Like his mainline
deluxe, the 1-step changer of Slash is a spiky velociraptor, with most
of the spikes intending to be feathers, given archaelogists' current understanding
of how velociraptors actually looked like back in the day. The mold detailing
shows off a very segmented-armor type of look underneath all the spike-feathers,
with a couple of gears on places like the hips. The head is the best part
of this mode, with a VERY fierce look and incredibly intricate detailing
on the teeth and eyes. What's odd about this version of Slash is that his
colors are mostly flipped from the deluxe-- this version has a green body
and blue feathers, and it's the other way around on the deluxe. Not sure
what was up about the miscommunication, though admittedly it bugs me less
since he doesn't actually show up in the movie. Both the green and the
blue are paler than on the deluxe as well, making Slash look considerably
duller and not as bright and eye-catching-- perhaps a nice compromise between
the positively tropical scheme of the deluxe and the grays and blacks of
many other movie toys, though personally I like the deluxe's coloration
a bit more. The biggest problem with this mode, by far, are the proportions,
however. He shares the same transformation as the regular-sized
1-step Grimlock toy, so he has hips that stick out way too far from
the sides, an overly short tail, and a main body that is too long in this
mode. It all just looks off, though not as off for a velociraptor as it
does for Grimlock as a t-rex, admittedly. Given the one-step changer gimmick
and budget, Slash sadly has no articulation at all in this mode.
Just like Grimlock,
Slash transforms by pulling apart his dino hips, and everything else automatically
rearranges itself for robot mode. And again, just like Grimlock, he shares
many of the same major issues with the robot mode. Shoulders that are way
too wide, arms that are too wide and awkward-looking from the front and
too skinny from the side (with the hands merely molded into the dino feet),
and then there's the legs, obviously made from halves of the front of the
velociraptor mode. The dino head folds back to become heels while the "knight
shoes" fold forward, but the legs have the opposite issue from the arms;
they look too skinny from the front, but way too wide from the sides, where
the dino arms and head form a really big back end to the feet and are just
big pieces of obvious kibble. The upper legs are also way too small in
comparison to the lower legs. On the positive end, the chest looks fairly
nice-- although there's some blah light milky gray plastic evident in this
mode, it's mostly reserved for some minor parts, with most of the chest
itself painted a nice silver with some little nautilius-like details here
and there. The headsculpt is very well-done, emulating his deluxe's headsculpt
(though again, with reverse colors) and a nice metallic aquamarine visor
and silver faceplate. The gray plumage around his neck also almost looks
like some sort of feathery decoration, a nice touch, as well. For articulation,
Slash can only move back-and-forth at the shoulders-- though articulation
certainly isn't the point of 1-step changers.
1-step Changer Slash
may look slightly better than the subline's regular-sized Grimlock, what
with a more attractive color scheme and a nice-quite-as-egregiously out-of-proportion
beast mode, but it's still an awful toy, even keeping in mind the limitations
of the gimmick and the budget. As odd as his beast mode proportions are,
his robot mode proportions are outright terrible, particularly with the
feet. Not recommended unless you have a young one who absolutely MUST have
a Dinobot velociraptor, but isn't old enough to get the superior deluxe
version.
Review by Beastbot