Toy Review - PCC Searchlight w/ Backwind

[griffin]

Toy Review - Searchlight w/ Backwind

Series - Power Core Combiners
Sub-line - 2-pack
Size - Commander w/ Minicon
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - May 2010
Approximate Retail Price - $15-20
Approximate Size - 10cm (Searchlight), 5cm (Backwind)
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Chinook (Searchlight), weapon/armour (Backwind)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Combiner core (Searchlight), weapon/armour (Backwind)
Main Colours - Blue/white (Searchlight), green/black (Backwind)
Main Accessories - none (Backwind is the accessory) (rotors can detatch though)
My Difficulty rating (out of 5) - 2.5
Stability - A bit messy in both modes (Searchlight), not too good either (Backwind)
Poseability/articulation - Good articulation for Searchlight, but a lot of kibble in robot mode to get in the way of creative posing.
Playability - On its own, play is good, as both modes work well and is easy to convert (a little more challanging than the other 2-packs though). But with other PCCs, specifically the 5-packs, this toy has extra play value. Although, without drones, the Powerup mode is essentially unusable, wasting a third of this toy if it is the only PCC you buy.
Other Comments -
Robot mode has a lot of kibble, but I like the transformation into chinook mode. Very creative. Fiddely, but creative. All four pegs stick out the back, which the packaging looks to have cropped in its photo. The alt mode isn't the best looking thing, but I like it.
The rotor blades can come off in robot mode to remove some of the kibble, but then, they could be seen as its weapons, so I leave them on. The Combiner mode is one of the better looking ones, but the arms don't lock in anywhere. Also, it has a lot of the same excess kibble in the Combiner mode, but is mostly all tucked at the back. Has a bit of a Silverbolt/Superion vibe with the Combiner mode chest-wings.
Backwind (Searchlight's minicon) would have to be the most suckiest minicon though. It's a classic example of committing design to one mode at the expense of the others. The armour mode actually looks nice (still sticks out too much on Searchlight's robot mode), but the other three modes just suck. Even its robot mode, because of the extra long gorrilla arms.
Out of the 2 first-wave Drone sets, Searchlight looks better (to me) with the Aerialbots. Probably because Searchlight is bright coloured and has a similar 'aircraft' look to it.
Pics of the combinations can be seen here.

My Rating (out of 10) - 7

[SharkyMcShark]

I got this earlier today - am I doing something wrong or is there no where to plug the shoulders in in robot mode?

Anyway I actually like the mini con. I dig the gorilla look and love his minigun arm.

[GoktimusPrime]

am I doing something wrong or is there no where to plug the shoulders in in robot mode?

There's nowhere to plug the shoulders in robot mode.

I prefer Smoulder over this toy, but Searchlight is nice too. And the baby blues work better with this colour scheme than with Smoulder's. Not a fan of Backwind though - the legs on mine pop off if there's even a slightest jolt, like the Earth's rotation. Makes the shoulders on bat Primal look solid. :/

[Autocon]

the alt mode i cant help but think pre school toy lol

[i_amtrunks]

I'm really liking searchlight, and the inclusion of a minicon for the cheap price really makes the toy seem worth more.

Searchlight has a decent transformation, simple enough to guess it, but still kind of fiddly. Robot mode has plenty of kibble, but it's not that much of a distraction. Poseability is good.

Minicon colour is garish (but in a good way) but the yellow paint on the headlights just looks sloppy. the molding of the arms is good, so that makes up for the bad paint I suppose.

Got to grab the others

[GoktimusPrime]

Autocon: the colours on Searchlight are nice. It's that photography that makes it look "Playskool"ish, but they look better than that IRL.

[PascTF]

I don't have that particular toy yet, but I'd like to say I like the format you're using for reviews and how members can give feedback through polls. Simple and effective!

[Tiby]

It's a Chinook!!!!!! Chinooks are awesome!!! I love this toy. Out of the several I opened yesterday he made it to my bedside chest (Sea Spray was a close second)

[SMHFConvoy]

anyone notice that you can plug one of Searchlights rotors into Backwind for a remote drone mode?

[GoktimusPrime]

Never thought of that - but can't wait to give it a try! Thanks for the tip.