Toy Review - Siege Spinister

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

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.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

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.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

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.

[BigTransformerTrev]

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.

[doublespy]

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.