Dave's Plasmaverse Rant: PlasmaTECH (Series 6) 5101: Roy-V 5103: Quantic 5104: Gyro 5105: Spoke 5106: Bogkov 5107: Skysweeper PlasmaTECH Battle HQ (Basaltrix, Phyrobyte, Glaycor) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/misc/PlasmaTech1 Updated 11/13/07: Got Gyro and Skysweeper. Added section on the body part types. Also, there's a base set available exclusive to Toys R Us with three more combinations of body parts in new colors and a lot of scenery pieces, but as it's $40 and I don't care for scenery, I'm not getting it unless I can find it on clearance for $20 or less. Updated 11/24/07: Took notes at TRU on the base set mechs, added that information below. After several series of Plasma Dragons in eggs with gooey plastic placentas and one of Plasma Dinosaurs in slightly different eggs with different gooey plastic placentas (and yes, I know eggs don't have placentas, I just like grossing people out), MegaBloks has expanded the Plasmaverse into robots. Well, they call them cyborgs, but the PlasmaTECH figures sure look like robots to me. And no, I don't know what happened to 5102. Maybe they used it for a one-off years ago, kinda like the missing number in the 7700-series Exo-Force over in Lego. CAPSULES Roy-V: Looks swank, but has some problems with balance thanks to the huge gun. Recommended. $4.99 at K-Mart. Quantic: Looks good, stable. Recommended. $4.99 at K-Mart. Gyro: Squat but proportional. Recommended. $4.77 at Wal-Mart. Spoke: Looks good, decent balance, stabs self in head. Still, recommended. $4.99 at K-Mart. Bogkov: Slightly wonky proportions, so-so balance. Mildly recommended. $4.99 at K-Mart. Skysweeper: Proportions a little off, but "long legs and short torso" works better than Bogkov's "short legs and long torso" look. Nice axe, stows well. Recommended. $4.77 at Wal-Mart. RANTS Background: The fact that MegaBrands tries to put about a dozen languages in their packaging, words are at a premium. And, as you'll see, even when they do provide words, it can be hard to figure out. They seem to be trying to fit the Plasma Dragons, Plasma Dinosaurs and Plasma Tech into a single setting. Maybe there's a fantasy planet and an atavistic planet, and the cyborgs are bouncing around the universe stirring up trouble? Packaging: Same sort of card as the previous serieses, with two blisters on either side of the card and a hole through the card. Part of the card insert can be cut out as a trading card, with colored line art on one side, photo and techspecs on the other. Also inside is a instruction booklet (single folded over piece of 8.5" x 11" paper) with the trading card art on the front cover, pictures of the other five on the back cover, instructions on the inside left, and suggestions for merging it with a Plasma Dragon on inside right. There's also a much larger folded over sheet of paper with safety and battery change instructions in a dozen or so language. The majority of the figure pieces are inside a plastic drop capsule that looks sorta like a small martini mixer, with the majority being clear and the base being the figure's main color. Paint of that color is also used as an accent on the clear part. The torso is twist-tied in with a silvered piece of cardboard around it for a Try-Me feature. The pegs on the back of the figure stick out of the capsule, and the reflector lets the light that shines out the front of the chest bounce back around so you can see it. Because of the extra space taken up by this arrangement, one leg and the weapon are in a baggie under the capsule, but everything will fit into the capsule once you remove the extra packaging stuff. General Notes: The figures use a common construction. There's a torso piece made of smoky gray plastic and painted over in one or two colors. Then each figure has a head, two arms, two legs and a weapon. The limbs snap onto balls sticking out of the torso, and are totally interchangeable both with other PlasmaTECHs and with Plasma Dragons and Dinos. The head have ball joints on the neck and snap into sockets on top of the torso, and are also interchangeable. The trigger pegs on the back are also able to take wing pieces from the dragons. As with previous waves, they save some money by splitting three torso molds between six figures. Each mold has the same color LED in it. The red LED torso is sculpted to look like an evil face or something, with turbine pecs. The green LED torso is more traditionally robot-like, more of a "hero robot" style. The yellow LED torso has a more "assault robot" look to it, being deeper than it is tall. While there's no elbows or knees in the limbs (each is a solid piece), the arms are in slightly bent poses and a good medium for getting the most use out of just having a ball joint shoulder. The legs are a little less successful at this, and most of them are a little unstable standing. Each has either a melee or a ranged weapon that can be held in either hand, or stowed on the back pegs. All of the figures come to about 3.75" tall, although there's some variability there. This makes them suitable for interacting with Actionmasters, but a little short for hanging out with Gundam action figures. The drop pods are 3.5" (9cm) tall, and 2.5" (6.5cm) in diameter at their widest. The base is molded to have what looks like a main thruster and four guidance thrusters around it. There's circuit pattern stickers on two sides of the upper part. It is not possible to fit the assembled figure into the pod, but Mini-Cons can ride around in it. :) Cramming the disassembled figure into the pod can lead to the weapon warping. If you're clever, you can put the other pieces inside so that the back pegs stick out through the Try Me hole and then peg the weapon on the outside, but the pegs barely stick out, so it won't hold very well. Individual reviews will be a little on the short side, given how much they have in common. Common Parts: In addition to the three torso styles, there's also a few common arm and leg styles. Everyone gets their own head and weapon. Torso - I've seen these labeled Hero (green LED), Villain (red LED) and Assault (yellow LED), and that makes sense. Arms - Three types, with different decorations. Blade arms have big box-like shoulders and long forearm blades. Spike arms have numerous spikes protruding in different directions. Clean arms have a couple of spines, but are slimmer and generally less decorated than the other two. Legs - Three types, of different lengths. Tall has the "ape foot" thing going on, and reminds me of Protoform Optimus Prime. Medium is a more traditional Gundam-like leg with an oval kneecap and spurs. Short has a large rectangular kneecap. There seem to be some "pure" combinations, where all the body parts feel like they go together. Hero Option - Hero torso, clean arms, medium legs. Villain Option - Villain torso, spike arms, tall legs. Assault Option - Assault torso, blade arms, short legs. Here's a picture of the first four I was able to get my hands on: http://www.dvandom.com/images/PlasmaTECH.JPG Techspecs and Bio Notes: Bio notes all taken from MegaBloks.com, as were the epithets and stats for Skysweeper and Gyro (which I didn't have at the time I assembled this all). There's no "sides" per se, but it looks like Quantic and Spoke are definitely badguys, while Skysweeper and Bogkov are good guys. Roy-V seems kinda iffy, same with Gyro. The art on the cards, as well as the photos on the backs of the instructions, show slightly more extensively-painted prototypes, the actual toys are generally missing a few of the paint apps. The collector cards have a quartet of stats, indicated by a running figure, a targeting reticule, a missile and a shield. I'm calling these stats Speed, Accuracy, Power and Defense. They're on a scale of 1-12. Warning: the bio notes seem to have been mechanically translated, if not simply constructed by a person with a minimal grasp of English and a bad dictionary. Also, I'm naming the weapons based on cues in the bio note. They aren't actually officially named that I could find. 5101: ROY-V Epithet: Autoblast Commander Cyborg Plasma Color: Green Capsule Color: Yellow Torso: Hero Arms: Clean Legs: Medium Weapon: Plasma Streamer Rifle Using a thought-controlled prosthetic arm, Roy-V breaks into the universe's most secured bunkers undetected. Empathetic to military causes, this no nonses, pragmatic and authoritative master of explosive technology is quick to trap enemies in his multi-purpose reinforced plasma net. Speed 5 Accuracy 8 Power 7 Defense 9 Total 29 3.5" (9cm) tall. His non-torso pieces are black plastic, and his main armor color is a golden yellow. His eyes are yellow-green, and he has bright blue spots on his shoulders and kneecaps. There's also bright blue on his calves and little splashes on the sides of his rifle. The rifle is 3.25" (8.5cm) long, nearly as long as he's tall, and has peg holes about midway for storage. The overall look makes me think, "Sinister Bumblebee". Definitely has a "hero robot" look about him, running counter to his darkish bio note. He has the pure Hero-parts build, in fact. Can be posed as if holding the rifle in both hands, although he can't actually grip it with his off hand. If you're not going to get the whole series, this is one of the ones to grab. 5103: QUANTIC Epithet: Destruction Leader Cyborg Plasma Color: Red Torso: Villain Arms: Spike Legs: Tall Capsule Color: Blue Weapon: Plasma Infusion Rifle Quantic thinks only after acting. A quantum optics wizard, he has engineered and blown-up entire cosmos for mere experiment. While on a mission to annihilate interfering bionic devices, Quantic discovered a formula for controlling beasts through plasma infusion. Ever since, a large number of earthly creatures have gone missing. Speed 9 Accuracy 8 Power 10 Defense 6 Total 33 3.75" (9.5cm) tall, one of the leggier figures. His non-torso pieces are all a bright blue plastic, with blue left as the main armor color (and a good paint match for the armor on the torso). He has black paint for the "flexible" parts, and various neon orange accents, including accentuating the "eyes" on his chest. His actual eyes are painted bright yellow-green. A somewhat smaller rifle, his is only 2.5" (6cm) long, with the storage peg holes ahead of the center. Not as good at faking a two-handed grip on his rifle, but his munky-like feet give him more stability in wide-leg stances. Between the evil face torso and the profusion of spikes on his armor, plus the weird munky-feet, he definitely looks like the badguy his bio note makes him out to be. In fact, he has the pure Villain assembly. Pretty good, but I'm not really in love with the face-chest design. So, I'd still recommend it, just not as strongly as, say, Roy-V or Spoke. 5104: GYRO Epithet: Communication Spy Cyborg Plasma Color: Yellow Torso: Assault Arms: Blade Legs: Short Capsule Color: Red Weapon: Interplanetary Communications Laser Of all cyborgs, Gyro is equipped with the most optimum and efficient communications and network control system. With a labyrinth of uber-sonic bionic listening devices, photosynthesized plasma detectors and radar magnified electro vision, Gyro has access top cryptic secrets and is relentlessly pursued by officials from distant galaxies. Speed 9 Accuracy 7 Power 5 Defense 8 Total 29 This guy has the pure Assault assembly option, although I'd say Skysweeper's head has more of an assault look to it. Hard to call his alignment from the bio note, it seems almost like he's a neutral mercenary type who trades in secrets to any buyer. 2.75" (7cm) tall, shortest of the lot. His non-torso pieces are a slightly dark red, with a good paint match on the torso. He has accents in white and black, but even his non-armor pieces are almost entirely red. His head is sort of a flattened teardrop shape with the pointy end towards the front, and a bit of a hook beak. His rifle is 2.25" (6cm) and looks kinda like a Heckler & Koch G11 caseless ammo prototype, but with an elongated sight-like chunk on top. It's interesting to note that the drawing in the instructions shows a lot more white than made it onto the final toy, including extra on the front of the gun and on the chest. The little claw-nub hands of the blade arms let Gyro poke his fingers through the back-storage holes on the rifle to go for a two-handed grip Worth the wait? It's okay, but the assault plan is a little too chunky for my tastes. Roy V retains his top spot. 5105: SPOKE Epithet: Atmospheric Warfare Cyborg Plasma Color: Green Torso: Hero Arms: Spike Legs: Short Capsule Color: White Weapon: Atomic Lance Spoke scoffs at dialogue and diplomacy as alternatives to military resolution. Impatient, sneaky and confrontational, Spoke believes in the proliferation of nuclear arsenal, mind altering plasma technology and directed energy weapons intelligence as the only method for solving global conflicts and guaranteeing stability. Speed 7 Accuracy 9 Power 10 Defense 7 Total 33 3.75" (9.5cm) tall, the non-torso pieces are all white plastic. He has some black and red accents, white armor on his torso, and red eyes. His weapon is held like a sword, but looks more like a lance, with black hilt and red details. It's 3.25" (8.5cm) long, with peg holes just above the hilt. He has spikes on his shoulders so that if he raises his arms outward from the sides, he impales his own head. Oops. I get a sort of Tallgeese feel from the general proportions here, and how it has a somewhat "hero robot" look with a sinister twist. In fact, he has a mix of all three body part types. Not my favorite one, but definitely in the top half. 5106: BOGKOV Epithet: Aerial Defense Cyborg Plasma Color: Red Torso: Villain Arms: Blade Legs: Short Capsule Color: Black Weapon: Midnight Blade A wise-cracking, sharp witted adventurer, Bogkov possesses incredible strategic, tactical and operational knowledge of aerial defense. Bogkov's plasma powered, anti-aerial defense missiles carry lasers that produce enormous, UFO track and capture wind tunnels. On a clear day, this stealth cyborg can be spotted practicing dangerous aerial maneuvers beyond the twilight zone. Speed 8 Accuracy 5 Power 9 Defense 10 Total 32 3.5" (9cm) tall, but looks shorter, because he has the evil-face torso (which is a bit long) and stumpy legs. He also has somewhat weird shoulders that feel like they'd work better on the yellow-LED torso. I suppose those missiles in his bio note are stored in his shoulders, otherwise he looks pure melee, between his huge sword and the blades on his forearms. Anyway, the non-torso pieces are all very dark gray, and his torso is painted mostly in that color too. His eyes are painted red, and there's strips and edgings of yellow-orange all over in small amounts. The sword is only 3" (7.5cm) long, but has an elaborate "fantasy" hilt over 3cm wide. What with the color scheme, the evil-face torso, the sinister head and the sword that looks like what the baddie in a sword and sorcery movie might swing around, he really looks like a badguy. But he's a heroic sort. Huh. Also, anyone know what Bogkov means? I'm guessing it might come from Russian. It's not too bad, but there's too much "off" about it for me to really recommend this one. Only get this one if you're a completist, or really like black. I think part of the problem is that he combines Assault limbs (the shortest of each possibility) and a Villain torso (the tallest of the three), for bad proportioning. Not that giving him the clean arms of the Hero (to make it another "one of everything" combo) would really have helped. I think it's really just that the short legs don't go at all with anything but the Assault torso. 5107: SKYSWEEPER Epithet: Terrain Security Cyborg Plasma Color: Yellow Torso: Assault Arms: Clean Legs: Tall Capsule Color: Silver Weapon: Thunder Axe Relentless in the pursuit of hostile entities, Skysweeper scouts and gathers intelligence ensuring that evil doers the planet over never get a moment's rest. With an emphasis on covert operations, Skysweeper boasts destructive plasma weapons for decapitation strikes and ruthless warfare, including optical sensors with a 2000 meter range. Speed 7 Accuracy 10 Power 6 Defense 11 Total 34 Another total mix, with Assault torso, Hero arms and Villain legs. However, he also has one of the most unambiguously heroic bio notes. 3.5" (9cm) tall, he stands equal with Roy V and shorter only than Quantic and Spoke (that Villain torso really adds height). His non-torso pieces are made of a slightly metallic silvery gray plastic, with extensive black paint, especially on the forearms, hands and feet. He has bright blue accents on shoulderpads and spats, plus extensive bright blue on the axe (blade edges and other details). The cycloptic of his drone-like head is painted neon green. He has silver on the torso, but it's not the swirly metal-inclusion look of the silver plastic. The instructions art has a bit more blue on the shins and chest, and some black on the axe not present in the final toy. Speaking of the axe, it's 2.75" (7cm) long (as long as Gyro is tall!) and double-bitted with a width of 1.75" (4.5cm). It's curved slightly to make for better back armor, rather than being flat. It fits very nicely on the back as a result, rather than looking just tacked on like many weapons in the set. PlasmaTECH Battle HQ This is a $40 set that comes in an upsized version of the pods the robots come in, and has a lot of scenery pieces. Since I'm not really into scenery, I'm not going to buy this until and unless I find it for $20 or less, since it's all recolors. It also comes with individual pods for the mechs, but it's packaged in such a way that you can't try the LEDs, so I have to go by the packaging pictures, which may be wrong. This is a Toys R Us exclusive. There's three figures in this set, and as of yet there's no online bio notes for them. Based on their epithets, though, I'm guessing this is a Secret Base. There's no new molding here, so I've noted whose head or weapon each has recolors of. BASALTRIX Epithet: Ground Cloaking Cyborg Plasma Color: orange? Capsule Color: Tan Torso: Hero Arms: Blade Legs: Long Weapon: Spoke's lance Head: Skysweeper's Speed 2 Accuracy 7 Power 1 Defense 4 Total 14 Made of tan plastic with black paint accents. This is the only one where the LED color shown on the package doesn't match what the torso normally does, it's possible this one glows green. REALLY wimpy stats, which seem to be the norm for this group. PHYROBYTE Epithet: Forest Cloaking Cyborg Plasma Color: Red Capsule Color: Green Torso: Villain Arms: Clean Legs: Short Weapon: Roy's rifle Head: Spoke's Speed 5 Accuracy 2 Power 6 Defense 2 Total 15 This one actually shows as blue on the online photos of the set. The plastic is a sort of yellowish green much like that seen on some Autobot Ratchet (movie) toys, albeit a little darker. Paint details are in black and a sort of yellow-green that's brighter than the plastic. GLAYCOR Epithet: Arctic Cloaking Cyborg Plasma Color: Yellow Capsule Color: White Torso: Assault Arms: Spike Legs: Medium Weapon: Quantic's rifle Head: Roy's Speed 3 Accuracy 6 Power 5 Defense 2 Total 16 And thus, between the three, you have all three types of torso, arms and limb represented. This one is molded in white plastic, making it interchangeable with Spoke, and has black and gray paint accents. Dave Van Domelen, may go ahead and write bio notes for these eventually if no official ones show up.