Perceptor's alternate mode is one you're not going to see much of in today's Transformers lines-- a microscope. It's not a particularly realistic microscope-- the sides are obviously his legs folded around, and the mian body isn't particularly solid to the point where it's obvious his arms make up the sides and his head is only particually obscured behind the lens. However, the magnifier lens is extremely well-done, with a clear plastic lens used for both ends (no, it doesn't actually magnify anything). The lens can move up and down, as well as side-to-side a bit. There's also a dial on top of the lens that lengthens or shortens the magnifier at the bottom on said lens, and is a pretty cool touch, especially for this old of a toy. There are also two dials on the side of the main body of the microscope, but they don't adjust anything. Perceptor's chest plate makes a passable "petri dish" for the lens to look at, but only just so. The color scheme for Perceptor is pretty interesting-- just red and black is kinda boring, but adding in a greenish teal to the mix is a pretty nice touch and makes the color scheme unique without clashing, and provides some excellent contrast. His mold detailing is what you'd expect from a G1 toy-- pretty basic, though there's a few parts, where some neat circuitry detailing can be seen. Thankfully the stickers are fairly large, so you won't have much difficulty getting them put on this guy. Also, in case you're wondering, the black part of the main body is where his diecast metal is.
    Perceptor has a sort of third mode that's a tank. Basically it's just his microscope mode laid on its back with the legs moved around a bit to give him a very square, un-vehicle-like shape. I swore I was doing something wrong the first time I transformed him to this mode, but that's how it goes. The lens makes a surprisingly convincing cannon, and there are tread mold details on the sides and little wheels on the underside to get him rolling along, but all in all it's easily the weakest of his three modes.
    Perceptor's robot mode is easily the best of his three modes, and definitely the one where the design priority was. His proportions are pretty good for a G1 toy, with everything being fairly on-the-ball if a bit stiff-looking, and his articulation is fantastic for a toy from that time-- he can move at the shoulders, elbows, hips (at two points), and knees (at two points). So, hey, no uni-leg! That's certainly a plus for a G1 toy. The lens works very well as an over-the-shoulder cannon, and the chrome chest plate and detailing is also a great touch. Putting the dials on his lower arms is also a neat idea, as they almost look like sort of mini arm-mounted shields that way. His face doesn't look a whole lot like it did on the 'toon, though that's more the show's fault than the toy's, considering this came first-- he's got a faceplate on the toy, but in the show and in other incarnations he obviously doesn't. Still, that's fairly easily overlooked. (Heck, if you're so inclined just draw a mouth on there with a fine-tip permanent marker.) Perceptor comes with two guns-- a standard plastic "doesn't-shoot-anything" blaster, and a gun that originally could shoot spring-loaded projectiles. Unfortunately, due to stricter safety standards nowadays the three missiles he comes with can only sit one-at-a-time in their launcher, and they kinda fall out easily. Blah. His heat-rub allegiance symbol is on the side of his left leg-- kind of an odd place, there.
    G1 Reissue Perceptor has one of the best robot modes from the line, but unfortunately his entire toy is designed around that too much. His microscope mode has a great lens setup, but his legs and arms are quite obvious in that mode, and his tank mode is basically a square with a cannon. If you're looking for a great toy of yore, you can do worse, but toy-wise this guy's toy is way too focused on making one mode good.

Review by Beastbot

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