Intro:
Welcome
back folks, to another edition of Transformers Reviews. Today, New Planet
Cybertron Weblog returns with the review of the Combiner Wars Combaticons.
As
with previous reviews of any gestalt teams, this series of reviews will be
divided into individual review entry for each member of the team, and
subsequently, the big guy itself.
For
the first of this series of review, we shall take a look at Onslaught – the
leader of the Combaticons.
The
Combaticons, or Bruticus – as the combined robot is known as – is the creation
of the rebellious Starscream. In the original cartoon series, the Combaticons
were meant to be Starscream’s very own team of Decepticons. However, the Combaticons
rebelled and decided to take control of Cybertron itself, until they were
thwarted by both the Autobots and Decepticons.
Onslaught
is arguably the brains of the outfit, who frequently formulate battle
strategies, to which the rest of the Combaticons follow without question.
Despite
being one of the more powerful Decepticons, he prefers to rely on formulating
strategies, rather than relying on brute strength.
However,
whenever his plans fail, he would be quick to lose temper and behave violently
on the battlefield.
The
Combaticons are one of my favorite gestalt teams ever, and I was very pleased
to get these guys at a bargain deal at my local Toys ‘R’ Us. It was even more
of a surprise to be able to find all of the Bruticus’s parts, all in one place!
Now,
if only I can get my hands on Shockwave.
Anyways…
let’s get on with the review!
Alternate
Mode:
Being
the leader of the Combaticons, as well as the main torso for Bruticus,
Onslaught is naturally a Voyager-class figure. He transforms into an anti-aircraft
truck.
I’d
say that this is a rather “lazily-designed” figure. The kibbles are notoriously
obvious. The gaps between the robot’s legs, as well as hands are very obvious.
It would’ve been much better if they could’ve cover up those in-between gaps.
Bruticus’s
head is also painfully obvious, and I do wish that they could’ve covered it up
even better than they already attempted. The problem is that, when you actually
attempt to move the guns, you might accidentally reveal the giant head!
While
this mode is obviously inspired by the original G1 character and designs, I
still think that they could’ve somehow done a little bit better.
I
think that they definitely could’ve done better with the alternate mode.
Robot
Mode:
While
the alternate mode may be sub-par, the robot mode, however, is another story.
The
robot is very well-proportionate, and the size is just right, with bulk at the
right places.
The
head sculpt definitely screams Onslaught and the color scheme is spot on. The
backpack looks nice at the back of the robot, and doesn’t disturb the overall
look.
The
points of articulation are as follows:
a)
The head rotates 360°, and it
can tilt forward
b)
The shoulders’ inner joints
both ratchet up and down, as well as ratchets 360° (but blocked by the
backpack’s wings)
c)
The outer shoulder joints swing
sideways
d)
The elbows bend
e)
The arms rotate slightly below
the elbows
f)
The hips are on super-tight
ratcheting universal joints
g)
The legs rotate below the hips
h)
The knees bend
The points of
articulations are fairly good, but are hindered by the quality of some of those
joints. The outer shoulder joints are very loose, as well as the knee joints. As
such it severely affects the effectiveness of those joints, as well as
hindering a lot of the possible poses. I’m not sure if this is just the case
with my figure, or is it a common problem with this release.
If this is just
the case with my figure, then I’d say it’s a good figure.
Overall:
Onslaught
is far from perfect. The vehicle mode is sub-par at best, and while the robot
mode does look good, some of those weak joints really affected the overall
performance of the figure.
I
won’t really recommend to those, who don’t plan to get all of the other members
of the Combaticons. It’s such a shame though; this could’ve been a much better
figure if it weren’t for the weak joints.
Final
verdict: 6/10.
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