Dave's Kiddie Transformers Rant: Robot Heroes Wave 10

     Sideswipe/Sideways (89370)
     Autobot Springer/Starscream (89371)
     Optimus Prime/Blackout (89372)
     Bumblebee/Longhaul (89373)
     Autobot Skids/Megatron (92197)
     Mudflap/Rampage (92198)

     Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/RH10

     The numbers in parentheses are the individual assortment numbers, but
all six sets are in group assortment 89842.  This suggests the decision to
move up the last two was made after they were assigned individual numbers in
Hasbro's tracking system, but before the packaging went to print.

     http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/RH4 - Starscream mold
     http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/RH3 - Blackout mold

CAPSULES

     Sideswipe/Sideways: Sideswipe is interesting but needs a base.  Sideways
is kinda weird, apparently based on incomplete control art.  Mildly
recommended.  $6.99 at Target.
     Autobot Springer/Starscream: Springer is a so-so mold in garish colors,
Starscream is a bad old mold in softer plastic.  Neutral.  $6.99 at Target.
     Optimus Prime/Blackout: The new Prime mold is pretty good.  The reused
Blackout mold is not.  It balances out to mildly recommended, although you
might want to wait for the inevitable color-tweaked Prime in a Walmart
five-pack.  :)  $6.99 at Target.
     Bumblebee/Longhaul: Both molds are good and reasonably posable, with
acceptable if not great paint jobs.  Recommended.  $6.99 at Target.
     Autobot Skids/Megatron: Skids is an unfortunate design executed a little
too faithfully, and in floppy plastic.  Megatron is pretty good, though.
Mildly recommended.  $6.99 at Target.
     Mudflap/Rampage: Mudflap is okay, but gummy.  Rampage is a bit of a
head-scratcher in terms of his bizarre off-model design.  Very mildly
recommended.  $6.99 at Target.


RANTS

     Packaging: The same dimensions as previous waves of Robot Heroes, with
Autobot and Decepticon (movie style) logos molded into the tops of the
blisters.  The front of the cardback has a new trade dress.  The top third
has a general techy pattern merged with the multi-eyed face of The Fallen in
shades of red.  The upper right corner has the two faction symbols in
corroded metal color with a "VS" between them and a yellow burst behind.  The
lower two thirds of the cardfront is made to look like a section of
hieroglyphics on a tomb wall with a light shining strongly on the middle.
But rather than Egyptian hieroglyphs, there's ancient Cybertronian
interspersed with Autobot and Decepticon symbols.  The floor formed by the
folded cardstock insert also continues the pseudo-hieroglyph pattern.
     The insert on the bubble front calls this "Movie Series 2", but I think
that's just to distinguish it from the 2007 movie, not that there's a set of
Revenge of the Fallen toys that got pushed back.  The font used for the
character names has corrosion patterns in it, which can unfortunately make
D's look like the N's...leading to Sineswipe and Sineways.
     The first four sets have those four as co-sells on the back.  The last
two replace Sideswipe/Sideways and Springer/Starscream with the last two sets
on the back.

     As a general note, the plastic some of these are made of is a LOT softer
and more rubbery than that used on most previous Robot Heroes.  Not only is
it soft, it has a slightly sticky, gummy feel.


AUTOBOT: SIDESWIPE

     Neither red nor a Lamborghini, some have said this character is really
Tracks with the wrong name, being as he's a Corvette.  A somewhat oddball
mold in that he has neither real feet nor a built-in base.  He skates on two
wheels and has to support himself with one of his arms.  Those arms have big
"swords" that are like integrated bundis (think a cross between Wolverine and
a pair of spatulas).  He has a somewhat hunchbacked look, with insect-like
wings sticking straight back.
     Made of silvery light gray plastic.  The wheels he uses for feet and the
ones on his elbows are painted gloss black.  His hands, face, shin fronts and
some bits on his chest are matte charcoal gray.  The headlight-ish details on
his chest and the Autobot symbol on his right top chest are red.  A rack of
four lights over his head are painted metallic blue, and his eyes also seem
to be this metallic blue, but it fades into the surroundings.  Could
definitely stand some touching up.
     He's in a sort of skating pose, with his digitigrade (cyclograde?) legs
ending in wheels with both legs bent and the right one leading.  Both arms
are bent 90 degrees at the elbows with the blades on the underside, readied
for an uppercut impaling attack.  Snikt.  His head is molded into the torso,
and looking slightly to the left.  The arms can move at the shoulders, but
that's it.  He can support himself on two wheels and one arm, although the
left arm works better for this.  I'm strongly tempted to kitbash a base for
it, and kinda wish I hadn't thrown out those backdrop bases from Marvel
Legends figures, since one of those would be about right.
     Definitely a heavier Bayformer aesthetic than most Robot Heroes figures,
and it could really stand to have an integrated base to compensate for that.v


DECEPTICON: SIDEWAYS

     No relation to the Unicron spawn, this is a black sportscar who appears
in the opening battle scene alongside Demolisher.  Or maybe he's a silver
sportscar.  Or a silver sportscar with a black stripe.  The official promo
render looks like it's supposed to be silver, but the lighting could pass it
off as shiny black.  And this toy seems to have been made from either a very
early render or some bad screenshots.  The official render has the front
tires becoming buzzsaw weapons on the backs of the hands, but this toy has a
weird sort of whip-saw thing (like a chainsaw chain but no central bar, so
it's a loop) instead.  It looks like he's gonna beat you with a serrated
horseshoe or something.  The upper torso looks generally accurate, though.
http://brrdd.com/?66 links to an official render for now, although I have no
way of knowing how long that site will be valid.
     Made entirely of black plastic.  There's silver paint on the lower face,
the whipsaw, the center chest, the wheel hubs on his shoulders (as opposed to
in his hands, where there are no wheels on this toy), a dot on his kibble
flag, and printed Decepticon symbol on his left toe.  There's red on the
chest, the right forearm (but not the left) and on the taillight details on
the back.  Almost invisible is metallic dark blue paint on his back flags
and on his shins.
     Crouched with the right leg spread out to the side.  The arms are posed
awkwardly with the upper arms straight out to the sides and then bent forward
at the elbows.  The right hand clutches his whipsaw, while the left is an
open three-digit claw.  The overall effect is of wide shoulders and short
arms.  The shoulders swivel and have clearance to go around all the way.  The
head is on a peg, but has no clearance and can't move enough to break the
friction lock, so it always springs back to facing forward.
     A fairly oddball hybrid design, all in all.  Apparently Sideways gets
numerous toys, no two of which look quite the same.


AUTOBOT: AUTOBOT SPRINGER

     This is one of those characters who not only seems to be toy-only, but
SMALL toy-only, appearing as a Legends and a Robot Heroes and nothing else so
far.  I suppose a redeco of Incinerator could be brought in later to pad the
line.  It'd be inaccurate, but hey.  Judging by this toy, it looks like the
transformation will be similar to Incinerator's, but with the tail folding up
onto the back and actual hands coming out of the rotor engines.
     Given how many V-22 Ospreys show up in the movies, it's surprising that
there are no on-screen Transformers with that altmode, but the toys certainly
make up for that.  Between Incinerator a couple years ago, Springer here, and
a redshirt Decepticon in the prequel novel, it crops up a lot.
     Made of bright yellow-green plastic reminiscent of some of the Ratchet
toys from last time.  The most common paint color is very dark blue, used on
the face, hands, codpiece, tail rotors (on the back) and bits and pieces in
the legs.  Canary yellow paint is on the forehead crest and strings of lights
on the thighs.  The tiny three-bladed rotors on the forearms are dark gold,
as are the cockpit windows on the chest.  The eyes are bright blue, and the
tail fans have trefoil details in that color as well.  A black Autobot symbol
is printed on the back of the right shoulderpad.
     He's got the same sort of weird arm pose as Sideways, but is in a
different crouch.  Definite digitigrade "chicken legs" with the right leg
pointed forward and the left leg out to the left.  The right hand is in an
open grasping pose, the left in a fist.  Only the shoulders have joints, the
head is either glued in place or has such nasty friction lock that even
Excessive Force (TM) won't budge it.
     He has 2mm hexagonal peg holes on the underside of both feet, suggesting
there might be a playset coming that has pegs.
     I suppose if you're a fan of green VTOLs named Springer, it's worth
getting this pack, but it's not a great mold and it's paired with a gummy
version of a bad old mold.  Best to just get the Legends version.  [Later
note: sadly, the Legends version is kinda bricky, although it looks nice.]


DECEPTICON: STARSCREAM

     A redeco of the first movie Starscream, a mold I didn't much care for.
     Made from a light warm gray plastic, very soft.  The back thrusters are
painted silver, the eyes and forearm strips are red, the mouth area metallic
purple-silver, and the center of the chest is gold.  There's black
Cybertronian glyphs in various places, and random splotches of gunmetal paint
that apparently are meant to evoke battle wear.  A metallic violet and silver
Decepticon symbol is printed on the right shoulderpad.
     One of the soft-plastic ones.
     

AUTOBOT: OPTIMUS PRIME

     At least we got a new Prime mold, and it seems to be totally new rather
than a tweak/warp of the computer models for previous ones.  This one has
both hands replaced by swords, as seen in the movie.  He also has the
battlemask in place.  He gets quite a lot of paint, but only from the front.
From the back there's almost no paint visible at all.
     Made of dark blue plastic.  A darkish silver paint is all over the
place, including the faceplate, abdomen, pelvis, thighs, shins, toes, elbows,
blade roots and some chest details.  Dark red paint is found on the ankle
fenders, forearms, chest, and printed flames on the boots and ribs, plus
printed Autobot symbol on the left biceps.  Dark gold on the center of the
abdomen, bright blue on the eyes and chest windows, black on the thigh wheels
(but not on the ankle wheels), orange on the actual energized blades.
     Typical crouching pose, with upper arms almost straight out and elbows
bent more than 90 degrees, letting him interpose both blades in front of his
face to block attacks.  The head is tilted a little to his right, a tilt that
remains when your turn the head.  Neck and shoulder joints, but that's it.
No waist joint bonus for this Prime.
     The underside of his right foot hasa  2mm hexagonal peg hole.
     All said, though, it's very nicely detailed and has a decent pose.
Almost worth five bucks or so on its own, which is a good thing given that
it's paired with a repeat of a loser....


DECEPTICON: BLACKOUT

     Another one I didn't like the first time around.  He apparently gets a
few seconds on screen with Optimus Prime this time around, justifying the
two-pack, but the mold still has the kibble issues from the first version.
     Made of a very light blue plastic.  Most of the rotor surface is painted
medium gray, although a few bits are left unpainted.  The face, upper legs,
turbine intakes and some chest details are glossy black.  The forehead crest,
claws, flanks and some round bits on the boots are silver.  There's also a
silver Decepticon symbol printed on the rotors.  His shins and the centerline
of the torso are pool blue, and the eyes are red.
     I wish they'd have been able to spring for a new mold, since this was
one of the weakest of the original set.


AUTOBOT: BUMBLEBEE

     A new mold as well for the yellow guy, in a sort of "No, stop!"
crouching/stumbling pose.  He's meant to support himself with the aid of the
right arm, but the general pose is stable enough to do without that, and with
both arms up it looks like he's reaching for something instead.  Definitely
the Concept Camaro version, although the chest is a little blocky.  Battle
mask is not deployed, and both arms end in hands.  There's a tiny molded
Chevy symbol on his chest.
     Golden yellow plastic with loads of dark metallic blue paint on the
limbs and skidplate.  The chest stripes are matte black, but the tires are
all part of the metallic dark blue.  The face, toes and the cylinder between
the doors on his back are silver.  Eyes, headlights and windows are bright
blue.  Some details on the forearms look to be gunmetal metallic, although it
may just be a thin layer of the metallic blue.  There's a small red Autobot
symbol printed on the forehead.
     As mentioned before, a sort of stumbling pose with the left leg forward
and bent sharply at the knee, the right leg trailing straight back.  The left
arm has the upper arm straight out and the elbow bent 90 degrees, which seems
to be the "in" pose for this set.  The right arm is straight forward.  The
arms swivel at the shoulders, and the head turns.  The right hand is molded
to fit best a "resting on the ground" pose, but as mentioned earlier can be
held forward. 
     The underside of his left foot has a 2mm hexagonal peg hole.
     A pretty good Bumblebee, although it'd have been nice to have his wheels
painted black.


DECEPTICON: LONGHAUL
     
     Part of the Devastator team.  Not a dumptruck, though, as far as I can
tell from the limited Bayformer-y details available.  Looks more like an
update of G1 Scrapper, a power shovel.  Two pairs of wheels stick out over
his shoulders, and the other two wheels are on his ankles.  There's what
appear to be ladders on the forearms.  The facial features remind me of
Marvel's Apocalypse.  He has a shovel scoop remnant behind his head.
     [Later note: I'm informed he's supposed to be a mining truck of the sort
commonly called a dump truck, so Epic Fail on getting that across on his
robot mode.] [Even Later note: Now that I have the FAB version, it looks like
the "shovel" behind the head is actually supposed to be his bumper.  Truly
epic fail.] 
     Made of a metallic forest green plastic, a bit swirly.  The tires are
painted a semi-glossy black, a paint also used on some helmet stripes,
pectoral buttons and gratings on the thighs.  Silver paint is used on the
mouth, chin details, central chest, "belt buckle", wheel hubs and on the
forearm ladders, plus a silver Decepticon symbol is printed on the left
shoulder.  The eyes and some stripes on the top of the torso are painted
red.  
     Sort of a "Hulk lurching forward" pose in keeping with the green color.
Right leg leading, right arm bent 90 degrees but left arm bent about half as
much.  Both hands in fists.  The standard three joints, but the left arm is
blocked by both the left foot and the wheels over the shoulder.  Still a
reasonable range of motion, though.
     A good figure for an obscure character who will probably get about one
line, if that, before merging into Devastator.


AUTOBOT: AUTOBOT SKIDS

     One of the "Twins", in their Smart Car [Later note: Chevy Beat] mode
rather than the ice cream truck combiner mode they first show up wearing.
This is one of the soft plastic figures, which makes it relatively easy to
take apart and slightly tougher to put back together.  Skids is molded with
buck teeth and a sort of pseudo-hair detailing that makes me think his Human
Error/Only Human name would be Cletus.  His right eye is round and lower than
his left eye, which is a thin rectangle.  Other than the wheels in his
shoulders, there's few signs that he turns into anything at all.
     The plastic used here is a bright slightly light green, almost exactly
the same shade as my "Neon Green" paint, although it doesn't glow under UV.
Charcoal gray paint is used on the hands, toes, and several details on the
torso and pelvis.  The hair, right eye, chinstrap and collarbone area are
painted silver.  The shoulder tires and the grille molded into his collarbone
are painted gloss black.  His left eye and the center dot of his right eye
are medium blue.  His right buck tooth is painted gold, but the left one is
silver.  A metallic red and silver Autobot symbol is printed on his right
pec. 
     Skids is in an even-footing crouch.  His right arm is mostly straight,
thrust forward and giving a thumbs-up.  The left arm is bent 90 degrees at
the elbow, the hand in a loose grasping position.  Part of it is the pose,
but I think the right arm is actually a bit bigger than the left, which
doesn't help with balance.  The usual three joints, but the neck joint peg
points more forward than up (only a little of this is due to the leaning
forward of the torso), so he doesn't so much turn his head as cock it to one
side or the other.
     The undersides of both feet have peg holes.
     While I like the idea of twin Smart Cars, making them into refugees from
the Cybertronian production of Deliverance was a bad move.  And this toy has
all the bad parts with none of the good.


DECEPTICON: MEGATRON

     His fusion tank mode, with big tread-feet.  He's stocky enough to almost
compensate for the fact he's made of the softer plastic.  There's a
deliberate assymetry to his design, not just between the big cannon right arm
and the spindly left arm, but the treads on the two legs are different as
well, in ways that can't be explained as just a consequence of the pose.  The
head is more like the one on the mace-wielding second RH Movie Megatron from
the other year than it is the first.
     Medium-dark gray plastic with extensive silver airbrushing, seeming to
be more of a highlighting trick than an intention that some parts be silver
and others not.  It's a fairly effective trick.  Not much paint otherwise:
red eyes, white teeth, black Decepticon symbol printed on the left kneecap,
dark gold turbine outlets on the back.  The left arm is left unpainted, which
adds to its withered, burnt appearance without the need for a black paint
wash.  
     He suffers what I think of as the curse of the Robot Heroes Megatrons,
across generations.  His cannon arm is pointed nearly straight out, so that
the joint is nearly meaningless.  It's not straight out in this case, the arm
is bent a little at the elbow, but functionally speaking the joint doesn't do
much good.  In the usual crouch, with the right leg lined up with the cannon
arm, and the left leg about 90 degrees from that.  The left arm is skinny and
clawed, bent more than 90 degrees at the elbow.  The usual three peg joints,
with the neck peg tilted about 20 degrees forward.
     The undersides of both feet have peg holes.
     Aside from the Megatron Curse, it's pretty good.  Spiky and menacingly
Byaformery without being awkward or laughable.


AUTOBOT: MUDFLAP

     The other one of the "Twins", also in Smart Car [Later note: Chevy Flex]
form, also gummy plastic, also deformed-looking.  However, he has more of a
goblin sort of look about him, rather than evoking the sound of duelling
banjos. Having his car doors positioned right over his ears, to make them
look even bigger, may or may not have been intentional.  Goblin-bunny.  At
least there's plenty of car parts on this one: wheels on backpack and ankles,
door wings, a more obvious car-fender chest.
     The plastic is a sort of dark burnt-orange-red.  A dark reddish brown
paint is used on the shoulderpads, chest and the backpack fenders.  The
wheels are black with silver hubs, and there's black details on the forearms,
face and chest.  The center of the backpack is silver, and a silver Autobot
symbol is printed on the left shoulderflap (which does look kinda like a
mudflap, actually).  The chest headlights are light blue, the eyes are medium
to dark blue.
     Mudflap's pose is essentially the mirror image of Bumblebee's, but
hunched over a bit more so that the neck peg stick more forward than up
(unlike Skids, it's along the line of the spine, at least).  The usual three
joints, with the head not able to look straight forward...only down or to the
sides. 
     The undersides of both feet have peg holes.
     Better than Skids in most respects, although still made of gummyplas.
Stable enough without using the left arm for support...in fact, it seems like
the left hand is supposed to not quite touch the ground.


DECEPTICON: RAMPAGE

     Another Devastator component.  Oddly, it feels like his head and maybe
one arm are soft plastic, while the rest is the harder plastic.  So it's
possible that the plastic type is a running change that hasn't percolated
through all of the figures yet, and later pressings of this wave will all be
gummy. 
     Anyway, this is another one that makes me wonder if it was made from
incomplete art.  The Deluxe Rampage seems to be a quad-walker in robot mode,
like a crab or robo-taur.  But here we have a robot upper half stuck on a
weird malformed pillar that looks like a ballooned-out version of one of
Deluxe Rampage's front legs.  This pillar is stuck in an "exploding rock"
base for stability.  The arms end in tread-whips, the left one curving to
help the crab comparison but the right one bent back the wrong way.  [Later
note: Rampage has a jackhammer third mode, and this might be an attempt to
capture that mode, but it fails.  In part because it ignores all the back
kibble that goes with the jackhammer mode, and also twists the leg chunk
slightly sideways for no readily apparent reason.]
     Made of light canary yellow plastic, and most of the paint applications
are gloss black: treads, wheels, face details, mono-leg shin.  The hubs of
the wheels on his hips are silver, the eyes are red, and a violet and silver
Decepticon symbol is printed on the back of the left hand.  The rock base is
painted brown on top.
     The arms are in a sort of "hug me!" pose, and the figure is tilted over
a bit to its right.  The usual three joints, but the gummyplas on the head
makes it hard to turn it and not have it snap right back.  The arms also seem
to be made of softer plastic, but they're robust enough to actually move
rather than twisting in place.
     The underside of his base has a peg hole near the front edge.  There's
also a few dimples that appear to be injection marks, but could potentially
accept 2mm pegs. 
     I wonder if the official explanation for this is that the robot is in
mid-transformation here...but it doesn't really look like that either.

     Dave Van Domelen, spent much of the afternoon putting away Universe
toys to make room.  Will have to put away Animated too, soon.