Robots in Disguise Tow-Line/Skyfire
Among the many Car Robots re-releases in the RID line are those of a few of the basics
in the line. One of those was Tow-Line, called Wreckerhook in the Car Robots series, was
packaged with another basic sized toy and sold under the deluxe price point. A few months
ago you could find these guys for $9.99 at Walmart, though now they seem to be pretty
scarce. Big Bad Toy Store had some left, for
$11.99 (oddly enough, the same price KB Toys charges for them), so I snatched them up.
Interestingly enough, while Tow-Line was used in Car Robots, who he is packaged with,
Skyfire, was not in that series, nor did he appear in RID (to the best of my knowledge), but
these two molds are related in that each originated in the not very successful Machine Wars
line, which was a KB exclusive that debuted around the same time the Beast Wars line came
out, though there was no show to back it up. Anyways, in that line Tow-Line was released
as Hoist and Hubcap and Skyfire as Skywarp and Thundercracker. Just thought I'd mention
all that.
Tow-Line
Tow-Line's vehicle mode is that of a green tow truck. Of course, in order to hide the
robot arms, it ends up coming off as a two truck that moonlights as a garbage truck, but
it still looks cool. Oddly enough, the hook is facing the wrong way, so there's not much
he can actually tow without a good deal of trouble. Aside from the arms which are pretty
visible in the back of the truck, there's no robot kibble to speak of, and it rolls very
well on its mismatched little wheels. Yep, the front and back wheels are different for some
odd reason. Ah well.
Transformation, well, it's easy. This is where all the flip changers from Beast Wars (Rattrap,
Terrorsaur, Iguanus, all the original basics) got their designs. Just push up on that hook
of his, and the flips right into robot mode. I find that his arms don't fold out all the way,
but that may be isolated, I dunno.
Robot mode is neat looking, and houses that poseability we've all come to know and love in
our Transformers. With three joints on his arm, and two on his legs, as well as his pretty much
complete lack of backpack, Tow-Line is ready to be posed. He also has the nifty light piping
effect which was all but abandoned in the Beast Wars line.
All in all Tow-Line is pretty neat, though you can't overlook the fact that he's a basic, so
I wouldn't go crazy paying for the Car Robots version since this is exactly the same as that
version (save the copyright dates) and you get another basic in this two pack. Pick it up
if you happen to grab it. Go Big Bad Toy Store!
Skyfire
Skyfire, the first official Skyfire Transformer, by the way, is a 'Dassault Rafale advanced fighter jet'
in vehicle mode (got that from various pages). He looks okay from the top, though you can see
the robot hands poke out the back. Most other views show off the massive amounts of robot
kibble that appear under the plane with no attempt to snap them into place or hide them. However,
if you ignore that aspect, the jet mode is actually pretty cool.
Transformation is as simple as Tow-Line. Just push down on the nose of the plane and poof,
it's Skyfire in robot mode!
He's very Decepticon looking, with gray and purple being his primary colors. He also has the
same light piping going with his eyes that Tow-Line has, which is always cool looking. Skyfire also
has a two piece gun (like original Rattrap) which hides in the back of his legs. Put them together
and you get a really, really long gun. It's actually longer than his arm is. Cool looking though,
the end looks like a silencer, and removing it doesn't make the other part lose it's gun look,
though it doesn't look quite as threatening any more.
All in all Skyfire is pretty decent, worth paying $5 for, though Tow-Line is the better of the
bunch, but only because Skyfire's got some kibble problems and the gray doesn't seem to fit,
but that's just me probably.
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