Phil's Minicon Reviews

[Philip Ayres]

While doing the Transmetal BW toy I had to write about 5 toys that came with minicons.

Examination of the existing reviews for the minicons revealed they were useless.

So I'm going to review them.

All of them.

One by One.

This'll mean some repeated information, especially when we get onto the repaints for each team but I can't think of a better way to do it seeing as later on the minicon teams gets mixed up and paired with different toys.

So.....

[Philip Ayres]

Jetstorm

Original Air Defence team review "I'll come clean straight off - I can't build the star sabre. The peg on Jetstorm won't fit far enough into the hole on Sonar (James, yours any better ?) They all have a lot of clear parts, mainly on the robot form. All 3 have some nice intricate TFs, all worth it just for seeing how small they can build TFs... "

Jetstorm is a member of the Air Defence team and forms the middle of the Star Saber. He's a Concorde like jet, mainly cast in clear plastic with the nose & tail in blue plastic. Some of the undercarriage is cast in grey and this will form his upper arms and all of his legs in robot mode. Under his nose is a fold down landing gear.

He has one minicon port and that's on the middle of his underside. This enables you to mount him on a larger toy's arm and pretend he's a blade of some sort

TF: Fold the nose back. Turn the aircraft over. Unpeg the legs from the back of the jet and fold down. Bring the lower legs under the upper legs and twist each in 90 degrees at the knee. Swing the arms down to the sides and fold down the forearms. Pull the tail fin back and fold over his head.

The robot has a minicon symbol on his right lower leg. His knees are ball jointed as well as folding to the sides in the TF. The hips move forward & back, the shoulders swing to the side and the elbows bend. The revealed head is clear with a painted red face plate - though I do own one missing this paint operation.

Decent jet and robot.

In Japan Jetstorm was known as Mach and was released as part of Micron Legend as pack MM-02 with the rest of the Air Defence Team. They also were available in giftbox MS-01 with the Japanese version of Hotshot..

Dimension-X Mach

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. MM-07 is the Dimension-X Air Defence Team. Grey plastic is now orange, blue plastic & paint is now red and the red paint is now yellow. The clear plastic remains the same which I feel is a mistake in this case - the red body parts look too bright and making the clear plastic clear red would have given a nice combined weapon too.

Air Assault Jetstorm

Original Air Assault team review: "Recoloured Air defence team - in a mixture of greys, blacks and purples with gold highlighting. No clear plastic - everything that was clear before is grey. My Darksabre is a good fit, holds together well. The grey works better than I thought on the sword but a transparent purple would be yummy here."

The Air Defence Team were on of the first to be recoloured in the US and UK. Clear plastic becomes pale grey, grey plastic becomes black and blue becomes purple. Red paint ops become gold.

The loss of the clear plastic does affect the (admittedly poor performing) gimmick in combined mode but the individual robot & jet looks great in these new colours.

Mad

Mad is the Japanese version of Air Assault Jetstorm released as part of MM-17 or as part of MS-08 with Rampage (Wheeljack) This version take the Air Assault colours and swaps the pale grey for clear plastic, using a clear with a slightly lilac tint. Looks great in the plastic !

CD Mach

The Air Defence team were one of two minicon teams released with a CD single in Japan. Grey plastic becomes blue matching the existing blue plastic, and the clear colour becomes clear blue. The plane looks nice, but the robot is a little odd looking - very blue. However the combined form is really what you're buying this set for.

Micron Booster Mach

The Air Defence team appear in Micron Booster v0. This set looks very similar to the originals but I'm told that there's some metallic flake added to the plastic. I've never been able to spot it in the pictures I've seen !

Change Micron Mach

Kabaya issued a series of Minicon toys with candy in Japan during 2003. The Air Defence team take the clear plastic of the originals and replace it with opaque bright white plastic. Effective repaint, though like the Air Assault Team the solid paint used in the recolour limits the combined mod.

Energon Scattor

The Air Defence Team is remoulded & recoloured as the Energon Sabre in Transformers Energon. Grey becomes a more olive grey, blue becomes green and clear plastic becomes clear yellow. The paint ops are totally changed. The parts that are remoulded are all ones that were clear on the original Air Defence Team.

Scattor gains some forward pointing fins and flat wing tips in jet mode. This makes the jet look completely different.

Yellow isn't the best colour for a clear repaint - looks too much like urine ! (see Shining Ultra Magnus)

The Japanese version of the Energon Sabre was numbered SC-08 and Scattor retained his western name.

Micron Booster Quantum

The Energon Sabre then appears repainted in Micron Booster V1. The green plastic becomes blue and olive grey becomes grey - both similar to the original Air Defence colours. The clear plastic becomes clear blue like the great CD version of the Air Defence team. Great repaint, and even better when combined.

My notes say that the Energon Sabre seen in Micron Booster V1 is the first Energon toy to be repainted !

Cybertron Thrust

Scattor becomes Thrust in this Cybertron minicon 2 pack where he's paired with Anti-Blaze - a Firebot (Emergency Team) repaint.

Thrust's Red, Silver and Black jet looks spectacular. With the tailfin folded down he's got a good colour balance in robot mode - lots of Black and Silver but a Red chest - but folded back the tailfin is reminiscent of the old "coneheaded" year 2 G1 jets.

[Philip Ayres]

Runway

Original Air Defence team review "I'll come clean straight off - I can't build the star sabre. The peg on Jetstorm won't fit far enough into the hole on Sonar (James, yours any better ?) They all have a lot of clear parts, mainly on the robot form. All 3 have some nice intricate TFs, all worth it just for seeing how small they can build TFs... "

Runway is a member of the Air Defence team and forms the tip of the Star Saber. He's a jet but I have no idea what sort, with the jet body cast in clear plastic with a grey undercarriage and a fold down landing gear under the nose.

There are two minicon sockets on the undercarriage - like Jetstorm it doesn't require too much imagination to think of it as a blade when mounted on a larger toy's arm.

TF: Look at the underside of the plane with the nose pointing down. Fold the legs & the arms down. Fold the engines down to form the chest exposing the head which will then need folding into position.

Runways presents a lot more grey to the front in robot mode with most of the limbs being made of the grey plastic. The forearms bend at the elbows, the head leans forward & back, the waist bends back and the hips & knees bend. Red paint highlights the eyes, outside of the arms and top of the hips

Again, a decent jet and robot.

In Japan Runway was known as Jetter and was released as part of Micron Legend as pack MM-02 with the rest of the Air Defence Team. They also were available in giftbox MS-01 with the Japanese version of Hotshot..

Dimension-X Jetter

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. MM-07 is the Dimension-X Air Defence Team. Grey plastic is now orange, blue plastic & paint is now red and the red paint is now yellow. The clear plastic remains the same which I feel is a mistake in this case - the red body parts look too bright and making the clear plastic clear red would have given a nice combined weapon too.

Air Assault Runway

Original Air Assault team review: "Recoloured Air defence team - in a mixture of greys, blacks and purples with gold highlighting. No clear plastic - everything that was clear before is grey. My Darksabre is a good fit, holds together well. The grey works better than I thought on the sword but a transparent purple would be yummy here."

The Air Defence Team were on of the first to be recoloured in the US and UK. Clear plastic becomes pale grey, grey plastic becomes black and blue becomes purple. Red paint ops become gold.

The loss of the clear plastic does affect the (admittedly poor performing) gimmick in combined mode but the individual robot & jet looks great in these new colours.

Jack

Jack is the Japanese version of Air Assault Jetstorm released as part of MM-17 or as part of MS-08 with Rampage (Wheeljack) This version take the Air Assault colours and swaps the pale grey for clear plastic, using a clear with a slightly lilac tint. Looks great in the plastic !

CD Jetter

The Air Defence team were one of two minicon teams released with a CD single in Japan. Grey plastic becomes blue matching the existing blue plastic, and the clear colour becomes clear blue. The plane looks nice, but the robot is a little odd looking - very blue. However the combined form is really what you're buying this set for.

Micron Booster Jetter

The Air Defence team appear in Micron Booster v0. This set looks very similar to the originals but I'm told that there's some metallic flake added to the plastic. I've never been able to spot it in the pictures I've seen !

Change Micron Jetter

Kabaya issued a series of Minicon toys with candy in Japan during 2003. The Air Defence team take the clear plastic of the originals and replace it with opaque bright white plastic. Effective repaint, though like the Air Assault Team the solid paint used in the recolour limits the combined mod.

Energon Wreckage

The Air Defence Team is remoulded & recoloured as the Energon Sabre in Transformers Energon. Grey becomes a more olive grey, blue becomes green and clear plastic becomes clear yellow. The paint ops are totally changed. The parts that are remoulded are all ones that were clear on the original Air Defence Team.

Wreckage gains a larger more rounded nose in jet mode which has a cerated edge along with the wings. The robot mode is very similar to before.

Yellow isn't the best colour for a clear repaint - looks too much like urine ! (see Shining Ultra Magnus)

The Japanese version of the Energon Sabre was numbered SC-08 and Wreckage was renamed Pulse

Micron Booster Beacon

The Energon Sabre then appears repainted in Micron Booster V1. The green plastic becomes blue and olive grey becomes grey - both similar to the original Air Defence colours. The clear plastic becomes clear blue like the great CD version of the Air Defence team. Great repaint, and even better when combined.

My notes say that the Energon Sabre seen in Micron Booster V1 is the first Energon toy to be repainted !

Cybertron Sunstorm

Runway becomes Sunstorm in this Cybertron minicon 2 pack where he's paired with Checkpoint - a Prowl (Emergency Team) repaint.

Sunstorm looks nice in jet mode with his near black body and yellow highlighting. Unfortunately the yellow all but vanishes from the front in robot mode - painting his tail fins and the red highlight on his arms yellow would have helped identify with the name. As it is the robot is all silver with black armour and looks very similar to the original Jetstorm colour wise.

I do have to ask why Sunstorm ? The other two members of the team are Ramjet & Thrust - surely Dirge (with appropriate colouring) would have been a better choice ?

[Philip Ayres]

Sonar

Original Air Defence team review "I'll come clean straight off - I can't build the star sabre. The peg on Jetstorm won't fit far enough into the hole on Sonar (James, yours any better ?) They all have a lot of clear parts, mainly on the robot form. All 3 have some nice intricate TFs, all worth it just for seeing how small they can build TFs... "

Sonar is a member of the Air Defence team and forms the hilt of the Star Saber. He looks like he's a sort of rounded space shuttle in vehicle mode - mainly cast in blue and grey plastic except you can't tell because it's mostly painted white. Underneath or on top - your choice - is the piece that forms the handle of the Star Saber which in this mode looks like a solid fuel booster.

Cast in the handle are two minicon sockets. He's much less blade like than the other two jets and when attached to a larger to he just looks like a space shuttle. I suppose with a little imagination you could think of him as a shield.

TF: Pull out the front of the shuttle. Separate and fold the tips out to the side to form the feet. Rotate the feet so they point forward out the blue side of the leg. Fold the booster onto the top of the shuttle and fold up his head. Fold the forearms down from under the wings.

Robot mode has ball jointed ankles, knees & hips that bend to the sides (it's a small toy so I won't hold it against it too much), shoulders that move back & forth and elbows that bend.

Another jet minicon that's decent in both modes

In Japan Sonar was known as Shuttler and was released as part of Micron Legend as pack MM-02 with the rest of the Air Defence Team. They also were available in giftbox MS-01 with the Japanese version of Hotshot..

Dimension-X Shuttler

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. MM-07 is the Dimension-X Air Defence Team. Grey plastic is now orange, blue plastic & paint is now red and the red paint is now yellow. The clear plastic remains the same which I feel is a mistake in this case - the red body parts look too bright and making the clear plastic clear red would have given a nice combined weapon too.

Air Assault Sonar

Original Air Assault team review: "Recoloured Air defence team - in a mixture of greys, blacks and purples with gold highlighting. No clear plastic - everything that was clear before is grey. My Darksabre is a good fit, holds together well. The grey works better than I thought on the sword but a transparent purple would be yummy here."

The Air Defence Team were on of the first to be recoloured in the US and UK. Clear plastic becomes pale grey, grey plastic becomes black and blue becomes purple. Red paint ops become gold.

The loss of the clear plastic does affect the (admittedly poor performing) gimmick in combined mode but the individual robot & jet looks great in these new colours.

Shade

Shade is the Japanese version of Air Assault Jetstorm released as part of MM-17 or as part of MS-08 with Rampage (Wheeljack) This version take the Air Assault colours and swaps the pale grey for clear plastic, using a clear with a slightly lilac tint. Looks great in the plastic !

CD Shuttler

The Air Defence team were one of two minicon teams released with a CD single in Japan. Grey plastic becomes blue matching the existing blue plastic, and the clear colour becomes clear blue. The plane looks nice, but the robot is a little odd looking - very blue. However the combined form is really what you're buying this set for.

Micron Booster Shuttler

The Air Defence team appear in Micron Booster v0. This set looks very similar to the originals but I'm told that there's some metallic flake added to the plastic. I've never been able to spot it in the pictures I've seen !

Change Micron Shuttler

Kabaya issued a series of Minicon toys with candy in Japan during 2003. The Air Defence team take the clear plastic of the originals and replace it with opaque bright white plastic. Effective repaint, though like the Air Assault Team the solid paint used in the recolour limits the combined mod.

Shuttler looks a little odd in robot mode here - the grey and the new white clash and make me wonder if it wouldn't have been better to make the grey white as well.

Energon Skyboom

The Air Defence Team is remoulded & recoloured as the Energon Sabre in Transformers Energon. Grey becomes a more olive grey, blue becomes green and clear plastic becomes clear yellow. The paint ops are totally changed. The parts that are remoulded are all ones that were clear on the original Air Defence Team.

Skyboom is the least altered in jet mode of the three members of the team gaining a pair of extra fins on the side of the shuttle.

Yellow isn't the best colour for a clear repaint - looks too much like urine ! (see Shining Ultra Magnus)

The Japanese version of the Energon Sabre was numbered SC-08 and Skyboom was renamed Laser

Micron Booster Lens

The Energon Sabre then appears repainted in Micron Booster V1. The green plastic becomes blue and olive grey becomes grey - both similar to the original Air Defence colours. The clear plastic becomes clear blue like the great CD version of the Air Defence team. Great repaint, and even better when combined.

My notes say that the Energon Sabre seen in Micron Booster V1 is the first Energon toy to be repainted !

Cybertron Ramjet

Sonar becomes Ramjet in this Cybertron minicon 2 pack where he's paired with Scythe - a makeshift (Emergency Team) repaint.

Ramjet's shuttle mode looks a bit of a mish mash with silver nose and rear, red wings, white bodyside with a top in black and blue and a dark purple booster section. But most of these colour are Ramjet reminiscent. Robot mode is reasonably well balanced although the silver feet against the black legs says he's wearing shoes !

[Philip Ayres]

Star Saber

Original Air Defence team review "I'll come clean straight off - I can't build the star sabre. The peg on Jetstorm won't fit far enough into the hole on Sonar (James, yours any better ?) They all have a lot of clear parts, mainly on the robot form. All 3 have some nice intricate TFs, all worth it just for seeing how small they can build TFs... "

The Star Saber is the combined form of the three Air Defence team Minicons.

To form the Star Saber: Leave Runway in Jetmode, fold up Jetstorm's nosecone. Extend Sonar's legs, fold to the side and fold the fuel booster underneath. Then, making sure all three minicons are the same way up plug Runway & Jetstorm back to back and then plug the exposed peg on Jetstorm into the hole at the top of the booster on Sonar.

There's two problems with this combination. The first is stability - Jetstorm's peg needs to be a bit longer to fit stablely into the hole on Sonar. The second is the sword is designed to be powered by the light up gimmick in Optimus Prime (and the Japanese version of Hotrod) - the lights in these toys really isn't powerful enough and even if it were the connection between Runway & Jetstorm involves pegs on Runway that aren't made of clear plastic. Correct these flaws and the combined mode will work a lot better !

In Japan the Star Saber was released in Micron Legend as pack MM-02 and was also available in giftbox MS-01 with the Japanese version of Hotshot..

Dimension-X Star Saber ("Fire Saber")

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. MM-07 is the Dimension-X Air Defence Team. Grey plastic is now orange, blue plastic & paint is now red and the red paint is now yellow. The clear plastic remains the same which I feel is a mistake in this case - the red body parts look too bright and making the clear plastic clear red would have given a nice combined weapon too.

Dark Saber

Original Air Assault team review: "Recoloured Air defence team - in a mixture of greys, blacks and purples with gold highlighting. No clear plastic - everything that was clear before is grey. My Darksabre is a good fit, holds together well. The grey works better than I thought on the sword but a transparent purple would be yummy here."

The Air Defence Team were on of the first to be recoloured in the US and UK. Clear plastic becomes pale grey, grey plastic becomes black and blue becomes purple. Red paint ops become gold.

The loss of the clear plastic does affect the (admittedly poor performing) gimmick in combined mode but it still looks quite impressive in it's new black & purple Decepticon trim.

Micron Legend Dark Saber

The Japanese version of the Air Assault team was released as MM-17 or as part of MS-08 with Rampage (Wheeljack) This version take the Air Assault colours and swaps the pale grey for clear plastic, using a clear with a slightly lilac tint. Looks great in the plastic especially in this combined mode.

CD Star Saber

The Air Defence team were one of two minicon teams released with a CD single in Japan. Grey plastic becomes blue matching the existing blue plastic, and the clear colour becomes clear blue. The combined form here is almost all clear blue and looks superb - well worth tracking down. As a bonus it seems to hold together *slightly* better than the western versions.

Micron Booster Star Saber

The Air Defence team appear in Micron Booster v0. This set looks very similar to the originals but I'm told that there's some metallic flake added to the plastic. I've never been able to spot it in the pictures I've seen !

Change Micron Star Saber

Kabaya issued a series of Mincicon toys with candy in Japan during 2003. The Air Defence team take the clear plastic of the originals and replace it with opaque bright white plastic. Effective repaint, though like the Air Assault Team the solid paint used in the recolour limits the combined mode, which almost looks cheap & knock off like due to the large amounts of undecorated white plastic..

Energon Saber

The Air Defence Team is remoulded & recoloured as the Energon Sabre in Transformers Energon. Grey becomes a more olive grey, blue becomes green and clear plastic becomes clear yellow. The paint ops are totally changed. The parts that are remoulded are all ones that were clear on the original Air Defence Team.

The Energon Saber holds together much better than the Star Saber thanks to an enlarged and better fitting peg/hole combination between Skyboom & Wreckage and Skyboom's legs now being able to fold round Wreckage's forward facing fins.

Yellow isn't the best colour for a clear repaint - looks too much like urine ! (see Shining Ultra Magnus)

The Japanese version of the Energon Sabre was numbered SC-08

Micron Booster Blizzard Saber

The Energon Sabre then appears repainted in Micron Booster V1. The green plastic becomes blue and olive grey becomes grey - both similar to the original Air Defence colours. The clear plastic becomes clear blue like the great CD version of the Air Defence team. Great repaint, and even better in combined mode - like the CD Star Saber this looks great in clear blue.

My notes say that the Energon Sabre seen in Micron Booster V1 is the first Energon toy to be repainted !

Cybertron Sky Terror Sword

The Cybertron Sword is formed from by buying all three of the Cybertron Minicon Vs packs that contain the Sky Terror Team: Sunstorm vs Checkpoint , Thrust vs Anti-Blaze and Ramjet vs Scythe.

Now I thought this was going to be a colour clashing monstrosity but it's not. Ramjet and Thrust blend reasonably well together - bar the bright White on Ramjet, and the Yellow on the blade isn't too distracting. However the whole sword is over painted and it's hard to see what would have been a very effective smoked purple colourscheme on it. The silver used for limb parts throughout is also a bit jarring and highlights these pieces on the finished product. The obsession with making a new Sunstorm all the time does make the end of the sword look a little odd too. I can see what they're getting at with the individual robot's colourschemes but I wish they'd have gone a more cohesive whole emphasising the clear purple and moulding the limbs in a darker colour. So yes, my dream of a Purple and a Red Star/Energon Sabre still eludes me.

[legios]

Jan 5, 2009 15:20:21 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Runway

Original Air Defence team review "I'll come clean straight off - I can't build the star sabre. The peg on Jetstorm won't fit far enough into the hole on Sonar (James, yours any better ?) They all have a lot of clear parts, mainly on the robot form. All 3 have some nice intricate TFs, all worth it just for seeing how small they can build TFs... "

Runway is a member of the Air Defence team and forms the tip of the Star Saber. He's a jet but I have no idea what sort, with the jet body cast in clear plastic with a grey undercarriage and a fold down landing gear under the nose.

I think he may be influenced by the XB-70 Valkyrie. It is a little bit of an odd choice, given its very short (or if you prefer, non-existent) service life and it isn't a perfect fit but it does have some design similarities.

( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70 )

I actually quite like Runway - he is my favourite of the Air Defense Team, and for some reason I think he has the best humanoid mode of all three.

Karl

[Gav]

I've got a soft spot for Runway because i got him free with the Armada VHS Vol.1 years ago, and along with Jolt- he remains the only Minicon i (still) own.

[grahamthomson]

Jan 5, 2009 19:41:42 GMT legios said:

I think he may be influenced by the XB-70 Valkyrie. It is a little bit of an odd choice, given its very short (or if you prefer, non-existent) service life and it isn't a perfect fit but it does have some design similarities.

( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70 )

Karl, that aircraft you've linked to their looks a bit like Universe Silverbolt!

[Philip Ayres]

Yay ! Comments ! I was worried people wouldn't want to read about Minicons !

[legios]

Jan 5, 2009 20:10:30 GMT @grahamthomson said:

Karl, that aircraft you've linked to their looks a bit like Universe Silverbolt!

Hmmm. Hadn't noticed the similarity before but now that you mention it there are some commonalities. No canards on Silverbolt though, and I don't think it has the downward pivoting wings. Interesting, I had been assuming that Silverbolt was derived from some of the pipe-dream Concorde replacements but I can actually see what you are getting at.

(\Mantra)I will not buy Universe Silverbolt... I will not buy Universe Silverbolt.(/Mantra)

Karl

[Andy Turnbull]

I have a fondness for Minicons and they did have a massive impact on the post millenial direction of the Transformers toy designs, at least until animated/movie toys started coming out.

Andy

[Philip Ayres]

Bonecrusher

Original review reads: "Bonecrusher - ah the good stuff. Black truck with a missile launcher....The Tf is soooo clever - basically the truck is split in half down the middle, one leg is the front on the right, the other the back on the left and vice versa for the arms. The pelvis has a pin through the middle that the halves rotate on that, then both bits rotate at the waist.... Yes his wheels are on his chest ! Another ball missile launcher, better, but not Cyberjet Standard. "

Bonecrusher is a long eight wheeled truck moulded in black with a cannon mounted on the back of it that runs the length of the vehicle. The cannon elevates and rotates as if it were a crane arm - in fact substitute the cannon for a crane and paint the vehicle green and you'd have a reasonable Constructicon Hook. The pale grey cannon contains a red ball missile - like the Cyberjets. Having tested mine it doesn't really work at all now !

He has one Minicon socket under the cab at the front. Bonecrusher is one of the better Minicons for just plugging onto a toy as it automatically gives the toy a missile launcher upgrade.

TF: Very clever: Split the front and the back of the truck down the middle. Pull the piece connected to the missile launcher up a little and rotate it & the missile launcher out to the side. Similarly turn the cab so it's out to the side. Rotate round the middle of the toy and bring the pieces attach to the cab and the missile together. Fold the petrol can onto the neck as the head.

Bonecrusher's robot form bends at knee & hip as well as turning at the shoulder. The arm formed from the cab bends at the elbow and the cannon arm folds to the side at the shoulders. Unlike his compatriot Knock Out I've not been able to get him to kneel down & balance.

Bonecrusher contains all three of the colours found on all the Land Military team vehicles: His body, lowers, legs cab arm and wheels are black, his waist & cannon are grey and the missile & upper legs are red. I'd be very keen on clear coloured missiles for this set but that would mean the upper legs would need to be clear too. The colour to mould choices also represent problems - every time you change the colour of Bonecrusher's body the rest of the team automatically change their wheels & treads to match, which partially explains why his repaint is also black.

Decent vehicle & robot, very clever TF

Bonecrusher appears with the rest of the Land Military Team in Micron Legend pack MM-03 where he is named Bomb. They also appear in giftset MS-03 with Demolishor, their natural companion.

Scattor

The Night Attack team takes the Land Military team and repaints them in night camouflage colours. Black remains black, grey becomes a darker grey and the red becomes white across the team.

This means that Scattor is actually really similar to Bonecrusher - essentially the upper legs and missile are the only colour that has majorly changed.

The Night Attack team were on general release in the US & the UK and were a TRU exclusive in Japan.

Dimension-X Bomb

The Land Military team gets the Dimension-X treatment as team numbered MM-08. Black becomes grey, grey remains a lighter grey and the red becomes blue across the team.

Compared to Bonecrusher, Dimension-X Bomb looks a little pale and ghost like.

Ultimate Edition Bomb

The Ultimate Edition of the Land Military team is an exclusive to TRU Japan. This time black becomes purple, grey becomes a cyan blue and the red becomes olive green across the team.

It's different. And bright. But maybe not a terribly realistic colour scheme !

Cybertron Thunderblast

After an absence of two years the Land Military team turn up as Autobot Minicons in Cybertron available in vs packs with repaint Air Military team members. Here time black becomes brown, grey stays grey and the red becomes bright orange across the team.

Thunderblast adds some black camouflage over his brown which looks ok, and I think he's the first version of this mold to have a differently coloured head - the orangey brown of Tankorr.

[Philip Ayres]

Knock Out

Original review reads: "Knock-Out - the Orange one. Again pretty std MM, but with some clevers on the arms and waist. Centrally mounted cannon folds sideways with the head folding out attached to it. Canon's springloaded :-) "

Knockout is an orange six wheeled armoured vehicle with a cannon running along the top of the vehicle. Said cannon is spring loaded - unique for this team and I can think of only one other minicon like it (Inferno)

He has one Minicon socket under the cab at the front. Knockout is one of the better Minicons for just plugging onto a toy as it automatically gives the toy a missile launcher upgrade. The only thing that would make Knockout a better add on minicon would be some sort of handle so he could be a hand held weapon (as per the rest of the Land Military and all the Destruction team)

TF: Fold the panel containing the front two pairs of wheels up and then rotate so the wheels are underneath. Fold the back of the vehicle down from the middle under the cab and then fold what was the back of the vehicle further down & forward to form the legs. Fold the cannon over to the side to reveal the head.

Robot retains the orange of the vehicle but also reveals red on the upper legs.. He bends at knee, hip & above the waist and the shoulders turn - though his right is a little limited by the cannon now mounted on his shoulder like G2 Megatron. Knockout is able to kneel down successfully and balance without additional support.

Knockout contains all three of the colours found on all the Land Military team vehicles: His wheels & some rings on the cannon are black and the missile & upper legs are red. The only grey on him is the trigger for the missile. His orange bodywork is unique to this toy in the set

I'd be very keen on clear coloured missiles for this set but that would mean the upper legs would need to be clear too.

Decent vehicle & robot.

Knockout appears with the rest of the Land Military Team in Micron Legend pack MM-03 where he is named Crack. They also appear in giftset MS-03 with Demolishor, their natural companion.

Broadside

The Night Attack team takes the Land Military team and repaints them in night camouflage colours. Black remains black, grey becomes a darker grey and the red becomes white across the team.

Additionally Broadside's body - like Fetch's - is a midnight blue colour. Decent looking repaint.

The Night Attack team were on general release in the US & the UK and were a TRU exclusive in Japan.

Dimension-X Crack

The Land Military team gets the Dimension-X treatment as team numbered MM-08. Black becomes grey, grey remains a lighter grey and the red becomes blue across the team.

Crack gains a bright green body in this set looking like a standard military vehicle compared to the desert like colour scheme of the original

Ultimate Edition Crack

The Ultimate Edition of the Land Military team is an exclusive to TRU Japan. This time black becomes purple, grey becomes a cyan blue and the red becomes olive green across the team.

Crack now has a much darker green body and looks even more the military like than his Dimension-X counterpart. Don't look too carefully at the purple wheels though !

Cybertron Steamhammer

After an absence of two years the Land Military team turn up as Autobot Minicons in Cybertron available in vs packs with repaint Air Military team members. Here time black becomes brown, grey stays grey and the red becomes bright orange across the team.

Steamhammer's body is cast in yellow plastic here and painted with some black camouflage. Of the three Air Defence team minicons he is closest to his original colours.

Steamhammer is paired with Razorclaw, a black repaint of the Air Military Stealth Bomber.

[blueshift]

Reading this reminded me how much I LOVED the Star Saber minicon team

Aaaah happy days of Armada

[Philip Ayres]

Wreckage

Original review reads: "Wreckage - pretty standard Micromaster type affair, the green truck with the double missile launchers on the arm, shame they're so poor. "

Wreckage is a tracked vehicle with a pair of Cyberjet missile launcher mounted on top. They're fixed in place permanently facing forward and slightly raised. He moves via 4 wheels mostly recessed in the underside of the vehicle. As mentioned above the Cyberjet style ball launchers are very poor.

He has one Minicon socket under the middle of the vehicle. Wreckage is one of the better Minicons for just plugging onto a toy as it automatically gives the toy a missile launcher upgrade. The only thing that would make Wreckage a better add on minicon would be some sort of handle so he could be a hand held weapon (as per the rest of the Land Military and all the Destruction team)

TF: Unpeg the missile launchers and fold to the sides to act as arms. Fold down the front of the vehicle to become the legs.

Robot is mainly the green of the vehicle but the grey for the missile launchers is also used on the upper legs.. He bends at knee as part of the TF - useless as articulation really without a hip joint & because the legs are posed slightly spread out - and has ball jointed shoulders. The arms contain the missiles, but when these are removed the ends look quite like claws so the hands moulded onto the inside of the launchers are a bit unnecessary.

Wreckage contains two of three of the colours found on all the Land Military team vehicles: His missiles are red and his arms & upper legs are grey. He has no moulded black pieces - the tracks are painted - and his green bodywork is unique to this toy in the set. I'd be very keen on clear coloured missiles for this set and Wreckage is the only one who's robot mode would not be affected making this happen.

Decent vehicle & robot, but more limited articulation than the other two.

Wreckage appears with the rest of the Land Military Team in Micron Legend pack MM-03 where he is named Shot. They also appear in giftset MS-03 with Demolishor, their natural companion.

Fetch

Original Review: "New names ! Bonecrusher becomes Scattor, Knock Out becomes Broardside and Wreckage becomes Fetch. Fetch and Broardside have matching midnight blue colour schemes, whereas Scattor is black with midnight blue highlights. In all cases the missiles are white. "

The Night Attack team takes the Land Military team and repaints them in night camouflage colours. Black remains black, grey becomes a darker grey and the red becomes white across the team.

Additionally Fetch's body - like Broadside's - is a midnight blue colour. Decent looking repaint.

The Night Attack team were on general release in the US & the UK and were a TRU exclusive in Japan.

Dimension-X Shot

The Land Military team gets the Dimension-X treatment as team numbered MM-08. Black becomes grey, grey remains a lighter grey and the red becomes blue across the team.

Shot gains a bright yellow body in this set. Far too bright to be an authentic looking military vehicle

Ultimate Edition Shot

The Ultimate Edition of the Land Military team is an exclusive to TRU Japan. This time black becomes purple, grey becomes a cyan blue and the red becomes olive green across the team.

Shot now has a much dark burgundy body. Put that together with painted purple tracks, blue missile launchers and olive missiles and you get a very lurid looking toy !

Cybertron Tankor

After an absence of two years the Land Military team turn up as Autobot Minicons in Cybertron available in vs packs with repaint Air Military team members. Here time black becomes brown, grey stays grey and the red becomes bright orange across the team.

Tankor is a name again reused from Beast Machine. Wreckage's green is now an orangey brown covered with black camouflage. Looks pretty good and might pair quite well with my Armada Rhinox!

Tankor is paired with Shockwave, a black repaint of the Air Military Stealth Jet.

[Philip Ayres]

Highwire

Original Street Action Team Review from 2002: "Can't think of much to say about these, have a look at the photos and that's pretty much what you get. Getting a combing robot out of them is pretty clever though !"

Highwire is a black Bicycle (which I think is a first for a transformer toy) with grey forks & handlebars and a dark blue saddle. Both wheels turn, as do the pedals (though sadly not in relation to each other) and the handlebars move from side to side. You couldn't really hope for much more.

He has a minicon port on one side of him. As an odd on to a robot it's pretty useless but find the right car/van TF to peg him onto and it looks like they're taking their bike out for a day in the country.

TF: Fold both the pedals down, then fold the back wheel and pedals so they're sticking out the back of the bike. Separate wheels, pedals and rear frame down the middle to form the legs. Look at the front of the bike, unhook the fork on your right to form an arm leaving the other fork and wheel to form the other.

Well..... Do you remember the little robots that came with late 1980's space Lego ? Highwire looks like that ! Ball joints at shoulders and hips gives him some movement but to be honest you're better keeping the legs locked together and the arms will always be hampered by a wheel hanging off on of them !

Decent try.

In Japan Highwire was known as Wheelie (surely more appropriate for Sureshock ?) and came in Micron Legend pack MM-01. There is no giftset featuring the original Street Action Team.

Dimension-X Wheelie

The Dimension-X version of the Street Action team wasn't sold by itself or at the time the original came out. Instead it emerged several months later at the end of the line as a pack in with the Japanese version of Final Battle Optimus Prime and a clear red Overload which was an exclusive to TRU Japan. On all three toys in this team black becomes red and grey becomes black.

This leads to Wheelie getting a quite striking red & black look - decent as a bike but not great in robot mode.

CD Wheelie

Original Review: "By ear Dream Again is the intro to the Micron Legend TV series

Dream Again is packed with the Street Action team which form Perceptor

These are the first real CD singles I've ever owned - they're the smaller size ones.

CDJapan also threw in 2 posters advertising the CDs - cool !

The Perceptor looks a little washed out (Zombie Airazor all over again)"

Wheelie is very similar to the original Highwire - the only change is making the visor on his face red and giving him a pair of white eyes

Change Micron Wheelie

From the original Review of the Kabaya Change Microns: "Parts 1-3 - Street Action team. Effectively the UK release but missing a few yellow paint Ops on Grindor and Sureshock. Nothing special"

Wheelie in fact looses the white visor and the red eyes and instead has a red visor. As noted above not terribly different.

Transformers Universe Highwire

In 2004 all three of the Street Action Team got their first and only western repaint when they were paired with a yellow & white version of Armada Thrust in the middle of the Sunstorm craze.

Highwire's only difference is that he's saddle is now green

[Philip Ayres]

Sureshock

Original Street Action Team Review from 2002: "Can't think of much to say about these, have a look at the photos and that's pretty much what you get. Getting a combing robot out of them is pretty clever though !"

Sureshock is an orange moped - like the rest of his team this is the first time this alternate mode has been used for a TF. The handlebars and support for the steering column is in grey plastic and the wheels are black, blue paint is used on the saddle and he's got yellow headlights. I've gone into some detail on the paint here as it'll get subtly altered in some of the Japanese repaints. Sureshock forms the legs of Perceptor.

He has a minicon port underneath him. There's really no way it's useful for anything in terms of robot or vehicle powerup because all it looks like is you've stuck a moped onto the larger toy !

TF: Fold the back of the moped out & down to form the legs. Separate the handlebars and front in tow and fold to the side. Fold the section attached to the handlebars in and swing the revealed arms down.

Sureshock's robot includes bending knees & hips - but the legs should be attached together so there's not much point - and ball jointed shoulders that can fold the arms in front of his chest. As well as the problem with the legs, the robot mode is limited by having the halves of the front of the moped hanging off them.

Again, not a bas try for the size and the vehicle mode.

In Japan Sureshock was known as Arcee (surely the Wheelie name that Highwire got is more appropriate for Sureshock's bright orange colour scheme ? - but see the Dimension-X repaint) and came in Micron Legend pack MM-01. There is no giftset featuring the original Street Action Team. I believe this is the first generally released Transformers toy to be called Arcee.

Dimension-X Arcee

The Dimension-X version of the Street Action team wasn't sold by itself or at the time the original came out. Instead it emerged several months later at the end of the line as a pack in with the Japanese version of Final Battle Optimus Prime and a clear red Overload which was an exclusive to TRU Japan. On all three toys in this team black becomes red and grey becomes black.

I suspect the Japanese name for this toy - Arcee - if the inspiration behind the colouring for this set - we get a bike that's mainly white with lots of pink paint resulting in a very girlie coloured toy !

CD Arcee

Original Review: "By ear Dream Again is the intro to the Micron Legend TV series

Dream Again is packed with the Street Action team which form Perceptor

These are the first real CD singles I've ever owned - they're the smaller size ones.

CDJapan also threw in 2 posters advertising the CDs - cool !

The Perceptor looks a little washed out (Zombie Airazor all over again)"

Arcee is very similar to the original Sureshock - the only changes involve making the orange lighter and making the blue paint used on the face and the saddle grey.

Change Micron Arcee

From the original Review of the Kabaya Change Microns: "Parts 1-3 - Street Action team. Effectively the UK release but missing a few yellow paint Ops on Grindor and Sureshock. Nothing special"

Here Arcee looses the paint from her headlight. Odd choice as the same colour is still used for her eyes.

Transformers Universe Sureshock

In 2004 all three of the Street Action Team got their first and only western repaint when they were paired with a yellow & white version of Armada Thrust in the middle of the Sunstorm craze.

Universe Sureshock swaps the bright orange of the original for black and makes the blue paint on the saddle look greyer.

Looks different - worth getting.

[Philip Ayres]

Grindor

Original Street Action Team Review from 2002: "Can't think of much to say about these, have a look at the photos and that's pretty much what you get. Getting a combing robot out of them is pretty clever though !"

Grindor is a Skateboard - like the rest of his team this is the first time this alternate mode has been used for a TF. He's blue dark blue, with some light blue/grey visible and is thinker than many a skateboard. The front has some yellow paint on it, while the rear has some tubular sculpting that look like jet engines. Grindor forms the body & arms of Perceptor.

He has a minicon port underneath in the exact centre of the skateboard underneath it *and* a minicon peg on the top side of the Skateboard. Controversial statement time: Grindor is one of the best minicons for attaching to a larger toy ! The tubes at the back look like gun barrels so it's easy to attach him as a cannon to a vehicle mode or a shoulder or wrist in robot mode. The minicon peg - the same width as a standard weapon peg - enables Grindor to be held so he can be used as a gun. If mine didn't spend so long in Perceptor mode one of the other TFs would be toting him as we speak. Oh to get several of this toy individually !

TF: Split the back of the board in two and fold to the sides before the grey pieces. Fold the just the dark blue bits of the back out then fold all of the back back in to form the now extended legs. Pull the front of the board to the sides to form the robot's wings, and fold the arms down from there. Turn over. Fold down the flaps at the top of the chest to reveal the head.

Grindor's robot mode is a little limited with knees that fold in at the sides and hips that fold out. The arms fold to the sides at the shoulders. The arms and the upper legs are made of the same grey plastic mentioned above. The face & chest have some yellow paint highlighting them.

OK Skateboard. Poorly articulated if good looking robot. Fantastic add on weapon though !

In Japan Grindor was known as Bank and came in Micron Legend pack MM-01. There is no giftset featuring the original Street Action Team.

Dimension-X Bank

The Dimension-X version of the Street Action team wasn't sold by itself or at the time the original came out. Instead it emerged several months later at the end of the line as a pack in with the Japanese version of Final Battle Optimus Prime and a clear red Overload which was an exclusive to TRU Japan. On all three toys in this team black becomes red and grey becomes black.

Bank's blue is changed to blue/green colour in this mode, and this dull colour only serves to bring the red parts to the fore.

CD Bank

Original Review: "By ear Dream Again is the intro to the Micron Legend TV series

Dream Again is packed with the Street Action team which form Perceptor

These are the first real CD singles I've ever owned - they're the smaller size ones.

CDJapan also threw in 2 posters advertising the CDs - cool !

The Perceptor looks a little washed out (Zombie Airazor all over again)"

CD Bank uses a paler blue to before, reduced the amount of yellow on the head to just the faceplate and adds a black patch with white eyes.

Change Micron Bank

From the original Review of the Kabaya Change Microns: "Parts 1-3 - Street Action team. Effectively the UK release but missing a few yellow paint Ops on Grindor and Sureshock. Nothing special"

Change Micron Blank is virtually identical to Grindor merely loosing the paint from the front of the skateboard.

Transformers Universe Grindor

In 2004 all three of the Street Action Team got their first and only western repaint when they were paired with a yellow & white version of Armada Thrust in the middle of the Sunstorm craze.

Universe Grindor swaps this blue for green If the army had a Skateboard it would look like this !

[blueshift]

I had to paint the faces on some of my Street team because the UK release didn't do that. What was THAT all about!

[Philip Ayres]

Perceptor

Original Street Action Team Review from 2002: "Can't think of much to say about these, have a look at the photos and that's pretty much what you get. Getting a combing robot out of them is pretty clever though !"

Perceptor is formed using the three Minicons in the Street Action team.

Highwire: Look at the side of the bike with the Minicon port in it. Lift the saddle up and turn so the robot face at the back of the saddle is facing you. Lift the front and rear forks up so the wheel hubs and the Minicon port are roughly in a straight line with each other.

Sureshock: Split Sureshock down the middle from front to back and fold each half of the sides right the way back at the back revealing a hinged piece of plastic connecting them and so the outside of each side is next to each other. On each side fold the front of the scooter up and lock the back of the handlebars into the back of the seat to form the robot legs and feet. Fold these back down with the hinged plastic extended out the back.

Grindor: Unfold the back of the board and swing to the sides to form the arms. Spread the front of the board to the side to form wings.

Slot the hinge at the back of Sureshock into the base of Grindor's wings. Fold the wings down beside the legs and fold the arms to the side of the body. Place the peg on Grindor into the socket on Highwire and fold the head down onto Grindor's shoulders.

The resulting robot is quite solid - save for where the handlebars slot into the seat. His knees fold inwards and his hips fold out - both pretty useless - but his shoulder move forwards (restricted going back by the bike wheels), have a ball joint that lets them swing to the side and bend in at the elbow. The grey running through all three pieces helps to unite them even though the legs formed from Sureshock are brighter than the rest of the toy.

Really good effort coming up with a small combining robot like this.

In Japan Perceptor was known as Bumble, mimicking the G1 character Bumblebee and came in Micron Legend pack MM-01. For more mini Autobot name fun see the Japanese repaints of Energon Perceptor ! There is no giftset featuring the original Street Action Team.

Dimension-X Bumble

The Dimension-X version of the Street Action team wasn't sold by itself or at the time the original came out. Instead it emerged several months later at the end of the line as a pack in with the Japanese version of Final Battle Optimus Prime and a clear red Overload which was an exclusive to TRU Japan. On all three toys in this team black becomes red and grey becomes black.

Dimension-X Bumble looks like a car crash between Bank's green, Arcee's pink and the red that runs through all three pieces. Horrible.

CD Bumble

The Original Review just about covers what I think: "By ear Dream Again is the intro to the Micron Legend TV series

Dream Again is packed with the Street Action team which form Perceptor

These are the first real CD singles I've ever owned - they're the smaller size ones.

CDJapan also threw in 2 posters advertising the CDs - cool !

The Perceptor looks a little washed out (Zombie Airazor all over again)"

Change Micron Bumble

Again here I think I only need to reproduce my original Review of the Kabaya Change Microns: "Parts 1-3 - Street Action team. Effectively the UK release but missing a few yellow paint Ops on Grindor and Sureshock. Nothing special"

Transformers Universe Perceptor

In 2004 all three of the Street Action Team got their first and only western repaint when they were paired with a yellow & white version of Armada Thrust as a Wal Mart exclusive in the middle of the Sunstorm craze.

The green & black combine to produce a quite military looking Perceptor - looks not too bad at all.

Of all the toys I've reviewed I think Perceptor is one of the worst served by repaints: Two Japanese versions that are barely different, an awful Japanese one and an OK Universe one

[Philip Ayres]

Jan 6, 2009 22:24:34 GMT blueshift said:

I had to paint the faces on some of my Street team because the UK release didn't do that. What was THAT all about!

No paint at all ? Or just the odd unrefined splash seen in the pics linked to in the first entries above. ?

In which case it's odd you should mention it because I have a UK and US version of the Air Defence team and one of my UK ones is missing the paint Ops on the face.

Thanks for the comments all. I was worried the Minicons were going to be hated and sink without anyone saying a word.

Next up it's the Race team and then the repaint kings the Demolition team (8 versions). *technically* the Air Defence team have more but they've got a remold which helps (7 original mould + 3 newer ones).

[Philip Ayres]

Swindle

Swindle is a Race car packed in with Armada Starscream. The back of the car, the nose & the wheels are black, the spoiler and the rest of the body are cast in red. The cockpit is molded in such a way that it fits the clip on the underside of Starscream changing the noises that it makes.

Swindle has one Minicon socket on it's underside. This enables him to be used as a blade, shield or armour on larger toys.

TF: Pull the spoiler down revealing the robot head. Pull the sides of the car & the back wheels out to the sides level with the spoilers. Then bend the arms down from the sides of the wheels. Fold the front spoiler of the car down and split the rest of the front in two.

The resulting robot is very thin, but bulky round the shoulders. Just looks odd. Apart from the folding of the feet, hips and shoulders in the TF there's no meaningful articulation.

Car's OK and it's a decent add on but the robot's awful.

In Japan Swindle was known as Grid and available in MD-02 with Starscream.

Zapmaster

Zapmaster is the recolour of Swindle available with Armada Thundercracker. All the red on Swindle becomes white, the back of the car becomes black and the front spoiler becomes blue.

In Japan Zapmaster was called Sparkgrid and was available with Starscream Super Mode - the Japanese name of Armada Thundercracker - in the set labeled MD-09

Sam's Club Energon Zapmaster

In 2004 as part of the Energon line the Sam's Club discounter in the USA had an exclusive VS pack recolouring Armada Starscream & Swindle (as Zapmaster) and Red Alert (as Prowl) & Longarm.

Zapmaster is an effective inverse repaint of Swindle. Red becomes black and black becomes red (including the wheels) with the exception of the front spoiler which becomes grey.

Prowl & Longarm vs Starscream & Zapmaster was available in the UK through the Entertainer with several other Energon exclusives.

Mirage

From the original Race Team Review: "If you've seen Swindle you've got Mirage - apart from the waist joint, of the 2 Mirage is better bellow the waist, but his head is spoiled by excessive Red Paint. The Spoiler works better on my Mirage to my Swindle."

Mirage is a remold of Swindle retaining the vehicle mode, robot modes & transformation. The remold adds a waist joint to the toy.

In Mirage the nose, spoiler, back & sides in yellow, rest of the body in dark grey. There's none of the light grey involved in the other two cars in he race team here. The head & wheels are molded in black.

Mirage was also available in Transformers Universe packed with a Tiny Tin storage case.

In Japan Mirage was named Indy and available in Micron Legend pack MM-05.

Road Assault Mirage

The race team were repainted in 2003 as the Road Assault team but retained their original names. In this version yellow becomes red and dark grey becomes white. The black of the head & wheels remains the same.

Decent looking repaint.

Dimension-X Indy

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. The Dimension-X Race Team are numbered MM-10. For this release yellow becomes white and the grey becomes light blue - driven by I assume for a desire to make Indy look like the original G1 Mirage.

Micron Booster Indy

The Race team appear in Micron Booster V0. They are very similar to the original race team, except the plastic has some metallic flake added to it - I can't see it myself.

Change Micron Indy

The Change Micron Race team were available in the second set of Change Micron toys with the Space Team. Essentially these are the same as the original Race team.

Cybertron Mirage

In 2006 the Race team were released as an exclusive to Wal-Mart packed with a Tiny Tin and either Cybertron Hot Shot or Cybertron Override. This release is effectively a promotion for the start of the Cybertron Minicon VS packs.

For this release yellow becomes red and the dark grey becomes dark blue. The colours on this release better match the Road Assault Downshift than the one in this release. Swapping them around when making the Skyboom shield will give you a more cohesive colour scheme.

[Philip Ayres]

Anyone spotted that I missed a Mirage repaint ?

DVD Topgear

In 2003 the Race team were the second set of Minicons to be given away with the Japanese Micron Legend DVDs. Unlike the Street Speed Team which all appeared with volume 1 these were given away at the rate of one per volume with volumes 2 to 4. Topgear is a recolour of Indy that appears in volume 2. The yellow becomes black, the grey becomes green and the wheels are now dark blue. Not a bad repaint, but see the Magnawing section of the Skyboom shield review for further comments !

It's Clarkson's own Minicon !

[Philip Ayres]

Dirt Boss

From the original Race Team Review: "."Dirt Boss is the best of them IMO, lots of fold out bit to form his robot mode. Head looks a bit undefined in Yellow" Unlike his team mate Mirage Dirt Boss is a new mold, a van. The van is mostly grey with some yellow visible. All four of the wheels are black.

He has one minicon port on the underside of him. His best use as an add on is to imagine him as a power pack or armour

TF: Pull forward & up slightly the front of the car to form the legs. Fold the feet and heel spurs out from under the bonnet. Fold the sides of the back of the van out to form the arms, and fold the forearms down. Fold the head out from under the vehicle onto the back of the van.

The resulting robot could do with some paint on the face, looks very plain. He bends at the knees, hips & elbows and his shoulders fold back as part of the TF.

Dirt Boss forms the middle & handle of the Sky Boom shield

Dirt Boss was also available in Transformers Universe packed with a Tiny Tin storage case.

In Japan Dirt Boss was named Drift and available in Micron Legend pack MM-05.

Road Assault Dirt Boss

The race team were repainted in 2003 as the Road Assault team but retained their original names. In this version yellow becomes red and light grey becomes black.

Generally better colour scheme than the earlier Dirt Boss

Dimension-X Drift

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. The Dimension-X Race Team are numbered MM-10. For this release yellow becomes white and the grey becomes blue.

Again, better than the original.

DVD Midship

In 2003 the Race team were the second set of Minicons to be given away with the Japanese Micron Legend DVDs. Unlike the Street Speed Team which all appeared with volume 1 these were given away at the rate of one per volume with volumes 2 to 4. Midship is a recolour of Drift that appears in volume 3. The yellow becomes black and the grey becomes purple. Not a bad repaint, but see the Magnawing section of the Skyboom shield review for further comments !

Micron Booster Drift

The Race team appear in Micron Booster V0. They are very similar to the original race team, except the plastic has some metallic flake added to it - I can't see it myself.

Change Micron Drift

The Change Micron Race team were available in the second set of Change Micron toys with the Space Team. Essentially these are the same as the original Race team.

Drift lacks some of the deco applications of his predecessor.

Cybertron Dirt Boss

In 2006 the Race team were released as an exclusive to Wal-Mart packed with a Tiny Tin and either Cybertron Red Alert or Cybertron Landmine. This release is effectively a promotion for the start of the Cybertron Minicon VS packs.

For this release yellow becomes red and the grey becomes dark white. The colours on this release better match the other two members of the Road Assault team better than the ones in this release. Swapping them around when making the Skyboom shield will give you a more cohesive colour scheme.

[Philip Ayres]

Downshift

From the original Race Team Review: "Downshift looks a bit silly with huge arms and this time it's light blue paint all over the face. "

Unlike his team mate Mirage, Downshift is a new mold, a Formula Racer car (according to the source I looked at !) He's mainly dark grey with some yellow on his rear spoiler but if you turn him over there's a small light grey square underneath making him the only toy in the set to feature all three of the colours used for this Minicon team. He has a number 3 on his bonnet & sides.

He has one minicon port on the underside of him. His best use as an add on is to imagine him as a power pack or armour

TF: Pull the sides of the back of the car out to each side. Fold the middle of the rear under the car and split it to form the legs. Fold the sides of the back down to form arms and flip the head up.

Oh dear. Oh dear. Horrible straight legs with miniscule movement at he hips. The arms fair better because they have a ball joint and a bending joint at the shoulder but then there's nothing bellow that and they stretch down to where his knees would be. The face of the robot is entirely blue with no painted detail.

OK as a car and add on but supremely bad a robot !

Downshift forms the top of the Sky Boom shield

Downshift was also available in Transformers Universe packed with a Tiny Tin storage case.

In Japan Downshift was named Spin and available in Micron Legend pack MM-05.

Road Assault Downshift

The race team were repainted in 2003 as the Road Assault team but retained their original names. In this version yellow becomes red, light grey becomes black and dark grey becomes white

Downshift looks very bright in this form as most of his body is now cast in white plastic ! The robot face is improved - it's painted orange but now features yellow eyes too.

Dimension-X Spin

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. The Dimension-X Race Team are numbered MM-10. For this release yellow becomes white, the light grey becomes blue and the dark grey becomes light blue.

Decent car, but the robot is a little spoiled by a red face & other paint ops where a different colour (white ?) might have helped to complement the mold colours.

DVD Tailslide

In 2003 the Race team were the second set of Minicons to be given away with the Japanese Micron Legend DVDs. Unlike the Street Speed Team which all appeared with volume 1 these were given away at the rate of one per volume with volumes 2 to 4.

Tailslide is a recolour of Spin that appears in volume 4. The yellow becomes black, the light grey becomes purple and the dark grey becomes green.

Green & purple do not mix and that's all I'll say about Tailslide as a car or robot. See the Magnawing section of the Skyboom shield review for further comments on this matter !

Micron Booster Spin

The Race team appear in Micron Booster V0. They are very similar to the original race team, except the plastic has some metallic flake added to it - I can't see it myself.

Change Micron Spin

The Change Micron Race team were available in the second set of Change Micron toys with the Space Team. Essentially these are the same as the original Race team but Spin looses the numbering on the bonnet & sides.

Cybertron Downshift

In 2006 the Race team were released as an exclusive to Wal-Mart packed with a Tiny Tin and either Cybertron Thundercracker or Cybertron Dirtboss (surely it would have been more appropriate to pack Minicon Dirtboss with Deluxe Dirtboss ?). This release is effectively a promotion for the start of the Cybertron Minicon VS packs.

For this release yellow becomes red, the light grey becomes white and the dark grey becomes a dark blue/black.

[Philip Ayres]

Skyboom Shield

From the original Race Team Review: "Pause while Philip forms Skyboom for the first time .... There, that was quite easy - Dirt Boss splits down the centre of his car mode - revealing 2 wings that I think could be sticking out the front of the toy in robot mode, Mirage plugs into the front of him. Downshift's arms fold along the front of the car and his legs clip into Dirt Boss.

I've seen worse jets, nice go boys and in a weird way he reminds me of BM Dlx Jetstorm.

Dirt Boss's head forms the peg for the Skyboom shield to be held, very nice. Holds together a lot better than Star Sabre did ! As a side note the instructions picture him being held by Op with the legend Optimus Prime figure not included "

That just about covers it. The Skyboom shield is actually two modes in one a jet - and it's a reasonable looking composite jet - and a shield. The shield is reasonable cohesive colourwise in this form as the light grey of Dirtboss isn't too different from the dark grey of the other two. However this will haunt us later

The Skyboom shield holds together so well you can use the minicon ports on the back of it to mount it on larger TF toys !

The three Minicons that make up the Skyboom shield were also available individually in Transformers Universe packed with a Tiny Tin storage case.

In Japan the Skyboom Shield was named Cosmotector and available in Micron Legend pack MM-05 and in giftset MS-02 with Grap (Grapple - the Japanese Version of Smokescreen)

Road Assault Skyboom Shield

The race team were repainted in 2003 as the Road Assault team but retained their original names. In this version yellow becomes red, light grey becomes black and dark grey becomes white

Here the colour for Dirtboss is the same as the colour used for the wheels which helps, but it is dramatically different from the white of the other two - it's like there's a black lump in the middle of the shield !

In Japan the Road Assault team were an exclusive to Ito Yokado.

Dimension-X Cosmotector (Crystalector)

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. The Dimension-X Race Team are numbered MM-10. For this release yellow becomes white, the light grey becomes blue and the dark grey becomes light blue.

Just as the Dimension-X Star Sabre is called the Fire Sabre I recall seeing this referred to as Crystalector. The blues & white produce a lovely well colour balanced coherent form. Best version of the shield.

DVD Magnawing

In 2003 the Race team were the second set of Minicons to be given away with the Japanese Micron Legend DVDs. Unlike the Street Speed Team which all appeared with volume 1 these were given away at the rate of one per volume with volumes 2 to 4.

The name Magnawing seems to imply that this version is more a jet than a shield. It's neither: It's a total train wreck ! When talking about Tailslide I said that green & purple do not mix. Here we've got black running through the shield, large amounts of green at both ends and a purple blob in the middle. Awful. Black with green OR black with purple on all three Minicons would be fine. This is not.

Micron Booster Cosmotector

The Race team that form Cosmotector appear in Micron Booster V0. They are very similar to the original race team, except the plastic has some metallic flake added to it - I can't see it myself.

Change Micron Cosmotector

The Change Micron Race team were available in the second set of Change Micron toys with the Space Team. Essentially these are the same as the original Race team and the Cosmotector they form looks very similar

Cybertron Skyboom Shield

In 2006 the Race team were released as an exclusive to Wal-Mart packed with a Tiny Tin and a choice of Cybertron deluxe toys. Mirage came with either Hot Shot or Override, Dirtboss with Red Alert or Landmine and Downshift with Thundercracker or Dirtboss.(surely it would have been more appropriate to pack Minicon Dirtboss with Deluxe Dirtboss ?). This release is effectively a promotion for the start of the Cybertron Minicon VS packs.

For this release yellow becomes red, the light grey becomes white and the dark grey becomes a dark blue/black. . From this we get a black & red shield with a large amount of white in the middle.

The colours on this Dirt Boss & Mirage better match the Downshift of the Road Assault team better than the ones in this release. Swapping the Downshift's round when making the Skyboom shield will give you a more cohesive colour scheme on each shield..

[Philip Ayres]

Not on top of my game tonight, going down with something. Spotted I missed the Japanese release of the Road Assault Team and which giftset the Race Team were in off everyreview. Will be corrected on the web versions !

[Philip Ayres]

Buzzsaw

"Onto the Destruction team - hehehe, moving parts. I've mounted them all on Megs in Robot mode - Today Megatron is modelling the latest in Minicon accessories and they all look great as added weapons - Dualor and Wreckage (from the Military team) as almost twin double barrelled cannons on each shoulder, Buzzsaw & Drill Bit on each wrist. You know looking at Drill Bit I'm suddenly struck by how much better Twin Twist would have been if his drills had revolved !

Buzzsaw is in fact some sort of Excavator apparently ! The vehicle has the Saw Blade/Bucket Wheel at the front and what I assume is some sort of conveyor belt at the back to dispose of waste. Flip the treads down and then fold the saw out to one side and the conveyor belt to the other side to form the arms. There's a panel that folds up to cover the gearing on the chest. Head and waist joints here too !"

The Destruction team all involve moving parts powered by a gear arrangement. The vehicle can be rolled along on a flat surface using a small rubber wheel to power the gimmick causing movement. Alternately they can be clipped onto the underside of Cyclonus where an exposed gear wheel meshes with Cyclonus' blade mechanism to cause the parts to move when you use the trigger to turn Cyclonus' blades. The intention was that other toys should have this gimmick - Hoist obviously was planned to have it and I have my suspicions about Overload too. Incidentally after the Minicons peg & socket connectors and the clip under the jets for Swindle/Thunderclash this makes the third method of attaching a Minicon to a larger toy.

The name Buzzsaw implies it's some sort of circular saw which is what it looks like at first glance. However it turns out he's actually a bucket excavator - look it up on Wikpedia - with the arm out the back which is actually a conveyor belt for disposing of excavated material. The spinning disc, side supports, robot head, gear wheel and minicon socket are all moulded in yellow while the rest of the toy is in grey.

He has one Minicon socket underneath the toy which enables it to be mounted on a character's forearm and used as a Buzzsaw. As I said above Megatron's a good toy to demonstrate this with and he can be paired nicely with Drillbit on the other arm.

TF: Fold the treads back behind the vehicle as legs and fold the feet up. Fold the disc arm to one side and the conveyor arm to the other. Swing the conveyor arm up onto the robot shoulder. Fold the robot chest up and make sure the head faces the right way.

Robot is nearly as broad as it is too with a very wide stance. This however serves to give him a rather tough looking appearance. There's a hand moulded into the inside of the conveyor arm, and the other arm has the wheel on the side - now definitely a Buzzsaw - which can be spun freely now it's disconnected from the gearing. He bends at ankle, hip and shoulder. Both waist and head turn.

Overall: 2 decent modes, good gimmick, great as an add on weapon. One of the best Minicons so far.

In Japan Buzzsaw is know as Wheel who appears with the rest of the Destruction team in pack numbered MM-04, and also in giftset MS-04 with Sandstorm (Cyclonus).
Onto the repaints - the Destruction team are the Minicon repaint kings having more than any other team does without having a remould !

Road Wrecker Buzzsaw

The Road Wrecker team was for several years the only western repaint of the Destruction team. For this release yellow becomes light grey and the grey becomes green with the exception of the conveyor arm that becomes dark grey. These colour changes - especially the modifications to Drillbit - give the team a more unified almost military feel to them.

Dimension-X Wheel

During Micron Legend limited edition repaints of the Minicon teams were released under the Dimension-X label but within the Micron Legend numbering system. The Dimension-X Destruction team are numbered MM-09. For this released grey becomes a copper colour and the yellow becomes a pale blue/green (the sort of colour copper goes when it oxidises) So there's a theme to the colour choices but they do look a little odd and garish. As with the other three first release Dimension-X sets these are quite hard to find.

White Wheel

The White Destruction team were an exclusive to the "TF Station" affiliated stores and were given away during a promotion in the "Golden Week" holiday. All parts of this toy are cast in white plastic giving them a unique look. The intention was you would then paint the toy according to your own imagination & preferences.

Under Groove Wheel

The Under Groove Destruction team members were give aways exclusive to the Ito Yokado store. Grey becomes a pale olive green and yellow becomes brown on this release. Blue paint highlights are added. Not my favourite repaint of this set

Space Galaxy Wheel

The Space Galaxy Destruction team were an exclusive to the Justco store where one of the team was packaged in with Supermode Convoy (Optimus Prime). So you needed to buy *three* of the Superbase Prime toy to own this team ! The image I've linked to is the only one I could find on the web at Fred's Variationquest. If you can get hold of a copy of the Micron Legend yearbook there's a better photo in there with the robot modes. Grey becomes black and yellow becomes grey for this release. So not only are they rare, they're also effectively a black variant which is always popular ! Good going Takara !

Megalo Zigzag

The Megalo Destruction team were also a TF Station exclusive, but issued in 2005 during Galaxy Force (Cybertron) to celebrate the release of Megalo Convoy (Metroplex). Grey becomes white, and yellow becomes blue with some red paint applications and black painted tracks. These colours perfectly match Megalo Convoy and the forms for these Minicons compliment him too (Buzzsaw is effectively a downsized Megalo Convoy) so they make a perfect match for each other.

These are one of the few Japanese Minicon exclusives I've ever been tempted to try and collect.

Cybertron Landslide

The Destruction Team return as releases in Wave 2 of the Cybertron Minicon VS packs. Landslide is an Autobot paired with Kobushi - a purple repaint of Dune Runner from the Adventure team.

Landslide's tracks & conveyor arm become a lighter grey than before, the body & wheel arm become yellow and all the yellow plastic becomes a rust brown although some of these pieces - especially the shoulders - are quite heavily painted. This toy feels like they've just moved the colours on the original around a bit !

[blueshift]

Jan 6, 2009 22:40:40 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Jan 6, 2009 22:24:34 GMT blueshift said:

I had to paint the faces on some of my Street team because the UK release didn't do that. What was THAT all about!

No paint at all ? Or just the odd unrefined splash seen in the pics linked to in the first entries above. ?

In which case it's odd you should mention it because I have a UK and US version of the Air Defence team and one of my UK ones is missing the paint Ops on the face.

Thanks for the comments all. I was worried the Minicons were going to be hated and sink without anyone saying a word.

Next up it's the Race team and then the repaint kings the Demolition team (8 versions). *technically* the Air Defence team have more but they've got a remold which helps (7 original mould + 3 newer ones).

No paint at all on the faces of Grindor and I think Highwire. Sureshock got away with it fine, I think

[Philip Ayres]

Odd painting errors then probably