Dave's Robots In Disguise Rant: Flipchanger sets: Skid-Z/Wind Sheer Tow-Line/Skyfire Appended to the end of this rant is the old Machine Wars rant covering the first incarnations of these multiply-reused molds. I won't go into a lot of physical detail on the Flipchangers, since I already covered that with the MW versions. }-> And yes, I do have Bruticus, but that'll get a separate rant, as will the new Spychangers. CAPSULES: Skid-Z/Wind Sheer: Good late-G2 molds, but the recolors are a bit garish for my taste. Especially considering the lack of paint on Wind Sheer's face (and Wind Sheer joins Vice Grip in the club of homonym victims). Still, if you can't find the originals, these are worth getting. Recommended (this is a bit higher than the average recommendation for the originals, but I've found more charm in the molds since 1995). $9.99 at Target. Tow-Line/Skyfire: Notable for having the first official Skyfire toy. The molds are good, the recurring problem in the Skyfire mold has finally been fixed, and Skyfire's colors are good. Tow-Line, as many have remarked, looks like the illegitimate child of the Mystery Machine, and the paint gets in the way of some of his poseability. Recommended (same notes). $9.99 at Target. Side snide remark: the transformation difficulty of these guys is listed as Advanced. Advanced, my skidplate. These were among the first auto-transforming toys. The toys do come with instruction sheets, but they're not really that necessary, given the auto-transforming nature of these guys. RANTS: AUTOBOT: Skid-Z Original Mold: Mirage/Prowl Car Robots Name: Indy Heat Altmode: Indy racer Function: High-Speed Scout Motto: "Catch me if you can, Decepticons!" Skid-Z is an excellent scout, using his high-speed capability to get into and out of enemy territory before anyone even knows he's there. And in the rare event that he is spotted, his zero-start acceleration power and creative moves soon leave the bad guys in the dust. He loves speed competitions - watching them but especially racing in them! STR 6 INT 7 SPD 9 END 5 RNK 6 COUR 7 FRB 7 SPD 7 Avg 6.75 It's worth noting that I didn't have to edit the note at all, they seem to have gotten a better set of writers. Also, fractional techspecs are no more, they're back to integer-value bars. Firepower continues to be replaced by Fireblast. The techspecs are trilingual, and it's nice to have them, considering that they're fitting two toys on one card. The art appears to be new for this product, too. See below for physical stuff. Skid-Z is mainly white and dark purple, with metallic blue and silver accents. A chrome magenta stripe marks his forehead, and he has orange glowing eyes. The overall appearance is a bit hard on the eyes, but it still looks better than the original milky color schemes. The Autobot symbol is in metal-flake dark maroon/purple, an interesting departure from normal caused by the large number of paint masks already on the toy, I suppose. Mold Changes: None I can see. The plastic feels a little flimsier than I remember from Machine Wars, but it doesn't cause any problems. Favorite Version: Skid-Z, but it's a close one. I'm not in love with any of them. DECEPTICON: Wind Sheer Original Mold: Megatron/Megaplex BWII Name: Thrust Altmode: F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter Function: Decepticon Jet Motto: "I'll show you some real flying!" Wind Sheer is fast and flashy as he slices the sky at supersonic speed, doing acrobatic maneuvers when a simple flight would do. He'll take risks just to show off his skill and not care who gets into trouble with him. He loves to talk about how great he is, and only his speed and skill keep the other Decepticons from grounding him - permanently. STR 7 INT 6 SPD 9 END 8 RNK 7 COUR 7 FRB 7 SKL 8 Avg 7.375 Someone let Hasbro's naming people loose with a thesaurus again, I think. Wind shear is a physical phenomenon. "Sheer" can mean to swerve sharply, but it is most commonly used to describe a thin and silky fabric. I can just see the other Decepticons saying, "Nice silk stockings, Wind Sheer!" Anyway, Wind Sheer is mainly black and purple, with orange cockpit and glowing eyes, and dayglo yellow accents. His face is solid black, which I found to be a bad move. And, overall, he looks like he got too close to a neon sign factory explosion. The Decepticon symbols are painted on his wings in purple and white. Mold Changes: None that I could find. However, again, the plastic feels a bit cheaper. And the extensive use of black plastic kinda sucks away details. Favorite Version: Thrust, hands down. AUTOBOT: Tow-Line Original Mold: Hoist/Hubcap Car Robots Name: Wrecker Hook Altmode: Tow truck Function: Autobot Tow Truck Motto: "Follow the rules." Tow-Line learned the rules of the road while pretending to be an ordinary tow truck, before Megatron's invasion. He believes in following the rules to maintain a tight force and still uses traffic codes to keep things in order. His strong tow hook can lift and transport anything large or small. He can also knock down opponents with a mysterious, unseen force. STR 8 INT 6 SPD 5 END 8 RNK 6 COUR 7 FRB 7 SKL 7 Avg 6.875 Maybe I *should* have edited this note. Anyway, Tow-Line is mainly yellowish green and teal, with silver, purple and transparent orange bits, and red Autobot symbol and some red lettering on the side of his vehicle mode. The Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo should be paying child support. There's a bit of real chrome silver on the grille, although I'm hearing it flakes off quite easily. Despite the harshness on the eyes, the paint job DOES pick out a lot more details than on Hoist or Hubcap, and it's all painted, no stickers. Note: this mold looks better if you detach the gun from the grille and put the grille back on the chest. Mold Changes: None, aside from changing the copyright date from 1995 to 2000 (I assume the others have this, but have not checked). The teal paint on the forearms makes the elbow joints very sticky, and the forearms are more likely to pop off than to turn in some directions. Favorite version: Hard to say. It's obvious a lot more thought went into the color scheme of Tow-Line, but it's equally obvious that this thought followed the consumption of a number of Schedule 1 substances. Still, it does have the glowing eyes feature restored, and more detail than the other two, so I'll give the nod to Tow-Line. DECEPTICON: Skyfire Original Mold: Skywarp/Thundercracker BWII name: Dirge Altmode: Dassault Rafale advanced fighter jet Function: Decepticon Jet Motto: "As you command." You can always count on Skyfire to get the job done. He is totally dedicated to Megatron's evil plans, and is as unswerving in his loyalty to the Decepticons as he is straight and true in his jet flights. Skyfire's strength and determination make him look like one big, mean flying machine when he's coming in to strafe Autobots into crumbled bits of sheet metal. STR 7 INT 6 SPD 9 END 8 RNK 7 COUR 7 FRB 7 SKL 7 Avg 7.25 Okay, someone was hitting the irony button pretty hard on this guy, considering that the Skyfire of the cartoons was first introduced as an ambivalent and uncertain Decepticon who switched sides almost as soon as he knew there WAS another side. Anyway, the color scheme is gray and purple with black striping, orange cockpit/glowing eyes and a couple little yellow bits on his face. Decepticon symbols painted in purple and white on his wings. This is the only new color scheme I am unreservedly in favor of. Mold changes: They fixed him! All previous molds have had a problem with a central shaft in his torso being a little too long, so the nose of the jet couldn't stay folded down all the way. But Skyfire stays together perfectly, they finally fixed the mold. That, or the different plastic they used naturally shrank a little. Favorite version: Skyfire, hands down. Not only does the color scheme rival Dirge's, but the mold's finally been fixed. And now, the classics.... Dave's Machine Wars Rant: Hubcap/Hoist Mirage/Prowl Skywarp/Thundercracker Megatron/Megaplex Thanks to Jameel for getting me most of these (although, true to Murphy's Law, I found them all in a store the same day the box from Jameel arrived). For those who don't already know, there are four molds with two color schemes (and names) each, so I'll be doing them a pair at a time. CAPSULES: All $4.99 (auto-clearanced down from $6.99) at Kay Bee Hubcap/Hoist: Autotransforming mechanism a bit sluggish, chest almost obscures face, weapon a bit on the dorky side. However, the transformation scheme itself is pretty neat. Mildly recommended. Mirage/Prowl: Or Mirage in his summer and winter wardrobes. Vehicle bits get in the way of poseability in some places, but transformation is clever and all the parts fit together well (and stably) in vehicle mode. Combat shotguns nice, too. Recommended. Skywarp/Thundercracker: Robot mode looks kinda bad from the side, jet canards get in the way of the arms. Pretty straightforward transformation, good color schemes (if not correct for the characters). Mildly recommended. Megatron/Megaplex: Kinda loose in jet mode, but very nice in robot mode. Face looks like Megatron's. However, the color scheme on Megatron himself is mildly disturbing...Megaplex looks far more like a proper Megatron. Megaplex is recommended, Megatron is mildly recommended. GENERAL NOTES These four molds are leftover from the end of G2, and were going to follow the Cyberjets before Hasbro shifted gears and went to Beast Wars. With the exception of Hoist/Hubcap, all the package art is recycled from various sources. They all have Cyberjet-level poseability in theory, although some of them have aspects which restrict this. And the heads are uniformly less poseable (and larger). All the heads were designed for the glowing eyes gimmick, but like most Beast Wars toys have had the clear plastic replaced by opaque. RANTS AUTOBOT: Hoist Function: Maintenance Vehicle mode: Wrecker Secret Weapon Location: Grille of wrecker mode Quote: "Proper maintenance prevents poor performance." Hoist believes every Autobot should operate at peak efficiency levels at all times, which means he's a stickler for proper maintenance of both internal micro-circuitry and external structural integrity. He's always prepared to tow an injured Autobot in for repairs. And if fired upon in the line of duty, he'll quickly convert to robot mode and battle back with a vengeance! STR 8 INT 7 SPD 4 END 8 RNK 3 COUR 9 FRP 6 SKL 7 Avg 6.5 [No snarky comments] AUTOBOT: Hubcap Function: Damage Control Vehicle mode: Wrecker Secret Weapon Location: Grille of wrecker mode Quote: "You smash 'em, I'll trash 'em!" After a fellow Autobot defeats a Decepticon in battle, Hubcap races in to haul the enemy away. He takes the debris back to Autobot headquarters where he salvages what he can from any surviving circuitry or undamaged armor. The rest of the parts he either recycles for scrap, or uses for his favorite hobby, target practice! STR 4 INT 8 SPD 8 END 7 RNK 5 COUR 8 FRP 5 SKL 4 Avg 6.125 [Snarky notes: "Damage Control?" More like scavenger. And a rather morbid one, at that, playing with corpses. I'm sure the Decepticons LOVE this guy.] Colors: Hoist is black with some reddish brown and grey, and yellow stickers in a few places. Overall, a very somber look. Hubcap is bright yellow where Hoist is black and black where Hoist is brown. My first impression was "It's the Magic Schoolbus-bot!" A little garish, but not unacceptable. Vehicle Mode: Only four wheels, which looks kinda odd on this vehicle, six would work better (although they might not all fit right). Wheels roll well enough for hard plastic, not too many robot bits hanging out. Pretty stable, thanks to pegs holding parts together, and the lower number of ball joints. Transformation: Pull up the hook and in theory it all blossoms out. In practice, the shoulder pieces don't quite make it around by the time everything else is in place, so you have to manually finish the transformation. The trick is in not touching the arms or side panels of the back of the truck while transforming, or you prevent them from coming out. Also, the feet are joined by pegs, you can pull them apart. Robot Mode: Less ball joints than the standard Cyberjet model, it has them at the elbows and hips, but uses hinges for the knees and a combination of hinges and swivels for the shoulders. This would be much cooler than it actually is if it weren't for the side panels/shoulder pieces. They get in the way of the legs, and since they don't secure to the sides with pegs, they tend to swing out when you move the arms. Gimmicks: Autotransform and hidden weapon. The weapon has Armordillo Syndrome, in that it's a gun with a big chunk of non-gun hanging off the back. In this case, the radiator grille of the truck. Overall: For the novelty, it's certainly worth getting one. But not both. I'd suggest Hoist. AUTOBOT: Mirage Function: Counter Intelligence Vehicle mode: Formula-1 Racer Secret Weapon Location: Pieces hidden in lower legs. Quote: "Like a ninja in the night, I strike swiftly and unseen." Mirage would rather be out hunting turbofoxes than battling for the Autobots, but he's an effective fighter and valuable intelligence gatherer -- that's why Optimus Prime keeps him around. Electro-disruptor alters physical appearance for up to 6 minutes. Invisibility within these short periods earned him his name. Remains unsure of Autobot cause, and can't be fully trusted. STR 6 INT 9 SPD 9 END 5 RNK 7 COUR 5 FRP 6 SKL 10 Avg 8.125 [Snarky comments: oh, gag, that has to be one of the worst quotes I've seen in a long time. And more skill than Soundwave? I don't THINK so.] AUTOBOT: Prowl Function: Security Vehicle mode: Formula-1 Racer Hidden Weapon Location: Pieces hidden inside lower legs Quote: "Logic is the ultimate weapon." Chief of Security for Autobot forces. Calculating, quiet and competent. Thought processors intensely logical. Enhanced racing design conceals sophisticated micro-circuitry capable of processing 30,000 bytes of information per millisecond. Loyalty and patience perhaps greatest assets. STR 6 INT 8 SPD 10 END 7 RNK 7 COUR 9 FRP 6 SKL 6 Avg 7.375 [Snarky comments: 30 Meg per second processing. Wow. Advanced. Sigh. Techspec guys should not use numbers they don't understand.] Package Art: Retouched from Laser Rod Jolt. Colors: Mirage is very close to the real deal. A darkish blue-green and white, with black wheels. Prowl is a weird milky white with black accents and a pea green head (same color as most of Thundercracker's body). Looks okay, though. Both have their names on stickers on their spoilers in funky fonts. Mirage has a number 7 sticker, and Prowl an 8-ball sticker on his nose end. Vehicle Mode: A good solid Formula-1 design. A bit of a lowrider, but F-1s are that way. All robot parts hidden from view from side or above, and from the bottom look like just more car underside stuff. Very stable. Transformation: One-step autotransform again, but with a few clever bits. The elbows are set up to hide the joints when the arms are straight, so you almost have to bend the arms before it's obvious they have elbows. And the spoiler springs up and hits the driver's seat, triggering little tabs which push the arms out to the side to clear the front wheels. And, like Hubcap/Hoist, the feet are joined by pegs. Robot Mode: Wheels and spoiler get in the way of poseability, despite heavy use of ball joints. Only the knees are hinges. Oversized shoulders also don't help in the poseability department. Gimmicks: Autotransform and hidden weapon. Weapon is a fairly nifty two-piecer, with the part with the handle useable on its own as a sawed off shotgun or with the barrel extension for a mighty rifle. Overall: Okay robot, one of the best I've seen for a F-1 design. Very good vehicle mode. Definitely get Mirage, maybe hold off on Prowl. DECEPTICON: Skywarp (side note: mine came without his gun, bummer) Function: Warrior Vehicle mode: Dassault Rafale advanced fighter jet Secret Weapon Location: Pieces hidden in legs Quote: "Strike when their backs are turned!" Considered the sneakiest Decepticon to ever fly in the sky. Pulls practical jokes on fellow fighter planes. Low intelligence makes him prone to accidents and occasional mid-air collisions. Instant conversion capabilities allow for immediate battle-ready status. STR 5 INT 2 SPD 7 END 7 RNK 3 COUR 7 FRP 6 SKL 4 Avg 5.125 [Snarky note: Dumber than a sack full of hammers, and stripped of his teleportation ability, probably because he's now a danger to himself and others. Hard to be sneaky when you're having trouble remembering your name. A rival for Space Case's position as Biggest Loser In The Decepticons.] DECEPTICON: Thundercracker Function: Rebel Warrior Vehicle mode: Dassault Rafale advanced fighter jet Secret Weapon Location: Pieces hidden in lower legs Quote: "The best weapon is terror!" Believes in the Decepticon cause, but remains rebellious among his own ranks. Contemptuous and cruel to anything that can't fly. Produces 200-mile radius sonic boom at excessive flight speeds. Uses terror tactics to strike fear in enemies, and panic among the innocent. STR 6 INT 4 SPD 7 END 7 RNK 4 COUR 8 FRP 6 SKL 4 Avg 5.75 [Snarky comments: "You, you're the designated rebel warrior. Now go and rebel." Sigh. A loyal rebel, just what we need.] Colors: Skywarp is mainly white with black upper limps and innards, plus red accents on his wings (and a white Decepticon symbol, woo). Not Skywarp, but not bad. Except for the bright yellow head. Someone needs to find the guy who decided to randomize the head colors from out of the available hues and slap him around. Thundercracker is pea green where Skywarp is white and reddish brown where Skywarp is black, and has a black head. He also has a nifty brown and white camo pattern on his wings, and the USAF insignia (odd, since the Rafael is a purely Euro design). Both have silvery grey eyeslits and cockpits. Vehicle Mode: Pretty good from the top, a huge amount of undercarriage junk, though. Limbs flop around a bit, they aren't really secured although there's slots to guide them into position (the heel spurs fit loosely into a slot on the rear fuselage). Transformation: Bend down the nose and it autotransforms. Very little else to do. The tail section moves up when this happens, which is kinda cool. It doesn't seem to quite transform all the way, though, and the nose ends up pointing out some. Gerwalk Mode: Very nice. Heel spurs make the reversed feet much more stable than on most Cyberjets. Just pull down the legs and arms without activating the autotransform. Robot Mode: Pretty nifty once you get past the partial transformation problem. The canards on the cockpit section get in the way of the arms, and make for perfect pivot points to pop the arms out at the shoulder (as I repeatedly found out). Head doesn't really move at all, sadly. All joints are ball and socket. Gimmicks: Autotransform and hidden weapon. Like most of the others, it's a pistol with a barrel extension piece. The sight of the pistol can also fit into a slot on the robot's forearm, for arm-mounted weaponry. The pistol also has a forward grip, and if you're really careful you can get a two-handed grip going. Overall: Both pretty neat toys with techspecs kinda insulting to the original characters, and a transformation flaw. Neither one is obviously superior to the other, though. DECEPTICON: Megaplex Function: Warrior/Clone Vehicle mode: F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter Secret Weapon Location: Pieces hidden in lower legs Quote: "The skies belong to me!" Megaplex was built to function as a clone for Megatron, a strategy designed to confuse enemy Autobots who seek to shoot down the elusive Decepticon leader. But Megaplex is more than just a decoy, he is equipped with powerful attack weapons that make him a formidable warrior in any air battle. And in robot mode, he only gets tougher! STR 5 INT 5 SPD 8 END 7 RNK 6 COUR 8 FRP 7 SKL 6 Avg 6.75 [Snarky comments: Okay, the whole "clone for Megatron" thing has been and will be discussed ad nauseum, I'll only add that the designers may have taken inspiration from Hitler's double. And as for the quote, methinks Megatron should watch his back...'Plex doesn't seem to think of himself as a subordinate....] DECEPTICON: Megatron Function: Commander Vehicle mode: F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter Secret Weapon Location: Pieces hidden in lower legs Quote: "Prepare for oblivion!" Megatron once again "takes to the skies in disguise" in his latest aerial- attack configuration. Body armor [is] composed of stealth deflector shields that allow for invisible attacks on Autobot enemies. Twin turbo thrusters rocket him to speeds of up to 600mph in less than 17 seconds. In robot or vehicle mode, this evil commander is one of the worst threats in the universe. STR 10 INT 10 SPD 9 END 10 RNK 10 COUR 10 FRP 9 SKL 10 Avg 9.75 [Snarky notes: His quote is taken from the very limited release Megatron ATB (Dreadwing G2 recolor), and his note implies that form is in "continuity." I'd hope 600mph isn't his top speed, since that would mean he could be outflown by the real F-22. BTW, that acceleration figure given is about 1.6 times the acceleration of gravity, impressive but not unsurvivable for a human pilot.] Colors: Megaplex is primarily silvery-grey with blue-green upper limbs and innards, and dark blue buckethead (silvery-grey face). Basically, take the picture of him from the package and insert silvery-grey where the picture shows dark blue. He has black parallel stripes on his wings, which is okay. Megatron, however, is kinda ugly. He's a sort of slightly greyish light blue where Plex is silvery-grey (fading to white on his wings/tail), with that weird milky white plastic for upper limbs and innards. His head is solid color with grey eyes, the head being the same weird blue as his wings. Frankly, his color scheme is a serious strike against him. Vehicle Mode: Nice solid F-22 with a middling amount of undercarriage junk. The limbs stay put only due to tight joints, the guide slots are only guides, not pegs. Transformation: Simple pull down the nose and it transforms, with the tail section moving up as this happens. Gerwalk Mode: Quite nice, especially with the elbow spurs (see below) evoking the classic Valkyrie (Jetfire) look. Just pull down the limbs without triggering the autotransform, and twist the lower legs around to reverse the direction the knees bend. Robot Mode: Very nice. Big spurs on the elbows suggest devastating elbow smash attacks in hand to hand. Nothing to really get in the way of poseability, and the head even moves fairly well. While the nose doesn't come down parallel to the wings, it's nowhere near as bad as on Skywarp/TC, and just leaning the robot forward a bit takes care of this (you almost have to to keep it standing anyway). Gimmicks: Autotransform and hidden weapon. Weapon is another pistol with barrel extension, and the pistol part also has a secondary semi-grip farther forward. And since there's nothing to get in the way on this mold, a variety of two-handed weapon grips are possible (and the fact the head can move to look in the direction the gun points makes the two-handed poses even better). Overall: Very nice toy, but if you want two, I'd almost suggest two Megaplexi over one of each, since Megatron really doesn't look so good. But if you only get one of the small Machine Wars toys, it should be Megaplex.