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Parasites Extermasite

Comments

7 comments posted
This. Is. Terrifying.

This. Is. Terrifying.

Dkun's picture
Posted by Dkun on 10 September, 2011 - 16:36
It's like a cyber-shrimp or

It's like a cyber-shrimp or an automaton anteater

neat

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 10 September, 2011 - 17:28
I had this one as a kid!

I never really understood why he was what he was, I Just knew he wasn't a Transformer, but was still an awesome robot that crammed into a van.

Black Zarak's picture
Posted by Black Zarak on 10 September, 2011 - 20:29
Yay, more Parasites! :D

Great review again!

One request: could you include a pic of the robot next to an action figure for scale (Microman, Glyos, whatever). One thing I think that is appealing about them is despite the 1:64 scale car feature, they work better IMHO as 3 3/4" scale robot figures. Not really canonical, of course, but man are they great with Micronauts aliens and the like.

I'll note that the two reviewed so far have the weirdest proportions out of the lot of six types. Extermasite is one of the three I mentioned that are better constructed though. Three were entirely snap-fit and cheaper in design, the other three were screwed or riveted together and a bit sturdier.

There were also a couple of proposed semi-truck and trailers which housed a mini-Parasite in the cab and a giant one in the trailer. Larry Jones from California R&D shared some pics with me and on his Facebook page last year, pretty neat stuff.

Not all fans will "get" these when Transformers and Go-Bots and even Convertors were "doing it better". Matchbox was in its more troubled years and was trying to diversify (leading to the Robotech disaster among other things) and Cal R&D brought their own ideas to the table such as this and the more successful RoadBlasters and a few other ideas. I think the point was to avoid simply copying what other transforming toys were doing and create a unique line as well as to incorporate the Matchbox toy car element (both to tie the toys together and to reuse some tooling). And to their credit, this was a concept developed from scratch rather than licensing a Japanese product and slapping a new market spin on it. However, in the end Matchbox cut a lot of corners on the product and it wasn't quite to the standard that Cal R&D had expected.

In the end, the whole line was something of an anomaly, and the linking it to Halley's Comet narrow window of appearance proved more apt than likely intended.

microbry's picture
Posted by microbry on 10 September, 2011 - 22:28
if only

he can tuck his cannon/mouth thing

Berserk's picture
Posted by Berserk on 11 September, 2011 - 20:46
Excruciatingly horrible. I

Excruciatingly horrible. I love it.

chachipower's picture
Posted by chachipower on 12 September, 2011 - 00:07
HA! Silent and sinister

HA! Silent and sinister hunter who hides inside a dodge caravan, eh? Does he also offer candy to children and follows them around a few feet back on the road?

Seriously though, I wish I had known about these when I was little; these things are awesome! I'm surprised at how much articulation that thing has.

Finally: does that "powerful dose of funk" come directly from that pimp walk you got 'em doing in the 14th pic?

Alexx's picture
Posted by Alexx on 12 September, 2011 - 15:46