Dave's Transformers Cybertron Rant: Deluxe Wave 8 Optimus Prime Demolishor Unicron A kinda weird wave. Two Armada recolors without Mini-Cons, and a little version of Unicron. I wasn't originally planning to get the recolors, but I decided to use birthday money (I found these a week before my 36th birthday). Unicron is the first new Deluxe mold since wave 5 (CD Hot Shot and Downshift), and the Armada molds are old enough that even the most recent recolors came out before the current primary toy audience was into TFs (although Ultra Magnus comes close to overlap). http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Armada/Deluxe1 - Original Demolishor http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Armada/Deluxe3 - Original Prime CAPSULES Optimus Prime: Original version was Strongly Recommended. This recolor is along the same scheme as "Galaxy Force Optimus Prime", an upcoming Leader Class recolor. The Key is a bad substitute for a Mini-Con, though. Recommended if you have no copies of this mold, mildly recommended if you do. $9.99 at Target. Demolishor: Original version was Strongly Recommended, although I've cooled on the mold since then. Also, the lack of a Mini-Con hurts a lot more here than with Prime, since it merged with his vehicle mode. There's additional quality control issues, and the color scheme isn't great. Mildly recommended if you have no copies of this mold, neutral if you do have another copy. $9.99 at Target. Unicron: Looks weird but interesting, and I think I've found the "true" vehicle mode. Good transformation, somewhat floppy robot mode. Recommended. $9.99 at Target. RANTS Packaging: Standard Primus Unleashed Deluxe blister cards. Cosells are the other two from this wave, plus one toy from the recolor mania that preceded them (Skywarp, Cannonball or Override GTS). They come with the Jungle map. AUTOBOT: OPTIMUS PRIME Planet: Cybertron Altmode: Semitractor Prior Name Use: Everywhere Prior Mold Use: Armada, Universe (mostly: those had Mini-Cons) Key Gimmick: Double Punch Attack Key Code: d56b Fearless leader of the AUTOBOTS for as long as most can remember, OPTIMUS PRIME is a wise commander, as well as a fearsome warrior. Despite his power, he prefers to resolve conflicts without violence, believing that even the most dedicated criminal can be redeemed. Many unfortunate villains have mistaken his compassion for weakness, and paid the price of evil at his mighty hands. STR 10 INT 10 SPD 9 END 10 RNK 10 COUR 10 FRB 10 SKL 10 Avg 9.875 So, he's a bleeding heart, but it's not HIS blood dripping down his chestplate. Key Code Info: During a short time on Gigantion, the giant planet, Optimus prime needed to investigate a long-forgotten stronghold in the depths of one of the largest, and oldest abandoned cities. Unfortunately, the city was also the most dangerous to explore with it's [sic] windy roads, tiny spaces and precarious balanced machinery. Metroplex and his crew created a new body for Optimus Prime to make his way through the jagged metal of the ancient ruins. With his smaller form, Optimus was able to get down, grab the info and back again without even scratching a fender! (Also shows the color guide to this recolor. This information was actually linked to Demolishor's Key Code on July 11, 2006. His own code is not yet in the system.) A bit of a history note. When they recolored this mold for the "Battle In A Box" Ultra Magnus, they put the forearms on the wrong arms, so that the elbows couldn't bend much. Some early sightings of this new recolor had the same problem, but later ones (including mine are fixed. Two ties hold the vehicle mode into the tray, one rubber band holds a shield over the top of the cab, and a rubber band holds each wrist gun on. Planet Key: This is a remolded Cybertron Key without a molded faction symbol (so that Prime and Demolishor can share one mold). Instead a red and white Autobot symbol is printed on the center of this colorless clear key. The border area is painted a slightly metallic dark orange-red (CC3333). It has also been remolded so that usual hexagonal area at the root is larger and contains a Mini-Con connector hole. So the Key will store on any hardpoint, and can be used to activate the figure's Mini-Con gimmick. However, the grip is bad, and I've had to chase the Key down several times when it flew off while I was trying to run the gimmick. Color Swaps: Darkish red replaced by a bright red (FF0000), silvery gray replaced by a non-silvery light gray (CCCCCC), dark blue by very dark gray (333333). Black remains black. The red plastic reacts moderately to UV. Paint Apps: The windshield is black with white trim. There's also black flanking the grille, including a little on the part that becomes the chest. There's some white bits where the shoulders meet the torso, or on the underside of the vehicle mode next to the front wheel wells. This white was reportedly not present on versions with the misassembled forearms. The Autobot symbol is printed on the top of the cab in white as well. The headlights, cab-top lights, eyes and forehead tablet are yellow (FFFF00). There's silver on the faceplate, forehead, upper arms and corner bumper. Bright blue paint (0099FF) is on the forearms, in the wells where the feet fold up, and little bits on the shoulders. There's some red paint around the grille border that matches well with the plastic. The blue and white paints react moderately to UV. Other Notes: The Key doesn't really hold well on the live Hardpoint to run the "magic vibrating shoulders" gimmick. Also, to get better poseability in the legs, you need to take apart the boots and swap the upper legs (a simple leg swap doesn't work). If you don't do this, the legs don't move forward much, instead moving backwards. Overall: It looks about as good as the original, but the lack of a Mini-Con and the awkwardness of using the Key count against it. [Later note: turns out the white shoulders thing doesn't help ID the mis-assembled arms. Here's a link to Orson Christian's fix from back on Magnus: http://www.capturedprey.com/scripts/magnusfix.asp Also, keep in mind that the elbows bend backwards to make the smokestacks, so the cut in the forearm should be on the "wrong" side if it's correctly assembled. In other words, on the side it's not bending towards in vehicle mode.] DECEPTICON: DEMOLISHOR Planet: Cybertron Altmode: Antiaircraft Tank Prior Name Use: Armada, Energon Prior Mold Use: Armada, Energon Key Gimmick: Twin Missile Attack Key Code: dt67 DEMOLISHOR thinks just about as fast as he drives. He has heard rumors about the return of GALVATRON. Quite frankly, he hoped they weren't true. After working for the DECEPTICON leader for years, he's been fine without someone bigger and badder than he is to kick him around. Still, given how thick CYBERTRON has been getting with SCRAPMETAL vermin, it'd be nice to have a few more DECEPTICONS around to back him up. STR 9 INT 7 SPD 4 END 5 RNK 5 COUR 5 FRB 9 SKL 7 Avg 6.375 Stronger, smarter, less endurant and a lot less braver than in Armada. Key Code Info: Demolishor is a veteran of the ancient wars. He was brought online during the Armada Mini-Con conflict and he survived - but barely. He then joined the Autobots for a short time during the Energon wars, but being a Decepticon through and through, he defected and rejoined his evil cohorts. Now, with the conflict once more back on Cybertron, Demolishor is happy to once again dust off his plasma cannons and leap into battle! (Also shows the Pantone color guide.) Three twist-ties hold the vehicle into the tray. A mini-tray keeps the firing missiles in a just-launched position, rather than having the missiles off to the side. Four rubber bands hold everything else together. The robot forearms are folded down to let the vehicle fit in the blister. The instructions include an official "battle base" mode I seem to recall started as a fanmode. Basically just unfolding the robot legs from vehicle mode to act as stabilizers. I may be wrong about it starting as a fanmode, though. Planet Key: Same mold as Prime's Key above. The border is painted a metallic purple (6633FF) that's thin enough to be translucent. Decepticon symbol printed on the smooth center. Color Swaps: The sandstone light tan (i.e. the missiles) becomes a dark gray (nearly black) that oddly enough glows olive green under UV. The red plastic becomes a sort of pukey green-tan (CCCC66), tan becomes a medium green (close to 339900), dark gray to a light brown (couldn't find an RGB that's really close). Paint Apps: There's a lot of slightly metallic brown/copper paint as trim (chest, lower legs) and camo (tread covers, forearms), but it's thin enough that it looks like different colors depending on what the base plastic color is. The Decepticon symbol on the chest is black, as is the driver hatch behind it. The face is painted a decent approximation of the pukey yellow plastic, with gold eyes and white teeth. The fingers are also painted pukey yellow. None of the paints is particularly UV-reactive. Other Comments: I put the original Blackout into his spot on the new Demolishor and he fit fine, but they seem to have removed a vital part of the launcher mechanism, as pushing the button down does nothing...oh, wait, finally got it to fire. So maybe it's just really bad quality control, and not a delierate removal of the gimmick (as they did with Runamuck). The thighs don't hold closed very well, especially the left thigh. Unlike Prime, the Key does a decent job of activating the gimmick without risking a Key launch. In vehicle mode, the treads don't really peg onto the body as firmly as I'd like, although this may be a mold release oil issue. Overall: Okay colors, but inferior to the original in many significant ways, including the bad thighs and the lack of Mini-Con. DECEPTICON: UNICRON Planet: Not Anymore (seriously, he's Planet X faction) Altmode: Destroyer Tank Prior Name Use: Armada, Energon Prior Mold Use: None Key Gimmick: Triple Cannon Key Code: dgt3 Many TRANSFORMERS still superstitiously toss a small handful of Energon coins over one shoulder whenever his name is uttered, for the word itself means chaos and destruction. Once an all-powerful eater of entire planets, he was destroyed decades ago by the AUTOBOTS. For too long he was trapped in the rusting hulk of his old body. Now, resurrected and redesigned as an unstoppable destroyer tank, he is not yet at full power, but soon all the Universe will know him, and tremble. STR ? INT 10 SPD infinite END infinite RNK ? COUR ? FRB 10 SKIL 10 Avg infinite Decades? Even with retcons in place, it wouldn't have been more than a single decade. Key Code Info: The most evil entity in the galaxy has returned. As the black hole near Earth and Cybertron grew ever stronger, the dark life-force of the planet-killing Unicron was gaining more and more strength. After their departure from Gigantion, Soundwave and Sideways flew deep into the raging eye of the black hole with a new form for the ancient destroyer. Finding a weak pulse of his Spark, the two forged an uneasy alliance with the mighty titan - giving Unicron a new body and a chance to destroy the universe once more! (Also shows an early design sketch.) Two twist-ties hold the vehicle mode down, and one more holds onto the tip of the partially launched missile. Two rubber bands hold the flanks together, and you have to either cut them or partially transform the toy to get them off. The "ring segment" spikes are on the wrong peg holes in the package pic. Planet Key: Standard Planet X Key with silver border. Vehicle Mode: An interesting design, looking like you smashed Unicron's planet mode and then gave the pieces to the Monster Garage crew and told them to graft 'em onto a vehicle chassis of some sort. There's some resemblance to a horseshoe crab, and...I think that's not the original plan. But I'll go into that later. 6" (15cm) long with small, almost concealed tank treads in the front (with the usual little wheels underneath) and large oddball offroad wheels in the back. Planet shell chunks cover the flanks, with wing-segment-like vanes pegged into them. Unicron's jaws are mounted on the front, and his mouth is up behind the cockpit. A Tankor-like cannon mount is attached to the right rear, with a smaller pintel-mount gun on the left rear. Between them is a radar dish. On my copy, the left side planet shell piece refuses to lock down on the rounded tab that's supposed to hold it in place. Also, the jaw pieces don't really lock into place. Floppiness apparently plagues this mold. The dominant color is a yellowish orange (FF9900) on the planet sell pieces. The jaws, vanes and some other details are medium gray plastic (999999). The little gun and a lot of the underside jointing are light gray (333333). The wheels, treads and main gun are a brown so dark they're almost black. The radar dish, missile, cockpit window and hidden triple cannon are a clear ruby red. There's details done in dark gray (666666) and purple (3300FF) paint, a little bit of red on the nozzles of his thrusters, and some pale silver on hubcaps and tank wheels. There's also a few applications of paint that make one color plastic look like adjacent plastic of another color. The light gray, yellow and clear red plastics react moderately to UV. There's a lot of nifty little molded detail on the planet shell chunks, which would benefit from a wash to bring 'em out. The main cannon can go from horizontal to maybe 30 degrees elevated, and has ten or twenty degrees of side to side play. It fires via a regular trigger. The small gun is on a ball joint with a goodly amount of motion. The vanes are pegged in, so can be positioned how you want. The jaws at the front can wiggle a little, but aren't really poseable. Inserting the Key into its slot at the very rear makes the Unicron mouth in mid-hull open up to reveal a little tribarrel cannon, one of the less impressive Key gimmicks. You have to push it all the way in, or it'll pop back out. It does lock in position when all the way in, though. Now, time for some speculation. The planet chunks on the sides are on some fairly impressively posable mounts. But in vehicle mode they're pegged into exactly the same position as they are in robot mode...if you needed a little play to make transformation easier, you wouldn't have to go so far as two hinges and a rotary swivel to get it! Clearly, we have an abandoned design feature here. After some fiddling around, I realized that if you rotate the panels 180 degrees and lean them up against the top of the hull, they fit pretty well, and the joints hold them solidly. Tweak the vane positions a little...and it's a BEETLE! The planet pieces are elytra (the hard shell wing covers on beetles), and the Unicron jaws make more sense now as the jaws of a scarab. The toes of the robot feet are the forelegs, and the four vanes are the other legs. And given that scarabs are symbols of death and so forth, it's quite appropriate for Unicron to be reborn as one. http://www.dvandom.com/images/unibeetle.JPG for a picture of this. Transformation: Rather complex, lots of folding panels and stuff. You have to make sure you transform the arms before putting the lower torso into place. The hull top folds up origami-like into the chest. You can leave his hands untransformed to get a "Hook Horror" mode. The vanes can stay on the armor panels, or be placed in the hands as claws (this also helps stabilize the forearms, which don't really lock together). The head just folds down, the radar dish now becoming a sort of turtleneck. Yeah, it was never really hidden in vehicle mode, but the details around it kinda distracted from it. Robot Mode: 6" (15cm) tall at the top of the head horns. Plenty of Armada Unicron details are present, if not always the same colors. He has the shoulders, sort of has the munching chest, taloned feet, helmet and so forth. The wing segments have nowhere to peg around the shoulders or back, though. The face is skeletal, and could also do with a paint wash to bring out the details. He has a pretty big backpack holding his rear wheels and cannons, and big shells on his lower legs (one of the panels on mine just won't peg into place). The main cannon ends up over his right shoulder. The torso, knee spikes, boot shells and toes are yellow-orange plastic. The upper arms, thighs, pelvis and fists are that really dark brown. The forearms, shoulders, lower legs and head are dark gray plastic. The hip joints, heel spurs and various other jointing bits are light gray. There's some little red dots on the shoulders, and most of the helmet is painted yellow (closer to FFCC00, bad match for the plastic) with a purple forehead. The eyes are lightpiped ruby red. There's black "spats" painted on the ankles. The head and waist turn. The shoulders are universal joints, and there's a swivel above the hinge elbow. No useful motion in the wrists, and the fists have standard 5mm peg holes. The hips are ball joints, and a little on the loose side. A layer of clear nail polish stiffened them up nicely, though. Right below the hip is a swivel, with a sort of cup reaching up around the hip joint to partly conceal it, rather nifty. Hinge knees, hinge toes and heelspurs. The heelspurs can bend up farther than flat, allowing some pointed-toe flat-footed stances. The knee spike also have some range of motion on a hinge, so you can have the stick out for attack posture or fold a bit flatter against the thigh. The armor shells on the boots can be folded around as goalie pads for those fights in Canada. Oddly, there are no Mini-Con hardpoints on Unicron, father to all Mini-Cons (in Energon, at least). Overall: Some pretty cool ideas, but numerous flaws in the execution (floppiness, bad helmet paintmatch, washed out details that could stand to be more visible, etc). Enough of these problems are easily fixable enough that I'd still recommend it to an adult buyer, but a kid might not have as much fun. Dave Van Domelen, if they reissued Unicron in blue and "fixed" the vehicle mode, Ted Kord fans would snap it up.