Phil's Minicon Reviews

[Philip Ayres]

Overcast

Overcast has some history as a name - it was Energon Jetfire's repainted name, and was going to be used for the Decepticon version of Cybertron Jetfire. Overcast showed up as a prototype some months before release so we'd seen what he looked like for a while beforehand - it's basically a downsized version of Cybertron Jetfire in plane mode, with a Cyberjet style ball missile under each wing that can be folded down to act as landing skis turning him into a form of sea plane. The bulk of the place is in dark blue - shared with Longarm, while the purple for the missiles & grey for the robot's head are shared with both the other two members of the Giant Planet team.

He has one Minicon socket under the nose. He is going to look like a plane when attached to larger toys, but it's going to be one that adds two missile launchers to a larger toy and that's a good thing.

To TF: The very rear of the plane folds down to become the feet and the rest of the rear becomes the legs. which fold under the plane. The nose then folds down on a hinge - allowing you to flip the head up. The other end of the hinge folds up so the nose is in front of the face. Fold the nose cone down at the first hinge again to form the chest. Missile launchers fold down to become oversized arms - which look a lot more normal after the missiles are fired using the restraining mechanism on the launchers as claws.

It had been bugging me what the transformation reminded me of. But I think it's very similar to Beast Machines Obsidian. As indeed is the robot mode - very thin legs, big upper body with wings. He's got ball jointed shoulders - leading to the arms formed from the missile launchers - and hips, a waist and bending knee joints. The arms are fixed in an L shape and look a little small but like Wreckage from the Land Military team the ends look like claws once the missiles are removed (fired !)

Overcast was sold in the Giant Planet Minicon team pack with Deepdive & Longarm.

Astro Line

In 2007 all three Giant Planet Minicons return with Astrotrain (an Armada Jetfire repaint) and Starcatcher (Comettor repaint) as an exclusive for the Transformers Collectors Club. The team reuses the names of three servants of Unicron in the original Transformers comic: Hook (Longarm), Line (Overcast) and Sinker (Deepdive)

Line has drawn the short straw in the name department since Hook & sinker perfectly match he other two, whereas his doesn't bear much resemblance to his form.

Dark blue becomes purple, grey becomes black and purple becomes grey. Yellow highlights are added to the jet.

Decent if unremarkable repaint.

"Boss Coffee" Overcast

In 2008 Boss Coffee in Japan offered two of the Giant Planet Minicons as give aways in a promotion - Deepdive becomes Seawave and Longarm becomes Craydon.

Overcast doesn't get a repaint in this set but due to the gang moulding employed on the team we can tell you what it looks like. The dark blue - as on Craydon's legs - becomes a bright blue. The other two colours are used on the other two members of the team: grey on the head becomes green and the purple for the arms and missiles also becomes bright blue.

Somewhere out there there maybe an Overcast repaint looking for a home !

[Philip Ayres]

Deepdive

Deepdive is a submarine. Can you remember a Transformer sub before ? There were some underwater vehicles in Pretenders but none looked like a traditional sub like Deepdive does ! All his visible sub mode is painted grey with some red and metallic blue paint.

He's got a minicon port underneath and his conning tower is a minicon post - how cool is that ? His stern kind of looks like two gun barrels so he could conceivably be a cannon when mounted but to be honest go the whole hog and hold him by the coning tower as double barrelled hand weapon.

TF: Separate the rear of the sub and pull forwards & to the sides to form the arms. Pull the front apart to form the legs. Turn the legs so the outer sides of the hull are facing forward and then turn the stern halves up to form the feet. Fold the head back.

Now like this he just looks like a robot with big arms. But the arms are meant to be the other way up - the stern forming little bendable forearms. This leaves him with shoulders so huge that Energon Megs would be jealous ! Something to fold the bulk of this away would be nice. He's got ball jointed shoulders & hips, with bending elbows & hips. His shoulders & upper legs introduce a new colour - the same Decepticon purple shared with the rest of the team. The sculpt on the robot is great, nice head and the conning tower port now forms a chest cannon.

Deepdive was sold in the Giant Planet Minicon team pack with Overcast & Longarm.

Astro Sinker

In 2007 all three Giant Planet Minicons return with Astrotrain (an Armada Jetfire repaint) and Starcatcher (Comettor repaint) as an exclusive for the Transformers Collectors Club. The team reuses the names of three servants of Unicron in the original Transformers comic: Hook (Longarm), Line (Overcast) and Sinker (Deepdive)

Having decided to use these names and matched Hook to Longarm it was kind of inevitable the sub would become Sinker !

Grey becomes black and purple becomes grey. Lovely stealth repaint, well worth having. If they'd have released this to the shops I'd have had one !

Sea Wave

Sea Wave was available exclusively from Boss Coffee in Japan in 2008. The grey on becomes green and the purple becomes bright blue.

Nice repaint.again, and ends up looking like the colours used for Giant Planet Team Longarm originally !. Interestingly although Longarm is also repainted for this promotion, Overcast isn't !

[Philip Ayres]

Drill Bit

Metroplex's Minicon is called Drill Bit. Drill Bit is very similar to the old Leader 1 minicon that came with Megatron. It shares no parts with the previous toy and is somewhat bigger but Remy has some pictures that show how similar they are. The Major differences between the 2 toys are that the cab now points towards the drills/guns/robot legs (which makes sense if they are drills so the pilot can see where he's going - See Destruction team Drillbit) and the minicon socket is mounted on the top side of the toy instead of underneath it.

As I mentioned above the Minicon port is now on top of the toy - finally another minicon suitable to go under TFA Thrust's wing. For any other Minicon post mounting you're going to get the robot's head and chest looking out at you. Like Leader-1 he can be stretched out to form a dual cannon that can be arm mounted.

TF: Fold the drills back and then stretch out the limbs they're attached to. Swing the front mudguards and exhausts round to form the arms.

Robot is so similar to Leader-1 that I'm reaching for the copy & paste here ! The robot mode bends at the knees and the hips & shoulders turn. That's it for articulation. The Minicon socket is better placed than on Leader-1 in robot mode - it's on his back instead of his waist. You can see most of the colours on the toy here. The drills are hidden - but coloured blue like the wheels (and Metroplex's body), the upper legs are a bright blue (Metroplex's shoulders and antennae), the arms & the lower legs are grey (Metroplex's shoulders again) and the body & head are black (like Metroplex's head).

Yes the design is effectively reused. But it works well enough, some of the modifications make sense (cab, Minicon port in robot mode) others (Minicon port for mounting on larger toys) less so.

In Japan Drill Bit was called Horri-Bull and came with Megalo Convoy (Metroplex) and a chromed version of the Legends Of Cybertron Optimus Prime (Galaxy Convoy). This package was numbered GC-23 and was the last Cybertron Galaxy Force toy to be issued.

[Philip Ayres]

Heavy Load

Heavy Load is a brand new Minicon paired with the Cybertron toy Menasor.

Heavy Load comes as a truck with a shovel mounted on the front. The shovel raises, but can easily come off. While reasonably stable the precise alignment of the truck bed at the back can be disrupted by touch - this may cause problems later. The shovel, wheels & tipper bed are cast in the same black plastic as Menasor's shoulders. The front of the truck is the olive plastic found inside the shoulders and hips on Menasor, while the back is the green plastic that makes up the majority of the larger toy's body.

He has one Minicon port under the front half of the truck. He's another Minicon that isn't much use as an add on and just looks like his vehicle mode unfortunately.

To TF him, fold the entire back and middle of the truck under the cab. Separate the truck bed itself, swing to the sides and fold down to form the arms. Flip the head up.

The resulting small Minicon has ball jointed elbows and shoulders, plus the shoulders can be raised shrug like due to the TF. He has hips but they aren't independent due to the feet being one piece.

Menasor has an alternate vehicle mode which integrates Heavy Load into the larger toy - Menasor's assault and pacification configuration. Pull the green front sections out of the beige rear ones and raise them up to the sides, rotating the drill housing so the tops with their Minicon posts are still on top. Open up the shovel at the front of Menasor. Take Heavy Load and fold the shovel over his cab so it's level with the truck bed. Slide Heavy load into the gap in Menasor's shovel - there's a slot on either side of Menasor's shovel for 2 bits of plastic sticking out of Heavy Load's truck bed to slip into. Unfortunately getting Heavy load into both of them is a chore as the truck bed is slightly unstable.

Menasor's robot mode is also designed to use Heavy Load - The chest actually opens up to reveal a cavity which Heavy Load can slip into - is he in fact controlling the larger robot ? The chest is cast from the clear blue plastic - but heavily painted - however Heavy Load can see out. There's a pair of spikes on the chest - these may be guns for Heavy Load to fire. (When getting Menasor out the loft to revise Heavy Load's review I got worried for a few minutes when I couldn't find the Minicon! - he was tucked inside the robot's chest even though Menasor was in vehicle mode)

Not the worst Minicon ever, but the falling off shovel is very annoying!

[Philip Ayres]

Stripmine

Quickmix's Minicon is called Stripmine. Like Megalo Convoy/Metroplex's Minicon Horrible/Drill-Bit he resembles and original Minicon - only in this case less so. Stripmine is essentially Buzzsaw from the Destruction Team in a dark blue with the circular digging wheel and waste carrier removed and replaced by a long thin barrel arrangement ending in a ridged black piece and a clear plastic piece so that the entire thing could be a drill or a laser cannon. Who knows ? I'm going for laser cannon coos there's a little pop up clear plastic sight on top of him. The very back of the cannon ends in a yellow fold up & down plug. This has 2 unintentional uses - it's a Minicon post so, you can attach other Minicons to him, and it can be used to hold the end of his vehicle mode as a gun.

Stripmine's Minicon socket is somewhat awkwardly placed between his 2 treads in vehicle mode, but recessed on the main body of the toy. At a guess the only Minicon plugs that would reach it would be those mounted on a post - like those on Primus - let’s check - hmmm, no Most of Primus' Minicon plugs are on a post that is too thick to go between the treads. The one on Primus' backside just about works, but only just. The best fit I could find was on Menasor's drill and claw arm gimmick. So to attach him to a larger toy you'll have to bend his legs back first. When you do get him attached he makes a very acceptable cannon for a larger toy.

To TF Stripmine you straighten his legs back under the back of the toy. Rotate the entire barrel arrangement through 90 degrees via a plate on a swivel joint on the toy's back. Pull either end of the barrel down the sides of the body to for the arms - doesn't matter which way but the instruction have the front of the vehicle's cannon turning into *his* left arm.

A quick work about reversing the TF - unusual I know - but there's a great feature here where you bend the arm forming the back of the barrel back first, and then the arm forming the front. As the front arm comes into position an extension on the back arm forces the sight for the weapon up. It's a little thing but the little things sometime make an impression

The robot mode reveals some more bright yellow at the shoulders and upper legs. He's got knees, hips, and shoulders that all move back and forth, plus the shoulders can swing to the sides thanks to the TF. There are some holes on the inside of each arm that look like they should fit the pegs on Armada Thrust's missile launchers, but I've not got one to hand to test and it's too hot today to get into the loft and find one. He has no hands as such - one arm ending in the cannon, the other in the Minicon post/handle which I suppose you could use to mount a Skyblast or Ransack on.

If you fold up the top of back of Quickmix's feeder bucket up and over the front, there's a hole exposed that the peg at the back of Stripmine fits into, enabling him to act as a weapon on the cement mixer. This will expose 2 small pegs. From here if you then fold the entire feeder bucket back you'll get a control panel that Stripmine's robot can stand at - the pegs fit the holes in Stripmine's arms, so it's quite possible that Armada Thrust's Minicon, Inferno, might also be able to operate it.

All in all a good Minicon. It loses points for the socket being a little inaccessible in vehicle mode, but the post/handle, the ability to be used as a weapon and the little pop up scope during TF makes it a hit for me. When you add in the stunning integration of the Minicon into both of it's partner's vehicle modes it ups the toy's rating. Worthwhile getting.

Drill Bit

Drill Bit was available with Universe Heavy Load. Blue becomes Constructicon green, yellow becomes grey and the clear becomes clear orange.

OK repaint, but points for using Constructicon like colours on a construction vehicle repaint.

[Philip Ayres]

Ramjet

Ramjet is the name of the Minicon jet supplied with Shockwave. Of the other G1 jet toys Starscream, Thundercracker & Skywap had their names used for a voyager sized toy, Thrust was a deluxe toy and Dirge's colours showed up on a recolour of Thrust. Thrust & Ramjet later show up as Minicon names in Cybertron.

Ramjet's jet mode is mostly purple (used on Tidal Wave's upper legs) - there's some red (Tidal Wave's missiles) & grey (Tidal Wave's aircraft carrier landing strip) visible too, but they're identifiable mainly to robot mode parts.

The jet has a single Minicon port underneath. It looks like a jet when mounted, but that's no bad thing as imagination could easily turn it into a missile of some sort.

Ramjet stores away in the elevator on Tidal Wave's aircraft carrier: Fold the nose & wings up and it effectively becomes a block that fits in the space locking onto the Minicon port within.

TF: Fold the nose and wings back. Fold the under carriage out behind the jet as the legs. Fold the tip down to form feet. Stand.

Here in robot mod the purple is used on the body and feet with the lower arms & upper legs being red and the lower legs being grey. He bends at the elbows and - though not independently - at hip & knee. The articulation he has got allows him to sit in the seats inside the troop carrier component of Tidal Wave.

Overall: Decent jet and good compatibility with the larger toy but the robot is simplistically poor.

In Japan Ramjet was called Sonic and released in MD-06 with Shockwave, a recoloured version of Tidal Wave more closely matching the cartoon. However the colours changed on Shock Wave are not those common to Ramjet so he looks the same - see Remy act 114.

Energon Ramjet

The Energon swaps light grey for purple, dark grey for grey and teal blue for red.

The jet looks quite effective in the new colours but if anything it makes the robot look worse sucking the life out of it.

Energon Tidal Wave & Ramjet were the only Armada repaint in Energon to have a general release in the US - the others were all limited editions or exclusives.

[legios]

I must admit I quite like Ramjet, he is one of my favourite pack-in mini-cons (up there with Jolt). The humanoid mode doesn't have a great deal of play value I will admit, but I do think that it looks rather nice in a sort of lanky kind of way.

Karl

[Philip Ayres]

omettor represents a significant milestone in my revision of my Minicon reviews: It's the last Armada Minicon and the indeed the last Unicron Trilogy Minicon I need to tackle. After 11 Armada 3 packs, 1 new Energon & 2 new Cybertron 3 packs (42 Minicons), 12 original Supercon Packins (Sideways has two, the beasts recycle some) , 4 Armada Voyager pack ins (Starscream's is in a 3 pack, Predacon recycles two), 3 Armada Ultra packs, 2 larger toy pack-ins and 4 new packins from Cybertron I'm done with the Minicons from this period - 67 different Minicon reviews - plus 5 more for the combining weapons & robots ! (72). Of course there's 18 more to come from the Classics Minicons yet making a round 90 in total !

Comettor

Comettor is the Minicon that comes with Jetfire and has four distinct functions.

The first is as a Moonbuggy - six wheeled with a telescope/laser cannon on top and a radar dish on the back. Most of the toy is blue - not used on Jetfire - with red "cannon" & radar dish (as per Jetfire's missiles) and grey wheels (as per his legs)

He has one Minicon port underneath the vehicle mode. When attached to a larger toy the scope looks like a laser cannon and add-on weapons are always welcome.

Comettor's second function - undocumented - keeps him in vehicle mode. He attaches to the top of the Space Team's combined form the Requiem Blaster to form it's scope.

Comettor combines with Jetfire as his landing gear in shuttle mode. Turn Commetor upside down then pull the radar dish back & up. Fold the back two pairs of wheels down so they're both level horizontally under the laser cannon. Use the Minicon post under Jetfire's nose to attach Comettor, then attach Jetfire's breast plate to the bottom of the rear of the shuttle to provide the rear landing gear.

Finally Comettor transforms into a robot: Pull the radar dish back and down. Raise up the cannon. Pull the back pair of wheels up and forward so they're horizontal in relation to each other, one is level with the front wheel and the other is out in front. Look at the top of the toy. Twist the back round 90 degrees so the robot head is facing you, the radar dish is on your right and the cannon is on your left. Fold the two pairs of wheels down to form the legs and feet.

I think this is the only Minicon with a wheeled base - well done for being different. He bends at the "ankle" attached to the wheel pairs and hip, turns at the waist and has ball jointed shoulders.

Not a bad Minicon - versatile, integrated with larger robot and has a robot form that's out of the ordinary.

Jetfire's Japanese name is Sonar and he appears with Skyfire in pack numbered MC-09

Powerlinx Comettor

Jetfire received a Powerlinx redecoration as did Comettor - the red remains more or less the same but the blue becomes white integrating it more colour wise with the larger toy.

Unreleased Spacewarp Comettor

A version of Comettor should have come with the Universe Decepticon who would have been called Comettor. The picture at the bottom of the page linked to above shows a grey body, with purple wheel and white arms/cannon & radar dish

Starcatcher

When the Decepticon Jetfire was eventually released to the Transformers Collectors Club with all new versions of the Cybertron Giant Planet team Comettor became Starcatcher. Starcatcher uses a similar colour scheme to the unreleased Comettor.with a slightly darker purple.

[Philip Ayres]

PLEASE someone check and see if I've forgotton anyone !

[Philip Ayres]

Onto the classics !

Terrorsaur

One of the innovations promised by the new Minicons, intended for continuing the Cybertron two packs range but which eventually became the classics Minicons, was that we would have Minicons with beast forms. I was expecting blocky G1 like beast forms but what we actually got was quite different.

There's been Terrosaurs before, mostly as pterodactyls. Terrorsaur is now a green Tyrannosaurus Rex - a Dinobot T-Rex ? Why isn't it called Grimlock and painted silver ? It's mainly an organic design but there are some robotic looking panels, some of which are painted red. He has a silver Autobot symbol on the back of his neck. Articulation is very limited with rear hips that turn, a tail that bends up and an opening dino mouth which contains a moulded gun. The head is moulded so that the lower jaw - the fixed portion - is horizontal to the body making it necessary to pose the beast in the modern body parallel configuration. Me, I grew up in the seventies and eighties so I like my T-Rex's to stand up with the body vertical (or close to it) Godzilla & Generation One Grimlock style. I can't do this with this toy without the head looking silly.

He's got Minicon sockets on each hip. Just forget using him as a an add on to a larger toy, he looks silly.

To TF, fold the legs back so they're alongside the tail, then fold the tail up, swivel the body so the screw is at the back, open the dino mouth and split the front of the dinosaur with the top forming one arm and the bottom the other. Both arms are folded out so they stick out of the sides then turned the other way up at the shoulder and folded against the side of the body.

Revealed in this mode is some grey on the waist and the shoulders. The arms look odd though not as bad as earlier photos of the toy suggested. His right arm has the mouth gun on the inside of it and is formed from the lower jaw while his left is formed from the top of the beast head. He's got ball jointed shoulders that also lift up, the forearm on his left arm folds in at the elbow and his hips turn - these are the robot hips.

I'd not seen the robot mode for this toy for a while and was pleasantly surprised by it

Terrorsaur was available in the Dinobot three pack with Swoop & Knockdown.

MB Gnashteeth

Found in Micron Booster v4 as a common toy, Gnashteeth is a Predacon recolour of Terrorsaur in lilac with the red paint replaced with metallic blue and the grey plastic becoming black. Yes, it's the Beast Wars Ultra Megatron colours, good choice !

Better than the original.

MB Chromebite

Found in Micron Booster v4 as a chase toy Chromebite is the traditional chromed chase Micron. His main colour is dark purple chrome with the grey becoming brown - yes, you've guessed it, it's the Transmetal Megatron colours.

Very clever recolour again.

[Philip Ayres]

Swoop

Swoop is a pterodactyl, as is appropriate. Given that the main colouring on the toy is red I wonder if the name Terrorsaur (inexplicably assigned to the T-Rex in this set) would have been more suitable? There is some grey on the toy - the colour that forms the majority of the G1 Dinobots - at the front of the wings. Said wings can flap up courtesy of a pair of ball joints either side of the main body. He's got little fold down feet on the back of the wings that can be used to stand on and his neck can fold forwards too allowing a more vertical configuration. Not bad for a beast mode.

Swoop has one socket under the body. If you can find a toy with a Minicon socket on his back Swoop would make a good wing pack. Mounted on the arm he'd make a good winged missile or blade weapon.

TF: fold the head down under the body to form the robot head, and fold the panel on the back of the bird up. Turn the toy upside down. Fold the wings down clipping them into the panel and then fold the tips out to form the feet. The rear of the wings unclip and fold forward to become the robot arms - pose either with the feet as hands or the wing tips as blades.

The shoulders are the only meaningful articulation in this mode - with ball joints that fold back. The hands do fold in but that's more a function of being the feet in beast mode. He's short compared to other Minicons - only comes up to Terrorsaur's waist. The ball joints for his shoulders are too far back compared to the neck and the ball joints for the hips. The arms look to short but probably are in proportion for the toy.

Not too bad but v short and oddly proportioned.

Micron Booster Reptix

Reptix is found in Micron Booster v4 as a common toy. His paint scheme is similar to Swoop's with the grey on the wings/legs also being painted red. The existing red is a little darker than on Swoop but the legs/wings is brighter than the rest of the toy.

[Philip Ayres]

Knockdown

Knockdown is a Triceratops (so what should be Slag) with no meaningful articulation in beast mode - the legs are virtually immobilised. Most of the toy is cast in pale brown plastic with the head and rear legs in lilac plastic.

He has two Minicon ports on either side of his tail. As with most other beast Minicons you can forget using him as a meaningful add on for a larger toy.

To TF pull his nose down and swing the head up from behind the horns. The forelegs are hinged at the dino feet - fold them up at the shoulders and then swing then down at the joint to the body to form the robot legs, and then lower the bit they're attached to to form the pelvis. Pull apart the back of the dinosaur including the tail to form 2 huge shoulder pads using the rear legs as arms.

The finished robot is wider than he is tall ! His little arms ball jointed at the shoulders and have no meaningful hand moulded into them. His hips turn but then he has my most hated TF feature - knees that only fold to the sides. The legs are far too thin to go with the too small arms.

They tried. There are worse Minicons in the Classics line but he's not great ....

This figure was originally available exclusively in Wal*Mart stores in a multipack with Primus, Classics Strongarm, Cybertron Offshoot (Classics Dirt Rocket) and Cybertron Nightscream (Thunderwing) before appearing in the Dinobot three pack with Terrorsaur & Swoop.

Micron Booster Ironlunge

Ironlunge is found in Micron Booster v4 as a common toy. He's a Predacon and swaps Knockdown's brown for blue & lilac for grey.

*HUGE* improvement over the original.

[Philip Ayres]

Wideload

Wideload has the same vehicle mode and colour as the Energon Demolishor - a green truck. The tipper bed - painted purple on the sides - is fixed and doesn't tip up. It' got a silver Decepticon symbol on the overhang of the tipper bed. The name Wideload suggests an orange Autobot truck to me - could they not get Longhaul ?

He's got one Minicon socket in the bit of the tipper overhanging the cab. This means when you mount him on a larger toy he ends up upside down exposing his underside and robot head. Not a great add on then.

TF: The tipper splits in two and folds down to the sides to form the arms which in turn moves the back wheels under the vehicle to form the robot chest. The front of the truck folds down to form the legs which are rotated at the hips.

His robot mode suffers from a bit of a large head - he looks like he's got a hat on, but the head is unpainted loosing any detail.- and pretty useless arms formed from the truck tipper bed. The chest and lower legs are black in this mode. He's got knees, ball jointed hips and shoulder - which are restricted so much that all you can really do with them is fold the arms out to the sides- and a waist - also ball jointed.

Wideload was available in the Demolition Team 3 pack with Sledge & Broadside.

Micron Booster Refuser

Refuser is found in Micron Booster v4 as a common toy. He's very similar to Wideload but in a paler Constructicon green and with a purple Decepticon symbol on the overhang.

Knockdown

Knockdown is a member of the Landslide Minicon Team found in the Universe 12 Pack exclusive to Target in the USA and Woolworths in the UK. The toy is due to recieve an individual release shortly.

The toy is now all black with purple for the head and edging round the tipper bed. Yes it's Skywarp in truck form. Even though the toy is described as Autobot on the packaging there's a silver Minicon symbol painted on the overhang now.

[Philip Ayres]

Sledge

Sledge is a digger. You can't hate diggers. The main body of the digger is black with blue painted cab windows and so red highlights. He's got a shovel in front which raises where connected to the body and at the shovel, and a scoop at the back hinged in 3 places and which folds to the side. Both the shovel and scoop are connected by arms coloured in yellow. Hey what about a deluxe version of this vehicle Hasbro ? He's got one Minicon socket under the cab - mounting this vehicle on the forearm of a larger toy with the scoop arm at the back sticking out will look quite nice. Fold the wheels down so they're in front of the vehicle, fold the connecting piece they're on back so it's under the vehicle, and rotate at what is now the hip so that the shovel becomes his right arm, the scoop is his left and the cab is in the middle. The cab then folds to his left to reveal the head. His robot mode has a swivel below the hips - careful this joint is just pegged in, hips that bend, a ball jointed waist, his right shoulder is ball jointed while the left arm bend forwards & backwards but doesn't turn. Each arm has whatever articulation it had in vehicle mode. Not the worst Minicon but the arms do look a little odd. Sledge was available in the Demolition team 3 pack with Wideload and Broadside.


Micron Booster Rockblade

Rockblade is a common toy in Micron Booster V4. Like his predecessor he's a mainly black Decepticon which changes the yellow for bright pale blue, blue paint for purple and red paint for green. Somehow the recolour doesn't work and I suspect the presence of the pale blue is to blame !


Backstop

Backstop appears in the Universe Minicon 12 pack which was exclusive to K-Mart in the US and Woolworths in the UK. This time he's an Autobot. The black is swapped for brown but is mostly painted over in yellow. The yellow becomes a brighter shade and some new highlights are added. They've done a good job with this repaint, the yellow for once is right for a construction vehicle. May well try to pick this up when the single pack version comes out.

[Philip Ayres]

Broadside

Broadside is a green tank.

Good points: The turret spins and the gun barrel raises. He's got one Minicon socket underneath the tank which allows him to be mounted as an extra weapon add on.

Bad points: Everything after you start to TF it. Pull the sides of the toy out at the back to form the legs - one of them immediately fell off. Separate the rest of the back down the middle to form the arms - I think one of these will drop off too. Fold the hand and gun out from the arms. Fold the bottom of the front of the tank down and then the top - these are 2 separate pieces. Swing the turret to the front and fold the barrel all the way back to reveal the head. Pose the legs downwards and the arms to the sides if the ball joints connecting them will take even the slightest movement.

Yet another robot with legs up to it's armpits looking anatomically odd and to make it worse he's a fallaparticon. And he won't stand to save his life. The limbs are ball jointed but none of the joints has enough strength to hold the limb in place.

Heavytread

Heavytread is a member of the Safeguard Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly de to be released carded by himself. He's a red Autobot tank so it's obvious they're going for a G1 Warpath homage here, which is good, it's just such a shame the toy is such a poor design.

[Philip Ayres]

Strongarm

Strongarm is a black police car - immediately putting me in the mind of the movie toy Barricade. He's got a small Autobot symbol on his bonnet and painted red & blue lightbars on his roof.

The underside of the back of the car has two Minicon sockets on it - as per most of the low car Minicons that means he can be used as body armour for a larger Transformer.

The TF is odd to say the least. Check the instructions first, this one caused me loads of agro to TF! I'd advise folding back the underside of the back of the car first - doesn't show this on the instructions but it makes the TF easier I think as you can use these as leverage in the next stage - folding the car split down the middle so the middle of the car turns in - this is very stiff - the light array will remain stationary which you can then treat as the robot's belt. The car bonnet folds forward to become the robot chest, the head pops up and the sides of the front of the car fold down so they're pointing forwards.

The only real articulation here is the bending elbow though we do have the odd "fold to the sides" knees again. He has 4 Minicon ports in this mode, one on each side of the lower legs, making this the only Minicon with ports that are inaccessible in vehicle mode. Coincidentally the four Minicon ports is also a record !

Strongarm was available with Divebomb and Firebot in the Night Rescue Team but also had a limited preview release exclusively at Wal*Mart Stores with Cybertron Nightscream (Classics Thunderwing), Classics Knockdown, Cybertron Offshoot (Classics Dirt Rocket), and Primus (2006) in 2006.

Radrogue

Radrouge is a common toy in Micron Booster V4. He's nearly identical to Strongarm but has different writing on the side.

Detectus

Detectus is one of two chase pieces in Micron Booster V4. He is an all clear version of Strongarm with painted lightbars and headlights. None of the TF sites I regularly use have pictures so try looking at fate8.blogspot.com/2007/08/micron-booster-ver4.html

Flatfoot

Flatfoot is an Autobot member of the Safeguard Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which is exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. This version of a police car is mainly white but with a black lower portion/robot arms and robot mode belt. Looks quite nice !

[Philip Ayres]

Divebomb

Divebomb is a helicopter, though unlike the similarly themed Emergency team's Makeshift he's of the single propeller variety. In fact he looks more like a strike chopper than emergency vehicle with a blue ed missile array under each wing. The blue is also used for the rear rotor & the bottom of the cockpit while the top of the cockpit, the main blades and the tail are grey. Cockpit windows are yellow & main rotor blades have red edging.

He's got one Minicon port which is under the helicopter's nose. . use this to mount him as a spinning blade weapon on a larger toy.

To TF the copter pull the nose forward and then swing it round 180 degrees so the nose is facing towards the rotor blades and then push the nose back towards them. Pull the tail apart along the middle and fold each half to the sides pausing halfway to turn the tail fins 180 degrees through the bottom of the tail. Swing the wings forward and fold the missile arrays out to form the arms. Fold the blades and mechanism back to form the top of the robot and reveal the head.

His robot mode is static with no meaningful articulation apart from some folding to the sides elbows and shoulders. The blade hat looks odd, the legs don't lock into place right and I'm against legs that go right up to their armpits anyway as per Broadside in the Demolition team.

Divebomb is one third of the Night Rescue team with Strongarm and Firebot.

Torque Gain

Torque Gain is a Justco exclusive available with the purchase of Movie Voyager Starscream or Leader Megatron. For pictures see this ad at TFormers.com Dark blue & grey switch positions as do both colours of paint. He appears to be twinned with the similarly painted Noise Effect (a recolour of the clear skies team Thunderwing) available at Ito Yokado stores.

Cloudraker

Cloudraker is a member of the Decepticon Ransack Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. The blue becomes green and the grey becomes black in this military themed repaint.

[Philip Ayres]

Firebot

The name Firebot first featured as the fire engine in the original Emergency team and here he is again. He's a fire tender with what looks like 2 water cannons on top - these can be rotated forward but you need them facing back to start the TF. All the fire engine is red but close inspection reveals the cab at the front to be painted red over black plastic like several parts of the robot mode.

Firebot had one Minicon Socket under the vehicle but this allows him to be mounted on a larger toy with his water cannons folded forwards to serve as an add on weapon.

TF: Pull up on the water cannons to fold the arms out above the front of the cab, which splits in 2 and folds to the side to become the shoulders. Unfold the back to become the legs.

Simple, effective and giving the best Minicon robot of the nine toys in the first wave of Classics Minicons. He's got bending knees, ball jointed hips and shoulders and elbows that fold inwards and slightly outwards. The water cannons fold onto the arms. The crest on the head is slightly evocative of the dual combining "dragon" robots released late in Brave toy line. The Minicon socket ends up on the robot's chest.

As I said above best Minicon in the first wave and curiously the one most like the original Minicons in style and build.

Firebot is one third of the Night Rescue team with Strongarm and Divebomb

Supressor

Supressor appears in the Decepticon Overcast Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. Red becomes yellow - I associate yellow fire engines with airports - but unfortunately the match between the moulded plastic and the painted isn't too good.

[Philip Ayres]

As I'm going on these are getting easier to write as the original material I'm basing them on get longer. 9 away from finishing now, and the original reviews for them are good enough to C&P and add in the stuff on recolours.

[Philip Ayres]

Snarl

Snarl is an orange Bengal tiger - the same as Tigatron's intended colours. The name Snarl was used on a big cat before in beast Machines. It's an OK beast mode, slightly more robotically stylised than the Dinobots but still lots of curved lines. He's got a cannon located in his hinged mouth and his tail moves up & down. Otherwise he's static

His Minicon port is found on his right hip. As an add on he's useless, it just looks like the larger toy has a cat strapped onto it's arm.

TF: fold the back legs down to form one arm and reveal the robot head, fold the beast head up to form another arm. Fold the front beast legs up & forward then rotate 90 degrees so the hole for the ball joint is the same side as the robot head. Fold out robot legs from the beast legs.

The robot has a reasonable body and head. The rest is appalling - a neck and head for one arm, 2 legs for another - the leg that's in front folds "up" at an elbow joint and both shoulders turn, hideous sideways folding knees (oh I so hate these) and a lower body that aught to be the other way round above the knees but needs to be that way for the feet to work (though if the lower legs folded down at a correctly orientated knee everything would be OK). Hideous.

LATER NOTE: Turn the legs arm the other way up to use the tail as a whip an improve the overall look

Snarl is a member of the Predator Attach team along with Overbite & Dreadwing.

Apexus

Apexus is a common toy in Micron Booster V4. He's a yellow Predacon repaint of Snarl. The repaint is OK, but the toy is still poor.

Rampage

All three of the Predator Attack team are used as Botcon exclusives in 2008. Snarl becomes Rampage gaining a red moulded colour scheme with gold highlights.

[Philip Ayres]

Overbite

Overbite has been produced as a black stealth wolf with purple highlights, very much a canine Ravage. Both hips and knees are articulated as well as the ankles on the rear legs and there's a ball joint about half way along the body which destabilises the wolf mode slightly. The tail can be raised or lowered.

Both of his rear hips have Minicon ports but as with most of the other beast Minicons he makes a poor add-on

TF: Fold the back legs down and rotate at ball joint. Fold down the inner part of each foot to act as Transformer's smallest heel spur. Split the head and neck in two along the middle, fold to the sides and rotate to form the arms revealing a red & white robot head.

Ok so he's got wolf head halves for hands but apart from that he looks ok. Mine initially didn't seem too stable but was improved when I found the heel spurs, and looking very closely I think there could be an assembly error with the tops of the legs on the wrong way round compared to the illustration on the packaging.

Overbite is a member of the Predator Attach team along with Snarl & Dreadwing.

Gredator

Gredator is a common toy in Micron Booster V4. Gredator is broadly similar to Overbite with burgundy highlights instead of the purple and a blue head.

This is one of the last Micron Booster 4 toys I need to review so I'm going to have to say this now: The common toys are (bar Gnashteeth) all very very similar to their Classics predecessors and not encouraging me to buy them.

Razorclaw

All three of the Predator Attack team are used as Botcon exclusives in 2008 reusing G1 Predacon names. Razorclaw is a pale yellow version of this toy. Not the greatest repaint ever !

[Philip Ayres]

Dreadwing

The beast mode for Dreadwing is a Redish hawk. He's got ball jointed legs, folding back wing ends and a beak. The beak will be important later.

Dreadwing has 2 Minicon ports under the base of each wing. The bird Minicons look better mounted on larger toys then the other beasts being used as a winged backpack, a winged missile or even as a bird sitting on a larger toy's arm G1 Megatron/Soundwave and Laserbeak style. TF: Bend the wing down in the middle, and up at the front rotating through 270 degrees around the ball joint connector with the body Fold the wing halves so they point along the beak. Fold the wing ends back to become the heel spurs. Separate the tail fin and fold down with the wings to become the robot's wings. Fold the legs down to become the robot arms - interestingly a leg has popped out both times I've reviewed this toy but never otherwise ! Fold the head up

Resulting robot has hip joints, shoulders that move up and down at the side and elbows. As well as a joint on his pelvis involving the bird head. We'll leave it at that.

Solid in both modes, best beast Minicon.

Dreadwing is a member of the Predator Attach team along with Snarl & Overbite .

Wedge Shape

Wedge Shape was an exclusive to BIC Camera stores in Japan. Pictures are a little thin on the ground but look here for a small one. He's basically Dreadwing in a brighter red.

Divebomb

All three of the Predator Attack team are used as Botcon exclusives in 2008 reusing G1 Predacon names. He's coloured orangey yellow this time. He's not Sunstorm, he's Divebomb ! Black would have been a) more appropriate and b) a better colour for the toy !

[Philip Ayres]

Dirt Rocket

The vehicle mode for Dirt Rocket is a yellow motorbike with purple urban camo. The name is similar to a previous Transformers bike the similaly styled Road Rocket. Both of the free spinning wheels and the saddle are moulded in black while the exhaust pipes are painted silver.

He's got Minicon ports either side of the petrol tank - when mounted on the arm of a larger figure and turned wheels on he can look like a sort of dual buzzsaw weapon.

TF: Pull the seat in two along the middle and fold out to become the arms. Fold the flap on the petrol tank up to become the head. Pull the front of the bike down to become the legs and attempt to stand - what you're aiming for is to get him on the tips of the front mud guard and the base of the wind shield. He will stand in the end. Honest.

Poseability is essentially limited to the arms as the legs need to be in a very precise position to balance. He has hinged knees and ball jointed hips in addition to his ball jointed and hinged shoulders.

Not bad looking but he could balance better an awful lot better !

Dirt Rocket was found in the Dirt Digger team with Oil Slick & Grindor but was also available as Offshoot exclusively at Wal*Mart stores as Offshoot with Primus, Classics Strongarm, Classics Knockdown, and Cybertron Nightscream (Classics Thunderwing)

Windrazor

Windrazor is a common toy in Micron Booster v4. The yellow of dirt rocket is replaced with a reddy orange so it's not too huge a leap from one to the other.

Blight

Blight is a member of the Decepticon Overcast Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. Yellow becomes a hideous pale green which looks awful here compared to it's use on the Constructicons.

[Philip Ayres]

Oil Slick

Oil Slick is one of those long American cars you see in 70s and 80s cop shows. Think Cybertron Downshift recoloured in orange and with a purple splash over the front ! In a tribute to Downshift you can extend a claw and/or a knife from the front of the car by parting the bonnet down the middle and flipping the weapon out.

He's got a Minicon port underneath allowing him to be mounted as armour on a larger toy. Alternately extend the knife or claw and mount him on a forearm as a weapon.

TF: Start by splitting the front of the car down the middle - pull the arms out to the sides, then down a little. Flip the arms 180 degrees and extend the knife and claw. Push down slightly on the back of the car, swing each half of the back out to the sides and pivot round the rear of the car to form the legs - yes sideways knees again. Rotate at the waist.

Resulting robot looks very nice with shrugging and ball jointed shoulders, a waist and ball jointed hips. Balance is nowhere near as precarious as Dirt Rocket but could be better. An alternate robot mode is possible by swinging the arms the other way up and imagining the thin bits pointing down are the ends - this looks a little like Armada Megatron or Cybertron Defence Hot Shot but more like something else I'm struggling to remember the name of - help me please ! EDIT - came to me at 3am just as the baby started crying - his shoulders look like Cybertron Giant Planet Minicon Deepdive - the submarine! Proper knees and better balance might make this a candidate for best Minicon ever. As it is he's second best in this pack !

Oil Slick was found in the Dirt Digger team with Dirt Rocket & Grindor.

Makeshift

Makeshift is a member of the Autobot Safeguard Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. The major colour for this repaint is lilac which is odd because it makes your mind think Decepticon !

I think this mould may have a few more repaints in it yet.

[Philip Ayres]

Grindor

Grindor, inheriting the name from the skateboard in the Street Action Team, is a 4wd Monster truck. It's a good small toy vehicle mainly moulded in grey but with green suspension. There's nice detail all over the toy especially at the back with the suspension springs painted yellow.

He's got 2 Minicon ports under the front of the vehicle quite close together. Looking at it side on I suppose the wheels could be some form of dual cannon.

TF: Pull the front of the truck apart along the middle. On each side fold the side of the front wheel into the side of the back wheel - the front wheel protrudes where there's a depression in the back. Fold the suspension out to the sides and swing out to form the arms. Swing the wheel sections round to the front and fold down to form the legs. Fold the head up - a step the Hasbro photographer forgot for the packet photo.

Resulting robot is a near perfect Minicon. Technically he's got sideways knees as part of his TF but the wheels that form the upper & lower legs are so tightly locked together in robot mode that you can't count it as articulation - unlike the hips which move up & down and swing to the sides or his ball jointed shoulders that can swing in front of the chest. He's rectangular, he's chunky, he balances well, and represents almost everything that's good about a Minicon. Probably Best Minicon Ever.

Grindor was found in the Dirt Digger team with Dirt Rocket & Oil Slick .

Bodyblock

Bodyblock is a member of the Autobot Landslide Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. Bodyblock is bright red with brown suspension. Doesn't work as well as the original colours.

[Philip Ayres]

Nightscream

A red dragon - the sides and head are a dark red with the tail, neck and wings more orange. Now if I were choosing a good guy name from Beast Machines for a Red Dragon I'd have probably gone for something along the lines of Beast Changer or Savage Noble. As it is they've gone for the bat's name which infers something of a darker colour scheme. (Slight aside - did you know that Nightscream in Beast Machines is voiced by Alessandro Juliani who plays Lt "#1 candidate to actually be a Cylon" Gaeta in Battlestar Galactica ?) His wings are hinged, as is the tail, the neck is on a ball joint and his upper jaw can raise. What I didn't spot the first time I reviewed the toy was that the beast mode here and the way it's coloured makes it look like it's the BW basic Razorbeast with an orange snake stuck through it and wings on the top !

Minicon port under the base of the tail. Useful for mounting the dragon Laserbeak like on a larger toy's forearm. For anything else, less so.

TF: Fold the sides of the body down 90 degrees to form the robot legs. Swing the upper robot body round a ball jointed pivot and fold back. Swing the legs down and pose the neck and tail as the arms.

Robot is a little odd looking. Heads on arms I can live with - dragon Megatron homage - but the tail as the other arm just doesn't look right especially as it curves out to the side - replacing the hinge with a ball joint would have improved things here no end. He's got hinged hips and knees, with ball jointed shoulders. and the aforementioned hinge on the tail arm. Not the worst of the Beast Minicons by a long stretch, just very limited by his arms.

Nightscream was sold in the Clear Skies team set with Thunderwing & Steel Wind

Dragoyell

Dragoyell is a Maximal that was a mail-order exclusive from the September 2007 issue of TV Magazine (aka "TeleMaga") in Japan, limited to 2000 pieces. The dark red becomes silver and the orange becomes red.

Brimstone

Brimstone appears in the Decepticon Overcast Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. Red becomes yellow and orange becomes grey on this inferior repaint.

[Philip Ayres]

Steel Wind

Steel Wind is an A10 Thunderbolt that's essentially Minicon version of Cybertron Wing Sabre in jet mode. Jet mode is slightly unstable - not in a fall apart way but can distort it's shape - due to some of the joints involved in the robot mode and transformation.

There's one Minicon socket under the rear of the jet.. Use this to mount him as a weapons array on a larger character's arm or as a jetpack.

TF: Split the nose cone down the middle. There's a pivot in the middle of each wing connecting the front to the back of the wing - turn each wing around this pivot so that the nose cone halves end up on the wing tips. Fold both wings so they're over the jet, and then lower them down so they take up the space where the nose cone once was and that the nose cone now points downwards - these now form the legs and feet. Pull the thrusters away from the side of the jet and raise so they point upwards. Using the very small lever in the side of the thrusters extend the hands (!) then fold back the tail fins. Separate the rear of the jet and fold to the sides forming the shoulders and exposing the head.

The thinness of the robot mode is reminiscent of Armada Deluxe Optimus Prime's Minicon Over-Run. Ball jointed elbows and hips, hinged ankles and shoulders that can raise to the sides make this a very poseable Minicon, and his outsize feet (think Sideshow Bob) make him quite stable if he's not leant back - no heel spurs.

Very good. I can't get over the extending hands - sooooo tinsy ( about 1.5mm x 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm)

Steel Wind was sold in the Clear Skies team set with Nightscream & Thunderwing.

Skyglide

Skyglide was a Minicon given away at Japanese Toys R Us stores to celebrate the release of the Henkei Transformers. He's painted red to match the G1 Thunderbolt toy Powerglide. Lovely repaint.

Skyhammer

Skyhammer appears in the Decepticon Ransack Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. Skyglide's base colour is bright blue this time - again a great repaint. Another one that I'll pick up single carded when it comes out !

[Philip Ayres]

Thunderwing

A Minicon Swing Wing jet. Oh we're onto a winner here to start with as the swing wings on the toy actually swing. There aren't any default positions - unlike the large Classics Jetfire - but turned back they fit snugly along the horizontal tail fins. Most of the jet mode is blue bar the vertical tail fins and the engines which are both yellow.

He has one Minicon socket which form the single rear thruster which is on a hinge. This means his jet mode can be used as a blade weapon and pegged onto an arm. Nice. I just wish I had a toy with an arm port (Armada Megatron) or port on the end of the hand (Armada Hoist) to try him with.

TF - Fold the panels which is between the tail fins and connected to the thruster up via a hinge in the middle of the plane so it's pointing at the sky. Fold the horizontal tail fins down and then - via hinges at the rear of the tail fins - fold the vertical tail fins and their attached pieces out to the sides and back to form the lower legs revealing the upper legs. Slightly separate the nose cone down the middle and then fold the wings down which further separates the nose cone and allows you to fold it to the sides where you can then swing it down to form the arms. The panel with the thruster folds up to become the chest and the front of the Minicon socket on the thruster becomes his head.

Essentially a glorified A frame in the articulation department - if you ignore the sideways knees from the TF - Thunderwing can stand up stably despite having very small feet. His arms are pinned into ball joints at the shoulder giving them a range of movement. The only real distraction in robot mode is his arms are obviously the jet nose cone and don't have any obvious hands.

But not a bad effort at all, especially the jet mode.

Thunderwing was sold in the Clear Skies team set with Nightscream & Steel Wind. This figure was also available exclusively at Wal*Mart Stores as Nightscream with Classics Strongarm , Classics Knockdown , Cybertron Offshoot (Dirt Boss), and Primus in 2006.

Noise Effect

Noise Effect is an exclusive to Ito Yokaido stores, available only on July 20th, 2007. He's sort of a companion to Wedge Shape with a very similar colour scheme - dark blue becomes grey and yellow becomes blue. Really nice repaint and very reminiscent of the G1 Jetfire repaint of Cyberjet Hooligan - itself a small swing wing jet.

Boltflash

Boltflash appears in the Decepticon Ransack Minicon Team in the Universe 12 Pack which was exclusive to K-Mart & Woolworths. He's shortly due to be released individually carded. Boltflash is similar to Noise Effect again swapping blue for grey but this time swapping yellow for black. Looks good. This is another Minicon that if I see the single pack I may pick up !

[Philip Ayres]

Arrrrrrgh !

Technically I missed 1 out !

[Philip Ayres]

Laserbeak

Laserbeak is one of the three Hexagonal ended bomb blocks carried by Cybertron Soundwave. He's the black one which unfolds at the ends taking some of the sides with it - flatten these out into one plane - and then unfold the parts to make a hawk - Laserbeak !

Laserbeak's bomb ends have ended up on top of his wings - there's a fan detail painted red there making it appear to be his means of propulsion but it also apes the tape spools on the original. He's got a standard sizes peg on his chest which if his legs are folded forward right will allow his to be held.

Laserbeak is unique amongst Minicon moulds in having no socket. He shipped with Soundwave in both the west and Japan were he was numbered GX-02.

Hell Buzzsaw

Hell Buzzsaw shipped with the Toy's Dream Project Galaxy Force Soundblaster as GX-03. Buzzsaw is very similar to Laserbeak exchanging the red on the arms for gold and getting grey legs.

Blockrock

Blockrock was supplied with Universe Blaster - he's almost an inverse Laserbeak moulded in red but with black painted fans and moulded legs.