OK time for a brief follow-up to the Bone Shaker article. Twin Mill is Bone Shaker's wavemate, and the general consensus seems to be that he's good, but not quite as good as the greaser. That's probably fair, but it just goes to show how much context matters. If I'd picked this up first, I'd spend a lot more of the word count talking about refreshing it is. And trust me, it is refreshing as carformers go, and there's at least one area where he does better than Bone Shaker. His flaws are however are perhaps more immediate.
The car mode for example is extremely well-presented, with loads of paint, more style, and translucent windows. Few, if any corners were cut here, and complaints are in nitpick territory. However, taking it out of the packet revealed a case of visible Head Syndrome, and some minor imperfections on the shoulders which I touched up. Not the best first impression, TBH, took a bit of the shine off. Its fairly compact car mode too. Bone Shaker in general actually isn't that much bigger than Twin Mill, but that open top and wheelbase do make him look like he's in a slightly different scale. Twin Mill is more like a modern minibot deluxe by comparison. These are all fairly ignorable flaws though, and it turns out you can turn the head around. It rolls well, the wheels being pinned, if loosely at the back, and this mould does a lot better with accessories. The air intakes are on 5mm pegs, so you can swap them for guns if you want. As car modes go it's almost ideal, despite that rough start, if maybe a bit small considering crossover premium.
The transformation and subsequent robot mode are similarly good, putting me in mind of several other Autobots. The overall vibe is of Tracks by way of G1 Blurr, with a bit of Armada Blurr thrown in for the arms. It's a skinny and lithe build, with long legs like a runner. The proportions are better than Bone Shaker, size comparisons being more favourable in this mode too, but the leg issue is here too and more obvious. This was crying out for something to fill in those lower legs, and he's mainly leg. On the plus side, Twin Mill has a much better accessory game, as he ends up with wrist swivels, forearm mounted flame throwers, which retain the 5mm port functions from car mode, and the flame effects I've yet to mention. These flames are hard plastic, so I’d advise a touch of caution, but otherwise this beats Bone Shaker hands down. Those engine blocks bulk out the otherwise thin forearms nicely, adding that little bit of 5mm play value without ruining the look, and robot arson is always great. Its poses well too, although my example has loose knees. So, much like Bone Shaker, it's pretty great toy in both modes, but with at least one potentially deal breaking quirk.
Is Twin Mill actually the worse of the two? Well, I've been back and forth on this, and I'm gonna say "No, but". What better describes Twin Mill is to say that he is the more conventional of the two, and my example seems to have slightly weaker quality control which makes it feel less premium. He's much closer to the Transformers baseline, so he's got better fundamentals, but ends up less interesting. Physically, and metaphorically, he is a touch overshadowed by Bone Shaker, which isn’t great given the price tag, but that's a long-long way from saying he's bad. And he will soon be available in red. If in doubt, pick up the one you like best first, and then maybe see about a sale for the second.
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