Six really thick twist-ties hold Prowl-Bot in the bubble, plus another two thinner ties that hold a chest protector on. Fire-Bot has the same mold, but is done in G1 Red Alert colors, including the faction symbol in the cross trick. I guess that since "prowl" is a sort of police car, Prowl-Bot got to have that name, but no RedAlert-Bot. Or something. }-> Vehicle Mode: 5" (13cm) long chunky sportscar design, similar to the vehicle mode of Speed-Bot, but with many cosmetic changes. In fact, the only parts visible without turning the car over that aren't different are the wheels and the light bundle...and that's been moved from hood to roof. Every other piece of the auto body shell has been changed, and this has resulted in a much better fit of the pieces. While my Speed-Bot's doors tend to sag a little (this is not a problem with all Speed-Bots, IIRC, but a common one), Prowl-Bot's doors are nice and snug. The body is black and white with metallic orange windows, silver headlights and metallic red taillights. The red Go-Bot Autobot symbol is on the hood below the word "Police" (in black). "Police" is also on the driver's side door in black, with another faction symbol in red over it. The lights bundle has the two on the driver's side in red, and the other in blue. The spoiler on back is black and curves up. If you look at the underbody, there's more engine-y details instead of just a flat bottom, a nice touch. Transformation: Same as Speed-Bot's, but with less fear of breaking the clip that holds the hood in place. For a quick transform, pull the legs down and twist. The head spinning up will pop the rest of the toy into place. Additionally, the engine detail on what is now the chest helps lock the hood down, rather than relying on just the spring. I've been talking about the hood clip a bit, I suppose I should expand on that here. Behind the robot head is a clip that holds the hood in place in vehicle mode. Unfortunately, on the original toys this clip was part of the same piece as the front window/roof, and the clip would bend a bit when transforming. White stress marks started to show up immediately, and too much flex would result in a toy that would not stay in vehicle mode. The new mold separates the clip and puts it on a spring mount, so it can bend out of the way safely. True, eventually the spring will go bad and result in the same problem, but that'll take a LOT longer. Robot Mode: 5.25" (13cm) tall, it has the same head mold as the other cars. It has a cute touch with the left eye being rimmed in blue and the right in red. The chest is gray plastic, and there's a lot of red plastic in the robot parts. As with Speed-Bot et al, the hood gets in the way of the arms. The hood also forms a shelf where you can have any of the minifigs that come with Speed-Bot II or Mirage-Bot stand. As with its mold-brothers, the legs spread and the arms swivel at the shoulders, and that's it for poseability. Overall: Started with a pretty weak mold and made some significant improvements. There's still problems with the look and feel, but not as many anymore. GO-BOT: STRONG-BOT Altmode: Bulldozer (with rear attachment) STRONG-BOT is the Bot who lives to build and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty doing it. He can be made into an Earth-shaking bulldozer that's ready to prove that no project is too big and no dream is too small. Change him and he changes the world! Dude, NONE CAN CONTAIN HIM! They don't even waste time trying, putting only four twist-ties on this guy in the package. He's gonna change the world, and you can't stop him. Vehicle Mode: 6" (15cm) long yellow and orangey-yellow dozer with gunmetal windows, struts and other details, black treads (well, very dark gray) and red faction symbols on both side struts that hold the blade. There's also a red light or something at the front, behind the blade. The treads do not move, instead there's little wheels under them. While this means Strong-Bot doesn't roll on carpet, the little wheels are very good and the toy can zoom along on smooth surfaces, or even spin in a Battlebots-style victory dance. UNDOCUMENTED FEATURE! Press down on the driver's compartment and the dozer blade lifts up. And it can be used to flip a minifig (or Mini-Con, quarter, dice, etc) a few inches up and back. Transformation: The rear scraper things fold up to become the legs, pushing the spring-loaded cockpit out of the way. Split the dozer blade and rotate the sides around to be arms, then flip the head up. I find it amusing in a sophmoric way that in vehicle mode, he's looking up his own tailpipe. The legs are loosely pegged together, and can be separated to move on their own. Robot Mode: 5.5" (14cm) tall with scoops for hands. The faction symbols are now on the shoulders. The head is yellow with green eyes, silver chin and gray "hair" grille. The head turns, the hips move on swivels, and the shoulders ratchet around. Very stable with its big feet, although poses with the feet separated can be a trifle hard to balance. If you press down on the shoulders or head, the arms raise up about 20 degrees (there's 18 clicks to go all the way around). Press down hard enough, and the arm will ratchet up a click. Or sometimes down a click. Overall: Not as poseable as it could be, but pretty good within the ruggedness requirements of the line. It has an action gimmick that works well, and a great attitude. Strong-Bot cannot be contained, so you might as well buy him and put him on display. Dave Van Domelen, notes also that FINALLY we have a new Basic vehicle mold, not just another sportscar.