Phil's G1 Insecticons Reviews

[Philip Ayres]

I bought them at AA last year. They've been on every "To Do" list I've written since. I finally wiped away my new toy backlog today with HFTD Insecticon so it's only fitting then that I return to the old stuff with THE INSECTICONS!

[Philip Ayres]

Bombshell

One of the first major sub groups for the Decepticons was the Insecticons which were introduced in 1985. The Insecticons consisted of three Diaclone toys repainted (Bombshell, Kickback & Shrapnel) and four re purposed toys, licensed from Takatoku Toys from their Armoured Insect Battalion Beetras that were grouped as the deluxe Insecticons (Barrage, Chop Shop, Ransack & Venom).

Bombshell is one of the Insecticons that originated as a Diaclone toy, in this case a Waruder Insecter Robo Kabutron. I've seen him described as a robotic rhinoceros beetle but I can't see much of a resemblance to the insect picture on Wikipedia. If anything he's a Zoidlike vehicle, probably a tank, based on an insect. His legs are fixed in position with a wheel mounted on the fore & rear most limbs on each side. His tank barrel like antennae, complete with trident shaped tip, elevates at it's base. Most of the insect is black, with some purple on the body, a chromed antennae and some round yellow protuberance that maybe are eyes on the side of the body. There's a clear orange hatch on the body which folds back to allow your Diaclone driver to sit inside the toy, but to lift the hatch you have to raise the rear of the vehicle slightly.

Transformation: Fold the rear of the vehicle back, it will split in two on the way, to form the robot's legs. Stand with the top of the insect facing you. Fold the insect legs out to the sides to form the arms. Fold the turret onto the robot's back. Place his gun, which resembles his antennae, a theme on the Diaclone Insecticon weapons, into his fist.

Straight off I have a major problem with Bombshell's robot mode: the fronts of his legs are open. That does annoy me on a you. A little tweak of the design, by adding a waist, would have solved this problem making the toy look so much better. Given that his upper legs have folded out of the lower ones it's a surprise to discover that he has knees that can fold back between 20 & 30 degrees. Unfortunately they do also fold forward as well! His hips each turn 45 degrees backwards & forwards while his shoulders rotate and fold back. His head is dominated by the grilled silver faceplate while the cockpit canopy covers the chest.

As with all the Insecticons he's a little fragile. Beware the insect legs/robot arms and antennae/gun barrel.

Not a bad little toy, and nothing a few tweaks wouldn't fix.

Bombshell was released in the west in 1985 and was available as Transformer #41 in Japan in the same year.

He was reissued as part of Transformers Collection #16 with Kickback & Shrapnel in 2004. This set also included Energon cubes that could be stored in the Insect/Vehicle cockpits.

In 2009 Bombshell was reissued as part of a Toys R Us Insecticon giftset where he was renamed Hardshell and came with Kickback & Sharpshot (a renamed Shrapnel).

Bombshell was remade in 1991 as European Action Master Bombshell with Needler and in 2009 as Robot Heroes Hardshell. I think Bombshell is a prime candidate for a Classics release for Transformers: upscale the toy, add a waist & ball jointed elbows and attach the antennae by a C-clip so it can be removed and held as his gun. Easy.

Salvo

In 2004 to celebrate the Transformers Collection 16 Insecticons release, E-Hobby issued the Insecticons in their original Diaclone colours. The black, yellow and silver chrome stay the same but the purple becomes red and the clear yellow becomes clear red.

Doesn't do it for me, I prefer the Insecticon colours.

Salvo was sold with Shothole, a repaint of Kickback, and Zaptrap, a repaint of Shrapnel. Like the TFC 16 pack these Insecticons also come with Energon cubes.

Repaints

Subsequent Insecticon toys have frequently been green (see Beast Wars Insecticon, Movie Insecticon and Superlink Chormehorn Forest type, a Japanese exclusive repaint of Energon Insecticon). Maybe a green set of 1985 Insecticons is in order?

[Philip Ayres]

Kickback

One of the first major sub groups for the Decepticons was the Insecticons which were introduced in 1985. The Insecticons consisted of three Diaclone toys repainted (Bombshell, Kickback & Shrapnel) and four re purposed toys, licensed from Takatoku Toys from their Armoured Insect Battalion Beetras that were grouped as the deluxe Insecticons (Barrage, Chop Shop, Ransack & Venom).

Kickback is a either a locust or a grasshopper. Unlike the other two Diaclone originated Insecticons (Kickback's Diaclone name was Battas) he doesn't look like a tank with added animal parts. Kickback genuinely looks like an insect. He's mainly black with purple lower legs, yellow antennae and chromed silver wings. His back is formed from clear yellow plastic which open to allow a Diaclone driver to ride insde him. Front and rear legs end in wheels which allow him to roll along. All 6 legs move at the hip and knee, but the front pairs share a hip on each side which forms the base of the wings which move backwards & forwards. The head moves to each side and the antennae move independantly.

Transformation: Fold the lower rear legs forward into the upper rear legs and stand with the top of the insect facing you. Bring the fore limbs together to form the arms and fold down to the robot's side. Rotate the head forward and fold the wings back. Slide both sides of his gun handle over his hand.

Kickback's robot mode is an insect winged robot and looks fabulous. Te wings can be stored at his side, unfurled behind him or even pointed forward as blades. His hips turn a little forwards & backwards, his shoulders turn, his elbows bend, albeit at the cost of separating the arms, the head turns stiffly and the antennae rotate on the side of his head. His has an interesting looking asymmetric chest formed from the clear cover to cockpit.

Decent toy, but those wings feel oh so fragile!

Kickback was released in the west in 1985 and was available as Transformer #40 in Japan in the same year.

He was reissued as part of Transformers Collection #16 with Bombshell & Shrapnel in 2004. This set also included Energon cubes that could be stored in the Insect/Vehicle cockpits.

In 2009 Kickback was reissued as part of a Toys R Us Insecticon giftset with Hardshell (a renamed Bombshell) & Sharpshot (a renamed Shrapnel).

Like the other Insecticons there's a Robot Heroes version of Kickback. Kickback is the only Diaclone originated Insecticon to have the same name in all his appearances!

E-Hobby Shothole

In 2004 to celebrate the Transformers Collection 16 Insecticons release, E-Hobby issued the Insecticons in their original Diaclone colours. The black, yellow and silver chrome stay the same but the purple becomes red and the clear yellow becomes clear red. The black metal that forms the rim of the robot's chest and insect's back is metallic green here.

Doesn't do it for me, I prefer the Insecticon colours. Try not to laugh at the name!

Shothole was sold with Salvo, a repaint of Bombshell, and Zaptrap, a repaint of Shrapnel. Like the TFC 16 pack these Insecticons also come with Energon cubes.

[Philip Ayres]

Shrapnel

One of the first major sub groups for the Decepticons was the Insecticons which were introduced in 1985. The Insecticons consisted of three Diaclone toys repainted (Bombshell, Kickback & Shrapnel) and four re purposed toys, licensed from Takatoku Toys from their Armoured Insect Battalion Beetras that were grouped as the deluxe Insecticons (Barrage, Chop Shop, Ransack & Venom).

Shrapnel, previously known in Diaclone as Kuwagatorer, is a robotic Stag Beetle. I think he, like Bombshell, looks more like some form of tank. His limbs aren't that well defined and effect made worse by the wheel on the fore and rear most limbs and the lack of any independent motion in insect mode. Once again he's mainly black, with purple sides and rear, yellow forelegs, chromed silver mandibles and a clear yellow canopy allowing a driver to sit within. I love the mandible, a fabulous curving out then in design terminating in gun barrels.

Transformation: Pull each half of the rear of the toy back. Fold the feet down. Turn the robot's waist through 180 degrees (making it even worse that Bombshell has no waist). Stand on the rear of the toy with the cockpit canopy facing forward. Fold the yellow legs behind the toy. Spread the mandibles out to the side revealing his face. Slide the gun, reminiscent of his mandibles, over his forearm.

Shrapnel's robot mode is dominated by the spread Mandibles that reach out to the sides above his head. You feel like they're a little useless there and he could do more with them like point them forward as weapons if only he had some more articulation. At the base of each mandible is a flap that combined with it's twin covers the robot face in insect mode but here it just sits there, still partially obscuring the face. Either make them fold away or have the head turn as per Kickback. Still mainly black with the chest dominated by the clear yellow hatch like all the other Diaclone originated Insecticons, he has chromed silver upper legs and purple arms & feet. His shoulders, hips & waist turn but there's no mid limb joints here. You don't get the feeling as to quite how small the Insecticons are: The top of Shrapnel's head is level with the bottom of Classics Bumblebee's rubsign!

Not a bad toy. The insect design is my favourite of the three Insecticons but I wish we could do something more with the mandibles in robot mode. I await a Classics version to see what they do with them. Said Mandibles are a very vulnerable point on this toy: be careful with them!

Shrapnel was released in the west in 1985 and was available as Transformer #42 in Japan in the same year.

He was reissued as part of Transformers Collection #16 with Bombshell & Kickback in 2004. This set also included Energon cubes that could be stored in the Insect/Vehicle cockpits.

In 2009 was Shrapnel was renamed Sharpshot and reissued as part of a Toys R Us Insecticon giftset with Kickback & Hardshell (a renamed Bombshell)

Like the other Insecticons there's a Robot Heroes version of Shrapnel. Confusingly that is itself named Insecticon

E-Hobby Zaptrap

In 2004 to celebrate the Transformers Collection 16 Insecticons release, E-Hobby issued the Insecticons in their original Diaclone colours. The black, yellow and silver chrome stay the same but the purple becomes red and the clear yellow becomes clear red.

Doesn't do it for me, I prefer the Insecticon colours.

Shothole was sold with Salvo, a repaint of Bombshell, and Zaptrap, a repaint of Shrapnel. Like the TFC 16 pack these Insecticons also come with Energon cubes.

[Philip Ayres]

7 months wait. Done in less than 12 hours. Apologies for the reused sections there, but the same thing needed to be said in each review.

Any comments amendments welcome especially in the next few days before I upload the website versions.

Tonight the Insecticons stand on my shelf menacing POC Snake Eyes.

[Shockprowl]

Great reviews I think! I love the Insecticons, I was only aware of the original three as a child, and learnt about the delux Insecticons coupla years later, so the originals are the best to me! I feel that the uniform look and feel of them is very 'Decepticon'. I also loved their individual personalities and traits. They seemed very 'insecty' and very 'Decepticony'. I love them to bits. I only had (and still have) Shrapnel as a child, but I do plan to get the others as well at some point. Classics Insecticons, in uniform colours would be fantastic. I believe there are some third party figures upcomming, can't remember who they're by or anything.