Review #45: Asian Exclusive Combaticons
Where did May go? Most of it seems to have slipped on by... But I should hopefully have time to get in a few reviews. Remember my last review, Ultra Class Onslaught? And how I said it was a prelude to later reviews? Well, here we are. A different version of Onslaught, and this time he brought some friends along!
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In the good ol' days of Generation One, Onslaught was the leader of the Combaticons, one of the "Scramble City" style combiner teams. Onslaught was a truck with an anti-aircraft battery, and his team was made up of Brawl (a tank), Blast Off (a space shuttle), Swindle (a Jeep-like personnel transport), and Vortex (a helicopter). Now, you might have noticed in the pictures above that there are only three unique vehicles with two of them repeated. For that, I suppose I'll have to delve a bit into the history of these molds.
The molds originated in a series called Transformers: Energon, where they were intended to be homages to the original Combaticons... but not the same characters. They were characters in a different continuity, with different names.
At the time that they were produced, apparently Hasbro was keen to make some new combiner characters, but only had enough space left in their budget that year for about ten new molds. So they had to make a decision: Do they make two combiners comprised of five distinct molds each, or do they make three combiners, comprised of three distinct molds each?
As you can probably surmise, they went with three combiners comprised of three distinct molds. For the Energon characters, I'd say that made good sense. It allowed them to have a more diverse line-up of combiners, and was a good use of the molds.
Then versions of these figures were released in more recent lines. There was a gift set in the Universe line, packaging all five figures together, recolored to be a "Classics" style homage to the G1 Combaticons. Then came a release in the Revenge of the Fallen line that was pretty much just a repackaged version of the Universe version. But now comes a new release, intended to be exclusive to non-Japanese Asian markets, that sought to recolor these figures again to be even closer to how the G1 figures looked. So, how well does these versions of these toys fair? Well... let us take a look at them!
The molds originated in a series called Transformers: Energon, where they were intended to be homages to the original Combaticons... but not the same characters. They were characters in a different continuity, with different names.
At the time that they were produced, apparently Hasbro was keen to make some new combiner characters, but only had enough space left in their budget that year for about ten new molds. So they had to make a decision: Do they make two combiners comprised of five distinct molds each, or do they make three combiners, comprised of three distinct molds each?
As you can probably surmise, they went with three combiners comprised of three distinct molds. For the Energon characters, I'd say that made good sense. It allowed them to have a more diverse line-up of combiners, and was a good use of the molds.
Then versions of these figures were released in more recent lines. There was a gift set in the Universe line, packaging all five figures together, recolored to be a "Classics" style homage to the G1 Combaticons. Then came a release in the Revenge of the Fallen line that was pretty much just a repackaged version of the Universe version. But now comes a new release, intended to be exclusive to non-Japanese Asian markets, that sought to recolor these figures again to be even closer to how the G1 figures looked. So, how well does these versions of these toys fair? Well... let us take a look at them!
The first figure we look at will be Onslaught. This figure, in his vehicle mode, is an armored military vehicle with a rear-mounted missile rack. The missile rack can rotate and be elevated.
It is quite stubby looking, especially when one remembers the long vehicle that his G1 version was, but is overall an effective looking mode... if one ignores the very visible head you can see when looking at this mode from the side. |
And onto Onslaught's robot mode!
Onslaught (and all of these other toys) are obviously re-uses of old molds, with no remolding and only changes in color. Thus they are not the most faithful "Classics" style homages of G1 characters... but with their new color schemes they still manage to pull off their homages decently. Well... Three of them do. And Onslaught is one of those three. Yes, he's not a perfect update of his G1 self, but he is close enough for my toy shelf. His articulation is pretty decent. His head swivels 360 degrees, his shoulders rotate 360 degrees and have a second joint for outward motion. There is a rotation joint above the elbows, and then a pivot at the elbows themselves. The lower body has tight ratcheting joints in the waist and hips, and also bending knees. There are only two complaints I would have with Onslaught. One would be that... well... he's the leader of the Combaticons! "Combat" is in their name! Yet he has no weapons. (Unless, of course, you count the missiles molded into his feet.) The other complaint would be his massive, massive backpack. It fortunately doesn't throw him off balance when standing... But it sure looks awkward from angles where you can see it. |
Next up are the pair of helicopters, Vortex (the blue one) and Swindle (the brown one). These are a very good pair of helicopters, but here we run into an unfortunate (and unavoidable) problem with this set... Swindle is not a helicopter!
If we do our best to ignore that... Then we have a very nice pair of helicopters that have good color schemes evocative of the G1 figures they homage. They each have an odd clear orange thingy plugged into the top of their vehicles. This is an artifact of their Energon origins, and can be left off the figures if you dislike how they look. |
The landing skids on the helicopters (which are also the weapons for robot mode) were, in all past uses of this mold, made of clear plastic. I know there are those out there who don't mind (or even actively like) excessive use of clear plastic where it isn't necessary. As you can probably guess from the tone of that last statement, I am not a fan of such things. I don't mind clear plastic where it makes sense, like in windows or in energy weapons (such as Optimus Prime's axe), but I find gratuitous use of clear plastic... well, kind of tacky looking. Thus, I am very glad that these molds were finally given a release with these parts in solid plastic.
The main rotor and stabilizing rotor are both rotatable. Of course, it would be almost unforgivable if this wasn't the case.
The main rotor and stabilizing rotor are both rotatable. Of course, it would be almost unforgivable if this wasn't the case.
Vortex is a nice update to his G1 counterpart. He didn't originally have a cockpit tummy... but it looks nice here. (Well, it looks a bit chubby from certain angles, but not obnoxiously so.)
Artwork and stock photography show his gun all as one piece (with five barrels!) but I prefer to give him a bit more to hold onto by splitting off a bit of it to put in his other hand. Swindle... Well, he's a Swindle-colored Vortex. Very nicely colored, but still a mold that seems ill suited to this character. Articulation is quite good on these guys. The head swivels 360 degrees, the shoulders and elbows are ball joints, the waist swivels, and the hips and knees are ball joints. These guys are very poseable. |
And finally the pair of tanks. The bodies of the tanks are decent, realistic looking vehicles. The turrets are a bit exaggerated, but terribly so. The turrets can rotate 360 degrees, and the guns on them can be raised upwards. The front of the turrets can have those same orange thingies that we previously saw on the helicopters plugged into them. The tanks treads are well sculpted, non-articulated, molded in detail (as is almost always the case on Transformers tanks) with wheels underneath for them to roll on.
Brawl (the green one) has a very nice color scheme which is quite evocative of his G1 self. (A familiar sounding comment on some of these figures, I am sure.) Blast Off... Well, to mirror my comment on Swindle, Blast Off is just a brown Brawl. Yeah. |
As a side note, the grey guns on the top of the turrets on each of these figures are the robot mode weapons. Thus, much like with the helicopter molds, in all earlier uses of these molds these pieces were done in all clear plastics. Once again, I much prefer them in solid colors.
Now, onto robot mode!
Now, onto robot mode!
These figures aren't quite as nice as the other figures in this set... The feet look big and flat, which does give them nice balance for the figure to stand on... but would be much nicer looking if they had more meat on them. Also, one can't help but take notice that the tank treads just hang off of the figure's backs. Granted, in the G1 days, Brawl had a whole turret just stuck on his back... but somehow, that doesn't seem as bad as this. One can't help but think that the treads could somehow have better been incorporated into the robot mode.
That being said, while it is in my opinion the weakest of the three molds, it still isn't a bad mold. They have similar excellent articulation to the helicopter mold, with swiveling heads and waists, and ball jointed shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The joint in the ankle, intended for transformation, also adds to poseablilty. |
This mold features a chunk jutting out of the robot mode chests, which looks kind of awkward from a flat side view, but doesn't catch the eye too poorly from other angles.
These are definitely the best armed of the Combaticons, since the barrels from the sides of the tank's turrets are now on the sides of the robots arms, the grey piece from the top of the turrets become a large, hand held weapon, and to (almost literally) top it off, they have guns on the sides of their heads!
Coloring on these figures is very nice -- especially on Blast Off! His colors really pop in robot mode, making for a good looking figure. Alas, when it comes to this figure being Blast Off, while he has the right colors for it, I cannot help but have the same feeling I had with Swindle. This figure isn't Blast Off, he's just a recolored Brawl.
But I'll talk more about that in my final thoughts. Before that, though, let us take a look at all five figures together in robot mode.
These are definitely the best armed of the Combaticons, since the barrels from the sides of the tank's turrets are now on the sides of the robots arms, the grey piece from the top of the turrets become a large, hand held weapon, and to (almost literally) top it off, they have guns on the sides of their heads!
Coloring on these figures is very nice -- especially on Blast Off! His colors really pop in robot mode, making for a good looking figure. Alas, when it comes to this figure being Blast Off, while he has the right colors for it, I cannot help but have the same feeling I had with Swindle. This figure isn't Blast Off, he's just a recolored Brawl.
But I'll talk more about that in my final thoughts. Before that, though, let us take a look at all five figures together in robot mode.
A decent looking group. And hey, since the tank mold's robots are so well armed, they can loan their hand held guns to Onslaught!
For the group as a whole... Well, I understand they had to work with pre-existing figures, two of which were repeated molds. And I understand why, in the toyline these figures originate from, they had to repeat the molds. So I really can't come down too hard on this set having repeated molds. Yes, in my ideal dream world, this would not be the case. But Takara did the best with what they had. The recolors are very well done, and really bring to mind the color schemes of the G1 figures this set is paying homage to.
Really, knowing that they had to work with these molds, I would only have one criticism -- the choice of which figures were used for Swindle and Blast Off. In the original Combaticons, Swindle was a ground vehicle. So now he's a helicopter? And Blast Off was an air vehicle. (Okay, a space shuttle... So I suppose technically he doesn't need air!) So now he's a tank? If they'd made Swindle the tank and Blast Off the helicopter... They still wouldn't be perfect, by far. But it would certainly at least kind of make sense.
Anyway... this is a combining group, right? Yes, it is! So let us take a look at the Combaticon's gestalt form, Bruticus! First, get everything ready for the combination...
For the group as a whole... Well, I understand they had to work with pre-existing figures, two of which were repeated molds. And I understand why, in the toyline these figures originate from, they had to repeat the molds. So I really can't come down too hard on this set having repeated molds. Yes, in my ideal dream world, this would not be the case. But Takara did the best with what they had. The recolors are very well done, and really bring to mind the color schemes of the G1 figures this set is paying homage to.
Really, knowing that they had to work with these molds, I would only have one criticism -- the choice of which figures were used for Swindle and Blast Off. In the original Combaticons, Swindle was a ground vehicle. So now he's a helicopter? And Blast Off was an air vehicle. (Okay, a space shuttle... So I suppose technically he doesn't need air!) So now he's a tank? If they'd made Swindle the tank and Blast Off the helicopter... They still wouldn't be perfect, by far. But it would certainly at least kind of make sense.
Anyway... this is a combining group, right? Yes, it is! So let us take a look at the Combaticon's gestalt form, Bruticus! First, get everything ready for the combination...
Then put it all together to form Bruticus!
It sure ain't G1 Bruticus, and doesn't even really have anything that is extremely evocative of things that people might consider signatures of Bruticus's look. But, as previously noted, Takara was working with pre-existing figures, and within those confines I think they did a decent job. It is in the combined mode that my relief over the individual bot's weapons are no longer clear plastic is strongest. Since the weapons are used to make the hands and feet, if they were clear plastic those hands and feet would have also been clear. And that would just not suit my likes at all. Anyway, this is a half-way decent combined mode. It has okay (but not super) articulation. The head swivels. The shoulders rotate 360 degrees and can raise upward. The waist and hips are the same joints as Onslaught's. There's a rotation just above the knees, and then the knees bend backwards. The figure has no elbows. But even with this glaring omission, you can get a few decent poses out of him. |
He has no accessories such as weapons to hold in this mode. Much like with Onslaught, a bit of a disappointment when considering a group of figures with "combat" right in their team name. But, I suppose it isn't like their hands would have been able to hold anything, anyway. Besides which, since his hands are made of guns, I suppose he could just point his fingers at you and shoot you.
In the G1 days, Bruticus was a "Scramble City" style combiner, meaning that the four smaller robots who formed the limbs were interchangeable. They had an official layout, but you didn't have to stick with it. What was supposed to be the left leg... well, you could make it the right arm, instead! Made for some nice added play value. And this was a feature that the Energon combiners had as well, making a nice additional homage with these figures to their G1 equivalent. Below are a few photos of some alternate combinations, one with tank arms and helicopter legs and another with helicopter arms and tank legs. My personal opinion on the hands and feet made out of the weapons are that they are kind of weak... possibly the weakest part of these figures all together. But, if one has a choice, I think the tanks make for better feet and the helicopters make for better hands.
In the G1 days, Bruticus was a "Scramble City" style combiner, meaning that the four smaller robots who formed the limbs were interchangeable. They had an official layout, but you didn't have to stick with it. What was supposed to be the left leg... well, you could make it the right arm, instead! Made for some nice added play value. And this was a feature that the Energon combiners had as well, making a nice additional homage with these figures to their G1 equivalent. Below are a few photos of some alternate combinations, one with tank arms and helicopter legs and another with helicopter arms and tank legs. My personal opinion on the hands and feet made out of the weapons are that they are kind of weak... possibly the weakest part of these figures all together. But, if one has a choice, I think the tanks make for better feet and the helicopters make for better hands.
Size comparison time, continuing the Doctor Who theme!
So, my final thoughts. The Asian Exclusive Bruticus. If you are looking to have the Combaticons in your "Classics" style collection, this is probably your best choice. Especially because of the repeated molds (which was not a problem with their original Energon versions, but becomes an issue when trying to make a more direct G1 homage) this isn't a perfect set of figures, but it sure is as close as you are going to get to it while sticking with an official release. I might have chosen a bit differently on what molds to use for which character when assigning the G1 names to these molds... but it is what it is, I suppose, and at least they did a damn good job with this release in giving proper color pallets to the various characters. |
So yeah, for what it is, a very fine effort. Recommended! (At least, recommended to those who can afford the cost of an imported set of figures.) If only there was a way to replace the repeated molds...
Review added 22 May by Yotsuya. Please comment!