Review #46: "Classics" Blast Off and Swindle
(Fansproject Explorer and Munitioner)
Plus a whole bunch of added accessories for the other guys!
So. That Asian Exclusive set of Combaticons I recently reviewed. Remember I wished there might be a way to replace two of the limbs, Blast Off and Swindle? Well, take 'em (and the other parts to the left) and chuck 'em! Get rid of 'em, you don't need 'em anymore!
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That's right. Get rid of those two figures, and all of the accessories that came with the other figures. And, while you're at it, pry off the gestalt mode's head. (Yeah, it is intended to be a permanently affixed piece, but it pops off fairly easily.) Why, prey tell, would you be getting rid of all of these? Because... well... Third party manufacturer Fansproject to the rescue! You'll be replacing the accessories with the plethora of new accessories in the photo above and to the right. As for the two figures...
You get two whole new figures! A brand new Blast Off, who is finally the space shuttle he should be, and a brand new Swindle, who is finally the Jeep he should be! Officially, these figures are Explorer (the Blast Off expy) and Munitioner (the Swinlde expy).
This is the second release of these figures. (Well, technically third. But the middle release was as different characters and came with different accessories then the ones pictured above.) The first release was intended to go with the Universe or Revenge of the Fallen versions of the Combaticons, where as this new release was recolored to match better with the Asian Exclusive Combaticons. Unlike the earlier release, where these figures were sold separately and each with half of the accessories, this release was sold as a pair in a single package. |
Now this is what Swindle should look like. A nice Jeep-like vehicle. I've seen some people complain about the yellow and black striping on this release's back end... but yeah, look at the G1 toy. What do you see? Yup.
The gun on his roof is attached via a peg, and thus can be rotated 360 degrees.
This is a beautiful Swindle. Sorry, helicopter-mold wannabe Swindle, your services are no longer required.
The gun on his roof is attached via a peg, and thus can be rotated 360 degrees.
This is a beautiful Swindle. Sorry, helicopter-mold wannabe Swindle, your services are no longer required.
And while we're at it, be gone Blast Off the tank, because Blast Off the space shuttle is here to stay! I suppose a space shuttle might seem a slightly odd choice for a group of military vehicles... but that's what he was in G1, so blame the '80s. Hey, it was a weird time, but it was the decade of my childhood, so I shan't complain. Anyway, with these dark colors, this sure ain't a NASA shuttle. (I miss those... I wish they hadn't retired them without a replacement program in place... But that isn't really a subject for this website.) So he fits in well with his military brethren.
If, for some odd reason, it really bugs you, you could always just try to get the original version of this mold, in which Blast Off was reimagined as an unmanned drone. Identical mold to this one, but with a different deco that did not include any cockpit windows. (The packaging that this Blast Off came in even still identified him as a drone, even though he does clearly now have windows.) I, for one, am more than happy to have him as a manned shuttle.
The only disappointment with Blast Off in vehicle mode is the lack of any wheels for him to roll around on. Not as bad an omission as on, for example, Scavanger and Bonecrusher. After all, space shuttles don't spend a majority of their time rolling around on the ground. But still, their omission is noticeable.
If, for some odd reason, it really bugs you, you could always just try to get the original version of this mold, in which Blast Off was reimagined as an unmanned drone. Identical mold to this one, but with a different deco that did not include any cockpit windows. (The packaging that this Blast Off came in even still identified him as a drone, even though he does clearly now have windows.) I, for one, am more than happy to have him as a manned shuttle.
The only disappointment with Blast Off in vehicle mode is the lack of any wheels for him to roll around on. Not as bad an omission as on, for example, Scavanger and Bonecrusher. After all, space shuttles don't spend a majority of their time rolling around on the ground. But still, their omission is noticeable.
Onto robot modes. Oh my god, is this a beautiful Swindle. Probably the best representation of him ever in plastic. From his grinning head down to his toes, this is one fine looking toy.
Articulation is fantastic. Ball joints are present in his head, shoulders, and elbows. His elbows are actually double jointed, with a second pivoting joint. His waist rotates. His hips have ball joints. There's rotation in his upper legs. His knees bend. His feet have expressive joints in them to allow him to remain flat to the ground in many expressive poses.
Articulation is fantastic. Ball joints are present in his head, shoulders, and elbows. His elbows are actually double jointed, with a second pivoting joint. His waist rotates. His hips have ball joints. There's rotation in his upper legs. His knees bend. His feet have expressive joints in them to allow him to remain flat to the ground in many expressive poses.
Blast Off's mostly dark brown shuttle reveals a robot with a mainly black and purple color scheme. This is very true to his G1 toy. And... well... I'm starting to run out of ways I can think of to say how lovely these toys look. So yeah. Just imagine I said more of the same. The only minor quibble I might have is that the cockpit area looks a bit awkward hanging off of his back end.
His articulation is quite similar to Swindle's, and thus is also excellent. Ball jointed head. Ball jointed shoulders. The shoulders could be potentially slightly hindered by the flared chest, but those bits on the sides of his chest are themselves movable. Between everything, you shouldn't have too much of an issue. The elbows are double jointed, with the lower pair of joints being ball joints. The waist rotates. The hips are ball joints. There's rotation above the knees. The knees can bend, although their joints are very tight. The feet, while not quite as expressive as Swindle's, have poseablity in them as well.
His articulation is quite similar to Swindle's, and thus is also excellent. Ball jointed head. Ball jointed shoulders. The shoulders could be potentially slightly hindered by the flared chest, but those bits on the sides of his chest are themselves movable. Between everything, you shouldn't have too much of an issue. The elbows are double jointed, with the lower pair of joints being ball joints. The waist rotates. The hips are ball joints. There's rotation above the knees. The knees can bend, although their joints are very tight. The feet, while not quite as expressive as Swindle's, have poseablity in them as well.
As for accessories, they each have one that incorporates into their vehicle modes. More obviously, Swindle's roof-mounted gun now becomes a hand held one. A bit less obvious is Blast Off's vehicle mode's tail fin becomes a hand held axe.
They each also have a second hand held weapon, each holding one of the other many accessories seen above. These are used elsewhere when the Combaticons are in vehicle mode, but Blast Off and Swindle are more than happy to wield them as robots. Speaking of all of those other accessories... What the heck are they all for? Well, you didn't think that the other Combaticons weren't going to get some new toys to play with, did you? Shall we take a look and see what Fansproject has done with the other three (non-tossed aside) Combaticons? |
Onslaught, I think, gains the most. His vehicle mode gets greatly expanded length, and instead of a missile battery he now has a large double barreled cannon. The canon can rotate on a nice, ratcheting joint and the cannons can be raised upwards. He does gain some new missile batteries, however, with a set of five on either side of his vehicle's midpoint. (These missiles are certainly not just vaguely disguised hands...)
The added length to the vehicle mold adds some interactivity with Blast Off, as Onslaught can now carry him. |
If you're keen on everything having a place in every mode, there is a large gun that Onslaught holds in robot mode that can be plugged into the side of the cannon turret. This does, however, throw off the symmetry of the vehicle and also can get in the way a bit with the turret's rotation.
Other then the missile pods from the sides of his vehicle mold (which we will see again in a bit) all of Onslaught's added accessories have a use on his robot mode as well. The double barreled cannon becomes a hand held weapon. The other weapon that I mentioned throwing off symmetry above can be held in his other hand. The extensions to the rear of his vehicle mode now get mounted behind his shoulders.
There are a few issues with Onslaught's new robot mode. The main one is that the new head for the gestalt mode makes it so that his backpack doesn't quite peg together and hold in place well. So if you're not careful, his backpack can be a floppy mess. Also, the large shoulder pads limit his arm poseability greatly by making his shoulders almost immobile. This can be solved by simply leaving the shoulder pads off. They certainly aren't essential, and Onslaught does get a significant enough bad-arse upgrade just by virtue of his new hand held weaponry. But if you can find a pose you're happy with where it is possible for him to wear the shoulder pads, their added mass certainly helps make Onslaught more imposing. As an added bonus, the shoulder pads open to reveal missiles within, in a way that is very reminiscent of a Macross Valkyrie in GBP-1S armor. (Hopefully there are one or two of you who know what I'm talking about there! Everyone else, Google is your friend!) Overall, it makes for an Onslaught who seems worthy to lead a group called the Combaticons.
There are a few issues with Onslaught's new robot mode. The main one is that the new head for the gestalt mode makes it so that his backpack doesn't quite peg together and hold in place well. So if you're not careful, his backpack can be a floppy mess. Also, the large shoulder pads limit his arm poseability greatly by making his shoulders almost immobile. This can be solved by simply leaving the shoulder pads off. They certainly aren't essential, and Onslaught does get a significant enough bad-arse upgrade just by virtue of his new hand held weaponry. But if you can find a pose you're happy with where it is possible for him to wear the shoulder pads, their added mass certainly helps make Onslaught more imposing. As an added bonus, the shoulder pads open to reveal missiles within, in a way that is very reminiscent of a Macross Valkyrie in GBP-1S armor. (Hopefully there are one or two of you who know what I'm talking about there! Everyone else, Google is your friend!) Overall, it makes for an Onslaught who seems worthy to lead a group called the Combaticons.
Brawl is the least augmented of this set. He basically gets a pair of guns that replace the no longer used accessory which used to plug into the top of his tank mode. These two guns are nearly identical, and are the guns that one of which we saw Swindle holding above. The other we will see Brawl holding when he becomes a robot.
Vortex, meanwhile, is quite augmented. It is hard to say between him and Onslaught who had more done to him. He gets new skids (which are also big guns), and some great big side mounted missile pods.
How well do Vortex's augmentations work? On one hand, they really make his vehicle mode pop! And when things are arranged just right, he looks very good. On the other hand, however... They make it so that almost nothing in his vehicle mold pegs or tabs together, and everything is basically just held in place with the friction in his joints. So while if everything is arranged properly it looks fantastic, it is a bit more effort to make sure that it is arranged properly. Also, worth note is that the panels on the missile pods that plug into Vortex's sides can be a bit floppy, so again careful arranging is key. This definitely makes Vortex a "stick on the shelf and admire it" kind of toy in his vehicle mode rather then a "play with him" sort of toy. Of course, I'd dare to say that not many people buy a Fansproject set to give it to their children, so probably not a huge problem. Still, annoying enough to mention.
How well do Vortex's augmentations work? On one hand, they really make his vehicle mode pop! And when things are arranged just right, he looks very good. On the other hand, however... They make it so that almost nothing in his vehicle mold pegs or tabs together, and everything is basically just held in place with the friction in his joints. So while if everything is arranged properly it looks fantastic, it is a bit more effort to make sure that it is arranged properly. Also, worth note is that the panels on the missile pods that plug into Vortex's sides can be a bit floppy, so again careful arranging is key. This definitely makes Vortex a "stick on the shelf and admire it" kind of toy in his vehicle mode rather then a "play with him" sort of toy. Of course, I'd dare to say that not many people buy a Fansproject set to give it to their children, so probably not a huge problem. Still, annoying enough to mention.
You may notice that one of the skids is the gun that Blast Off held. The other becomes one of Vortex's weapons in robot mode. Speaking of which... Here they are in robot mode with their new toys!
Vortex gets to keep his missile pods, now having them mounted behind his shoulders. Just note that the aforementioned floppiness in them becomes even worse in this configuration. Getting them to stay straight up is (as is evidenced from the photo to the right) possible, but will take a bit of doing and a bit of frustration.
In addition to their hand held guns that were incorporated into their vehicle modes, the missile pods from the sides of Onslaught's vehicle mode are now seen being hand held. Their hold is a bit awkward, and takes some careful posing to make look good. If they bother you, they can be left off. But it is nice to know that theoretically, everything has a place in every mode. |
Size comparison. More Doctor Who. (By the way, anyone who caught the season finale last weekend... who else is counting the days until November 23rd?)
Fansproject takes a decent set, the Asian Exclusive Combaticons, and makes that set all the more impressive. Most importantly, we now have a Blast Off and Swindle who are truly unique and good representations of their characters rather then just Blast Off and Swindle in name only. And as a bonus, they arm the hell out of their other three teammates, making this set truly combat capable. |
The Asian Exclusive set was a decent representation with what Takara (or Hasbro) had available. And was also, admittedly, the better set for use as a toy. But if you're an adult collector, and if you want a set of Combaticons with less limitations on their design, then Fansproject truly came to the rescue here. This is a set of five figures who look great together and pay excellent homage to their G1 counterparts.
And we haven't even gotten to the best part yet... Yes, they still combine to form Bruticus. Back with that... in my next review! Mwa ha ha ha ha!
Review added 23 May 2013 by Yotsuya. Please comment!
And we haven't even gotten to the best part yet... Yes, they still combine to form Bruticus. Back with that... in my next review! Mwa ha ha ha ha!
Review added 23 May 2013 by Yotsuya. Please comment!