Phil's Micromaster Transport Reviews

[Philip Ayres]

More Micromaster Fun !

Let's play the "Which G1 character am I meant to be ?" game again

[Philip Ayres]

Overload

Overload is one of four Micromaster Transport toys. The name implies that the toys can be used to Transport other Micromasters. While this is true for Overload some of the other toys in this series let the side down a bit. Overload was sold in Japan as Transformers Zone C-337 Road-Jet

Overload is a car transporter, which immediately puts you in mind of Ultra Magnus. However the colours are a near miss for Optimus Prime's - blue truck cab with a red flatbed towing a grey trailer with red base. Swap the blue & red and that'd be a dead on match which makes me think it *is* meant to be a Prime toy albeit one that had it's colours swapped at the last minute.

The trailer features a fold down rear door with space on each deck of the transporter to carry two Micromaster cars. The trailer is mounted on a 5mm peg on the back of the cab's flatbed which allows it to turn. You use him up with the Race Car Patrol just fine which is a nice link between the two sizes of toy.

Transformation - Cab to Robot: Unhitch the cab. Fold the flat bed down under the can to form the legs and fold the feet out. Fold the head up from the top of the cab and swing the exhaust pipes up to form the arms.

Overload's robot mode is a near perfect Prime even down to the shape of the head. The only real deviations are a mouth instead of a faceplate, that the arms - looking a little like hammers on the outside - are formed from the exhaust pipes and that in almost all cases blue and red have been swapped. Overload nearly has standard Micromaster articulation but he looses the knee joint in exchange for the feet being during the transformation.

Transformation - Trailer to Jet: Take the trailer and fold down it's front. Fold the sides of the trailer to the sides to form wings. Fold the grey front of the trailer back to form the cab with the very front forming a control bar. Finally fold the jet's nose out from under the trailer.

The jet mode is a little blocky - it almost makes a better armoured car when you fold the nose back in. Overload fits into the jet sitting down - bend his legs forward into a sitting position and plug the 5mm peg on the back into the hole on the floor of the cockpit.

Overall: decent vehicle and robot modes, but I'm not sold on the jet.

Someday he'll get proper Optimus Prime & Ultra Magnus repaints.

[Philip Ayres]

Flattop

Flattop is an F4 Phantom jet - mainly purple with grey flanks - that is sold with an Aircraft Carrier boat. He's the only one of the Micromaster Transports not to be a towing vehicle. The Air Strike patrol - also Decepticons - would work very well with him, but the Flattop jet is designed to be used with the carrier with a peg under the nose fitting into two holes on the runway. The Carrier mode has wheels underneath allowing it to roll along and a huge pair of cannons mounted on either side of the toy. The back exposes the jet engines of the carrier's alternate mode but this works as you can almost see this as some huge spacebourne carrier vehicle.

Transformation - Jet to Robot: Stand on back of tail with underside facing. Fold tail and nose forward 180 degrees so the nose becomes the robot chest. Fold the wings back, the arms up and the tail down on the robot's back.

An OK enough robot mode as a figure. He beats the other "fold back the wings" plane - Tailwind - hands down by having shoulder articulation but then looses out to most other Micromasters by having no knees, just bending hips.

Transformation - Aircraft Carrier to Jet: Fold the command tower into the side of the boat. Turn the runway halves out to the side to form wings. Turn over. Fold back the guns & the jet tail between them. Remove the guns and peg into the wings facing forward. Fold the front landing gear down.

Of the three Micromaster Transports that form Jet vehicles this one feels the most like a plausible jet mode. Although it's a little hard to identify the jet with one original Transformers character, the carrier/jet was a little more obvious. I remember seeing it first as a 15 year old - in the old WHSmiths in Kingston, now the Entertainer - and thinking "this is Broadside, without the robot mode". Flattop can stand in the cockpit of his jet via a floor peg or can sit down with the lift up plastic bar over his legs just like an amusement park ride. The wings fold back into an arrow head shape during transformation, but the can then be swung forward again if you like making this into a working swing wing jet.

Overall: Decent plane and robot with a nice TF. A not often used mode for the transport and the best of the three Micromaster Transport jets for it's Alt mode. Well worth a look.

Flattop was sold in Japan as a Cybertron(Autobot) Seawave where he was Transformers Zone toy C-340.

[Philip Ayres]

Erector

Let's skip any jokes about the English name OK ? In Japan he was known as Cra-Gun (and released as Transformers Zone toy C-339) which seems like an abbreviation of Crane Gun which is kind of descriptive.

Erector is a yellow Autobot crane. So if you're thinking, as I have been, of which earlier Transformer he's most like you'll be thinking Grapple straight off. The design here is more an oversized truck flatbed being towed by a small cab. The truck flatbed pivots where it's attached to the cab - remove the trailer and you'll see it's attached round (but not into) a small raised ring round a am peg hole. The flatbed has some space on it for transporting other Micromasters but it's not as obvious a use for Erector as it is for Overload & Flattop. Mounted on the flatbed is a crane that turns and elevates, with a hook on the end of a fixed plastic line that bends where it's attached to the crane arm. The crane arm is removable: it's mounted on a am peg which means you can mount it on the back of the cab without a trailer. Erector doesn't correspond to a 1989 Micromaster Patrol like Overload & Flattop seem too. However he does work well with the Battlestation Ironworks and the 1990 Construction team.

The crane arm itself transforms into a weapon: fold the front of the crane arm back 180 degrees and fold the line & hook down. This enables it to be used as a mounted gun on either the trailer or cab or used as a hand weapon by larger Transformers.

Transformation - Cab to Robot: Uncouple the cab and stand on the rear of it's flatbed. Fold the cab forward 180 degrees. Fold up the head and swing the arms up.

Erector's robot mode - like some of the other Micromaster Transports - has lost one of the typical Micromaster articulation points. We just have hips and shoulders. The head looks a little odd with some of the top of the cab hanging over it - surely the head could have folded straight back without needing the extra part on top !

Transformation - Trailer to Base: Remove the crane arm, transform to gun (as above) and replace. Fold each side of the trailer out to the sides at the front and from there fold down the black supports - this is the back of the base. Fold the yellow cover up at the back of the base. Fold up the grey platform and black dual cannon.

The trailer's alternate mode is the only Micromaster Transport not to form a jet - he's a base instead. As such it might have been nice to have incorporated a Micromaster Base Ramp Connector or two. The front is rather busy with both the crane arm gun and the dual cannon. Erector can stand by the dual cannon controlling it, or you can bend his knees forward and peg him into the hole matching the peg ring on the truck's flatbed/back of the legs.

Decent vehicle mode with some adaptability, OK robot & base mode.

[Philip Ayres]

Roughstuff

Roughstuff was sold in Japan as the Transformer Zone Cybertron(Autobot) toy C-338 Missile Bull.

If Roughstuff was using the name of an older Transformer then he'd be Onslaught. They're both long military transports with large weapons mounted on them. He's got a distinct cab that's pegged into the trailer but unlike Erector and Overload the trailer doesn't pivot round the back of the cab. There's a pair of elevating cannons in the middle at the back with a missile mounted either side.

Transformation - Cab to Robot: Detach the cab. Fold the back of the cab's flatbed up to form the feet then fold the rest of the flatbed down to form the legs.

Nice solid robot - albeit lacking the knees of the standard Micromaster articulation having just turning shoulder & hips. The colour balance works well - olive green for the head & arms, grey for the chest and again for the feet with dark blue legs.

Transformation - Trailer to Jet: Fold the sides down top form wings. Remove the dual cannon. Fold the nose forward. Peg the dual cannon in behind the nose and fold the control bar up.

The jet mode is a bit blocky with the wings tipped with the missiles which can be removed. They've got am pegs so can be held as hand weapons or attached to larger toys. Roughstuff can sit in his jet with the control bar over his legs or stand on a peg which will hold him in place.

Nothing to complain about in either mode !

[Philip Ayres]

Graham's done some Micromaster Reviews and reviewed the Transports:

www.the-hub.co.uk/roughstuff/
www.the-hub.co.uk/overload/
www.the-hub.co.uk/flattop/
www.the-hub.co.uk/erector/