With the Decepticons massing, and Bumblebee unable to move on his own, Mikaela Banes quickly found an abandoned tow truck, and she cleverly chained the disabled Autobot to the back of it to him get out of harm’s way.

A boy’s first car should be a special event in his life. Finding the right girl is also important, and to do that, he needs a special car. But for Sam Witwicky, he is completely unaware of how special his car really is… until it drives away from his house all by itself… and changes into a giant robot! Sam soon finds himself as the key to ending an intergalactic battle between two factions of a race of alien robots which can change shape at will- the peaceful Autobots and dangerous Decepticons- as they fight to find and retake the powerful AllSpark Cube that created their race. But enemies lie in wait on Earth as well. While the Decepticons are already on our planet looking for their long-lost leader Megatron, the United States secret government organization Sector 7 already knows about the alien robots, and will do anything to keep them hidden. It is not until the great & noble Optimus Prime and several other Autobots crash-land on Earth in their search for the god-like Cube that the 10,000 year-old stalemated war begins anew- with the fate of both races in the hands of these intelligent, powerful alien robots in disguise… and a boy and his car.

The AllSpark Cube has been found! Sector 7 had been created to protect the secret of its existence, and the existence of the highly advanced mechanical creature known only as the Non-Biological Extraterrestrial-1 (NBE-1). With the recently-captured NBE-2 now secured deep within the bowls of Hoover Dam, S7 would have to contend with the other four metallic creatures now on the loose. But before they could get the chance, the dam came under attack. With their power sources failing, they realized that the only way to prevent the now-named Decepticons from obtaining the AllSpark was to move it away from the dam. What was worse, their containment protocols on the frozen NBE-1- now identified as Megatron- were rapidly failing, and he would also be fanatically seeking the Cube just as he had thousands of years ago when he came to our planet. But how do you move a solid metal cube with life-giving properties as tall as a 20-storey building!? Sam Witwicky had the answer- NBE-2... better known as Bumblebee. The small yellow Autobot did indeed know what to do- almost magically shrinking down the Cube to nothing larger than a soccer ball! With the Cube now able to be transported, Sector 7, Bumblebee, and the other Autobots evacuated to Mission City, hoping that the glass, metal, and electric activity there would confuse the Decepticons’ sensors long enough to get the Cube away somewhere else.

Upon arriving in nearby Mission City, they were immediately attacked by Decepticon Starscream, who was disguised as one of the Air Force’s own stealthy F-22 Raptors. The explosion from his missile blew Bumblebee and Ironhide back. Unfortunately, the damage to a nearby building crushed Bumblebee’s legs beneath several tones of sculpted stone! With the Decepticons massing, and Bumblebee unable to move on his own, Mikaela Banes quickly found an abandoned tow truck, and she cleverly chained the disabled Autobot to the back of it to help him get out of harm’s way. But once safely out of the crossfire, both Mikaela and Bumblebee knew that they would still be needed in the lopsided stand against the Decepticons after all...

Longarm’s vehicle mode (back) is based on a generic tow truck. In the film, the white and blue vehicle was portrayed by a GMC truck, but they toy- from what I’ve read- is based more along the lines of a Ford F-250 heavy duty truck. The height off the ground, overall extra width (to accommodate the hidden robot mode), and lack of a trademark logo make it difficult to both identify and compare the toy against any real vehicle; really you can only go by what you see of the front half of the truck. It also means that even though it is a Deluxe-class toy, the scale is not exactly the same as many of the other sets in this size class (roughly 1/24-scale). Some estimate that Longarm is 1/29th-scale, which puts him in a scale of his own from the film’s entire line of transformable toys.

The headlights on the nose of the truck are painted silver, leaving only the turn signals their original transparent orange. All four identical wheels are plain black ABS, and turn independently of each other. The hood and sides of the engine block are painted blue with a speeding streak effect. The doors and roof have been painted white against the clear transparent plastic; a very tiny transparent orange brake light sits on the bottom of that back window, but the overhead fake orange strobe lights and their supports make it hard to spot in vehicle mode. On both sides, there are false marks advertising the fictitious company that owns the truck, “Mike’s Towing”, and gives a non-existent phone number (800-555-0199). Below the blue 24hrs label is a small all-red Autobot symbol. For the back half, along the sides are non-functioning door panels, and the flooring is silver plastic with molded grip pattern. The dominating feature is the crane assembly which has a two-jointed line and hook hanging off the back.

The special feature in vehicle mode is the crane assembly. In addition to the hook and the line it hangs off of both being able to pitch up and down very easily, the support bar itself can pitch up and down a bit. When the bar moves, there is a small pneumatic piston underneath that slides back and fourth at the same time!

Surprisingly, unlike the entire movie’s Deluxe-, Voyager-, and Leader-class line of figures, Longarm has no Automorph feature to be used when he transforms! Whereas they all have at least one unique special feature in them (missiles, spring-loaded weapons, deployable mini-partners, etc.), the only thing that comes anywhere near to one is when the two transparent-orange strobe lights fold up- there is a set of geared teeth in there that make the move at the same time. But that’s it.

Longarm’s robot mode (back) has some rather odd proportions compared to most of the transformable toys in the line. Very broad but thin chest, small waist & lower torso, and rather large, flat feet. His head is black and transparent-orange ABS with white paint added, and a very small Autobot logo on his forehead. When a light shines on the back of his head, his eyes light up. (Yes- the dammed gimmick actually works for a change here! And quite well, I note...) Lacking super-detailed pistons and lines and sharp edges, it is more reminiscent of past Transformers’ designs, and less to the movie’s styles. The chest shares that same crosshatched pattern on the silver plastic as the floor plates in vehicle mode in a curved, muscular way; though a Spark chamber seems to be hinted at with that round feature in the center. The arms are identical, except for one rather large feature… The right arm carries Longarm’s weapon- a large rifle. Now, here’s the bad news- while the right hand is still present, the rifle is permanently attached to it. You can’t remove it! While having a huge cannon make up and entire arm is a feature that goes way back to G1, usually you can disconnect a weapon from a hand/fist, but here you can’t. Like on the Deluxe-class Classic Camaro Bumblebee toy, Longarm’s upper legs are curved, so it always looks like his knees are bent. But don’t worry- the legs still have a fully functional knee joint. He has a rather complicated lower leg and foot assembly. Both the heel and larger toe are flexible to a great degree, but the ankle also has two joints to itself. Inside the lower legs along the back side, are two levers that move back and forth; but they serve no purpose other than for decoration along the front of the lower leg just above the foot. So since nothing snaps in place (grr…), it’s hard to tell what the final position of everything is supposed to be.

Poseability is hit-and-miss. While the legs have a very wide range of motion, the arms- despite their many joints- are somewhat limited. The biggest hindrance for the shoulders is the doors from the vehicle mode which hang off of Longarm’s back like small wings. The panels attached to his upper arms bump into them whenever you raise them even a little bit. The only alternative is to extend the panels outwards until they clear the ‘wings’, and then you can move them normally. Both wrists are ball-and-socket joints. This is especially important with the large rifle on his right arm. When positioned normally, the ‘stock’ of the rifle bumps up against his chest, but if you use that right wrist joint, you can tilt it over the arm a bit, which then allows the arm regular motion. But you still have to contend with the weight of that rifle, which will affect every single pose you put him in with the exception of perhaps his head (which has both a pitching lever and a ball-and-socket joint for movement) and left arm.

. . .

Longarm’s special feature is a simple, straight-forward spring-powered missile launcher in the rifle. The small white trigger tab is back underneath near his hand. One special function- mostly due to how he transforms- is the ability for his shoulders to swing forward horizontally 90-degrees. This allows Longarm to sandwich his rifle between his open-palmed hands, but look like he’s gripping it with both of them. (A very anime-inspired look, if you ask me.)

Now, everything I have described up to this point matches the regular Deluxe-class Autobot Longarm toy. But this is not the regular Deluxe-class figure; it is a part of the Battle Scenes line, which means some things are different…

In vehicle mode, there are two noticeable differences. The first is that the company labels on the sides are slightly different- on the regular Deluxe-class version, the company is called “Orson Towing”. However, the tow truck in the film used “Mike’s Towing” as the name of the company. (I suspect that the name ‘Mike’ may be an inside-joke from the production staff of “Transformers”; the film’s director, Michael Bay, is well- known for his fast-paced and enthusiastic filming style on-set.) Also, only the Autobot symbol is the same on the side. The phone number, 24hr, and diagonal stripes are exclusive to this Battle Scenes release. The other big change to Longarm’s vehicle mode is the inclusion of a static to-scale figure of Mikaela Banes in her pink sweatshirt behind the wheel from the movie! When in robot mode, you can better see her with the driver-side door up; this also shows that only her head and arms are present. (Very nice touch!) All other paint applications and plastic coloring remains the same. These are the only changes to Longarm here which are different from the regular Deluxe-class figure.

[It can be speculated that when Longarm revealed himself to be sentient after the Mission City battle (notice that the Cube was set on the tow truck in the movie while they were hooking up Bumblebee) he used the visual impression of Mikaela for his holographic driver in the future…]

The other difference which sets the Battle Scenes line apart from all other transformable toys is the inclusion of to-scale figures. In this case, the Final Stand set includes a unique solid figure representation of Bumblebee after he lost his legs. So far as I can tell, the figure (back) is a very close approximation to the fixed-pose Bumblebee Unleashed statuette (at least in the torso and head), but they are slightly different from each other. If you look closely, you’ll see intentional dings, craters, and missing armor all over him. The wings from his back are missing, all of the limbs have been replaced, and the paint applications are more basic and less detailed. All parts are solid PVC, and are molded in an action-oriented pose with only limited movement in each. The head can twist side-to-side only a little, the left arm is splayed open and only swings one way at the shoulder, both legs have been changed to resemble crushed asymmetrical equivalents, and the right arm has the arm cannon deployed and it can point both up/down and side-to-side.

The inclusion of the disabled Bumblebee figure is so that, in Longarm’s vehicle mode, Mikaela can drive him around. How does this happen? The figure has a rectangular hole mid-back, which Longarm’s hook can slip into. Now, the problem is, through very minor manufacturing errors, either Longarm’s hook will be too wide or Bumblebee’s hole will be too small- either of which will hamper putting them together… as it has on mine.

(I have tried to attach my Battle Scenes Capture of Bumblebee toy to Longarm in a similar fashion, but it dose not work; plus you can’t disconnect parts on the Concept Camaro figure to resemble the disabled one included in this set. You can, however- obviously- hook Longarm under the nose of any to-scale transformable Autobot in vehicle mode.)

There were three reasons why I picked this Battle Scenes set up as opposed to the regular Deluxe-class set. The first, simply put, is that it is a movie-accurate repaint. Even though the type of truck model is different from its film counterpart, it’s still close enough to be acceptable in my opinion. It also included that disabled Bumblebee figure which you couldn’t recreate with either the Battle Scenes figure or regular Deluxe-class Concept Camaro Bumblebee set. And the third was that I thought that it was a really nice touch to include that little representation of Mikaela in there, even if she wasn’t complete, or couldn’t be removed or posed. None of the other toys in this entire line have a human driver in the seat except in the smaller-scale Voyager-class Optimus Prime.

Why is it that- in the movie’s line of transformable figures- the cool-looking ones always have a big problem with them, but then the ones that I initially hate I eventually come to appreciate even more? I really like this Deluxe-class figure for his appearance and transformation. But what really irks me- as I stated above- is having that rifle permanently attached to his hand. Why!? There was no reason to, even in his transformation! What also irked me- again from above- was how those panels on his shoulder directly bump into the wings on his back. Why didn’t the doors move out of the way a bit more? There’s no excuse for that one either! Why do those panels inside his lower legs move around? They serve no purpose, and they can’t be easily accessed to be played with. But, the set also has a few redeeming qualities. His proportions, I though, were really nice, particularly the large feet and lower legs, as well as the wide torso and thinning waist. (A big honkin’ cannon was nice too- something that’s lacked so far in this line…) It was also great to see that light-up function in his eyes work for a change! The big surprise for me was being able to put his arms together so that they could both hold the rifle; that was cool. If it wasn’t for the shoulders and rifle (and overly-complex ankle transformation), I’d say “top-notch”. The Final Stand set as a whole is a good idea, and a compliment to the scene it helps portray from the film. Unfortunately, I am forced to demote Longarm to just average. So, I give a 4 overall, and still encourage you to get this Battle Scenes set.

Scorponok stalked several soldiers who had escaped the destruction of the SOCCENT-FWD base into the desert until he knew what they were up to. But when they attempted to contact the outside world, he attacked...

A boy’s first car should be a special event in his life. Finding the right girl is also important, and to do that, he needs a special car. But for Sam Witwicky, he is completely unaware of how special his car really is… until it drives away from his house all by itself… and changes into a giant robot! Sam soon finds himself as the key to ending an intergalactic battle between two factions of a race of alien robots which can change shape at will- the peaceful Autobots and dangerous Decepticons- as they fight to find and retake the powerful AllSpark Cube that created their race. But enemies lie in wait on Earth as well. While the Decepticons are already on our planet looking for their long-lost leader Megatron, the United States secret government organization Sector 7 already knows about the alien robots, and will do anything to keep them hidden. It is not until the great & noble Optimus Prime and several other Autobots crash-land on Earth in their search for the god-like Cube that the 10,000 year-old stalemated war begins anew- with the fate of both races in the hands of these intelligent, powerful alien robots in disguise… and a boy and his car.

Surely if anyone knew about the presence of a giant cube, the governments of the world and their associated military forces would have that information. The Decepticons just needed to find it. Well, Blackout was ordered to infiltrate the nearby United States air base in the Middle East, break into their computer network, and find that information. Blackout decided the best time to strike would be at night since these humans’ biological functions seemed to slow at that time, and there would be fewer of them around. The largest Decepticon was actually escorted to the SOCCENT-FWD; but he had cleverly recreated the appearance of one of their own rotor-powered aircraft, and so was able to spring a surprise on them even as he was jamming their communications. Transforming in the middle of the tarmac, and absolutely devastating their “advanced” weapons, Blackout quickly made his was to their communications node. Unfortunately, the humans were quicker than he expected, and they disconnected the computers before he could gain anything of value. To punish them for their insolence and for daring to defy the will of their glorious but long-absent leader Megatron, he destroyed the base. To make sure that all stragglers were rounded up and killed as well, he deployed his partner Scorponok to perform clean-up duty.

The next day, Scorponok stalked several soldiers who had escaped, and followed them into the desert until he knew what they were up to. When they attempted to contact the outside world, Scorponok pounced...

(The clip immediately below is PG-13, and thus contains a few S-bombs and some sci-fi violence, so be careful...)

Scorponok’s beast mode (back) is that of a generic scorpion. (Take your pick as to what species he may most resemble. Good luck on that...) Unlike all of the characters featured in the film, Scorponok’s beast mode is his primary form, so he does not transform into a vehicle or object for a disguise mode. When he’s attached to Blackout, he’s hidden as part of the larger Decepticon’s body even in his own disguised form as an MH-53 Pave Low heavy transport helicopter. So this is why you’ll find all kinds of abstract markings all over Scorponok’s body- registry numbers, caution labels, notification & hazard marks, etc.- in a way very similar to the real US’s military aircraft.

His single-piece head is very flat and wide, but you can clearly see the layers of panels surrounding his four red eyes. A small black Decepticon symbol sits right behind his head at the front of his torsotorso. Running down the length of his body is a cylindrical turbine-like object molded in brown ABS and black rubber, which is not too unlike what you would see inside a real jet engine. On either side of him are six brown skeleton-like ABS legs with clawed feet very close to each other. To either side and just behind Scorponok’s head are his arms. Thick appendages, they are covered with layers of armor and vents, and end in three wildly curved thin claws. In the space between the individual claws are three smaller molded turbine-like blade fans- which, in the film, are the location of his micro-missile launchers. Mounted to the back of his body is his tail. It is made up of four movable segments, with the fourth at the end housing the multiple knife-like blades of the stinger assembly... all safely made of rounded ABS and PVC, of course.

Since this beast mode is Scorponok’s primary mode of operation and movement, all of his special features and movement are geared towards it.

First, poseability. His arms have a full range of motion at the shoulders and elbows. However, the claws cannot be moved. His head can only tilt up-and-down, but due to how he transforms, it can be pulled away from hit body a little ways as well to allow greater range. The legs have one ball-and-socket joint each at the hips. Unfortunately because of how close they are to each other, they are very restricted in side-to-side motion- I’d claim non-existent- and can only wiggle a little up-and-down. Potentially he could support his own weight, but the legs don’t move down far enough to give him a chance to do that. His tail is also fairly flexible. At its base, it can twist side-to-side through 360-degrees. There are three independent joints with about 45-degrees movement each which allow the tail to curve up and down, though the shaft exiting out the back of the stinger assembly can restrict downward range in some positions. The stinger assembly can also twist side-to-side through 360-degrees in addition to up-and-down.

. . .

Scorponok has two special features, both of which are seen in the movie.

The first is in his arms. On both the top and bottom of his body- just in front of his tail, but behind the center turbine- are two black wheels. And under his head is a wide tan ABS wheel. When he’s flat on a surface and those back wheels turn, two things happen at the same time:

• the center body turbine spins
• an internal gear system through his arms turns both claws

In the movie, the body turbine is constantly spinning. The claws, on the other hand, serve two purposes- the other being they transform into drill bits so that Scorponok can ‘swim’ underground. And unlike the turbine, Scorponok was seen turning the spinning feature of the claws on/off at will. However, on the toy, even though the claws spin, they can’t change into drill bits since each of the six fingers cannot move.

The second is in the stinger assembly. On top of it, there is a trigger button, and when it is depressed, the largest stinger shoots forward along that shaft sticking out back like a spear. Now, unlike most missiles in any Transformers figure, the stinger does not disconnect from the tail once it has been triggered; this applies to the film version of the assembly, while immensely more complex, it also does not disconnect.

(View the larger original version of this video here.)

Surprisingly, unlike the entire movie’s Deluxe-, Voyager-, and Leader-class line of figures, Scorponok has no Automorph feature to be used when he transforms! Whereas they all have at least one unique special feature in them (missiles, spring-loaded weapons, deployable mini-partners, etc.), this toy has none specifically involved in transformation.

And- really- why should he even need one...?

Scorponok’s robot m--

"Hah-!? What ‘robot mode’???"

...let me finish, please. Scorponok’s robot mode (back) is uninspired. Mostly because he has no robot mode in the movie. The producers of the film claim that he truly has a robot mode, but they didn’t design one for him the first time around. So this is a... well- ‘gimmick’ which Hasbro originally came up with. Basically all that happens is his head folds down 90-degrees, his arms flip down, his tail curls up behind him, and then the sides and legs of the beast mode flip down 180-degrees, forming the robot mode’s new legs. The arms don’t change in any way, just folding over and twisting at the elbows into a more-human posturing. The tail near-constantly points towards his back. While you can still deploy the stinger assembly’s springing spear, it just sinks back under gravity; which means (no pun intended) it’s a pretty pointless feature now. ‘Bout the only thing it’s good for now is acting as a third leg. (Oh- it only gets better from here...) The legs have no definable foot, and the knees- or rather their function as such- are near non-existent since they’re so close to the hips and it makes no difference. The spinning claws/turbine function remain intact, however you now have to turn the wheels manually, which are located... on his crotch. (You do the math.)

The legs are really the only thing you can pose other than the head and arms as usual as described above. The hips are ball-and-socket, and the knees can pivot 90-degrees, and twist side-to-side a little. But because the legs are so insignificant in their motion, he is naturally top-heavy unless you lean him back on his tail as that improvised third leg. So, posing is tricky and lame.

. . .

In the film, Scorponok is deployed from a hidden compartment from inside his far-larger companion. For the Voyager-class Decepticon Blackout figure, a miniaturized and non-functional Scorponok figure was provided, which was to scale with that toy. However, there is one gimmick which could not be utilized with Blackout unless you bought a full-sized Scorponok like this one. Underneath Blackout’s vehicle mode is a six-sided hole and two pegs about half-way back. These match-up directly to the two holes and six-sided peg on top of Scorponok’s torso. So, when you flatten out Scorponok’s tail, you can attach him to the bottom of Blackout. Now, here’s the cool part: when you activate Blackout’s spinning rotor feature, that same function triggers Scorponok’s claws and turbine at the same time! Very cool idea...

Unlike all of the toys released that transform, Scorponok really only has to serve one master here: his beast mode. This means that, more attention can be paid to how close Scorponok can get to his CGI counterpart in the film. And seriously, it is pretty dammed close. Only big difference I can find is that the turbine on the CGI model stretches out right up to the back of his head, while the toy’s ends behind the shoulders. Also, while his eyes have red dots for the multiple iris in each, the toy’s eyes are just overall red even though the iris are still represented as thin lines. Also, the stringer assembly is rather simplified on the toy even though it shares similar traits.

Now, everything I have described up to this point matches the regular Deluxe-class Decepticon Scorponok toy. But this is not the regular Deluxe-class figure; it is a part of the Battle Scenes line, which means some things are different…

The biggest difference here is that there is a slight change in paint applications here- the addition of pockets of sand randomly added to him. Nearly all crevasses, vents, and armor-joints on his lower arms and the lower legs of his robot mode have very thin sand-colored paint apps to make it look like he’s been burrowing underground in the desert. This is the only change to Scorponok here which is different from the regular Deluxe-class figure.

The other difference which sets the Battle Scenes line apart from all other transformable toys is the inclusion of to-scale figures. In this case, the Desert Attack set includes three US Marines figures, each posed standing on top of some broken sandstone formations and ground. All three figures are made with PVC plastic, cannot be posed, and have no detachable parts.

• a dark-skinned soldier (back) with both a pistol and a rifle.
• a tanned soldier (back) with a single rifle, who is jumping down from a short wall
• a pale-skinned soldier (back) who is aiming a rifle while crouched down

[I suspect that the first figure listed above might be related to the character of Air Force Tech Sgt. Epps (actor Tyrese Gibson) from the movie, though he’s not marked as such. Only difference might be that he’s wearing a cap backwards. And he doesn’t have ten back pockets...]

I have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a toy quite like this one before in my life. And here’s what I mean... For every single trait that exists- be it just good or super-awesome- there is always downside to it to balance that out.

• poseable scorpion legs . . . they don’t pose very well
• the claws and turbines spin at the same time . . . if not perfectly lined up inside, the gears constantly grind against each other, making it difficult to spin them evenly
• you can roll him on a flat surface to activate the claws and turbine . . . because of the previous, you have to press down really hard to get those wheels turning
• the arms are poseable . . . if there’s resistance while the claws spin, the arms tend to move back and forth along with, so they appear to shift all by themselves (which they’re not supposed to if the joints are tight enough)
• in beast mode, the head can tilt up and down . . . if you tilt the head up far enough, it pulls it away from the body when you set it back down
• you can attach this toy to Blackout and then activate both special features at the same time . . . because of the resistances in both features, gears grind very easily, and the union hardly works at all
• the beast mode appears in the film, and functions accordingly . . . the robot mode, which does not appear in the film, functions very poorly
• he has legs in robot mode . . . they don’t pose very well or help keep his balance
• claws can spin like in the movie . . . claws cannot open like in the movie

I mean it just goes back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth like that the whole time, and I’ve never seen anything like that before! Now, some things that I’ve read/heard other people complain about, I won’t make a stink about. The biggest one I’ve heard is that the stinger can’t shoot away like a proper missile. Well, ya know what? It didn’t in the movie, so I have no problem with that. The level of detail is awesome, the colors match for the most part (it’s more a pale copper in the film than brown; no biggie), and the functions match. As has been said by many before, I too absolutely hate the robot mode. Aside from the fact that it doesn’t appear in the movie, it’s just poorly done in toy form. So just leave him in beast mode and you’ll be fine; you won’t miss it a tiny bit.

Now, the only reason I got this Battle Scenes figure was because he had those dripping-sand paint apps on him which I thought was a really nice touch, and put him closer to the feel of what you see in the film. That’s the only reason. I like both the springing spear and spinning claws/turbine features, but those gears inside the arms just totally screw that up. The soldiers, again, are a nice bonus, but I wouldn’t have cared if they weren’t in there and this was just a regular Deluxe-class repaint. Overall Scorponok and all his toy flaws really drag it down to the point where I just can’t really promote getting the Desert Attack set (let alone the original Deluxe-class version). If you’re a hardcore fan of the film, or your kid is too young to care or notice the flaws, then go ahead. But for such a bad-ass character in an awesome scene, I’m really disappointed. (Now all we need is a to-scale and fully-functional version of Blackout that isn’t super expensive or stupidly-gimmicky like that super-sized Bumblebee figure that popped up around X-mas ‘07 to match; now that would be kick-ass!)

Helpless and unwilling to harm humans, Bumblebee was unprepared to deal with S7’s primitive but effective measures as they proceeded to disable and then capture him...

[Updated with a YouTube clip from the movie!]

A boy’s first car should be a special event in his life. Finding the right girl is also important, and to do that, he needs a special car. But for Sam Witwicky, he is completely unaware of how special his car really is… until it drives away from his house all by itself… and changes into a giant robot! Sam soon finds himself as the key to ending an intergalactic battle between two factions of a race of alien robots which can change shape at will- the peaceful Autobots and dangerous Decepticons- as they fight to find and retake the powerful AllSpark Cube that created their race. But enemies lie in wait on Earth as well. While the Decepticons are already on our planet looking for their long-lost leader Megatron, the United States secret government organization Sector 7 already knows about the alien robots, and will do anything to keep them hidden. It is not until the great & noble Optimus Prime and several other Autobots crash-land on Earth in their search for the god-like Cube that the 10,000 year-old stalemated war begins anew- with the fate of both races in the hands of these intelligent, powerful alien robots in disguise… and a boy and his car.

Bumblebee was finally able to obtain some information regarding the AllSpark- a native of this planet Earth who may have known its location hundreds of stellar cycles ago. He found the descendants of Captain Archibald Witwicky in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Carefully shadowing the Witwicky family, Bumblebee found that the youngest, Sam, was looking for a car. Perfect. Hiding amongst the lifeless vehicles of the used car lot, the disguised Autobot was purchased for a mere $4000. Bumblebee soon grew attached to the small biological life-form that so treasured him for his mobility, and his use in their unusual courting rituals. Even though Sam believed that his brand-new 1976 Chevrolet Camaro was being stolen, Bumblebee was able to escape and keep him from learning about his true origins long enough to transmit a message to Optimus Prime that he had found a lead in their long search for the AllSpark. However, before Bumblebee could explain what was going on, Barricade tried to scare the information out of Sam and try to kill him! Realizing that cover could no longer be maintained, he took Sam and his friend Mikaela Banes away from the city, and then engaged the brutal Decepticon. Explaining who he was through pre-recorded audio clips he had picked up over time (his vocal processor had been damaged earlier), he convinced the two to ride with him to the rendezvous point where other Autobots would soon be landing. En route, the female suggested that Bumblebee’s disguised form may not be adequate. Anticipating that this might somehow affect Sam’s relationship with her, Bumblebee found a vehicle of sufficient dimensions & mass- a next-generation 2008 Chevrolet Camaro- to initiate scanning and replication. This new form was met with approval from both humans. After meeting the other four Autobots, they all made their way to Sam’s house to look for his great-grandfather’s fragile glasses. Before Sam could get them to the Autobots, unmarked government vehicles pulled up out front, and the Witwicky family and Mikaela were captured.

Intercepting the Sector 7 vehicles which held Sam and Mikaela near an isolated river drainage channel, the Autobots soon realized that they were at risk of being discovered. Fleeing the area, Optimus Prime was cornered, with Sam and Mikaela at risk of falling to their deaths! Bravely, Bumblebee caught them as they fell, exposing himself to S7’s massing forces. But as he tried to protect the two humans, it turned out that S7 was after him as well! Helpless and unwilling to harm humans, Bumblebee was unprepared to deal with S7’s primitive but effective measures as they proceeded to disable and then capture him...

(FYI, the music is about one second out of synch with the video.)

Bumblebee’s vehicle mode (back) is that of a real 2008 Chevrolet Camaro™ pony car, designed by General Motors Corporation™ and manufactured by Oshawa Car Assembly. The fifth generation of the popular Camaro series, it is highly anticipated by car enthusiasts. As a pony car (the term originating with an early version of the rival Ford Mustang™ in the mid-1960s), it is designed to be a scaled-down version of a muscle car- smaller, a stylized or sporty shape, two-doors, able to carry four passengers, powerful V6 or V8 engine, and many options for additional features beyond the stock model, in addition to being less expensive. GMC intends to introduce a convertible version of the Camaro for the 2009 line.

By the time production began on "Transformers" in early 2005, the Concept Camaro (as it is currently known) was nothing but prototypes and early designs. The first full production models wouldn’t even begin rolling out of the factory until nearly a year after the film had come out in 2007! In order to deal with a car that no one had made yet, the producers of the film asked GMC to produce molds of the Concept Camaro’s exterior and designs of the interior. Using these, Saleen, Incorporated made heavy modifications to two existing 2006 Pontiac GTOs to change them into mock-up Concept Camaros for the film.

(BTW, Saleen also makes the S281E Mustang that was used for Decepticon Barricade, and slightly modified a Pontiac Solstice GPX for Autobot Jazz.)

The general body shape of the Concept Camaro seems to more closely resemble and pay tribute to the first-generation Camaro design from the late 1960s- rounded edges all-around, headlights incorporated into the narrow front grille on the flattened incorporated front bumper, shorter roof height from the level of the hood (making for a narrower windshield and windows), the back windshield gradually angles towards the edge of the trunk, and a slight rise in the outer shell just above the back wheels. Though all four wheels show thin black tires with identical five-point hubcaps, the front wheels are slightly smaller in diameter than the back ones. The vehicle mode is molded all in a slightly richer yellow ABS plastic than the second-generation 1976 Camaro version version of Bumblebee. Also, the intentional paint smudges which showed wear-and-tear and battle damage on the ’76 ver. are now absent from the ’08 ver. While the two black racing stripes across the top of the hood and trunk remain, they are now solid on the ’08 ver. as opposed to having an additional thinner black line running around them both. But perhaps the biggest change is that the ’08 ver. uses transparent turquoise ABS plastic for all of its windows as opposed to being just yellow ABS. While Bumblebee has no passenger compartment to speak of in either toy, you can now easily see his unused arms all squashed up inside. (The Japanese market-release ’76 ver. did indeed have transparent front windshields, side windows, and missiles, while American and British releases did not; using solid yellow plastic for all instead. The rear windows across all markets were painted identical metallic blue.) To ensure you know who made the Camaro, a small silver Chevrolet logo is molded on both the front grille (painted gold) and above the license plate in back (which is not painted). The name "Camaro" is painted silver in raises letters just above both front wheels.

‘Automorph Technology’ is a new special feature that is fairly unique to the 2007 movie figures. What Automorph does is when one specific section moves, there is an internal system of gears and levers which moves another part in the same region. (Although, I’m sure a similar function has presented itself in the other lines from the various anime-inspired series. I do know for certain that the huge “Transformers Galaxy Force” Primus figure had such function(s) in his back armor, leg weapon units, and chest/head.) In the Deluxe-class ’08 Concept Camaro Bumblebee, there are two Automorph functions:

• After you release the windshield catch to free up the mechanism, the entire nose section flips forward and down, revealing Bumblebee’s head. At the same time, the hood separates into three parts, two of which are connected to the advanced shoulder and wing/door assembly. While the larger hood part is spring-loaded and automatically collapses down behind his head, the internal torso assembly rotates the wings & arms backwards 90-degrees; realigning the wings perpendicular to vertical, and raising the arms forward. Finally, as the nose section flips downwards, a spring-loaded panel underneath the vehicle mode [and Bumblebee’s head] is pushed out slightly to cover the newly-formed gap between his chest and head. Later, the shoulder joints and chest panels can be manipulated manually to finish their transformation.
• On both legs, the two halves of the back bumper flip upwards 90-degrees. At the same time, the foot and ankle joint flip downward 90-degrees. A second section- the two halves of the back window- are shifted to the inside of his lower leg.

Needless to say, both Automorph features in the ’08 Camaro ver. are pretty much the same ones on the ’76 Camaro ver., just executed differently. Of all the transformable sets that I have seen or reviewed from the “Transformers” film line that have an Automorph feature, Bumblebee’s may be among the most complex, even for a Deluxe-class figure! As that upper body is twisting and turning, you have absolutely nowhere you can grab on except below his waist since something is always on the move, or your fingers might get in the way. With the ’76 ver., the chest flipped over, then you finish up with the shoulders & doors/wings. Done. But here… whew! (In a way, it reminds me of the Automorph on Decepticon Wreckage.) At the same time, since the torso Automorph is so integrated, nothing is designed to snap in place; it all slips around comfortably. So if something has to be forced, stop immediately- you’re missing something and might break it! Some suspects I’ve found in this:

• the windshield hasn’t been moved out of the way before the whole thing starts up
• the center hood panel isn’t out of the way
• the shoulder/wing assemblies are in the way
• the shoulder/wing assemblies aren’t fully extended away from the center of the torso

The legs’ also take inspiration from the ’76 Camaro ver- extending the feet at the same time as flipping the trunk cover & back window parts around, while at the same time filling out the front of the lower leg a bit in the knee region. Again there’s nothing to snap around, so forcing is not needed.

Bumblebee’s robot mode (back), I must confess, is really impressive despite a little awkward- what’s the word, “kibble”?- here and there. He’s certainly a better offering than the other to-scale Deluxe-class figures that appeared in the movie- Autobot Jazz and Decepticon Barricade! Whereas the ’76 ver. was filled with harsh edges, and didn’t really resemble his film counterpart that well, this ’08 ver. is top notch. Even though it is the same character but with a different body, his head doesn’t change in the film (except in battle), a new sculpt was made for the ’08 ver., which now includes the ever-popular eyes that glow when you shine light through them which were painted on the ’76 ver. (Do they light up when a light shines on them? Ehh… not really, no.) As is traditional for most Autobots since the G1 series debuted in 1984, they have the front of their respective vehicle mode appear on their chest or as some part of their torso. Bumblebee’s torso is no different. While raising the chest panels may not be as complex as what appears on the big screen, it is still greatly appreciated! (For whatever strange-ass reason, all of the official photographs I see of this specific toy- even on its own box!- have those two chest panels still in line as the nose of the car. Don’t ask me why they always goof that up...) Though I can’t find an equivalent on the CGI character model, the panel that rests behind Bumblebee’s head features the same five screw head-like shapes that that are on the ’76 ver. in the same spot. (I’ve though of both versions as exposed micro-missiles.) The windshield, instead or raising behind the head, remains at his lower back, with the side doors becoming bee-inspired wings like his namesake. (Real bees are actually distant members of the wasp family.) The lower torso is also quite detailed with panels, pipes, and yes- even the warped license plate (4NZZZ454) right above the infamous lubrication relief valve. The arms are detailed, but whereas the roof and rear windows on the ’76 ver. came to rest on the back of its lower legs, here the roof remains attached behind his lower arms. The front wheels and doors form the back of the shoulders and wings; even though they share the torso-connection joints with the arms, they do not move in robot mode. (The position of the doors and wheels very closely match their film counterpart’s.) Whereas the ’76 ver. used ball-and-socket joints for both the shoulders and elbows, this version uses swiveling joints in the elbows, but moves the ball-and-sockets to the wrists of the open four-fingered hands. The legs depart in three ways from their film counterparts, even though most other details are quite similar: 1) the tail lights (and thus the entire back bumper) remain on the back of his knees, whereas on the CG model they are in his lower back; 2) instead of a three-toed footprint, it’s a long foot with a single poseable front toe; and 3) the back wheels remain outside his ankles as opposed to inside them in the film. Notable details carried over from the CGI character include the gray blocks on the front of his feet, his pointed knees with three vents right below, and the front cowling of the back wheels forming thin armor on his thighs.

Poseability is slightly hampered by all of the excess vehicle parts that Bumblebee has to deal with in robot mode. The head is mounted on both a ball-and-socket joint and a tiny pitching lever, allowing him to actually look down and up quite a ways. (Sweet!) The ball-and-socket joints for his shoulders are tilted slightly forward, so they’ll never hang 100-percent perpendicular to the rest of the body. Same with the elbows- the panels on the back of his lower arms prevent them from hanging straight down, so they have to be tilted slightly outwards. Fortunately the panels are on swivel joints, so you can play around with them that way a bit. Otherwise everything on the arms and shoulders works just fine, and articulation is top notch. I was pleasantly surprised to find a ball-and-socket waist joint; though the way things are positioned, it pivots kinda funny- not horizontally like we’re used to, but diagonally. The waist articulation is hampered perhaps only by the front windshield sitting on his lower back, but fortunately that has its own joint and can give a little ways to allow waist movement. Same with the chest armor- lifting up a hair will allow his upper torso to pitch forward an appropriate amount. While his hips are widely spaced compared to the ’76 ver., the car parts between his legs prevents them from standing perfectly straight, and can interfere with some poses. The knees can bend backwards 90-degrees even with the bumper sections there. Only bad thing I can find with the legs is that when you try to pose the legs, the Automorph feature tends to kick into reverse since it doesn’t lock in place (Grrr...), so you have to hold the bumpers/ankles in place as you pose everything else; same with the yellow thigh armor which tends to flop around. The good news for the legs is that you have those quite-accommodating toe and ankle joints to make up for it! A pair of angular yellow hoops rest on top of his heels- while they serve no purpose in posing but move a little when transforming him, they are yet another detail carried over from the CGI character model.

. . .

During the Mission City battle, after his legs have been crushed beneath some rubble, Bumblebee is carried away on the back end of a tow truck driven by Mikaela. Knowing that the Autobots and humans are loosing the battle, they decide to turn around and engage Brawl. While Mikaela drives the truck backwards at high speed, Bumblebee deploys the pulse cannon built inside his right arm, as well as a pair of cluster missile launchers from his shoulders.

The ’76 version of Bumblebee carried two single spring-powered missile launchers as his weapon. These could be placed on either both shoulders or in both hands; they were stored in vehicle mode as exhaust pipes. While Bumblebee has the wheels located behind his shoulders again (the wheels are the missile launchers in the movie), the ’08 ver. cannot accommodate the spring launchers there, nor in his permanently-opened hands. Also, his arms are way too tiny to accommodate a hidden pulse cannon! So a larger accessory pulse cannon is provided, which can slip into either hand- though it is portrayed only in the right hand. The cannon is fairly detailed in its own right, and closely matches the CGI weapon as well! Now, in “Transformers: The Game” (rated E10 or Teen depending on which platform you buy it for), ’08 Bumblebee can also deploy a stinger weapon not seen in the film. So Hasbro designed the pulse cannon to split apart to reveal an extendable layered transparent-turquoise blade within, which Bumblebee can also grip. (A very cool idea!)

While Hasbro can certainly be credited with the enormous task of transforming the immensely-complex CGI characters used in the 2007 movie (which- on average- contained 10,000 components per robot!), it should be noted that these are not just straight transitions either. While Bumblebee’s head, legs, arms, and chest all hide in roughly the same places in the toy, the process by which he transforms is very different, resulting in a slightly different look from his CGI counterpart. Mostly it has to do with where things end-up, which I’ve already gone over in detail above. While the Ultimate Bumblebee toy release- the largest movie-oriented transformable toy released to date- attempts to capture some of the spirit of this while also including things like motion and sound sensors, LED lights, a speaker, and several movement motors, even it can come no where near to the mind-boggling shifting and sliding seen in the film even though many of its molded details and transformations may be similar. But, again, I have found that the ’08 ver. is among the sets that closest matches their film counterpart in style and function.

Now, everything I have described up to this point matches the regular Deluxe-class Concept Camaro Bumblebee toy. But this is not the regular Deluxe-class figure; it is a part of the Battle Scenes line, which means some things are different…

The biggest difference is that- with the exception of the wheels- all of the black plastic ABS from the regular Deluxe-class figure have been changed to dark gray to more closely match the various shades of gray and silver used in the film. His face, also, has received dark gray paint instead of black paint. The Autobot symbol on his chest has been changed from black to silver, and a new smaller red symbol appears on his forehead. All other paint applications and plastic coloring remains the same. These are the only changes to Bumblebee here which are different from the regular Deluxe-class figure.

The other difference which sets the Battle Scenes line apart from all other transformable toys is the inclusion of to-scale figures. In this case, the Capture of Bumblebee set includes three human Sector 7 figures, each posed standing on top of some broken blacktop concrete. All three figures are made with PVC plastic, cannot be posed, and have no detachable parts.

• an Agent (back) in a business suit with a pistol and [what looks to be] a Geiger counter
• a soldier without a helmet (back) and no backpack, pointing a long rifle that appears to be able to hold large sabot rounds (a known weakness of Cybertronians’ armor in the film)
• a soldier with a helmet (back), carrying a backpack with small tanks, and a handheld device which spays out a freezing liquid (another known weakness that can disable a Cybertronian and put them into stasis lock)

[Oh- I really hope that isn’t supposed to be Agent Simmons (actor John Turturro); he’s my least favorite character in the whole friggin’ film! If it is (*shudder*), I am comforted to know that his eyes were painted slightly crossed, mwa-ha-ha-ha…]

What the Instructions *Don't* Tell You

[fanfare sounds]

The Deluxe-class Bumblebee set, fortunately, has only two entries into this frustrating category:

• When changing him into vehicle mode, you have to raise that large panel behind his head in order to make room for the chest to swing up and over.
• In order to get the arms to fit inside the passenger compartment, the upper arm needs to be twisted into a very un-human position. While the instructions tell you to do this, they are not specific as to what you are supposed to do to accomplish this.

But the instructions don’t tell you any of this…

There was one big reason why I picked this Battle Scenes set up as opposed to the regular Deluxe-class Concept Camaro set. And that is because the figure here is a repaint. In the film, the ambitious Autobot is dressed in his trademark yellow and black, but then the internal framework of the CGI character was composed of layers of metal in a wide variety of silver, gray, and copper. Now, the regular ’08 ver. was dressed mostly in yellow and black, with only very tiny amounts of silver paint; the ’76 ver. was the same. But with the Battle Scenes set, it is more movie-accurate in its coloring with the use of the dark gray- it allows you to see the high level of detail in the figure while better preserving the colors of the movie character. Of note, the [upcoming] Premium line version of the ’08 ver. has a similar approach- using a lighter coloring for the framework instead of all-black again like both the ’76 Classic Camaro and regular ’08 Concept Camaro versions. Beyond that, I didn’t care if this set included the in-scale figures, though they certainly are a nice and distinguishing touch that haven’t been seen much of since Mini-Cons, and the far-earlier Headmasters and Powermaster characters of similar nature. But, I don’t think a truly human character has ever been represented in a Transformers set without some kind of augmentation, or as a head on a decal or molded into the inside of a cockpit, in the past 25 years (the recent Japanese-release KissPlayers and Alternators lines aside, of course).

As for the Deluxe-class figure itself, I got it only knowing about the extendable blade inside the blaster (I can’t tell ya enough how cool that is!), and that the Automorph was somehow different from the ’76 version. So, I was very impressed very quickly with it. Being that this character is perhaps the best known in the film next to Optimus Prime as far as print and media are concerned, I was able to compare large pictures of the CGI character against this toy, and I found myself amazed at how close some details were even though such comparisons against thousand-plus-part computer models were pointless. Certainly the spirit of the movie character carries over. (So far as I am concerned, that is a face that only a mother- and Sam- could ever love, ya know...?) The details in vehicle mode are equally, um… “tight”. In fact, my only complaint with the car form is that the separation lines are fairly obvious in back, and unless everything is perfectly aligned there (good luck with that blaster in there!), they’re more and more obvious as he tries to pop himself apart. Aside from that, this is a very well-rounded figure. The Capture of Bumblebee set is a very good deal for what you get. And I also fully extend that enthusiastic support to this Battle Scenes version of the Deluxe-class Concept Camaro Bumblebee alone as well; even if it is just a repaint. I highly recommend getting this Battle Scenes set!

Like the Deluxe-class Decepticon Dropkick before him, this is another excellent example of a toy being well modeled after the complex CGI character styles from the 2007 film… even though he doesn’t appear in it.

A boy’s first car should be a special event in his life. Finding the right girl is also important, and to do that, he needs a special car. But for Sam Witwicky, he is completely unaware of how special his car really is… until it drives away from his house all by itself… and changes into a giant robot! Sam soon finds himself as the key to ending an intergalactic battle between two factions of a race of alien robots which can change shape at will- the peaceful Autobots and dangerous Decepticons- as they fight to find and retake the powerful AllSpark Cube that created their race. But enemies lie in wait on Earth as well. While the Decepticons are already on our planet looking for their long-lost leader Megatron, the United States secret government organization Sector 7 already knows about the alien robots, and will do anything to keep them hidden. It is not until the great & noble Optimus Prime and several other Autobots crash-land on Earth in their search for the god-like Cube that the 10,000 year-old stalemated war begins anew- with the fate of both races in the hands of these intelligent, powerful alien robots in disguise… and a boy and his car.

Landmine’s vehicle mode (back) is based on that of a real Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) lightweight scout, manufactured by Chenowth Racing Products, Inc. It is an off-road sandrail vehicle designed for hit-and-run tactics, as well as fast reconnaissance behind enemy lines, and it is favored by United States special operations units for its light weight, speed, easy maintenance, and reliability. The DPV was later surpassed by the Light Strike Vehicle (LSV), also manufactured by Chenowth. Being a sandrail vehicle means that the DPV does not carry protection for the three occupants (driver, passenger gunner, and top gunner) from small-arms fire, but does protect them from high-speed and roll-over accidents. Today, they are designed to carry a wide variety of light weapons, typically one M2 Browning .50cal machine gun, two 7.62mm M60 machine guns, or two AT4 anti-armor launchers. On the other hand, Chenowth is also well-known publicly for producing a wide variety of sandrail vehicles similar to the DPV with different capacities in weight, engine performance, and cargo & passenger capacity for both sport and private use.

In this case, Sector 7 modified the DPV so that they would carry protective armor for the vehicle itself and the occupants within, while retaining its speed and off-road maneuverability. They also added two supplemental fuel tanks which rest next to the top gunner seat to extend its range beyond the standard 210mi (338km).

The vehicle mode is molded primarily in an odd dark blue/green ABS, with black ABS for the bumpers and rail guard in front, back, and either side. (In the movie, the armor of the DPVs that Sector 7 used was painted gray.) The four identical tires are also molded in black, but the inner rims are that odd blue/green. I can’t show it very well, but the suspension system behind the wheels is all light gray. Above the front bumper are what looks like some additional lights, and armor guards for the shock absorbers. The passenger compartment has only a front windshield with armored blinders above, but no other windows or doors; opting for a solid outer shell-look. It is very cramped in there, but- trust me- there are two silver high-back seats inside along with indents in the dashboard for a steering wheel. (Nice!) Because of how things work, the third seat for the top gunner was not included in the toy. However, his topside dark gray machine gun was, which features an ammo clip feed belt dropping out of the right side of it, paired handles, a targeting scope, and a silver mount to hold it up. (Because of the size of those toy shells, I think it might be a grenade launcher, even though the ones in the movie were very obviously machine guns.) Directly behind the driver seat are two silver pressure tanks, presumably used for fuel. And then behind them on top are exhaust pipes and a horizontal radiator grille, before being rounded out by the back bumper with turning & brake lights painted on. All across the armor are black markings for Sector 7, the vehicle’s ID number (52), two black-and-white US flags above the back wheels, and an easy-to-overlook black Autobot symbol on the hood right behind the front bumper.

The reason for all the S7 markings is that- according to his profile on both the back of the toy’s packaging card and online, Landmine was originally a human-built DPV until he was accidentally granted life by the AllSpark at sometime during the Mission City battle. This is also why Landmine was marketed under the “AllSpark Power” line- recognizable by tiny spots of light blue paint and plastic on various parts of his robot body.

Landmine has several features in vehicle mode. The first are the wheels- each one has an independent spring suspension system that allow the wheels to slide up and down about a quarter of an inch. The wheels raise the vehicle up high enough that you can really slide him around, even on carpet, without it quickly losing speed while dragging on the ground. Nice! The other is the machine gun mount- it can both swing side-to-side, but has two silver bars with independent joints that can slide it forward/back a little, and point it upwards as well!

‘Automorph Technology’ is a new special feature that is fairly unique to the 2007 movie figures. What Automorph does is when one specific section moves, there is an internal system of gears and levers which moves another part in the same region. (Although, I’m sure a similar function has presented itself in the other lines from the various anime-inspired series. I do know for certain that the huge “Transformers Galaxy Force” Primus figure had such function(s) in his back armor, leg weapon units, and chest/head.) In the Deluxe-class Landmine, there are two Automorph functions:

• When you first pull the sides and seats of the passenger compartment out (which form his arms), you have to pull out on the two front wheels to release their grip on them. Then, when the arms are free, springs pull the wheels further into the nose, which becomes part of his upper torso.
• After his legs and feet have been extended, the two halves of the back bumper flip down and forward. At the same time, the horizontal grille panels slide downwards towards his feet a little bit.

You can’t just pull the arms out, and expect the wheels to behave all by themselves (should you expect that?); you have to adjust one at a time before you attack the other side. Similarly, when reversing the process, you need to pull the wheels out before the shoulders can slide back in. Also be aware- the connection on those back bumpers isn’t very good, so they tend to pop off easily if too much pressure is applied.

Landmine’s robot mode (back) also looks like it jumped right off the movie screen. He’s got detailed paneling and supports all over the inside of his arms, upper legs, and inside the lower legs. The upper torso retains most of the nose of the DPV, except where his head folds through it; the front wheels- due to the Automorph feature- slide a little closer together to form the sides of his waist. On his back hangs the windshield and roof. The arms are formed by the side fenders and floor; the seats extend out to form large hands with claws. The back half of the DPV forms the legs, with those two fuel tanks forming the feet, and the back wheels sliding around to form its heels. “AllSpark Power”-blue highlights are inside Landmine’s head, neck, lower arms, upper legs, and shins. Additional section of dark gray and silver reveal themselves in this form as well.

Poseability is quite advanced. Most joints are ball-and-sockets, including the head and wrists. The shoulders each have two joints, one of those just from the transformation, but it can still be an option if you’d like. There is a swiveling waist joint as well. The hands are adjustable- the ‘thumb’ is the size of the other four fingers put together. The four fingers are molded into one piece, but they and the thumb move the same way with two jointed segments each. The legs are equally flexible, and include ankle joints that can pitch forward and backwards. An interesting bonus in the feet are that- in combination with those large back wheels- two smaller wheels underneath the fuel tanks allow Landmine to roll around like he’s wearing inline skates! (Ehh- back wheels are a little tighter in robot mode, but still--!)

The machine gun from his vehicle mode- which is officially called a “cryo-shock rifle” (must be an S7 feature of some kind which was altered by the AllSpark Cube)- can be used two different ways:

• it can remain attached on his back, and then flipped to point over his right shoulder; or-
• it can be detached and he can grip it with either hand

Unfortunately, Landmine can’t get a firm grip on the rifle, so you have to kinda play around until it’s comfortable enough that it won’t go anywhere. (Me? I keep it over the shoulder.) I should note that Landmine is one of the very few movie-specific transforming toys that actually uses a handheld weapon rather than having it integrated into the arms or chest or something. For that matter, less than half of the Cybertronians in the movie use hand-held weapons- Optimus Prime, Jazz, Blackout, and Barricade).

And now it’s time for a segment we haven’t seen for a while now…

What the Instructions *Don’t* Tell You

[fanfare sounds]

(Ahh- I still got it...)

The Deluxe-class Landmine set has four marks in this frustrating category, though they’re really minor if important things:

• When extending the legs, the rear bumpers need to be rotated down towards the feet so that the knees can fully extend.
• When pushing in the back wheels and then flipping them forward, they snap into holes behind the fuel tanks (now the feet).
• The machine gun is shown as locked tightly against the wrist and/or lower arm, but this is not so. They also don’t show that it can remain on the back.
• If you do not look closely right after opening the toy from the box, you can miss that the front wheel supports press in against the shoulder armor panels due to ho