Phil's Stunticion Reviews

[Philip Ayres]

I enjoyed reviewing (and huting down the parts) for the original Protecobots and then the reissue Seacons. Doing another Scramble City/Special Team combiner had been on my mind, probably Technobots or Terrorcons.

But in my box of toys in the loft sat a lone G1 Dragstrip. Everytime I went up there he spoke to me. About how he wanted friends. So on Sunday night I had a look on eBay for the Stunticons. And got a shock at quite how cheap they were. Monday night I won a lot containing a set of weaponless Stunticons (which as it happens suits my purposes). This morning I won a complete Motormaster for about half the cost of what the combining parts & his weapons would have cost me by themselves.

Yeah you've all heard Phil's "Stuticons are remade Autobots" theory. I won't repeat it every review (just Motormaster's) but it'll get referanced every time because there's a distinct Autobot repaint to be had out of each Stunticon.

So while I wait for the rest of the team, and a SECOND combiner toy to be delivered here's Dragstrip.

[Philip Ayres]

Stunticon Dragstrip

I thought Stunticon Dragstrip's distinctive six wheeled race car form was probably based on a drag racer rather than an Formula 1 car. A little research, however, reveals that Dragstrip is a Tyrrell P34 Six-Wheeler race car, which raced in 1976 & 1977. There's two smaller wheels at the front on each side, with a larger wheel at the back. All the bodywork is in yellow plastic with a silver chromed eight cylinder engine mounted behind the drivers compartment but in front of the spoiler.

In the rear of the car is a 5mm peg hole which can be used to mount the post for his Plasma Energy blaster, which is moulded in purple plastic and can turn from side to side. Since I'm reviewing Dragstrip first - there was one loose in my spares box that I found on a market stall in the 90s - The construction of the weapon is the same as the vehicle weapons used for the other Stunticon limbs and two of the Protectobots: a 5mm peg at right angle to a rectangular block of plastic ending in a post which inserts into the base of the gun. Like all of the vehicle mode add on weapons for the Stunticons, the blaster looks like one part too many and a bit excessive mounted on the car mode, whereas by contrast the Stunticons opposition the Aerialbots have too few add on weapons. A little modification to the design would have improved the blaster no end: Mould a 5mm post into the bottom of the weapon which would then fit a 5mm socket on the top of the post. Put that socket in a piece that could pivot backwards and round the rear of the block. This gives you a gun that can turn & elevate plus a larger weapon that the combined robot can hold. Hasbro/TakaraTomy: Take note for any reissue!

Transform: Remove the plasma energy blaster. Fold the engine forward into the driver's compartment. Pull the rear of the car back and stand with the top of the car facing you - the spoiler will pivot up to form the feet. Fold the nose of the car back onto the robot's back revealing the head. Raise the arms from the side of the toy and place his purple Gravito gun in his hand.

Dragstrip's robot mode looks tall & thin, with the car sections containing the front wheel rising up above the level of his Scramble City connector head, which is moulded in purple plastic with a pale blue painted face. Earlier versions of this toy feature a silver metal back, on later copies of the toy this part is plastic. Articulation is limited to his shoulders turning. His hands can each hold his Gravito handgun but he's unable to use his Plasma Energy Blaster in this mode which is a bit of a failing.

Dragstrip can form a limb for Menasor or any of the other Special Team/Scramble City style combiners:

Arm Mode: Take the car mode, fold the head down under the car and plug into a shoulder socket. Insert a fist into the 5mm peg hole at the rear.

Leg Mode: Take the robot mode, shorten the legs and fold the arms straight down to the sides. Clip the head into the bottom of a Leader's leg. Peg a foot into the 5mm peg hole.

Traditionally Dragstrip is Menasor's right arm.

Dragstrip's perhaps a little gaudily coloured, but F1 cars do race in some odd colour schemes. I'd prefer him as an Autobot without the cannon but he's a competent enough small Transformer for the time he was released.

Dragstrip was released in the US & UK in 1986 as Stunticon S4 and was also available in the Menasor giftset. In Japan he was numbered D-52 and also sold in the D-55 Menasor giftset. He was re-released in Europe in 1990 as a gold carded European Classics toy. At around the same time a supply of the Chinese Menasor giftsets entered the UK and were available in toyshops over here.

Of all the Stunticons Dragstrip is probably the most identifiable, as a race car. This makes him an easy target for repainting: take a race car toy, paint it yellow, Dragstrip. And yet this has only been done once! Classics Mirage was repainted as Universe Dragstrip. Given how many race car Mirages there have been over the years it's a surprise this has never been done before. In particular why wasn't Go-Bot Mirage/Double Clutch ever done as Dragstrip? The rest of the GoBot/Spychanger moulds would have made wonderful Stunticons. Even as I wrote this review a new Power Core repaint emerged showing Leadfoot in yellow packed with Destructicon & Rallybot repaints seemingly as Power Core Dragstrip with Stunticons.

Generation 2 Dragstrip

Repaints of the Stunticons were planned for the Generation 2 toyline in 1994. Dragstrip would have swapped yellow for black, purple for pale blue and silver chrome for gold chrome in this rather attractive repaint (yes I am talking about a Generation 2 toy!) that was sadly not released.

However since it's the only existing repaint of Dragstrip we can hold out hope that when a reissue of the Stunticons eventually comes along E-Hobby will provide us with this as an exclusive repaint.

Future Repaints: Autobot Version

I have a theory that the Stunticons were originally meant to be redone versions of some of the original Autobots. See the Motormaster review for more details. Even if you don't subscribe to this theory, you should be able to see that it would be possible to get a set of Autobot repaints from the Stunticons. As a race car Dragstrip is immediately analogous to Mirage. Swap the yellow for white, the purple for blue, apply some blue paint and you're onto a winner as an Autobot Repaint version of this toy.

[blueshift]

Dragstrip was also released during G1 Classics as free with several packs of WEETABIX! That is where I got mine from!

[grahamthomson]

Nov 10, 2010 7:55:31 GMT blueshift said:

Dragstrip was also released during G1 Classics as free with several packs of WEETABIX! That is where I got mine from!

I got my Classics Fireflight from the same promotion!

[Philip Ayres]

Was it a random classics limb or just Dragstrip?

I forgot to mention my other change to the connecting post for the vehicle weapon: Put a 5mm peg hole in the back of the connector which will allow the weapon to e mounted on the robot's wrist at the same time as the hand.

[blueshift]

Nov 10, 2010 9:10:18 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Was it a random classics limb or just Dragstrip?

I forgot to mention my other change to the connecting post for the vehicle weapon: Put a 5mm peg hole in the back of the connector which will allow the weapon to e mounted on the robot's wrist at the same time as the hand.

It was just Dragstrip (you got him in a special baggie with a card that said his name on!)

They did a similar offer with Fireflight either before or after. I want to say before, because I've seen samples of him bagged but didn't see the offer at the time, and I was a consummate Weetabix eater! Might have been you got either-or, but I seem to recall via my shoddy childhood memory that it was explicitly Dragstrip you would get.

[Philip Ayres]

See we were Rice Crispies or Corn Flakes eaters..... but by that time I was onto toast & marmalade and Bacon Sandwiches for Breakfast.

A little research gives me This Thread at the 2005 boards which indicates it's just these two Transformers, and that Dragstrip doesn't include his vehicle mode weapon.

[blueshift]

Nov 10, 2010 9:40:10 GMT Philip Ayres said:

See we were Rice Crispies or Corn Flakes eaters..... but by that time I was onto toast & marmalade and Bacon Sandwiches for Breakfast.

A little research gives me This Thread at the 2005 boards which indicates it's just these two Transformers, and that Dragstrip doesn't include his vehicle mode weapon.

Dragstrip definately had his vehicle-mode weapon, it must be under the car in that pic.

[Philip Ayres]

I've asked.

[blueshift]

Nov 10, 2010 9:56:58 GMT Philip Ayres said:

I've asked.

Well mine definately came with one!

[Philip Ayres]

Some familiar names In This Thread from ATT

And if you scroll down this thread there's a pic of the bagged Dragstrip with the weapon in it. Matt was right, the TFW2005 thread must have had the weapon under the toy.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

I got both Fireflight and Drag Strip from Weetabix. I think they were on offer at the same time. They came in bags but Drag Strip had all his weapons.

Martin

[Philip Ayres]

oooo! While doing some picture research for these reviews I discovered this:

G2 Motormaster Gallery @ 2005 Boareds

[blueshift]

Nov 10, 2010 20:14:33 GMT Philip Ayres said:

oooo! While doing some picture research for these reviews I discovered this:

G2 Motormaster Gallery @ 2005 Boareds

Good grief, that's a good find Phil! I was always under the impression that they only existed as painted samples rather than molded ones!

[Bogatan]

Yeah TF2 paid an absolute fortune for that thing a few years back. I think it was an auction that claimed it had been discovered in an old factory in China or something. His parents must be loaded is all I can say.

Andy

[primenova]

I only had Deadend from this team - but liked how some had the legs folding out the other way than normal.

[Philip Ayres]

Stunticon Dead End

Dead End is a burgundy Porsche 928 with black windows. Along the right hand side of the runs a yellow sticker which would look much better applied with modern paint sprays - the sticker on mine is very worn.

In the rear of the car is a 5mm peg hole which can be used to mount the post for his vehicle mode cannon, moulded in the same black plastic as the windows. For further comments on the Stunticon vehicle weapons design see my review of Dragstrip which can be found here.

Transform: Identical to Stunticon Breakdown. Remove the vehicle mode weapon. Pull the rear of the car back. Fold each half of the car out to the side and back to form the lower legs. Push them back towards the rest of the car. Fold the bonnet back onto the windscreen. Stand on the rear of the car with the underside facing you. Raise the arms and place his compressor air gun in his hand.

We end up with a tall robot mode. There's black plastic on the upper legs, front of the arms, middle of the chest and the head. Most of the chest is, on the earliest version at least, metal. Articulation is limited to the shoulders which turn.

Dead End can form a limb for Menasor or any of the other Special Team/Scramble City style combiners:

Arm Mode: Take the car mode, fold the head down under the car and plug into a shoulder socket. Insert a fist into the 5mm peg hole at the rear.

Leg Mode: Take the car mode and fold the bonnet back. Clip the head into the bottom of a Leader's leg. Peg a foot into the 5mm peg hole.

The instructions show Dead End serving as Menasor's right leg.

Perfectly competent in all three modes.

Dead End was released in the US & UK in 1986 as Stunticon S1 and was also available in the Menasor giftset. In Japan he was numbered D-54 and also sold in the D-55 Menasor giftset. He was re-released in Europe in 1990 as a gold carded European Classics toy. In the mid nineties a supply of the Chinese Menasor giftsets entered the UK and were available in toyshops over here.

Dead End's led a more extensive life since Generation 1 than any other Stunticon. He's been a Beast Wars Neo Destron, a Mini Con, a rather nice Alternator which should have been coloured yellow and called Sunstreakeras it was much later, and as a movie toy.

Generation 2 Dead End

Repaints of the Stunticons were planned for the Generation 2 toyline in 1994. Dead End would have swapped the Burgundy for bright red and black for green with the windows painted silver. A very nice repaint.

Since it's the only existing repaint of Dead End there's a good chance that when a reissue of the Stunticons eventually comes along E-Hobby will provide us with this as an exclusive repaint.

Future Repaints: Autobot Version

I have a theory that the Stunticons were originally meant to be redone versions of some of the original Autobots. See the Motormaster review for more details. Even if you don't subscribe to this theory, you should be able to see that it would be possible to get a set of Autobot repaints from the Stunticons.

Windcharger would make a good Autobot version of Dead End as Generation 2 Dead End illustrates.

[Philip Ayres]

Stunticon Breakdown

Breakdown is an off white Lamborghini Countach featuring a bright orange stripe on the front bonnet with a small Decepticon symbol on it.

In the rear of the car is a 5mm peg hole which can be used to mount the post for his vehicle mode cannon, moulded in the blue plastic which as we'll see is also used on the robot mode. For further comments on the Stunticon vehicle weapons design see my review of Dragstrip which can be found here.

Transform: Identical to Stunticon Dead End. Remove the vehicle mode weapon. Pull the rear of the car back. Fold each half of the car out to the side and back to form the lower legs. Push them back towards the rest of the car. Fold the bonnet back onto the windscreen. Stand on the rear of the car with the underside facing you. Raise the arms and place his concussion rifle in his hand.

Breakdown is another tall thin robot, with his wheels pressed together between his legs. His leg fronts, inner arms, chest centre and head are all dark blue plastic while the surround for the chest is metal, or at least is on earlier versions of the toy. Articulation is limited to the arms which turn.

Breakdown can form a limb for Menasor or any of the other Special Team/Scramble City style combiners:

Arm Mode: Take the car mode, fold the head down under the car and plug into a shoulder socket. Insert a fist into the 5mm peg hole at the rear.

Leg Mode: Take the car mode and fold the bonnet back. Clip the head into the bottom of a Leader's leg. Peg a foot into the 5mm peg hole.

The instructions show Breakdown serving as Menasor's left arm.

Again, Perfectly competent in all three modes.

Breakdown was released in the US & UK in 1986 as Stunticon S2 and was also available in the Menasor giftset. In Japan he was numbered D-51 and also sold in the D-55 Menasor giftset. He was re-released in Europe in 1990 as a gold carded European Classics toy. In the mid nineties a supply of the Chinese Menasor giftsets entered the UK and were available in toyshops over here.

Breakdown's name was reused on a Cybertron toy while there's a Revenge of the Fallen version that resembles the original in both modes.

Generation 2 Breakdown

Repaints of the Stunticons were planned for the Generation 2 toyline in 1994. Breakdown is the only one of the Generation 2 Stunticons to escape into the wild in anything like large quantities when he was issued as a Botcon exclusive in 1994. G2 Breakdown swaps the white for cyan and the dark blue for purple with the windows painted gold and with the large stripe at the front of the car now being painted black containing a huge G2 Deception symbol.

Since it's the only existing repaint of Breakdown there's a good chance that when a reissue of the Stunticons eventually comes along E-Hobby will provide us with this as an exclusive repaint.

G2 Breakdown returned as a Botcon 2010 exclusive,a remould of Universe Sideswipe.

Future Repaints: Autobot Version

I have a theory that the Stunticons were originally meant to be redone versions of some of the original Autobots. See the Motormaster review for more details. Even if you don't subscribe to this theory, you should be able to see that it would be possible to get a set of Autobot repaints from the Stunticons.

Given that Breakdown is a Lamborghini, and we already have used a red car in our Autobot repaints (see Dead End's review) I suppose that Sunstreaker would be a good choice as a repaint.

[Philip Ayres]

Stunticon Wildrider

Wildrider is a grey Ferrari 308 GTB sports car, with bright red windows both painted (front) and plastic (side). He's quite similar in shape to Deadend - I frequently confuse the two and think that Dead End's Alternator has a colour scheme more appropriate to Wildrider.

In the rear of the car is a 5mm peg hole which can be used to mount the post for his vehicle mode weapon. For further comments on the Stunticon vehicle weapons design see my review of Dragstrip which can be found here.

Transform: (very similar to Dragstrip) Remove the vehicle mode gun, pull the rear of the car back,fold the bonnet back and stand on the rear of the car with the underside facing forward. Place his black Scattershot gun in his hand.

Wildrider's robot mode has red arms, black chest centre & head and, at least on the earliest versions of the toy, metal sides to the chest. Articulation, as per the other Stunticons, is limited to the shoulders turning.

Wildrider can form a limb for Menasor or any of the other Special Team/Scramble City style combiners:

Arm Mode: Take the car mode, fold the head down under the car and plug into a shoulder socket. Insert a fist into the 5mm peg hole at the rear.

Leg Mode: Take the car mode, fold the bonnet back, connect the head to the bottom of Motormaster's leg and peg a foot into the 5mm hole in the back of the car.

The instructions show Wildrider serving as Menasor's left leg.

Again, Wildrider feels perfectly fine in all his modes. His problem, and that of his fellow Stunticons, is that they all feel vaguely similar. Dragstrip's vehicle mode is a little more distinctive but the other three all feel the same. Essentially two transform one way and two transform another, they all have the same articulation and they all look similar in robot mode. The same problem afflicts the Aerialbots too.

Wildrider was released in the US & UK in 1986 as Stunticon S-4 and was also available in the Menasor giftset. In Japan he was numbered D-53 and also sold in the D-55 Menasor giftset. He was re-released in Europe in 1990 as a gold carded European Classics toy. In the mid nineties a supply of the Chinese Menasor giftsets entered the UK and were available in toyshops over here.

Wildrider's sole reappearance as a Transformers toy came with Henkei Wildrider, a Japanese repaint of Classics Rodimus which was an exclusive item from the "Chara Hobby 2008" show in Japan on August 30th, 2008. This toy is similar to the western Botcon 2008 Shattered Glass Rodimus.

Generation 2 Wildrider

Repaints of the Stunticons were planned for the Generation 2 toyline in 1994. Wildrider would have swapped his grey for yellow and the red for green to create a typically gaudy G2 repaint.

However since it's the only existing repaint of Wildrider we can hold out hope that when a reissue of the Stunticons eventually comes along E-Hobby will provide us with this as an exclusive repaint.

Apparently Alternators Decepticharge was originally to be named Wildrider but the trademark could not be secured. The yellow colour scheme is similar to that used (or rather, in the end not used!) for the G2 toy.

Future Repaints: Autobot Version

I have a theory that the Stunticons were originally meant to be redone versions of some of the original Autobots. See the Motormaster review for more details. Even if you don't subscribe to this theory, you should be able to see that it would be possible to get a set of Autobot repaints from the Stunticons.

Paint Wildrider white & black and he'd make an OK Wheeljack.

[Philip Ayres]

So......

If Phil has liked the Stunticons so far why is he not a fan of the team? The answer will be revealed in the next few days, but the word "Motormaster" is involved.

[Philip Ayres]

Stunticon Motormaster

Motormaster is the larger leader toy for the Stunticons. Apparently, according to sources I've read, he's a Kenworth K100 Aerodyne sleeper truck. He's got a black cab, with purple windows & flatbed and a silver trailer with purple stripes and a Decepticon logo on the side occupying a similar position to those found on Optimus Prime's trailer. The trailer is fixed to the flatbed and neither detaches or turns. Only the front and both rear pairs of wheels turn - the rear pairs on the flatbed are fixed, which will be a small issue later.

Like the other three 1986 Scramble City/Special Team leaders Motormaster has a base mode. Fold the top of the rear half of the trailer out to the sides - this would form the robot's arms and is incredibly stiff on both of my Motormasters: I've applied less force to a toy and broken it! Pulling up on the arms a little first may help. Fold the lower half of the sides on the rear half outwards too,placing the robot's arms flat on the floor. Fold a ramp out from the rear of the vehicle. (at this point it is possible to fold the sides of the vehicle back up and leave the ramp hanging behind the trailer) Interestingly, the Western instructions stop at this point, but there's more steps to the base mode. Fold the top of the front of the trailer back. Split the cab and the front of the trailer in two. Fold out to each side to form a wall with the ramp extending out of it. Fold the top of the front of the trailer back into it's original position.

Motormaster's base can then function as a stand alone unit or be linked to Trypticon or the connectors on the side of Metroplex's leg when Metroplex is in City mode. Motormaster is the only Scramble City leader in 1986 not to need additional parts to form his base mode. The car that forms Menasor's chest can roll down the ramp here but sadly it's not wide enough for the other Stunticons to use. The base mode, like Silverbolt and Onslaught's base modes, was originally designed to incorporate a launcher. See Scrambled City for details. This launcher can be found on early Japanese versions of Motormaster.

To Transform Motormaster to robot mode, start with the truck and, as per the base mode, fold the tops of the rear of the trailer out to the sides which reveals the head. Pulling them up first might help the transformation here but either way make sure they're pulled out to the sides at the end. Fold the top of the front of the trailer back to form the chest. Pull the front of the trailer forward, Separate the front of the trailer and the cab down the middle, then fold the cab up onto the front of the trailer to form the feet. Stand with the top of the trailer facing forward. Place the Cyclone gun and chromed swords into the 5mm peg holes in his hands.

Now for many years I've said that the Stunticons were one of my least favourite Special Teams/Scramble City combiners. Well if you've been reading my reviews in order you'll know I found the Stunticon limbs to be competent if unspectacular in all three modes. Unfortunately Motormaster's robot mode is where it all starts to go wrong. Motormaster's robot mode is nearly entirely made up of blocky, silver-grey rectangular pieces formed from folding bits of the trailer out: he's more blocky than any other Transformer. The only real break in this form and colourwise is the feet, formed from the cab which are HUGE compared to the rest of the leg projecting forward from the leg and rising up some distance towards the knee. Remember that the rear wheels on the flatbed are fixed? You don't even get the benefit of a robot being able to roll along on his feet! Motormaster almost looks better with the cab folded back behind the legs, but then he has no feet at all!

The next problem is the head. Set in a square surround, it's effectively a face in a box. Now this worked for Huffer, but here the box isn't delineated that well from the body. It's the same width and colour as the body and the top of the body is at the same height as the top of the arms. With the arms hung neutrally at the sides the top half of Motormaster looks like a big silver square joined to the silver lower legs by the small black lower legs.

Motormaster's weapons introduce two new colours to the toy: the long Cyclone gun is purple while the sword is chromed silver. I like chromed weapons, but I like sword done in clear plastic more - a nice purple here would be good and would have an added benefit when we come to form Menasor.... Both weapons can be held by Motormaster, the combined form of Menasor or any other Transformer toy with a 5mm peg hole hand.

Articulation is limited to the shoulders turning. Yes ok, the legs bend to the sides at the hips and knees but that isn't really a useful joint for posing the toy. So effectively the shoulders are it. They don't fold out to the sides like Hotspot & Onslaught, and the arms don't bend at the elbow like Silverbolt so Motormaster is very much the poor relation amongst the Special Team leaders and has the same effective articulation as the rest of the Stunticons.

Motormaster serves at the body for Menasor. From robot mode, fold the legs out to the sides at the hips and then in again at the knees. Fold the cab halves back behind the legs. Fold the arms straight down to the sides and push in. Place the waist plate on so the robot's upper legs are covered. The car, turned so the roof faces you and the ends point to the sides pegs onto the chest - the peg holes are at the top as the car is now facing you. The mask goes over his face. You can then attach the Stunticons as limbs and attach the hands & feet to them.

So. OK Truck, but could have been better with the trailer being articulated in relation to the flatbed and some storage space in the truck. Base mode OK, but probably hurts the robot mode which is,lets face it, probably as bad as you can get without not actually working.

Motormaster was released boxed in the US & UK in 1986 as Stunticon S5, and was also available in the Menasor giftset. In Japan he was numbered D-50 and also sold in the D-55 Menasor giftset. He was re-released in Europe in 1990 as a gold boxed European Classics toy. In the mid nineties a supply of the Chinese Menasor giftsets entered the UK and were available in toyshops over here.

Generation 2 Motormaster

Repaints of the Stunticons were planned for the Generation 2 toyline in 1994. Motormaster swaps black for purple, purple for cyan and silver for blue to produce a typically gaudy Generation 2 toy that would have been sold on a large card in a plastic heat sealed clamshell like Generation 2 Silverbolt and Onslaught

However since it's the only existing repaint of Motormaster we can hold out hope that when a reissue of the Stunticons eventually comes along E-Hobby will provide us with this as an exclusive repaint.

Future Repaints: Autobot Version

Something about the Stunticons, and more so their Aerialbot opposition, doesn't sit right with me. I'm very old school and see the Autobots as Cars and the Decepticons as planes as per the original divisions between the sides in 1984. In the case of the Aerialbots & the Stunticons the alignment is the other way round and that doesn't seem right. It's worse here because these are the first combining Transformers and I feel they should be representative of each side, not in opposition to which type of toy a faction normally ends up where.

Looking closely at the Stunticons each seems to align with an original Autobot quite easily. A repaint and you'd be there:

Deadend, the Porsche 928 = Windcharger
Breakdown, the Lamborghini = Sunstreaker
Wildrider, the Ferrari 308 GTB sports car = Wheeljack
Drag Strip, the Tyrrell P34 Six-Wheeler race car = Mirage
Motormaster, the Kenworth K100 Aerodyne sleeper truck = Huffer

Why Huffer for Motormaster and not the more obvious Optimus Prime? Because I feel Optimus Prime was going to be redone as Hotspot, who's got Prime's head, chest and would look so much more sensible with Prime's colours. Motormaster does share some features with Huffer, most notably the robot mode face set within a square surround.

Even if you don't subscribe to this theory, you should be able to see that it would be possible to get a set of Autobot repaints from the Stunticons. So paint the cab orange and the trailer blue and you've got a workable Huffer for a future repaint set.

[Philip Ayres]

Stunticon Menasor

Menasor is the combined form of all five Stunticons:

S1: Deadend
S2: Breakdown
S3: Wildrider
S4: Dragstrip
S5: Motormaster

He's assembled thus:

Deadend, Breakdown, Wildrider & Dragstrip

Due to the similar construction of the limbs robots they all have the same transformation sequence to combine them.

Arm mode: From car mode remove the vehicle mode gun. Fold the head & connector arm out from under the car. Place a fist in the 5mm hole at the rear of the car.

Leg mode: From car mode remove the vehicle mode gun. Fold the bonnet back. With the underside of the car pointing towards you and the front of the car pointing up, peg a foot into the hole on the rear of the car.

Motormaster

Motormaster serves at the body for Menasor. From robot mode, fold the legs out to the sides at the hips and then in again at the knees. Fold the cab halves back behind the legs. Fold the arms straight down to the sides and push in. Place the waist plate on so the robot's upper legs are covered. The car, turned so the roof faces you and the ends point to the sides pegs onto the chest - the peg holes are at the top as the car is now facing you. The mask goes over his face.

You can then attach the Stunticons as limbs and place the purple cyclone gun and chromed silver sword into the 5mm peg holes in his hands.

Menasor inherits many of the design features, and thus the problems, inherent in Motormaster. The main body is very boxy, in fact you can trace a straight line from the top corners down through the body, the hips & into the legs which is then continued into the body of the Stunticon serving as the leg. Similarly the other edge of the Stunticon leg unit's chest forms a line with the inside of the leg. The mask forming the face delineates the head better than before and does slightly protrude above the line of the top of the body. But essentially the toy is a box with four cars stuck on it and a couple of pieces of black armour. The cartoon and comics version modifies the design by placing the head on top of the body which looks slightly better. But the only time I've got the toy to look OK is when I've stood it against my Digital Radio, which is a similar shade of grey, causing the top of the body to disappear.

You can have a little fun playing with the Sword: since it's held by a 5mm peg , then it's capable of plugging into the 5mm hole the fist sits in and can act as an extension of the arm. If the sword was moulded in clear coloured plastic then the sword would look like the energy weapons used by Optimus Prime & Megatron in an early episode of the Cartoon.

No I'm sorry Menasor really doesn't do it for me. It's mostly Motormaster's fault but the cars play same role by being very similar and allowing you not much opportunity to improve the design by swapping the limbs round.

Menasor was first sold in 1986 in the USA, UK & Japan where he could be formed from the individual Stunticons or bought as a giftset, which was numbered D-55 in Japan. The individual Stunticons were reissued in the UK as gold carded/boxed Classics toys in Europe in 1990. A number of Chinese Menasor giftsets were sold in the UK in the mid 1990s.

Menasor's name has been reused a number of times. However the Classics Legend Menasor and Sand Diego Comic Con Menasor are both closer in design to Motormaster than the combined form. Cybertron Menasor reuses the name on a totally different design while in the Power Core Combiners line both the Destructicons & Stunticons carry elements of the original combiner toy.

Generation 2 Menasor

Repaints of the Stunticons were planned for the Generation 2 toyline in 1994. G2 Menasor would have been formed from the following mostly unreleased toys:

G2 Dead End
G2 Breakdown
G2 Wildrider
G2 Drag Strip
G2 Motormaster

G2 Motormaster is a bit of a train wreck with bright neon blue hands & feet which don't work full stop and are even worse here because they're exactly the same colour as one of the limbs.

However since it's the only existing repaint of Menasor we can live in the fear that when a reissue of the Stunticons eventually comes along E-Hobby will provide us with this as an exclusive repaint.

[legios]

Phil, I think you have put your finger on my biggest problem with the Stunticons and with Menasor. I did own them for a while but parted with them a couple of years ago because they didn't do anything for me.

Basically, Motormaster turns from a passable truck toy into... well, a rectangular grey box. The very poor arms and feet on Motormaster just put the tin hat on it really.

The rest of the Stunticons are ok, if a bit samey to look at, but Motormaster really lets the side down a long way.

The combined form is also a bit blocky to look at - it is probably more symmetrical and even than any other Scramble City combiners but somehow suffers compared to the frankenstinian look of the others.

Karl

[blueshift]

Motormaster sacrifices a lot for his third mode, which really doesn't do a lot nor look like anything. If it had a functional launcher it'd be great though! I did always like how everything folded out into the ramp setup