Death's Head
17-08-11, 06:01 PM
A breath taking burst of colour in a line thats more noted for spewing out a succession of realistic -but dull - silver and black vehicles, Terradive is a very funky looking jet. A nice mix of black, orange and white with some smart details and a very clean appearance. Beautiful.
I was disappointed that the only two new mould deluxe figures in the Hunt For The Decepticons line (itself spun out of the Revenge Of The Fallen movie line) were passed over in Europe in favour of yet more versions of Skids, Mudflap, Ironhide and Ratchet (seemed daft to me when the new film is only going to spew out even more versions of these same four characters. But what would I know, perhaps flooding the market with endless repaints and resizes of the same four figures is part of some Hasbro masterplan that I, as a consumer, am just too dumb to understand...). I didn't really want to pay the £20 plus both he and wave mate Tomahawk were going for and bided my time and picked them up far more reasonably from Toyz And Gamez a few weeks back now that the scalper frenzy has abated.
So was he worth the wait? Hell yes. Easily one of the more interesting Decepticon toys to come out of the various movie lines,Terradive features not only a very cool jet mode , but one that manages to keep the jumble of robot parts underneath the jet to a minimum. He also has one of the smartest Transformations I've ever seen on a jet based Transformer - particularly when you compare him to the same universe's Dairylea triangle Starscream and that collapsing pile of jet parts Jetblade.
Whislt Terradive's transformation is undoubtedly clever, a lot of his parts do hinge on paper thin sheets of plastic and it does worry me that one day I am going to snap something vital off just by transforming him. Its all folds and twists and turns and is a process akin to origamy, but its not one that's stupidly complex or overwrought. Just a very cleverly executed shifting of aircraft parts to give you a very lean and taught looking robot mode.
For a warrior whom bears an aircraft for an alternate mode, there's something oddly aquatic about Terradive. Maybe it's the sleek, fin like head sculpt and the sharp, triangular shapes of his robot mode, but there's something about this guy that makes him look as if he'd be equally at home under the sea as in the air. Despite my pontificating, it's probably that ruddy great trident he comes with. It's one the best accessories I've seen a Transformer come with. It folds up, stores neatly underneath the jet and extends to a good length to be held - in both hands!!! - by the robot. Best of all, it has a sort of spear mode, with the fork head closing up to do some brutal jabber damage!
If there are any points of complaint, it would be the weird toothy mess on the robot's face plate that's painted gold. Whether it's to look like he's got part of his face missing or what I don't know, but it makes him look like he's gargling spaghetti or like the toothy messes of Skids and Mudflap. Either way, its a bit cack. The only other thing I think I could note is that there's something a little generic about him. You could easily imagine a hoard of these guys as troopers or palace guard types. There's just that uniform, soldiery look about him that would lend itself well to army building (albeit a very costly army builder!).
As he's something of a costly purchase for a rather small deluxe class toy this side of the Atlantic, I'd struggle to recommend him as an essential purchase unless you can pick him at something approaching regular UK rrp (mine cost £14, inc postage in case you were wondering). There are voyager class toys that would be better spending your money on otherwise. That really, is his only major downfall. Sometimes, our American friends don't know how lucky they are...
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I was disappointed that the only two new mould deluxe figures in the Hunt For The Decepticons line (itself spun out of the Revenge Of The Fallen movie line) were passed over in Europe in favour of yet more versions of Skids, Mudflap, Ironhide and Ratchet (seemed daft to me when the new film is only going to spew out even more versions of these same four characters. But what would I know, perhaps flooding the market with endless repaints and resizes of the same four figures is part of some Hasbro masterplan that I, as a consumer, am just too dumb to understand...). I didn't really want to pay the £20 plus both he and wave mate Tomahawk were going for and bided my time and picked them up far more reasonably from Toyz And Gamez a few weeks back now that the scalper frenzy has abated.
So was he worth the wait? Hell yes. Easily one of the more interesting Decepticon toys to come out of the various movie lines,Terradive features not only a very cool jet mode , but one that manages to keep the jumble of robot parts underneath the jet to a minimum. He also has one of the smartest Transformations I've ever seen on a jet based Transformer - particularly when you compare him to the same universe's Dairylea triangle Starscream and that collapsing pile of jet parts Jetblade.
Whislt Terradive's transformation is undoubtedly clever, a lot of his parts do hinge on paper thin sheets of plastic and it does worry me that one day I am going to snap something vital off just by transforming him. Its all folds and twists and turns and is a process akin to origamy, but its not one that's stupidly complex or overwrought. Just a very cleverly executed shifting of aircraft parts to give you a very lean and taught looking robot mode.
For a warrior whom bears an aircraft for an alternate mode, there's something oddly aquatic about Terradive. Maybe it's the sleek, fin like head sculpt and the sharp, triangular shapes of his robot mode, but there's something about this guy that makes him look as if he'd be equally at home under the sea as in the air. Despite my pontificating, it's probably that ruddy great trident he comes with. It's one the best accessories I've seen a Transformer come with. It folds up, stores neatly underneath the jet and extends to a good length to be held - in both hands!!! - by the robot. Best of all, it has a sort of spear mode, with the fork head closing up to do some brutal jabber damage!
If there are any points of complaint, it would be the weird toothy mess on the robot's face plate that's painted gold. Whether it's to look like he's got part of his face missing or what I don't know, but it makes him look like he's gargling spaghetti or like the toothy messes of Skids and Mudflap. Either way, its a bit cack. The only other thing I think I could note is that there's something a little generic about him. You could easily imagine a hoard of these guys as troopers or palace guard types. There's just that uniform, soldiery look about him that would lend itself well to army building (albeit a very costly army builder!).
As he's something of a costly purchase for a rather small deluxe class toy this side of the Atlantic, I'd struggle to recommend him as an essential purchase unless you can pick him at something approaching regular UK rrp (mine cost £14, inc postage in case you were wondering). There are voyager class toys that would be better spending your money on otherwise. That really, is his only major downfall. Sometimes, our American friends don't know how lucky they are...
235236