Dave's Recolored Transformers Rant Autobot 3-pack Mirage GT Nightcruz Scavenger Cycle 2-pack Sideways Axer Well, while waiting for the showing of Attack of the Clones I had tickets for, I hit a few stores and found the two new Mega recolor packs. Didn't manage to find Storm Jet and make it a recolor hat trick, sadly. CAPSULES Autobot 3-pack: Three good Vehicon molds, one good recolor, one okay recolor, one so-so recolor. If you don't have these molds already, it's very good value for the money. Recommended. $14.99 at TRU Cycle 2-pack: Well, back when I reviewed the original Laser Cycles, I commented that they'd be worth the money for $8 each. There's been 8 years of inflation since then, and you get both for $15, so they're worth getting. Serious poseability problems, but decent gimmick and very good vehicle modes. Recommended. $14.96 at Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart exclusive) RANTS Autobot 3-pack: No techspecs, these are twist-tied to an interior cardboard structure just like the Predacon 3-pack, in vehicle modes. Mirage GT is mistransformed in the box, but given that this appearance is repeated on the box pictures, this may be an intentional change in "official" vehicle mode to distinguise the toy from its previous colors. One big single-sided sheet has instructions for all three toys. These reviews will only cover differences with the originals, see my Beast Machines page (http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BMac) for reviews of the original versions. AUTOBOT: Mirage GT Original Mold: Vehicon Mirage GT is held on with two twist-ties and four sets of rubber bands. There's a joke I'd probably make here, except I know little kids read my reviews. }-> The new color scheme is yellow and black with some red accents, no doubt inspired by the GoBot Mirage (recolor of Double Clutch, the mold used for Spychanger Mirage). The missiles are smoky black transparent plastic. The original glowing eyes have been replaced with opaque red plastic, perhaps that piece and the sparks were on the same mold? Finally, there's an Autobot symbol on the nose of the car. Interestingly, while the instructions are just copied from the original and show the correct vehicle mode, the line art of the toy just before the instructions start shows the new face-first mode. The toy picture does show the correct robot mode, but I think whoever was in charge of assembly got the front and back mixed up, so the legs were reversed. You'll probably want to pop the lower legs off and swap 'em. The spark crystal on the bottom of the front end of the car has been replaced with a solid red piece of the same shape. However, it is still the same mold as the Vehicon spark...I broke the toy open (there were glued pegs in addition to the screws) and popped out the spark to be sure. It's just opaque so the detail can't be seen. AUTOBOT: Nightcruz Original Mold: Vehicon Spystreak Another one with two twist-ties and four rubber bands. The main colors are black and gray, with sky blue accents, an opaque red spark crystal and neon yellow cockpit (and some transparent yellow bits). As with Spystreak, the panel lines are filled in using a paint wash. But the grey wash on black plastic looks SO much better than the original rust on olive. The sky blue bits I could do without, but this is definitely the best looking of the three recolors. The Autobot symbol is on the left wing. The glowing eyes trick is intact. Whoops, just found a fifth rubber band while transforming Nightcruz. The toy also looks good in robot mode, but I think Hasbro may be using a cheaper grade of paint on these, the head's light gray paint was already chipped before I even opened the box. The different type of plastic used in this remold hurts stability of the vehicle mode, unfortunately. The robot legs don't hold too well on as wings. AUTOBOT: Scavenger Original Mold: Vehicon Scavenger Two twist-ties and four rubber bands. The colors are blue, black and very light gray, with gold accents and gold chrome claws. The neck is transparent blue, and the spark crystal is opaque red. The new color scheme is okay, but looks kinda knockoff-y to me for some reason. FWIW, the paint masking is the same as the original's, just different colors. The glowing eyes are blue. However, if you don't have this mold yet, it's almost worth getting the three pack just for Scav. After I posted my original somewhat lukewarm review, I gained a new appreciation for Scavenger, as it seemed like a couple dozen new modes were found by fans. Like the ostrich mode my original BMac Scavenger is in right now. Overall: On average, the colors are as good as the originals (one better, one as good, one worse), and these are all pretty good molds. If you already have the originals, I wouldn't say this set is really worth getting unless you really like the colors. But if you didn't get the originals at $7 each, the three for $15 total is very much worth it. Cycle 2-pack: The two toys are twist-tied to the cardboard inside the Mega-size box, with a "Try me!" hole in the plastic so you can push Axer's chest and light up his weapon. However, unless you're an Aye-aye, it's not possible to reach Sideways's button. Axer is packaged in robot mode, Sideways in cycle mode. A large single-sided sheet has instructions for both, with transformations both directions shown, plus battery-replacement instructions. My original reviews of the two are at: http://www.canit.se/~optimus/tf/lascykes.txt However, I will be doing complete reviews of these, since my style has changed a bit since then. AUTOBOT: Sideways Original Mold: Road Rocket G2 Laser Cycle Function: Scout Mode: Yamaha-style street motorcycle Motto: "Efficiency through self-sufficiency." Sideways was recruited from Cybertron when Fortress Maximus was discovered on Earth. This conscientious, ninja-like warrior races to battle in his newly adopted sports bike disguise exceeding speeds of 250mph. His lightning-fast moves and energon buzzsaw allow him to get in and out of many a situation. Mysterious and silent, he reveals little about himself except a fierce drive to confront the enemy and quickly return to Cybertron. STR 4 INT 6 SPD 6 END 5 RNK 6 COUR 8 FRB 6 SKL 8 Avg 6.125 More references to Fort Max, which apparently is coming out in limited release in Brave Max packaging (mainly at online sources, apparently, but it's an official Hasbro re-release). The ninja bit is because of the figure's head, which looks like a ninja mask. He's awfully slow for a scout, ain't he? Four twist-ties and two plastic straps hold this on the card and together. Vehicle Mode: 4.5" (12cm) long, this is a sleek street bike based on the Yamaha style, but just different enough to not require permission. Oddly, one of the box flaps uses the term Yamaha (and Harley), so perhaps they went and got permission recently just to be safe. The front wheel cannot turn. There is a kickstand that's reasonably stable, but it keeps the rear wheel a bit high up. The mold plastic is mostly black with some silvery gray parts and colorless clear windshield and light-up weapon. There is extensive yellow paint on the vehicle, and while it looks very nice, I expect it will start chipping. In fact, the right robot fist has already chipped a bit. Interestingly, the right fist is visible through the headlight, something I never noticed with Road Rocket (but which is the case with that toy too). His Autobot symbol is on the front fender. A button in the middle of the handlebars triggers the light gimmick, which is quite bright. The handlebars lack hand brake grips, making it easier to have other figures hold onto them (see Mold Changes below). Transformation: Fairly complicated for something of that size, and you do have to make sure you detach the light-up weapon before trying to transform the torso. The lower legs pull down, but do not snap into place, so only friction keeps Sideways from getting progressively shorter over time while standing. Robot Mode: 4.25" (11cm) tall, the color scheme really suits this figure. There's plenty of joints, but not as much poseability as you'd think. This is because the upper legs are very short and the lower arms are very bulky and kibble-y. Attaching the laser weapon to the right arm also inhibits poseability, because for some reason the wire comes out of the left side of the backpack but the weapon goes to the right arm. Bad design choice, not corrected in this third use of the basic mold (Road Rocket, then a Microman reuse, then Sideways). The legs are also pretty unstable, unfortunately. The robot mode has the wheels attached to the shoulders, which makes it bear a slight resemblance to the Motoroid/Motoslave suits in Bubblegum Crisis. Mold Differences: The clearest difference is that the handlebars have been modified to allow a Microman figure (or most 3.5" figures) to better hold onto them. Road Rocket has brake grips, and the space between the brakes and the main handles is filled in. The paint masking is different, of course, although this leads to a less interesting robot head with no paint at all on it. The slight bumps inside the legs of Road Rocket that keep the legs extended are missing from Sideways, to my annoyance. There's a mold difference in the clear part of the laser weapon: where the original didn't completely cover the LED, the new one has a little semi-cylindrical bump on the side so that the LED's beam is more fully captured, leading to a brighter weapon. The LED is also noticeably brighter, thanks to advances in solid state technology in the past 8 years (too bad they didn't use a different LED color on one, like in Jackpot's drawing of Sideways with blue light). Now for the tiny detail check. On the cover of the laser weapon, there's an arc in an indented bit by where the clear weapon piece connects. On Road Rocket, there's two tiny raised dots on this arc, but these are absent on Sideways. On the center of the buzzsaw end of the clear piece, Road Rocket has a deeper divot from mold striking, Sideways has a very shallow indentation (I know this is not just on mine, as others have commented on this difference). If you look at the right arm on Sideways (the one with the front fender hanging off it), you'll see two raised lines, one shorter than the other. On Road Rocket, the two lines on each side are the same length (as long as the longer of the two on Sideways). Finally, this isn't a different but rather a comment. In my original review, I expressed doubts about the durability of the toy. Well, after 8 years of not always loving care, Road Rocket is still intact and looks new. So, aside from issues of paint chipping, I doubt Sideways will suffer from fragility either. DECEPTICON: Axer Original Mold: Road Pig G2 Laser Cycle Function: Interceptor Mode: Harley Davidson-style motorcycle Motto: "No prey is too large, no fee is too small." Axer learned his craft hunting down microchip smugglers in the slag swamps of Cybertron. Following a rescue mission into a black hole, Axer joined Galvatron on Earth to keep tabs on his "operation." This custom-designed all-terrain turbo cycle is equipped with heat-seeking proton missiles and quadraphonic sonic blasters. He brandishes an arm-mounted magnetic-lock destabilizer cannon in robot mode. Resents Scourge as leader. STR 6 INT 8 SPD 3 END 9 RNK 7 COUR 8 FRB 8 SKL 10 Avg 7.375 As others have pointed out, much of this techspec is taken from Actionmaster Axer's card, including references to weapons that the toy doesn't have. At least they call his light-up weapon a cannon instead of a sword (as it was with Road Pig). Six twist-ties, a plastic strip and a little plastic "dickie", the last probably to protect his head from removal by kids messing around with the Try Me function. Vehicle Mode: A 4.5" (12cm) long Harley Davidson-style traveling motorcycle. Mostly black with pale gold and pale silver trim, clear windshield, headlights and exhaust pipe, and a Decepticon symbol on the "trunk" compartment. For some odd reason, there's a little bit of very dark blue plastic on either side of the seat (more in Mold Differences). As with Sideways, the front wheel does not turn in a steering fashion. Also, because of slight mold differences, one of the fists rubs up against the rear wheel (and is generally hard to get to stay pegged down). The handlebars lack brake grips, so other figures can hold onto them. However, the handlebars are angled back (unlike the ones on Sideways, which are a straight across bar), so you'll need a bit more poseability in the figure's arms. A button on the gas tank activates the light-up feature, and there's a second button on the underside of the cycle (not accessible in this mode). The kickstand does a decent job of keeping the cycle upright without raising either wheel off the surface (although you can adjust it so that the front wheel is about a quarter inch off the surface). Transformation: Fairly simple, although there's fairly stiff joints in the knees that call for some caution. The elbows are very stiff, but there's no locking mechanism for the torso pieces the shoulders are attached to, so they tend to come out of alignment when you're twisting the arms around to robot mode. While not as bad as Sideways, Axer does have several places where transformation will scrape paint off. Robot Mode: A slightly squat 4" (10cm) tall, the midnight blue bits are his hips/thighs in robot mode. One wheel sits on the outside of his left thigh, the other hangs off his back, and his windshield becomes his chest. Pressing either his chest or the wheel on his back will trigger the laser weapon. The arms have standard Basic-level ball joint poseability, hampered only a little by too-stiff elbows. The laser weapon does not really get in the way here. The hips are ball joints, but the knees are fairly stiff ratchet hinges that are closer to the ground than to the hips (the joints at his proper knee level bend the wrong way, chicken-style, because of the needs of his transformation). Axer is very top-heavy, and a lack of long heel spurs means the figure is likely to fall over if you don't lean him forward a little. Mold Differences: Okay, on Road Pig, the head and forearms are made of red plastic, suggesting they were on the same mold plate as the red parts on Road Rocket. But those parts are black on Axer, with midnight blue hips instead. It's possible they re-mastered the molds when they did the Microman versions, separating the pieces differently. Although, there's no midnight blue parts on Sideways, so maybe they ended up on more "platters". The handlebars have been modified as with Sideways, and the LED is brighter. Also, on Road Pig, pushing the chest down will not light up the weapon. A little raised bit was added to close off the U-shaped depression around the screw in the center of the handlebars, and this pushes the gas tank button. On Road Pig, each thigh is a single piece, but Axer breaks them into two pieces that are screwed together. This may be why the hips are a different color, because the upper thighs/hips are a new piece not part of the original mold. This also makes the thighs just a tiny bit different in shape for purposes of pegging the robot fists to them, explaining the difficulty with that. I'm not sure why this change would have been made, although it does look a little better. And now the tiny bits. The central headlights look a little different, probably a mold-release difference. There's a few tiny differences in the hips, no doubt due to creating the new molds for them. The insides of the feet have different stamping for L and R. The knee ratchets are slightly less strong on Axer. In cycle mode, on the left side, look under the midnight blue hip joint piece. There's a silver plate with some raised dots. On Axer, the left side and right side plates are the same, so the left side has an extra dot towards the back and the right side has an extra dot towards the front. But on Road Pig, the plates are mirror images, both with the extra dot towards the front. Axer's gas tank button has an intendation in the center, Road Pig's does not (I heard that the buttons were removed for the Microman version, so they had to make new buttons). Overall: Very nice vehicle modes, okay robot modes. Keeping in mind that these were originally Deluxes (before the Basic/Deluxe/etc distinction was formalized, though), Mega price for two is quite reasonable, and it makes them worth getting despite their defects. Just keep in mind that these molds are almost a decade old, the designers were still experimenting with new technology at the time. Dave Van Domelen, took nearly three hours on this review, gah.