Dion w/ Cop-Tur (2010 Collectors' Club Exclusive)

(NOTE: Because this is set is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the molds and the color schemes, and merely compares them to Universe 2.0 Hot Shot w/ Jolt. For a review on the molds themselves, read the review of Universe 2.0 Hot Shot w/ Jolt here.)
 

Cop-Tur
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Blue and some black, silver, and light orange
Individual Rating: 4.5

    Cop-Tur here is an homage to the 1980s Go-Bot of the same name, and shares the same general color scheme, but with black in place of the original's silver. The light blue makes a really nice main color for the figure, and the black really contrasts well with it, as do the light orange paint apps on the chest. The silver on the cockpit and robot face is also really crisply painted and well-done. I wish he had a few more paint apps on the tail and arms-- his robot mode is kinda sparse-- but eh, he's the Mini-Con, and he's not a very good mold on top of that. I'd rather they put more paint apps on Dion (which they did).
 

Dion
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Light orange, blue,k white, and some silver, light transparent blue, dull orangish yellow, metallic blue, tinted clear plastic, and black
Individual Rating: 8.7

    Dion is a bit of an homage to Orion Pax's (future Optimus Prime's) friend in the G1 cartoon episode "War Dawn", though the general color scheme and general alt mode are really the only things that connect him to Dion-- he could easily pass as a new character. Or really, orange-and-blue Hot Shot, given the lack of a head remold. His color scheme is sort of the inverse of Cop-Tur's, with light orange being the main color and blue being slightly less prevalent. They still look pretty nice together, though in vehicle mode he admittedly looks a tad on the dull side. The blue lines on the front are nice, but the Autobot symbols on the side are "interrupted" by the front hinges on the side doors-- which was just bad planning, if you ask me. It looks off. In robot mode, though-- MAN, Dion really rocks. The white does wonders for the color scheme, making it extremely appealing to the eye, and the bits of silver and yellow also work well where they're used. He's got paint apps EVERYWHERE< too. Pretty much the only parts that aren't painted are the parts that CAN'T be painted because of the type of plastic they are. THe chest, the hips, the knees, the arms, the waist-- it's all painted, but it's not busy, as they're pretty much all one of the three main colors. The metallic blue used on the lower legs is also a REALLY nice shade, to the point where I wish it was used a little more on the rest of Dion.
    Although he doesn't have a new head remold-- which is kinda of a bummer, really, as Hot Shot's headsculpt is so unique it's hard to look at Dion as anything other than some new-colored Hot Shot-- Dion DOES come with two spring-loaded missile launchers that previously only came with the Henkei (Japanese) release of Hot Shot! He can hold them both in his hands quite easily in robot mode, and in vehicle mode the plug into the rear to look like engine exhaust. Pretty standard missile launchers-- can he can't hold them while also having the lower arm armor on, as can be seen in the above linked Hot Shot review-- but they're certainly nice additions to the toy. Unfortunately, the pegs that hold the upper legs to the lower are considerably more loose this time on my copy of Dion, though I'm not sure if this is a widespread mold degradation issue or just a quirk that mine has.
 

    TF Collectors' Club Dion is a freebie for 2010 members, so he's a definite no-brainer if you're already a member. But even if you're not, I think the great color scheme with a TON of paint apps on a pretty good mold and "brand new" missile launchers makes him a pretty good toy that I think is worth it if you're already in the market for this kinda stuff. Certainly the best "freebie" Club exclusive to come out so far, that's for sure.



Dion Bio:
FUNCTION: Infantry
MOTTO: "Efficiency makes you strong. Speed makes you lethal."
There was a time when Dion cared little for the echoes of war beginning to spread across his home world. Occasionally he'd opine on the feats of the new robots with flight capabilities, who he secretly envied, but otherwise turned a deaf audio receptor to the discussion about the start of what some were calling the second Cybertronian war. All that changed the day the war finally found him. The flying robots landed at the front door of the storage depot, led by the one called Megatron. Amicable at first, the encounter quickly turned for the worse when Megatron unleashed his full fury on the dockworkers and fled with that cycle's shipment of Energon.
When Dion awoke, he now was fully aware of what Megatron and the Decepticons were capable of, and having lost all that he had known, Dion decided to join the Elite Guard and now works to stop the Decepticons any way he can!
Strength: 7.0
Intelligence: 7.0
Speed: 9.0
Endurance: 8.0
Rank: 6.0
Courage: 9.0
Fireblast: 9.0
Skill: 8.0


 

Review by Beastbot

Back to Botcon/OTFCC Exclusives Index