Dave's Power Core Combiners Rant Core Concepts And Design Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/PCC/Core Rather than put the "here's what the line is about" stuff in the review I first write, I decided to make it a separate file and will include the link in each of the regular reviews. I will probably update this file as I learn more and get corrected and so forth. Last updated: July 16, 2010. CAPSULE Okay, not actually reviewing actual toys yet. But based on the fundamental idea of Power Core Combiners, and seeing them in package, I am favorably disposed towards the line. It takes an idea that's always been a bit expensive for Transformers and makes it a little less so, giving the play pattern of combiners without requiring quite so much shelf space. Obviously, the actual execution may fall short of this, but you should be aware that I'm going in with a bias in favor of PCC rather than the "oh, this is stupid" attitude any line is greeted with by some of the fandom (not always the same "some" mind you). "RANT" To the best of my knowledge, Power Core Combiners are a non-show line that, along with Generations and the tail end of the Revenge of the Fallen toys, will fill the gap until Transformers: Prime gets underway. While it's possible we'll see comics or other official fiction, it appears that this will be a "what you see on the package is what you get" storyline. The toys will be available in two price points, the Deluxe ($10-12) and Voyager ($20-22) size, although they're not labeled as such on the packages. All of them contain one Commander figure, which is Scout-sized. The Commander Class sets have a Commander and a Mini-Con that quadruple-changes between robot, robot weapon, vehicle weapon and combiner chest armor (which, ironically, can't be worn by the Commanders that come with the first two Combiner sets). The Combiner sets have four drones that auto-transform to either arm or leg (but arms are only arms, they can't pull double duty as legs) when attached to pegs on the Commander. Commanders are triple changers, with vehicle, robot and torso modes...pretty much like the old Scramble City style leaders (although without the base mode). Any Commander can use any set of drones, and later waves redeco figures and play mix and match, for instance giving a mix of four recolored drones to a redeco of Huffer (a Commander Class figure). The Premise: It's combination time! There's elements of "Scramble City" style G1 combiner teams (i.e. the original Aerialbots and Combaticons), plus a dash of Energon Optimus Prime with the drone limbs. Energon Optimus Prime was an interesting idea at the time, but tying it to a $40 toy made it hard to go beyond a single toy. Being scaled down like this lets them sell a bunch of sets for lots of mix and match. It's not as versatile as Mugenbine (something that early descriptions of PCC sounded like), but it's an interesting idea nonetheless. With the movie and Generations lines holding down the main trademarks, there's a lot of new names here, or more obscure trademarks like Huffer or Destron. Most notably, there's no Optimus Prime, no Megatron. None of the Big Names. The Commanders and Mini-Cons get names, but they decided that the drones didn't need trademarkable names. Maybe they decided kids would be confused by vehicles that didn't become robots still having names. In my fanon, of course, these are all Micromasters who had a reaction to a Nucleon variant and lost their robot modes, but were re-engineered using Power Core technology to at least combine with unaffected bots. My reviews will include recycled Micromaster names for the limbs where I can find good ones...or other names otherwise. ;) The Toys: I will use the term "PCC Connector" or "PCC peg" in reviews to refer to the blue truncated-square-cross-section pegs that all Commanders have stowed somewhere for the purpose of snapping drones onto them in combined mode. "PCC ports" are the square holes in the drones that accept the pegs. This is the new standardized connection gimmick for the line, although most of them also have what I call "dead hardpoints" for Mini-Cons. Dead because they don't activate any gimmicks, but they're not just 5mm pegs, they have the hole down the center that will let any Mini-Con connect. "Powerlinx connectors" or "Mini-Con connectors" or sometimes "Mini-Con ports" refer to the "hole with peg in the middle" bits on a Mini-Con that let them connect to a hardpoint. Some of the PCC Mini-Cons merely have 5mm holes rather than Powerlinx connectors, so they can't be used to activate old Armada toys, but it's impressive that they've retained such backwards compatibility on most of the line. All Commanders have a set of four PCC connectors for combination with drones, even the ones that aren't sold with drones. Not all Commanders have hardpoints, despite the fact that chest hardpoints are intended for attachment of the armor mode of Mini-Cons to a combined form. So far, it appears that the toys initially sold as 2-pack Commanders have hardpoints (all of which are designed to fold out of the way when not in use), while those initially sold as 5-pack Commanders do not. This does mean that when they re-release Skyburst and Bombshock in new decos as 2-pack commanders, they won't be able to fully use their new Mini-Con partners. Additionally, all drones appear to have dead hardpoints, so you can give them power-ups or have the combiner mode bristle with Mini-Cons like Armada Megatron on a bender. The drones all have PCC slots or sockets into which the blue pegs go. When pegged onto a PCC connector, the drone auto-transforms into either an arm or a leg, but not both. Springs hold the drones in vehicle mode otherwise, and they will not stay in limb mode on their own (although you can hold them there by hand). Conversely, when plugged in as limbs, they cannot change back to vehicle mode without breaking something internally. The net effect is that drone arms will probably all lack elbow joints, although some (like Chopper Drone) may have bits that can be moved to give opening hands. Leg drones also lack articulation potential, but since they attach below the knee joints of the combiner, that's not a big deal, as all you lose is ankle joints and not all Voyagers even have those. All Mini-Cons seem to be made with heavy use of clear plastic, for reasons that the packaging doesn't explain. Each has four modes: robot, robot weapon, vehicle weapon, armor up. There's no official vehicle mode for any of them, although some can be made to look vaguely like vehicles. Mind you, they tend to look vaguely like weapons too...you can't get quad-changing at this scale without losing some detail. The vehicle weapon modes are meant to be attached to the Commander's vehicle mode, or to a drone, or mounted to a hardpoint on a combined Power Up Mode. The armor up mode is essentially a chestplate for the Commander, so that the Commander doesn't need a special second chest to look good as a combiner. The Commanders initially designed as Combiner Commanders tend to lack a chest connection for armor mode, since they already have second chests built in. Mind you, in some of those cases the armor mode Mini-Con could work as a shield instead. Not all Mini-Cons have proper Mini-Con ports, instead just having 5mm peg holes...so if you want to mix these up with your old Armada toys, not every Mini-Con will work for triggering gimmicks. Storyline Stuff: Here's the blurb seen on the Combiner Class boxes, which may be about as much detail as we get, although the official webpage may have more information later (there's nothing as of July 13, 2010). -- Thought lost long ago, Power Core Combination has recently been rediscovered on Earth. It creates a new breed of powerful AUTOBOT warriors to destroy the DECEPTICONS! * Interchangeable robot combination system! * MINI-CONS (sold separately) and drone vehicles attach to power-up any Commander figure! -- The last bullet point is also on the Commander Class packages. Otherwise, any storyline is gonna have to come from the assembled bio notes. The Packaging: The trade dress is similar to the Hunt for the Decepticons packaging, but in red instead of gold on the armor plating patterns. There's no difference in shape between Autobot and Decepticon packaging, faction logos are simply printed rather than die-cut. The Commander blisters do have molded faction symbols, though. The Power Core Combiners logo is mainly yellow and silver with blue lettering and borders. It's laid out with POWER and CORE flanking a head-on combiner peg (truncated square with round hole) all on a yellow background, then under it is COMBINERS on a silver background. Below the PCC logo is the individual toy name on a black band. The main name is in white in "Convoy" font (or a close approximation), then "with" in blue followed by a blue cartouche shape (oval-rectangle thing) with the companion name in yellow. Either the Mini-Con name, or the drone team (i.e. Aerialbots). The Commander Class is called simply "2-Pack" on the co-sells and on the side of the Voyager box, while the Combiner Class is imaginatively enough the "5-Pack". Both kinds of package have co-sells on the bottom: one 2-pack figure on the bottom of each 2-pack, two 2-packs and the other 5-pack on the bottom of the 5-pack box. Bright blue and yellow are the call-out colors of choice. All tech spec numbers are just the attribute followed by a red number on a yellow circle, no bars. All ties are the new paper variety. They have to be untied rather than untwisted, but are trivially easy to cut with any scissors. More environmentally friendly, although not reusable for other stuff. Commander Class packages are like wider versions of Scout blisters, on cards 7.5" (19cm) wide and 8.25" (21cm) tall. The blisters are about the same general shape as the Hunt for the Decepticons blisters, with the same circuit patterns on the sides, 6.5" (16.5cm) wide, 5.25" (13.5cm) tall and 2.25" (6cm) deep. The Transformers main logo is at the top of the card front, with the faction logo nestled in the lower left of it and the transformation difficulty to the upper right of it. They all seem to be Intermediate (level 3 out of 5). The circuit pattern behind the figure is yellowish. The blister insert along the bottom has either artwork or a massively 'shopped photo of the vehicle mode with attached Mini-Con on the left, PCC logo with name to the right. The left side of the insert has the tech spec numbers... that's right, they're no longer on the backing card, so more paper to save. The right side of the insert has the faction logo. The back of the card has the last storyline bullet in the upper right on a blue background and the character/Mini-Con name across the upper left, the faction symbol next to the hanger hook. The robot mode is on one side, holding the Mini-Con in robot weapon mode. The other side has the vehicle mode with Mini-Con in vehicle weapon mode. The Mini-Con in robot mode is in the upper part of the cardback wherever it'll fit, with the bio note next to the Mini-Con's robot mode. The torso mode of the Commander and the chest armor mode of the Mini-Con are not shown, although text on the back alludes to them. The three Mini-Con modes are connected by light blue lines to a lozenge- enclosed label "MINI-CON". In the center bottom is a call-out box proclaiming "4 MINI-CON MODES!" and listing vehicle, robot, robot weapon and power-up armor. "Vehicle" mode is actually a vehicle-mounted weapon rather than an independent vehicle, although a few of them could pass as vehicles on their own, more or less. Instructions are folded up between outer blister and inner tray on the bottom, as usual for blister carded Transformers. As with Hunt for the Decepticons, there's no tape anymore, just glue. The inner tray is actually two trays, a clear plastic one for the Commander and a clear light blue one for the Mini-Con. Combiners come in window boxes 10.5" (27cm) wide, 10" (25cm) tall and 2.5" (6cm) deep, with a shallow corner cut off the upper right. The Transformers logo is across the top, the PCC logo and set name along the bottom. The left side of the front has artwork of the combiner mode. The window shows the Commander in robot mode, surrounded by his four drones in vehicle mode. The lower right has the faction symbol and a note to check the right side panel for combination notes. The right side panel has a blue box with the storyline blurb from above. A yellow box on the lower half has silhouettes of both package types (labeled "2 PACK" and "5 PACK") with the text "YOU CAN COLLECT (2 PACK) + (5 PACK) TO CREATE DOZENS OF UNIQUE COMBINATIONS!" The left panel has more of the combiner art (the right shoulder and arm, generally), plus the bio note and techspec numbers. The back is dominated by a photo of the combined mode, labeled "Commander Power-Up Mode" with a call-out below tht saying "5 VEHICLES COMBINE! Drones automatically convert to Power-Up Mode limbs!" on a yellow box. Surrounding the Power-Up Mode are photos of the drones in vehicle modes, limned in light blue outlines with lines drawn from them to blue dots on their limb mode. The arms are in the upper corners, leg drones in the lower corners. The middle left has the commander's vehicle mode and the middle right has his robot mode, both limned in yellow with lines converging on a dot on the combiner's...pelvis. Oookay. Each drone is labeled things like "Chopper Drone" or "Fighter Jet Drone". The commander's vehicle mode is not named, it's just "Commander Vehicle Mode". The inner tray is corrugated cardboard as usual for boxed TFs. The background pattern is the same circuitry pattern used on the 2-pack cards, in the same pale yellow as on the Commander class. The Commander figure is in a separate clear tray, the drones in a colored (blue in the case of the Aerialbots and Combaticons, probably going to always have the "support figures" in blue given the consistency with the 2-packs) tray so they can swap out packaging innards when they play redeco swap and put a Commander mold piece with a different drone tray. The instructions are folded up behind the tray. Fanon Stuff: There are no functions or mottos, so I will be providing them myself, as has been my wont. As mentioned above, I will also be providing names for the drones, based on Micromasters where I can find a good match. I may mix Autobots and Decepticons, who's to say one didn't change sides in exchange for getting the Power Core process? :) I might also drag in Mini-Con names. Here's my fanon explanation for giving the drones names: they're not drones, they're Micromasters and Mini-Cons suffering from mode-lock due to one of the Plot Device weapons deployed at some point in the war. While Power Core technology cannot restore their robot modes, it does unlock the ability to become part of a combiner. The techspecs for the 5-pack toys do not include any adjustments for Power Up Mode. So here's a suggestion for finding new tech spec numbers for combiners, including any build-your-owns. Mind you, I'm working on the assumption that the techspec numbers given are for the Commander alone, and not meant to be the Power Up numbers. Bombshock's high numbers would tend to lend credence to the idea that those are how he does with all the Combaticons attached. But then it takes more math to roll your own by adding new drones to a Commander...although if you want to do that, just invert the guidelines below to find the "bare" numbers for a Commander, then add new numbers for a new set of drones. Start with Commander's numbers, add +2 STR, +2 END, -2 SPD. If their base COUR is less than 5, make it 5 (figure they get at least a little bravery from being powered up). For every two obviously combat-oriented drones (as in, they have guns), add +1 FRB. For every two aerial mode drones, add +1 SPD and -1 END (they tend to be fragile). If both legs are from "speedy" ground vehicles, add +1 SPD. If both arms are from "brawny" vehicles, add +1 STR. For every two armored military vehicle drones, add +1 END. After all adjustments, anything that has been raised above 10 drops to 10, anything lowered below 1 becomes 1. So, for example, Skyburst has four aerial mode drones, three of which are clearly combat oriented, none of which could really be called heavily armored or brawny. So he gets +2 STR, +0 END, +0 SPD, +1 FRB (the third combat vehicle doesn't add anything) in Power Up Mode. Keep in mind, though, techspec numbers have never really been very game-like, or considered scale very well. G2 Windrazor's STR 10 shouldn't make him as strong as Bruticus, for instance. That's one of the reasons my giant robot RPG RoboMACs (available at rpgnow.com, plug plug) has a Scale attribute. Were I making stats for PCC in RoboMACs, the drones wouldn't improve a Commander's Traits, they'd just boost his Scale number by one and make everything work better across the board. Shifting gears a bit ("Hey, quit it!" Sorry, Gears), on looking at the techspecs for the 2-packs, I suspect those numbers are meant to be with the inclusion of the Mini-Cons. So rather than coming up with addition, I'll do subtraction for when the Mini-Con is not available. Given the drama-driven plot-devicey nature of Transformers, there's no need to split this up into "must be attached" or "merely has to be in the area," since if they're at all available they can generally connect (in a piece of stock footage) in time to do what needs to be done. Since all the 2-pack Commanders can keep their Mini-Cons when wearing someone else's drones, just add the combiner adjustments from above to the package numbers. First off, since the Mini-Con is the Commander's main weapon, either FRB or STR will be lost if it's missing (STR represents melee damage as well). -1 STR for each melee mode, -1 FRB for each ranged weapon mode. Sometimes it'll be a judgement call on my part whether a random shape counts as a melee or ranged weapon. The bio note will be the guide to any other losses. If any ability is mentioned as being improved by the Mini-Con, get -1 to the relevant stat. So, Backwind gives Searchlight the ability to operate longer at peak efficiency, and therefore Searchlight is -1 END until he gets his wind back (yes, I know Backwind is supposed to be pronounced back-wined). Dave Van Domelen, seems to be updating this every time he opens a toy, if not more often.