Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 13, 2008 15:12:56 GMT
Snarl www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/Snarl/snarl.htm
I'm assuming some sort of name problem has arisen cos Snarl isn't a Stegosaur, he's a Triceratops - so therefore should be Slag. There's not been a TF Slag since G2 actually - maybe they've realised what the name means in the UK ?
Snarl's beast mode is quite compact - he comes mainly in grey but with some gold, pink and black visible. The top of the robot head can be seen through his back. I'm wondering if this is a conscientious design decision because you can see Grimlock's robot head in his beast mode too.
The articulation is a little limited - very narrow range of movement at forelegs hips (which also bend to the sides) and knees. The back hips turn right the way round (as well as to the sides) and we have knees that again have a narrow range of movement. The 2 larger horns are hinged at the frill and bend up & down.
TF: Pull out on the back legs. Fold each of the front legs up to the sides, pull the down and back under the dino, bend them back at the top so they become parallel to each other under the tail and in the process lock the hips together. Fold the legs down under the toy, and bend the beast knee joint open to extend the legs slightly. Pull the back legs - now mounted on the robot's shoulders - down as far as you can then push in - each of the shoulder sections has a tab that was connected together and will now lock into the centre of the robot body. Fold down the red flap that is under the beast neck. There's a slot in this and a corresponding tab on the robot's waist. Bring these together by folding down the beast's neck and head. Fold the head right the way back by the joint at the far end of the strut connecting it to the body, then bend down at the neck end of the strut. Fold the neck frills back, and then fold back the horns. Fold the shields on the side of the knees down. Fold the hands out and open. Flip the shields on the shoulders out so they face forward. Press the button in the back of each of the shields to flip out the saw blades. Turn the tail upside down and open to the sides.
The resulting robot has elements of previous Dinobots - the chest makes you think of Slag even though he didn't have the dino head on his chest. The tail halves out the back are pure G1 Snarl. For weapons all he has is a clear plastic orange club with a tab in it that fits into the palm.. Articulation: Head turns, shoulders turn at the body and raise to the sides bellow, there is a small elbow bend (back beast leg knee), universal joints at the hip, Knees that bend to the sides from the TF as well as bend down, a high but slightly bending ankle joint (front beast leg knee) The head is low and dome shaped with 3 horns made from the same semi opaque red material as the beast horns. There's orange clear plastic at the back of the head for a lightpipe but the eyes are painted blue at the front - I do find that annoying as lightpipe eyes are a favourite gimmick. Why not pay for a clear blue piece ? Or leave the eyes orange ? Another problem the toy has is the hips do not lock together securely. It'll close, but as soon as you touch a leg it'll open again.
Overall: Nice design, got a couple of minor implementation issues but these are far outweighed by the good features in the rest of the toy. Well worth getting.
I'm assuming some sort of name problem has arisen cos Snarl isn't a Stegosaur, he's a Triceratops - so therefore should be Slag. There's not been a TF Slag since G2 actually - maybe they've realised what the name means in the UK ?
Snarl's beast mode is quite compact - he comes mainly in grey but with some gold, pink and black visible. The top of the robot head can be seen through his back. I'm wondering if this is a conscientious design decision because you can see Grimlock's robot head in his beast mode too.
The articulation is a little limited - very narrow range of movement at forelegs hips (which also bend to the sides) and knees. The back hips turn right the way round (as well as to the sides) and we have knees that again have a narrow range of movement. The 2 larger horns are hinged at the frill and bend up & down.
TF: Pull out on the back legs. Fold each of the front legs up to the sides, pull the down and back under the dino, bend them back at the top so they become parallel to each other under the tail and in the process lock the hips together. Fold the legs down under the toy, and bend the beast knee joint open to extend the legs slightly. Pull the back legs - now mounted on the robot's shoulders - down as far as you can then push in - each of the shoulder sections has a tab that was connected together and will now lock into the centre of the robot body. Fold down the red flap that is under the beast neck. There's a slot in this and a corresponding tab on the robot's waist. Bring these together by folding down the beast's neck and head. Fold the head right the way back by the joint at the far end of the strut connecting it to the body, then bend down at the neck end of the strut. Fold the neck frills back, and then fold back the horns. Fold the shields on the side of the knees down. Fold the hands out and open. Flip the shields on the shoulders out so they face forward. Press the button in the back of each of the shields to flip out the saw blades. Turn the tail upside down and open to the sides.
The resulting robot has elements of previous Dinobots - the chest makes you think of Slag even though he didn't have the dino head on his chest. The tail halves out the back are pure G1 Snarl. For weapons all he has is a clear plastic orange club with a tab in it that fits into the palm.. Articulation: Head turns, shoulders turn at the body and raise to the sides bellow, there is a small elbow bend (back beast leg knee), universal joints at the hip, Knees that bend to the sides from the TF as well as bend down, a high but slightly bending ankle joint (front beast leg knee) The head is low and dome shaped with 3 horns made from the same semi opaque red material as the beast horns. There's orange clear plastic at the back of the head for a lightpipe but the eyes are painted blue at the front - I do find that annoying as lightpipe eyes are a favourite gimmick. Why not pay for a clear blue piece ? Or leave the eyes orange ? Another problem the toy has is the hips do not lock together securely. It'll close, but as soon as you touch a leg it'll open again.
Overall: Nice design, got a couple of minor implementation issues but these are far outweighed by the good features in the rest of the toy. Well worth getting.
