Dave's BW Neo Rant:

     Sabreback (D-29)
     Guiledart (D-30)

     Time for more from the cache of BW Neo that I got in trade from my
friends in Japan.

CAPSULES

     Sabreback: Very nice beast mode, good transformation and robot mode,
although beast bits can be a problem.  Recommended.  
     Guiledart: Very nice beast mode, nifty corpse mode, slightly frustrating
transformation and a robot mode that's too cramped.  Mildly recommended.

RANTS

DESTRON: Sabreback
STR 7  INT 6  SPD 4  END 8  RNK 8  COUR 5  FRP 7  SKL 8  Avg 6.625

     Given that this is a Stegosaur, the name is definitely Sabreback (or
Saberback, if you prefer), not Saverback or Sableback or Minelba.

     Beast Mode: A rather nifty Stegosaur measuring 8" (20cm) from snout to
tail tip and 4" (10cm) high at the backplates.  Predominantly a slightly
greenish grey with dark green back plates and neon cyan and purple
stripings.  Very little robot stuff is visible, mainly the foot-skis and the
belly view.  Each of the four legs has three points of articulation, but the
rear legs are pretty much stuck in position by other parts.

     Camoflage Mode: Sabreback's tail and back lift up and become a flower,
while the rest of him squats down to hide in the dirt.  The flower can lock
into the open position, but there's no trigger to cause it to slam shut on
Stampy (or, considering the abuse he takes, Stamp-ee).  The back plates can
be repositioned as leaves on the flower's stem, but be careful...they're
attached about as firmly as Cybershark II's shoulder plates.  I got really
lucky with this...I was transforming Sabreback and felt a small object fly
past my ear towards the most cluttered corner of my apartment, and found it
was the smallest of the plates.  The next morning I was fortunate enough to
find it...on the other side of the room from where it was headed.  Maybe it
bounced off my ear?  Anyway.

     Transformation: The legs transform a lot like TM Rhinox's, with skis
folding down to form the feet.  They don't always stay pegged in,
unfortunately.  The torso is a lot more involved, but not confusing.  In
fact, it was when I went to get the trading card out for the stats tonight
that I realized I hadn't even looked at the instructions yet.  It seems to be
a hallmark of the more complex BW Neo toys that there's loads of pegs and
slots and hinges, but they're all pretty clearly defined and easy to figure
out if you look at the final picture.  Complex, but not confusing.  About the
only remotely tough part of transformation is getting his massive
shoulderpads in place without popping them off.

     Robot Mode: 5" (13cm) tall at the head, if you count his shoulderpads he
rises to 7" (17cm).  Unlike most of the BW Neo toys, he does not have a head
based on his beast mode...rather, it's modeled after an Aztec headdress (and
does bear a slight back-plate motif, now that I look at it more closely).
However, he does have his beast mode skull on his chest.  The colorful red,
yellow and green parts set off the neutral greys nicely.  One thing worth
noting here is that his VS-set partner Corahda has a Conquistador motif,
setting up a sort of "Showdown in the New World."
     Because of the skis, his legs aren't really as poseable as they could
be, and the beast ankles are a little too loose to forego the skis.  The
thighs are also very thick, preventing a swivel joint.  His arms, however,
are nicely poseable and relatively unblocked by beast bits.  In fact, the
beast plates (shoulderpads and hip plates) are mounted on ball joints out at
the end of swivel-stalks, so they can be repositioned to be out of the way.
The plates also have tech-patterns molded on the insides, to help with the
robotic appearance of the robot mode.  His spark rests behind the skull on
his chest, and the skull snaps down over it nice and firmly.  Unlike the
similar snap-down neck on Dead End, this one is nice and stable.

     Overall: While I was initially concerned about beast kibble on this toy,
my fears have been allayed.  Sabreback is a good, solid toy, with a realistic
beast mode and a functional, poseable robot mode.  And the camoflage mode is
so weird that it works.


DESTRON: Guiledart
STR 8  INT 9  END 8  END 10  RNK 9  COUR 7  FRP 6  SKL 9  Avg 8.25

     There's some kind of add-in slip of paper in the packet with Guiledart's
instructions, just white with writing on it.  Dunno what it means.

     Beast Mode: A very nice-looking tan and green Triceratops with brown
horns and yellow beak.  Only a little bit of robot stuff is visible.  7"
(17cm) long from nose horn to tail tip, and just under 4" (9cm) high at the
top of the crest.  Not very poseable, with only one real joint per leg.  The
rear legs have knees in theory, but the robot leg bits hidden inside keep
them from moving.  Unlike most Transformers, it has regular eyes, complete
with pupil.

     Camoflage Mode: When Guiledart plays dead, he does it very well.
Pushing back on the nose horn causes the tongue to stick out and the eyes to
roll back and show only whites.  Then you lay him on the side and open up a
side panel to expose bloody ribs.  Finally, you can partially remove the gun
in the tail to give the impression that the tail's been ripped on.  Sure,
it's not much of a transformation, but it's effective.

     Transformation: Guiledart is a Mega robot trapped in a Deluxe toy, and
it shows here.  Everything is in the way of everything else.  It takes
practice to transform him without popping panels.

     Robot Mode: A mere 4.5" (12cm) tall, he really needs an extra inch or
two for this design to work.  The term "squatty body" really fits this guy.
He's wider than he is tall.  It's not so much that he's out of proportion,
but rather certain parts are so big they get in the way of normally
proportioned limbs.  The huge trike head for his right arm can hardly do
anything with the room it has, and the normal left arm is so covered by the
huge shoulderpad that it can hardly hold his tail-gun (which holds his spark
insignia).  The tail would probably have worked better as a sword.
     The look is pretty cool, with the red and gunmetal grey robot bits
combining well with the beast colors, but for all his joints he's practically
a statue.  A lot of thought was given to appearance (with such things as the
spines coming out of his beast forelegs), but not a lot to poseability.
     One other quibble I have is with the missile storage in his
shoulderpad.  The one missile I've removed no longer wants to stay in, it
slides out at the slightest provocation, to the point I don't wanna risk
removing the other missile.
     Make his right arm a little longer, and make the shoulderpad a removable
shield (it'd make a kickass riot shield if it only had a handle!) and the toy
would be a lot better, I think.  Even making the trike's mouth just a little
bigger so he could hold the gun in either hand would have helped.

     Overall: Good looks, play value could be a lot better.

     Dave Van Domelen, into the home stretch....