Robots in Disguise: Heros 3 Pack
Well, if you ever wanted more Vehicons, the tail end of the RID line sure intends to
give it to you. With all the toys in the final wave being either BM Vehicons of G2
laser vehicles, it seems the two lines are back (sorta). This pack is a particularly good value
because it contains one previously hard to find mold, and two other early BM releases that
were probably two of the best basic Vehicons released. All for five buck each, which is a nice
$2 markdown from what they went in the BM line. Who ever said repaints were bad.
Name reuse is another issue. The originals were called Spystreak, Mirage and Scavenger. The new
ones are Nightcruz, Mirage GT and Scavenger. Ah well, at least they didn't go the Storm Jet
route. I've already reviewed Scavenger and Mirage, so they just get small samples. I don't
own a Spystreak (and probably never will now), so he gets the full shebang.
Scavenger
Well, what can be said about this guy? He's one of the most fun and versatile Vehicons, and
Transformers in general, and he's even been to Europe.
What more do you want? Okay, how about a new color scheme then.
Essentially, where the original was green, orange and silver, the new one is blue, white and gold. The
translucent bits are a nifty shade of blue. Overall it's really an amazing improvement over the
garish color scheme the original had, but sadly, it's just not the same. I guess I have just come
to love the original scheme so much (due to the mold being quite excellent) that it's hard to
come to grips with a superior, and far less of an eyesore of a color scheme. The original looks like
my parent's living room in the 70's, and the new one is like it is now.
Remolds are slight. A spot on his right tread was smoothed out so they could put a little
Autobot symbol there (makes me wonder more why Storm Jet lacks one), and also his head
seems to have been remolded a bit as you don't need Excessive Force to get it to stick up
all the way. The copyright date has been changed to 2001 too (natch), but that's usually a given
for repaints/remolds.
Overall, the original was already quite cool, and if you don't own one, this is a good substitute. One
down, two to go.
Mirage GT
Okay well, he's not a GT car by any means, but that's okay. He's not really a formula 1 car
either (though the latter is a closer match). Car mode is freakish indeed. He's pretty
much entirely yellow. I'm thinking calling him 'Bumblebee' would have been a better idea. Placed
next to the original color scheme he's painfully glaring. Gah. However, it's useful for
spotting the three pack from the opposite side of the store. He's what caught my eye when I
found the three pack at work.
Robot mode I can deal with because a lot of the yellow disappears. Actually that's not
overly true, it's just there's some black and dark gray to strike a balance now. Very cool. In
all honesty, I like the new color scheme for robot mode than I do the old one. Very odd.
There aren't any mold changes I can see, but a lot of the joints seem stiffer than I ever
remember Mirage's being. Oh and also, his legs are put on the wrong sides. Swapping them isn't
too tough, but getting them back onto the ball joint can be quite a pain.
Overall, well, I like the robot mode color scheme better, but the massive amounts of yellow
in vehicle mode has to go. The original scheme is better. Still, it's a good mold, and he
can play hockey almost, so, so far you've paid $15 for two BM basics, which isn't a horrible
price. But wait, there's more!
Nightcruz
Okay, first of all, rubber band central over here. He must be some kind of threat to himself
and others as he's quite restrained in the box. At least half the total rubber bands
are his. Yeesh. Why oh why won't Hasbro start packing things BW2 or BWN style. My kingdom for
a plastic tray free from twist ties and rubber bands!
Okay, so vehicle mode is a spy plane, or a SR-71 Blackbird to be precise (stylized, sorta like
Obsidian), in nifty black and washed in gray. There's also some light blue, which looks out of
place, but I can deal. This mode is pretty nifty, and holds together quite well thanks to the
pegs and such. Very cool. Pressing forward on the uh, spark (read: red thing), first opens the
front end of the thing, clamp style, then fires both missiles. It's an okay gimmick, but you have
to fire both missiles at once and the clamp serves no real purpose in this mode aside from
looking silly and I suppose grabbing Decepticons and flying away with them. Oh no, come back with
Mirage, Nightcruz!
Transformation isn't too tough, but the entire front of the plain is pegged into the
missile launcher so tightly that I wasn't sure what to do at first. Once you figure that part
out the rest is easy though. Actually, you may think there's more to the transformation, as
his arms are a bit, erm, lacking, but it's done.
Robot mode is top heavy to the extreme, with the entire front of the plain becoming his lower
arms. Yes, he doesn't have any hands. Ah well. However, despite the weight of himself being
essentially in two spots, his legs do a very good job of supporting him as they are quite poseable. My major
gripe is that his shoulders are flush against his sides, so he has even more problems with his
giant clamp and missile launcher. If they extended out even a small bit there'd be a lot
less problems.
Both gimmicks still work in this mode, and you can actually fire one missile at a time now.
Always a plus, though you need fingernails or small fingers in general to do it as the triggers
are quite small. The clamp is fun the play with, but there are few positions he can
hold it in with it being so damn huge and his elbow being rather limited. Still, pretty
neat, even if it is a little annoying.
Overall, well, vehicle mode is cool, and robot mode is okay except for the damn arms. The
mold was one of the last ones released in the BM line and thus it's hard to come by (and fetches
a good $10 - $20 on eBay), so for $5 (essentially) the price is right. On top of that you
get two pretty neat molds with him, so, if you always wanted a Spy Streak, this is probably your
last chance. If you're only getting the pack for him, I suggest waiting for a cheaper one on
eBay though, as he's really not worth the $15 a mega costs (or $18 if you're KB).
Overall
All three are nifty molds, though two of them saw wide release, so it's a safe bet most Transfans
have at least one of them. Still, the color schemes on Nightcruz and Scavenger are improvements
over the originals, and Mirage GT is trying, so if you don't have any of these, go pick this
pack up today. If you do have them, it's really up to you of course. They are three strong
molds and some good paint jobs as well.
