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Cybertron retro reviews

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 2:29 pm
by Onslaught Six
Figure, what the hey, why not a general Cybertron review thread?

As you all know, I'm on hard times so I'm trying (not successfully...) to thin out my collection, when I came across some toys that I now can't bear to part with, and I'll explain why in a minute.

So without ado:

Cybertron Landmine

Yes, okay, fine, you got me. It's because Landmine is a Masterforce character and this dude is a...decent enough homage to him. To me, Landmine's not a super-huge dude like Energon Landmine, so this guy has filled in just fine--and now that I've been watching Masterforce, I have an actual character to apply to the guy!

Vehicle Mode!

Landmine turns into a Scrapperfing. (You know! A fing Scrapper turns into! Apparently these are called "front loaders.") He's mostly orange-yellow and brown with some grey and red details. Four wheels! He's also got two wheels on what become his robot feet in his undercarriage; I guess to help move the vehicle along?

As a disguise, it's not THAT great--the movie lines have spoilt us. Shoulder and arm joints are visible all over the place and the bottom of the vehicle is full of legs. He's also got a big gun on his back (which is, you know, removable) which doesn't help matters. But hey, it's a Transformer.

His Cyber Planet Key gimmick is pretty simple--insert the key into either of his back wheels and "turn" it and spikes come out. Unfortunately in this mode, you need to do it individually on each wheel--thankfully, the key can be removed without the blades "retracting" like a lot of Key (or earlier Minicon) gimmicks. It also still rolls pretty well on soft surfaces (like my bed) so kudos on that!

Toransuform!

Not very difficult at all. Cybertron was really the last line that skidded that awesome middle ground between transformations that are satisfying and transformations that're too simple. If you know what you're doing, Landmine can be transformed in under two minutes. Getting him back into vehicle mode is also really easy, although I have a tendency to forget which way the wheels on his legs are supposed to go. You can also do the whole thing with the Cyber Planet Key spikes activated, which is great.

Side note: I had one of those moments while transforming him; the kind where you suddenly realize new things about a toy you've owned for years. I didn't know Landmine's crotch bar thing came down! I thought he just had a hollowy crotch. Make sure you don't miss this spot! Makes the figure look way better.

Robot Mode!

Landmine's kind of a short bugger, especially in this line sometimes, but it's alright because I like when Transformers have varying heights. Makes a display interesting! Besides, with his arm scoops, he's a very wide toy. He's the same colours as he was in vehicle mode--the only new thing is his head, which is primarily brown with some red detailing and a silver face. He's got a big red crest on him--detailed crests like this were, in retrospect, really common for Cybertron. Hot Shot and Vector Prime had them as well, and even Grand Convoy had an exaggerated one.

Landmine's got a good amount of articulation. Ball joints in his elbows and hips and also transformation joints in his shoulders--allowing him a little bit of forward (but sadly not backward) movement, making him one of the few TFs that can do so. He has swivel joints below his knees but, other than rotating the ball joint, nothing for his elbows. This isn't terrible, and was pretty standard for the time, but it's still disappointing that he can't do certain poses. His feet, though, are cool--they split in half, front and back, and can rotate down to provide extra stability and Cool Posing.

The peg on his gun is kind of small and it can occasionally be slightly difficult to put it into his hand. Not terribly so, but enough to note it.

His Cyber Planet Key gimmick in this mode is basically useless, though. The spikes end up right on his back, and can't be rotated up without partially covering his head--and that's assuming they have guns in them, or something. It doesn't do much but make him have spikey wheels on his back, which is worth...something, I guess.

All in all, though, Landmine is super standard for the line and a good solid toy. If you really like the Masterforce character, he's a well enough substitute! The Cyber Planet Key gimmick is entirely ignorable (and should probably be for as useless as it is) and he's pretty damn poseable. He's fun! Don't go out of your way to track him down, obviously, though, because you aren't...well, you aren't missing anything. But if you like Landmines, then this is a good one to have.

Re: Cybertron retro reviews

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 9:33 pm
by JediTricks
I didn't remember his Cybertron iteration, had to look it up. All I remember is what you covered, the cyber key gimmick was a huge snore because it couldn't really be used in any meaningful way. Figure looked ok for a rather simple layout, but couldn't bring his shovel kibble to bear in bot mode, right?

Oh, and he was on the cartoon a bit, right? I remember the dopey whirlwind animation for him.

Re: Cybertron retro reviews

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:12 am
by Onslaught Six
No, actually, he can do all kinds of shovely stuff. Right now I have them kind of clawing outwards, but they can be folded back (which looks dumb and non-threatening) or you can even fold his hands back in and give him huge, Aliens-style powerloader forklift hands.

And yeah, he was in the cartoon, but damn near everyone was. Cybertron's weird reboot-not-reboot status made things weird, though. Ostensibly he's supposed to be the same guy as Energon Landmine (and shares most of his colours and even a few detail design cues) but the cartoon makes him out like he used to train Optimus Prime...meaning he'd be Cybertron's "equivalent" of Armada Scavenger, the same way Hot Shot reverts back to his plucky Armada personality. If I remember right, he gets damaged on Earth (by Decepticons or by idiocy, I'm not sure which) and one of the kids fixes him up. (I think the dad was a mechanic?) This gives the humans an excuse to hang out with the Autobots, which is quickly forgotten ten episodes or so later, and Landmine is never important again.

It looks like Landmine can be had on eBay for anywhere from $8-20 easily right now, which isn't bad for a slightly older Deluxe piece. I'm not sure how I'd feel about paying $15 for him right now, unless I really wanted him, but I felt pretty good about the $10 back in the day. (Of course, he was actually received as a gift, so...)

Re: Cybertron retro reviews

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:04 pm
by Gustavo
Onslaught Six wrote:No, actually, he can do all kinds of shovely stuff. Right now I have them kind of clawing outwards, but they can be folded back (which looks dumb and non-threatening) or you can even fold his hands back in and give him huge, Aliens-style powerloader forklift hands.
They look more like salad tosses to me. Now here's a bot that can toss a salad, so to speak.
And yeah, he was in the cartoon, but damn near everyone was. Cybertron's weird reboot-not-reboot status made things weird, though. Ostensibly he's supposed to be the same guy as Energon Landmine (and shares most of his colours and even a few detail design cues) but the cartoon makes him out like he used to train Optimus Prime...meaning he'd be Cybertron's "equivalent" of Armada Scavenger, the same way Hot Shot reverts back to his plucky Armada personality. If I remember right, he gets damaged on Earth (by Decepticons or by idiocy, I'm not sure which) and one of the kids fixes him up. (I think the dad was a mechanic?) This gives the humans an excuse to hang out with the Autobots, which is quickly forgotten ten episodes or so later, and Landmine is never important again.
I believe it was Cody, demonstrating his amazing bicycle repair skills work well on giant robots.

It was scenes like that which made me conclude that the Transformers themselves have amazing spark powers that they know nothing of (in this case, repairing their own mechanics), and which they could only tap into when there was a plausible non-mystical explanation. This incident is only plausible because everyone involved is an idiot.

Re: Cybertron retro reviews

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:12 pm
by Gustavo
Onslaught Six wrote:Figure, what the hey, why not a general Cybertron review thread?
Yes, okay, fine, you got me. It's because Landmine is a Masterforce character and this dude is a...decent enough homage to him. To me, Landmine's not a super-huge dude like Energon Landmine, so this guy has filled in just fine--and now that I've been watching Masterforce, I have an actual character to apply to the guy!
The doesn't wear glasses, and he's not great with the ladies, so I don't see how he can be a very good homage,
Vehicle Mode!

Landmine turns into a Scrapperfing. (You know! A fing Scrapper turns into! Apparently these are called "front loaders.") He's mostly orange-yellow and brown with some grey and red details. Four wheels! He's also got two wheels on what become his robot feet in his undercarriage; I guess to help move the vehicle along?

As a disguise, it's not THAT great--the movie lines have spoilt us. Shoulder and arm joints are visible all over the place and the bottom of the vehicle is full of legs. He's also got a big gun on his back (which is, you know, removable) which doesn't help matters. But hey, it's a Transformer.
I think the color scheme really brings out the transformation bits in this guy's vehicle mode. Grindcore, same mold with a unified green color scheme, is a lot more plausible in vehicle mode. I was really disappointed in Cybertron Landmine when I got him, but Grindcore remains a favorite.

The gun is disguised as an exhaust pipe, but it should be pointed up, rather than back. I wonder if a dremel would be able to put in a clean 5mm hole for that.
All in all, though, Landmine is super standard for the line and a good solid toy. If you really like the Masterforce character, he's a well enough substitute! The Cyber Planet Key gimmick is entirely ignorable (and should probably be for as useless as it is) and he's pretty damn poseable. He's fun! Don't go out of your way to track him down, obviously, though, because you aren't...well, you aren't missing anything. But if you like Landmines, then this is a good one to have.
The Cyberkey gimmick gives him better traction, and can tear up an asphalt roadway. It's like snow chains.

The mold is great, but most of Cybertron had great molds.