Dave's Lego Rant:

     Super Throwbot 1 (Scuba, Turbo, Torch, Ski)

     I've already reviewed the components, this is a review of the combined
form, which costs $24 to get all the parts for (4 Throwbots at $5.99 each).

CAPSULE
     
     Super Throwbot 1: Surprisingly poseable, rather challenging to
construct, but instructions could be a little better.  Worth $24 on its own?
Probably not.  But when you add in the fact it also makes 4 separate
Throwbots, definitely worth getting.

RANT

     First, a rundown of the parts left in the box when I finished:
     Turbo - Almost all of the big pieces are left, just the cockpit, gearbox
and arm are used of the big parts.  However, the "spare" 6-length rod which
comes with Turbo is actually needed to make the Super Throwbot...so it's not
really "spare."
     Ski - Also lots of leftovers, but not quite as bad as Turbo.
     Torch - Very little left, mainly the throwing arm.
     Scuba - Almost bare, just a few joints left, and you could probably
find a place on the Super Throwbot for the propellor and piping.

     The instructions focus mainly on how to make the gear-filled torso and
feet.  The arms were crystal clear without instructions, but the legs took a
little puzzling, as did the head.  I think they could have spared a page or
two for these parts, or at least shown another angle of the final product.  
However, the biggest challenge in assembly was finding all the fiddly bits I
needed, since pretty much all of the smaller connectors are used, and I
didn't have a large table to spread everything out on.  (As a side note,
disassembling the individual Throwbots took some effort due to the firmness
with which the rods stay in.)  
     As a final instructions note, I disagree with the placement of the
shoulders, which requires the arms to always be above the head when not
locked into the shoulder.  I just turned the shoulders upside down.

     This Super Throwbot is quite nice when finished.  It stands 8" (20cm)
tall, just shy of most of the Transformers merge groups and larger toys.  The
arms, being throwing arms, aren't very poseable.  However, there's enough
spare parts in Ski and Turbo to make a sort of clawed arm with an elbow, or
with just Ski parts make a rifle arm (skipole as gunbarrel, you can also add
one of Turbo's tires as a magazine under the barrel).
     Custom arms aside, this is a pretty articulated toy, especially for
being both Lego and a combiner bot.  The legs have a dozen ball joints
between them, and while the actual range of motion is pretty restricted, they
stay VERY firmly in whatever pose you place them in.  The toes can be pointed
by using the worm gear mechanism, although the toy can't stand on its own if
the toes are pointed more than a little...it's mostly for flying poses, I
suppose.  The two big gears in the torso allow the Throwbot to bend over at
the waist (maybe 30-45 degrees in each direction before the rods bump
together), as well as tilting the head and shoulder assembly up or down.  No
torso twisting, but you can get a lot out of the hips and knees.  And, of
course, the over the shoulder flamethrowers are mounted on ball joint
assemblies and can point in pretty much any direction.  If you really want
poseable arms, you can sacrifice one of the thrower mounts for the arm joint.
In fact, you can just replace one of the arms with a thrower mount,
reproducing Torch's weapon arm.
     Damn, I can't stop modifying this baby.  Fun stuff.  }->

     Dave Van Domelen, hears the other Super Throwbot isn't so hot.