Robotman reborn.

Though Microman birthed the transforming robot explosion of the eighties, it was also a casualty of that explosion. After a decade of innovation, Microman died a quiet death in 1984, never achieving the sort of international devotion enjoyed by the bowdlerized Transformers, Micronauts notwithstanding.

After lying fallow for another fifteen years, Takara resurrected and re-booted the property for the new millennium. Takara meant business, introducing three different toy lines (Replica, LED, and Magne Powers), a Manga series, an anime, and generous amounts of ancillary product. Takara typically excels at reinterpreting its older toys for a new audience. Would this massive gamble work? Ehhhhh.

Reaction to the re-boot was tepid. A new generation of kids with no recollection of the original collectively shrugged. Adult collectors were turned off by the dramatic deviations from classic Microman. The ambitious multi-media blitz limped along without generating any real enthusiasm. The millennial Microman quietly expired.

What about the toys? Exquisite, if sometimes flawed.

Robotman Dean was introduced at the tail end of the Magne Powers series. Magne Powers toys incorporated magnetic gimmicks, including magnets in the limbs of the figures as well as interchangeable parts for larger robot and monster building. These toys were like the older magnemo Micronauts on steroids, the magnetic ball construction technique was taken to wild heights.

Dean is packaged in one of my favorite boxes of all time, die-cut with an inner metallic gold sleeve. You can tell that Takara was going all out here.

On the inside: not so much. Dean’s components are twist-tied to cheap corrugated cardboard. There’s no way to store him after you’ve removed the pieces other than to just shove him in an empty box. The later Korean releases of the combiners use a white plastic tray.

The limbs and torso go together intuitively. Dean in his combined form:

In the tradition of the first Robotman, Dean has a cockpit in his chest.

You can see the pilot’s head through a clear window. Also notice that Dean’s chrome face is covered with a clear shield.

Circular metal plates provide connection points for microman figures.

In keeping with the interchangeable ethos of Microman, each limb can be reconfigured (not transformed), into a vehicle or weapon.

Further, each of these can be further broken down and reconfigured into anything you can imagine. The sheer quantity of parts is impressive. Everything breaks down into tiny, detailed pieces. Even parts which could be duplicated, like the feet, are different.

Many parts have metal balls and magnets. Furthermore, these parts are compatible with the rest of the Magne Powers toys, providing nearly endless possibilities.

As a building toy, Dean is very successful. As a figure, he’s a mixed bag. While the magnetic connections are detailed with detented sockets, the whole bot feels ramshackle.

There’s an awful lot going on. Pieces frequently fall off. But Dean is so ambitious, and so nearly great, that I forgive his short-comings and just appreciate the work that went into him.

Many of the Magne Powers combiners were later released by Sonokong and are easily obtained. Dean, for whatever reason, was not, which is a shame because he’s the coolest one.

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Villainous Obstinate Tilting Overbearing Man-candy.

Even in the harsh jungles of Kumen, Votoms still has room for fanciful ideas such as an ace pilot with a custom paint scheme. The mysterious Ypsilon tears up the jungle in his custom ATH-14-WPC Snapping Turtle, which is distinguished from the regular grunts by its striking deep blue and white color scheme.

This Snapping Turtle is part of the same series of toys at the Diving Beetle I also reviewed. Toys from this line are made from a combination of ABS plastic and diecast metal.

Just like the Diving Beetle, the Snapping Turtle comes in a terrific looking box adorned with a illustration of the Snapping Turtle by artist Shin Ueda.

The back functions as a combination sticker and painting guide.

One side features a short bio on the mysterious (and pretty) Ypsilon and the crazy english Votoms logo.

The other side shows off two very different explanations of the "VOTOMS" acronym.

The toy itself is made primarily of blue plastic with a little diecast in the chest. It has far less diecast than the Diving Beetle.

The toy comes with a few stickers which help liven up the bare blue surface of the toy.

Unlike the Diving Beetle, the Snapping Turtle dares to have some useful articulation. A pair of knee joints let this old toy achieve a fairly convincing walking pose.

The recent smattering of 1:60 scale toys has made me into a bit of a scale nut. Together with the 1:60 Exia and a figure from the Destroid Defender I can make my Snapping Turtle stand tall at the feet of giants.

Great Might Gaine Perfect mode is achieved through the combination of the 3 mecha: Mightgaine, Might Kaiser and Might Gunner. I will be covering these figures individually in future reviews from The Brave Express Might Gaine series.

From Wikipedia

The Brave Express Might Gaine aired during the 1993-1994 Japanese television season and is part of the Yuusha (Brave) series of anime shows produced by Sunrise. The Brave Express Might Gaine takes these newly-crafted themes to their logical conclusion. Here the robots are no longer "spirits," but have personalities granted by advanced Artificial Intelligence. These robots were designed and built from the ground up by the late father of the main character: billionaire crime-fighting teenager and railroad magnate Senpuuji Maito. He acts as a Bruce Wayne character of sorts, taking command of the Brave Express robots in the field and fighting crime himself on the front lines. A unique further step is taken by separating the antagonists into multiple criminal factions, some at odds with each other; Might Gaine especially stands out from much of the Brave Series by taking a darker approach with the actions of some of these criminal overlords, as they cause severe harm to others in the midst of following their own ambitions.

Today I will be reviewing the ultimate version of Might Gaine, Great Might Gaine Perfect Mode!

Great Might Gaine Perfect mode is achieved through the combination of the 3 figures shown below. The figures are: Might Gaine, Might Kaiser and Might Gunner. I will be covering these figures individually in future reviews from this series.

Before I get into Perfect Mode, I wanted to show you Might Gaine with Might Gunner pre-combined. Note that the Might Gunner I am utilizing in my review is a Takara re-release from a few years back. The Takara piece works and looks beautiful with the Sonokong version of Great Might Gaine

The first striking feature, well atleast for me it is how the chest piece of Might Kaiser becomes the head crest for Great Might Gaine. In my opinion, it looks odd and kinda overwhelms Might Gaine's tiny head.

Great Might Gaine is an impressive figure, standing at almost 13" from head to toe and weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs of heavy plastic goodness! Articulation is limited to the shoulders and elbows. The articulation does allow Great Might Gaine use of his single or dual swords.

Finally we have Great Might Gaine in Perfect Mode. Perfect Mode increases this huge figures height by 4", making this figure stand a height of nearly 17"! The weight is now up to almost 4 lbs! You gotta admit, its a pretty impressive figure.

I have to say that I do like this figure overall, even if I do find some of the proportions to be a little odd. The figure has some serious shelf presence and a ton of play value. My advice is to track down all three figures mentioned above to create your own! Happy hunting!

Very Obnoxious Tagger's "Out of Sight" Murder Service.

The Kummen Jungle arc of the series Armored Trooper Votoms is widely regarded as one of its most memorable aspects. Taking cues from famous Vietnam War films like, Apocalypse Now, it featured blue-haired protagonist Chirico Cuvie and his mercenary allies making their way down a long jungle river. As a way of making the setting seem just a little more "real," the Kummen forces as well as the Assemble E-X mercenaries employed specialized Armored Troopers (ATs) suited for amphibious warfare. For the mercenaries it was the ATH-06-WP Diving Beetle.

Throughout the course of the show, its main sponsor Takara released dozens of toys and model kits of the various ATs. This toy is from their AT Collection Series, which consisted of 1:60 scale figures made from ABS plastic and diecast.

With toys from this era, the box was easily as important as the figured itself. This robust cardboard box features an eye-catching painting of the Diving Beetle. This painting is done in the style of military model boxart and gives the design a feeling of legitimacy as a weapon of war. The artist for this picture is Shin Ueda.

The back of the box features a nice diorama photo of the toy and a combination sticker and painting guide.

The left side of the box has a brief bio on one of the Diving Beetle pilots, Paul Patureur. I really dig that crazy english Votoms logo.

The right side features another show of Paul with his AT pilot goggles and two different meanings for the word "Votoms." The first meaning is the actual description of an AT and has been used in printed materials since the show began. The other meaning is some hilarious Engrish phrase meant to invoke the military tradition of giving colorful nicknames to a soldier's gear.

The toy itself is a very basic figure. Its lower legs are almost entirely metal, which gives the toy a nice heft. The 1:60 scale soldier is from Yamato's 1:60 scale Destroid Tomahawk.

There is some minor assembly required to complete the figure. You have to plug in the backpack and plug the gun into the Diving Beetle's hand. The figure's only articulation is in the shoulders.

One interesting thing is that the feet are hollow. You can also find the copyright information near the "toes".

The AT Collection Series toys are cheap and easy to find (and addicting). I bought this one for only $10. To me, it is a nice vintage representation of one of my favorite ATs from Votoms. Plus, it goes well with all of my other 1:60 scale mecha.

It's funny how those wallflower Microman toys turn out to be major asskickers over and over again...

Hello and welcome. I am Wallas, Poland's main toydude and I'll be your host today as together we take a look on the second release from the Microman Biomachine line. So sit back, relax and enjoy the presentation, as there is a lot to see today. Without any further delays, I'd like to introduce you to Microman Godoh and MachineStinger.

For some reason I can't find the pictures of the toy boxed and unopened on my hard drive, so I'll skip this part for now and will add the pictures should I find them. If anyone's interested how the box works, you can always look up BM-1 Xeku, whose review has a very big chunk of the text dedicated to the packaging.

Godoh is a standard Biomachine type body, built with the use of dimmed clear plastic and covered with shiny blue chrome, which not only makes him look great, but also gives him a sort of sky/water theme. I have him for about a year now and there is still no sign of chrome wearing off from the figure, which is a good sign.

Like all Microman and Acroyear, Godoh's face is fully chromed and sports a nice sculpture of a young man who, having long hair falling on his face and that determined angry face, looks almost like a bishonen. According to tech specs I found on Xeku's promo DVD, he is the brain of the Biomachine team. Hmm, intelligent, blue-coloured... are sure this isn't Billy from Power Rangers 5 years later? Anyway, what really strikes me on this head is that Godoh has a ponytail that is a seperate piece attached on a swivel joint. I advise any owner of this set to superglue it there, though. It's the first part you'll see falling of. I couldn't find mine for three days once ^^

Just a small size comparison with ROTF Deluxe Class Smokescreen

Godoh comes equipped with standard-issued Microman accessory pack, which includes a dual-port oval stand for poses and 5 extra pairs of PVC hand kept together nicely via plastic holder.

One of the two most important features of Micromen is their extreme poseability that only Revoltech and Figma can compete with (and having recently started collecting Revoltech, I know what I'm saying). Godoh has 30 points of articulation, including dual feet, knee, arm and wrist joints, not to mention others like ball-mounted neck and torso. As a result, he can pull off some crazy and extreme poses that are sometimes hardly achievable for other action figures. Examples below.

As I said, Biomachines are designed to have pilots and while controling the unit, Godoh rests on the main part and the tail. He “plugs in” via two handles behind the the screen/shield. He has one set of hands ideal for the job and holds on to the vehicle firmly. Overall it looks nice and works, too.

Just like Xeku's MachineMirror, MachineStinger can release some of its parts. For what purpose? Let's get Godoh and find out!

The aforementioned parts snap on to our Microman and form an additional armour for Godoh. This is officially known as BioTech mode and presumably powers the character up. I really like how each BioTech armour looks completely different. Godoh's seems to be designed as a light-weight type that doesn't affect the users mobility and speed (since Xeku's the only one who can ride his Biomachine with the armour on). I really like how the circular part previously attached to the unit's turbine snaps on the figure's back and forms a sort of a halo around his head, which makes it look like a battle-ready Saint.

I really do like how the armour has almost no effect on the toy's poseability, in fact making many of the poses even cooler then they were before.

In Xeku's case, this should be the end of the review, but Godoh differs from other Biomicroman in that his Biomachine seems to release even more parts!

As a result, Godoh puts his hands on a huge sword and a flight pack, thus entering Super BioTech mode, which in my opinion is the best thing in the entire set. It looks awesome!

With the huge double-edged sword Godoh is finally armed and can execute cool battle poses, not to mention his foes. I find the stand quite useful while doing this. If anyone wonders what happened to the ponytail, worry not, it's not missing, I detached it after BioTech mode to avoid it falling off every time I move the toy.

Super Biotech is a great feature, but it seems that there is more than that to it. You see, after you detach the cannons from the Stinger it becomes visible that the pegs on them match the small holes on the shoulderguards. The instruction remains silent on this, but it all fits together just to well to be accidental and reminds me of the easter eggs left by creators in games and on DVDs.

And so, now Godoh has both a blade and some firepower to use, which unexpectedly makes him surprisingly well-armed. The nice thing about the cannons is that you can mount them however you want, as long as at least one peg stays attached. To make the poses more credible, the cannons have both additional hinges that allow them to swing out while attached to Godoh and even there you will find some details. Wow.

I also found that if you want to, you can flip the wings down to form sort of a cape, but that's just my fiddling with the parts. I wonder what would happen if I plugged in some parts from other Biomicromen...

To sum things up, Godoh proved to be a great toy that has many interesting features that come out once you give this guy a bit of attention. If you dig that kind of action figures, you'll love him. And, he's still easily reachable via ebay :)

A fitting revival of a classic series

DMZ Strikedog was the second figure released in Takara’s Dual Model Zwei series, a 2006 revival of the original Dual Model series (zwei is German for ‘two’).

The original DM series produced some of the most iconic real robot toys of the eighties, most notably the 1:24 Armored Troopers from Votoms and the 1:72 and 1:48 Dougram mechs. Actually, what other DM toys were there?

With the mid-ought explosion of moldering eighties properties, Votoms toys flooded the market. While Yamato’s 1:12 offering was immensely popular among ATV fans, the DMZ’s fell flat. Whether because of the flooded market or the high prices, fans weren’t biting, which is a shame because the 1:18 ‘dogs are among my favorite toys of all time.

Packaging

Takara went all out for this toy. Everything about it says quality. Collectors wax poetic over the legendary Takatoku boxes, but the original Dual Model boxes were things of beauty, with heavy, textured cardboard, minimalist graphics, and sliding sleeves like the MPC Toynami boxes.

The (10.5” x 14” x 6”) DMZ box is sturdy and glossy, and the art is sophisticated and understated.

A hinged front flap, held closed with Velcro buttons, opens to reveal the Strikedog on the right, the Ypsilon figure and accessories on the left.

The the only quarrel I have with this toy is the packaging of that left flap. There’s no way to remove the contents without cutting the plastic. This was a huge oversight for Takara. It’s inexcusable to make collectors mangle their otherwise re-usable packaging to play with their toy as intended. I imagine many collectors will leave Ypsilon and the additional accessories forever entombed, and this kills much of the Strikedog’s play value.

The Strikedog itself rests within a heavy-duty plastic clamshell, itself in a sliding tray.

Accessories

Paperwork includes a beautiful color manual (with history and design notes, as well as photographs of all play features), a Votoms brochure, and a Microman brochure.

The Strikedog accessories include a shoulder cannon assembly, (4) plugs to conceal screw holes, (2) alternate silver antennae for its head, and (2) additional hands. There aren’t a ton of accessories, but that’s fine with me. Votoms sets, and collector’s toys in general, tend to get carried away, and I usually leave most of extra stuff in the box anyway.

Yypsilon

Ypsilon is the Preternaturally-gifted AT pilot who antagonizes our hero Chirico throughout the series. He’s a typical modern Microman figure, with excellent articulation and play value. He feels flimsier than a full-fledged, solo-released Microman though. The finishes are minimal, but well-executed.

The Ypsilon figure comes with an alternate helmeted head, extra hands, and a display stand.

It’s cool to finally have an Ypsilon figure, but he’s not the real draw here.

Strikedog

First off, the Strikedog is huge. It never occurred to me that Ypsilon’s machine was so much larger than the Scopedog. Strikedog stands at 11 inches, as opposed to the Scopedog’s 9.5 inches.

Strikedog is not merely a repaint with extra bits tacked on. It’s a whole new mold, which was a hugely welcome surprise.

Strikedog is about ninety percent plastic, with most of the visible diecast in the lower-leg assembly, consisting of a central hinged block on each leg (principally in service of the down-form transformation). This is a pretty serious digression from the original DM toys, which usually featured a diecast inner-frame. It could be an issue, and I’d like there to be more metal, but once you hold this toy, all doubt vanishes. Again, the piece oozes quality. The plastic is all high-grade ABS, and the build is so complex and detailed that the overall weight is substantial.

The matte plastic is mostly cast in the final colors, but has been discreetly weathered and panelized, more subtly so than the mud-drenched Scopedog. Tampo printing abounds; there are no decals. I usually don’t care for weathering, but it really brings this toy to life.

The paint apps at the leg and backpack thrusters are particularly lifelike.

Features

I’m a sucker for the 1:18 scale. Having grown up with G.I. Joe and Star Wars figures, and having developed a healthy appreciation for the Microman/Micronaut toys, the scale just feels “right.” It’s the most relatable scale for me, neither too fiddly nor too overwhelming, with just the right amount of potential for gimmickry.

The cockpit and head assembly does everything you’d want it to. The helmet turns (without falling off, as with the DMZ Scopedog), the visor opens, the eyepiece slides back and forth.

The cockpit itself is sumptuously detailed.

The right forearm is spring loaded, naturally. The left forearm features a spring loaded, highly articulated claw.

Strikedog can achieve the Down Form.

I rarely use it, but it’s a neat feature, and the transformation is smooth.

I’ve gone on and on, but I love this thing. Buy two. They were initially pretty steep, and the large, heavy box didn’t help, but you can find them much cheaper now. I got mine at hlj.com at a huge discount.

*******as a side note, I'd like to apologize for my absence from reviewing. I was laid off and otherwise occupied. I'm now re-employed and have more reviews in the works*******

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Yatter Wan (Wan-Wan being an Onomatopoeia for a dog “bark”) is a large, sentient, dog-shaped mecha originally designed as a rescue device. It now battles the Dorombo gang in their quest to obtain the Skull Rings. The two main characters of Yatterman – Gan-chan and Ai-chan, hang onto the side of Yatter-Wan when in transit.

HD video review included

Yatterman is a classic cartoon from the 70s that has been re-imagined twice in recent years. First, there was the re-launched animated series in 2008 and then the live action movie in 2009. While the live action move is a radical shift from the classic designs, the 2008 animated series retains the look of the original. It is from this remake that the subject of today’s review originates.

The mecha designs in Yatterman are childlike and fun, each a mechanical mish-mash between zoo animal and mecha. The vintage gokin of these toys are instant fun classics, but their cute design makes them not for everyone’s tastes.

Yatter Wan (Wan-Wan being an Onomatopoeia for a dog “bark”) is a large, sentient, dog-shaped mecha originally designed as a rescue device. It now battles the Dorombo gang in their quest to obtain the Skull Rings. The two main characters of Yatterman – Gan-chan and Ai-chan, hang onto the side of Yatter-Wan when in transit.

If this all seems kind of silly – it is. It’s a modern-day Wacky Races, combined with Pokemon. Due to the child-like nature of the show, the merchandise related to the 2008 remake is very much targeted to kids, which is a very good thing.

TakaraTomy’s DX Yatter-Wan is the first in a series of DX toys that are compatible with other toys from the Yatterman series. The common gimmick that binds all these toys together are these small figures called Bikkuri-Dokkiri Mecha. The small figures can be bought in sets and used with any of the vehicles and playsets in the line.

Yatter-Wan is big, about 10 inches tall and is made out of sturdy durable plastic. Very little assembly is required out of the box, and the toy needs no batteries or decals.

So what does it DO?

The main gimmick here is the interaction with the Bikkuri-Dokkiri Mecha. To use this play feature, first the mecha must be loaded into the back of the Yatter-Wan by an opening door on its back.

The Mecha are small rubber figures that attach to a base with a metal ball in the middle. The ball enables the base to roll across the floor, and provide some weight. In this case three rubber Mecha and bases are provided but others can be purchased separately.

One the Mecha is loaded, you then turn the center section forward about 90 degrees and then open the mouth and extend the launch ramp. The attached ramp is kind of small, so a larger ramp is included that just snaps on to the existing one.

With a firm grip, pull the tail down and you will hear a cranking noise. Pull a few more times and eventually the Bikkuri-Dokkiri Mecha will launch down the ramp and zoom across the floor, one after another.

Video Review

It’s pretty fun and ingenious, but on its own, that’s all it does. Kids will launch them over and over, but adult collectors will want more.

To get more, of course, you have to buy more. TakaraTomy released PVC figures of Gan-chan and Ai-chan pre-posed to hang off of the sides of Yatter-Wan – of course these are sold separately. In addition, the Yatter-Wan can combine with the DX Yatter Pelican to create an even bigger mech. Unfortunately I don’t have the Yatter Pelican but I will soon change that.

The TakaraTomy DX Yatter-Wan is a fun toy, and it looks great. As a display piece it’s a great tribute to the classic design and as a toy its fun to play with. What more could you ask for?

Bonus vid: an actual japanese kid playing with the DX Yatter-Wan

Takara's near exact recreation of their lukewarm Rodimus Prime still warms my cold, cold heart.

Rodimus Prime is the Transformer everyone hates. When we were all kids we all loved Optimus Prime, so it's natural to hate the guy who replaced him. "How dare he replace Optimus Prime?!"

Well, it was kinda different for me when I was a kid. Little 5 year old me sat in the dark theatre and watched Optimus Prime die. And that little 5 year old version of me cried. But by the end of the movie, man, I was back in action. I was down with Rodimus Prime and his new brand of butt kicking. Of course I asked for Rodimus Prime for Christmas. I was the kid that Hasbro was looking for. I wasn't one of the millions who hated the way the movie cruelly massacred the kid friendly gun-wielding robots we all grew to love on the cartoon.

So I got the toy for Christmas and it was... well. It was okay. I remember getting a lot of enjoyment out of it, but six months later I was trying to trade it to some kid for Optimus Prime, so I guess I got over my love of Rodimus. I managed to lose the trailer part of Rodimus at school one day, and then I traded the robot to that kid, and he never gave me the Optimus in return. I got screwed! All I kept was Rodimus' gun.

A few years ago I succumbed to the vagaries of nostalgia and got the reissue Rodimus Prime from the local Toys "R" Us for $20 or something like that. I mean, looking at the toy now, objectively, it's... not... that... great. I guess it looks pretty good in truck mode, but can't really do much but drive around, and the robot mode is almost completely immobile. It's basically a statue. All you can do is raise its arms. Uh, what? Arm moving is an action feature? Star Wars toys have more articulation! Don't they? Well, I guess I don't have any Star Wars toys so I can't honestly say. That was a horrible analogy.

How does the reissue Rodimus Prime compare to the original? It's almost identical. Yes, the copyright is different. And the orange is slightly brighter in the reissue. That may just be because the old one is faded... I'm not totally sure. But it is a little brighter. Other than that, it's a perfect recreation.

There are no child safety issues to be concerned with, since the original Rodimus was already as child safe as possible. It doesn't fire anything, it doesn't have small pieces to swallow, and it's pretty difficult to break. It's also not that exciting, but Rodimus still has a place in my heart.

One "feature" I think is really funny about the toy is that Rodimus has bags under his eyes. They made a big deal about how Rodimus was the matured form of Hot Rod. So how do they indicate maturity? Bags under his eyes! See, not sleeping enough makes you mature. Also he's a lot taller and skinnier. Hmm... Bags under his eyes... too skinny... maybe the real truth is that Rodimus developed a drug problem due to the pressures of leadership. I'm a horrible person, and since I'm finished desecrating yet another piece of my childhood, I'll just wait for my place in Hell now.

Back in black.

The Decepticon jets are some of the most iconic characters in Transformers. Often available in multiple flavors, they represent the backbone of the bad guy brute squad. When Takara announced their Masterpiece Starscream, I was hesitated on snagging one and even missed the US release. One great thing about these guys is that they are repaint fodder. So hot on the heels of Masterpiece Megatron came Skywarp. Out of all three Masterpiece jets, Skywarp is the one with a great presense. This Jetron is back in black.

Right out of the box, Skywarp is a fantastic piece. He is packaged in jet mode with his twin whatever guns attached. Skywarp measures about a foot and a half long. He is molded in glossy black plastic and it detailed with numerous small white markings ranging from Decepticon Air Force roundels to tiny "No Step" signs. In this mode Skywarp rests atop three landing wheels. The nosewheel is properly depicted, while the main wheels have been moved from the center of the jet towards the rear. This is my only issue with jet mode since it makes Skywarp look a little squashed on the table.

From the rear, Skywarp has that classic F-15 aesthetic. Here you can see his jet nozzles are mounted on balljoints and the wing flaps are hinged.

Moving on the paperwork; Skywarp comes with a manual, a collectible card, and a decal sheet. The decals are interesting because they contain the purple stripes and Decepticon symbols which make the toy more like the Generation 1 design. Also included are tiny squadron markings such as "Kremzeek Attack" and "Decepticon Air Force." One of the decals is a name tag for the stand.

Included with Skywarp is a display stand adorned with a purple plated Decepticon symbol and some mechanical detail. The two holes are for storing the guns or the optional Sidewinder missiles. It has two slots for attaching the display arm. One slot is for robot mode while the other is for jet mode.

On the back of the stand you can store the display arm and the tiny Megatron gun mounting clip. This gun is the one that is included with the Masterpiece Optimus Prime toy. I honestly don't known why they didn't just include the gun with the jets, since they included a couple of other less interesting accessories.

Here is one of those less interesting accessories. This tiny Dr. Arkeville looks like it was made out of whatever scraps they had left. He fits loosely in the cockpit.

While on the stand, Skywarp is made to emulate a gate guard or desktop model. Skywarp fits pretty snugly on the stand and will not fall off accidentally.

Here is a video review of jet mode.

Transformation video.

In robot mode, Skywarp's most salient feature is his huge wings. He is fairly stable when just standing up, but the weight of his wings and tail binders. He's really not made for dynamic posing, but I find the toy is more playable than most give it credit for.

Skywarp is not terribly exciting from the back. Neither is the "Stabilizer mode" where you flip up all the possible panels. I'm not even sure why they bothered to mention this in the instructions, but whatever pads the manual I guess.

Skywarps arms are fairly flexible. His shoulders rotate 360 degrees, his elbows bend up to a natural position, and his arms can rotate at the bicep.

Skywarp also feature swiveling wrists and articulated fingers.

Underneath the chest panels are a bank of non-firing missiles. These were only used by Starscream in one episode. However, the engineers at Takara thought they were cool enough to include. The missiles are a little hard to see on Skywarp since they are not painted.

His head is mounted on a ball joint. Skywarp also features two different expressions. Simply flip the head up, pull the silver face portion down, and twist it around to reveal the second face. Although once you see his expression, you may wonder why anyone would want to do this.

Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh!

Skywarp can be mounted on the stand in robot mode as well. Doing so will allow you to get a little more play out of his lower legs. His legs feature articulated hips, swiveling thighs, and double jointed knees.

While this is not in the manual, I found that by using the stand's jet mode configuration Skywarp can achieve a decent flying pose. He's a bit more unstable like this so expect at least one face plant.

Robot mode video.

With all the controversy (read: fan whining) over Masterpiece Starscream, I find that Skywarp is really the first smash hit for this design. He's really a solid, playable toy that looks great. Since Skywarp is a more forgettable character, prices for this toy are beginning to drop so look out for a good deal and pick one up.

3 releases are scheduled for late January from Takara-Tomy's Zoids line. They are as follows:

ZOIDS RCZ Crimson Horn ¥5,250

ZOID ANIME 10th EDITION Iron Kong ¥6,825

ZOID RCZ Tiger Gods ¥3,780

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