Death's Head
11-11-11, 08:26 AM
Torca is a figure that deserved an Ultra Class toy. His huge fused form of an orca and elephant deserved a larger figure if only to give him a bit more of a presence. The level of detail that is present on the figure makes one wonder if this wasn’t actually the intention, before there was a realisation that the Fuzor concept had brought in some very mixed results. So it is that Torca is a slightly too small for his own good Deluxe toy.
The beast mode itself is fearsome looking creature and a glorious mix of the two animals from which he takes his form. Its also quite disgusting, looking like the elephant and orca have been split, torn, cracked and spliced together to create this monstrosity. I bet with a gaping maw like that, Torca drools. A lot. The sculpt of the thing is fantastic, great folds and wrinkles of an elephant’s hide slowly blending with the smooth aquatic finish of the whale, mixing in those whacking great teeth and tusks all complimented by a great colour palette (er, although I’m not sure how many golden elephants you’re likely to see…). The beast mode has a fair amount of articulation, mainly in the legs and there’s an interesting play feature too: the dorsal fin can be removed and filled with water. Replacing it and pushing the fin forward will send a jet of water flying – almost like a real orca’s blow hole. This also makes the tusks wiggle forwards which is cute, if not as terrifying as perhaps hoped.
Adding further fuel to the idea that perhaps Torca was intended to have a larger toy is the simplistic transformation. There’s not much more to do except rearrange the legs into the robot’s appendages, split open the midrfit and crack the beast head in half and lower the jaw. The robot mode is equally as powerful and fearsome looking as the beast mode and again has a very high level of detail rendered into the sculpt, most notably on the head. The dorsal fin squirty thing can also be held in robot mode as a handgun, but as is the nature of such gimmickry, it does look a bit crude and slightly swamps the robot mode when held.
Easily one of the best Fuzors and Beast Wars figures, Torca makes an instantly commanding presence. Just a shame that he couldn’t have had a larger toy. The figure is also prone to Gold Plastic Syndrome in that the gold plastic used is very fragile and prone to crumbling and breaking, although as with the brown plastics on Transmetal Megatron, my example has yet to demonstrate any of the problems associated with this material, but something to watch out for nonetheless.
12091210
The beast mode itself is fearsome looking creature and a glorious mix of the two animals from which he takes his form. Its also quite disgusting, looking like the elephant and orca have been split, torn, cracked and spliced together to create this monstrosity. I bet with a gaping maw like that, Torca drools. A lot. The sculpt of the thing is fantastic, great folds and wrinkles of an elephant’s hide slowly blending with the smooth aquatic finish of the whale, mixing in those whacking great teeth and tusks all complimented by a great colour palette (er, although I’m not sure how many golden elephants you’re likely to see…). The beast mode has a fair amount of articulation, mainly in the legs and there’s an interesting play feature too: the dorsal fin can be removed and filled with water. Replacing it and pushing the fin forward will send a jet of water flying – almost like a real orca’s blow hole. This also makes the tusks wiggle forwards which is cute, if not as terrifying as perhaps hoped.
Adding further fuel to the idea that perhaps Torca was intended to have a larger toy is the simplistic transformation. There’s not much more to do except rearrange the legs into the robot’s appendages, split open the midrfit and crack the beast head in half and lower the jaw. The robot mode is equally as powerful and fearsome looking as the beast mode and again has a very high level of detail rendered into the sculpt, most notably on the head. The dorsal fin squirty thing can also be held in robot mode as a handgun, but as is the nature of such gimmickry, it does look a bit crude and slightly swamps the robot mode when held.
Easily one of the best Fuzors and Beast Wars figures, Torca makes an instantly commanding presence. Just a shame that he couldn’t have had a larger toy. The figure is also prone to Gold Plastic Syndrome in that the gold plastic used is very fragile and prone to crumbling and breaking, although as with the brown plastics on Transmetal Megatron, my example has yet to demonstrate any of the problems associated with this material, but something to watch out for nonetheless.
12091210