Dave's Energon Rant: Basics Wave Two Mini-Con: Perceptor - High Wire, Sureshock, Grindor Omnicon: Signal Flare Terrorcon: Cruellock Terrorcon: Divebomb First wave was one Mini-Con team, two Omnicons and one Terrorcon. Things even up a bit with one Mini-Con team, one Omnicon and two Terrorcons this time. CAPSULES Perceptor: Very nice vehicle modes, two loser robot modes and one good (if blandly colored) one, okay combined form. Recommended, shading towards Mildly Recommended. $6.94 at Wal-Mart. Signal Flare: Somewhat ad hoc vehicle mode, but nifty in its own way. Clever transformation, decent robot mode, wacky energon weapons. Recommended. $6.94 at Wal-Mart. Cruellock: Good kaiju mode, interesting autotransform, okay robot mode saddled with kibble and bad hands. At the low end of recommended, but better than Perceptor. $6.94 at Wal-Mart. Divebomb: Okay hawk mode, cool transformation, very dynamic robot mode and energon weapons. Hands a little iffy, though. Strongly recommended. $6.94 at Wal-Mart. RANTS Packaging: One thing I didn't mention in the last review is that the Mini-Con signature color on the packaging is not light blue anymore, it's dark teal. This set has otherwise identical packaging to the first wave, although of course with mostly second wave co-sells (Scorponok remains in the mix). They did not add a combination cog to Perceptor's packaging. The first comic/catalog is still included with this batch, although there may be a running change later on to put in a catalogue that includes wave 2. Transformers.com just got a big update with lots of techspecs, so I'm cut and pasting them here. Not correcing any spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. MINI-CONS: PERCEPTOR High Wire (Dirtbike) Sureshot (ATV 4x4) Grindor (Hovercar) Motto: Teamwork is the key to victory. PERCEPTOR is the combined robot form of the STREET ACTION MINICON TEAM. Although smaller than his AUTOBOT allies, he is an extremely powerful MINICON. He has been known to take down some of the toughest DECEPTICONS during battle and has earned the respect and admiration of his teammates. Although PERCEPTOR is a great warrior, he prefers spending time with his human friends learning about earth and its many cultures. STR 7 INT 8 SPD 7 END 7 RNK 9 COUR 9 FRB 6 SKL 9 Avg 7.75 High Wire is a light blue and very light gray dirtbike with dark blue seat, black tires, red and yellow paint accents. Some of the parts are actually light blue plastic painted very light gray, making it blander than need be. Held into the bubble with two twist-ties and two rubber bands. There's a yellow-painted Mini-Con symbol in place of a headlight. The robot head forms a kickstand with a connector in the crown of the head. Vehicle mode is about 3" (7.5cm) long and very floppy. Very little actually locks together, casual handling makes it turn into a motorcycle wreck. Transformation is surprisingly simple given all the pieces. Turn the bike over and it's most of the way there. Unhook the legs and turn them 90 degrees at the waist, turn the handlebar chunk 90 degrees the other way to form a fanny pack. Position arms and fold toes. Robot mode is a little under 2.5" (6cm) tall and very bland, with no paint on the head, torso or arms (except paint on some light blue bits making them very light gray). I've fixed that on mine with a black wash and some metallic blue paint on the visor. Looks better now. Poseability is very good: shoulders, elbows, neck and hips are all ball joints. Waist swivels, knees and ankles bend. The boots are kinda weird, though, and make some leg poses look...off. There's an additional tiny Mini-Con symbol on the right side of the chest. Component mode is basically just flip up the head and keep everything else in a backpack sort of deal. Much like the original. Once the paint situation is fixed, the robot mode is pretty good, although the vehicle mode remains weak. Sureshock is a dark blue and very light gray four-wheel ATV with black wheels, pale gold accents and some red stuff on the rear fenders not seen on the package pictures. There's also some light blue bits mainly visible in robot mode. The Mini-Con symbol is unpainted on the handlebar section, and there's two connectors on the underside, one behind each front wheel. Only one twist-tie and one rubber band are used to hold Sureshock in. Vehicle mode is about the same scale as High Wire, 2" (5cm) long and 1.75" (4.5cm wide), and unlike High Wire it stays together quite nicely despite a lack of pegs. Amusingly, you can pop up the robot head from the seat while in vehicle mode. Transformation is very simple, and leads to a depressingly bad robot mode. Getting it back in vehicle mode can be a little tricky, fitting all the front end stuff together just right. Well, tricky for a Mini-Con, anyway. Robot mode is 2.5" (6cm) tall and slightly wider than that. It's really nasty, with tires for feet (like Blastcharge, but not as good). The "knees" bend sideways, the elbows bend in reverse, the ball jointed shoulders are the only good joints. It's essentially Perceptor's torso on tiny legs. Oh, and the head is definitely Sureshock's, albeit in dark blue. Component mode requires bending the robot legs a bit, as if they were not quite the length the designers had intended. The arms lengthen, but the elbows still bend backwards. Personally, I'd have given him Grindor's head to keep the Armada combination order. A nice vehicle and looks good as a torso and arms, but the robot mode is a loss. Grindor is a ducted fan hovercar thing in red, dark blue, very light gray, and with gold and silver accents. A single hardpoint is in the middle of the underside, and the Mini-Con symbol is very small on the starboard side hoverfan. One twist-tie and two rubber bands hold Grindor in. The rubber bands are really hard to remove. Vehicle mode is 2.5" (6cm) long and 2.25" (5.5cm) wide, and is th eonly one that doesn't have wheels. It's niec and solid and looks very good, although it's clearly not a passenger vehicle...cockpit is too small. And the cartoon has already shown Grindor used as a sort of giant hoverboard, rather than a vehicle to be ridden in. While doing the paint wash on High Wire, I also did one on the lift fans, improving their looks. Might go back and be more detailed, painting the blades gunmetal with silver accents or something. Transformation is pretty simple again. Front end splits into shoulderpads and reveals the head, lift fans flip out as arms, drive fans swing around to be feet. It looks like a Popy vending machine prize transforming robot like I once got out of a video arcade prize-drop game. Robot mode is 2.5" (6cm) tall and slightly wider, another big shouldered Mini-Con. The ankles and shoulders are ball joints, the knees are hinges, and it has no thighs. The arms are really pathetic, big discs with little paddle hands on them. The head is the correct shape for Grindor, more or less, but with a wider helmet and painted black. Component mode is the legs and spine, as the whole thing splits apart and sends a shaft up to allow the other two pieces to connect. Interestingly, this lets you connect the head without the torso. Definitely the coolest vehicle mode and weakest robot mode of the lot. Perceptor combines by having Sureshock fit onto some pegs on the front of the spine, and High Wire connect to a hardpoint on the back of the spine. The head just sort of floats over the collarbone area, it can't fit between the shoulderblades and doesn't lock onto anything. Perceptor stands 4.25" (11cm) tall with a pretty good balance of very light gray, light blue, dark blue, black and red with some gold and silver accents. The face is silver set in a dark blue helmet with a red visor, capped by a light blue shell. Most of the Mini-Con connectors are inaccessible in combined mode, except for the ones on the backs of his hands. The shoulders are ball-jointed, the elbows bend backwards. The legs spread apart but have no other meaningful articulation, and the ankles are on limited ball joints to let them reposition flat. The head can move in the sense that it can float around a bit. Overall: Is this an improvement over the original? Well, the vehicle moeds are generally better looking, and High Wire has an impressive robot mode. The colors balance a bit better as well. But I'd have to say that overall it might be not quite as good as the original team. He does have the small advantage of being able to hold some Energon weapons, those with hardpoints. OMNICON: Signal Flare Altmode: Maser Tank (http://www.gvsdestoroyah.com/CLTank.htm) Function: Destroy All Monsters (okay, not his official function) Motto: My imagination is the key to winning. SIGNAL FLARE is an AUTOBOT OMNICON and one of the greatest energon welders of his kind. His OMNICON brothers depend greatly on his skills and experience. In vehicle mode, he projects a powerful energon beam from his radar dish that can take the shape of massive tools or weapons. SIGNAL FLARE is a silent warrior that prefers mastering the artistry of his energon weapons to battle. STR 8 INT 9 SPD 4 END 5 RNK 9 COUR 8 FRB 10 SKL 9 Avg 7.625 Secured by a mere two twist-ties. Vehicle Mode: Yeah, they call it radar and call him Signal Flare, but this is a Maser Tank from the Godzilla movies. Well, not exactly, since that would bring Toho's lawyers down on Hasbro like an 80 meter tall radioactive reptile, but close enough to be recognizable. And like those vehicles, it has a sort of "ad hoc" nature...a rough block with halftrack propulsion (two pairs of front wheels, then treads in back), some cockpits and a weapon, and then just sort of fake it for the rest of the body. The tank is 4.25: (11cm) long and 1.75" (4.5cm) wide without any accessories attached. With the "radar" configuration added, it gains a tiny bit of length and goes to 3.75" (9.5cm) wide at the radar "ears". The color scheme is...complicated. The clear energon bits (weapon parts, energon star, twin cockpits) are bright red. The cannon is a sort of light khaki tan with orange paint "camoflage" lines and chocolate brown plastic (which also appears on the "bumpers", rear wheels and torso chunk). The main chassis is a sort of bright blue in most parts and a darker dutch blue in a few other places, with red and pale gold paints bits and some black wash on the treads. The robot's left arm just sort of sticks out the back as a weird trailer hitch or something, made of the same pale khaki as the cannon, with a silver plate on top and the Autobot symbol on it. The spark crystal is just behind the cockpit (robot mode chest). The cannon has a nifty gimmick. As you elevate it, depress it, or rotate it around, gears make the barrel slowly rotate. One complete turn of the turret results in one turn of the barrel. The effect is magnified when the main dish is added. Oh, maximum elevation is about 40 degrees, maximum depression is zero degrees. Transformation: The sides unpeg and flip out to become the legs...but it's not so simple. There's flipping and rotating and panels and ooooo. Nicely complicated without being frustrated. The core of the rear half of the vehicle then rotates and slides down the spine to click into place behind the chest, the left arm and its shoulder block swinging down to lock into new position. Robot Mode: The riot of colors works a lot better in this configuration, and only clashes a little. 4" (10cm) tall and of the same blocky aesthetic as Strongarm. The right arm is a cannon, and understandably has no elbow. It retains the full range of motion from when it was a turret. The left shoulder is a ball joint, and the left elbow is a hinge. The head does not turn and there is no waist. The hips are universal joints, and the knees bend, albeit a little low on the leg. The head is dark dutch blue with a silver faceplate and red slit visor. The spark crystal has a faintly blue tinge to the Autobot symbol. The Energon Star will fit over the barrel of his cannon, so I guess he can support other Autobots by launching Stars to them. Energon Weapons: Three pieces. Two are the radar "ears" that can combine into a shield or be used as the handle of the complete weapon. The third is the "pizza cutter" dish placed on the top of the cannon barrel. Each of the ears has a dead hardpoint under its tip. One has a hardpoint at its base and a 5mm peg for connecting to the other half or to figures, plus a Mini-Con connector on the side. The other ear has peg holes. The dish connects to either tip hardpoint via a special peg hole that's a little harder to get things into because of raised areas around it. It also has a recessed hardpoint meant to lock onto the barrel tip. The dish spins freely, and on its face are four hardpoints that can't really connect to much (although adding Cruellock's gun and Divebomb's blades resulted in an unstable WeedWhacker of Doom). The front of the dish looks more like a radar dish or maser cannon tip, the back has buzzsaw patterns. The weapon components all connect together a lot of ways, most of which look fundamentally the same, but allowing different poses and such. Overall: A lot of little flaws made me downmod this to merely "Recommended", but it's a fun little toy and a boon companion to Strongarm. Same design aesthetic, lots of fun bits. Strongarm brings the pie, Signal Flare brings the cutter. TERRORCON: CRUELLOCK Altmode: Godzilla (1999 animated, http://www.pazsaz.com/pic/godz1.gif) Function: Tactician Motto: By the time you see me, it will be too late. CRUELLOCK is the most powerful and cunning of the TERRORCONS, combining incredible strength with lightning speed. He is a great tactician whose hunting skills are unmatched. In raptor mode, he can jump to great heights and attack his enemies with powerful energon claws and teeth. In robot mode, his energon-cutting blade can slice through anything, or anybody that stands in his way. It has been said by many that CRUELLOCK'S gaze is as deadly as his bite. Beware! STR 8 INT 8 SPD 9 END 8 RNK 4 COUR 5 FRB 6 SKL 6 Avg 6.75 Shackled by an astounding 8 twist-ties and one rubber band (only 5 ties on the figure itself). Beast Mode: Some have tried to figure out what kind of real dinosaur this is supposed to be, but one look at that jawline and the spikes along the back and it's clear, this is GINO, the American iguana Godzilla. Specifically, it's the animated version, which had good writing and a stronger chin. Clearly, Cruellock and Signal Flare are fated to be arch- enemies, maser tank versus giant iguana. With energon weapon completing his tail, Cruellock is 4.25" (11cm) tall and about 6.5" (17cm) long. Removing the weapon subtracts 2.25" (6cm) from the length, and makes the figure look obviously incomplete. All the other Omincons and Terrorcons look more or less okay without their weapons, but Cruellock really needs his. Colors are another mish-mash. Forearms and shins (and robot head) are dark teal, upper limbs are dark gray, much of the body is lighty gray, and orange-red paint runs down th eback and tail. The claws are all transparent neon green, as are the energon weapons and energon star. There's silver paint on the muzzle. There's a little bit of metallic purple on the chest, and metallic teal on a few places. Spark crystal is in the middle of the chest, and the Decepticon symbol is just dark gray. Shoulders, hips and elbows are ball joints. Knees and ankles are hinges, as is the jaw. The tail can wag back and forth a bit, and the shoulders and hips have cover shells that can spin around a bit (mostly useful in transforming). The "toes" are connected by a ball joint, but this seems to be strictly to let them pop off without breaking, as there's no range of motion. Transformation: Most of this is accomplished by smooshing the hips together. This autotransforms the head (which flips back 90 degrees to reveal the robot head) and shoulders (which drop out to the sides, making the chest wider). Then it's just a matter of straightening the legs, turning the robot head around, and opening up the tail to remove the weapons. The tail halves just sort of sit behind the legs, not even folding flat against them. You might also want to rotate the hip covers. It's kinda hard to get the hip halves to lock together, mind you. Robot Mode: 4" (10cm) tall at the robot head, a bit taller in total because of the beast mode head hanging off the back. Limb articulation from dino mode is retained, the torso can rock back and forth a little at the waist, and the robot head turns. The head, by the way, is dark teal with metallic purple "antennae", silver eyes and orange wedges on his face (making it look kinda like hedgecutters on a WWII tank). The hands annoy me somewhat. The ring inside the claws intended to hold weapons is only 4mm thick, resulting in a loose grip on some things, like his gun. The claws also get in the way, making it hard to hold the bare blade and a lot of other stuff. Finally, there's some hardpoints inside the tail that are visible in this mode, but they're really only for weapons storage. Energon Weapons: Two pieces, a short pistol and a huge blade. The pistol is 1.3" (3.5cm) long with a hardpoint handle and a longer grip sticking out the back. There's a Mini-Con connector on top above the hardpoint, and the muzzle has a 5mm hole. The muzzle has air coolant holes like a machinegun or smokestack, and a simple iron sights at the tip. The gun's main purpose, though, is to act as a handle extension for the blade. The blade itself is 4.5" (11cm) long, like a giant knife blade or polearm blade. Its handle is attached about an inch from the bottom on a hinge that is mainly intended to let it fit better into the tail, and it's a standard 5mm peg. There's not enough clearance to let Cruellock hold the blade by this peg over his claws, he has to hold the blade sideways. A Mini-Con connector is on one side just above the handle. The gun can be connected several ways to the sword, letting Cruellock hold it either as a regular Big Scary Sword, or as a sort of forearm blade if you exploit the Mini-Con connector on the blade. Overall: Kibble and bad hands hurt an otherwise good design. This is likely to stay in altmode on my shelf, not robot mode. TERRORCON: DIVEBOMB Altmode: Hawk Function: Predator Motto: To challenge me is to accept your defeat. DIVEBOMB is a ruthless ninja-like TERRORCON. Like a bird-of-prey, he never misses his target. In robot mode, his sharp Energon blades and slashing tools give him the edge in close-range fighting. He uses his leg turbines to hover when battling his enemies, overwhelming them with powerful slashes. In hawk mode, his dangerous feathers can cut like blades. There is no stopping this TERRORCON once he has selected his prey. STR 5 INT 5 SPD 9 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 6 FRB 8 SKL 6 Avg 6.625 Held into the bubble by 4 twist-ties. Beast Mode: A mecha-hawk with the robot head for a tail. Sorry, no Godzilla references this time. The colors are white and very dark blue with neon green transparent bits and a lot of pale gold accents and some gunmetal and dark gray on the wings. The wings look really cool, with energon feathers, intake scoops, ducted fans and so forth. The wingspan is 8.25" (21cm) and the front to back length is 3" (8cm) if you ignore the robot head sticking out the butt (the main flaw with this mode). The head is not the bird's tail, the robot's chest armor (with spark crystal) takes that role. The Decepticon symbol in the spark crystal is dark gray, and there's gold paint stripes around the chamber. The wings are articulated, with two folding joints (one for transformation, one is the knee joint of robot mode) and they're connected to the body by ball joints (robot hips). The hips are ball joints, the "knees" (actually ankles) are hinges, and the talons can close almost all the way (but are flat pieces, so they don't really grab). There are 5mm holes on either side of the head for connecting the energon blades. They look okay as energy canards of a sort, not as dippy as they looked in early pictures, but are unnecessary to the beast mode. Transformation: This is the best execution I've yet seen of turning wings into legs. Okay, there's not a lot of examples, but it's still good. Then the head splits apart and the flanks of the bird body fold out as arms. Now you can stand up the torso and turn the head around, then position the bird legs to lok decorative. Reverse transformation is a bit tricky, but not too bad. Robot Mode: A very Gundam-y long-legged robot 4" (10cm) tall at the head, with big ol' boots and beast-head hands. The color balance is good, and a bit of red for the faceplate is just right. While the energon canards were ehn, they make kickin' forearm blades. There's lots of nifty tech details on the revealed robot parts, although the parts on the forearms could use an ink wash to bring out the detail. Shoulders combine a swivel and a hinge to make a universal joint. Elbows and hips are ball joints, head turns, knees bend. The feet can also be moved, although the pin joint is at the front of the ankle, making them look a little odd when moved. The hands are formed from beak halves, and are rather thin. Unlike Cruellock, this doesn't keep it from holding stuff, but also unlike Cruellock, I felt like they might snap. Energon Weapons: Two blade pieces that combine into an elongated Z boomerang thingy. They can be held separately as a pair of axes, or by their connection pegs as weid guns. Some early runs had one of the blades with a point bit at one end instead of a handle, making the boomerang a more credible giant sword, but I got the running change of identical pieces, both with handles. Alone, each piece is just shy of 3" (7cm) long. There's two 5mm pegs (at tip and for connector), and a Mini-Con connector near the connector in the crook of the blade. The combined boomerang is 4.25" (11cm) long and shaped vaguely like a stretched out Z or S. Divebomb can hold this firmly in his tiny hands, but as mentioned before, I feel like it might break his beak. It looks like if you get five of these blades and connect them tip to base, you might be able to pull off a pentagonal ring of energon badness. In hawk mode, the blades can be rotated forward to become weird sponson- mount cannons. Overall: The robot head sticking out the back and the worrisome hands keep this from being a perfect toy. But it's a really good one, capable of some impressively dynamic poses in both modes. Add to that an imaginative transformation, and this is clearly the best of wave 2 Basics, possibly best Energon Basic to date. Dave Van Domelen, notes any Energon figure can grab Dive Bomb by the blade handles and try to use him as a weapon....