Death's Head
04-09-11, 02:47 PM
1987 was a big year for Transformers. Although their commercial peak was the previous year, the new range of toys launched in 1987 really stood out from what had come before. The prominent figures from this particular year were the Headmasters and Targetmasters. These featured small pilot figures that transformed into the robots heads and weapons. It was a fun gimmick, despite being a bit redundant. Why would the Transformers need to 'binary bond' with organic beings? It is an odd concept for a race adept at infiltrating and blending in with their surroundings wherever they are. In my juvenile mind, it also invited questions of how the process actually worked. Were the humanoid aliens still required to go to the toilet, for instance? Or were they, like Robocop, doomed to an existence subsiding on baby food? And how exactly did they make their bodies fold up like that without damaging both bones and internal organs?
The colour choices Hasbro made for their new line of battling mecha were brighter and bolder than anything seen previously. The larger scale also compensated for the lack of diecast and rubber parts in this new slew of warrior robots.
Whilst the toys released under the Transformers name for the previous two years were hardly models of complexity, these new larger toys were further distinguished by another facet: their simplicity. Whilst older toys like Megatron and Optimus were reasonably fiddly and fragile, these new, larger and simpler toys were far more able to withstand the battering Transformers got from children. It was a major turning point in the development of the line, and also marked the trend for an ever growing number of brick like robot and vehicle modes, that jettisoned detail and complexity for a growing number of gimmicks and quick change features to allay any concern that Transformers were suddenly "not as good as they used to be". All of which brings me, in a waffly and roundabout way, to Skullcruncher. A surprise win for me on ebay a few weeks back (a surprise in that I placed a bid and then totally forgot about it), the guy had been one of those figures I'd always wondered about, having never seen him in the flesh as a youngster and been quite attracted by his mad colours and cute looking alt mode. I'd previously owned Weirdwolf, who turned out to be something of a disappointment and was also interested to see how this guy compared.
Skullcruncher (awesome name!) is a big green and pink croccodile/ alligator type thing. He's suprisingly big in this form and looks pretty damn cool. He's suitably robotic and beastly looking, and does have some nice details to go with those sharp angles of his. The back legs aren't terribly mobile but his front legs can move a fair bit, so you can put him in a few decent poses. He can also hold the robot mode weapon in this mode, which looks silly, but amused me no end. The mouth opens very widely, so you can have hours of fun having him savage various Autobots. The space in his mouth also doubles as a seat for Grax, his Nebulan 'Trainer'. Yes you read that right. Whilst the other Decepticon Headmasters all have cockpits or chest cavities for their Nebulan partners to ride in, Grax has to make do with sitting in Skullcruncher's mouth. This, it would seem, is a big deal. Every review I've read has this pegged as a somewhat silly thing for Hasbro to have done. But not me, oh no. For I have the power of imagination, and imagine that whilst Grax does have to clamber into Skullcruncher's mouth, his seat rises into the head of the beast! See, not such a big leap to make that, is it?
Like all the toys released in 1987, Skullcruncher is barely above Mini-bot levels of complexity (although you can bet that if these were released nowadays, Hasbro would have these marked as 'Level 3 - intermediate' on their puzzling barometer of conversion complexity). If you can't figure out how this guy Transforms just by looking at him, well then there's no hope for you. It's back to crayons, safety scissors and glitter for you. The robot mode is again, rather tall. It’s a big old blocky thing too. Bits of animal dangle off the robot at various points and that huge croc head looks awkward just dangling down the toy's back.
By this point you will also notice that Skullcruncher has no head. Folding Grax up - breaking bones and squishing organs as you do so - forms Skullcruncher's head. Plug him in and there you have it. For added top trumps fun, flip down the chest to reveal the stat meters which reveal the characters Strength, Speed and Intelligence. Despite his outward appearance, Skullcruncher is a bright and powerful fella. He's not very quick, but then croccodiles weren't built for speed. Not the dumb muscle he's frequently portrayed as then. As something of a brick, Skullcruncher has minimal articulation. He can move his arms about, and that's pretty much it. The legs are pretty much a solid unit, incapable of separate movement as an axle runs through the knees to facilitate Transformation. So he's not really going to challenge any modern figures in that regard. The only big note of disappointment I suppose is that how little the principle of getting a robot from a vehicle / creature had changed, even at this point.
Like the majority of the post '85 toys, the sharp departure from the detailed, complex but fragile Microman and Diaclone moulds used to initially build the range means there's a comparative gulf in quality. The increased use of plastics means the toys from this era are more durable, but there's also the sense of something being lost as we move towards ever more cruder and simpler Transformers toys as the 1980s roll on.
609610611612613
The colour choices Hasbro made for their new line of battling mecha were brighter and bolder than anything seen previously. The larger scale also compensated for the lack of diecast and rubber parts in this new slew of warrior robots.
Whilst the toys released under the Transformers name for the previous two years were hardly models of complexity, these new larger toys were further distinguished by another facet: their simplicity. Whilst older toys like Megatron and Optimus were reasonably fiddly and fragile, these new, larger and simpler toys were far more able to withstand the battering Transformers got from children. It was a major turning point in the development of the line, and also marked the trend for an ever growing number of brick like robot and vehicle modes, that jettisoned detail and complexity for a growing number of gimmicks and quick change features to allay any concern that Transformers were suddenly "not as good as they used to be". All of which brings me, in a waffly and roundabout way, to Skullcruncher. A surprise win for me on ebay a few weeks back (a surprise in that I placed a bid and then totally forgot about it), the guy had been one of those figures I'd always wondered about, having never seen him in the flesh as a youngster and been quite attracted by his mad colours and cute looking alt mode. I'd previously owned Weirdwolf, who turned out to be something of a disappointment and was also interested to see how this guy compared.
Skullcruncher (awesome name!) is a big green and pink croccodile/ alligator type thing. He's suprisingly big in this form and looks pretty damn cool. He's suitably robotic and beastly looking, and does have some nice details to go with those sharp angles of his. The back legs aren't terribly mobile but his front legs can move a fair bit, so you can put him in a few decent poses. He can also hold the robot mode weapon in this mode, which looks silly, but amused me no end. The mouth opens very widely, so you can have hours of fun having him savage various Autobots. The space in his mouth also doubles as a seat for Grax, his Nebulan 'Trainer'. Yes you read that right. Whilst the other Decepticon Headmasters all have cockpits or chest cavities for their Nebulan partners to ride in, Grax has to make do with sitting in Skullcruncher's mouth. This, it would seem, is a big deal. Every review I've read has this pegged as a somewhat silly thing for Hasbro to have done. But not me, oh no. For I have the power of imagination, and imagine that whilst Grax does have to clamber into Skullcruncher's mouth, his seat rises into the head of the beast! See, not such a big leap to make that, is it?
Like all the toys released in 1987, Skullcruncher is barely above Mini-bot levels of complexity (although you can bet that if these were released nowadays, Hasbro would have these marked as 'Level 3 - intermediate' on their puzzling barometer of conversion complexity). If you can't figure out how this guy Transforms just by looking at him, well then there's no hope for you. It's back to crayons, safety scissors and glitter for you. The robot mode is again, rather tall. It’s a big old blocky thing too. Bits of animal dangle off the robot at various points and that huge croc head looks awkward just dangling down the toy's back.
By this point you will also notice that Skullcruncher has no head. Folding Grax up - breaking bones and squishing organs as you do so - forms Skullcruncher's head. Plug him in and there you have it. For added top trumps fun, flip down the chest to reveal the stat meters which reveal the characters Strength, Speed and Intelligence. Despite his outward appearance, Skullcruncher is a bright and powerful fella. He's not very quick, but then croccodiles weren't built for speed. Not the dumb muscle he's frequently portrayed as then. As something of a brick, Skullcruncher has minimal articulation. He can move his arms about, and that's pretty much it. The legs are pretty much a solid unit, incapable of separate movement as an axle runs through the knees to facilitate Transformation. So he's not really going to challenge any modern figures in that regard. The only big note of disappointment I suppose is that how little the principle of getting a robot from a vehicle / creature had changed, even at this point.
Like the majority of the post '85 toys, the sharp departure from the detailed, complex but fragile Microman and Diaclone moulds used to initially build the range means there's a comparative gulf in quality. The increased use of plastics means the toys from this era are more durable, but there's also the sense of something being lost as we move towards ever more cruder and simpler Transformers toys as the 1980s roll on.
609610611612613