Review #6: "Classics" Inferno & Grapple - Mold Mates
(Universe Inferno with TFC Toys "Gear of War" parts and
Reveal the Shield Solar Storm Grappel)
Transformers cost money to develop. Often, it is a big money saver on the part of the manufacturer to reuse a mold by slapping a new coat of paint (or different coloured plastic) on it and / or changing a few details in the mold. This was often the case in the G1 days, and one example was the characters of Inferno (a fire truck) and Grapple (a construction vehicle). When these characters received a modern update, they again shared a basic mold with changes in colour and detail. Lets take a look at them together to see both how good these figures are and how they compare to one another.
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In vehicle mode, the obvious difference is obviously the implement attached to the top of the vehicle. As a construction vehicle, Grapple (or "Solar Storm Grappel" as this version of the toy was named) has a crane with a hook attached to the front. (Out of the box, the hook is coloured the same yellow as the rest of Grapple's plastic, some silver Sharpie work helps it stand out nicely.) Inferno is seen here with a ladder. This is, alas, not how he came out of the box.
Originally, Inferno featured a large water cannon. I suppose this added more play value for children, as the "water" was a firable missle. This cannon was actually a call back to an earlier Inferno toy, Inferno's G2 incarnation. That toy did indeed come with a big cannon that actually squirted water. Then the cannon was not to the exclusion of the ladder, however, and clipped to it.
Call me a nostalgic fool, but I much prefer that my Inferno feature a ladder and look more like his G1 self. Third party manufacturer TFC Toys came to the rescue with the "Gear of War" accessory set, one part of which was a ladder for Inferno. It does, alas, say "TFC Toys Fire Rescue" on the side of it. I could have done without the "TFC Toys" part promanantly visable on the side of the ladder, but it is small print so not too bad from a distance. |
Both of these figures feature Reprolabels. In Inferno's case, his stickers are part of the "Classics Autobots" set that we previoulsy saw some of on Classics Voyager Class Optimus Prime. In this case, Inferno gets a better looking faction sticker (there was previously just a painted white faction symbol), chrome on the bumper and grill, some detail on the side mirrors, and a red divider line breaking up the windshield into two pieces. In an interesting inversion of things sometimes looking better in person then how they photograph, the stripe looks like it matches Inferno's red plastic pretty well in the above photos, but I must admit that to the naked eye it sometimes looks a bit lighter in colour. There's also stickers providing much better looking colour for the headlights, but the headlight stickers alas don't stick well. Any time I handle the figure, I usually find myself pressing those stickers back down. It wouldn't surprise me if they might eventually fall off. He also came with a licence plate sticker bearing his name.
Grapple had a dedicated sticker set, much of which was inspired by the set that had previously been made for Inferno. Once again, he gets bumper stickers, although one of them is yellow and black stripes rather then chrome. Don't fret, however! That would be detail authentic to his G1 incarnation. He also shares the grill chrome (although with unique detailing to help him be a bit distinct from Inferno), the side mirror details, and the stripe to break up his windshield. His windshield sticker does colour-match his plastic much better. He also has similar headlight stickers with similar worries about them staying on. Other Grapple-unique stickers are an additional piece of striping on his side (the bits at the front and back of the sides are painted on, while the "V" shaped part in the middle of each side is a sticker), some tail lights, chrome accents for the light bars, and three options for licence plates. One, of course, would be "Grapple." Another reads, "Hauler," who was a character seen only in the opening story of the G1 cartoon. He was never seen in robot mode, but as a vehicle was identical to Grapple. Finally, there is an option for the amusingly named, "Erector," who was a late G1 figure only similar to Grapple in that he was a yellow crane. The Erector sticker would not make sense to me to use, but it was nice of Reprolabels to include it. In my case, since I wanted to try and complete a "Classics Season One" collection, I went with the "Hauler" licence plate. (Hauler, as said, was in the opening story where as Grapple didn't enter the show until the second season.) Finally, Grapple aquired a faction symbol. As he was part of the "Reveal the Shield" line, he originally only had a rub symbol. The rub symbol is also still on the toy, although I relocated it to his leg as will be visible when we are looking at the robot mode.
Grapple had a dedicated sticker set, much of which was inspired by the set that had previously been made for Inferno. Once again, he gets bumper stickers, although one of them is yellow and black stripes rather then chrome. Don't fret, however! That would be detail authentic to his G1 incarnation. He also shares the grill chrome (although with unique detailing to help him be a bit distinct from Inferno), the side mirror details, and the stripe to break up his windshield. His windshield sticker does colour-match his plastic much better. He also has similar headlight stickers with similar worries about them staying on. Other Grapple-unique stickers are an additional piece of striping on his side (the bits at the front and back of the sides are painted on, while the "V" shaped part in the middle of each side is a sticker), some tail lights, chrome accents for the light bars, and three options for licence plates. One, of course, would be "Grapple." Another reads, "Hauler," who was a character seen only in the opening story of the G1 cartoon. He was never seen in robot mode, but as a vehicle was identical to Grapple. Finally, there is an option for the amusingly named, "Erector," who was a late G1 figure only similar to Grapple in that he was a yellow crane. The Erector sticker would not make sense to me to use, but it was nice of Reprolabels to include it. In my case, since I wanted to try and complete a "Classics Season One" collection, I went with the "Hauler" licence plate. (Hauler, as said, was in the opening story where as Grapple didn't enter the show until the second season.) Finally, Grapple aquired a faction symbol. As he was part of the "Reveal the Shield" line, he originally only had a rub symbol. The rub symbol is also still on the toy, although I relocated it to his leg as will be visible when we are looking at the robot mode.
In addition to the obvious colour differences, there were some signifigant changes made to the mold when 2009's Inferno mold was altered to produce 2011's Grapple. In vehicle mode, other then the obvious substitution of the crane in place of the water cannon, the main noticable difference is this panel on the side of the vehicle. There are some other signifigant differences as well, which we will see more when we get to Robot mode.
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The vehicle modes should be excellent children's toys. They'e solidly built, and in my experience both fire trucks and construction vehicles can be popular play things. Inferno's a few years old now, so may be harder to find if you are just looking for a child's toy. You may still have some luck with Grapple, however. For nostalgic adult collecters, especially with the ladder added these are excellent updates of thr G1 vehicles.
Now, shall we look at some robots?
Now, shall we look at some robots?
A relitively simple transformation leaves us with little kibble other then the panels that hang over the shoulders, but those do not interfere with the figure in any way. Inferno's water cannon becomes an underslung weapon while Grapple's crane arm becomes... some kind of battering ram? I'm not a fan of that as a weapon, but I really like how the crane arm looks posed behind the figure's back, even if that limits the posability of the figure's right arm.
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Meanwhile, Inferno's latter can be attached to the figure's right arm for storage in robot mode, and the chrome nozel that was at the front of the ladder in vehicle mode here attaches to the hand to form a "drill hand" similar to that that the original Grapple and Inferno figures could sport. (Because of mold differences here, this version of Grapple cannot use this accessory.) There is a little post inside that Inferno is supposed to be able to hold onto, but the drill hand is very tight (it has been speculated that the designers forgot to account for the chrome when sizing these pieces) and he is unable to do so. Yet because of that very tightness, this is not a problem as friction holds it in place over the fist just fine.
Theoretically, the water cannon could still be wielded by Inferno as a weapon even with the ladder slung onto his arm, but as a personal preference I chose to give him a hand held weapon that was one of three missle launchers that was also included with the Gear of War accessory set. Identical except for colour and with interchangable pieces, that particular accessory features more promanantly with the character of Red Alert so we will look more closely with it there. Suffice to say that with Inferno, I chose to give him a mostly red gun with a black tip.
Theoretically, the water cannon could still be wielded by Inferno as a weapon even with the ladder slung onto his arm, but as a personal preference I chose to give him a hand held weapon that was one of three missle launchers that was also included with the Gear of War accessory set. Identical except for colour and with interchangable pieces, that particular accessory features more promanantly with the character of Red Alert so we will look more closely with it there. Suffice to say that with Inferno, I chose to give him a mostly red gun with a black tip.
Alas, because of mold differences, Grapple is unable to wield a similar weapon. The two figures have completely different forarms and hands. Inferno's are more blocky with a closed fist. The fist has a 5mm hole in it that would hold most modern Transformers weapons, and rotates at the wrist. The panel on the side rotates during transformation to allow the fist to extend further past it. Grapple, meanwhile, has a more rounded forarm, an open hand that as lamented wouldn't be much good for holding things, a fixed wrist, and a fixed panel on the side that extends further down past the wrist. Grapple's arm is certainly a bit more asthetically pleasing in my opinion, but Inferno's wins by being more versatile.
The two figures also have different head sculpts and, as seen below, different feet. |
Other then the aformentioned wrist difference, articulation is identical. The heads are on ball joints. The shoulders can twist 360° or lift to the side about 90°. There's a swivel joint in the upper arm, and the elbow can bend 90°. The legs can move apart slightly at the hips and there's a swivel joint that can go bakwards and forwards by a decent range there as well. The legs also twist 360° both right above the hip joint and right below the knee joint. The knee bends back about 90°. Finally, the ankles have some limited posability to allow the feet to remain flat to the ground in most poses. All in all, decent posability and no complaints other then it would have been nice if when they redesigned the arms for Grapple, they hadn't removed the wrist posability.
Reprolabels adds few additional details above what was added to the vehicles. With Inferno, we get some white accents to the fins that are on either side of his head. With Grapple, we get some detail that usually you will have to peer inside his chest windows to see... schematics for the "Solar Power Tower" that the character designed in the G1 cartoon episode, "The Master Builders." (Yes, I know... he has a licence plate identifying him as Hauler, while sporting a sticker referencing an episode promanantly featuring Grapple. Um... maybe in my personal canon, "Hauler" was just a nickname Grapple was trying out shortly after they awoke on Earth, but by the time he apeared again in season two, he'd decided it hadn't been working for him? Or Hauler was his identical twin brother who sadly died before season two, and Grapple's licence plate was in tribute? Yeah, that's the answer! Now let's move on!) I suspect this may have also been the inspiration for Hasbro's awkward name for the figure... Well, at least for the "Solar Storm," part. As far as "Grappel," I can only suspect that their spell checker was on vacation that day.
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Size comparison! Here are Inferno and Grapple hanging out with a DVD case. I decided to go with a different case then in the past because... well... I am secure enough in my masculinity to admit that I like Sailor Moon! (Also, as a much thicker case it can stand well on its own, making it easier to photograph.)
These are both really nice figures, sure to be good toys for childern. For adult collectors, they are nicely augmented by the Reprolabels (concerns about the headlight stickers aside) and Inferno is given a good finishing touch thanks to the ladder from the "Gear of War" accessory set. That set currently seems to go for an avarage of $30 - $50 (and may go up in the future if the supply dwindles) and is only worth it if you really want the majority of the accessories within. Keep an eye out for reviews on Red Alert, Mirage, and Soundwave & Minions to see the rest of what is in that set. |
Overall, however, both of these figures are very good. I'd be happy to recomend both of them, as well as recomending the "Gear of War" set to the hardcore adult collector wanting that extra G1 touch.
Review added 16 January 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment!
Review added 16 January 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment!