Post by Philip Ayres on Feb 15, 2011 16:42:55 GMT
Reveal The Shield Perceptor
For such a prominent character Perceptor has had very few new versions of him made. He doesn't have an Action Master, unlike his close relative Blaster and in fact his only real re-imagining is Legends of Cybertron Perceptor, although you can argue that the similarly coloured Ultra scale version of the same toy, Universe Countdown, should be called Perceptor too!
The new RTS version looks like a red Trailbreaker with tracks replacing the rear wheels. Windscreen, headlights and side windows are clear orange plastic as are the 3 lenses on the light array mounted on the cab roof. The middle of the array folds forward to become a gun with an extending chromed barrel. The middle of the barrel is a 3mm bar but attaching weapons to may harm the toy in the long run by scratching the chrome.
Transformation: Turn the vehicle over, pull the hands off the posts they rest on, note how the shoulders mesh together then fold the arms out under the front of the vehicle and fold them out to the sides, folding the wheels in. Pull the front of the vehicle forward and fold the windscreen down onto the bonnet. Pull the front of the vehicle forward, pulling the cab roof forward and extending the robot's legs. Fold the back of the vehicle up and back to form the front of the lower robot legs. Fold the feet out of the rear of the vehicle and rotate so they face upwards. Separate the legs, unpeg the tracks then fold them in 180 degrees then slide them backwards. Push each of the doors in and fold back into the rear of the vehicle pegging the treads into them, completing the robot's legs. Fold the waist back under the chest formed from the centre of the vehicle. Fold the searchlight array off to the side, fold the middle section forward, extend the gun barrel, then fold the outer sections back and together to form the rear of the cannon. Raise the range finder screen, then find the grey panel in the robot's back which you push up to raise the head. Fold the front of the vehicle onto the robot's back so that the rear of the the front wheel arch is roughly horizontal. Fold the outer shoulder panels forward so their bottom sits against the pegs. Position the arms so the silver discs face out to each side.
Robot mode: Perceptor. They got this right for the most part. We get a lot more black revealed on the hands and head with blue lower arms and upper legs, a clear chest that folds down surrounded by a chrome edging and chromed discs on the arms. The discs have two 3mm bars built into them for c-clip weapons, however repeated use of them for this purpose may well scratch the chrome. Hands are open but with a 5mm peg hole gap in the middle should you be able to find a weapon donor. The face is a little long for Perceptor, but the head sculpt is decent enough. He's got a yellow light pipe but unfortunately the eyes are painted over with yellow paint on mine ruining it. Articulation: turning wrists, bending elbow, bicep swivel, ball jointed shoulder (attached to a panel that stays in place better than many shoulders not directly attached to the body), turning head, no waist, ball jointed hips, thigh swivel, bending knees and ball jointed ankles. Yes the backpack - and thus the panels holding the shoulders in place - can come unpegged BUT it holds together in robot mode better than most toys of a similar design.
Overall: Happy with that, nice toy, works for me. Would like a gun though!
Perceptor was released in January 2011 in Reveal The Shield deluxe wave 2 with Optimus Prime, Wreck-Gar and Bumblebee.
Transformers United Perceptor
The Takara Tomy version of Perceptor is due to be released at the end of Febuary 2011 in the third wave of toys with Kup, Blurr & wreck-Gar. He will be numbered UN-15 and feature a metallic red colour scheme and clear, instead of clear yellow, windows.
Repaints
I think we'll be seeing a lot more of this toy. A different head repaint has been shown, rumoured to be Reflector. Now I'm assuming this will be the cartoon version, where all the parts of Reflector look similar rather than the vastly different Spectro, Spyglass & Viewfinder (who combine to form the Reflector camera) offered by Hasbro in the US. Original Perceptor has an E-Hobby repaint, Magnificus that is a possibility.
Classics Perceptor is a repaint of the Legends of Cybertron Red Alert and this new Perceptor isn't a million miles away from the vehicle mode Red Alert had in Armada and the start of Cybertron so I can see a white repaint.... and the Armada version has been repainted more than once.
Formwise RTS Perceptor's robot mode is reminiscent of Soundwave, especially with the shoulder cannon, and indeed there's already at least one splendid custom out there. And where you have Soundwave you can get Soundblaster and from there to Blaster & Twincast.
But I think the biggest possibility lies in doing a new Trailbreaker from this toy. New head, replace the tracks with a panel attached to a wheel and you're laughing.
LOTS of potential here. I think we aught to get used to this toy!
For such a prominent character Perceptor has had very few new versions of him made. He doesn't have an Action Master, unlike his close relative Blaster and in fact his only real re-imagining is Legends of Cybertron Perceptor, although you can argue that the similarly coloured Ultra scale version of the same toy, Universe Countdown, should be called Perceptor too!
The new RTS version looks like a red Trailbreaker with tracks replacing the rear wheels. Windscreen, headlights and side windows are clear orange plastic as are the 3 lenses on the light array mounted on the cab roof. The middle of the array folds forward to become a gun with an extending chromed barrel. The middle of the barrel is a 3mm bar but attaching weapons to may harm the toy in the long run by scratching the chrome.
Transformation: Turn the vehicle over, pull the hands off the posts they rest on, note how the shoulders mesh together then fold the arms out under the front of the vehicle and fold them out to the sides, folding the wheels in. Pull the front of the vehicle forward and fold the windscreen down onto the bonnet. Pull the front of the vehicle forward, pulling the cab roof forward and extending the robot's legs. Fold the back of the vehicle up and back to form the front of the lower robot legs. Fold the feet out of the rear of the vehicle and rotate so they face upwards. Separate the legs, unpeg the tracks then fold them in 180 degrees then slide them backwards. Push each of the doors in and fold back into the rear of the vehicle pegging the treads into them, completing the robot's legs. Fold the waist back under the chest formed from the centre of the vehicle. Fold the searchlight array off to the side, fold the middle section forward, extend the gun barrel, then fold the outer sections back and together to form the rear of the cannon. Raise the range finder screen, then find the grey panel in the robot's back which you push up to raise the head. Fold the front of the vehicle onto the robot's back so that the rear of the the front wheel arch is roughly horizontal. Fold the outer shoulder panels forward so their bottom sits against the pegs. Position the arms so the silver discs face out to each side.
Robot mode: Perceptor. They got this right for the most part. We get a lot more black revealed on the hands and head with blue lower arms and upper legs, a clear chest that folds down surrounded by a chrome edging and chromed discs on the arms. The discs have two 3mm bars built into them for c-clip weapons, however repeated use of them for this purpose may well scratch the chrome. Hands are open but with a 5mm peg hole gap in the middle should you be able to find a weapon donor. The face is a little long for Perceptor, but the head sculpt is decent enough. He's got a yellow light pipe but unfortunately the eyes are painted over with yellow paint on mine ruining it. Articulation: turning wrists, bending elbow, bicep swivel, ball jointed shoulder (attached to a panel that stays in place better than many shoulders not directly attached to the body), turning head, no waist, ball jointed hips, thigh swivel, bending knees and ball jointed ankles. Yes the backpack - and thus the panels holding the shoulders in place - can come unpegged BUT it holds together in robot mode better than most toys of a similar design.
Overall: Happy with that, nice toy, works for me. Would like a gun though!
Perceptor was released in January 2011 in Reveal The Shield deluxe wave 2 with Optimus Prime, Wreck-Gar and Bumblebee.
Transformers United Perceptor
The Takara Tomy version of Perceptor is due to be released at the end of Febuary 2011 in the third wave of toys with Kup, Blurr & wreck-Gar. He will be numbered UN-15 and feature a metallic red colour scheme and clear, instead of clear yellow, windows.
Repaints
I think we'll be seeing a lot more of this toy. A different head repaint has been shown, rumoured to be Reflector. Now I'm assuming this will be the cartoon version, where all the parts of Reflector look similar rather than the vastly different Spectro, Spyglass & Viewfinder (who combine to form the Reflector camera) offered by Hasbro in the US. Original Perceptor has an E-Hobby repaint, Magnificus that is a possibility.
Classics Perceptor is a repaint of the Legends of Cybertron Red Alert and this new Perceptor isn't a million miles away from the vehicle mode Red Alert had in Armada and the start of Cybertron so I can see a white repaint.... and the Armada version has been repainted more than once.
Formwise RTS Perceptor's robot mode is reminiscent of Soundwave, especially with the shoulder cannon, and indeed there's already at least one splendid custom out there. And where you have Soundwave you can get Soundblaster and from there to Blaster & Twincast.
But I think the biggest possibility lies in doing a new Trailbreaker from this toy. New head, replace the tracks with a panel attached to a wheel and you're laughing.
LOTS of potential here. I think we aught to get used to this toy!
