Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 20, 2008 16:39:57 GMT
After waiting months for one ordered from eBay that never turned up and failing to find one in Sainsburys while the half price toys was on I caved in and ordered Swoop from play.com. It turned up in the customary jiffy bag with the packaging damaged but the toy no worse for wear. Is it any good ?
Swoop is a Dinobird again so they've passed the first test, It's a little reminiscent of BM Skydive with the robot arms along the front of the wings and the robot legs legs stretched out behind the beast. The wings and back panel are cast in a very pale blue whereas the upper limbs are dark blue, the lower limbs grey and the claws/feet gold. The arms are effectively immobilized along the wings but the wings can move back & forth a bit. There's a joint for bending them down but this has been immobilized by pinning the robot arms to the front of them. The robot legs too are partially immobilized by pegging them into the back panel however they bend upwards (and a slightly down) at the knee, downwards at a ball joint just bellow this allowing you to fold the legs under the dinosaur. Ball jointed ankles enable you to complete the process of standing him up and the claw that forms the feet can close up. The feet are interesting - both have a peg on them and I can only assume they're meant to insert into the screw holes on the robot's separate ball & chain weapon. They don't seem to fit however and it's impossible to orientate the beast so both pegs fit in both holes at once. Odd. At the other end of the dinosaur we have gaps for eyes in the head - I presume so the robot head can see out, an opening beak and a silver Autobot symbol on the head.
TF: Straighten the legs out behind the dinosaur and bend the feet so they're at right angles to the legs & can be stood on. Pull the arms away from the front of the wing and pull the legs away from the back panel. Pull the beast chest apart - the halves move to the sides and up. Fold the dino beak down separating it from the rest of the head an locking between the chest panels - there's slots in the sides of the chest panels that match where the hinge for the beak is. Fold the back panel up a bit and fold the wings down. Put ball & chain into the robot's hands.
Resulting robot is thin and spindly - like Skydive again - but somehow much more fragile. I've managed to pull several limbs and the back/wing panel off by accident and have even broken the ball & chain which features a plastic chain which is far to fragile. The ball *looks* like it should have some clear orange blades pop out of it but I see know way of getting them out. The general looks of the robot is very good - head with red fin behind it, bird nose down the front, blue chest is all traditional Swoop. The grey armour running over the top of the body looks nice too as a sort of border to the top of the toy. Articulation: claw opens both ways at the wrist, ball joints at elbow (but positioned in such away for the claw to be own at the front the ball joint points in), another ball joint bellow the shoulder, shoulders that turn up & down, neck, ball jointed hips Knees that bend backwards (and slightly forwards) a forward bending ball joint bellow the knee and a ball jointed ankle.
Overall: Not the worst attempt at redoing Swoop (I see you Energon Swoop) Design is competent enough, but the implementation is a little fragile. Looks very nice alongside he other Animated Dinobots.
Swoop is a Dinobird again so they've passed the first test, It's a little reminiscent of BM Skydive with the robot arms along the front of the wings and the robot legs legs stretched out behind the beast. The wings and back panel are cast in a very pale blue whereas the upper limbs are dark blue, the lower limbs grey and the claws/feet gold. The arms are effectively immobilized along the wings but the wings can move back & forth a bit. There's a joint for bending them down but this has been immobilized by pinning the robot arms to the front of them. The robot legs too are partially immobilized by pegging them into the back panel however they bend upwards (and a slightly down) at the knee, downwards at a ball joint just bellow this allowing you to fold the legs under the dinosaur. Ball jointed ankles enable you to complete the process of standing him up and the claw that forms the feet can close up. The feet are interesting - both have a peg on them and I can only assume they're meant to insert into the screw holes on the robot's separate ball & chain weapon. They don't seem to fit however and it's impossible to orientate the beast so both pegs fit in both holes at once. Odd. At the other end of the dinosaur we have gaps for eyes in the head - I presume so the robot head can see out, an opening beak and a silver Autobot symbol on the head.
TF: Straighten the legs out behind the dinosaur and bend the feet so they're at right angles to the legs & can be stood on. Pull the arms away from the front of the wing and pull the legs away from the back panel. Pull the beast chest apart - the halves move to the sides and up. Fold the dino beak down separating it from the rest of the head an locking between the chest panels - there's slots in the sides of the chest panels that match where the hinge for the beak is. Fold the back panel up a bit and fold the wings down. Put ball & chain into the robot's hands.
Resulting robot is thin and spindly - like Skydive again - but somehow much more fragile. I've managed to pull several limbs and the back/wing panel off by accident and have even broken the ball & chain which features a plastic chain which is far to fragile. The ball *looks* like it should have some clear orange blades pop out of it but I see know way of getting them out. The general looks of the robot is very good - head with red fin behind it, bird nose down the front, blue chest is all traditional Swoop. The grey armour running over the top of the body looks nice too as a sort of border to the top of the toy. Articulation: claw opens both ways at the wrist, ball joints at elbow (but positioned in such away for the claw to be own at the front the ball joint points in), another ball joint bellow the shoulder, shoulders that turn up & down, neck, ball jointed hips Knees that bend backwards (and slightly forwards) a forward bending ball joint bellow the knee and a ball jointed ankle.
Overall: Not the worst attempt at redoing Swoop (I see you Energon Swoop) Design is competent enough, but the implementation is a little fragile. Looks very nice alongside he other Animated Dinobots.
