Toy Review - Generations Tankor

Series - Generations
Wave: Wave 3 - 2014
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here – Not yet
Approximate Price - AU $25
Approximate Size – 15cm
Allegiance – Vehicon
Alt-mode – Cybertronian Tank
Main Features/Gimmicks – Firing Missile, rotating arm blades
Main Colours – Dark blue, light blue
Main Accessory/s - Missile & Missile Launcher

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/...psc74846b0.jpg

Robot Mode
The most faithful rendition of how he looked in the Beast Machines cartoon we’ve had from a figure to date. Lots of nice little details on the chest and he has his signature claw hands, tank tread feet, forearm spinning blades and shoulder mounted rocket launcher. Very squat and overall rather small but still quite good.

Cybertronian Tank Mode
Na, not flash. Looks pretty crap from the sides with exposed thighs etc (kinda like WW Grimlock), in fact you have to position him several ways until you get an angle that he looks half decent in. Too low and flat for my liking. Good colours though.

Transformation
Very easy and simple. The instructions aren’t 100% clear on how his arms & shoulders are supposed to fold up to become a tank but it’s easily figured out and takes less than 10 seconds to transform back. A bit too simple for a deluxe in my humble opinion.

Free Comic
Don’t know what went wrong here but when I was reading it last night I realized the pages were all out of order! That sort of thing should have been sorted out before it was shipped out.

Overall
If it wasn’t for the confusing comic I would say this is the perfect figure for 5 to 10 year old boys as it’s simple, turns into a tank and has a very er… robotic looking robot mode. Personally I really liked the (Mega) Tankor toy from BM, I thought that was a great figure with its opening and closing claws and rotating blades at the front, the generations version is certainly a significant step down from it in every respect. Not bad with its cartoon faithful robot mode but really not great.

I've only got two things to say on this one.

a) A friend of mine who knows I have an interest in transformers and has the most fleeting of passing interests himself (mainly as part of a wider plethora of mech stuff he's into) texted me the stock photo of this figure the other day asking if this is really the best they can do in 2014.

b) I prefer the 15 year old original in basically every way.

I'd love to get one, but I really have no other BM toys to put him with. Is there really any difference between Tankor and the drones? I know they had separate toys back in BM, but they seem similar enough to make a good army builder.

I always thought the Drone toys looked more like BM Tankor than the big one. Having said that though I have the big Tankor and think it's pretty cool.

As much as I like Tankor, this miniature version looks like a hat full of bumbs, so gonna pass.

Why Tankor? A real wasted opportunity creating a unique mould with limited repaint potential. Can't see anyone wanting to do go army building on this mould. I would have enjoyed a BM Tankor that's another repaint of CHUG Warpath. I hope they don't do a Quake repaint out of this mould.

Biases aside, he still feels like a good quality modern toy - solid joints and equally solid paint aps. A child may enjoy this. Maybe.

Needed to be at least Voyager sized...

One of the few misses in the Generations line, I still got it cause is was in a case with Rattrap which was a hit...

Personally I reckon they could get a half decent Jetstorm from a retooling of classics Cyclonus

My initial reaction was overwhelmingly negative, Tankor is a pretty terrible transformer. However I have had this guy sitting on my bedhead for the past month or so and I can't help but pick him up and toy around with him at least a few times a week without any feelings of anger or disappointment. My conclusion is, despite his many shortcomings, he's a pretty decent toy.

So while he's not the most glamorous transformer; I have bestowed upon him the title of 'Oddly endearing robot'

I don't mind it, it's association with a certain Best Wars Character made it worth getting IMO.

it is a simple transformation but it's still reasonable and looks like it should in both modes. I did find him to be lacking in the detail department so I added some lines, one of the first things I've ever done Gundam style line markings on:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2ux2oytn.jpg

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/...psocoevrpb.jpg

I think it makes him look a bit larger

I have the Takara Tomy version, and I didn't think I'd like it. But strangely enough, I got more excited about it when all our stock arrived then when I had some of the Mp's...Weird I know... Maybe it's the awesome G1 style boxes they are using now. I don't know, but I love it anyway and I definitely don't regret opening it :)

The only reason I'd get this is to recreate the two Tankors in Blurr's bar scene.

Does anywhere have this guy discounted? I feel like getting one (or lots for drones to go with Rattrap), but I'm not super overjoyed about it.

Generations Tankor... not nearly as fun a toy as the original Mega Class BM Tankor, and not as show-like looking as the Basic Tank Drone figure. That's not to say that this is a bad Tankor toy per se, but it pretty much lies midway between the standards of its predecessors in terms of show-likeness to play value. The buzzsaws on the arms are completely superfluous, unlike on Mega Tankor where they work as buzzsaws on the front of the tank, or on Tank Drone where they become wheels that drive the spinning cannon gimmick. They're purely decorative on Generations "Fat" Tankor. This toy's design seems to have prioritised the robot over the vehicle, which is rather typical of Generations (Scoop's another good example of this). The drawback here is that head cannot see over the chest panel properly in tank mode. It also obstructs the head from moving. Overall, this is really a silly toy... based on what was always a silly show model. But it's a reasonably nice toy if you're a fan of this character*, but it's pretty ordinary if you're not. Recommended only if you're a fan of Fat Tankor.

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*And by that, I mean IDW's 'Fat' Tankor, who is a pretty neat character in his own right. :o But yeah, if you're not a fan of the character, you're not likely going to enjoy this toy on its own merit. :o