Toy Review - DotM Human Alliance Drag Strip

[griffin]

(Please post photos, comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details)

Toy Review - Decepticon Drag Strip w/ Master Disaster
Series - Dark of the Moon
Sub-line - Mechtech Human Alliance
Size/class - Basic
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 3
Released here - Not at this time (released globally July)
Approximate Retail Price - $20 (US$10 in America)
Approximate Size - 10cm
Allegiance - Decepticon (the second Decepticon HA so far)
Alt-modes - Race car & Weapon/shield
Main Features/Gimmicks - Human figure interaction
Main Colours - Yellow, purple, black, grey
Main Accessories - 2 blade weapons, Master Disaster

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/mt38.jpg

Note - HA Basics are only being picked up by Kmart, who haven't restocked Wave 2 yet, so may not end up getting this wave in as they cut back on DotM lines.

[Decepticon]

I have nothing against this one. Im only 'not interested' because I already have a Classics Dragstrip which I like better.

[snaketales]

I managed to find one locally and really like it. The steering wheel tends to pop out during transformation, and in robot mode I like to have the purple thing spread out like wings (like it's shown in the package above). It's surprisingly large in car mode: it looks almost as long as a DOTM deluxe.

The third mode - weapon/shield thing - does not work at all. It's like the designers were really stretching for a third mode and thought 'ah this will do'.

[BigTransformerTrev]

This was the only Human Alliance figure I could not find locally, but luckily they were having a clearance of the figure on BBTS so got him for only $10 pre-postage! :D

One of the better 'didn't-appear-in-the-acutal-movies' G1 inspired toy homages. Second only to Guzzle in my opinion. Funny looking head in Robot mode, but that is par for the course for the Bayverse. The vehicle mode and colour scheme are very G1 Drag Strip and makes it well worth picking up :)



The third mode - weapon/shield thing - does not work at all. It's like the designers were really stretching for a third mode and thought 'ah this will do'.

Total agreement here ;)

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Got him today, and am quite liking him. Nothing exceptional, but a decent little guy. I'm pretty much ignoring the 3rd/weapon mode (much like all the other HA Scouts), but both the robot mode and the alt-mode are pretty solid (and the latter as mentioned is surprisingly large). The human/hologram doesn't entirely fit in well, but works alright standing next to it - not something that really bothers me personally, but a bit disappointing from a line whose gimmick is playability with the human accessories.
I only really have 2 complaints: firstly, the 'bot-mode hands are sculpted such that for him to have working elbows requires his hands to face palm-up, and his blades to point to the ground. Second, the blades don't really work with the alt-mode - in fact, the blades just don't work period. They don't mesh with the alt-mode, and the least obtrusive place I've been able to find for them in 'bot-mode is attached to his purple back-shield-thingy - which makes him look like that old Pokemon with the head-horns (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pinsir_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29). It's not quite possible to store them underneath the vehicle-mode, as they're just a bit too wide to work with the front wheels. On the upside, if you push the c-clip joints together they make a reasonable boomerang-type weapon and/or glider wings for the HA figure. All in all, I'd suggest just leaving out his accessories - human/hologram included - altogether.

I got mine loose/complete for about $5 (with the intent of repurposing it as an Odieverse Spastic, because having a mook named Spastic amuses me), but I don't know if I'd have been happy for much over $10 for it.

In summary: it's a good toy in it's own right for its price point, but with slightly remolded arms and better accessories it could have been very good.
7/10

[Sinnertwin]

I must dig mine out. I had a whole display idea with the HA range, but it never came to fruition. After Barricade, my favourite figure in the HA range.