Dave's War Planets Rant:

     Planet Rock

CAPSULE

     Better than Planet Tek in almost every respect (the coloring of the
warrior figures was inferior).  I'm revising my opinion and putting Planet
Rock at the top of the coolness meter for War Planets.  Strongly
recommended.  $9.99 at Toys R Us.

RANT

     See my Planet Tek Rant for background on the toy line.
     Planet Rock, well...rocks.  A 4-5" ball of rock and tech molding formed
from rigid plastic, it can open up into four "slices", with two platforms, a
gun port and several vehicles inside, and eight little warriors to position
around it.  Even without opening it all the way, there's several portals and
platforms which can be opened up, and unlike Planet Tek, everything fits so
well that you can play with it in the closed position (not everthing stows in
a usuable position in Tek).  The locking cap only keeps the planet closed, it
doesn't lock all the other openings (which it does on Tek).  Unfortunately,
the locking cap also has that stupid "nipple" addition which seems to have no
function (although a friend suggested it might make it easier for the Beast
Planet to clamp onto it).  The stickers beneath the fold-down exterior panels
also could use some work, as they look somewhat cartoony compared to the
ink-washed-to-hell-and-back grittiness of the other colors on the toy.
     The planet is much easier to open, requiring only reasonable force, and
unfolds into four quarters.  The stowed vehicles don't get in each others'
way, and hold securely but not stubbornly.
     Weapons: There are two spring-loaded launchers, one mounted on the
planet and the other as part of a bulldozer tank.  Both shoot a few feet,
range limited more by the weight of the projectile than the strength of the
spring.  The emplaced cannon has two missiles, one of which looks like a
technological creation and the other of which is just a mass of rocks (on a
stick).  This is the mighty Planet Cannon, although it's not listed on the
techspec card (I'd give it an 80).
     Vehicles: First is the aforementioned bulldozer.  It's a little fragile
(a bit of mine has already come off, guess I get to take it home and glue it
together now).  The dozer is made of rigid plastic and the projectile scoop
of semirigid plastic, and it looks pretty good.  Next is the small tank, a
solid chunk of the floppy plastic (thick enough to not be floppy) that the
warriors are made of, with a decent paint job and no moving parts.  Then
there's the hovercraft, made from purplish plastic with positionable jets.
Finally we have the Mine Tower, a rather cool-looking turret on treads
(turrent doesn't spin, sadly) which can release a cluster of five purple
mines (careful that you don't lose them).  This is so much better than Planet
Tek's minelayer.  It's a mix of rigid, semi-rigid and floppy plastics.
     Unfortunately, none of the vehicles is to scale with the warriors,
although if you remove the mines you can sit a warrior in the Mine Tower.
     Warriors: Again, the "drones" are unposeable and have big weapons, while
the "heroes" have movable arms and legs (arms move together, legs move
together).  These are much better designed in terms of being able to stand
without falling over, but they're pretty much monochrome...dark blue with
black ink wash effect.  At an inch tall, if you're looking for 25mm scale
armored trooper or cop miniatures, these'll fit the bill nicely, although the
drones are more like 22mm scale.
     Overall, this set is definitely worth your $10 if you have any interest
at all in micro playsets.  And more food for Unicron, er, the Beast Planet,
when it comes out.

     Dave Van Domelen, finding the leftover glue from installing his computer
lock cable and fixing the bulldozer....