Depth
Charge (2013 Collectors' Club Exclusive)
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Autobot Alliance Terradive. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Autobot Alliance Terradive here.)
Ever since I first saw
the Terradive mold, I thought it would make a great pre-Beast Wars Depth
Charge toy; and here we are, the Transformers Club has read my (and likely
many other fans') mind! (However, if you want to get technical, this is
an alternate universe version of Depth Charge, NOT a pre-Beast Wars version;
but of course, you can use the toy as one if you want.) Depth Charge's
color scheme here is even more beautiful and varied than I imagined it,
and very in-line with his original Transmetals
toy. The light blue used as his primary color is a really attractive,
appropriately sea-esque shade of the color, and the purplish pink color
scheme used as accents in his vehicle mode and on the upper arms and legs
in robot mode complements it marvelously well, while the orangish yellow
serves as a nice contrast color. There's a more yellow here than on the
original Depth Charge toy, but not quite enough where I think it's too
much (though it's more prominent in robot mode than vehicle). The light
milky gray is really the only color choice on Depth Charge that bugs me;
it's not nearly metallic-looking enough to blend well into his silver paint
like it's supposed to, and is just a very blah color. However, Depth Charge
has more than enough paint apps to take away whatever "blah" that gray
plastic has brought to the table; his wings have VERY similar paint apps
to his original toy, and there's silver and pale bronze lines going all
over the toy. There aren't many pieces on this toy that aren't painted
in some way, and that's particularly awesome for the "freebie" Club toy
for the year. The only paint app I'm not enamored with are the "eyes" on
the sides of the nosecone; they just make a bit TOO obvious his beastie
roots.
No mold changes have
been made to Depth Charge.
You won't get many Transformers
toys that earn a more hearty recommendation from me than the 2013 Collectors'
Club exclusive Depth Charge. A great, innovative mold; a wonderfully eye-catching
color scheme that is diverse without crossing the line into becoming too
busy; tons of paint apps; and a fitting tribute to the original toy and
character. One of my favorite Botcon/OTFCC exclusives of all time, and
definitely my favorite "freebie" Club exclusive as of this writing (4/14).
Review by Beastbot