Price: $20 (U.S.)
 

Prowl

Allegiance: Minicon
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Dark maroon, charcoal black, greyish white, and some metallic gold, yellowish white, dull yellowish gold, and red
Rating: 6.5

(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 Armada Prowl. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Armada Prowl here.)

    Yay! Another Universe Prowl! Well, that aside, this is a pretty cool redeco. Granted, the paint job doesn't even resemble that of a police car, but it's still pretty cool in its own way, and it's original to boot. The gray and dark reddish brown are used in just the right amounts, and Prowl actually has an extra paint app or two when compared to his previous versions. The racing "V"-stripe down the hood is especially cool, and if I don't know better, I'd say he's the first Universe Minicon to have Energon Radiation... Eh, probably wasn't intended to be that way, though. Like nearly all the times the charcoal black color is used, though, I think a more solid black would have suited Prowl better. I'd say that out of Prowl's three decoes so far, this is my favorite by a hair.
    No mold changes have been made to Prowl. (He and the other Minicon in this 4-pack, Terradive, still can transform into their weapon modes- they're just not pictured here, both for simplicity's sake and to conserve precious web space.)

Terradive

Allegiance: Minicon
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: White, black, and some metallic gold, metallic bluish silver, and bright orange
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 Armada Terradive. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Armada Terradive here.)

    This version of Terradive is quite a nice redeco, just like the other Mini-Con in this pack, and quite different from either of his previous versions. He's now a less "evil" white color, with some black and bluish silver mixed in for good measure. He's also got some bright orange highlights here and there, but since they're not used too much, they look okay. Perhaps bright green would've worked slightly better, but it's still a good paint choice. I would've preferred a few more paint apps on Terradive to break up all the white, though, considering that the individual components of this 4-pack don't quite add up to $20, so I think it wouldn't have been asking too much to have Hasbro forward the extra couple bucks to a few extra paint apps for each Transformer. Terradive's overall scheme is still nice, but I don't think it quite measures up to the black-and-blue of the original.
    No mold changes have been made to Terradive.

Magna Stampede

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Basic
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Pearly white, dull blue, goldish tan, and some black, brownish gray, metallic gold, dull red, light blue, bronze, bright green, and metallic bluish silver
Rating: 9.4

(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 Battle Unicorn. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Battle Unicorn here.)

    Magna Stampede (AWESOME name) was a good choice for a Universe figure, seeing as how his predecessor, Battle Unicorn, got VERY poor distribution. So this will be the first time many fans will be able to pick this great mold up. Magna Stampede's color scheme in beast mode highly resembles that of a zebra (the stripes are, I assume, his "Energon radiation" pattern), and his overall color scheme is well-put-together and very fitting. The pearly white looks lovely on an animal such as this, and the blue, gray, and tan really complement it nicely. As you can especially tell in robot mode, Magna Stampede has a ton of colors on him that are used in only one place and never again- something that shows that a lot of care went into his paint job, I think. I also agree with decision to remove his transparent plastic, as I've never been a fan of transparent plastic being part of the main body of a transformer as it was on Battle Unicorn. The chrome on his mane-axe has also been removed, and a worn gold-black pattern has taken its place. Even though it's not quite as pretty, it definitely won't have any chipping problems, so that's a plus. Overall, Magna Stampede is a great repaint of a great mold, and the star of this 4-pack.
    No mold changes have been made to Magna Stampede. The shoulder panels on mine fall off even EASIER than they did on Battle Unicorn, but this may just be my toy...

Stockade

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Basic
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Brownish gray, dark maroon, dull orangish yellow, and some silver-gold, dull milky tan, black, and red
Rating: 7.8

(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 Tank Drone. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Tank Drone here.)

    Okay, don't get me wrong, I really like the Tank Drone/Stockade mold. It's a good toy all around. But the color scheme on Stockade just seems so random and unfitting for a tank. The maroon and yellow really clash, and that odd milky tan used only for his chest seems rather odd as well. The gray itself looks nice on this mold, but that's about the only fitting main color on Stockade. One other, more minor, color, I like on Stockade is the rather unique paint color used for the end of his shoulder cannon- it's both silver and gold at the same time, and looks pretty nice. Stockade has unique black patterns on his shoulder plates that look pretty cool (although they look too uniform to be Energon Radiation), although the plastic background color still is rather ugly. The black patterns, though, seem to take away from many of the paint apps on Stockade's main body- his arms are completely devoid of paint apps, and his chest, head, and legs have few. One last beef about Stockade- why the slag is he an Autobot? The mold practically screams Decepticon, given the eeevil-looking head, and there's already enough Autobots in Universe. C'mon, Hasbro, you should've made this a versus pack! Overall, I'd have to recommend Tank Drone over Stockade, namely because Tank Drone had a nice color scheme, whereas Stockade is the color of a bologna-'n-cheese sandwich you've left in your locker for a year.
    No mold changes have been made to Stockade.

    This Universe 4-pack is a nice addition, but you get a little less bang for your buck than most Universe Ultras, seeing as how the combined value of these toys, when released individually, was about $18, whereas this set is going for $20. Granted, it's not a big price leap, but another Minicon in there would've helped. As for the toys themselves, Prowl and Magna Stampede are better than their originals, whereas Stockade and Terradive are worse. So it kinda evens out. If you're only looking to get one of each of these molds, though, I'd say get this four-pack, since by this time, Battle Unicorn and Tank Drone are sure to be worth more than their MSRP from 2001.

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Review by Beastbot

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