Intro:
Throughout
its history, Transformers have been one of the most popular and successful toy
lines in the market. However, after the end of the G1 era, which includes the
Japanese G1 series, the franchise seemed to have slowed. The idea was getting
stale and was in dire need to a good revamp.
Hence,
the Beast Wars era was introduced. Some Transformers purists actually slammed
the idea, mainly because of how drastic the changes were made – the Transformers
were now organic based, rather than machine-based. However, the writers pressed
with the idea, and by eventually linking the story to the iconic G1 era, the
series proved to be popular – so popular that the writers eventually came out
with the sequel – Beast Machines.
Figure-wise,
however, some fans were kind of put off at how drastically different the actual
action figure was, and the onscreen depiction. Botanica was one such example,
where there was never a figure of her ever produced, due to how impossible it
was to design an actual figure of hers.
However,
it was not all doom and gloom. The Beast Wars/ Machines eventually won over the
fans, and it eventually became a huge turning point for the franchise, and most
of the characters in these series became huge fan favorites. One such character
was Rhinox, who was the second-in-command of the Maximal forces during the
events of Beast Wars.
During
the events of Beast Machines, Rhinox, who was thought to be dead, was
eventually revealed to be so-called dumb and stupid Tankor. The
characterization of Tankor – scheming and working for two sides – was
brilliant,
Tankor
was my favorite of the 3 Vehicon generals. He was the powerhouse of the trio,
and without a doubt, eventually was one of the smartest. I never had the pleasure
of owning the original version of him, so when HasTak finally decided to release
this figure under the IDW Generations line, I just knew I had to get him –
thank you to the good people at TeenCom, Melaka’s #1 Hobby Store.
Alternate
Mode:
In
case you’re still wondering, Tankor transforms into a futuristic tank.
He’s
quite screen-accurate, even down to his major kibble – the exposed head. Well, I
guess you can’t complain much, since he’s “futuristic” and “screen-accurate”.
The
tank doesn’t do much. The turret cannot turn, and it can only lift up and back
down. That’s ashamed, cuz if my memory serves, the turret do turn in the
series.
Also,
there are only 3 wheels beneath the figure instead of 4 – two in the front and
one at the back. I don’t know why they cannot do four-wheels instead, because
maybe it’s just with mine, the wheels don’t actually turn that smoothly,
especially the back wheel.
Not
a brilliant mode, and really, they could’ve done better with him.
Robot
Mode:
Tankor…
PULVERISE!!!
The
transformation is filthy easy that you can literally throw away the
instructions.
Again,
the figure is very screen-accurate, and as such, he has really long sets of
arms and very short legs.
Articulation-wise:
the head rotates limitedly, due to the designs of the shoulders, which
prohibits his rather large head from turning freely; the shoulders rotate
vertically, and the hinges allow for upward movements; the arms rotate slightly
above the double-jointed elbows; the claws open and close; the hips are on the
same universal joints as the elbows; the legs rotate slightly above the
bendable knees and the feet tilt up and down.
The
shoulder guards may stand in the way of some movements, though not that much. The
arms, for some reason, have gear-like rotatable pieces built into them, which
do not serve any functions at all.
The
robot mode is definitely much better than his tank mode. The articulations are
okay, but definitely not stellar.
Overall:
Tankor is
definitely a figure for you if you’re a Tankor fan and a hardcore Beast Machines
fan, and probably not for seasonal collectors. Overall, this figure is okay,
but definitely won’t win any awards. There are various aspects of this figure
that could be improved, and definitely could’ve been way better.
Recommended to Tankor
and Beast Machines fans.
Final
verdict: 6.5/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment