Transformers Review: Darth Vader (Advanced TIE Fighter)

Intro:

            Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Cybertronians, this is it. As promised ages ago, finally, we are going to take a look at my first ever Star Wars Crossover figure – the TIE Advanced X1 Star Fighter Darth Vader.

            Darth Vader is a legend, not only in the Star Wars universe, but in pop culture in general. So when I first came across this figure way back in 2006, I never hesitated. If there was one Star Wars Crossover figure that I was going to get, it was going to be this guy. I even went past the Millennium Falcon – a combination between Chewbacca and Han Solo (which I kinda regret now of not getting) – just so that I could get this guy.

            So is he well worth it? Let’s go take a look…

Alternate Mode:

            Well, as mentioned earlier, Darth Vader transforms into a TIE Advanced X1 Star Fighter, and it’s a very good and convincing looking replica at that. I really how this guy looks in general, with minimal kibbles showing. 

 

 

            The cockpit has a transparent plastic which enables you to look at the tiny miniature Darth Vader inside piloting the spacecraft. Yes, you heard correctly, the set also comes with a miniature Darth Vader figurine, which looks absolutely screen-accurate. 

 

            The tiny figurine has both arms moving in tandem, and it bends at the hip to a sitting position. Personally I think that it’s a really nice touch and it’s kinda sad that they didn’t include any figurine in the Yoda set. 

            The spacecraft also has two translucent red-colored light sabers sticking out from the bottom edge, acting as a warping jet effect (however you wanna call it), which also double up as a couple of missiles. The triggers poking out on each side of the wings are used to shoot them out.  

            The downside of this mode is that the wings maybe a bit flimsy and may detach from the main body when you’re fiddling with the figure, but it isn’t really that bad.

            Overall, it’s a very interesting alternate mode.

Robot Mode:

            The robot mode is simply awesome. Of all the Darth Vader incarnations in the Star Wars Crossover line, this variant has the most similarities with the actual character depictions in the movies. The colors are tremendously accurate, amazing head sculpt and right down to the computerized chest look!!! He even has a cape(!), although I have to admit it’s a bit awkward looking, but then again, I think it was a creative touch by the designers to utilize the wings as both the cape and the shield – yes, he has a shield too. 

 

            Articulation-wise: the head turns left and right; the shoulders rotate and the lower shoulders consist of a combination of two swivel joints, which are mainly used for transformation, but is quite useful nonetheless; the elbows bend and rotate; the wrists rotate and the fists can hold the light sabers quite firmly; the hips are on a set of slightly-ratcheting joints; the knees, though are single jointed may be bend as if they are double-jointed; and finally the front feet move down.

Looks a bit naked without his cape...

            That’s not all; even the cape itself has articulations! The lower cape is divided into 3 sections, all of which can swivel outward independently. I just wish that those separate pieces could lock in, and that would’ve been quite awesome. 

            The articulations are simply tasty and with appropriate stands, you could probably pose him in many exciting poses.

            My one minor complaint would probably be the screw holes on the shoulders, which are facing the front that kinda slightly ruin the look. They could’ve either had the screws on the back of the shoulders, have a screw cover to cover them up, or at the least, used a black colored screws instead. Anyways, it’s just a minor, minor complaint. 

The Epic Battle

Overall:

            As far as the various Star Wars Crossover Darth Vader variants, this is definitely the best of the lot, simply because he looks the part. He can transform and still looks like an accurate TIE fighter model and also has an accurate-looking robot figure!!!

            The Death Star version is a great figure (cuz I am a sucker for humongous bots!) – the planet mode looks amazing, but although the robot mode looks good, it’s unmistakably a robot! The same goes to the previously reviewed Star Destroyer Darth Vader, which has an amazing-looking alternate mode, but a robot mode that requires a little bit of imagination. In both versions, it is said that Darth Vader himself used the power of the force to modify the Death Star/ Star Destroyer to imitate his image.

            This robot mode, however, doesn’t even look like a robot! It is as if you can say that Darth Vader himself altered his own body so that he can transform, and he really looks the part!

            I just can’t tell you enough how much I love this figure, and if any of you guys ever thought of buying only ONE Star Wars figure in this line, this one has to be at the very TOP of the list.

ABSOLUTELY, EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED.

            Final verdict: 9.5/10.

Transformers Review – Crankcase (DOTM Deluxe-Class)

Intro:

 

            Welcome back Cybertronians. For today’s review, we are gonna take a look at one of the extras in the DOTM – Crankcase. Crankcase, as most of you should’ve known by now, is a part of the Decepticon subgroup called the Dreads. I’d like to think that The Dreads are the Decepticons’ answer to the Autobots’ Wreckers, minus the intelligence, but a whole lot more feral. The Dreads are sort of like the Decepticons foot soldiers. I like to compare them to the G1 Sweeps, as members of both of these factions are almost drone-like. I also like to think that Crankcase, although it was never mentioned, as the leader of The Dreads. Based on the written specs on the box, Crankcase is an expert tracker and infiltrator – well, that sounds like Scourge to me. Well, The Dreads, consisting of Crankcase, Crowbar and Hatchet, had quite a memorable highway chase scene with several Autobots, which ended with a bloody showdown. 

 

            Anyways, enough with the babbling and let’s get to the meats and potatoes.

           

Alternate Mode:

 

            Crankcase’s alternate mode is that of black colored Chevrolet Suburban. One of the discrepancies between the Dreads movie depictions and their figure forms is that in the movie, The Dreads all had Suburban emergency vehicle modes, whereas the figure had assorted alternate modes – both Crowbar and Hatchet’s alternate modes are not Suburban. 

 

 

            Anyways, Crankcase’s alternate mode isn’t really that brilliant. The bottom of the car reeks of kibbles and doesn’t have as clean a finishing as most other recent figures. 

 

            However, once you are able to ignore the kibbles, it’s still a decent little figure on its own; although I kind of think that he’s a bit inferior to most DOTM Deluxe-class figures. I also like to think of Crankcase as Barricade’s successor due to their similarity of having an emergency vehicle as alternate modes.

 

 

            Crankcase has 2 Mech-Tech ports on top of the hoods to fit in his Mech-Tech weapon. The weapon resembles a blaster, which can morph into a claw-like contraption. 

 

            This mode doesn’t do a lot except that it rolls freely on all of its fours.

Robot Mode:

            To me, Crankcase’s robot mode ain’t that bad, but it ain’t that excellent either. I do, however, love his head sculpt, which kinda reminds me of the Predator. And somehow, it kinda reminds me of the GI Joe’s Dreadnoks. I don’t know why, but probably the hair kinda reminded me of some biker gang or something and the Dreadnoks themselves are biker gangs. Plus, how coincidence is that for both of these factions have the word Dread in their respective team names. 

 

            The articulations consist of the following: the head turns 360° and is on a flap that moves up and down; shoulders are on ball joints; the arms rotates halfway between the shoulders and the bendable elbows; the wrists swing in and out; hips are also on ball joints; bendable knees and claws that move up and down. 

            The joints are fairly loose on this one, which is ashamed really, since the poses won’t lock in like how you would have wanted. The feet flaps also won’t lock into place, so unsurprisingly, this set tends to have really bad base. 

 

            I do, however, like the wings/ horns sticking out of the back of the shoulders, which kinda reminds me Snarl from the G1 Dinobots.

            So, again, to me, the robot mode is only average.

Overall:

            Honestly, I think this figure could’ve been way better. It could’ve been executed way better than it was. If only there was a way for the feet flaps to lock in and the joints (especially the hips) to be tighter, the points could’ve been higher.

            Final verdict: 6/10. 

Transformers Review: Darth Vader (Star Destroyer)

Intro:

            This particular character that I will be reviewing now, probably do not require any introduction. He is undoubtedly one of the most iconic villains ever created in the history of Hollywood. His signature costume; that rough, slow and heavy breathing – he was, and still, one of a kind.

            Now if you’ve read my earlier review of Star Wars Crossover Yoda, you’d know that this isn’t my first Transformers Darth Vader figure, which I will be reviewing sometime in the near future. The other Darth Vader figure in the line – the Death Star – has been quite elusive for me, and so unfortunately, I won’t be able to do a review on him, unless of course God is also reading this and decides to intervene…

            Anyways, the next Darth Vader figure to be served to us this time around is the Star Destroyer figure. From photos that I’ve seen, both the Death Star Darth Vader and this version are about the same size.

            Apart from the appeal of the character itself, which would definitely attract many Star Wars and TransFans who are familiar with the Star Wars franchise, the allure of four-different transformations modes would definitely put this figure on top of any fan boy’s wish list. 

            The box itself promotes that Anakin Skywalker flew his Jedi Cruiser into battle and used the Force to convert his aircraft into a mech resembling himself, and then would later be drawn into the Dark Side and morphs in Darth Vader and changes his cruiser into a Star Destroyer.

            A good concept, but how well will that be translated into figure form? Let’s see…

Alternate Mode (Jedi Cruiser):

            Although the figure comes packed in Vader mode, I’ll review the Jedi Cruiser mode first instead, for the convenient of the transformation flow. Well, I guess one word sums up the Cruiser mode – HUGE!!! The craft spans about slightly over 14-inches in length and about 7 ½ inches at its widest. 

 

            One particular thing that I like about this figure is how immensely detailed the figure is. From the close-ups photos attached, you can see just how intricately designed the figure really is. Although the figure is not really that heavy, it does have a certain heft to it. 

 

            This mode also comes with some electronic feature. By pressing the button on top of the craft to shoot the well-camouflaged bullets, it will also activate the laser-blasting sounds and also light up the blue LED in front of where the cockpit I presume would be.

            Having said all that, the figure isn’t all that perfect. The set also comes with a couple of translucent blue light sabers, which would be utilized by Anakin in his robot mode, and also Darth Vader’s fiery saber (yes, you heard correct, he’s sick and tired of using a plain old light saber – he goes for flamin’ instead, hehe…). Now unfortunately, there is no way to store any of these extra weapons in this mode, or at least I haven’t found any. There is an option though, for you to store the light sabers into the turbo rockets at the back of the cruiser, thus creating an unlikely effect of the cruiser going into warp mode of sort. I don’t quite like it, but I’m just saying that it’s an option. So that just leaves you with the fiery saber itself with no place to store. 

Sound Effect Switch

Rocket Boosters

Accessories

Kibbles

            Also, on both sides of the cruiser, there’s a huge kibble where you can clearly see the hands gripping to the side of the robot’s body. I know that the shape is quite accurate, but I just wished that they could’ve somehow cover up that part, thus making it seem less ambiguous.  

 

            Anyways, all thing considered, it’s one good looking mode.

Robot Mode (Anakin Skywalker):

            The transformation is fairly easy, but could be quite tricky at first. The articulations aren’t that bad, but aren’t that great either. The head surprisingly doesn’t turn. The shoulders, although they are mounted on a combination of joints that should provide all-around motions, they are unfortunately heavily limited by the size of the shoulder pads. The elbows bend and turn, and wrists also turn. The hips are on ratcheting universal joints. The knees bend and the ankles tilt forward and back, which unfortunately don’t tilt sideward. 

 

 

While I do think that the figure is visually proportionally designed, I can’t help it but noticed how back heavy this figure is! The size of that backpack he is carrying behind him is humongous, thus it’s so heavy that it renders most of his limited articulation useless. The figure itself can’t even stand on its own two feet and for most of the time it has to rely on his cape-flap as a third support!!! 

 

To make matter worse, due to the inability of the ankles to tilt sideward, you can’t really put him in the poses that you would want him to. 

            The electronic gimmicks are kinda okay. There are basically 4 types of sounds: 3 of them are lines from the scripts and the other is the sound of lasers firing. Basical the 3 lines goes in a loop, and in between each lines, there would be the sound of the blasters. The lines are as follows:

a)      The Sith will never transform me.

b)      We got them right where we want them.

c)      You’re no match for a Jedi master.

You can also listen to the electronic gimmicks on the video below. 

The head sculpt is quite okay and it kinda tried to emulate Anakin’s look from the third movie where his right eye sports a scar. Anakin also comes with several accessories that he could wield. First in line is the pair of blue translucent light sabers mentioned earlier. Also mentioned in the instructions, you can have Anakin wielding one light saber and a shield (formed by the lower hull of the Jedi Cruiser). There is a slot behind the shield that pegs on to the peg behind the arms, as shown in the photos below. The way how the shield plugs on to the arms kinda put the arms in a humanly-impossible position. 

Peg On Arm

Peg on Shield

The turbo boosters mentioned earlier can also become a pair of blasters that shoots blue translucent light sabers. Now, the unique thing is that the blasters can also combined to form what look like an arm blaster, pegging on to the same peg that the shield uses. 

Again, there are no storage areas found to accommodate all the unused accessories and weapons.

Robot Mode (Darth Vader):

            Well, as far as what’s been said on the box, this is supposed to be the star of the set. Unfortunately, that is not the case. With articulations exactly as that of Anakin’s, except that the legs are pulled out longer, the extreme back-heaviness of the figure makes it even more difficult for Darth Vader to stand on his own two feet, having to depend on his back-flap again. To add to that already heavy backpack, he has two more attachments on top of it to make him look more regal.

 

            The electronic gimmicks differ from that of Anakin’s, especially now featuring scripts clips uttered by the character in the movies. The blue LED that was predominant on Anakin, was now red. 

 

            While the figure itself had a lot of promise, I can’t help it but wonder what went wrong during the execution stage.

Alternate Mode (Star Destroyer):

            Well, I guess it’s rather expected that this mode was going to be a little too simple… the Star Destroyer mode is literally the Jedi Cruiser flipped upside down, with a little bit of modification. Although not exactly accurate to the movie design, it’s at least distinguishable as the Star Destroyer.

 

            Here at the robot kibbles are not too obvious, but unfortunately at the expense of the Jedi Cruiser kibble all over the bottom. 

Kibbles

            Also, the set of electronics affects are changed as well. Again, it features red-color LED, accompanied with the sound of lasers firing and also Vader’s voice.

            While it is not really that impressive, it is massive and as with the Jedi Cruiser, the ship’s surface details are quite neat.

Overall:

            Well, let’s face it; this Darth Vader still has a long way from beating the Death Star Darth Vader as the best Darth Vader figure in the line. This figure had the potential to be one of the best, but unfortunately bad execution plagued it. Seriously, I was badly hoping for this to be a fitting substitute for the Death Star figure, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

            Final verdict: 6.5/10.