Today we found out that the last two clones will be arriving in a two-pack instead of with larger box sets as had originally been expected. Hopefully the other two box sets that we’ve been anticipating will still happen just without the clones.
Will we get sets to fill in the other two icons?
Since my Siege on Cybertron box set recently arrived this seemed like good timing for a review.
The Box
For some reason the Siege on Cybertron box set comes branded with the Beast Wars logo. I suppose it does come with a puma and a guy called MetalHAWK but it’s still a bit of a stretch.
Brought to you by Beast Wars and the letter H
Beast Mode
As mentioned above, Pounce’s beast mode is officially a puma but, to me, it looks more like a robot on all fours wearing a dog costume. Still, like Fastclash, it’s a little figure.
To integrate with Titan Masters Pounce features a saddle on his back where the figures can be attached.
While his front legs are a bit spindly at least they’re white to match the head instead of the purple used on the G1 version.
Transformation
His tail folds back onto the pink hindquarters and the puma head folds back into the Titan Master saddle. Straighten the rear legs and fold the beast feet into the robot shins. Spin both shins so the beast feet are on the same side as the tail. Fold the front beast legs together then push the robot arms around to the side. Push the beast front legs down so they sit flush on his back against the puma head. If you twist the arms to hide the hollow bits in beast mode like I do rotate them back so that the forearms can fold forward normally. Twist the robot head and you have transformed Pounce the clone.
Robot Mode
The key aspect of the clones was their identical robot modes and the new version stays true to this. There is no doubt that these are clones.
In robot mode all of the beast parts are pushed into a good sized backpack with what looks to me like formal suit tails.
To enable sitting you can change the suit tails into a duck tail.
Like Fastclash, Pounce also includes the unexplained second set of hinges in the hips. Hopefully, now that the other two clones have been revealed we’ll find out what this is about soon. [UPDATE: now that we’ve seen more photos it’s clear that the extra hip joints are part of the transformation of the final two clones. They’re not just designed to look the same they’re using the same engineering – true clones!]
Comparisons
When seen with the original G1 versions the pedigree is obvious, they did a great job with the new clones.
While the new versions are slightly shorter than the originals they easily make up for that with their expanded articulation.
I mentioned Pounce’s backpack earlier, this is the biggest difference from the original G1 version which hid the alternate head inside the torso.
Here Pounce is with Fastclash from the back with his prominent kibble visible.
Conclusion
Like Fastclash I’m enjoying Pounce more than I would have thought when they were first announced and can’t wait for the final two clones. My only issue with the figure is the back kibble, especially the tail section which often gets in the way when posing.
Yeee Haw!