Catgut

Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Black, light pale orange, and some clear plastic and silver
Individual Rating: 6.1

    Like all BotCon/TFCC exclusives, Catgut is a redeco, but of a mold previously released only in Japan-- Arms Micron Jida. As such, this review of him will be as if he's a new mold, since for all intents and purposes for this site, he is. Catgut here is an homage to the G1 character of the same name, who was also a transformable weapon-partner for G1 Treadshot.
    Catgut's alternate mode is a... hand-chainsaw kinda thing? There's no definite set alt mode for this guy as he comes with no instructions, but this is my "preferred" alt mode. It's definitely some sort of melee weapon which I'm assuming is a chainsaw because of the spikes along rows on the underside of the weapon. The orange protrusions on the front look like large angular claws, which is pretty cool-- the smaller orange pieces not so much, as they're too obvious Catgut's beast mode legs. The other beast mode pieces are either tucked away or integrated well into this mode. It's just such an... odd weapon mode. The mold detailing is pretty simplistic outside of the chainsaw spikes, with only a couple of circles and ridges here and there-- and unfortunately, Catgut is very sparse in the color and paint department, as well. The leg pieces are a light pale orange and the rest of him black-- there's no paint on him whatsoever except for a silver Decepticon symbol over the small clear piece of plastic on the top of the figure. Granted, for the MOST part this is accurate to his original figure, but it's still kind of a bummer as it makes him look a bit bland outside of a slight "Halloween" vibe. As with most Arms Microns, Catgut has a ton of ports to add on additional Mini-Cons/Microns-- he's got your standard ports on both sides of the front claws, one on the top, one on each side near the rear of the weapon, another port on the underside near the front of the weapon, and a standard-sized peg at the rear so Treadshot can hold him in this mode. It seems to be optional, but you can also fold out the sides of this mode to form a "wider" chainsaw weapon, though to me doing this makes it a bit too obvious the setup of Catgut's beast mode.
    Speaking of Catgut's beast mode, the transformation is incredibly simple-- just fold out the head from the underside and fold down the peg on the back of the neck, then unfold the legs and a tail from further within his underside (the tail itself is another standard handle, to give him another port where a larger TF can hold him from-- it can also form a gun barrel as mentioned in Treadshot's bio (see picture of Treadshot's robot mode below), if you want to change up Catgut's weapon mode a bit). The proportions are generally pretty good, though the head sits up a bit oddly high compared to the rest of the body for this cat mode. The head is detailed with one circular eye, much like Movie Ravage's, which has a nice look-- though I wish that eye was highlighted with some paint... The head can move up and down at two points on the neck, and he can also move back-and-forth at the midpoint on each leg. With the exception of the folded-out head though, this mode is generally so similar to the weapon mode that I honestly don't have much else to say about it that doesn't also apply to the weapon mode.
 

Treadshot

Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Black, dull gray, and some dark brown, bright orangish pink, and dark dull navy blue
Individual Rating: 7.7

(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 Generations deluxe Warpath. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations deluxe Warpath here.)

    Treadshot is an update to the original G1 toy, who was an Action Master-- though like most Action Masters, the original toy had an "implied" alt mode-- that of a gun. Just like Megatron, though, it seems like his new updated mode is a tank. The colors have been quite faithfully recreated when compared to the G1 toy, with Treadshot's dominant colors being black and a rather dull shade of gray. By itself, this is admittedly a pretty bland color scheme-- although again, accurate to the G1 toy. Thankfully, there was also a few other accent colors on the G1 toy which-- again-- have been faithfully redone here. First, there's a good amount of dark brown paint-- on the treads, mostly, but also on the robot lower legs and pelvis. Again, not the most exciting color as it's still dark, but at least it keeps Treadshot from looking too monochrome. What helps Treadshot stand out as a toy from the early '90s is the BRIGHT orangish pink paint used on his abs, the middle of his forehead, and the sides of his tank turret/chest. This is admittedly a bit much and honestly a rather ugly color, but it DOES add some bright ness and contrast to the figure. My favorite color on the toy is the one used the least-- the dark navy blue, used only on Treadshot's faceplate and on the tank hatch detail. It's a rather solid shade of the color, and looks good against the gray (although it's dark enough I wish it contrasted a bit more with the black). There's also a few other oddities/features worth mentioning, such as the odd angular Decepticon symbols on the sides of the front treads-- it makes for some good contrast, but I'm not sure why they're at an angle. Additionally, this mold really does re-create some of G1 Treadshot's toy details surprisingly well, such as the gunbarrel in the middle of the chest and the pink on the sides. Using Warpath's headsculpt is a bit iffy, though-- G1 Treadshot did have a faceplate and a round head, but he had a large pink visor for an optic, which really isn't replicated here at all (his eyes are dark brown). That said, the headsculpt does look cool, regardless.
    No mold changes have been made to Treadshot.

    Treadshot & Catgut is a pretty nice transforming update of the Action Master toy & his weapon partner, all things considered. The Warpath mold is an excellent choice for Treadshot with some important details replicated, though he could have used a new head. Catgut is also a nice multi-purpose weapon partner, even if he's a bit simplistic (both in terms of the mold and the coloring). That said, the colors-- though faithfully recreated-- aren't particularly exciting, even if there's enough paint apps on Treadshot to vary things up a good amount. Recommended for those who want updates of obscure characters, especially obscure Action Masters-- but if you're going to buy an expensive exclusive toy based purely on how it looks/color scheme, this is one you can likely pass on.
 

Reviews by Beastbot

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