Dave's Web Diver Rant: W-01 Jagua-on W-02 Shark-on W-03 Griffi-on W-04 Garyuun (mix of ryu and galleon) Yes, every figure in this line has a name ending in -ion (or -eon). Same Japanese characters, with the exception of Gallion, which probably still ends in the same sounds. Later note: ignore this, I've fixed the too-cute names above, but am not changing them for the rest of the review. Whatever. The name Battle Unicorn is starting to sound good by comparison. Web Diver is Takara's new line, having abandoned the Transformers name again, at least for a while. The gimmick is that the main figure, Gradion, is a console video game that can hook up to your TV. The smaller figures can interact with Gradion, or turn into weapons that attach to Gradion's robot mode. The weapons then appear in the game. Between the electronics and Japanese inflation, these are some expensive toys. I lucked out and got them on eBay for barely more than the shelf price in exchanged Yen. For future reference, the shelf price of Gradion itself translated into US dollars is $66.41. CAPSULES Jagion: Nice car mode, okay robot mode, good transformation, so-so weapon mode. Mildly recommended. 2200 Yen ($18.30 at exchange rate for 5/24/01) Sharkion: Nifty hovercraft mode, fairly good robot mode, good transformation, okay weapon mode. Recommended. 2200 Yen Griffion: Somewhat floppy and kibbled jet mode, simple transformation, decent griffin mode, okay weapon mode. Mildly recommended. 2200 Yen Gallion: Kickin' pirate ship mode, good transformation, somewhat spindly but reasonably good dragonman mode, rather silly weapon mode. Recommended. 3980 Yen ($33.11) RANTS Takara has abandoned the nice, but expensive, practice of using molded plastic trays inside cardboard boxes. Instead, all the toys are twist-tied and rubber-banded down to a cardboard tray inside a windowless box. Oddly, the smaller ones have holes in the trays so you can try out the light-up gimmicks...but you have to open the box and pull out the tray first. I suppose it's a way to check for functionality without removing the toy from the tray. The three smaller toys are packaged in "fighter mode" and Gallion is in vehicle mode. Oh, and they all come with the LR-44 batteries needed for their electronic gimmicks. W-01: Jagion Vehicle Mode: Sportscar Fighter Mode: Jaguar-man Weapon Mode: Double cannon Element: Fire Fighter Mode: Stands 5" tall in red, very light grey, yellow and neon green. Poseability is equivalent to the low end of Deluxe Transformers, with serious limitations in the hips (swivel joints only) and right arm (elbow only spins, no bending or simulated bending). An odd bit of poseability is that the left wrist can bend. I suppose this is to let the hand come out a bit so it can hold one of the missiles as a melee weapon. The right arm is dominated by the big double missile launcher with sight/shield. The weapon can be held like a handcannon or rotated around so that the figure looks through the shield. The Webdiver insignia, a stylized winged sword, is on the gun. It's also on the figure's chest, which lights up with flickering red LED light when you push a button on the figure's back. An infrared (IR) diode on the head sends a signal at the same time, which causes the figure's stats to show up on the game screen (assuming I read the instructions correctly). Rather than try to run wires up the joints into the head, they took the clever path of lining the sides of the pieces with metal, so the joints themselves take the current. Needless to say, don't get this one wet! Transformation: You do have to do things in the right order to avoid bits getting in each others' way, but it's a very nice transformation for an otherwise fairly simple toy. Everything locks snugly into place, with no kibble left hanging out. There's even slots for storing the missiles as exhaust plumes, if you don't want to leave the launcher loaded. Vehicle Mode: 4.5" (11.5cm) long and 2.5" (6cm) wide, this is a pretty nice-looking sportscar. It's not a Jaguar brand car, although I find that it has the same hubcaps as the 2001 Jag. }-> The wheels are thin, but the tires are rubberized plastic and roll freely. By pushing a button atop the car, you can make the weapon spring out and uncover the triggers for a combat mode. This also reveals the button for activating the light gimmick, but the light-up panel is hidden inside the car in this mode. Weapon Mode: Basically the car mode with the gun deployed and the left arm swung to the side. Big white tabs on the back of the car lock onto Gradion's chest, and a block on the back of the car presses down on a button on Gradion's chest to tell the game which weapon has been selected. At least, that's my guess. There's no electrical connection between Jagion and Gradion, so it must be a Powermaster-like button pushing (or like the sound and light options on God Fire Convoy). This does mean that you don't really need the weapon toys to use the weapons in the game, just keep the right button pressed in (that may be harder than it sounds, tho). Overall: Worth $18 plus shipping and markup? Not really, unless you're really a felinoid fan. It's a nice toy, but not without some serious flaws. W-02: Sharkion Vehicle Mode: Hovercraft Fighter Mode: Sharkman Weapon Mode: Shoulder Cannons and Chest Armor Element: Water Fighter Mode: 5.5" (14cm) tall, this warrior has no head. Rather, his entire upper torso is a big shark head. Blue, black and silver/grey with neon green accents and clear red windows. The upper arms are very short, which makes arm posing a bit difficult, but the rest of the body is at the upper end of Deluxe TF poseability. The feet are a little dodgy, but many stable poses are possible. Sharkion has three accessories. One is a shield that can double as a skateboard, although his feet don't peg onto it, so be careful. Then he has two cyberjet-style guns. He can hold these in his tiny little hands, or they can plug into the shield. The missiles are molded to look like water blasts, fitting with his element. His flashing insignia is atop his head, and his IR beamer is on his abdomen. Transformation: Pretty tricky, especially getting the legs into just the right places. Almost everything locks into place, except for the ducted fans at the back of the hovercraft. The "skateboard" forms the wheels under the vehicle so it can move, but I don't care for the way they make the rear rise up. Vehicle Mode: 4.5" (11cm) long, this is a very nifty attack hovercraft. If you put the wheels on, it kinda wobbles as it rolls, which may or may not be intentional. The flashing insignia gimmick still works in this mode, and there's even a hole in the skateboard so that you can use the IR beamer through the bottom of the vehicle. The missile launchers lock into position on the ducted fans and fire easily in this mode. Weapon Mode: Basically just separate the back parts of the vehicle, snap the hovercraft onto Gradion's chest and position the fans/launchers over Gradion's shoulders. Looks pretty nifty in the pictures. Overall: A very nice little toy, almost worth the inflated price we have to pay for it. The best hovercraft transformer in a while, if not ever. W-03: Griffion Vehicle Mode: Advanced Tactical Fighter Fighter Mode: Griffin Weapon Mode: Shoulder Cannons and Chest Armor Element: Air Fighter Mode: Well, it's a griffin. 6" (15cm) long with a 7" (18cm) wingspan, he's light and dark blue, yellow, neon green and some smoke translucent accents. It's clear from the jointing of the wing weapons that it's meant to stand in a reared back position, looking almost like a gorilla griffin. It looks better in a more clearly quadrupedal position, though. The forelimbs have universal joint shoulders and hinge elbows, and that's it. The legs are very stubby and not very poseable. The wings can move up and down, as can the head. This is the least poseable of the three smallfry. Both the flashing insignia and the IR LED are on the chest. Transformation: Fold up the kibble and rotate the jetpiece on Griffion's back to cover everything. Unfortunately, the jetpiece doesn't really lock down, it just sits there and is easily knocked out of position. Vehicle Mode: Sorta like a YF-23 yet (like the Machine Wars Megatron), but with lots of kibble and a pair of overwing weapons. 6" (15cm) long, the light blue colored bits dominate the jet mode. The LED activation button is exposed by a hole in the jetpiece, so you can shine it down out of the bottom of the jet. Weapon Mode: Flip down the tail piece, rotate the exhausts to face up, then snap it to Gradion's chest and position the missile launchers. Overall: Well, it looks nice, but doesn't hold together well. Probably the weakest of the three small ones. W-04: Gallion Vehicle Mode: Pirate Ship Fighter Mode: Dragonman Weapon Mode: Unholy Mess, er, gun emplacement Element: Wood and Metal Vehicle Mode: 9" (23cm) long from dragon head prow to stern. 9.5" (24cm) tall to the dragon tail standard. The sail is 4.5" (11cm) square, with a skull and crossbones. There's little fold-down legs so the ship can stand up straight on a table. I have not checked to see if it's seaworthy, and given that it has electronics, I'm not checking, thanks. This boat rocks. Lots of galleon detailing on the hull, including 16 little broadside cannons that can move! The dragon head adds a nice bit of detail, and then there's the dragon tail that arches up from the stern of the boat and attaches to the top of the mast, a very cool effect. The sail can be angled to catch the wind, too. The only real problem with the look of the boat mode is that the decks are covered in fighter mode kibble. The dragon head is slightly poseable, but its light-up gimmick can't be activated in this mode. The ship can fire two torpedos from the waterline using a modified "marble launcher" type of mechanism. Everything pegs together pretty securely in this mode, with the exception of the stored sword, which doesn't seem to fit quite like it's meant to. Transformation: The entire bottom half of the hull comes off as a single piece to form a shield. Most of the outer hull above that turns into shoulderpads. The sail ends up as a cape, but it doesn't peg in very securely and flops out a lot. Fighter Mode: A spindly 10" (25cm) tall dragonman with a big bony scimitar and a huge torpedo-firing shield. Once you can get the joint in his tail to bend (it doesn't initially look like it's supposed to move), it stretches out nearly 9" (23cm) behind it. The look takes the "pirate dragon" thing to the hilt. The dragon has an eyepatch, and so does the big skull on his chest. Multiple LEDs light up when you press the button on his back. His non-patched dragon eye flashes, a cannon in Gallion's mouth flashes, and the eyepatch on his chest flashes. The non-patched eye of the skull on his chest is the IR beamer. Gallion has full Ultra TF poseability, with all the joints and swivels you could hope for in the arms and legs, individually poseable claws, swiveling waist, etc. And if you rotate his feet a little and are very careful, he can use his boat/shield as a surfboard. Weapon Mode: Snicker. Use the sail as a chest shield, take off the chest skull and put it on Gradion to tell it what weapon to use. A targeting screen pops up out of the skull for Gradion to look through. The effect looks like dragon roadkill stretched out over a weapon platform. Overall: While the weapon mode is iffy, the rest of the toy is very cool. Only the price point keeps me from wholeheartedly recommending it. Dave Van Domelen, Arrrrrrrrr....