Allegiances: Decepticon

(NOTE: Because this set consists of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the set and the color schemes. For a review of Combiner Wars Firefly-- the mold used for Needlenose-- look here. For a review Caliburst & Holepunch-- the molds used for Sunbeam & Zputty-- read the review of Generations Scoop w/ Caliburst & Holepunch here.)
 

Sunbeam

Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Dark purple and some white and dark dull red
Individual Rating: 5.9

    Okay, so let me get this straight. Sunbeam is... NOT the Targetmaster that's yellow? Oh... kay. Granted, FunPub is just sticking with G1 in this respect, but it's still a baffling name given the colors of Needlenose's other Targetmaster. For Sunbeam, no, he's mostly dark, with his base color being a dark purple. On his lower arms and face he's a dark red, which goes okay with the purple, but a lighter color would've worked a bit better, I think. No, the really nice accent color is white, used on the waist and legs of the robot mode. The white just contrasts extremely well with the dark purple, and really helps make the color scheme and keeps it from being dull. I honestly wish a bit more of white was used, particularly in gun mode.
    No mold changes have been made to Sunbeam.
 

Zputty

Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Black, bright chalky yellow, and some white
Individual Rating: 5.7

    Zputty's the one who should be called Sunbeam but isn't. ("Zputty", by the way, is the copyright-friendly name for the Targetmaster that was called "Zigzag" in G1.) His base plastic color is your basic black, but what really makes him stand out are that his entire appendages are colored (back and front-- even in the little "hollow" bits on the back) a BRIGHT yellow. Like, safety-colored, albeit a bit more "sunny" then strictly safety yellow. It'd be a bit obnoxious if he was a larger toy, honestly, even if it's fairly G1-accurate. The white on the waist and face help add in a bit more variety to the color scheme, but mostly it's just that black and yellow, love it or hate it.
    No mold changes have been made to Zputty.
 

Needlenose

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation to Robot: Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Leg: Very Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Arm: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Light gray, dark glossy blue, and some moderately light glossy purple, metallic forest, green, white, pale yellow, moderately light red, black, and orangish "cheesy" yellow
Individual Rating: 8.7

    Needlenose is a relative rarity nowadays-- a non-Pretender, non-Micromaster G1 character that hasn't gotten an update since his original toy. The color scheme on this Combiner Wars version of him is made pretty much as close to the original as the plastic colors breakup allows. His main color is, unfortunately, light gray, which is a fairly bland color-- but on the positive side, it's not milky and more just a straight gray, so it looks more "solid" than any milky color. Generally, though, except for the chest area in robot mode, Needlenose has enough paint apps to keep him from looking too one-tone on any large area of the toy. In vehicle mode he has nice white-and-metallic green stripes on his wings, with the metallic green in particular looking really nice against the white and gray, with a nice "foresty" shade to the green. On the main wings the stripes are a bit "crammed in there", due to the mold's wings not being nearly as large proportionally as G1 Needlenose's, but it's a small caveat. There's also some black-and-yellow "safety" stripes along the back end of the main wings, and blue surrounding his tailfin. I'm not all that crazy about the former-- again, it looks cramped-- but the blue goes well with both the green and the white. The nosecone is also painted solid dark blue, with a contrasting red used for the cockpit windows (and for Needlenose's eyes in robot mode). Speaking of the robot mode, he also has some pretty nifty paint apps there-- my favorite of which are the dark blue, pale yellow, and metallic green on the lower legs that loosely approximate his details from his G1 toy (honestly, it's surprising how close they are, given that this mold was certainly not made with Needlenose in mind). The colors, again, go great together. There's also a really nice "Decepticon-y" shade of light purple used on the toes and the entire arms, and it goes well with the gray. To finish things off, there's black on his kneecaps, dark blue paint around his waist, and pale yellow on his faceplate-- overall, quite a lot of paint. I will say that the yellow shouldn't have been quite so pale, though-- a stronger yellow would've worked better against the gray face and red eyes.
    No mold changes have been made to Needlenose when compared to CW Firefly, and yet the mold still works perfectly for Needlenose, headsculpt and all. That said, this mold has seen enough reuses by this point that some of the joints are a little loose, the hips in particular. It's nothing that can't be fixed with a little floor/nail polish, but it is worth mentioning.

    TFSS 4.0 Needlenose is a surprisingly good update to the G1 character, considering that no mold changes were made. Although his base color is a fairly bland gray, he's got lots of paint apps that not only pay close homage to his G1 toy, but just look pretty darned good as well and are nice shades. His Targetmasters are nice little extras, too, although they're certainly not what I'd consider the highlight of this trio. This is my least favorite figure from the fourth Subscription Service, but this speaks more to the strength of the rest of the figures than to any real weakness on Needlenose's part.
 

Reviews by Beastbot

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