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View Full Version : Toy Review - Kre-O Micro Changers Combiners



BigTransformerTrev
22nd March 2013, 09:39 PM
I’ve loved the Kre-O’s from the beginning. Due to saving for a year’s backpacking in Europe, I never bought any of the lego-esque TF: Armada kits when they came out and always regretted it. And when the Kre-O’s came out I was like many others “I like the kits, but LOVE the little dudes!”. And Hasbro has duly delivered by bringing out the little guys in force.


Individual Robots:
*Robot Mode: All pretty same-ish. Not a lot to distinguish one from the other except colour schemes and the odd bit sticking out here and there.

*Vehicle Mode: The stand-outs for me by far are Onslaught & Air Raid. Sky Dive, Scrapper & Scavenger & Bonecrusher are also quite good. The poor ones – Mixmaster is by far the worst! Even with a vivid imagination he looks absolutely nothing like a cement mixing truck :mad:. Silverbolt, Divebomb and Swindle are also very poor. And the rest of the Predacons could have stood to have some eye decals for their animal head modes.

*G1 Homage: What is a shame the most in my opinion, is that like with the preview wave that came out last year, you get all these great chest decals that mirror the look and stickers of the G1 toys, then for so many of the figures you are required to put a sort of flak jacket over the top to add the extra pieces. Razorclaws chest looks great but you have to cover it up to add things like his mane (and the mane is felt! Who saw that coming!?). Vortex too had a nice chest but it has to be covered up to attach his rotor blades from behind. And in my opinion a fantastic chest should never be covered up, even if it means more action from behind, but then that is down to personal proclivity ;). A few figures like 3 of the Constructicons and Silverbolt have new helmet sculpts to look like their G1 counterparts, but many sadly have recoloured helmet sculpts from earlier figures (Bruticus, Sentinel Prime & Galvatron all have the same head?!? I don’t think so). But overall these figures do their best to mirror their G1 counterparts and one should view the energon cube as half full.


Combined mode:
This is where the figures really shine! I’m a person, who unless they have doubles, likes to display their figures as individual robots rather than combined. But with the Kreons, like mentioned previously, they all look essentially the same except for colour schemes and the odd sticky-outy bit. But damn do they look good combined! The moment I put my Bruticus together I knew I would not be breaking him back into his component robots any time soon. Worthy of praise are all the wings and tailfins coming off Superion, the limbs of Devestator and the animal heads on the knee’s and shoulders of Predaking as well as his cannon feet. The figures are well balanced, well proportioned, more poseable than their G1 homage’s with all the elbows and knees joints included – overall fantastic! I am VERY happy with their combined modes and think it add’s a massive amount of play value to the figure sets. :D:)


Overall:
For the relatively low price they cost, I think these sets are a must buy for anyone who is a big fan of G1 homage toys or of lego (sorry –Kre-O) or both. If you have not got them, then grab them – it’s a great way to spend your evening :D:):D:):D:)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b615/BigAngryTrev/Combiners_zps0f668cdf.jpg

lancalot
24th March 2013, 01:07 AM
thanks for the review ....i was on the edge of buying a combiner or not but i think i get Predaking now first...:)

Koroboo
24th March 2013, 08:10 AM
I was umm-ing and ah-ing over whether to get into the whole minifig collection for Kre-o, but decided against it after figuring out how much I'd have to collect and the sheer number of the little dudes they're pumping out.

These combiners sure look funky, I'm just a bit sad that the 'last' member of each combiner is in the 2nd series as a standalone figure and doesn't fit into the combined mode.

Omega Metro
3rd April 2013, 09:23 PM
These combined Kreos are very disappointing. All the bits keep falling off as they don't connect tightly. Other pieces are loose. No playability what so ever. And what's with the jackets that they have to wear? Also there's too many pieces left over and the fact you have to rip one of the Kreons arms off to attach the Combiners arms is a very delicate operation as you feel as though you are ripping the ball joints off.

I must say though that the individual Kreons are great little guys. I have all of them. They just will never be combined.

BigTransformerTrev
3rd April 2013, 10:16 PM
These combined Kreos are very disappointing. All the bits keep falling off as they don't connect tightly.

Sure you have tried pushing the bits together with enough pressure to get them as tight as needed? I have all 4 gestalts next to my computer and just picked them up one by one and shook them and not a single piece came apart. I must admit that my Superion did seem to fall to bits the first time and it annoyed me greatly, but I just made sure everything was tight and now he's fine :)

Omega Metro
3rd April 2013, 10:23 PM
Yes, I used all my muscles, lol. I almost threw Devastator against the wall earlier.:mad:

1AZRAEL1
3rd April 2013, 10:43 PM
Koroboo, you can use the extra figure in the combined mode, unofficial, but great thing about these is you are only limited by your imagination. When these came out, one of the guys in tfw showed how much better and beefier they look with the extra one added.

Koroboo
4th April 2013, 11:09 AM
Yeah for sure, they certainly look cool - again it'll come down to storage/display space and I'm already low on that. Glad (mostly) everyone is enjoying theirs.

griffin
4th April 2013, 01:57 PM
Official Pics...

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/kreo20.jpg
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http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/kreo21.jpg
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http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/kreo22.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/kreo23.jpg

Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - Micro-Changers
Size/class - Combiners
Wave - 1 (4 sets)
Released here - March 2013 (globally February 2012)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$15-20 (US$10)
Approximate Size - 4cm (Kreons), 12cm (combiner)
Main Features/Gimmicks - can build two modes & combine

Predaking/Predacons (Razorclaw, Divebomb, Headstrong, Tantrum)
Bruticus/Combaticons (Onslaught, Brawl, Swindle, Vortex)
DevastatorConstructicons (Scrapper, Scavenger, Bonecrusher, Mixmaster)
Superion/Aerialbots (Silverbolt, Skydive, Firestrike, Air Raid)

For those interested in any name changes, and where to find the missing team members...
(only four members are in each combiner set - and the team names aren't used anywhere on the packaging)

(Aerialbots) Superion - Superion
Silverbolt - Silverbolt
Skydive - Skydive
Fireflight - Firestrike
Air Raid - Air Raid
-
Slingshot - Quickslinger (Wave 1 blindpacks)

(Combaticons) Bruticus - Decepticon Bruticus
Onslaught - Onslaught
Brawl - Decepticon Brawl
Swindle - Swindle
Vortex - Vortex
-
Blast Off - Blast Off (Wave 1 blindpacks)

(Constructicons) Devastator - Decepticon Devastator
Scrapper - Scrapper
Bonecrusher - Bonecrusher
Mixmaster - Mixmaster
Scavenger - Scavenger
-
Hook - Decepticon Hook (Wave 1 blindpacks)
Long Haul - Long Haul (Wave 3 blindpacks)

(Predacons) Predaking
Razorclaw - Razorclaw
Divebomb - Divebomb
Tantrum - Headlock
Headstrong - Torox
-
Rampage - Divebomb (Wave 1 blindpacks)

(I think Hasbro got Headlock and Torox mixed up, because not only are the similar names not pairing up, but Tantrum was the bull/ox (as in Torox), while Headstrong was the Rino)