Power
Up VT6
Power Up's alternate
mode is a handheld video game system that looks a bit like a cross between
a pre-SP Game Boy Advance and a PSP. It's slightly smaller than one would
be, though, which sort of ruins the illusion. Well, that and the sticker
used for the video game screen-- it's a nice effort of replicating a video
game screen, mind you, what with the main screen, a health meter, a score,
a targeting reticle, and all that, but it's not convincing because it's
not moving, of course. Not that Hasbro could do anything about that, obviously.
What is cool is that all of the buttons can be pushed in, with the sole
exception of the "Start" and "Select" buttons. So you can "pretend play"
with the direction pad, the A-B-X-Y buttons, and the L-R buttons if you
want. The only real problem I have with this mode are the hollow spots
near the middle of the top and bottom, which partially ruins the illusion
that it's a solid piece of electronic equipment-- not to mention the top
of the robot head is pretty obvious if you look at the hollow spot on the
top.
Power Up's transformation
is mostly automatic, so it's a snap to complete. The robot mode itself
has its positives, but it's definitely not one of the best-looking Rear
Gears in this mode. The lower legs have their hollow side pointed towards
the front, with the lower legs sticking out a lot more than the upper legs,
which looks rather odd. The arms are also a tad puny, though the overly
wide, square chest does add to this illusion, I admit. It's also a shame
that Power Up's claw-hands can't open and close. I'm also really not fond
of his head design-- quite bluntly, it looks ugly and weird, especially
with that light green stripe down the middle. In fact, the overall color
scheme of gray, black, and purple looks good, but the bits of light green
that become visible in this mode are really out of place and just looks
plain ugly. Still, on the plus side, Power Up is completely free of any
kibble in this mode-- I especially like his L-R buttons become his claw-hands.
He also has pretty good articulation-- he can move at the hips (at two
points), knees, head, shoulders (at two points), elbows, and wrists.
Power Up is the least
impressive of the Real Gear robots, in my opinion-- his handheld mode is
pretty good, but his robot mode has some pretty obvious proportions problems
and a really ugly face. He's by no means a bad toy, just the worst of a
great subline.
Review by Beastbot