Robots in Disguise - Wave 1 Spychangers

Well, this review is a long time coming as I've had these since August when they first came out. For some reason I never opened them, nor did I ever pick up the wave 2 spychangers (Side Burn/Daytonus, and Prowl 2/Side Swipe). If you're a reader of this fine page, heh, then you know I did buy the wave three guys. Anyway, long story short, I finally decided to open the wave 1 guys I've had for the last six months in my closet with so many other empty boxes and cards and a big ol' bag of tech specs and instructions.

Hot Shot
Hot Shot is a re-release of Car Robots Autofire, who used the mold of Blowout, Megatron and Frenzy from the G2 GoBots. Actually, I forgot to mention it, but all the spychangers use the molds from the G2 GoBots. Obviously when I mention the mold, you'll know what line they're from now, right?

Okay, so car mode is that of a black Porsche with gold chrome five hole wheels (sorry, that's the Hot Wheels collector in me talking, heh). The major difference between Hot Shot and Autofire is the color of his windows, which are metallic (very metallic) blue rather than silver. There's also an Autobot symbol on the roof, but that sort of thing is common to all the RID stuff (a faction symbol was added to all the Decepticons and Predacons where the Car Robots version lacked it).

The transformation sequence is the same for all the spychangers, so this is the only time I'll be covering it. Pull the back of the car out, pull out the sides and fold down the front of the car. Tada, a robot! They have less articulation than minibots (who usually had knee articulation, though it was a side effect of the transformation, and sometimes even thigh articulation, as well as shoulder joints). In case you mix them up and lose the packaging and can't find any pictures on the internet for some reason, Hot Shot has the black gun.

I'd also like to note that, at least with mine, the hood of the car mode doesn't snap fully into place like the others in car mode. It doesn't effect his rolling abilities any, it's really more of an annoyance thing I suppose. Ah, and by the way, two packs usually cost around $5 (I think they're $7 at KB, $6 at TRU), which is $2.50 per car. For comparison, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, which are the same 1:64 scale, cost usually around $1 (sometimes less if you can find a sale) and they're made of metal. Of course they don't transform or come with guns, so I guess you have to take the trade off. Personally I think $2.50 is a decent price per car, and they're all pretty cool. Just to let you know what the scale is based on.

R.E.V.
Yes, R.E.V. stands for 'Race Evolution Vehicle', though I'm not sure what sort of evolution the car has gone through as it's just a Lamborghini Diablo (heh, I say 'just' as if I see one every day or something). The only difference (aside from the Autobot symbol, which is different in them all, so I won't be mentioning it again. I sure say that a lot) between REV and Eagle Killer is the brownish colored fade in on the back of the car. Pretty neat. His wheels, for the record, are silver chrome three spokes.

Ah yes, REV uses the Firecracker/Optimus Prime/Sideswipe GoBot mold. In robot mode he has a weird yellow nub above his head (used for snapping the car front into place) which kinda detracts from the otherwise cool look of the robot mode. Other than that it's a very neat mold, though I could do without the yellow at some points. REV has the yellow gun.

Ironhide
Ironhide is a re-release of his Car Robots counterpart named Ox (helps the cow pattern make a lot more sense, actually). He comes from the Motormouth and Ironhide mold, which is fitting I suppose. The second time in four uses this mold has made a toy named Ironhide.

As with Hot Shot, Ironhide's windows have been changed from silver to metallic blue from Ox. His truck bed has also been painted red as opposed to Ox's truck bed which was left white. He's got the same wheels as REV. For the record.

Robot mode is pretty blocky. Actually, he's very front heavy as well. If you aren't careful to fold down the front of the car all the way, he'll fall over. It doesn't help any that he's unstable in standing as it is. Ironhide has the pearly white gun, I swear. It doesn't help any that he's in the same package as Mirage who has a white gun as well (flat white though, not pearly) and on the back of the card he's holding WARS's gun (and WARS has his, heh).

Mirage
Mirage just happens to be a formula-1 racer (or maybe an indy car, I never can tell those two cars apart) in a nice shade of pearly white plastic (same color as Ironhide's gun, further leading to confusion). Mirage is one in the same with Counter Arrow, his Car Robots counterpart, and utilizes the Double Clutch/Mirage mold from G2. That's two for four for this mold as well. All in all this two pack is four for eight. Not bad. If you can't figure out what the hell I'm talking about, that probably wouldn't be the first time. Their names, fool! Hehe.

The major difference between the CR and RID versions is the red paint on the sides of the cockpit and on top of the driver's seat. Hoo ha! Mirage has gold five hole wheels.

In robot Mirage is the only spychanger without anything behind his head. I'm not sure if there's anything good or bad about that, he just looks a lot different from the others (and also because he's a different shaped car). His shoulder joints also seem to be set a bit too low (though nowhere near as low as Rollbar's), though it doesn't mess anything up really. Also they kinda needed to be lower since the chest hinge is in the way of where they'd normally go due to the skinny nature of the vehicle mode. Mirage's gun is flat white and rather big, though no larger than the other spychanger guns, it's just that he's a little guy so his gun looks bigger.

W.A.R.S.
This is the only spychanger Hasbro didn't rename, probably because of the tampo on both his arms/doors that says his name. One can assume the cost of changing these would have been fairly small, but instead Hasbro decided to come up with the idea of making his name stand for something instead. Wicked Attack Recon Sportscar. Way to go Hasbro! Yes, that was sarcasm.

WARS is a nifty red stock car with some Japanese writing on the hood (it says his name). Actually, the Japanese version was named Wars, which didn't stand for anything. Try not to get too confused. RID version: WARS, CR version: Wars. Okay!

Before I forget WARS (and Wars) use the mold of Gearhead and Soundwave. Fortunately WARS (and Wars) is nowhere near as garish as Soundwave was, though one knows that is a lofty goal to attain. The differences between Wars and WARS is in the paint. Wars had black windows, but WARS has the same extra metallic, metallic blue paint for his windows that Hot Shot and Ironhide boast. WARS also had some yellow added on his rear spoiler and on the bottom of his doors/arms as well. Wars is yellowless until he gets to robot mode (unless you count the yellow that makes his feet which can be seen from the rear of the car).

WARS is blocky and somewhat unstable in robot mode much like Ironhide. He also has really big arms for some reason. The ends come to a point making for what would be a neat slashing weapon if WARS was capable of moving his arm in ways other than up and down. Though it may be confusing WARS has the clear gun, not the red one. My first impression was to give him the red one since it matches him quite well, but it actually won't fit in his hand.

Oh, and he has the same wheels as Mirage and Hot Shot, gold five holes.

Crosswise
Called X-Car in his Car Robots version, Crosswise uses the High Beam/Bumblebee/Nightracer mold, though the way it was used here makes it look fifty times cooler than those could have hoped. For an extra nifty effect, Crosswise was cast in clear plastic (same as Hot Shot's upper legs and entire upper body for that matter) and the underside of it was painted in metallic blue paint rather than the top. This makes for a really cool see-through car effect. Very cool looking. For that alone this is my favorite spychanger. He's also got a big 'X' on his hood, making me wonder if he's somehow related to Rampage in some way (muhaha, spychanger X is on the prowl). He's got the good ol' three spoke wheels.

Because of the sleek nature of the car mode (the front especially), Crosswise doesn't have a really big, protruding chest (no Blackarachnia jokes, please). Actually, REV doesn't have this either, but Crosswise also lacks the nub over his head, so he beats out REV. Mirage doesn't have either of those as well, but you already knew that, right?

Crosswise is also the most stable of the spychangers mainly due to his massive rear spoiler which acts as heel spurs. Coincidentally, Mirage is very stable as well, as he has a big rear spoiler too (WARS has one as well, but it doesn't always touch the ground). Crosswise has the red gun. Oh yeah, in vehicle mode Crosswise has some red paint on his spoiler and the bottom of his doors, setting him apart from X-Car. Forgot to mention that before.

Overall
Overall the three wave one spychanger packs are a pretty good deal as long as you don't hate simple transformations. I wouldn't recommend paying more than five bucks for each three pack (so don't buy them at KB unless you get the employee discount, though KB is probably one of the few places that still has wave one), but it will be five bucks well spent. They may be small and brick-like, but that didn't stop their older cousins from being cool, and it certainly doesn't stop them. WARS/Crosswise is the best, followed by Mirage/Ironhide, with Hot Shot/REV coming in a close third. Now if I can just find the wave two buggers, I'll have a complete set.