Okay folks, lets try something a bit
different. I have many Transformers. Many, many Transformers. And
I've come back to regular reviewing after an absence, where I'd got a
little bit bored with how I was doing it. So rather than just blast
out fifty bajilion “Concise” reviews(1), I'm going to run an
irregular series called “Radical Regenerations”, where I talk
about sometimes obscure toys in an informal manner. I don't mean
radical in the 90's Bart Simpson sense here. And I don't strictly
mean regeneration in the Doctor Who sense, although nearly. I'm
talking about those times the designers took a character, and gave it
a damn thorough reworking. Not a blatantly obvious trademark securing
exercise, or a simple reuse of a name that kinda fits, but when they
clearly were homaging something, but not merely recreating it. The
opposite to Generations in general and Takara, basically. So, let us
begin.
The Context
Cast your mind back to five or so years
ago, and remember the Power Core Combiners (PCC) line. On paper at
least, this should have been the best damn thing ever. They were to
be a line of scout size toys, following just after the Revenge of the
Fallen line, which was known for its scouts, and for generally being
pretty damn good at whatever it did. These toys would also feature
the return of two extremely well-liked gimmicks, Combination, and
Mini-Cons. It was nothing, if not ambitious. In practice however, the
line did not end well, the reasons for this being varied. One factor
was likely a simple glut of product, with Generations and TF2010 on
shelves at the same time. Another was probably the implementation of
combination, this being achieved by spring-loaded, automorphing
drones rather than teams of robots, and said limbs not looking that
limb like at times. Another was the simple fact, like most
Transformers lines, the designers didn't perfect things until later
waves. But perhaps what hurt most was the vague fiction supporting
the toys. While PCC characters and teams were often named after G1
legacy characters, the resemblance was slight, and the bunch of them
get lumped in with the bayverse. You might think people are whining
about Alpha Bravo and such now, but imagine that applied to an
entire toy line. Takara eventually would come along and tie their
version into G1, but back then, it wasn't clear whom the PCCs were
aimed at, and by the time it had found an audience and resolved the
bugs, the discount stickers were being applied. Whatever could have
been done differently, this is still a crying shame. This is the line
that gave us a combining Dinobot team. An evil fire truck. Destrons.
Destructicons. A tank Autobot whom isn't Warpath. A little Mini-Con
whom changes into a drill. And the focus of today's review,
Steamhammer and the Constructicons.
Constructicon Drones
Occupying a middle ground between the
classical green/purple and bayverse “opal fruits” palette(2), the
Constructicon drones are superior examples of the type. First off,
each drone is actually the first iteration of their altmode in the
franchise, which makes for quite a distinctive look, and different
play patterns. Secondly, the kinks were largely worked out by this
point with respects to the automorph, my examples having the right
amount of tension in the springs, while looking slightly more
humanoid than some in the line. And thirdly, each “arm” drone
has an adjustable thumb, which actually helps a lot. The basic
strengths and weaknesses common to the drone play pattern do still
apply however. Each drone does benefit from a mini-con post, with a
cracking amount of detailing and no meaningful omissions of paint,
this set being made prior to the budget cuts. On the other hand
spring-loading entire limbs can cause some annoyances, when bits
catch where they shouldn't, and be outright unacceptable for some.
Let's look at each of them.
The Drill Drone is a big, f-off, drill
machine, of a construction usage, rather than a sci-fi one. Cast
mainly in grey, its the dullest to the eye of the four, although it
does match well in the combined mode. The drill is articulated in two
places, not quite enough for arm mode, but it can ram people in
vehicle mode. Its mini-con post meanwhile is best used when the drill
is pointing down.
The Front End Loader Drone is orange,
but wears it well, and is the most characterful of the bunch. There's
the visual illusion of an unbroken conveyor belt, and an articulated
upper shovel to feed it. Its a vehicle that goes up to the nearest
pile of detritus, might be rubble, might be a Junkion corpse, eat it
up, and “poop it” into a waiting “dump truck”(3). It also
makes for a long, possibly too long, arm which adds some grey into
the mix. Just be mindful of that little black bit by the socket.
The Plow Drone, which I shall
henceforth refer to as “Mister Plow”, is one where I'm not fond
of the colours, but I do like the sculpt. Its got too much white in
either mode for my tastes, with some paint splatter at the back, but
there's merit here. The plow has some nice paint applications, while
making for a great foot, and there's actual interior detail for the
cabin. Mister Plow, that's his name, unfortunately is a bit
stiff in the plow joint, so works best when springing into leg mode.
The Steamroller Drone, seemingly
pre-empting Mixmaster by five years, drives the opposite way to which
you might think. Seriously, this also has sculpted seats facing the
back wheels. Anyway, coming in a nice JCB yellow with effective paint
apps on the roller, this drone looks good. The leg mode is similarly
pleasing, with some new detail exposed when the automorph operates.
However, his wheels seem to sit a millimetre or so loose on their
mountings, which looks odd.
Steamhammer
Okay, we have been here before, with
the Energon character of the
same name. Steam hammers do exist,
although in a realm of forging, not construction. This guy is just a
bulldozer with a badass name. Well, I say
just a bulldozer.
More accurately, he looks like Bonecrusher on steroids, and more
tasteful colour scheme. While an obvious Constructicon-in-waiting,
the purple has been traded for black and grey. From a majority of
angles, it looks good, although like Sledge from the same line, its
got a slightly ramshackle and broken-up feeling, with a lot of the
vehicle coming from the arms and chest, so displaying a lot of
joints. Its also got a curious case of Double Visible Head Syndrome,
with the robot mode head on top, and the super robot on the
underside. There's also no real attempt to hide the blue PCC ports in
the back, something which is a frequent line wide flaw. On the plus
side, the blade covers a lot of sins, has a nice weathering, and is
partially articulated. And this isn't a bulldozer that's going
anywhere it doesn't want to, having a set of spikes out back to act
as breaks. Factor in a well-placed Mini-Con post, its a hard mode to
dislike.
The robot mode? Well, not as much.
The general appearance of the robot is
that of a Decepticon through and through, mean, angular, and clawed.
No new colours are introduced here, so he does look to be a
Constructicon, although there's some fairly atypical design elements
here. The claws for example, are a big thing, as bladed weapons
aren't really a Constructicon trait, and a boon to play value. While
definitely a “bad guy” sculpt, I remain undecided if the head is
meant to be canine or porcine.
If its porcine, we've basically got
an Ork here, which would fit a bulldozer. If its canine though, I
find myself looking towards the movie Bonecrushers, you know, either
the clawed one
who hates everything, or
Michael Bay's dog. That would
be a bit convoluted if that's the case. He does have tread legs like
G1 Bonecrusher or Scavenger, but he's got separate toes too. His
backpack is also a flaw all of his own, as is the arm kibble and he
has those blue PPC connectors. Said backpack seems to have resulted
in the hips being very restricted in the name of balance, as he is
very back heavy, something which I find deeply annoying as these are
balljointed. This area is the singular unambiguous negative, as the
joints might as well not be there, and the thigh swivels are loose.
There's also a set of securing tabs for the combined mode, which are
easy to insert, but hard to remove without removing the leg too,
which is a blight on an other acceptable transformation scheme. On
the plus side though, those claws do mean a lot here, 5 pack moulds
not usually having weapons, and enough articulation in other places
to offset the hips a little. He has articulated toes, and a PCC
connector as an adjustable heel spur, with rotation above
and
below, the knee. The arms are a bit more basic with three
joints, but they work well. His head also swivels, although the waist
is fixed, for a total of 21 joints. You can get good poses, and he's
got more inherent play value than some PCC toys, but he's gonna need
patience.
GATTAI DA!
Super Mode
Steamhammer's combined form seems to
have been designed by someone whom had heard of Devastator, but
didn't feel beholden to that design. Yes, there are elements that
evoke him, Mister Plow, that name again, Mister Plow(4), has a
Scrapper style foot mode, the two arm units are tracked, but there's
a clear distance between this and any previous Devastator. It skirts
the bayformer aesthetic a bit with the arms, but otherwise, its
something different. The head for example is a full faced visor, but
he's got antenna ears, and what seem to be chin cannons. His chest is
largely formed by the dozer blade, with the regular robot arms acting
as securing points. The lower legs retain the tank tread motif, but
gains a mecha loincloth, and I do like how the knees become hips.
Something I'm less fond of are the big treads popping up from the
shoulder, and there's not much you can do with them. The overall
effect though is one of some monstrous pile of machinery come to
life, as opposed to just awkward, oddly proportioned, and/or
incomplete. As with Grimstone and his Dinobots, Steamhammer with is
drones looks like a godless killing machine, if a skinny one with a
Limb Length Discrepancy, and we should all be able to get behind
that. That's what your average gestalt tends to be in fiction, if we
are honest. Some big ugly monster turning up and leaving a trail of
destruction, especially if we are talking about Decepticon ones. And
this mode owns the look. Sculpted detail and paint applications are
plentiful, and while the drones don't share all the same colours,
there's a lot of overlap, with the back and grey being a unifying
factor.
Functionally, he's nice. Articulation
is fairly typical of the line in most ways, the automorphing drones
preventing elbows for example, while Steamhammer's design places some
too. He lacks a waist, the shoulders have an upward tilt of only 45
degrees, and he's loose in the hips. The head is also restricted, but
I'm glad they didn't cut a corner and left the joint in . He does
however have articulated thumbs with his drones, a major improvement
on the PCC norm, while retaining Steamhammer's useful joints in the
legs, for a total of 17 points. Play value is a selling point, and a
hair above average. Unusually for a five pack set, Steamhammer has a
flip down nini-con post on the chest in this mode, something which
was otherwise limited to the two pack moulds. This means he can take
mini-cons with armour modes, while his drones end up with ports in
unobtrusive and useful places, on the knees and on the shoulder. Then
there's the whole limb swapping aspect. Assuming you've got a few
compatible toys knocking about, its a mode with a lot going on, and
on its own terms, looks good.
Conclusion
The Power Core Combiners were a mixed
success at the best of times, but Steamhammer and his drones are
probably in the top three of that line. The combined mode works well,
its nice to see some new alt modes, and play value is pretty high. As
reinterpretations go, its a good one, a worthy successor to the
Constructicon title, but one that has its own personality. Mind you,
Steamhammer does have his problems, which serve to highlight how good
in general Combiner Wars is. The robot mode is compromised by that
dozer blade, and automorph is marmite, but let's be fair to him, this
guy sold for 20 quid back in his day. Compare that to what you get
for the same these days, and suddenly five years ago seems a distant
and fruitful age. Ultimately, its a good set, but one best judged on
its own terms, and not dismissed out of hand for doing something
different. Consider him recommended.
Foot notes
1) Good for a lunch hour though.
2) Takara went for the green and
purple. Because of course they did
3) Sorry. Had to be done.
4) Have I run this reference into the
ground yet?
