Dave's Throwbot Rant:

     Torch
     Scuba
     Ski
     Turbo

     In the wake of the Great Blizzard of 99, I decided to run out and get a
few things I hadn't picked up Friday, and figured I'd stop in at Target to
look for clearance stuff.  To my delight, the Throwbots were on the shelf!
To my annoyance, they weren't in the computer system yet, and they didn't
even know what price the toys were supposed to be.  I managed to convince the
stockroom person to let me buy them for $5.99 each, but I don't know if
that's the true price.  There was no Amazon on the shelf, so I didn't try to
get the second tetrad.

CAPSULES

     Torch: Nice poseability and looks, iffy transformation.  Recommended.
     Scuba: Good poseability and looks, not too bad a transformation.
Strongly recommended.
     Ski: Same as with Scuba.  Strongly recommended.
     Turbo: Looks nice, but it's basically just a car with a throwing arm.
Only real reason to get it is to be able to build the Super Throwbot.  Mildly
recommended.
     Super Throwbot 1: Haven't put it together yet, but from the poster
included, it looks pretty poseable (hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows,
maybe head and waist).  At least $24 to put together, but I'd say it's worth
it if you're interested in robot toys.

RANTS

     First, some overall line comments.
     Each toy comes packaged in a 7"x4"x3" (18cm x 11cm x 8cm) box, and all
the plastic parts can be found inside the plastic carrying case, with the
instructions, poster and catalog outside the case.  Like all smaller Lego
boxes, it's not really designed to be opened and then closed again, you'll
have to slice it open carefully if you want to close it again.  The front and
sides of the box are specific to each toy (including telling you which sets
you need to get to make each Super Throwbot), with the back panel being the
same for all of them, showing the toys in the line.
     The carrying case is a two-piece clamshell affair of plastic which snaps
closed, made of reasonably sturdy plastic.  Inside are slots for storing
discs (you can order extra discs by phone) and space to keep the transformed
Throwbot.  In some cases, "transforming" just means folding up to fit in the
box.  The cases are molded in the two main colors of the Throwbot inside, and
in the rough shape of a transport ship of some kind.
     Each Throwbot comes with two discs out of a possible assortment of 48.
One disc is that Throwbot's "main" disc (showing its symbol, such as a
skyline for Turbo or an odd five-pointed snowflake for Ski) and the other is
a random disc from another Throwbot.  There are six discs for each Throwbot
(and six slots in the carrying case): the symbol disc, one where the Throwbot
is shown throwing, one showing it traveling in the case, one showing it using
its abilities in a noncombat situation, one showing it in a fight with some
monster, and one showing a "prize" of some sort (jewel, crystal, etc) for
that Throwbot.  The 24 discs associated with a Super Throwbot team are shown
on the back of the poster that comes with the toys.  The discs themselves are
about an inch and a half (4cm) in diameter and kinda frisbee-like.  Maximum
throwing range from same height to same height is about a meter.  I don't
know if I just got "lucky" or if the distribution isn't really random, but I
got all four "throwing picture" discs.  You might have to call the number to
get any of the other four designs.
     The Throwbots all share a common core construction, at least the four I
have.  A large gear piece is attached to the cockpit/head piece, and then
another few pieces snap around this with a worm gear installed.  This lets
you turn a shaft and move the head and shoulders up and down (or raise the
center of Turbo).  Most of them make extensive use of ball and socket joints,
the balls being just under a centimeter across and very robust.  The throwing
arms rely on springiness of the arm rather than on any mechanical gear action
for throwing, so it's possible these pieces will wear out with repeated use.
     For the most part, there are not any "standard" Lego pieces (Torch's
flames being a notable exception), nor many places to attach standard
pieces.  If you want to customize these, you'll need Technic pieces to do
it.  
     The instruction booklets are divided into four parts.  The first part
shows how to construct the toy.  The second is a page explaining the disc-
throwing game, while the third shows how to transform the toy and fit it into
the case.  Flipping the book over gives instructions on assembling part of
the Super Throwbot.  The parts are all mixed together, so you can't simply
make the Torch part on its own, for instance.  And you need all four
instruction booklets to assemble the Super Throwbot.

     [CORRECTION: You only need one instruction book to make the Super
Throwbot, they just figure most of it is self-evident and don't give specific
instructions.]

     A side note on leftovers: like most Lego toys, these come with a few
extras of the small easily-lost pieces.  Each has an extra piece for either
end of the shaft that passes through the worm gear, and Turbo has an extra
shaft.  You can put all the extra little bits on the shaft, storing the
spares from all four toys neatly.

TORCH

     Standing 4" (10cm) tall with a cockpit/face down between the hips, Torch
reminds me strongly of a Clan-style Battletech Mech.  His right arm is the
throwing arm, and it's somewhat restricted in movement by the contruction of
his hips.  The left arm has an elbow as well as shoulder, and mounts a twin
flamethrower using the fire pieces seen in regular sets.  The color scheme is
almost entirely red and black, and the cockpit has the image of some kind of
face on it.  
     His shoulder joints are designed to allow the arms to lock into one of
three cardinal directions, a feature included mostly for the benefit of the
launcher arm.  His left forearm is actually a shoulder piece, but the way the
upper arm is designed prevents the forearm from locking into one of the three
positions.
     The legs have very long thighs and short shins, being more like kneeless
legs with ankle joints.  However, joints at both ends are ball joints, so
there's a great range of poseability possible, and good stability for
stanfing up.
     Transformation basically involves using the worm gear to bend the upper
body back so that it's in line with the cockpit, then folding the limbs up
and out of the way.  The one sticking point is the throwing arm, which really
can't get into a good position.  The end result of transformation is a sort
of crawler vehicle with a big central wheel, which fits snugly into the
carrying case.

SCUBA

     The head is at the very top of this 4" (10cm) tall blue and light blue
robot (with yellow accents).  The hips are closer together, improving the
range of motion of the throwing arm, but otherwise it's got the same pose
characteristics as Torch (although it's more top-heavy, and harder to
balance).  The cockpit cover has another robotic face on it.
     The core gear is of the smaller type on this toy, leading to a squatter
torso than found on Torch or Ski.  The worm gear is hooked up to a propellor
in the back, so if you turn the propellor the robot either looks up or looks
down, within limits (the squatter torso means that the shoulders and hips get
in each others' way when you try to raise the head too high).  The scuba gear
of the robot is made from two standard Lego pieces and a bit of tubing which
doesn't get in the way of anything, fortunately.  The left arm holds a
speargun, which has that stupid angled handle on it that keeps any Lego toy
from holding it properly.  The figure can be put into a good swimming
position as shown on the back of the box.
     Transformation is little more than having the robot sit down with its
feet together, in a "Pretenders" style "it's a submarine because we say so"
vehicle mode, although the propellor at the back does help with the illusion.
It's a little wide for the case if you put the left arm out to the side where
it looks good, unfortunately.

SKI

     Despite being in a hunched over skiiing position, Ski is a little taller
than the other two humanoids, at 4.5" (11cm) to the top of his gear.  Ski is
also a southpaw, throwing with his left arm rather than his right (which
holds a skipole).  Ski is mostly white with blue and light blue pieces and a
black visor and pole.  It only has a partial cockpit cover, forming a sort of
wraparound shades effect.
     His legs are arranged differently than Torch's or Scuba's, with the main
leg part being reversed so that it appears to be a long shin, with short
unmovable hips tight to the body.  The feet are fixed to (but can be removed
from without ceasing to support the toy) a pair of pontoon-ish skis.  Between
the length of the skis and the ball joints throughout the legs, a lot of
stable poses are possible, especially when you add in that the worm gear lets
him hunch over more or straighten up.  The right arm holds a skipole, but
seems to be unable to hold it rightside-up, instead holding it by the tip.
     Transformation uses the worm gear to point the cockpit straight up, then
the legs are manipulated into being underside skids.  It's the most complex
transformation of the four I have, and almost rates up with the simpler
Transformers.  Well, actually, if you follow the instructions correctly, you
don't end up with a decent vehicle mode...you have to rotate the skis so that
they're on the underside, which gives a nice skicraft sort of vehicle.
There's a few other things you can fiddle with to improve the looks of the
vehicle mode, like having the arms point backwards instead of forwards.

TURBO

     It's a black and aqua car, with yellow accents.  No limbs at all, save
for the throwing arm.  Manipulating the worm gear makes the center rise up,
and thus changes the firing angle for the throwing arm.  It has an extra two
"pontoon" pieces that seem to be tacked on just to have a place to keep them,
I strongly suspect that Turbo was the dumping ground for any pieces they
needed for the Super Throwbot but couldn't fit into a robotic design (and
Granite may have the same problem).

     [LATER NOTE: You actually need very little of Turbo for the combined
form, and those extra pontoon pieces don't enter into it at all.]

     It has a blank cockpit cover and rolls pretty well for something with
rubber tires and no through-axels.  The throwing arm is limited to one locked
position, period, and is really just tacked onto the car design.
     "Transformation" is just un-deploying the throwing arm and then
flattening the car out enough to fit in the box.  When totally flat, it can't
even roll, because it has underbelly stuff that hits the floor.  At launch
angles of more than about thirty degrees, it also can't roll because the
front struts hit the floor before the front wheels.  Oh, and fully
straightened, the car is a little more than 4" (11cm) long.

     OVERALL: If you just want to get one to try them out, I'd recommend
Scuba or Ski, but Torch is pretty good too.  And while Turbo's a bit weak,
it's worth dropping the extra six bucks or so to be able to put together the
Super Throwbot (which, for me, is a project for a later time).

     Dave Van Domelen, kinda wishes the carrying cases snapped together so
they could be stacked more stably....