Dave's Transformers Artifacts Rant: Armada Shoes #2

     I was idly poking at a stack of Armada shoes today, and realized there
was a new pattern!  Not just a recolor of the original pair, but a new sort
of kidshoe.

CAPSULE

     Black Armada Shoes: Same general quality as the white Armada shoes, but
the LEDs are only on the heel piece.  Instead has a "Transformable Shield" on
the uppers that flips over to reveal different characters.  I worry that
these are collectible shoes, and may amend the online version of this file
once I have more info.  Not quite as fun for those too big to wear 'em as the
original white shoes, but the color might suit Energon Unicron better.
Mildly recommended.  $14.82 at Wal-Mart.

RANT

     This time I picked up the size 13 1/2.  In case, you know, Unicron
outgrows the pair he's wearing.
     The boxes are the same size as those for the original shoes, but with a
few slight differences in appearance.  A small (6cm long, 4cm wide) flap
inside the box at the top proclaims "LOOK!  TRANSFORMABLE SHIELD!
Reversible!  3 Different characters  Also lights up".  It shows Hot Shot in
the background and Super Optimus Prime on the reverse side of one of the
shields.  
     Foolishly, I forgot to look at the box bottoms again.  The box I got had
the same three trading cards (Hot Shot, Super Prime, Megatron) as the box my
white Armada shoes came in, so I dunno if there's any more than just those
three.  

     These shoes have black uppers and medium gray soles with black
inclusions in an irregular, vaguely "tech-ish" pattern.  Autobot symbols on
black backgrounds are molded onto the "outsteps" or whatever the official
shoemaking term is.  A gel "bumper" around the heel part of the sole has the
LEDs, a standard kidshoe pattern, identical to the heel LEDs of the white
shoes, although they seem to flash for a shorter time after being jarred.
     On the back of the heel are yellow circular taillight designs and a
number of red circular dots on gray squares that give roughly the same
impression.  There is a thin plastic strap (4cm long, 1.5cm high) at the top
of each heel for aid in pulling the shoes on.  The straps are black with a
red stripe along the top and bottom, and a tiny Armada logo between them.
     The sides have two diagonal red stripes on either side of the velcro
strap, running from down-back to up-front.  There's addition red wedges near
the front where a black ribbed plastic/rubber sorta-triangle covers the toes.
The top of the triangle has a red Autobot symbol molded into it, and this is
where the reversible shield is attached.  Well, more accurately, the symbol
is on a flap over the connection point.
     The connection method is pretty clever (hey, it might not be new, but
I'm about 25 years behind on kidshoes in general).  Rather than velcro straps
going from one side to the other, there's two straps, each of which goes
through a slit in the "shield" and then bends back over to connect on the
same side it started.  The shield is 4.5" (11cm) wide at the top, slightly
narrower at the bottom.  It's 3" (8cm) tall at either side, 2.25" (6cm) tall
in the middle.  It's two pieces of leather-like plastic sandwiched together,
each side molded so that the character on it is raised, as is their name.
There's two red stripes more or less vertical on either side, framing the
character art.  The fronts are always Optimus Prime (regular robot mode).
The backs of mine are Red Alert and Starscream, but there's implication that
there's several other characters randomly inserted.  The shields aren't very
flexible, so the first time you turn one over it tends to resist.  Not sure
if this would impact the comfort.
     The Transformers Armada logo is repeated on the top of the tongue, on a
label inside the shoe, and molded onto the sole at the arch.

     Dave Van Domelen, just realized he shoulda gotten the smallest size,
then put 'em on his 18" Spider-Man, or maybe on Alternator Smokescreen....