Dave's Transformers Rant: Transmetal Recolors Rhinox/Armorhide: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Phase2/DTMet1 Terrorsaur/Ironhide: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Phase2/DTMet2 http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Armada/MiniCon3 Refer to the URLs above for more complete reviews of the original molds. This review will cover the new colors, the choice of Mini-Con partners, and a few other details. Plus new techspecs of my devising. CAPSULES Rhinox: A pretty good mold with a decent official third mode and a good unofficial centaur mode. Armorhide Mini-Con (Iceberg recolor) is okay, but doesn't go well with the main toy. Recommended. $9.84 at Wal-Mart. Terrorsaur: A tad loose, but one of the better Transmetal toys, and easily the most amenable to fan-made alternate modes prior to BMac Scavenger. Mini-Con Ironhide (Dune Runner recolor) really doesn't go well with it, but its powerlinx connecter doesn't go well with much of anyone. Strongly recommended. $12.99 at Kay Bee (yeah, I was impatient). RANTS Packaging: These two are in standard Armada packaging, not a subline like Dinobots or Beasts or what have you. They have the trading card, loose logo piece, etc. The instructions do NOT explicitly show the original Transmetal pseudo-vehicle modes, although Terrorsaur's does have a picture of it. Each figure is secured with several twist-ties (Rhinox has his vehicle mode skids deployed, oddly), plus one twist-tie for the Mini-Con and a rubberband or three on the main figure. They come with the fourth comicbook/ catalog, which features the arrival of Unicron and shows the Built To Rule sets. However, the packaging is pre-Unicron Battles color scheme. http://www.protoformproject.com/dvd/images/tmarmada1.JPG has pictures of my centaur mode for Rhinox, and my favorite of the many jet modes possible with Terrorsaur. [OOPS. My mistake, Rhinox's vehicle mode is in the instructions. They're so shrunk down I missed it.] AUTOBOT: RHINOX FUNCTION: Strategic Defense ALTMOE: Armored Rhino MINI-CON PARTNER: Armorhide (Iceberg recolor) MOTTO: "Justice transcends worlds." RHINOX comes from an alternate reality in which a quantum surge destroyed Earth and doomed the universe to being devoured by Unicron. He followed TERRORSAUR through a quantum rift, certain that the Predacon had sabotaged their attempts to stop an alien planetkiller weapon and determined to bring some measure of justice for the world he saw die. Emerging from the quantum rift, RHINOX found himself in a mechanized version of his previous rhinocerous form, complete with a high-speed treaded vehicle conversion. He uses his newfound speed to keep up with his quarry while also helping the AUTOBOTS prepare defenses against the arrival of UNICRON. His razor-sharp horn is equally dangerous in beast and robot modes, and also conceals a short-range plasma blaster usable in robot mode. The unstable energies of the quantum rift still cling to RHINOX, and have allowed him to access the power of the Mini-Cons he finds in this strange new reality. It is unknown whether he will undergo further changes due to this quantum flux. STR 10 INT 6 SPD 7 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 10 FRP 8 SKL 7 Avg 7.75 The new colors for this mold (the fourth color scheme for it: original, Fox Kids, Japanese Metals, Armada) is dark brown/gray, silver and a sort of coppery brownish red that's hard to describe. There's a few blue accents and yellow eyes, plus a yellow and yellow-orange paint application across his semi-organic robot chest. The mold has been modified to add a pair of dead powerlinx hardpoints to the tops of his rear legs in yellow plastic, with lightning crackle patterns in yellow and light yellow emanating from each. The paint is done in such a way that it almost looks like the mold was modified with grooves for the lightning crackles. Unfortunately, Armorhide doesn't really look good on either peg, especially since it's blue and silver. Also, when you use the ATV mode (fold rear legs into rear hips, flip them down so the treads touch the table, fold out the skids under the front feet), the hardpoints are in a really bad position for connecting (probably why the instructions omit this mode). On the other hand, they now look like rocket nozzles, so all the better. Armorhide, as mentioned, is mostly blue with silver trim and black bits, plus ice blue windows. It looks better than the orange Iceberg, but doesn't really fit on the pegs well. The colors match okay, thanks to the back of Rhinox being mostly silver with blue and brown, but Ironhide fits even better, both in color and in positioning. If you already have one or more TM Rhinoxes (Rhinoces?), I'm not sure this is good enough to warrant buying again. But it's a solid mold that I have grown to appreciate more in the years since it first came out (I gave it a mildly recommended back then), and worth picking up if you don't have one already. DECEPTICON: TERRORSAUR FUNCTION: Aerial Attack ALTMODES: Mecha-pterasaur, Jet, others MINI-CON PARTNER: Ironhide (Dune Runner recolor) MOTTO: "New worlds, new opportunities!" TERRORSAUR could see that the plan wouldn't work, that the world was doomed. So why share that doom? Taking advantage of a quantum rift caused by the cascade failure of MEGATRON and RHINOX'S device, he escaped shortly before the alien planet-killer weapon detonated the Earth behind him. As he emerged from the rift, he found himself changed by its energies, shedding his organic form and gaining in power. This was good, because RHINOX emerged right behind him, vengeance on his mind. TERRORSAUR quickly found a home among the DECEPTICONS, and puts his experience and scientific skills to work helping defend Cybertron from UNICRON...which can be difficult with an angry ex-MAXIMAL trying to kill him. The quantum flux has clung to TERRORSAUR, both letting him link up with a MINI-CON named IRONHIDE and causing him to sometimes transform into an entirely new mode. While lacking in ranged attacks, TERRORSAUR is fast enough to close to melee with just about anyone. STR 6 INT 6 SPD 10 END 3 RNK 5 COUR 8 FRP 3 SKL 7 Avg 6.0 Terrorsaur is remolded in dark green, yellow-green and a sort of brownish orange with orange and silver paint. While Rhinox did not retain his name label, Terrorsaur's name is still printed on one wing. He comes mistransformed in the package, his legs should be bent back and pegged onto his underside. Three dead hardpoints have been added. One over each wing turbine and one in the middle of his back. Ironhide looks bad on any of them, due to his connector being at the far read (in fact, he can't really fit on the middle one without crushing Terrorsaur's crest). However, the color clash aside, Armorhide looks pretty good sitting on the central hardpoint. As with Rhinox, a lightning crackle color scheme is painted around each hardpoint. The central one has yellow lightning, the outer ones have yellow-green lightnings. The shoulder ball joints are a bit loose, but cleaning off the release oil with soap and water or with postertack is enough to make them acceptably stiff. If yours persists in being loose, try putting a coat of clear nailpolish topcoat on the joints. Alternately, use superglue, but keep working the joint back and forth until the glue finishes drying. Ironhide is molded in that orange-brown plastic from Terrorsaur with some dark brown bits (from Rhinox's batch, I think) and orange paint. Yes, orange paint details on orange-brown plastic...you need good lighting to tell the paint is there. Vehicle mode still looks good (better than Dune Runner, IMO), but the robot mode is weakened by the choice of paint color. Also, his connector position at the extreme rear doesn't work well with most hardpoints. Overall, this is another toy that has improved in my esteem since the original review. I got sent something like a dozen alternate modes for this badboy, not just jets either. There was one mode that's kinda like an AT-ST, another that's a Klingon Bird of Prey. There's extra joints and details that don't seem necessary to transformation, but which allow for a lot of nifty fiddling. Pick it up if you don't already have the original or the Japanese recolor (or Terranotron, which was kinda rare). Dave Van Domelen, less likely to pick up the TF Universe recolors.