Dave's Transformers Rant: Wave 3 Mega Cliffjumper Shockblast Six Shot Updated 3/26/05 with Six Shot. Still not getting Beachcomber. Someone beat me to the Shockblast (and tried to hide the Mirage) from the one new box the local Wal-Mart put out during reset. But I got the Cliffjumper and put Mirage out where people could see it. And I was happy. Until I opened Cliffjumper. A big thank you to Justin Anderson, who picked up a Shockblast for me! CAPSULES Cliffjumper: Vehicle mode looks okay, robot mode looks decent, Powerlinx modes (shirt and pants) look pretty good. But there are SO many parts that don't hold together properly or in the right position that it can't just be a one-off quality control slip-through. The design simply required MUCH better quality of manufacturing than I got. I've had knockoffs that held together better. Reports from readers of the first version of this file suggest that there are some out there with tighter joints and pegs, but a lot with loose ones. On the other hand, following the correct directions found in the Superlink version results in a much more stable vehicle mode, so I'm upgrading this to a Very Mildly Recommended. $19.76 at Wal-Mart. Shockblast: Both altmodes are pretty weak, but it's the robot mode most of you are going to be buying this for anyway. :) The robot mode's tendency to slouch is a bit annoying, but otherwise it's a good toy. Recommended. Would have been $19.76 if I got it at Wal-Mart. Six Shot: Actually a fairly nice recolor, nowhere near as garish as in the photos. If you missed out on Shockblast you might want to get this, but it's not good enough to really demand to be gotten in addition to Shockblast. Recommended if you don't have Shockblast, mildly recommended otherwise. $19.76 at Wal-Mart. RANTS Standard Mega packaging. Moved to the red Powerlinx packaging in later shipments. AUTOBOT: CLIFFJUMPER Altmode: Dune Buggy Function: Rapid Attack (my guess) Powerlinx Cog: Gold Motto: A stunt can never be too dangerous. Cliffjumper is an Autobot that revels in high-risk situations. He has been known to engage in stunt maneuvers considered unnecessary and dangerous to both himself and his Autobot comrades. In vehicle mode, he is a sleek dune racer. His speed is impressive and he is one of the few Autobots that can keep up with Prowl on the open road. Cliffjumper's skill and endurance in battle have impressed Optimus Prime on many occasions but his unnecessary risk-taking has earned him many a reprimand by the Autobot Commander. STR 8 INT 7 SPD 9 END 10 RNK 6 COUR 8 FRB 6 SKL 6 Avg 7.5 The original note said he "endures in hi-risk situations", so I fixed it to make more sense. [Addendum September 10, 2004: Orson Christian wrote me to point out that the Hasbro instructions for Cliffjumper are WRONG. There's an extra step to transforming the legs in vehicle mode that makes the vehicle a LOT more stable (the rear wheel pegs are still an issue for mine). Also, the robot mode leg transformation is a little different, although it turns out that I got it right without looking at the instructions.] Vehicle Mode: Big. Almost 10" long (25cm). It's a recognizable dune buggy (in fact, I got the Tonka Tough Trucks sorta-transforming pseudo-MASK dune buggy today, and there's a lot of similarities). It has guns on the hood that can be independently elevated and the missiles fired. The color scheme is a mix of brown, yellow, dark gray, red, and an incongruous olive green chunk on the back with silver paint. Atop the roof and behind a pair of rooflights are a dead Powerlinx hardpoint and the spark crystal, side by side and made of brown plastic. And it's really hard to pick it up without something falling apart, snapping off, or coming misaligned. The whole thing looks stretched out, and it simply doesn't hold together well. The rear wheels are especially bad, being on struts that don't really connect to the pegs that are supposed to hold them still (even after I removed some flash inside one of the holes, that peg wouldn't stay in). The sound gimmick is a single unconvincing engine rev sound, and this requires that the back inch and a half of the vehicle be this big block. The spoiler fins just hang out there. In short, the more I look at this mode, the more my reaction is, "This sucks." Transformation to robot mode: Making the legs is an exercise in cramming bad kibble into ugly boot shapes. The arms are hidden inside the roof section, which itself becomes huge shoulderpads. The head is hidden inside the engine block. And I really have difficulty working up any motivation to describe the pain in the butt I had trying to get all the pieces to stay in place without popping off. I really recommend using the Pants Mode legs for regular robot mode. The boots are slightly less fugly, and the proportions seem a little better. Robot Mode: Done according to the instructions, he's 7.5" (19cm) tall at the head, 8" (20cm) tall at the wheels that perch over his shoulders. If you remove the missile launchers and put them in his hands, his shoulderpad spam is 10" (25cm). If you use the Big Legs in this mode, he's 8.75" (22cm) tall at the head, and his boots look better, although now he has no good knee (one joint is too high, the other too low). Poseability is okay. The shoulders are seriously limited by the massive shoulderpads, and the upper arms are so short that the ball joint elbows aren't able to get full use. The hips are ratcheting univeral, and there's two ratcheting joints in each leg, one of which you can call a knee (the lower one doesn't work if you follow the instructions and use stumpy legs). There's a swivel below the upper "knee joint. The head turns. And since it's a Top-Bottom combiner, no waist joint. Color balance is decent. The toros is mostly green with the gray and brown tailfins as a chest shield. The extremities are brown with yellow accents, the yellow shoulderpads and guns balance each other nicely. The head is brown with blue visor and yellow faceplate. The over-the-shoulder rear wheels have gold-painted spiraly hubcaps. A molded Autobot symbol graces the left shoulderpad (which also holds the spark crystal). The heel spurs are kinda out of place, though, being green and essentially the forearm facades for the Shirt Mode. There's a copper colored Powerlinx Cog (supposed to be gold, I suppose) on the right forearm. If you use the Pants Mode legs and don't have the problems I have with the chest shield popping up like Elmer Fudd's tuxedo front, the robot mode is okay. Even though it looks like he's holding his guns sidewise. Pants Mode: Pretty simple, crack open the torso and fold everything above the split line back and away. This adds 7" (18cm) to the height of any combination. Shirt Mode: No oddball stuff done to the head, as the torso bits get rotated around instead. Keeps the nice back-mounted wheel fans, and the robot's shoulderpads (with robot arms stowed inside) become one heck of a chest shield. The arms look okay, if over-kibbled. Adds less than 2" (5cm) to the height of a combination. If it weren't for my utter lack of desire to have a second copy of this shoddy toy, I'd be tempted to seek out another to do the double-CJ combiner. [Later note: A reader in Australia got two Beachcombers and tried this out. It turns out the PX connector is located in the wrong place for good stability, and the sheer mass of the mold causes the double-happy Beachcomber to snap in two under any sort of real handling. Reportedly it looks nice as a display piece, but can't really be played with.] Overall: Get this out of vehicle mode and never put it back in that mode. If I could ignore the vehicle mode, I'd probably mildly recommend this toy, as it's a decent robot and Powerlinxer, if not spectacular. But the sheer craptitude of the vehicle mode brings it down. DECEPTICON: SHOCKBLAST Altmodes: Maser Tank, Orbital Death Ray Function: Minister of Menace Quote: I see you. Shockblast is a cunning Decepticon warrior and scientist. In robot mode, this cold strategist uses his particle beam cannon to blast an enemy within a ten-mile radius. His incredible vision and acute hearing make him the greatest Decepticon tactician and marksman that ever was. In his alternate mode of a military satellite, Shockblast is able to send a wide array of information between Earth and Cybertron and is capable of jamming Autobot transmissions and defensive grids. STR 10 INT 8 SPD 7 END 7 RNK 9 COUR 9 FRB 10 SKL 10 Avg 8.75 Nothing like the psychopath portrayed in the show. Packaged in tank mode, held to the box tray by 5 twist-ties. A rubber band holds his one green-tipped missile to the tray. Three rubber bands hold the cannon tip bits shut. It's not quite correctly transformed in the box, the rear treads need to be locked up in position after you remove the toy from the box (it was just a smidge too long to avoid bending). The toy requires 2 AAA batteries, which are not included. The two-sided instruction sheet spends a lot of space warning about the batteries, FCC warnings, etc. [Later note: Heh, just noticed that 2 of the 3 instances of the card art showing on the box are mirror-flopped, with the gun as the right arm.] Tank Mode: Well, this is pretty clearly just Shockblast bent sideways with one arm held over his head. It's a Cybertronian Mode, which is to say you can tell it has treads and a turret action and a definite front and back, but it really doesn't look LIKE anything. It's a mix of "Decepticon purple", light warm gray, a very dark (almost black) charcoal gray, and olive green, with silver and copper paint plus some clear green plastic bits. Plus one bit of blue paint on the rear gun unit. Total length is 11" (28cm), but it's only 3.5" (9cm) at its widest and 3.75" (9.5cm) at its tallest. It rolls along on four hidden knubbly wheels concealed behind four smallish solid tank tread molded pieces. The main gun can be elevated up to about 70 degrees up from horizontal, and the turret has a full 360 degree range. However, turning the turret more than a little to either side results in the vehicle falling over, and raising it more than one click out of a possible three makes the rear part of the vehicle arch up as the vehicle warps under the weight of the gun. There is no way to peg the gun down to the robot legs, which is a real shame, since they did make support posts for it...just not pegs. As a result, the stability of the vehicle mode is low. A slider tab atop the mostly olive green and silver gun operates the gimmicks. Sliding it halfway forward causes the six clear plastic bits ringing the barrel to extend, in two sets of three. The forward three are just pointy bits, but the rear trio are solar panels with gold paint on their faces. The missile, which is black with a transparent green dome at the tip, emerges from the barrel as the tab is moved forward. If the batteries are installed, it makes a sort of "space burbling" noise for as long as the tab is in that position, and MAN can it get annoying after a while. Pushing it all the way up will lock the green parts all the way open and launch the missile, but not very far. The inner barrel of the weapon becomes visible, and it's clear green. Pushing the tab all the way will also trigger a launching whoosh sound, followed by silence. Re-inserting the missile and pushing everything back will also generate the launching sound. There are two 5mm pegholes on the cannon, one on either side, for attaching extra weapons. There are no pegs or hardpoints accessible in this mode. The spark crystal is in a chunk of black plastic just ahead of the not-really-hidden robot head. Satellite Mode: Called Base Mode in the instructions. Getting the weird slidy joints of the rear treads to work for this transformation required a LOT of force in my case, I can see a kid with less finesse ripping the treads off in his attempt. Transforming the robot legs into booms/wings is pretty easy, though. There's a strut that folds down at the front, but it pops out pretty easily if you extend it even a little bit too much. The main visual change in this mode is the addition of gold solar panels in several positions. The one under the rear gun unit is a dull gold paint, but the ones that flip out from the legs and treads are gold chrome like the ones on the cannon panels. Under the leg panels are copper-painted missile racks (just the tips of the missiles, not functional). This mode is like a T shape, 11" (28cm) long and 11.5" (30cm) wide. Pegholes on the wingtips (robot feet) become accessible in this mode, as does a hardpoint that's on the robot's right forearm and which was hidden by the gun-shield in tank mode. Satellite, spaceship, base...whatever. It's a pile of parts in a vaguely flying-looking configuration with some shiny gold bits. Not as lame as I thought it would be, but still pretty weak, even as a third mode. Transformation to Robot Mode: Pretty much messing with the hips and tread panels, then separating the legs and posing the arms. Oh, and turning the head. Shockblast is ALMOST reversible. If not for the fact he only has a Decepticon symbol on one side of his cannon arm's shoulder, you could pretty much pick which arm should be the cannon. However, the proper orientation has his left arm be the cannon. The rear tank treads become a backpack, but there's a Hyper-Power Mode which has their solar panels deployed up behind Shockblast's head. Unfortunately, the fit isn't snug enough to keep the torso fully attached. There's no pegs between the torso and waist, and it depends on a single semi-stiff joint to avoid Shockwave bowing deeply and permanently at the waist. Robot Mode: Measuring to the top of his antennae, the robot mode is 7.5" (19cm) tall. His cannon arm is so long that he can't stand with it pointed straight down, it reaches past his foot and makes him tip sideways. This mode is a clear G1 Shockwave homage, even though a lot of the details are different or distorted. Clear plastic chest (albeit green with a purple M shape over it rather than clear colorless). Familiar mono-optic head with antennae (but five-sided front rather than six, clear green eye with lightpiping, black antennae). Raised bits on either side of the head (but raised a lot more). Big gun arm. Mix of gray and purple (although Shockwave's gray is darker). And so forth. It evokes Shockwave without copying him exactly. Poseability is pretty good. The gun arm just has a universal joint shoulder, although you can use his landing strut as a single finger claw. The right arm has universal shoulder, upper arm swivel, a double hinged elbow and a hinged thumb claw. The waist turns on a ratchet, and the head is on a ball joint (although the antennae seem to want to slide back whenever you move the head). The torso does slouch forward a little because of the lack of peg mentioned above. Hips are ratcheting universal joints, there's swivels just above each ratcheting knee. The ankles can swivel around 360 degrees, and can wiggle a few degrees forward/back and side to side. The feet are rather long, a good thing for something so arm-heavy. All of the ratchet joints in the toy are very stiff, which can lead to the torso slamming forward when you're just trying to lower the arm. I suppose this counts as an extra point of articulation, that he can lean forward, but it's really more of a bug. Needless to say, all the gun functions work in this mode. The pegholes on the feet aren't so useful, though. You can raise the shield to expose the forearm hardpoint on the right arm, but it looks better with the gunshield down. Overall: The altmodes are both pretty weak, but this is a toy you buy because the robot mode is Shockwave updated for the 21st Century. And the only real disappointment in the robot mode is the slouch. Worth picking up. Dave Van Domelen, glad none of the ratchets on Shockblast were defective like on Bulkhead.... AUTOBOT: BEACHCOMBER Quote: I never spotted a Decepticon I didn't dislike. BEACHCOMBER is a young AUTOBOT warrior responsible for the seaside patrol of Ocean City, one of the AUTOBOT bases of operation. He is programmed with infrared optic scanners that allow him to spot an approaching enemy up to five miles. Whether it is day or night, few Decepticons have been able to infiltrate Ocean City during BEACHCOMBER'S watch. Although he is very serious about his job as guardian, BEACHCOMBER likes letting loose with his AUTBOT comrades. He is a known trickster and enjoys telling a joke or two...especially when the subject of the joke is MEGATRON. STR 8 INT 7 SPD 9 END 8 RNK 5 COUR 7 FRB 7 SKL 6 Avg 7.125 DECEPTICON: SIX SHOT Altmode: Maser Tank, Satellite Function: Warrior Quote: I will destroy my enemy's spirit as soon as I crush his body. SIX SHOT is a powerful and cunning DECEPTICON warrior. In tank mode, his treads can crush anything that ends up beneath them. His Energon- enhanced cannon is so powerful, it is credited with bringing down two Guardian robots during the Powerlinx Battles on Cybertron. SIX SHOT's armor is nearly impervious and he loves to bash AUTOBOT metal in battle-royale fashion. His ultimate goal is to defeat OPTIMUS PRIME in hand-to-fist combat and he patiently waits for the day this opportunity will arise. Online stats: STR 9 INT 4 SPD 6 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 10 FRB 9 SKL 5 Avg 7.125 Trading card stats: STR 9 INT 8 SPD 6 END 7 RNK 4 COUR 10 FRB 10 SKL 8 Avg 7.75 I think if you switched Six Shot's and Shockblast's toy bios, you'd be a lot closer to how they act on the cartoon. And the online stats (still as above on March 26, 2005) seem to fit the bio, but the trading card stats fit the show. Packaging: As part of the final waves, Six Shot is in the red Powerlinx Battles packaging, and has extra co-sells. On the right panel are Alpha Quintesson, Beachcomber and Wing Saber. On the bottom are Kicker, Quickstrike and Constructicon Maximus. The catalog is volume 3, and as mentioned above, the card contradicts online for the stats. The card has all-new art, as has been the rule for Energon recolors. The physical attachment to the packaging is pretty much the same as with Shockblast. Not to many ties, but lots of rubber bands. Color Swaps: Shockblast's light gray is replaced by a VERY dark purple. The black is replaced by a dark charcoal gray. The purple and dark green on Shockblast are now a sort of light olive/tan color that is a lot more subdued than the pictures showed. The clear plastic on this toy is deep red. Paints: The chrome on this toy is red, which means that when it's on the clear parts (i.e. the panels on the weapon) it's not as obvious. Aside from chrome red, there's metallic purple in camo patterns on the gun and shield, as well as on the shins in a non-camp pattern. There's brass paint on the gun and parts of the tread cores. There's also metallic red paint, which isn't as shiny as the red chrome, and it's on most of the parts, including a bit on the clear red chest where it hardly shows up. The Decepticon symbol on the left shoulder is metallic purple, with no background paint. Other Changes: None that I could find. Same floppy waist, same sounds Overall: It's a decent recolor of a decent toy. Nothing to get worked up over not finding, though. Dave Van Domelen, annoyed that his VCR decided to not start up half an hour ago to catch something opposite Alien Apocalypse.