Monday, April 7, 2014

Ammonites Unite!

Yeah, I'm going to call these guys Ammonites instead of Mini-cons.  Mini-con is just such a bad name.  Unless Brainstorm decides it's a good term.  Even if he does, it's still a horrible name.  The Ammonite Assault Team arrived in the same delivery as Scoop, from the nice people at BBTS.  We'll cover each individual Ammonite before we cover their combined form. 
This is what happens when you take photos at 4 in the morning
First, we have Heavytread.  He's short and squat, befitting someone that forms the legs.  I'm sure he has a bio, but it isn't anything to really care about.  Overall, I'm not too impressed with him.  Since he's a small figure, he only features articulation at the shoulders.  Notice how large his weapon is?  Too large, if you ask me. 
With a name like Heavytread, I thought he'd transform into a tank, and I wasn't disappointed.  This mode is very nice.  The turret does not move, but I'm okay with that.  The black and green evoke a military feel to me.  Much nicer than the squat robot mode.
Next up, we have Runway.  He forms the torso and arms for Centuritron.  Again, his arms move at the shoulders, but he also features leg articulation.  This is mainly because his legs become Centuritron's arms, but some decent poses can be had if you're inclined.  I was not.  Runway's weapon should have yellow paint apps on the ends of the barrels, but they got cut for budgetary reasons.  The gun is rather ho-hum in appearance.
As a result of the missing paint apps on the gun, the jet mode looks a little boring.  It's funny how a little yellow can make something look dynamic.
Looks that kill?
Finally, we have Windshear!  It's a female Ammonite!  How do we know this?  Because she's wearing heels!  Apparently, female robots can't wage war in practical shoes.  Sad, really.  Windshear features the same articulation as Runway.
Windshear transforms into a helicopter...with heels.  Just look at that - the heels are just sticking out!  Sad.  I really don't care for this mode at all.

Once you get bored playing with the individual components, the three Ammonites can combine to form a super warrior of sorts, Centruritron.  I'm not crazy about the name, as it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.  Centurion would've been a better name and wouldn't evoked some Marvel G1 memories.
The combined mode is pretty neat, although I don't like the placement of the helicopter rotors.  They just look odd where they're at.  All of the Ammonites' weapons combine as well to form a big gun. 
As The Gassy Autobot pointed out in his review of this guy, you can clearly see Heavytread's face if you turn the figure around, which is funny.  The only real disappointment that I can say I have with Centuritron is that I thought there would be more configurations for combination.  After all, the Ammonites are omnicombiners, and I was hoping to have that functionality with these guys.  Crazy thought, I know. 

I originally hadn't planned on keeping this set.  My goal was to take some pics, test the figures out and then give them to my son, but I wound up liking them more than I thought.  So, my son only got Skywarp out of this wave.  He'll be fine.  Meanwhile, I have another figure!  Yay!  That only leaves one more figure in the wave to cover.

11 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed these figures, nice review

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    1. Thanks! They're much better than originally thought.

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  2. TF Wiki refers to Windshear as She/Her. I don't see WHERE that's determined.

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    1. But why the high heels? Can't a female be a fighter in regular shoes? Even Scarlett from G.I. Joe wears heels! Why?

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    2. I still don't see where it's official or where TFwiki, which is my favorite source, got that from. Is she referred to as "she" or "her" on the packaging or instructions? I'm just curious; I only guessed that because of the 'heels' and shape of 'her' face. Hopefully someone can point out where it was designated officially as a fembot.

      Excuse me, LADY bot.

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  3. I really like the look of these guys. I've only seen them from two separate reviews but that was enough to convince me to get them.

    Nice job on the review!

    Cheers,
    Joe

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  4. i just think its a pretty good way to market toys, the way these are tied to MTMTE, but Hasbro, you're not making me buy these! haha...

    Good review as usual dude.

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    1. I must admit that the marketing strategy behind it was genius.

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  5. Now buy 70 billion more and you can reenact "Dark Cybertron!"

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