Death's Head
04-09-11, 09:20 PM
Swoop was the one Dinobot that never made it to the UK, and to be honest it’s not hard to see why. The smallest of the Dinobots, he’s also the most fragile and isn’t really as good as his team mates. Despite this, it is strange that Hasbro UK passed on releasing the toy over here. Whether that’s because of his fragile nature or simply because for a figure in the same assortment as the larger Dinobots, he would have retailed for more than the figure deserved, I don’t know, as it again remained a frustration for UK fan that one of the key protagonists of many of the UK stories remained unavailable over here.
Although featuring a nicely detailed Pterodactyl beast form, that is (as ever) superbly detailed, with those lovely silver wings and that beak that can open anda head that can move up and down (this was impressive stuff for a 1980s toy!). It’s the transformation where it goes wrong. The robot mode legs swing around from the back on two double-jointed axles that then clip into place. They do seem to work loose very quickly, even with minimal play. The wings fold back on themselves and dangle in place on the robot’s back. The wings do feel a bit flimsy, and with all that chrome, are easily chipped and worn with play. The worst part is the chest. Basically, the belly of the beast splits down the centre and moves out to the sides to allow the beast head to swing into the centre of the chest. To move the chest into position, you do have to apply a fair bit of force as the joints (at least on my example) are uncommonly stiff. This is worrying, as the mechanism doesn’t feel very sturdy and that you’re likely to break it. The beak, being clear plastic, also yellows in the same way as white plastics do.
As a robot, he’s on a par with his vehicular Autobot brethren, but is tiny compared to the other Dinobots. He is actually quite good looking too. Nicely proportioned and realised, but getting there is such a worrying thing that overall, you can’t argue with Hasbro’s decision not to bring the toy to the UK – he’d be broken within five minutes of leaving the box.
638639
Although featuring a nicely detailed Pterodactyl beast form, that is (as ever) superbly detailed, with those lovely silver wings and that beak that can open anda head that can move up and down (this was impressive stuff for a 1980s toy!). It’s the transformation where it goes wrong. The robot mode legs swing around from the back on two double-jointed axles that then clip into place. They do seem to work loose very quickly, even with minimal play. The wings fold back on themselves and dangle in place on the robot’s back. The wings do feel a bit flimsy, and with all that chrome, are easily chipped and worn with play. The worst part is the chest. Basically, the belly of the beast splits down the centre and moves out to the sides to allow the beast head to swing into the centre of the chest. To move the chest into position, you do have to apply a fair bit of force as the joints (at least on my example) are uncommonly stiff. This is worrying, as the mechanism doesn’t feel very sturdy and that you’re likely to break it. The beak, being clear plastic, also yellows in the same way as white plastics do.
As a robot, he’s on a par with his vehicular Autobot brethren, but is tiny compared to the other Dinobots. He is actually quite good looking too. Nicely proportioned and realised, but getting there is such a worrying thing that overall, you can’t argue with Hasbro’s decision not to bring the toy to the UK – he’d be broken within five minutes of leaving the box.
638639