Dave's RotF Rant: NEST Deluxe Wave 1: Armorhide and Dirge
Dave Van Domelen
Armorhide (redeco of Movie1 Landmine)
Dirge (Harrier-like jet)
Alliance Bumblebee (redeco of Preview Bumblebee)
Tuner Mudflap (redeco of Mudflap)
Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/RotF/DeluxeN1
http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Movie/Deluxe4 - Landmine review
http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/RotF/Deluxe0 - Preview Bumblebee
http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/RotF/Deluxe3 - Mudflap
Both Bumblebee and Mudflap get fairly minor changes, mostly tampographed
details in vehicle mode, with minor changes in plastic colors (Bumblebee gets
clear plastic instead of metallic blue, Mudflap gets a bunch of gold plastic
in robot mode). Given that between Preview Bumblebee and Cannon Bumblebee I
already have two variants of that mold (plus all the 2007 versions), and the
fact that Alliance Bumblebee is a fairly minor change, I passed. Tuner
Mudflap mostly adds tattoo-ish graphics on the vehicle mode and the
aforementioned gold plastic in robot mode (yeah, just what it needs, a dance
with Gold Plastic Syndrome), but it's such a crappy mold I wouldn't buy
another version no matter the colors.
The Cannon Bumblebee mold will get a new head and some tweaked paints as
part of a two-pack with a recolored Soundwave, but I don't expect to get
that.
Many of the NEST toys I've seen seem to have at least a few bits of deep
red paint on the robot modes, with the paint not fully covering darker
plastics and thus looking slightly different depending on whether it's over
light or dark plastic. I hereby dub this "NEST Red" to go with the AllSpark
Power line's AllSpark Blue (which, BTW, is pretty close to non-photo blue).
CAPSULES
Armorhide: Original version was strongly recommended, one of the best
molds to come out of the line. The new colors work pretty well, although
beware of corner-cutting (unfortunately, most of the problems aren't visible
in package). Recommended. $10 on sale at Walmart.
Dirge: Pretty good vehicle mode once you get it properly pegged
together, very interesting transformation with a LOT of thought put into it,
very good (if somewhat kibbly) robot mode. Strongly recommended. $10 on
sale at Walmart.
Alliance Bumblebee: Original version of this remold was mildly
recommended. Not reviewed.
Tuner Mudflap: Original version got a rare AVOID from me, the only toy
I've found more frustrating was Leader Optimus Prime. This version doesn't
even look as good in the package, and might have Gold Plastic Syndrome to
worry about as well.
RANTS
Packaging: Very similar to previous waves, but the blisters have been
redesigned and the faction symbols in the upper left of the card back have
been replaced by the NEST logo. (The reshipped Gears is on old packaging.)
The NEST logo is a gray Autobot symbol in a gray gear shape with a green set
of longitude and latitude lines inside it (Autobot symbol in front of a green
line globe, in other words). This is inside a red roundel with four
horizontal "wing" stripes, inside a badge-shield shape. The top has
"N*E*S*T*" (yes, a five pointed star after the T) over smaller "GLOBAL
ALLIANCE" between two green lightning bolts, and there's a green star below
the roundel.
The top side of the blister is molded with "N*E*S*T*" in large letters
along the top line and "GLOBAL ALLIANCE" in smaller letters below. The left
side has a molded outline of the NEST shield (I refuse to type it N*E*S*T*
every time) with the card insert behind it showing the shield, replacing the
Cybertronian glyph. The right side has the relevant Autobot or Decepticon
symbol. The bottom of the front is the same as previous waves, but there's
an indent in the upper right containing a NEST shield sticker. Note that
even Dirge has a regular NEST symbol.
Armorhide and Dirge have each other as co-sells on the bottom,
suggesting they may have initially be intended as a short wave (4 of each in
a box), but that's just speculation. Co-sells are hard to read much out of
given that they're often printed before actual shipping patterns are
finalized.
No catalogs, but each toy includes a small NEST sticker (taped to the
blister, so be careful) that's just the gear part and what's inside, no
shield or roundel. These are for a mailaway offer described in more detail
at http://www.bwtf.com/node/1222 : buy the upcoming Cannon Bumblebee/
Soundwave repaint set and a few other NEST toys with stickers, then send away
for a redeco of Ravage that mainly adds red bits. If it were a Shattered
Glass deco I might be tempted, but I think I'll pass. Maybe I'll put one of
the stickers in the middle of the Apple symbol on my iMac.
AUTOBOT: ARMORHIDE
Altmode: Desert Patrol Vehicle ("Dune Buggy" on the package)
Licensor: None
Previous Name Use: RiD, Armada, Cybertron, Movie1
Previous Mold Use: Movie1
Gimmick: Working Shocks
Function: Off-Road Patrol
Motto: "YEEEEEE-HAW!"
Things have been slow lately, so the discovery of a DECEPTICON hiding
right under his nose was like a dream come true for ARMORHIDE. He's enjoying
working alongside BUMBLEBEE, since his damaged vocal processor means the
other AUTOBOT can't complain about his methods. ARMORHIDE doesn't care about
stealth of safety. All he cares about is bringing DIRGE crashing down.
STR 9 INT 4 SPD 5 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 9 FRB 7 SKL 3 Avg 6.375
I just get a redneck vibe off this guy. Also, based on Dirge's G1 and
neo-G1 history, bringing him down probably won't be too hard.
Packaging: One tie around the vehicle, one around the gun, plus a rubber
band around the front end to keep it from rattling out of position and making
the springs sprung and another rubber band holding a shield piece onto the
rear. Definitely a good idea, given that the rear bumpers are pegged in but
not glued in.
The photo of the vehicle mode has his propane tanks in robot positions,
maybe the photographer thought they were big exhaust pipes? Thing is, you
have to force the things to get them there, so I don't recommend it.
The instructions don't show the alternative shoulder mounting for the
gun in robot mode.
Color Swaps: Landmine's greenish-gray is actually two different kinds of
plastic, a rigid plastic on the vehicle body panels and a slightly softer
plastic for the robot parts. The rigid stuff becomes a dark forest green on
Armorhide (looks black under poor lighting conditions), while the rest (robot
parts, gun, wheel hubs) is a fairly standard military olive green. The only
robot-specific parts that are dark green are the finger-claws, making the
hands a little busy color-wise as the thumbs are olive. The light gray
plastic becomes a little lighter, the clear plastic a little darker and
includes some metalflake. Black stays black (well, really dark gray in both
cases) in most cases, but the bumpers are medium gray with a hint of
metalflake. The core of the head is definitely made of clear plastic, but
it's thick enough that the metalflake inclusions make it non-translucent to
anything shy of a laser. That's in contrast to Landmine, whose clear head
core was painted over in AllSpark Blue. I'm not sure if the soft black
plastic on the gun is intrinsically softer on Armorhide than Landmine, or if
it just hardens with age.
Paint Apps: In vehicle mode, the main paint is silver tampographing.
There's a silver Autobot symbol at the front of the hood, with "DEFENSE" in
stencil font along the sides of the hood top. The armor plates above the
windshield have "10-22" over a large "80" on the passenger side and "50" on
the driver's side. I suspect 10-22-80 is the birth date of someone involved
in the design, but as of the time I wrote this review I couldn't find
anything definite (TFWiki has nothing, and Wikipedia has no significant event
on that date). The leading edge of the doors have "50" over a silver
U.S. flag, so the 50 probably stands for states. Behind the side windows is
"CMR" which could stand for a lot of things (including the initials of
whoever was born on October 22, 1980). A few possibilities from
acronyms.thefreedictionary.com include "Center for Military Readiness"
"Combat Mission Ready" "Cry Me A River" "Crisis Management Resource" and
maybe "College Militaire Royal" if he's Canadian. A slightly truncated NEST
shield (no rounded bottom part) is tampographed on the doors. The headlights
and two middle taillights are painted silver, the outer taillights are red,
and the searchlight at the front has a yellow lens. The border of the
windshield looks to be painted gunmetal, but it's simply thick enough to look
that way without paint.
In robot mode, many of the AllSpark Blue apps become NEST Red, including
the collar area and forearms. The eyes are painted NEST Red, as are some
details on the thighs. The mouth-slit is silver, and the pelvis is gloss
black with some silver accents.
Mold Changes: None that I noticed.
Other Notes: Human Alliance figures are a little too big to stand in the
back of vehicle mode. The slightly smaller Battle Force 5 figures are also
too big.
The head pops off pretty easily, I have to wonder if it's because the
piece was originally planned to be painted over. The tiny change in
dimensions would leave it a bit loose. The superglue trick worked fine,
though, and also fixed up a few other loose joints. In other home-
improvement projects, there's pretty obvious sprue marks on most of the olive
green pieces that could stand to be buffed out.
Overall: A really good mold, I'm glad to see it back in circulation,
although they seem to be cutting corners a bit more on quality control
lately.
DECEPTICON: DIRGE
Altmode: Fighter Jet
Licensor: None
Previous Name Use: G1, TF:A, Classics
Previous Mold Use: None
Gimmick: Spinning Thrusters
Function: Psychological Warfare
Motto: "No one suspects me, my plan is...oh, SLAG!"
DIRGE thought the heart of enemy territory - N.E.S.T. headquarters - was
the perfect place from which to launch a secret campaign of terror. A single
slip-up revealed his presence, and brought his plans crumbling down. Now
he's running scared with BUMBLEBEE and ARMORHIDE on his tail. He's too
frightened to land, but so terrified of running out of fuel that he finds
himself breathing a sigh of relief every time he touches down.
STR 7 INT 7 SPD 8 END 5 RNK 6 COUR 2 FRB 7 SKL 4 Avg 5.875
Maybe his slip-up was to choose a vehicle mode that doesn't exist? Very
few planes have a V-tail design, and none of them look anything like a
Harrier. The jet intakes are also wrong for a Harrier.
This is notable as being the first entirely new mold to carry the name
Dirge. G1 Dirge was one of the coneheads that shared a body but had unique
wings and tails. BWII Dirge was a redeco of one of the Machine Wars jets,
Target Classics Dirge was a redeco of Voyager Cybertron Starscream, and both
BotCon Dirges were redecos. Unlike the other five Seekers, Dirge hasn't been
reused much, so I guess it was only a matter of time. ;)
Also, this is the second-to-last of the Seekers to get to be the first
to use an all-new (i.e. no recycled parts, not released simultaneously with a
redeco) mold in America. Starscream's gotten plenty of new molds,
Thundercracker got his own new mold in Cybertron and was the first Seeker in
the transforming Titanium Series, Ramjet got to be Tidal Wave's Mini-Con,
Thrust got a new mold in Armada (and Beast Machines, although that wasn't a
jet). Skywarp has at best been tied, releasing simultaneously in G1 and
Machine Wars, being a trailing redeco every other time he's appeared in
America.
Packaging: Two twist-ties on the plane. The missiles are in the
launchers, but not cocked.
Vehicle Mode: Most people call this a Harrier, and that's about as close
as I've been able to find to it, although I suppose it could be some weird
late-model Russian thing. A Slingshot redeco could happen later, although
last I heard they didn't have the rights to the name, so it'd be one of those
pseudo-homages like Fracture. If we didn't already have a redeco as Thrust
in red (Breakaway redeco), I'd half-expect a green Thrust redeco to homage
ol' squidhead...in fact, the whole "I have a brilliant plan...oops!" thing in
his bio does seem to be an homage to Armada Thrust.
Anyway. It's mostly a Harrier, but with triangular intakes and a
butterfly tail. Not quite a V-tail, more of an X with the top two branches
much longer than the bottom two. 7" (17.5cm) long, in a sort of metalflake
version of G1 Dirge's blue and tan with black and silver bits. Like a
Harrier it has stubby wings and a vent behind the cockpit (which can be
opened, although it reveals a robot hand behind the pilot's seat), but
there's no underbody thrusters since the underside is all robot bits. The
big underwing missile launchers are just pegged on if you want slightly
better lines, but they partially cover more robot kibble, so there's not a
lot of improvement to be had by removing them. Amusingly, among the
undercarriage junk is a fake cockpit that ends up on the chest in robot mode,
even though the real cockpit is still pretty visible as the right forearm.
That kinda suggests that, like Depthcharge, this made it to the design phase
for inclusion in the movie (or the tie-in game), rather than being a toy from
the word go.
Most of the toy in this mode is made of a dark faintly metallic slightly
greenish blue plastic. The missiles and rear landing gear (non-rolling
wheels) are pale gold plastic, while the front landing gear, launcher
triggers and a few joint bits are black plastic. The nosecone is rubbery
black plastic, and the cockpit is clear very faintly violet plastic.
A slightly orangey gold paint is used on the leading edges of the wings
and the front bits of the intake vent cowlings. Gloss black is on the intake
vents themselves, the vent behind the cockpit and most of the top branches of
the tail (the ruddervators are unpainted). I think the front parts of the
launchers are also painted, since the black there is glossier than the black
plastic found elsewhere in the toy. A matte black Decepticon symbol is
printed on top between the wings, and two smaller ones are on either side of
the nose below the front of the cockpit. The cockpit borders are painted
slightly bluish silver, there's a blue-silver stripe behind the gold on each
wing, and a few blue-silver accents on the underside of the intake cowlings.
You should check your Dirge carefully before buying, there's significant
paint slop on mine (but all in areas not visible in-package, d'oh), mainly
involving the gold paint.
Transformation: Wow. From a design standpoint, this is an incredible
transformation scheme. And it even seems to be resistant to quality control
issues, with fairly robust pegging and joints. I'm particularly impressed by
how the head and pelvis fold open to lie flatter in vehicle mode...sure, the
vehicle has a lot of undercarriage junk, but it could have been a LOT worse
without these design tricks. I'm particularly impressed that the tail chunk
doesn't just hide as a backpack, it unfolds to clip onto the shoulders as
more of a cape.
Getting back to vehicle mode is a little finicky when it comes to
attaching the side parts, but it's "a minute or two of fiddling" rather than
"throw Mudflap in the trash" level difficulty. At least all the parts that
need to be adjusted are fairly easy to get at (mostly the robot legs), as
opposed to behind hidden behind panels you've already had to close.
Robot Mode: You can see traces of Starscream's protoform robot mode in
this design, notably the round turbines on the chest and the oversized
shoulderpads. As mentioned earlier, there's a fake cockpit on the chest in
addition to the real cockpit being the right forearm, and there's a shield on
the left forearm formed by the folded up paneling from the top of the
fuselage. In other "fake plane parts" news, while the actual intake vents
are on the heels, a pair of G1-Seeker-style intakes sit over the shoulders
(pushing them up also moves the head up). The one thing they didn't fake is
the wings hanging off the boots, just as with G1 Dirge (although in the case
of the G1 toy, they weren't actually connected to the boots directly). Since
Ramjet also had boot-wings, I can see them doing a Ramjet redeco of this mold
to finish out the conehead trio. And as with G1 Dirge, the missile launchers
can be pegged onto either the arms or the wings, although the left arm peg is
kinda hard to work with unless you're willing to sacrifice a lot of range of
motion.
5.25" (13.5cm) tall and a bit leggy, the robot mode brings out a lot
more black and gold, with only a few of the newly-revealed pieces being blue.
It also brings in some canary yellow and NEST Red. Part of the back of the
head, the hands, outer thighs and the joints on the wings are pale gold
plastic in addition to those parts from vehicle mode. The inner thighs,
pelvis and shoulderpads are blue plastic newly revealed, while the left
forearm, shield and most of the lower legs are blue vehicle bits. The knee
joints, ankle joints, hip joints, shoulder joints, upper arms, torso and head
are black plastic. The fake cockpit and the lightpiping are clear pale
violet plastic.
The face and some chest details are bluish silver, but they didn't paint
the border of the fake cockpit to match the real one. Bright yellow paint
details are added on the shoulderpads, pelvis and the top "cravat" part of
the fake cockpit. I'm not really sure why they went with bright yellow
instead of more of the orange-gold, since neither the G1 Dirge toy nor his
usual animated/comic appearances used the color. The inside of the fake
scoops and some details on the helmet front are painted what I'm guessing is
the same "NEST Red" seen on Armorhide, it just looks darker because it's on
black plastic and doesn't coat fully. He has no separate Decepticon symbol
in robot mode, the one on his shield being good enough.
Dirge's head turns, but the transformation swivel at mid-abdomen is
locked down both by the fake cockpit in front and the tail-cape in back, so
no waist articulation. The shoulders are universal joints, but the left arm
can't fold down flat against his sides due to how the hinge part of the
shoulder is designed...and the peg that forms the upper arm swivel will pop
off if you try to force it. It looks like this could be adjusted by shaving
off some material from the upper arm, we might be looking at a thickening
forced by drop-testing. But since both elbows bend all the way closed for
transformation, the lack of range on the shoulder barely matters. The right
wrist has some play in its transformation hinge, but the left wrist has no
joint. The hips are ball joints with swivels right below them, the knees are
double hinges and the ankles are swivels between two hinges (the top one is
forward-back, the bottom hinge is right-left). The feet are reasonably big,
although the wings get in the way somewhat so some of the more dynamic poses
are hard to pull off without awkward reshuffling of pieces.
In addition to firing missiles, the toy has a Mech Alive gimmick that
they seem to have decided later should be visually downplayed. When you
rotate the shoulders at their swivels, the turbine piece in the chest on that
side spins. So he has spinning nipples. Which he can touch, thanks to the
range of motion in his elbows. Someone probably caught that later in the
process and suggested leaving the pieces entirely black in the hopes no one
would notice. ;)
Overall: It's probably too soon to call this the best non-movie mold of
RotF, but it's certainly in good company shipping with a redeco of Landmine.
And it's certainly not without problems (kibbly legs, fiddly pegging in
vehicle mode), but the good far outweighs the bad. And it's a character who
has never had his very own mold from the ground up before (and who got jobbed
by Serpentor in the comics), so he deserves some love. Too bad he's already
being ganged up on, and will probably die like his G1 namesake tended to. Or
at least seem to die.
Dave Van Domelen, likes saying "ruddervator".