Red
Alert (Cybertron Defense)
Now THIS is an upgrade!
Red Alert's new form is a freaking huge MISSILE LAUNCHER, which is pretty
much the polar opposite of an ambulance.
The proportions on this mode are perfect, and there's tons of armor detailing
on the mold. The small (albeit unmovable) double-barreled mini-gun near
the front of the vehicle helps to give Red Alert even more firepower! There's
also plenty of paint detailing such as the bluish green detailing on the
missile and the "combat burnmarks" detailing around the wheels. Red Alert
has a new Autobot symbol in front of his double-barreled mini-gun with
a V-shaped crest surrounding said symbol to denote him as part of the Cybertron
Defense Team. Given how HUGE the missile is (which is appropriate for such
a vehicle, of course), you'd expect the missile to be part of Red Alert's
Cyber Key gimmick, and you'd be right. If you insert the Cyber Key into
the slot behind the missile launcher, the entire front half of the missile
launcher SPLITS APART, revealing that there is a "fake" missile cover surrounding
a transparent red cone with a trigger on it for firing the actual projectile
piece housed in the missile. Firing the projectile itself doesn't make
any sounds, but when the front shell of the missile launcher splits in
half, a couple of short beeps that supposedly indicate that a target has
been acquired are emitted from the figure, and a light blinks through the
transparent red plastic along with the beeps. The transparent red part
itself is chock FULL of mold detailing-- it's really crammed in there,
and looks amazing. Also, if you slide the large missile off the holder
for it on the vehicle, a "missile launching" sound is heard, along with
the same blinking lights. All in all, a very, very cool gimmick. Another
cool thing about this mode is that you can unflip the arm-mounted gun in
robot mode from under the vehicle in this mode, so you can also have a
medium-sized gun poking out from the front side in addition to all the
other firepower Red Alert has! The color scheme is the same as it's been
on the previous versions of Red Alert, and works surprisingly well for
a military vehicle, considering the same scheme was also used for an ambulance
SUV. A few slight changes have been made, such as the addition of more
gray while there's also less red on Red Alert here than on his regular
Cybertron version, and some nice bronze has been added, which is a very
nice contrast color. The only slight problem I have with this mode is that
the hollow back of the robot chest is a little visible when you raise the
missile launcher from its spot resting on the vehicle, but it fits in with
the overall shape of the mode and it's hardly an eyesore, so it's easily
ignored. He has two Minicon ports on the sides of his vehicle mode.
Red Alert's robot mode
is also really awesome-looking, and appropriately big 'n buff, as a military
upgrade should be. The rounded shoulders look like large muscles, and his
large lower legs and big main body with comparatively small head enhance
his beefiness. Well, and his HUGE missile, which is the main source of
his coolness factor, of course. He also has incredible articulation for
such a bulky figure-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points),
elbows (at two points), wrists, waist, hips (at two points), and knees
(at two points). About the only point really missing is outward shoulder
articulation. His chest is detailed nicely, with some well-places silver,
red, and orange paint apps, and though he has both hands this time around,
he has a arm-mounted gun weapon that comes with two attachments that are
stored in his lower legs-- a claw and a hammerhead, just like with his
normal Cybertron version. The thing is, these attachments are REALLY hard
to get out of his lower legs, as they fit in their pretty tightly and there's
no easy way to wedge them out. There is also a hollow gap in between the
front of his legs and where his attachments are stored, which doesn't look
so hot. The other part of this mode that I'm not too fond of how it looks
is his robot head-- the transparent visor and detailing and everything
looks fine, but his visor sticks out way too far when compared to his mouth,
which is really embedded back in his head. It looks rather odd when viewed
from any angle except straight-on. Both of these are really small downsides
when compared to the overall mode, though, and hardly subtract from it
at all. As one last note, Red Alert also still has two Minicon ports in
this mode, on the sides of his lower legs.
Cybertron Defense Red
Alert is an incredible figure, and one of the best toys of the Cybertron
line. A nearly flawless vehicle mode with a rough-n-tough looking robot
mode with a HUGE missile, an nice transformation, and great articulation
make this toy a must-buy-- highly recommended.
Review by Beastbot