Rare Toy - Dion

PLEASE NOTE: This review was originally written at an earlier date, so it might be outdated or lacking by my current standards



Dion

"There was a time when Dion cared little for the echoes of war beginning to spread across his home world. Occasionally he'd opine on the feats of the new robots with flight capabilities, who he secretly envied, but otherwise turned a deaf audio receptor to the discussion about the start of what some were calling the second Cybertronian war. All that changed the day the war finally found him. The flying robots landed at the front door of the storage depot, led by the one called Megatron. Amicable at first, the encounter quickly turned for the worse when Megatron unleashed his full fury on the dockworkers and fled with that cycle's shipment of Energon.

When Dion awoke, he now was fully aware of what Megatron and the Decepticons were capable of, and having lost all that he had known, Dion decided to join the Elite Guard and now works to stop the Decepticons any way he can!"

Role: Infantry

Quote: "Efficiency makes you strong. Speed makes you lethal."

Strength: 7

Intelligence: 7

Speed: 9

Endurance: 8

Rank: 6

Courage: 9

Fireblast: 9

Skill: 8


Robot Mode



Dion's natural robot mode is very constrictive, his arms can't move very much because of the back kibble, and of course his eye's pipe-lighting gimmick is hindered as well, however it still looks good, and emulates the original character model for the character as well.

Since Dion is a straight repaint, he has no remoldings, but it should be noted that he uses the Japanese version of the toy (hence the weaponry) His head is quite well detailed, and comes with a visor that comes over his entire face

Dion's colour scheme is designed to look like his original colours, but better suited for this new mold. He's mostly orange with blue, white and black highlights as well, and also has a small Elite Guard insignia on his left shoulder, which I think is very nice

His legs can bed at the knees and the very top of the leg as well via hinges. His feet can also be repositioned for whatever surface he is to be set up on, as with most recent toys as well.

His arms are able to bend at the elbows as well by a hinge like with the legs, and the shoulder joints can be rotated forwards and sideways as well, however the back kibble restricts the movement of the arms, so it's nothing to take note of still. The hands aren't articulated, but can hold standard sized weapons, including the two guns that he comes with.



Now despite the limitations caused by the back kibble, you can get around this, by using this fan mode that is readily available. Basically, you remove the orange parts of the back kibble from the black clips on the back, and slide them into the opposite arm to where you removed them from (ie the part from the left of the back, goes on the right arm and vice-versa, this creates a "boxing mode" also, the two guns that come with him can be clipped into the now vacant back clips, to give him a set of over-the-shoulder cannon weapons.




Alternate Mode



Dion's alternate mode is of a Hot Rod style sports car with a stylized rear spoiler.

The car is mostly orange, but has a blue colour scheme at the front, covering most of the hood and bleeds onto the doors (which is partially designed as an Autobot insignia as well.

Dion has a white rim around the edge of the entire car with details all across it. The windows are partially see through, but the side windows are purely dark grey paint. His headlights are realistic looking, but his rear lights are just painted over

His wheels are able to turn, as with mode recent car Transformers, so he can roll around a table unaided (unless he's mis-transformed of course). His doors, can open in vehicle mode, but there's no where to go inside the car

Because this is the Japanese version of the mold, he has a portion missing from the rear bumper for the guns to sit, where they can be used as exhaust pipes (with the missiles acting as blue flames/smoke coming out of it)


Transformation

Dion is a bit fiddly to transform, but only because you have to be able to hold a few things at the same time for either mode. The most complicated part is having the groin area split apart, then flipping the part portion of the robot mode, whilst having to handle the back kibble and arms and keeping everything in place when transforming him


Accessories



Dion comes with quite a few accessories actually for a loose toy, he comes with two white and black guns, each with a clear blue missile that he can hold in robot mode or vehicle mode as needed, but the best part of the accessories section is his little Minicon/Micromaster buddy.....


Cop-Tur



"Many amongst the AUTOBOT forces consider COP-TUR to be something of a renegade. With his permanent slouch, gravelly voice, goonish chuckle, and crude sense of humor, many take him to be little more than a dim-bulb thug and wonder why he's allowed to work alongside the Elite Guard. His commanders overlook his personality flaws because there's the brain of a mechanical genius whirring away inside that smirking bullet head. He's an expert in customizing Cybertronian anatomy, as well as designing more powerful, adept and efficient ELITE GUARD combat bodyforms to counter the escalating DECEPTICON threat. Top command figures it's better to keep him around, annoyances and all, than risk him turning to the DECEPTICONS."

Role: Mechanical Engineer

Cop-Tur is a small blue helicopter with some blue and orange parts (using some of Dion's colours of course) and is used to emulate the Go-Bots character of the same name. The robot mode is difficult to pose and is always in a slouching pose because of this, which is even referenced in the bio written above. His arms are able to bend at the elbows and can also rotate at the shoulder joints. His legs can also move at the upper-most parts to go in any direction. The helicopter propellers can also rotate by just turning/blowing them


Availability

Dion was made available as a membership incentive figure, given to all members who are active before Mid-March 2010 for free, and mine arrived about four months later in July. He was later made available on the Club's Online store

He is a pure repaint of the Japanese Henkei version of the Universe Hot Shot toy and comes with all the same accessories as that version but in new colours.


My Thoughts

I actually really enjoyed this figure, he was my first Club Incentive figure, and made a great addition to my collection (especially since I love obscure characters)

I love the redesign of this obscure character, especially since it's the first in the "free" toys that wasn't part of a set. I think his robot and vehicle mode are both well redesigned (deco wise etc)

However the Autobot insignias on his doors were marred by the unpaintable hinges which was annoying, since we have a nice, ornate blue Autobot insignia, with a bright orange blob in the middle, which is annoying

Another annoying thing with him, was that one of his legs and his head is prone to fall off, whilst I'm not sure if the leg thing is the same for all the copies of this figure, or if it is just mine, I do remember seeing a lot of complaints about the heads though, with one person even complaining about the head being absent in it's entirety!

The play value of this figure is quite high as well, especially if you do my fan-mode as well, since that increases his articulation somewhat, increasing his interactibility with other figures. Also because he's a recent car mode figure, he is able to roll out with the best of them, and fits with other recent car mode Transformers in a line up

Rare Toy - Nightbeat

PLEASE NOTE: This review was originally written at an earlier date, so it might be outdated or lacking by my current standards



Nightbeat

"When Grimlock approached Nightbeat about joining his grew in the search for Bludgeon and the rest of the Decepticons who had fled Klo, he naturally jumped at the opportunity. It was a mystery to solve, and Nightbeat was ready for the challenge. Along with Muzzle, and their trusted (and rather loud) comrade Siren, the three headed off with Grimlock and the rest of the crew aboard the Graviton.
Now, after deciding that even the remnants of war was just something he no longer wanted to be a part of, Nightbeat finds himself commanding a crew of his own: one made of comrades, new and old, together mapping out different star systems to explore and finding new mysteries to solve!"

Role: Detective

Quote: "Tackling the mysteries of the Universe...one planet at a time."


Robot Mode



Nightbeat's robot mode is a very good upgrade for his G1 version. His colours match the originals very well and utilizes the new mold very well

The legs are articulate, but they're quite stiff, so despite being able to move his legs, he isn't easy, and can be scary to do so. His leg's articulation is confined to the upper-most part of the leg (where the yellow part on the leg is) The legs can also be raised at the sides to give him the horizontal splits. The feet are able to be repositioned slightly for different surfaces. The lower legs can also rotate at the point just under the yellow partat 360 degrees if needed

His arms are able to bend at the elbows by a hinge, and the shoulder area by a ball joint. Although the arms CAN'T technically raise at the sides, you can unhook the arm's connection to the main torso to make them look like they can (though it would look very awkward). Nightbeat's shoulder thingies are able to be risen or lowered upwards or downwards so they look like a massive collar or a part of the arms respectively. His hands aren't articulated, but can hold a standard gun (like the one he comes with)

The head is connected to the back kibble/car hood by a connector, and can therefore be slightly tilted or raised etc on a ball bearing on the connector. The head is also a new mold from the original Hot Shot one to make it look like the old comic version (sans the ears due to a warehouse mistake..or Siren annoying him so much that he throws the ears at him)

Because he is using an Energon series mold he can also wield an Energon star on his left breast which also has a silver Autobot insignia inside it


Alternate Mode



Nightbeat's alternate mode is of an Aston Martin sports car which looks very lovely, the blue is consistent, which is good in a figure with various segments (like Universe Sunstreaker with his different yellows) Also the large Autobot insignia on the front of the hood makes a very lovely addition to the figure's aesthetic.

The yellow spoiler and rim make a good contrast to the bold blue. The rear of the car has an area molded for a licence plate, but it's left blank (as it was in the original use of the mold too). he has clear headlights that, whilst not working still look great. he can also have his hood opened up to reveal a faux engine

The wheels are fully functional, as with most modern car molds, and can roll along a smooth surface with some ease. He has a false set of police sirens carried over from the Hot Shot mold, which are just yellow instead of red and blue

Nightbeat has a visible interior, but it's not able to be used by any known of figures (since the seating area is filled by his chest. The doors can also open up, but obviously the folded arms are there, so they aren't usable anyway

The flame deco on the doors is VERY nicely done, it's not just one bulk of colour, but more realistic, with some red highlights on the yellow flames


Transformation

Nightbeat isn't difficult to transform in the slightest, you just slide out the legs, flip open the feet, open the doors, unfold the arms, fold down the hood and flip out the head connector onto the Powerlinx port

The only difficult part in any sense is the head which has to be folded out careful and then the connector must be repositioned to hide it enough in robot mode



Of course, since Nightbeat uses an Energon series Autobot mold, he can combine with any of the Voyager or Deluxe Powerlinx combiners as well, as shown in my two sets of images above. his "Torso mode" is created by flipping his folded up arms backwards, opening up his groin, and spreading his legs (STOP GIGGLING!) then threading his head connector through the car hood and pulling the head through the hood, the opposite side to where it was before and clipping it into a special clip revealed at that point. He can then connect to any "Leg mode" Energon figure by the black connector

His "Leg mode" is much easier to perform, you just fold up his arms and shoulder thingies and flip it backwards, and fold the head and connector back into the car hood, then just connect any "Torso mode" onto him


Accessories



Nightbeat comes with the three parts of his gun, which include a scanner, gun and missile. The scanner and gun are clear plastic which can also clip onto the car mode at the top


Availability

Nightbeat was only made available at the Transformers Collector's club for about $40, but is now out of stock. I managed to get mine from a contest held on this website however, which is just awesome frankly
Nightbeat is a repaint of Energon Hotshot, with a new head, and new plastic on his gun to make a different clear plastic colour (opaque instead of red and blue)


My Thoughts

Nightbeat is one of my favourite characters ever, and this version makes a wonderful addition to my collection. He looks great in both modes and has plenty of play value

His new head, whilst looking a bit off without the ears, still looks good regardless, it's VERY detailed, which is always a plus and since the eyes are a silver colour, they give off a natural "glow" with even natural light

The figure however has a kind of shaky feeling and rattles a lot, it's most likely because this mold has been used at least 2 times by both Hasbro and Takara each, so it was probably on it's last legs anyway. Also the head is very easy to remove, which is very annoying, but I can live with it

The alternate mode is very fun, and even fits in with the more modern CHUG (Classics, Henkei, Universe, Generations) alternate modes, which enables him to interact and role out with some of his newly updated G1 buddies

Overall I love this figure. If I had the money I'd buy an Aston Martin and have him painted in Nightbeat's colours because of this toy. He looks good in both robot and car mode, so he'd be good for collectors (if you can find him anywhere) or for anyone who just wants a fun toy to play with

A is for Astrotrain

The Winning Toy

"Astrotrain thrives on panic and fear. Though he is mainly used as a transport vehicle for moving warriors and supplies, he only truly feels at home pounding Autobot warriors into scrap metal. His ionic displacer rifle can scramble Autobot sensors, causing confusion in the enemy ranks, and his huge bulk casts a terrifying shadow across a battlefield. Those Autobots who survive a fight with Astrotrain often need only hear the echoing boom of his engines to once again quake in fear."

Toyline: Classics

Generation: Generation One

Size Class: Deluxe

Faction: Decepticon

Function: Psy-Ops Warrior

Quote: "The enemy's weakness is his uncertainty."

Strength: 9

Intelligence: 7

Speed: 9

Endurance: 8

Rank: 6

Courage: 6

Firepower: 7

Skill: 5


Robot Mode



Astrotrain's body is very well designed, it both emulates the original character and his toy, yet also updates the figure to modern standards (ie allows for standard weapons to be held in either hand)

His colour-scheme, whilst NOT the same as the original character's (who was mostly purple) still looks good. The bulk of his body is white with several red, purple, black and gold highlights and is symmetrical in appearance. His upper-arms are both purple, however his legs are multicoloured (and look odd) with the main part of the leg being white with the hinges (for articulation) are purple, leading me to believe that the legs may have originally been meant to be purple as well. Oddly, the back of his body is mostly white, despite the various colours on the figure



Astrotrain's articulation is, without any doubt, one of the best around. His arms are able to move in any direction with the help of his ball-joints on his elbow and shoulder socket. He can't rotate his wrists, but then again, why would he? His arms are restricted in movement by the wing kibble on his back. However the wings are able to be folded back slightly, allowing his arms their full potential of movement. His legs are able to bend at the top of the legs (when the hips are) and the knees, enabling him to be posed in a seating position. Astrotrain's legs can also be raised at the sides into a horizontal split. Also Astrotrain can also rotate his lower legs on a pivot.

A few nice aesthetic touches in this figure include his knees being visible (however they don't actually do anything) Astrotrain's hands are also molded to show fingers (which is also standard in most new figures anyway)

Astrotrain's shuttle mode fin can also split into a chest plate for his robot mode, complete with red, purple and white decals. Astrotrain's helmet resembles his original character model's and includes a red "head light" on top making it resemble a workman's helmet. His face is also silver, complimenting his white helmet and yellow eyes (rather than Decepticon red)


Vehicle Modes


Astrotrain is very fun to play with because h has two alternate modes, a High Speed Train and Space Shuttle. Updating his original character's alternate modes from a steam engine (which is rarely used nowadays beyond in shows) The vehicles are coloured white and purple, to make them look more realistic (admit it, how often do you see fully purple space shuttles?)



Alright then...Astrotrain's land mode is a very long train with a rocket booster on the back (guess he goes very fast then) He has very visible windows molded into the sides and the driver's compartment (however he's missing some windows in the middle due to the way the toy was designed) He has wheels on the bottom, however only some of them can actually work (as in many small multi-wheeled vehicles) The gun can be mounted in this mode at the rear of the vehicle by plugging the handle into a hole found towards the back



The space shuttle mode is probably the stronger of the two modes, however it has some very visible train parts on the sides (above the wings) that spoils the alternate slightly. Astrotrain can flip out some landing struts at the front (however the rear landing wheels are permanently deployed) and are actually able to move freely. The gun can also be mounted on the bottom of the vehicle, just for storage, but has to be moved slightly in order to deploy the landing gear. The cockpit has molded windows painted gold on it, that are obviously present just for aesthetic purposes


Legacy

Astrotrain is one of those character who have been in the franchise since the early days (being introduced during the second season of the animated television series, however he was never really utilized to his full potential, he was mostly used as a shuttle for the Decepticons, much to his char-grin I'd assume. However he did have a couple of focus episodes, namely "The God Gambit" and "Triple Takeover". In the former he travels to the moon Titan where he claims to be a sky god to the primitive inhabitants, however he seems to act quite out of character in this episode (he even orders around Starscream) which has led to people believing that his role was actually meant for Megatron originally, and was just changed at the last moment. In the latter episode he and Blitzwing take over the Decepticons after disabling Starscream and Blitzwing where our A character ends up trying to create an army of train troops to transport Energon and the such, but fails as soon as he discovers that his "troops" lack any real intelligence

Astrotrain was also introduced in the comics in issue 29 of the Marvel US run where he and his fellow Decepticon Triple Changers are working for Ratbat and are sent to Earth to recover a ship that had crashed there, however all of them get infected by Scraplets. In the end though they all make it out okay and he continues to act on Earth until Starscream kills him in the Underbase Sage (issue 50)

Since the 80's Astrotrain has appeared sporadically, but mostly as a crowd cameo or a warrior. His most prominent role however has been in IDW's take on the Transformers mythos, where he was part of Starscream's team on Earth since the start and has even survived to this very day, even getting a new redesign to look more like his original character model since All Hail Megatron began

Several alternate Astrotrain's have also made some appearances in several pieces of club fiction (including Cybertron and Shattered Glass) and even has an Animated head design made (seemingly based on the Omega Supreme design). Also, this very toy mold has been used in fiction as an upgrade for the Combaticon Blast-Off in "The Coming Storm"

This Decepticon is also very prominently shown to utilize the Mass-Shifting technology in most fiction (being able to change his size) however he is probably the most frequent user, since he is able to carry most of the Decepticon fleet inside himself (even having Devastator formed inside himself comfortably one time!)


Is he cool?

Despite any faults that the character has in fiction he is most definitely a worthy holder of the "A" vote for this series. His featured toy here (the Classics version) is fantastic by itself, but when added with the history of the character and his abilities, he is clearly the obvious choice, as the people voted for