JunkionHQ

Tag: Beast Wars

  • Bringing the Unexpected: Part Four – Twin Twist

    Bringing the Unexpected: Part Four – Twin Twist

    Twin Twist has finally arrived at Junkion HQ and the Jumpstarters are finally complete!

    Jumpstarters complete!

    In photos Twin Twist’s tank treads can look very thin and Topspin’s wings do not lock in place so I had been a little concerned about how the treads would work. But with the actual toy in hand I’m happy to say that they stay in place very well in both modes. There’s no real lock but they are tighter than Topspin’s wings.

    Twin Twist vechicle mode

    Like his mold-mate, Twin Twist has a great transformation that  compacts everything into the vehicle mode for a very solid feel. Not only is it a great update of the original, but the cockpit is very well integrated and feels like it should always have been there.

    Twin Twist with G1

    Also like his mold-mate, Twin Twist’s biggest difference from the original is the height difference. There is no question that these are the same ‘bot. You may notice that my G1 Twin Twist is not exactly pristine – it is my original toy and features a catalog Autobot symbol that I glued on after the sticker wore off.

    Twin Twist robot mode

    After seeing a solid color parts swap of Twin Twist and Topspin on TFW2005 and realizing how much I loved Topspin I decided to double-dip. After much debate I finally settled on donating these bodies to Clobber and Ptero. I thought that he blue for Ptero would evoke the Diaclone figure while the white Clobber would have a Beast Wars feel.

    Clobber & Ptero with bodies

    Swoop was another figure that I owned “back in the day” and I was very excited when Ptero was announced, especially after seeing how great Clobber’s beast mode turned out. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed by Ptero’s mini-vehicle and am much happier with him in his new form (at least until we receive the true Swoop next year).

    Clobber & Ptero vehicle mode
  • Bringing the Unexpected: Part Three – Clone #2

    Bringing the Unexpected: Part Three – Clone #2

    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.

    Box Set Icons

    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.

    All of the unexpected so far

    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.

    Pounce beast mode - front

    To integrate with Titan Masters Pounce features a saddle on his back where the figures can be attached.

    Pounce beast mode - side

    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.

    Pounce beast mode - with G1

    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

    Pounce 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.

    Pounce and Fastclash robot modes

    In robot mode all of the beast parts are pushed into a good sized backpack with what looks to me like formal suit tails.

    Pounce robot mode - suit tails

    To enable sitting you can change the suit tails into a duck tail.

    Pounce robot mode - 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!]

    Pounce robot mode - splits

    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.

    Pounce robot mode - G1

    I mentioned Pounce’s backpack earlier, this is the biggest difference from the original G1 version which hid the alternate head inside the torso.

    Pounce robot mode - back with G1

    Here Pounce is with Fastclash from the back with his prominent kibble visible.

    Pounce robot mode - back with Fastclash

    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.

    Pounce with Titan Master

    Yeee Haw!