View Poll Results: Worth Buying?

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Thread: Toy Review - Siege Spinister

  1. #11
    Join Date
    10th Mar 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paulbot View Post
    Questions though: mine seems to have come with Autobot instructions (Autobot symbol next to his name on the cover, red arrows and highlights throughout)? I’m away from home so can’t check but pretty sure the other Siege Decepticons had purple books? Also both this (from Target) and my Mirage (from Amazon.com) both had a packed in multilingual chocking hazard flyer. That’s new right?
    Heh, totally didn't notice that but yes my Spinister instructions also has the Autobot logo and red highlights. Just checked my Astrotrain booklet from yesterday and it has a Decepticon logo and purple highlights as it should. Both came with those multilingual choking hazard flyers.
    Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.

  2. #12
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    2nd Oct 2014
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    Never owned G1 Spinister but I bought the Siege version because it looked neat and was on sale. The late 1980s G1 colours are a nice touch and the level of poseability is welcome.

    The instructions packed with my copy also had the Autobot insignia and red highlights. Production code is 92541. It also seems Hasbro slightly changed the packaging template from previous waves. The recommended age is now simply '8+' rather than 'Age/Edad/Idade 8+'. Other disclaimers and warnings have also been moved around with even more languages featured.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    27th Dec 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by kovert View Post
    The late 1980s G1 colours are a nice touch
    Spinister is rather unique in this colour scheme, I don't think it was necessarily a widespread thing among late 80s TFs. Off the top of my head the only other late 80s pink and blue TF I can think of is Submarauder. <shrugs> He's certainly very different from the colours of the other 1988 Targetmasters...
    * Quake (blue, grey and maroon)
    * Needlenose (grey and blue)
    * Quickmix (red and white)
    * Landfill (biege and brown)
    * Scoop (orange and yellow) <---another weird one with an uncommon colour scheme

  4. #14
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    2nd Oct 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    ...the only other late 80s pink and blue TF I can think of is Submarauder.
    Very good point, Gok. Before you pointed it out, I thought the blue was actually green. Because of how it's used with the pink-purple colour, to me it just looks like green.

    What caught my attention was the pink-purple colour, because it is eye-catching. Other 80s Decepticons such as Abominus, Misfire, Skullcruncher, Skullgrin, Snaptrap and Tentakil also feature similar shades of the colour. The Predators (EU/AU/CA) featured a lot of green and purple so my recollection of the late 80s characters has probably been influenced by what was available in the early 90s.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    30th Dec 2007
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    He just got released today in Japan and in a rare moment of chance, I managed to fined one on the shelves! What majiks is this? (incidentally, I've only ever seen one refractor on the shelves).

    I like it a lot! Robot mode is really good and clean, with little inhibiting articulation. I like the way the blades are handled and they securely fasten to the little tab with ease. The batttle damage paint is low-key (yay) and colours look very nice indeed. My only real complaint about this guy in robot mode is his lack of Targetmaster pals. And I am not buying the individual guys, as his guns didn't look like those guys when he was a g1-un.

    I also don't mind the dual cockpit nature of robotmode either. teh Symmetry of it all is rather nice.

    Chopper mode though, is .... ok. The shin that goes underneath just doesn't fit well for my liking and the parts for hanging the guns off are too big. BUT the blades spin nicely and it looks all right I guess.

    The instructions though, well, what an absolute disgrace they are. Something is wrong when almost every picture requires a magnified view, but even then I was left scratching my head wondering what the hell they were trying to tell me. I ended up just ignoring them, but then that under-pit didn't fit, so I was off to youtube and having to put up with videos and they were doing the same thing I was doing, and it was hard to see if the under-pit fit right or not. Eventually I found out that most don't. so... hmmm.

    luckily though the robot mode is just great. Although I don winder about some mounting ports he has just under the blades. You can't use them for anything in either mode...unless you untransform his back.

    overall he's a great toy, just with some... odd choices made in design I think.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    19th Dec 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy View Post
    The instructions though, well, what an absolute disgrace they are. Something is wrong when almost every picture requires a magnified view, but even then I was left scratching my head wondering what the hell they were trying to tell me. I ended up just ignoring them, but then that under-pit didn't fit, so I was off to youtube and having to put up with videos and they were doing the same thing I was doing, and it was hard to see if the under-pit fit right or not. Eventually I found out that most don't. so... hmmm.
    There's a trick to it - the waist/thigh-connector piece (which faces with the cover up in robot mode) has to be facing down in 'copter mode. Basically when you look at him upside-down the front-facing thigh joint should have the joint visible, and the rear-facing/under-cockpit-bit thigh joint should have the top part of the 'cover' showing. Once you put it like that then it tabs in pretty securely.

    Check the TFW2005 thread if you need pics, or I can take some later if you like.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    30th Dec 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ode to a Grasshopper View Post
    There's a trick to it - the waist/thigh-connector piece (which faces with the cover up in robot mode) has to be facing down in 'copter mode. Basically when you look at him upside-down the front-facing thigh joint should have the joint visible, and the rear-facing/under-cockpit-bit thigh joint should have the top part of the 'cover' showing. Once you put it like that then it tabs in pretty securely.

    Check the TFW2005 thread if you need pics, or I can take some later if you like.
    Cheers Odey, managed to work it out and it does sit a LOT nicer. In my travels for information on this one, I found the Hasbr transformation video and even they didn't get it nice and tight.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    2nd Jun 2011
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy View Post
    The instructions though, well, what an absolute disgrace they are. Something is wrong when almost every picture requires a magnified view, but even then I was left scratching my head wondering what the hell they were trying to tell me. I ended up just ignoring them, but then that under-pit didn't fit, so I was off to youtube and having to put up with videos and they were doing the same thing I was doing, and it was hard to see if the under-pit fit right or not. Eventually I found out that most don't. so... hmmm.
    Yeah totally agree. I had an absolute bugger of a time transforming him first time round. In the end the picture on the back of the box was of more assistance than the actual instructions.

    Sigh... I sometimes mist G1 instructions, that not only showed you what to do but gave a brief written description as well.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    11th Mar 2009
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    Melbourne
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    HasTak seems to have a knack for making awesome toys for lesser known/obscure characters in recent years. Titans Return Triggerhappy was a favorite for me, and it seems like Spinister is that figure in Siege. Picked him up on a whim cause he looked incredible on the shelf, and I was afraid I was gonna run out of toys to play being stuck at home. And he turned out to be a great great little figure.

    HELICOPTER MODE:
    Love the overall design. LOVE the color scheme! So 80s, so awesome.

    The wings are just robot feet so they look a bit weird without the guns, but nobody would display the chopper mode without them right?

    I don't mind the undercarriage cockpit, but I get why some people may not like it. There's very little effort here to hide it. I personally think it's a worthy trade off for that certain awesome 'bot mode look.












    Theoretically he has six 5mm ports in chopper mode, but only two are really useful here. The ones next to the blades are in such awkward position, they're pretty much useless in either mode.






    TRANSFORMATION:
    Maybe Sci-Fi airborne vehicles offer certain aesthetic flexibility that no other alt modes can, but seems like it's almost always the Cybertonian jets that get the best transformation designs in recent memory. Hasbro did good with the character selection and overall design, but Sensei TakaraTomy came through yet again with amazing engineering within a retail Deluxe class budget.

    The asymmetrical leg transformation is a great homage to Animated Prowl, but the magical moment for me is how the chest unfolds and a strut fits through the rotor blades panel to act as a stopping point for the now V shaped blades. To think we've seen so many of these generic shaped chopper bots, plus what was already done with the leg transformation, HasTak could've easily Combiner Wars Blades'ed this sh!t and probably nobody would've complained about it.. this is inspiring stuff.





    'BOT MODE:
    The color palette may not be for everyone, but looking at sculpt alone, this is still a sharp lookin' Decepticon.

    Love the head sculpt too. I didn't own the OG TM back in the day, and don't read much comics, but this dude's head is so 80s, and so Decepticon, it's pretty awesome.






    Spinister has all the standard WfC poseability, plus front-to-back ankle joint due to transformation which is great for dynamic poses.

    I like how they kept the different looks of the two guns although they're not Target Masters any more.







    He's a tallish Deluxe. Although he has a almost generic body design, those colors just give him such presence on the shelf.


    OVERALL:
    A pleasant surprise and a highlight in the already amazing Siege line for me.

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