Post by grahamthomson on Dec 1, 2008 19:50:46 GMT
Air Strike Patrol
(Micromasters, 1989)
The Air Strike Patrol was the first of the Decepticon Micromaster Patrols to be released. Released as a carded four-pack in 1989, the Air Strike Patrol consisted of Nightflight, Stormcloud, Tailwind, and Whisper. On one hand the advent of a Transformers four-pack meant more Decepticons for the money, but, sadly, it also meant that the four Decepticons were devoid of individual personalities. The “tech specs” on the reverse of the packaging offered a kind of gestalt personality for the set. This marked the first time, after five years, of personality-less Transformers characters entering the world. And with the cartoon no longer airing and the comics paying mere contractually obligated introductions, it was left to the owner’s imagination to bring life to their new toys before losing them down the back of the sofa.
Falling back on the trusted trope of Decepticons-as-jets and Autobots-as-cars seen so many times before, each member of the Air Strike Patrol, as the name suggests, can transform from robot to jet. Unlike the majority of the Transformers “disguises” from the previous couple of years, the designers at Takara/Hasbro made great efforts to base many of the Micromasters’ alternate modes on actual vehicles. In the case of the Air Strike Patrol, three of the four jets share some basis with reality. Whisper, the black stealth-looking jet, is not based on any real jet. Unless of course, the toy designers had access to top secret military prototypes. Unlikely. Nightflight is based on the F-14; Tailwind, the A-10; and Stormcloud the “Eurofighter”. For their tiny size, the Air Strike Patrol’s jet modes are surprisingly authentic and easy to recognise.
Considering their scale, the Air Strike Patrol possess transformation mechanisms that are sophisticated for their time. Compared to the likes of the previous two years’ Throttlebots, Sparkabots, Firecons, and Triggerbots, the Air Strike are certainly on a par, yet at a much smaller size. Both Tailwind and Nightflight are unique in the way they transform but Whisper and Stormcloud both share the same mechanism. And, on the subject of sharing the same pairings are manufactured from the same base plastics; Whisper and Stormcloud are black and purple, while Tailwind and Nightflight are grey and blue. One word of warning, particularly in the case of Whisper, the more fragile parts of the design such as the wings and tail fins are prone to stress marks in the plastic. The only painted details are cockpit canopies in aircraft mode and faces/masks in robot mode. The Air Strike Patrol does not come with any stickers (neither factory applied nor on a user-peelable sheet). There are no separate weapons or accessories either, though in robot mode Whisper seems to be moulded with shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
In robot mode, each member of the Air Strike Patrol stands about 50 mm tall; the size of an original Headmaster’s or Targetmaster’s Nebulan companion. I wonder, what with the legacy of the Nebulans and the common “master” suffix, if the Micromasters were originally intended to be Nebulans. But that is blue sky conjecture, really. Apart from Tailwind who has no upper body articulation whatsoever, the robot mode Air Strike Patrols can each pivot their arms at the shoulder. Each member can be put into a sitting position, however, to allow for interaction with the larger vehicles such as Skyhopper and Skystalker. In addition to this, each robot is endowed with a standard-sized “socket” on the bottom surface of their legs which can slot over the various standard-sized pegs on all Micromaster bases for secure placement. So, should one desire, one can flip their Micromaster base over without fear of their Micromaster falling to the ground. They really considered everything in the think tank that day.
“Micromasters” as a concept may well have a love/hate relationship with potential collectors (which is exacerbated when you consider that half of all the Transformers released in 1989 and 1990 were Micromasters) but when first released it ushered in a return to more realistic vehicle modes for the Transformers line and elevated the collectability factor to previously unseen levels.
The Air Strike Patrol is one of the better examples of a harmonious team, with similar vehicle modes and colour schemes, though some may find they are wanting some more variety. All in all, the Micromasters range is off to a flying start.
Review and photography by Graham Thomson
Full photogallery: Flickr Link
(Micromasters, 1989)
The Air Strike Patrol was the first of the Decepticon Micromaster Patrols to be released. Released as a carded four-pack in 1989, the Air Strike Patrol consisted of Nightflight, Stormcloud, Tailwind, and Whisper. On one hand the advent of a Transformers four-pack meant more Decepticons for the money, but, sadly, it also meant that the four Decepticons were devoid of individual personalities. The “tech specs” on the reverse of the packaging offered a kind of gestalt personality for the set. This marked the first time, after five years, of personality-less Transformers characters entering the world. And with the cartoon no longer airing and the comics paying mere contractually obligated introductions, it was left to the owner’s imagination to bring life to their new toys before losing them down the back of the sofa.
Falling back on the trusted trope of Decepticons-as-jets and Autobots-as-cars seen so many times before, each member of the Air Strike Patrol, as the name suggests, can transform from robot to jet. Unlike the majority of the Transformers “disguises” from the previous couple of years, the designers at Takara/Hasbro made great efforts to base many of the Micromasters’ alternate modes on actual vehicles. In the case of the Air Strike Patrol, three of the four jets share some basis with reality. Whisper, the black stealth-looking jet, is not based on any real jet. Unless of course, the toy designers had access to top secret military prototypes. Unlikely. Nightflight is based on the F-14; Tailwind, the A-10; and Stormcloud the “Eurofighter”. For their tiny size, the Air Strike Patrol’s jet modes are surprisingly authentic and easy to recognise.
Considering their scale, the Air Strike Patrol possess transformation mechanisms that are sophisticated for their time. Compared to the likes of the previous two years’ Throttlebots, Sparkabots, Firecons, and Triggerbots, the Air Strike are certainly on a par, yet at a much smaller size. Both Tailwind and Nightflight are unique in the way they transform but Whisper and Stormcloud both share the same mechanism. And, on the subject of sharing the same pairings are manufactured from the same base plastics; Whisper and Stormcloud are black and purple, while Tailwind and Nightflight are grey and blue. One word of warning, particularly in the case of Whisper, the more fragile parts of the design such as the wings and tail fins are prone to stress marks in the plastic. The only painted details are cockpit canopies in aircraft mode and faces/masks in robot mode. The Air Strike Patrol does not come with any stickers (neither factory applied nor on a user-peelable sheet). There are no separate weapons or accessories either, though in robot mode Whisper seems to be moulded with shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
In robot mode, each member of the Air Strike Patrol stands about 50 mm tall; the size of an original Headmaster’s or Targetmaster’s Nebulan companion. I wonder, what with the legacy of the Nebulans and the common “master” suffix, if the Micromasters were originally intended to be Nebulans. But that is blue sky conjecture, really. Apart from Tailwind who has no upper body articulation whatsoever, the robot mode Air Strike Patrols can each pivot their arms at the shoulder. Each member can be put into a sitting position, however, to allow for interaction with the larger vehicles such as Skyhopper and Skystalker. In addition to this, each robot is endowed with a standard-sized “socket” on the bottom surface of their legs which can slot over the various standard-sized pegs on all Micromaster bases for secure placement. So, should one desire, one can flip their Micromaster base over without fear of their Micromaster falling to the ground. They really considered everything in the think tank that day.
“Micromasters” as a concept may well have a love/hate relationship with potential collectors (which is exacerbated when you consider that half of all the Transformers released in 1989 and 1990 were Micromasters) but when first released it ushered in a return to more realistic vehicle modes for the Transformers line and elevated the collectability factor to previously unseen levels.
The Air Strike Patrol is one of the better examples of a harmonious team, with similar vehicle modes and colour schemes, though some may find they are wanting some more variety. All in all, the Micromasters range is off to a flying start.
Review and photography by Graham Thomson
Full photogallery: Flickr Link
