A Concise Review of Generations Tankor In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2014.

Modes: Robot and Cybertronian Tank.

Transformation Style: Unique, lay down.

Play Patterns: Robot and tank, C Clip weaponry, pressure missile, spinning saws, a pack-in comic in the USA.

Points of Interest: A rare modernisation of a character from the then-controversial Beast Machines series.

The Good
Tankor has an almost perfect resemblance to the animation model in robot mode, and strikes an imposing silhouette. All the elements are there, spinning buzzsaws, opening claws, and an impressive shoulder cannon. Total joint count is 21, best in the arms due to a non-humanoid design, but extremely characterful. Switching to tank mode is simple, and the weapon is C rung based, granting some additional play value.

 

The Bad
This is one of those toys whom is probably in the wrong size class, many feeling the character would have been better served as voyager rather than a stumpy deluxe. As he stands, Tankor suffers from some very notable hollows in both modes, wheels that don't roll well, and a left leg that likes to separate at the thigh during transformation. There is also some misapplied paint on mine, while some examples have two left arms, preventing transformation, and the comic has its pages out of order too.

The Mediocre
Fidelity to the animation is much lower in tank form, and if you aren't familiar with Beast Machines, the Visible Head Syndrome will be a negative. There's been no attempt to work in 5mm functionality, not that he ever really had accessories in the show, and the implementation of the buzzsaws leaves them fixed to the forearms.

 

The Alternatives
Most of the alternatives to Tankor require you to go back to the original Beast Machines moulds, circa 2000. These vary significantly in price, likeness, and size, but the tiny Tank Drone toy is well-regarded. Be warned however that chrome, translucent plastic and balljoints were very common, and its been 16 or so years. If all you want is a big and brutal looking military vehicle though, consider Generations Warpath or Darkmount of a few years earlier.

 

The Verdict
Going by a checklist, Tankor just isn't very good. He needed a few less gaps, and a bit more functionality. If you are on-board with the marmite style, like me, the robot mode more than compensates. Tankor is probably the most unique Transformer of the past five years, but that's not necessarily the same thing as being great. If it is to you, or you're a Beast Machines fan, rejoice, he's quite cheap on the secondary market. But for everyone else, you can skip him.

Blog Watch: Month 3

Well, I hope we all enjoyed the big Unicron uber review. It took a while, and hopefully excuses a lighter article today. Plus, its the end of the month, its time for another look back at the blog. The good news is that viewing figures continue to be on the upswing, crossing that all important 1000 page views milestone, although the rate of improvement is beginning to level off. Of course, I've only had about 2 and half months of data, so its not wise to put too much stock in the numbers. On the flip side, my surplus of articles has largely dried up, so I am devoting some of my time off to rebuilding that reserve. This is at least partially due to the good time I've been having with Transformers: Devastation, which is holding my attention rather well for such a short game. I also got these.

Yes, long term readers may recognise that as a Warhammer 40,000 product, a frequent topic of my old blog, and the first I've brought in about a year and a half. For newer readers: well, I liked that miniatures game a lot, but a succession of disappointing releases and PR disaster that was Age of Sigmar put me off Games Workshop as a company. Happily though, this is a Fantasy Flight game, and one extremely well received, so I took a chance on it. An article of some description is pencilled in, to be completed once I've played a few games.

On the subject of pending articles, here's a short list of what's on the chopping block, in no particular order. All of this is subject to change, as real life and new shiny things can get in the way.

Fall Of Cybertron Ultra Magnus.

Beast Machines Mirage.

The little fellow in the above picture.

A Transformers: Devastation review.

An editorial on Combiner Wars and its reception so far.

Energon Cruellock.

ROTF Depthcharge.

Hope to see you back soon.

Post-Auto Assembly Update

Well, Auto Assembly is over. Finished. I had a damn good time, as did everyone whom went. A thousand odd people. I also spent a lot of money on toys, here's an image of them. Consider it a preview of forthcoming review fodder.

As you can see, I went mainly for the small toys, filling in some gaps and omissions. There was a couple of holy grails, such as Meantime the Real Gear watch, and Death's Head, fulfilling a desire about as hold as my Transformers fixation. I don't actually collect action figures, so I probably won't review him.  And yes, that is a sushi roll.

Devastator, you say?

Well.

Yeah, he/they are on the review pile. And yes, he can hold that pose. The review is going to be longform, and probably will materialise in early September.