Phil's Universe Legends Wave 5 Reviews

[Philip Ayres]

Wave five arrived this morning - three more Minibots and Hot Rod.

Remember I said one of them has earned my wrath ?

[Philip Ayres]

Warpath

Warpath is one of the four Generation One remakes that make up Universe Legends Wave 5. He continues the Minibot theme established in Wave 4 with Beachcomber, Bumblebee & Brawn. In fact when you factor in Universe Powerglide all five of the year two Minibots have had Universe remakes now.

Warpath's robot mode - for it's that which he comes in like all the other Legends - follows the same basic form as the original Warpath: tank treads form the arms and legs with the turret as the body with the head sticking out the top from an opened hatch. This mould allows the tank barrel to retract into the turret for a more compact robot mode. His legs have two different configurations - the instructions show him with the tank treads folded behind the legs which improves the balance of the toy but gives him legs that look quite thin all the way down and limit the knee joint. Personally I prefer to have the treads folded out to the sides giving a more bulky lower leg that can bend further at the knee. Now this does affect the toys balance but a stable standing pose can be achieved - especially if you turn the hips backwards slightly on their ball joint - and also allows the toy to obtain a really stable kneeling pose. As well as the bending knee & ball jointed hip we have ball jointed shoulders & bending elbows. For a Legend figure this is top marks on the articulation . Most of the figure is coloured red including the turret complete with it's flap overhanging the chest (we'll return to this later) but the body of the robot and the gun barrel are grey.

TF: Pull the gun barrel right the way out - force will be required and you may find it easiest to pop the head off and force the back of the barrel from behind. Fold the head down. Fold the forearms back beyond their neutral position till the track on the back of them meets the track on the back of the upper arms. Turn so both arms are pointing up with the track facing you and peg onto the sides of the body to secure them. If necessary fold the tracks out from behind the legs, then fold the lower leg back at the knee so they cover the back of the upper leg. Fold the turret onto the robot's back.

Warpath's tank mode is not too dissimilar to Armada Megatron's - a wide open space between the larger forward treads with exposed tracks at the front but with a closed lower back. The gun barrel can be raised and lowered and the turret swings to the side. Slightly.

SLIGHTLY ?? If it wasn't for that overhanging piece of ****ing plastic then the turret would fully rotate ! We'd get the gun barrel pointing out over the lower end of the tank which would make a much pleasing front with the larger tracks at the rear. Whoever thought that was a good idea ? The flap is even covering moulded chest detail in robot mode. The turret is mounted in a way so it should turn. It's almost as if someone at Hasbro has looked at this and thought "we've made a tank in the Legends class that's better than all the larger ones we've ever done. Let's balls it up a bit" When I first saw this toy I thought Warpath mistransformed. Now I have him I know he's the victim of a cruel piece of design.

Best Legend ever spoilt by a 10mm by 4mm piece of plastic, Where's my Stanley Knife ?

A slightly recoloured Henkei version is due soon in a three pack with Cosmos and Wheelie.

[Philip Ayres]

I can't remember ever cutting bits off a TF before. But I have now.

5 minute job - pop the limb off and retract the gun barrel. Two horizontal slices in under the turret either side of the yellow box, then two vertical ones either side of the box to take off the side panels. Then one long cut along the top of the yellow box and you're done.

The turret turns freely in tank mode and the tank looks soooo much better with the barrel facing out over the "back" with the solid armour between the tracks. The chest of the robot mode has lost the yellow box but there's the moulding on the grey underneath revealed.

[Philip Ayres]

I feel so much better with that out the way.

[Bogatan]

It took me a long time to realise that cutting into Transformers was often for their own good.

Andy

[Philip Ayres]

My hands aren't that good any more. I always make a mess of it.

[Philip Ayres]

Wheelie

Poor Wheelie hasn’t had much new version love over the years. He’s been reissued once (with Targetmaster Kup) and had a Japanese Micron named after him – the Micron Legend version of High Wire even though Sureshock in the same team would be a better Wheelie homage. But his time has finally come courtesy of the Legends series attempt to redo as many minibots as possible.

This new version of Wheelie uses the same colours as the old one in roughly the same places. Gone are the wheels on his shoulders – now on the ankles – but the pair on the wrists are still there. The grey hatch over his head is also gone, but in memory of it we have a grey vehicle mode windscreen on the robot’s back. His articulation is limited when placed beside his case brother Warpath – ball joints at shoulders (which also shrug up) & hips. His feet are shown folded out under him in robot mode but if you fold them back to act as heel spurs then he’ll balance on his wheels. Of particular note in the moulding is the slingshot in his right shoulder.

TF: Very similar to Hot Rod in the same case: fold the chest up so it meets the windscreen on the back. Fold the feet back, then the lower legs up. Pull forward so they meet the rear of the windscreen. Bring the arms back & in so they meet to form the front and sides of the car.

Wheelie’s vehicle mode has been completely changed from his G1 version. Gone is the elongated bubble car replaced with a futuristic looking hatchback coloured in orange with grey windscreens & wheels. Of all the vehicle mode upgrades for Universe Wheelie may have come off the best ! The advantage of the altered vehicle mode is it lends itself to repaint more easily than the G1 oddity did.

Well worth getting. I’m afraid this wave may fall victim to the UK’s lag behind the states especially as RotF is coming soon so I’d advise importing – either eBay for all four or HLJ for the Japanese Henkei Minibot set which features a Wheelie in paler colours.

[The Doctor]

Sadly I fear your prophecy of wave 4 may be true. Wave 3 seems to be shelf warming mightily.

Naturally, as Wheelie's biggest fan I shall have to get both the Universe and Henkei! versions!

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

This is wave 5 ! So if the prospects for 4 are poor then five is non existant ! It's a shame cos both are great.

[Philip Ayres]

Cosmos

The original G1 Cosmos is a toy that has never really appealed to me. It was just odd. Not a really effective earth disguise (though that never bothered me for the Dinobots) and to my mind not a terribly good toy.

The new version is at first look very similar to the original – round body with a little red flowerpot head and yellow upper legs. Here the lower legs are separate items bending at a knee while there’s ball joints at the hips – I’ve found the hips on mine pop off quite easily. You can get some significant poseability out of this toy including – with the aid of the vehicle modes tail sticking out of his bottom a kneeling position. The articulation in the arms is limited to ball joints in the shoulders. This means that the green shell of the spaceship is always facing forward rather than the yellow of the arms (as per the original version) I’ve seen it speculated that this is a deluxe version (shown in drawings at Botcon) that’s been downsized and this is one point some articulation has been lost. (I wonder if Warpath too is a downsized deluxe ?) Some fun can be had with the arms though – they can be brought together in front of his waist, chest, over his head or behind his back. He’s also got an addition joint as part of the transformation that allows him to lean back. Huge improvement over the original robot.

TF: Bring the arms together in front of the yellow chest. Fold the waist back which should retract the head. Turn the legs at the hips so the front of the robot leg points forward – at this point I usually pop at least one of the legs off at the hips – then fold the lower legs back at the knees so they cover the upper legs and complete the saucer.

Once again Cosmos’ vehicle mode is a flying saucer but this time it’s a lot thinner and larger than the old one. Mainly green in colour with a red command bridge in the middle (it’s where the bridge is on the Enterprise) and a yellow tail to the rear. The front of the saucer is covered by silver writing in what I assume is some alien language

I bet we’ll see one show up at Botcon this year customised into a saucer section for a Starship Enterprise !

Great design upgrade. Beats the original hands down. A henkei version is forthcoming in a three pack with Wheelie and Warpath.

[Philip Ayres]

Rodimus

Not Hot Rod nor Rodimus Prime, just Rodimus. He’s the odd bot out in this wave – he’s not a Minibot and there’s already a larger version of him. I can’t really see the point in doing one and some moulding money may have been saved by doing a repaint to form Cliffjumper, Hubcap, Goldbug or Outback. I suppose there may be some sort of in joke going on – for years Western fans coveted the Japanese Micromaster Hot Rodimus, now we take revenge with a Legends figure that won’t be released there – the other three Legends from Wave 5 are coming together in a Henkei three pack.

Rodimus’ robot mode looks like the G1 (and Classics) versions of the character – mainly red with a gold firebird on the chest. His wheels, inner shoulders, upper legs and feet are a combination of moulded and painted black. Gone are the dual points of his yellow spoiler pointing up his shoulders.

TF: Very similar to Wheelie in the same case: fold the chest up so it meets the windscreen on the back. Pull legs & feet together and then forward so they meet the rear of the windscreen. Bring the arms forward & in so they meet to form the sides of the car. Fold the spoiler back.

Rodimus’ vehicle mode is a little different to what we’ve come to expect – it’s a more current car design, almost Porsche/Jazz like but painted in the Rodimus colours complete with firebird on the bonnet and fire trails up the doors. There’s a mild gold wash to the top of the spoiler – I’ve only just noticed it and I’ve had the top a day – but it could do with being much more opaque and covering all the spoiler.

Interesting update, similar to Wheelies giving Rodimus a more current rather than futuristic vehicle mode.

[Shockprowl]

Great reviews. Cosmos will be mine.

[Philip Ayres]

You want Warpath. A tiny modification and it's one of the best toys I've seen in a while. I'd be happy to buy a deluxe version in exactly the same moulding but a few times bigger assuming they made that flap fold away