(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 Autobot Alliance Highbrow. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Autobot Alliance Highbrow here.)

    Powerdive here is a bit of an obscure one-- he's an homage to the Generation 2 "Rotor Force" toy of the same name, although his alt mode is more reminiscent of fellow Decepticon G2 Rotor Force toy Ransack. (On this note, I'm mildly sad he doesn't have G2 Decepticon symbols.) Anyways, his general color scheme is definitely evocative of G2 Powerdive's with a bit more milky gray and a bit less purple. Personally, I would've preferred it a bit more slavish to his original colors-- making the toy mostly dark green and milky gray does make it a bit similar in the general color palette to this mold's original use as Highbrow. I'm also just not as fond of light milky gray plastic-- we'd got enough of that boring-looking stuff on TFs already, and the purple is a really nice shade against the dark green. These three colors by far make up the most "real estate" as far as Powerdive's color scheme goes, but he's got plenty of paint apps of different colors. My favorite is the "shark head" paint app he's got around the cockpit, which looks really nice, gives a bit of a "light spot" to his otherwise dark-colored vehicle mode, and really fits in with the WWII feel of the vehicle. He's also got the "DC>" emblems around his central engine just like on the G2 toy, which add a bit more individuality as well. He's got a silver nosecone and engines, dull red propellers, a light red cockpit, some tan "connector pieces" in robot mode, and a nice dark metallic gunmetal gray on his stomach and below his cockpit area-- all of which go great with their surrounding colors, and which I have absolutely no issues with. The only color on Powerdive I wish was tweaked is the light gold on a few parts like his hips and some minor detailing behind his propellers-- it has a bit of a greenish hue to it, which looks a little ugly, honestly.
    Powerdive does have one mold change- he's got a new headsculpt, with light red eyes (with excellent light piping), a long, angular faceplate that looks pretty unique, sort of like a big long chin-- and a flip-down "flight helmet", just like Highbrow has. It's all molded and painted rather well, though it's actually evocative of G2 Ransack's headsculpt moreso than G2 Powerdive's-- another indication that this was likely intended to be Ransack initially and some miscommunication in the pipeline made the toy Powerdive, instead. It's not that big of an issue, though-- neither of them had particularly memorable headsculpts, given how little (if any) fiction they've been in, so it still looks adequately Decepticon-ish.
    "GDO" Powerdive is a pretty nice redeco, homaging an obscure character that isn't likely to get another toy any time soon (if ever)-- even if some of the cues make it clear this was initially intended to be a new Ransack, and palette-wise Powerdive looks a bit too much like Highbrow under dark lighting. He's got a ton of great paint apps, though, and is generally just a great toy all-around. Recommended; mildly so if you already have Highbrow.

Review by Beastbot

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