Dave's Transformers Earthrise Rant: Decepticon Clones Wingspan (robot hawk) Decepticon Pounce (robot puma) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/EClones https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/WGClones - Wingspan https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/SiegeCybertron - Pounce Well, WfC has been a bit short on Decepticons, so it makes sense that the clones would get a redeco set as a store exclusive. VERY exclusive in this case, they were part of an endcap display that reportedly only a minority of Targets ever got set up...they were clearancing from some stores before I got mine on Target.com. This makes it Wingspan's second time around as a store exclusive, having been part of the Walgreens two-pack that compensated for the flame-out of the $100 shared exclusive sets (where Pounce first showed). These are a bit more expensive, at $25 list price compared to the $18 for the Walgreens pack. But they have a map piece, so I splurged. CAPSULES $25 from Target.com. Wingspan: Original mold was recommended. I like the colors on this better, although it does lack the rubsign. Decepticon Pounce: Never gave this mold a separate recommendation, aside from "worth going after if it becomes available on its own." Similar color improvements. Set: Recommended if you can find it at retail or less. RANT Packaging: A non-standard window box with the Earthrise trade dress and the same basic trapezoidal solid shape. 6" (15cm) tall, 9.25" (23.5cm) wide in back, 8.25" (21cm) wide in front, 1.75" (4.5cm) deep. Wingspan is on the left, Pounce on the right. It's clear even without opening the package that there are differences with the Titans Return versions. The class on the angled side (which only has a painting of the crashed Ark at night during a battle) declares it to be Double Pack. There's a window for each robot mode, with art of the beast modes on the cardstock between the windows. The "Cybertronian Villains" logo first seen on Cyberverse sets is on the lower left of the box. The flat right side has the usual "movie poster" for Earthrise. The top is mostly logos, but shows a tiny Galvatron spinning off into space, heh. The back has photos of both toys in both modes, along with their sigils. There is a 3-hex map piece in the card insert, with the usual red filter. The planet Aquatron dominates, and it fits in right above Velocitron on the lower left of the map. (Aquatron mostly comes from the triology of prose novels that kicked off the Aligned continuity, along with some mentions in the Covenant of Primus. It's where Sharkticons are from, apparently.) There is no extra information on the instructions sheet, and they do not mention the Titan Master seats. DECEPTICON: WINGSPAN Assortment: WFC-E30 Altmode: Robot Hawk Transformation Difficulty: 7 steps Previous Name Use: G1, Gen:TR Previous Mold Use: Gen:TR Function: Decepticon Clone Division: Air Command Unit: Engineer Rank: Raider Packaging: 5 ties hold the robot to the blister. There are no weapon accessories. Color Swaps: The hips and shoulder root pieces are now light blue plastic, no other changes. Paint Apps: There's dark blue stripes on the chest under the folding bits, so that there's still the similar look to the Titans Return version. The magenta on the wings is replaced by a vibrant Decepticon Purple. Very light gray paint is still on the toes, but the shins are unpainted and instead the kneecaps are very light gray. There's no paint on the belt area. The rubsign is replaced by a simple printed hawk logo in yellow on black inside a silver square, but the pelvis Decepticon symbol is the same. The face is painted silver with red eyes, and the hawk head has red eyes. Mold Changes: None that I noticed. The shoulder joints are very stiff, but Pounce's aren't, so this is likely just a manufacturing glitch. Other Notes: It may not be as G1-accurate, but I prefer the looks of this version. DECEPTICON: DECEPTICON POUNCE Assortment: WFC-E30 Altmode: Robot Puma Transformation Difficulty: 9 steps Previous Name Use: Gen:TR (G1 was just "Pounce") Previous Mold Use: Gen:TR Function: Decepticon Clone Division: Ground Command Unit: Espionage Rank: Sergeant Hm, Pounce outranks Wingspan. In G1, both were Rank 6. Packaging: Five ties hold the robot to the blister. There are no accessories. Color Swaps: Same swaps as Wingspan, so it looks the same from the front except for the not-a-rubsign-anymore. In beast mode, the legs go from white to deep purple plastic. Paint Apps: Robot mode front has the same paint apps as Wingspan in this set, but with a yellow puma head on the chest symbol. In beast mode, the butt flap is painted over completely white rather than magenta, and the eyes are red. Mold Changes: None that I noticed. Other Notes: The white paint is a bit too bright, but it's still better than the magenta butt the TR version had. Set Overall: Well, they lack the rubsigns, but I otherwise prefer these to the Titans Return versions.