Toy Review - Generations FOC Combaticons wave

[griffin]

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

Posting these five toys into the one topic, as most will get the set.

Fall of Cybertron Combaticons (Onslaught, Brawl, Swindle, Vortex, Blast Off)
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Fall of Cybertron
Size/class - Deluxe
Wave - 2
New/remould/redeco - new to retail (advance release at SDCC in July)
Released here - October 2012 (globally September)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$25-30 each
Approximate Size - 14cm (each), 30cm (combined)
Allegiance - Decepticons
Alt-mode - Cybertronian military vehicles (each), giant robot (combined)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Combiner.
Main Colours - Blue/yellow (Blast Off), Green/black (Brawl), Dark blue/black (Onslaught), Yellow/purple/black (Swindle), red/purple (Vortex).
Main Accessories -

Blast Off


Brawl


Onslaught


Swindle


Vortex


Bruticus

(Official images above - actual toy images will be inserted later)

[Cat]

I've had Swindle for a few weeks now, and am waiting for the others to get here.

Swindle is bright. VERY VERY bright. The yellow is blinding.

At first you think you have a bad one that's missed a paint ap, but no, his face (minus his visor) is meant to be unpainted.

There's some nice sculpted detail, but without paint it fades into the yellow.

He's a bit barrel-chested, and doesn't really strike you as Swindle. Articulation is a bit hampered by the body-shape. The torso and arms don't fit we'll. his shoulders are around his midsection. The closer you are, the worse it looks.

As a toy on his own, he seems compromised.

I'd rate him just a tad below average.

[SMHFConvoy]

Swindle is bright. VERY VERY bright. The yellow is blinding

I agree, the yellow is bright. I managed to move his shoulders further back, but there's nothing to lock them there. I only bought him to mod him as a pre BW Tarantulas. The head sculpt is excellent but really the only draw for this figure is the combiner feature.

[i_amtrunks]

Of the three I bought today (Blast-off, Swindle and Brawl) I only truly enjoyed one of them.

Swindle feels like a KO figure, the plastic is that thin and the transformation feels like it is missing steps, the transformation is that simple. Mine struggles to remain together in alt mode,and the wheels do not roll well and again feel too thin and cheap. I love the colour and the alt mode looks decent, infact with his size and bulkiness he looks okay, it is only when you hold him or try to transform him do his flaws become apparent.

Blas-off is okay. The transformation feels like an Energon Superion limb, the paint apps are lovely and the size good, but I could not recommend this toy to anyone who was not either a massive fan of the game or wanted Bruticus.

Brawl is smaller than the other two but he looks great in both. The shade of green is lurid and wonderful. The robot mode is menacing and detailed, the transformation is fluid and intuitive. The alt mode is smooth, the lack of extra paint in this mode works for this figure. The metallic silver on the back and the black treads and barrels contrast well with the green.

Overall these figures feel like cheapened, oversized Energon combiner limbs. While Swindle feels cheap, the other two are decent.

I get a real energon/armada vibe from these toys. After the intricate and fiddly panel alignment nightmares of the movie toys, and the ever shrinking Prime and generations toys, these simpler, bulkier figures are a nice throwback . Not something I'd want all my toys to be like, but something different for a change.

[GoktimusPrime]

So I've gone and combined them into Bruticus now...

...very ordinary. (-_-)

FoC Bruticus isn't much more articulated than G1 Bruticus -- and by 2012 standards that's astoundingly disappointing. The gestalt parts are self contained, which is an improvement over Energon/Superlink Bruticus, but is something one would expect in a contemporary gestalt. The limbs aren't designed to be interchangeable either -- well, I suppose you could swap the legs around, but Blast Off has an in built right hand and Vortex with a left hand, so you can't really change the arms around. The landing skids on Vortex kinda get in the way of the left arm articulation and my Swindle doesn't lock in very strongly in leg mode and the front section is prone to unlatching. Onslaught's arms aren't very well concealed - rather they just tuck under the armpits. You can easily fold them out for that "Monstructor" look.

This toy offers about the same amount of play value as G1 Bruticus -- arguably less considering that the limbs don't interchange (although the self contained parts is a plus). But considering that there's a 26 year gap between the two toys, one would expect FoC Bruticus to offer a lot better play value than G1 Bruticus, not be on par with it. This toy pales in comparison with Beast Wars and Car Robot/RiD gestalts, and those toys came out 12-15 years ago. So while there's nothing really bad or terrible about Bruticus per se, there's nothing outstanding about it either. It's just a terribly underwhelming toy.

[christalcase]

...The limbs aren't designed to be interchangeable either -- well, I suppose you could swap the legs around, but Blast Off has an in built right hand and Vortex with a left hand, so you can't really change the arms around...

errrr... the limbs are interchangeable. Blast off has a separate thumb piece to fold down for left and right hands; Vortex's thumb is on a joint to flip it around each side to get left and right hands; Swindle has two sets of fists; Brawl uses either of his robot mode feet to simulate left and right thumbs. Plus, arms and legs are also interchangeable (check out the Wreckers combined mode which switches the arm and leg configurations around).

Personally, considering the compulsory reduction in mass and bulk, I think the designers did an okay job with the interchangeable limbs and passable game accuracy in their individual robot and vehicle modes. If you're going to get them, you might as well get the whole set as the combined mode is the biggest reason to get them in the first place, the figures contain too many flaws on their own with the central aim of combining.

I think if the designers didn't try and force elbow joints into the arms, then they won't be as dementedly elongated as they are now. It's not like you can pose him anyway (the hip joints are too weak causing him to fall down most of the time when you're trying for an action pose ), so those normally proportioned straight rigid arms like G1 would work here (and arguably easier to design). Plus, the core robot really needed to be a Voyager classed figure. Either way, I think they're a good set, and quite fun to fiddle around with.

My personal favourite is to switch Blast-Off and Swindle, and leave Swindle in proper vehicle mode (no elbow joint) as well as shortening Vortex's arm, it makes the combined mode look much better and proportioned.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Man, they look freakier than G2 colourations....

[GoktimusPrime]

errrr... the limbs are interchangeable. Blast off has a separate thumb piece to fold down for left and right hands; Vortex's thumb is on a joint to flip it around each side to get left and right hands; Swindle has two sets of fists; Brawl uses either of his robot mode feet to simulate left and right thumbs. Plus, arms and legs are also interchangeable

Yes, you're absolutely right. I did notice the hands in Swindle when I was playing with him individually last night... slipped my mind when I was combining them into Bruticus tonight. Oops.

[Cat]

Onslaught - nice sculpt. Really nice sculpt.

He also has a surprising number of paint apps. A lot more than Swindle.

Fatally compromised by the combination requirements.
His forearms are teeny, and feel really flimsy. There's going to be a lot available with broken forearms at the elbow.

The plastic on them all feels a bit different to me. A bit thinner, a bit more brittle.

[Cat]

Vortex: Teeny arms again. Seem VERY easy to break.

Not a good toy on its own. Has the complexity of a scout, when you minus what's needed for the larger gestalt formation.

Colours are... Well, they are.

Paint is a bit sloppier on him than the others. Probably a fluke, but I'd suggest taking your time and comparing, if you have that option.

Cool weapons.