Transmetal II Sonar
FInally hit the shelves along with other two yesterday. There were two
assortments, the Transmetal sticker with the regular Roman numeral
'II', and the numeric '2'. The '2' assortment was plentiful, with
only 3-4 of the Roman numeral ones. I got the 'II' for all three toys.
Beast Mode
A pretty proportional bat, unlike Batimus Primal (argh!!!). About 10cm
from head to feet, add another 2.5cm at the tip of the claws, with
a wingspan of 14cm. Mainly shiny grey, with gold for the bat feet,
and chrome red for the head and butt. Silver, gold and green are used
over this toy. There is no real undercarriage junk, just the robot
feet, which can be deployed to display the figure in a 'flying'
position. There is an amazing amount of detail on this bat, from
patches of fur and veins, to muscle and mechanical wires. Like the
rest of the regulars, Sonar is asymmetric, like one claw being mainly
organic, with the other being mechanical. His mechanical claw, has a
fold out blade which can slash at enemies as he flies past them.
His Spark crystal can be accessed in this mode, by opening the plate
on his rump. The new Spark crystal is a piece of transparent green,
half globe shaped plastic, with a Maximal symbol carved into either
the plastic, or the body itself. There seems to be a layer of vac-
metallised chrome underneath, making the symbol 'light-up' when it
catches the light, a truly spectacular effect.
Transformation
Complicated for a regular, he has a Powerpinch like transformation.
Split open the back, slide the rump section, push the legs through,
fold the bat head into the back, close the back, swivel the chest up,
fix the waist and position his arms. It sounds simple enough, but the
actual transformation is pretty tricky. One way is to just pop off the
robot legs, swing the waist through, then put the legs back on.
Robot Mode
About 9cm at the head, add another for the ears and wings. Sonar's
robot mode is extremely well done, with a good mix of robotic and
organic parts. Each leg is different, one grey and one gold, with
the grey one being the more organic leg. The only chromed part is his
chest, formed by his rump. The Spark crystal can also be opened here.
The bat legs can be folded out as extra hands, or folded up, with the
claws at his shoulders. The only draw back of this toy is the lack of
elbow joints on the arms. Their just one whole piece, but i guess it
had to be done this way, otherwise the wings wouldn't be stable.
His blade can be deployed in this mode. His head is very much organic,
with fur patches over the head and one ear. The robot ears form the
bat ears in beast mode.
Although not without flaws, this toy does very well as a bat and TMII.
A definite buy.
Rating: A
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