Series – Robots In Disguise
Sub-series - Combiner Force
Size/class - Warrior
New/remould/redeco - Redeco & retool of Bisk which was never released here
Wave - 3
Released here – September 2017
RRP - $29
Approximate Size - 13cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode – Sports car
Main Features/Gimmicks – N/A
Main Colours – blue, grey, black
Main Accessories – x2 guns


Does anyone else miss the good ol' days when Transformers were packaged in alt mode?

ROBOT MODE



Just not a fan of the design-aesthetic of this robot, although it's not this toy's fault, so let's look past that. This toy is quite visually striking. The blue plastic used is a metallic blue which looks nice. It is also well accented by grey, black and silver highlights. This toy is a a repaint of Bisk except for the head which is new. The antennae are made of soft rubbery plastic. The face has a good level of detail in the paint, with teeth lines painted on as well as eyeballs. It's nice to have a Decepticon who doesn't follow the stereotype of of red-eyed Decepticons.

The articulation on this toy is frankly disappointing by current day standards. The arms are incapable to swinging out to the sides and there is no waist articulation. The head is on a ball and socket joint but since it protrudes from the chest rather than sitting atop the shoulders, the head's range of motion is effectively limited.

One tip when transforming: ensure that the head is pushed all the way in. Otherwise it can be difficult to get some of the vehicle panels to align correctly and sit flush.

VEHICLE MODE



A really nice looking vehicle mode that looks like a sports car that was inspired by the Golden Age Batmobile. The metallic blue dominates this mode with red rims, black windows and grill, yellow headlights and red indicator (?) lights with silver backings. There are also silver stripes on the spoiler. The way that the wing mirrors stick out looks pretty neat too. The guns can be mounted on 5mm wide holes near the front wheels.



The split spoiler design seems impractical to me, but both Bisk and Thermidor's cartoon models show that their spoilers have a split on the rear edge, so again, technically not the toy's fault. There is a small flat blue Decepticon insignia shaped panel on the grill but there's no Decepticon insignia on it. I really wish that they would either stick a logo on it or just don't have the panel there at all.



OVERALL

It's a nice toy but not a great one. I paid $20 for mine and I don't think it's worth paying a dollar more - not while we have Titans Return Deluxes at $25. A few months ago I was in Japan and a few times I found TAV Bisk but never at $20 or less (it was typically around the $30 mark). So I passed on it, and now having Thermidor in hand I'm really glad that I skipped TAV Bisk at that price. Recommended only if you can get it cheap.