[Normally, I don't go back and amend my TF reviews. If I have anything else to add, I just add it on the text after the link to the review. However, Mr. Hallitt, one of the BotCon organizers and designer of Vice Grip, raised some points which I figure bear clarifying. New comments will be added in brackets after the relevant part. General note: my tone is a bit on the nasty side, since I was cheesed off from having had to chase Vice Grip's back panel under my desk four times that afternoon.] Dave's BotCon Exclusive Rant: Vice Grip I finally got the Vice Grip Raksha picked up for me today (Raksha's schedule's been a tad hectic). I didn't ask her to get me an Antagony, since I didn't think I could afford the $50 toy (and based on my car's new radiator, I was correct to think this). CAPSULE: The colors are okay, and it's not a bad figure to use as a base, but the plastic used doesn't work well with the mold, and it falls apart too easily. Not recommended unless you're just getting it for the rarity/resale/souvenir value. [They weren't allowed to use the original styles of plastic, so it's not really 3H's fault that the result came out kinda cheesy.] RANT: PREDACON: Vice Grip Function: Reconnaissance Quote: "The search often begins within yourself." Vice Grip is one of Megatron's most loyal and dependable troops. He understands the value of a mission and does his utmost to complete it successfully. This drive, coupled by [sic] his extraordinary tracking abilities, is well received by the Predacon leader. His comrades have deep respect for him and often look to him for guidance and advice. In insect mode, his giant rear pincers can easily crush unsuspecting Maximals, and then finish them off with a high-voltage electric surge. In robot mode, the pincers convert to a hand-held pulse weapon that discharges an explosive ball of electricity capable of shorting out all Maximals in a twenty meter radius. STR 8 INT 5 SPD 5 END 7 RNK 5 COUR 8 FRP 6 SKL 7 Avg 6.375 Nice art by Wildman for the card, but a bit dark and murky...a background color other than purple would have helped. Odd that he has only a 5 INT if everyone comes to him for advice...I thought that sort of discontinuity between note and techspec value was a Kenner thing, not a fan thing. And if he can take out an entire group of Maximals at once, maybe he needs a slightly higher FRP score. [Okay, I'll concede Hallitt's point that one needs not be a genius to give advice. Just look at Ann Landers. I stand by my point about the description of his powers being more than a 6 Firepower...in the Beast Wars scale, a 20 meter radius will often take in the entire battlefield. Remember, Beast Wars robot forms are about human size. And since his gun seems to take out Maximals in a single shot...well, it's not a 6.] As to the name, it looks like a pun that didn't follow through. The term for a crushing/gripping tool is a *vise* grip. Now, if VG were second in command (Vice-leader) or involved in shady dealings (vice squad), the change in spelling might work as a pun. Unless it's supposed to be (ad)Vice grip. But that's rather weak...I suspect there was simply a lack of proofreading here (as evidenced by the "coupled by" and an extra comma or two here and there). [It was intended as a pun, but using strict dictionary definition of "vice" as "evil" and assuming that aside from other mentioned characteristics, VG is a nasty, evil sort simply because he's a Pred. On the contrary, he seems like a rather upstanding fellow...loyal, dedicated, helps his allies freely.] For a discussion of the modes and transformation difficulty, check out my review of Powerpinch, on the Beast Wars Classic page (http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~dvandom/BW/beastold.html). Here I'll just talk about some of the differences. The main visible difference is, of course, the color scheme. Where Powerpinch was translucent dark green, Vice Grip is slightly sparkly opaque blue, the same color as Packrat's blue from last year. Where PP is orange, VG is medium grey. VG also has silver accents on the mouth and lower robot legs, plus lavender beast mode eyes. Good stealthy colors for a recon guy. However, it feels like a knockoff when I transform it. Like the video pack Airazor, the figure suffers from using molds designed for one type of plastic on a different type of plastic. The back panel pops out ridiculously easily, and the upper knee joint (the mold has a double knee so the legs can fold completely in half) looks like it's already starting to degrade. Fortunately, this problem doesn't seem to afflict any of the joints as far as stiffness goes, so Vice Grip can stand up on his own. [On further reflection, I think it's actually the grey plastic which is the problem, being just a few microns too flexible.] Overall, Vice Grip is a minor disappointment across the board. There were so many ways it could have been better than Powerpinch, but it turned out to be worse. It looks and feels more like one of the better knockoff toys than it does an official Kenner product. Dave Van Domelen, pretty sure that the translucent plastic is more rigid than the metallic flake plastic.... [This turns out to be true, but probably irrelevant.]