Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 6, 2011 16:12:21 GMT
Autobot Roller
For more photos CLICK HERE
Roller is essentially a robot skeleton, thin even by the standards of the Bayformer toys. The white plastic used for his arms & upper legs doesn't help! His lower legs, obviously vehicle tracks, and the body & head, a single molded piece, are cast in grey plastic which doesn't look to be the same as any of the greys that are used in the Ark's vehicle shell. The lower chest is painted gold while the shoulders & head are painted blue. The head is very Prime like, as is fitting a toy who's only previous name use was as a vehicle with the original Optimus Prime. It's not just the colour, because the head possesses a crest, face plate and ears though a lot of the moulded detail is lost in it'd paint job. His articulation isn't bad: both knees bend and both hips are ball joints as is his left shoulder. His right shoulder turns and the elbow on that arm bends inward. Unfortunately his right hand, a 3mm c-clip claw, is orientated so the open face points to the side of the robot, not forward, which makes you think that a ball joint at the right elbow would have been better allowing the lower arm to swivel round. On the side of the lower arm is a scientific instrument that looks like a moulded together version of a ball missile & launcher with the tail of the missile pointing out the back! The tail is a 3mm bar for adding extra weapons and there's an extra 3mm under the arm too. The robot itself is bigger than a Legion class figure but not quite as big as a Commander so the chances of it being released by itself might be slim. He fits perfectly into the Ark's cockpit in robot mode.
Fold the inner halves of the lower legs forward to give Roller a tracked robot mode.
To Transform into vehicle mode: Fold his left arm across his chest so the hand is over his crotch. Oh dear. Pull his right shoulder away, there's a slot underneath it which meets a tab on the body, then bend back and swing round so the right arm is above his head. Fold the inner lower legs down so they point out the bottom of the legs. Fold the legs forward 45 degrees at the hip and then the lower legs forward 135 degrees at the knee, locking the slot on each lower leg onto the tab on the shoulder. Place on a surface with the robot's chest pointing down. Fold up the solar panel & radar dish.
Roller's vehicle mode is a space rover vehicle, similar to those being used by NASA for unmanned exploration. It's tracked, with a wheel at either end of each track, and a manoeuvring arm sticking out the front. The arm swivels at it'd base and then has three alternating joints down the length of the arm, the last of which is the elbow of the robot's right arm: I mentioned changing this to a ball joint above and doing so would have no impact on this mode. The vehicle mode can roll down the Ark's ramp perfectly well.
The only remotely similar vehicle mode Transformers to this that I can think of are Micromaster Countdown and Armada Comettor. It's always nice to get something a bit different but he feels a bit unstable: in particular the tracks don't peg into the side of the body that well. It might help is the hips or, more especially, the knees of the robot mode locked at the angle they were meant to be for the vehicle mode. But the vast majority of people who own Roller won't have bought the set he's in for him anyway.
Roller was sold in 2011 with the Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Ark playset. In Japan this set is numbered CV-01 and was released in July 2011.
For more photos CLICK HERE
Roller is essentially a robot skeleton, thin even by the standards of the Bayformer toys. The white plastic used for his arms & upper legs doesn't help! His lower legs, obviously vehicle tracks, and the body & head, a single molded piece, are cast in grey plastic which doesn't look to be the same as any of the greys that are used in the Ark's vehicle shell. The lower chest is painted gold while the shoulders & head are painted blue. The head is very Prime like, as is fitting a toy who's only previous name use was as a vehicle with the original Optimus Prime. It's not just the colour, because the head possesses a crest, face plate and ears though a lot of the moulded detail is lost in it'd paint job. His articulation isn't bad: both knees bend and both hips are ball joints as is his left shoulder. His right shoulder turns and the elbow on that arm bends inward. Unfortunately his right hand, a 3mm c-clip claw, is orientated so the open face points to the side of the robot, not forward, which makes you think that a ball joint at the right elbow would have been better allowing the lower arm to swivel round. On the side of the lower arm is a scientific instrument that looks like a moulded together version of a ball missile & launcher with the tail of the missile pointing out the back! The tail is a 3mm bar for adding extra weapons and there's an extra 3mm under the arm too. The robot itself is bigger than a Legion class figure but not quite as big as a Commander so the chances of it being released by itself might be slim. He fits perfectly into the Ark's cockpit in robot mode.
Fold the inner halves of the lower legs forward to give Roller a tracked robot mode.
To Transform into vehicle mode: Fold his left arm across his chest so the hand is over his crotch. Oh dear. Pull his right shoulder away, there's a slot underneath it which meets a tab on the body, then bend back and swing round so the right arm is above his head. Fold the inner lower legs down so they point out the bottom of the legs. Fold the legs forward 45 degrees at the hip and then the lower legs forward 135 degrees at the knee, locking the slot on each lower leg onto the tab on the shoulder. Place on a surface with the robot's chest pointing down. Fold up the solar panel & radar dish.
Roller's vehicle mode is a space rover vehicle, similar to those being used by NASA for unmanned exploration. It's tracked, with a wheel at either end of each track, and a manoeuvring arm sticking out the front. The arm swivels at it'd base and then has three alternating joints down the length of the arm, the last of which is the elbow of the robot's right arm: I mentioned changing this to a ball joint above and doing so would have no impact on this mode. The vehicle mode can roll down the Ark's ramp perfectly well.
The only remotely similar vehicle mode Transformers to this that I can think of are Micromaster Countdown and Armada Comettor. It's always nice to get something a bit different but he feels a bit unstable: in particular the tracks don't peg into the side of the body that well. It might help is the hips or, more especially, the knees of the robot mode locked at the angle they were meant to be for the vehicle mode. But the vast majority of people who own Roller won't have bought the set he's in for him anyway.
Roller was sold in 2011 with the Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Ark playset. In Japan this set is numbered CV-01 and was released in July 2011.
