Safeguard

Allegiance: Minicon
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: White, black, off-white, and some metallic teal
Rating: 6.8

    Safeguard's vehicle mode is a flying gun, for lack of a better word. The main body of it looks like a plane, what with side wings and smaller tail wings, but instead of a cockpit & nosecone, it's got a bit gun on the front of it. Even though it may look a bit odd at first, it's a very unique alt mode, and looks great powerlinked to a larger Transformer, as it gives them an extra gun. However, I think there's a couple of robot parts sticking out in this mode that are far too obvious; for one, the robot head is pokes out rather obviously from under the gun-nosecone if you're looking at the mode from any viewpoint except directly above. The arms are also very obviously the sides of the vehicle mode, as the fists and ankle and shoulder joints are definitely noticeable. The lower arms also don't connect to the main body in this mode with pegs or anything, which makes the mode feel a little less solid. Another small complaint is that the gun part is colored a noticeably different shade of white when compared to Safeguard's otherwise nice white-black-and-teal color scheme, which is a little distracting. Safeguard's Minicon port is on the bottom side of this mode, to the rear of center.
    Safeguard's robot mode is pretty cool for a Minicon-- the proportions are very good, and the articulation is about average for a toy of this size; he can move at the shoulders, elbows (on ball joints), hips, and knees. Here's also got a very nice, angular head sculpt, and a detailed body armor-like chest sculpt as well, though a bit more paint detailing would have spiced it up some. Oddly, Safeguard has no Minicon symbol that I can find... The "belly button" Minicon port also looks a little goofy, as well. But still, a nice-looking mode overall.
    Safeguard has an inventive vehicle mode and a good-looking robot mode, but a few robot extra problems plague his vehicle mode, knocking down his score a bit. A slightly above-average Minicon.

Vector Prime

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Voyager (Mega)
Homeworld: None
Cyber Key Code: v38g
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: White, dark brown, transparent aqua blue, gold, and some metallic teal, silver, and dull red
Rating: 9.4

    Vector Prime's alternate mode is a futuristic spacecraft, loosely based on a Star Wars Sith Infiltrator. This mode looks pretty cool, but what catches the eye most of this toy is the INCREDIBLE amount of detailing that went into it. Vector Prime is an ancient Transformer, and the guardian of space and time, and his vehicle mode definitely plays up that aspect a lot. There's gears molded EVERYWHERE on Vector Prime, from his nosecone to the parts connecting his wings to his main body to even the sides of the nosecone, where little gears are molded turning around in cranks in various positions. He's also got tons of paint detailing-- yes, as you may have heard, he doesn't have nearly as many paint apps as his Japanese Galaxy Force version, but he's still got tons. All the gold and brown paint apps on various molded details make him look even more ancient and regal. The only paint app deduction on the toy (when compared to the Japanese Galaxy Force version) that I really don't like is the loss of the brown trim on the wings-- it helped to make them look more solid than they do without any paint. The wings are also made of that bendy plastic, so they have a tendency to warp a little over time. Vector Prime's legs add a little more bulk to the bottomside of the vehicle mode than I would have liked, but it's not nearly as bad as many other aerial Transformers, especially since the legs are embellished with such details as guns on pointing towards the front, as well as a miniature satellite dish and receiver. Vector Prime's fists also poke out from the rear end of the vehicle mode rather obviously-- the arm guards cover up the fists a little, but they're still easy to spit. Vector Prime is also one of the few Cybertron Transformers to have Powerlinx ports-- he has one on each side of the back half of the vehicle, as well as one in the alcove behind the cockpit that's shaped perfectly for Safeguard's vehicle mode. Unfortunately, the ports are a REALLY tight fit for Safeguard, to the point where it takes quite a lot of force just to get him off the pegs. One other gimmick Vector Prime has in this mode is that he has your basic spring-loaded missile launcher at the very front of the nosecone for a bit of firepower.
    Vector Prime's robot mode is outstanding with a capital O. It's VERY hard to find any downsides to this mode. In fact, the only one I can find is that his Cyber Key gimmick is rather lame-- usually a Key will unlock hidden weapons or something, but when you insert Vector Prime's key into his lower chest, an odd warbling sound effect is made and that's it. I guess it's supposed to signify that he's searching for lost Planet Keys or something with that cool circular orb-like thing in his chest, but it's still a pretty lame gimmick. The Key itself is very unique, however-- it's got symbols for all the major planets in the series on it, as well as a smaller Autobot symbol on the front and a larger one on the back. The key is largely unpainted, however, which kind miffs me, as it leaves many of the details on the transparent plastic hard to see. But otherwise, this mode's pretty much perfect-- the proportions are spot-on, and the detailing is excellent. He's got a cool sword (it's made of bendy plastic, but mine hasn't warped much at all yet), and his vehicle mode "extras" on his back-- namely, his nosecone and his wings-- look like a flowing cape, further adding to the regal appearance of Vector Prime. The head sculpt is also excellent, as it looks very similar to the Autobot symbol, but with a few decorative florishes added. And last but certainly not least, Vector Prime's articulation is also pretty good- he can move at the head, shoulders (at two places), elbows, hips (at two places), knees, and ankles, so you can get him into a pretty good number of poses.
    Vector Prime is an excellent and very unique transformer, with a ton of mouth-watering detailing and a very ancient, regal look. His vehicle mode has a few minor problems with robot extras, but that's about it. Highly recommended-- unless you want to buy the upcoming Toys "R" Us Exclusive "normal-sized" Starscream vs. "same as original version" Vector Prime, which you can get for a cheaper price if you wait a little longer.

Review by Beastbot

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