Dave's Animorphs Rant:

     Rachel/Fly

     Took a little more looking around to get this one...one of the problems
with toy premiums is that if a particular restaurant doesn't use up all its
copies of last week's toy, they often don't break out this week's toy until
later on, if ever.
     Oh, and for those asking, sorry...I simply don't have the time or
resources to buy these for everyone who's been asking, so I'm going to be
even-handed and not buy for anyone.  They'll probably start showing up at
flea markets and resale shops (like Once Upon A Child) pretty soon, though.

RACHEL/FLY

     Okay, it's weird to have to say this about a 99 cent kid's meal toy,
but this comes mistransformed.  Seriously.  There's a little undocumented
feature that makes a big difference in the beast mode, and the toy is not
properly transformed.
     Specifically, Rachel's pelvis can come out by about a centimeter, so you
can fold her legs flat against her chest.  Okay, you say, so what?  She goes
from a fly with a human stuck to its bottom to a fly with a folded human
stuck to its bottom.  Ah, but it's a matter of balance.  With the legs
sticking out the back, the fly cannot stand on its own legs, the center of
mass is too far back and it'll flop back.  But with the legs folded up, it
stands quite nicely.
     The fly mode is 3.5" (9cm) long with a wingspan of 4" (10cm).  It's a
mix of purple, indigo, and aquamarine, with transparent blue wings and glow
in the dark greenish-yellow eyes.  Pushing on a rod coming out of the rear of
the fly causes the wings to scissors back and forth.  The need to keep this
mechanism protected from little hands (and vice versa) means the fly's body
is sealed off, so the human bits can't hide inside it.
     One nifty effect you can get is to fold down the human legs (so the body
is straight) and then attach the fly legs so it looks like Rachel is being
carried off by a giant fly.  }->
     Transformation is pretty simple, but with the nice touch of the pelvis
being movable.  The bag claims that the wings and fly legs are removable, but
that sounds like a bug being touted as a feature...in fact, it's kinda hard
to keep the wings on.  Removing them does eliminate some of the kibble, but
you still have thie big abdomen and bug head stuck to Rachel. 
     Rachel is 3" (8cm) tall at the head.  Speaking of the head, it seems to
be glued into position...it can be turned, but slowly twists back to face
front.  I'm afraid that trying harder to turn it will snap the neck.  Figure
has swivel joints at the shoulders and hips, plus hinged knees, like the
other Tacomorphs.  Her eyes have no whites, as with Marco, but since her
eyebrows are yellow and practically invisible, there's a disconcerting effect
of just two beady pupils in an otherwise featureless upper face.  As with the
other Tacomorphs, her feet are too small and too close together for much
stability in standing, but she's symmetric enough that you can get her to
balance on her feet, using the wing-flap rod as a third foot.
     Overall, not as good as Tongue Action Cassie, but better than Chibi
Shark Marco.  And definitely worth your 99 cents (unlike most fast food
places, Taco Bell has "Toy Sold Separately" on the menu board, eliminating
the hassle that sometimes comes from trying to buy the toy without the kid's
meal).

     Dave Van Domelen, has one more Tacomorph to go, maybe Mega Tobias, and
probably Marco/Beetle, if either of them show up near him....