Snow Cat's vehicle mode is, appropriately, some kind of futuristic snow vehicle. I'm unsure exactly what it is, or even if there's a real-life counterpart to it. There's a rounded wheel in the front, but treads in the back, so go fig. Anyways, this mode is okay, but I wouldn't go any farther than that. The robot parts tend to fit together rather haphazardly on the back half of this mode- the missiles don't quite fit in flat with the legs, which in turn makes the arms tucked in above the missiles to bend at a slightly angle, and it all just feels very loose. A few extra pegs back there would really have done wonders. Snow Cat's lone Powerlinx port, on a small piece on the top of this mode that can rotate around to various places, also tends to snap off way too easily (although it can easily be put back on, so don't worry). The color scheme and mold and paint detailing on this toy is great, though, and everything complements everything else pretty well. Probably the highlight of this mode is the see-through cockpit on the front. There's two painted seats inside (although, alas, the windows can't open up or anything), and it all looks rather realistic. The headlights on the front are also see-through- a rather needless extra, but nonetheless appreciated. Snow Cat is also, I believe, the first Transformer ever that has an moveable windshield wiper. There's even a flat quarter-circle molded on the otherwise somewhat bumpy windshield to simulate the wiper cleaning away any accumulating snow. It's a pretty nice detail.
    Snow Cat's "hyper" vehicular mode is actually above-average for a hyper mode. It's not much, but he now has skis in the back, little mini-skis under his front wheels, and missile launchers that pop out of his sides. It's actually how the vehicle mode should have been originally, really... The joints that hold up his missile launchers aren't that strong, though, so they tend to rotate back into Snow Cat's main body a bit too easily.

    Snow Cat's robot mode is... not so great. Here's a tip for future Transformers, Hasbro: If you're going to make the front of a vehicle mode become a robot chest, make sure that it's a relatively flat front. Otherwise, you end up with a Transformer like Snow Cat, with a very goofy-looking huge potbelly. The Decepticon spark crystal that's essentially used as a belly button doesn't help his look much, either. Proportionally, Snow Cat's arms are also a little on the short side, although it admittedly looks worse than it is because of his large stomach. The instructions say to put part of Snow Cat's skis on the sides of his legs, like in the first picture shown above, but I personally prefer put them behind his legs. Not only does this look better, but it gives Snow Cat a little extra stability. Another small beef I have with his lower body is that his feet are too small- it looks like they're barely poking out of his legs. One thing I do like about Snow Cat's robot mode, though is his face detailing. It looks like he has some ski goggles on and almost some kind of oxygen mask, as if it were to help him "breathe properly" in a snow drift or at high altitudes or something. It adds quite a bit of character, and is rather original. His articulation is also great- he can move at the head, the shoulders (at 4 points!), the elbows, the waist, the hips, and the knees.
    Snow Cat's robot mode also has a kind of a sub- "hyper" mode- his missile launchers swing over his shoulders, and his feet become skis for some on-the-go Autobot blasting. It's actually a fairly cool sub-mode, and I actually like Snow Cat in this configuration more than in just his normal robot mode.
    Snow Cat does have some positive points, like his nice color scheme, articulation, and his hyper modes, but he simply suffers too much in both of his modes from the mode he's not currently in. In vehicle mode, it's his not fitting well together; in robot mode, it's his huge stomach. As such, I can't wholeheartedly recommend him. In fact, I'd say he's the worst of the Energon Decepticons, at least as of this writing (6/04). He's not really bad or anything, but you can definitely do better than this guy when it comes to the Deceps.

Review by Beastbot
 

Second Opinion by VBBN

Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Rating: 7.5

    Something not noted in Beastbot's review, is that Snowcat's vehicle mode and robot mode are actually part of a Transformers/G.I. JOE crossover idea, but he ended up being put in Energon. Snowcat's vehicle mode is modeled after the 1985 G.I. JOE Snowcat toy, and is very accurate to it in most retrospects. It's cockpit is exactly similar to the G.I. JOE Snowcat, with the windshield wiper. Even the Hyper mode parts like the front skies were mudguards on the original toy. The only huge difference is how the missle launchers are single shot, and hide in vehicle mode. It would have been nice if it had the snowcat sticker on the side, but it's not a huge deal. I also think the placement of the two back wheels (tiny rollers since the treads dont move) are in a bad place.
    In his Vehicle Hyper mode, Snowcat is okay. The skis make him faster, but since there never was any snow on Cybertron and sking on space isn't possible, I question why this would make sense. But in any case, it's fairly cool. As for the loose cannons, mine are nice and tight.
    In Robot mode, Snowcat is meant to look similar to the driver figure that came with the original toy. It pulls this off fairly well. The goggles on the face ae almost carbon copies of what the driver wore, and were a slightly translucent purple, another nice homage that Snowcat shows. A few little mold details are similar to the old figure as well. Now let's get to the...not so good things. First, his chest is fairly pudgy and sticks out really far. This was a common problem with Armada and Energon figures, some more than others (I'm looking at you, Armada Red Alert) Snowcats legs are...strange. First, his feet, as Beastbot explained, are barely feet, more of little stilts. The ski pieces on his legs may look cool, but it restricts knee movement backwards if you pull them to the back of his legs like me, as it loks better. I prefer to take the panels off (unlike Beasty, I don't mind extra items to store.) and it looks much better. Articulation is fairly decent, even his head is slightly restricted. Since I forgot to mention it befre, I'll get to color scheme. The Trans ice blue, white, and fuschia purple look great and the purple on his goggles is accurate to the Gi Joe figure. The orange, while fitting for a safety color in a snowstorm, really doesn't look appealing to me. I would rather it be the bright purple that his goggles are.
    In hyper mode, Snowcat gets some skis and his weapons once again. The guns are very poseable, with three points of articulation on the back and two rotation disks at the base of each launcher. The skis, while cool looking, are again, pointless in theory, but he actually uses them in the show, which is nice.
    All in all, Snowcat is a nice mold, and while not one of the better decepticons, the fact that he is a crossover of a G.I JOE figure and vehicle, that brings his score up by a large amount. If you liked Energon or G.I. JOE, I would recommend getting him. If not, pass.

Review by VBBN

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