Transformers: The War for Cybertron is in development by High Moon Studios (developers of ‘Darkwatch’ & ‘The Bourne Conspiracy’) and is due for release through Activision early in the 3rd quarter of 2010. Alth ough currenlt only slated for release on the Playstation 3, XBox 360 and PC, being Activision it’s a fair assumption that there’ll be further released for the Wii, DS & PSP (as there were for the two Transformer Movie based Games)

According to the December issue of ‘Game Informer’, this new game is taking its cues from ‘Gears of War’ being a third-person shooter that chronicles the Autobot’s battles waged against the evil forces of the Decepticons. As with ‘Revenge of the Fallen: The Game’ and ‘The Game’ it also features a Decepticon campaign allowing you to crush all opposition to your rule of Cybertron. Unlike those two games it is not a movie based game (and hopefully won’t suffer the curse of Movie games).

Set on Cybertron, the events in the game occur long before the Transformers first contact with Earth. It’s you choice whether you want to believe its set before the 1984 Transformers Cartoon or comic, or durring Dreamwave’s ‘War Within’ series, or prior to the Armada series, or the Movie continuity, about the only continuity it can’t represent is Transformers: Animated. However you look at it the game is populated with a myriad of cool Cybertronian alt modes and huge alien sets to lose your Transformers in.

Playabale Characters (as currently reported) include a similar line up to the Movie based games: Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Ironhide (in his original Red Deco), Silverbolt (representing the Autobots Air Support), Megatron (with a tank changeform), Soundwave (with an armoured truck changeform), Starscream & Onslaught with cameos &/or Boss fights from the likes of Thundercracker, Skywarp, Devastator, Omega Supreme and Biggest Decepticon of them all Trypticon!

The astetics for the character designs have more in common with the cancelled Transtech toy line and the Titanium 6″ ‘War Within’ toys than any other Transformers series. And the good news for fans of the Cybertronian alt modes is that Hasbro has a toyline planned to back-up the game and has been in talks with Discovery channel about the development of a new cartoon series (current state of development unknown).

Other Transformers Games to look out for:

There have been several console games made for the Transformers franchise starting way back on the Commodore 64 (1986). Back then the games really were nothing special, mostly being rehashes of earlier games with Transformers related graphics.

Transformers: Beast Wars PS/PC
Animorphs GameBoy
Transformers: Beast Wars GameBoy
Transformers: Beast Wars: Metals (Japanese Exclusive) PSX
Transformers: The Hunt for Energon (Armada Based Game) PS2
Transformers: Takatai (Japanese Exclusive) PS2
Dream Mix TV World Fighters (Japanese Exclusive) PS2
Transformers: The Game PS2/PS3/PC/Xbox/PSP/DS/Wii
Transformers: Animated DS
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Game PS2/PS3/PC/Xbox/PSP/DS/Wii
Transformers: The War for Cybertron PS3/PC/Xbox/?PS2/PSP/DS/Wii?

As he is, Longarm here isn’t all that bad a figure. He has some decent paint applications on his feet, legs and chest and looks like a sturdy lad. Articulation is not bad for a toy of his size, (robot mode stands about 6 cm tall) as he has bending knees, swinging hips, a rotate-able waist, rotate-able shoulders and up down movement on his arms. Balance is very good, aided by his kneecaps, which can be form a walking pose. The downside of course being that if he was real, his kneecaps would scrape on the ground when he walked.

I really need elbows...

The cab of his truck forms his feet and knees, whilst the rear forms the rest. Transformation is simple and quick and although the whole figure is pretty basic, it seems to work together very well. The moulding of the figure is mainly details for the vehicle mode and it is well done, with little steps for a “driver” to get into the cab, doors, windows and fuel tanks to point out just a few.

His head is well done, with a nice no-nonsense face that has a serious mouth and a helmet styler reminiscent of cartoon G1 Megatron for some reason. I quite like the way that he has been given a nose, mouth and eyes, as opposed to the normal Mini-con face, which is usually some weird visor-looking thing. It’s effective and looks nice. The only facial paint applications is red which works well and they would have been hard pressed to add more, as it is so small.

Longarm’s alternative mode is a double crane construction vehicle. I guess since most of the Galaxy Force/Cybertron toys were all futuristic vehicles then this fits well as the crane has two cranes on it. One is the standard hook to a pole type that one would normally imagine for a crane, and the other seems to be a shovel. The hook is on the back half of the vehicle and the shovel in the front, behind the cab. Interestingly, the instructions have the hook at the front with the shovel behind. They are both rotate-able with a little bit of raising/lowering ability, but the hook can’t hook and the shovel can’t reach anywhere near the ground. However, no one is likely to want it to be that realistic, so imagination is the way to go here folks.

Details for the vehicle mode are again, pretty good and this is where they all come together nicely. The cab has windows, an engine grill and even windscreen wipers, moving back, the body of the truck has six wheels (which all roll), a nice bit of paint work and in the middle of the underside is a Mini-con attachment port. Overall, what we have is a very nice construction vehicle.

I must admit that I haven’t tried it, but I think this guy would look pretty good power-linked to one of the Transformer toys from Armada. The vehicle body is thin enough so as not to get in the way and the cranes look like they would make a good “enhancement” for one of the bigger fellers. Now I am going to have to dig out some of my Armada figures to try it out.

In the end, Longarm is a pretty good Mini-con figure with some nice detailing and a cool vehicle mode. Coming from the Giant Planet (Gigalonia in Galaxy Force or Gigantia in Cybertron), one would expect a construction vehicle and he is the only one in the Giant Planet Mini-con Team, which are a good set of toys, only let down by Overcast.

* (Longarm‘s construction vehicle mode is also reminiscent of the combined form of Stonecruncher and Excavator from the 1991 Decepticon Micromaster Combiner Construction Squad, although they were in yellow, grey and red – a better colour match for Astro-Hook, the Master Collector’s Transformers Collector’s Club 2007 Timelines recolour of Longarm released as a part of the Astrotrain Set)

Strike a Pose

Until this run of toys came along, Bumblebee had been missing off the roster of characters for quite a while (since his character has featured prominently in both the Live Action Movies and the Animated cartoon series). The original toy was very simple in construction and therefore I think it is nice to see newly constructed figure for this classic character. Is he up to standard?

Now for a Top Gear moment

It always struck me as a bit odd that the cartoon gave Bumblebee a completely new face. It bore little resemblance to the original toy which I believe is a good thing, because the toy’s head was a little ugly. This Classics incarnation of Bumblebee is modeled on the cartoon character’s face really well. It has his horns, the right shape for the head, his chin and rounds it off with a cute little smile. I suspect it is one of the first Transformers to look happy. In his fore-head is a small moulded vent which has been coloured blue. It works well to break up the yellow in the helmet part and his face is painted silver. He has the usual ball joint for a neck and it seems a little stiff. His cheeks feel like they impede his head movement slightly.

Smile for the Camera

His shoulders have the same blue highlights on them as his fore-head vent and breaks up the black of the upper arms and tire section well. The shoulders have quite a bit of movement available to them, as the tyres can swivel around and the arms themselves are connected via ball joints. One small difficulty with him is if you swivel the tyres about too much in robot mode, the plate that holds his head in place will pop up. Fore-arms are grey plastic which have the doors of the car joined onto at the wrists. The elbows are joined with ball joints and the doors can swivel around his wrists, so even though they are large, they can be maneuvered out of the way easily enough. His hands are black and have a peg hole in each for weapon holding, but the toy doesn’t come with a gun. The chest, which is formed from the cars roof and windshield has an Autobot rub-sign sticker on it as well as some white paint decals. His thighs are covered by the backs of the chairs in vehicle mode and have ball joints, his shins are covered by the bonnet. Feet consist of the front bumper and wheel base of the car. The robot mode is very close to the make-up of the original toy in transformation and even closer to his cartoon representation.There are some nice details moulded into him. On his legs, just above his ankles, there are some shock absorbers, his groin has some detail, that although nothing exceptional is effective, as in robot mode it can only be seen through the windshield. One I really like is on the side of his upper arms are some stripes that look like rank stipes for the army. Although Bumblebee never really climbed the ranks, he was a reliable chap and it’s good to see that he may have progressed a little.

Even though he doesn’t come with a weapon, he is accompanied by his “Wave Crusher” (aka a jet ski). This little addition can be towed behind the car in vehicle mode, or it can also transform into a Jet Pack and be mounted behind Bumblebee’s head. Although it looks a little small in vehicle mode (the scale is out, or perhaps it’s just a really, really small jet ski), it is mainly designed to clip into the back of Bumblebee, which it does well. It is easily and securely fastened and looks reminiscent of the old Action Master version of Bumblebee (which came with Heli-Pack – a back mounted Helicopter which could convert into his gun).

The vehicle mode is a two door compact sporty car with the jet ski mounted on the back. Although a very nice and sleek vehicle mode, I feel that it is not all that much suited to Bumblebee. His original form was a Volkswagen Beetle (Pre Super-Bug, although Goldbug and Pretender Classics/Legends Bumblebee were Super-Bugs) and not a sporty one at that (Volkswagen has denied Hasbro/Takara permission to have a Beetle change-form since they wish to distance themselves from anything battle related). Personally, I feel this is more of a Cliffjumper suited vehicle. However, that is perhaps for another review.

Why not a VW Beetle?

Luckily some of the sporty feel can be removed by un-clipping the spoiler on the back of the car. I was informed of this by a friend and to my relief it is easily done with no chance of damage. Once done, the car looks a lot more like Bumblebee’s car mode should. The main colour is of course yellow, with white decals. The boot area is painted white with red for the brake lights and the doors have a little bit of white with mostly yellow. The bonnet has a couple of stripes running up it and they lead onto the roof. The moulding of the car is good, with some air intake ports on the bonnet and the roof. Obviously this is a rally based car. The front grill has a nice radiator effect and the headlights are transparent plastic. From the side, it can be seen that the vehicle is very low to the ground. One touch that I really like is the seats. They form thigh covers for the robot mode, but the detail on them in vehicle mode is a very nice touch. However, aside from the seats, there are no other details.

Overall, Bumblebee is an extremely well designed figure. The homage (is it homage if it’s the same guy?) is striking and it is obvious this is an update. Even though the articulation is let down by bits getting in the way, it doesn’t get in the way so much as to make the figure a brick. The detail is well done and I recommend this figure to all those who have been thinking of getting it. You won’t be disappointed. It’s also designed by an Australian!

(recoloured and rereleased as Classics Cliffjumper, Timelines Bugbite, Henkei Bumblebee & Legacy Classics Bumblebee (with Legacy Animated Bumblebee and Legacy Movie Premium Series Battle Mask Bumblebee))

Mini-Spies in 'bot mode

Well these un-named little suckers were sold as a limited bonus prepacked on the cards of the Mini-Cars/Mini-Vehicles/Mini-Bots (Bumblebee, Huffer, Cliffjumper, Brawn, Windcharger, Gears, Seaspray, Powerglide, Warpath, Beachcomber & Cosmos).  Despite their fairly simple Transformations, these tiny TFs were the first to be released with pull-back spring motors and the first to have rubsigns indicating their allegiance (later the Powerdashers, Jumpstarters, Battlechargers, Throttlebots and Power Masters also utilised the motors and rub-signs became the standard up intil the Micromasters were released in 1989).  Like the majority of the early 1984-5 Transformers, the Mini-Spies were reuses of moulds from other Toylines like Takaras Microman or Diaclone.

Mini-Spies in car mode

So how many are there?

• 4: There are four unique moulds of Mini-Spy – Porsche, Mazda FX1, Dunebuggy or Jeep
• 16: The Motor Casings and Wheel Hubs for each Mini-Spy came in one of two moulds with four different combinations – Squared Motor Casing & Many-Spoked Wheel Hubs, Rounded Motor Casing & Few-Spoked Wheel Hubs, Rounded Motor Casing & Many-Spoked Wheel Hubs or Squared Motor Casing & Few-Spoked Wheel Hubs.
• 48: Each came in one of three different Colours – Yellow & Black, White & Black or Blue & Black (There are also Red & Black ones out there, but they were never officially released as Transformers, so I don’t count them, if you do then its 64.)
• 96: Each also came with an allegiance rub-sign on them giving a further two options – Autobot or Decepticon (if you count the Reds then its 128).

I had no intention of collecting 96 (or 128) of essentially the same Transformer so I went for: one of each original mould: three with Many-Spoked Hubs, one with Few: Three with Rounded Motor Cassings, one with Squared: Two in White & Black, One in Yellow & Black and One in Blue & Black; Three as Decepticons, One as an Autobot.  This essentially means that if I wanted, I could reassemble them to get any of the mould variations, and at least had an example of what colour plastic each of the colour variation was released with – I’m still looking for the other 8 colour variations…

Ideally I’d recommend getting the four original moulds in each of their three colours giving you 12 total, if you also find that you have both of the wheel/motor/rub-sign variations among your batch, then you could reassemble them all into any of their 96 Transformers variations.

Happy hunting

Thanks to Seibertron.com for the images – I’ll upload my own soon…

Lumberjack Prime

As is common now, for Hasbro at least, many Transformers are released in varying sizes for suit various price points, Animated Optimus Prime is no exception.

Which is for you?

Are you strapped for cash?  well the first 3 options my be right for you…

Legends (Mini) – Optimus Prime (Android/Earth Truck Cab)

Activators (Basic) – Optimus Prime (Android)

Activators (Basic) – Optimus Prime (Earth Truck Cab)

For those of you who like Cybertronian Alt. modes there’s always…

Deluxe – Optimus Prime (Android)

Deluxe – Optimus Prime (Cybertronian Truck Cab)

Ah Bumper Battlers, better than Cyber-Slammers but only because they’ve got electronics, each has a different voice chip containing sampled sound effects and voices from the Animated Cartoon show.  As much as I love the voice chips, these things are less Transformers than the 1984 Jumpstarters or the 1987 Throttlebots, even Playschools ‘My First Transformers’ are better than these…

Bumper Battlers (Deluxe) - Optimus Prime (Android Preschool, Electronics)

Bumper Battlers (Deluxe) - Optimus Prime (Earth Truck Preschool, Electronics)

Bumper Battlers (Deluxe) - Optimus Prime, Nightwatch (Android/Earth Truck Preschool, Electronics - Recoloured Movie All-Spark Battles Nightwatch Optimus Prime homage)

The Gift Sets may sound like value for money, in some cases they are but I’ve never found a store that doesn’t charge more for 2 deluxes packed together than they do for 2 deluxes packed separately, that said the Battle Begins DVD Gift Set not only contains 2 new moulds, but also a DVD containing the first Episode of the Animated Cartoon series.

Boxed Gift Sets (Deluxe + Mini + Mini) - Lockdown, Stealth (vs. Optimus Prime & Bumblebee) (Muscle Car (Recoloured) vs. Earth Truck (Recoloured) & Compact Police Car (Recoloured))

Boxed Gift Sets (Deluxe + Deluxe) - The Battle Begins (Optimus Prime vs. Megatron + DVD) (Earth Truck (Battle Damaged) vs. Cybertronian Blade Gunship (Battle Damaged))

Boxed Gift Sets (Deluxe + Deluxe) - The Battle Begins (Optimus Prime vs. Megatron + DVD) (DVD Cover)

What can I say about the Voyagers, hmm, well I love his fold-away face mask (even though it severely limits his head’s pose-ability), I like that he isn’t over-detailed with battle damage like his gift-set counterpart, but his ion axe and water blaster feel like badly made tack-ons, Hasbro was trying to save money by only giving him a ‘half-fire-truck’ mode, in fact he looks like Megatron has neatly sliced off the upper-rear part of his truck mode, including the ladder, and he’s had Ratchet weld on a water cannon for good measure.  The Wing Blade version hold a much nicer ascetic, but he’ll be among the last gasp for Hasbro’s Animated toy line in shelf-space competition with the ‘Revenge of the Fallen’ Movie line, making him farily rare to find…

Voyagers (Mega) - Optimus Prime (Android) - Wearing his legs short this season...

Voyagers (Mega) - Optimus Prime (Earth Truck Cab (with Water Blaster))

Voyagers (Mega) - Optimus Prime, Wing Blade (Earth Fire-Truck/Android (New Accessories – Recoloured) - Thanks for the pic TFormers.com

I enjoy a good bit of Role-Play, but what are you role-playing with this?  Optimus never turned into a hulking great cannon in the cartoon, if he did it’d be something for someone like Omega Supreme to wield, and even then it’d look like he had shoved his pinky finger into the back-end of a firetruck…

Role-Play (Mega) – Optimus Prime Battle Blaster (Android Wrist, Fist & Blaster)

Role-Play (Mega) – Optimus Prime Battle Blaster (Earth Fire-Truck)

The Supremacy in futility, this toy should never have been released, sure it has electronic lights & a voice chip (just like the much cheaper Bumper Battlers), it has spinning mode conversion (just like the Voyagers), it has a nice ion axe (just like the Battle Begins), but it has no detail and very poor pose-ability.  Generally speaking you’d expect something to become more detailed and more pose-able the larger it was made, like Master Piece Convoy vs. Robotmasters Convoy, same basic toy design, same character, just bigger and better, not so Animated Supreme Optimus Prime, Roll Out Command, Hasbro should have just concentrated their time making Voyager Optimus better, giving him a proper trailer and used their Supreme allowance by putting their very nice Omega Supreme toy into production…

Supreme - Optimus Prime, Roll-Out Command (Android (Preschool, Electronics))

Supreme - Optimus Prime, Roll-Out Command (Earth Truck (Preschool, Electronics))

With these releases it means that Animated Optimus Prime is still missing a Micro (think Micromaster or Mini-Con), Ultra, Leader (Super) & Ultimate (think Fortress Maximus) version.  With Hasbro’s new alliance with the Discovery Channel, they have dropped their association with the Cartoon Network, their animators co-designed the Animated toy line – this being the case, with only a few exceptions, Hasbro will not be releasing any further versions of Animated Optimus Prime that are not recolours – we’ll just have to wait and see what Takara/Tomy will do when they finally release the Animated line…

Apart from the Legends, Activators, Bumper Battlers & 2nd Voyager, the other releases come with at least a version of an Ion Axe, whilst the 1st Voyager comes with a water blaster as well.  The Wing Blade Voyager is the only version to convert into the full fire-truck as seen in the animated TV series, with the very light weight trailer-part becoming Optimus’s wing accessory and the Magnus Hammer (as seen in the last 2 episodes of the cartoon).

If you can only afford one Animated Optimus Prime, I recommend the 1st or 2nd Voyager (you may have to search some what for the 2nd).

If two are your limit then add the Deluxe Prime to your shopping-list.

If you’re almost broke but want one anyway, the Legends or Activators Prime is for you.

If you’re a fan of Electronic lights, sounds & voice samples go for any of the ones marked ‘Preschool’, just be aware that ‘Preschool’ also denotes the simplicity of their Transform & lack of either molding or paint details.

Personally I recommend getting three, 1st or 2nd Voyager (2nd preferable), Deluxe & the Battle Begins Gift set.  The others are nice, but either lack too much detail or are just reissues, recolours, or lack a proper robot mode.

Prime’s a lumberjack & he’s ok, he fights ‘con all night, he fights ‘cons all day…  Happy toy hunting

In truth the action figures resulting from such a conversation were neigther super-poseable nor TV accurate & Action Master Megatron, with his Vehicle the Neutro-Fusion Tank, is a case in point.

As with all Action Masters (excluding the Elites), Megatron has a grand total of only 7 points of articulation, the lower-legs & arms can swing up and down, the neck can turn left & right, only the upper-legs have really good articulation, but the molding is such that they can only really be set in one of four positions – sitting/crouching, standing/kneeling, the splits or bent right back in a position most people would find to be excruciatingly painful.

As for the TV accuracy in the detailing – all I can say is the designers must have been watching a cartoon series unreleased to the general public – remarkably though the toy does bear a striking resemblance to the Megatron who appears in the TV Adverts for the Action Masters.  At this time Hasbro was already aware that it wouldn’t be able to reissue the original Megatron toy (due to it changing into a realistic looking gun – not without putting some thought into making a blaze orange barrel plug and sticking a 16+ age restriction to sales) – and the new Megatron looked nothing like a gun – so much so that if you knew nothing about Transformers, you’d never know that his now non-existant alternate mode was meant to be to a Semi-Automatic Walther P-38 Hand Pistol.

Give a 'bot a lift?

Anyway, the brilliance in the Action Masters is not in the action figure – it’s in the accompanying play set.  This idea is actually a modification of the earlier Micromaster Bases/Stations/etc and they even use the same size posts, allowing both Action Masters & Micromasters to ‘bot’ the vehicles/bases.  And if you can’t Transform, you can’t expect a ‘bot’ as powerful as Megatron to have to walk everywhere, now can you?  Megatron’s Neutro-Fusion Tank even has five positions where Action Masters can stand or sit (seven if you open the rocket racks) when in Tank Mode (useful for all those stupid Action Masters who didn’t think about how they’d get around once they couldn’t transform, like Treadshot, Banzai-Tron, Shockwave, Krok, & Devastator.  Of course Megatron & Soundwave never gave much thought to transport when getting their original earthen alternate modes anyway).

The Tank Mode divides into two parts -  Megatron’s preferred mode of Transport/Attack, his Jet Throne, and the Missile Launcher, fitted with four smoke shells and a Fusion Missile (which is the Tank Barrel when in Tank Mode).  Split like this there are now 6 positions for the Action Masters to man (including the cockpit of the Jet Throne).

All-in-all Action Master Megatron comes with:

Why walk when you can ride in planet dominating style!

• Megatron (only his arms can be removed without breaking it or removing the screws holding it together)
• Anti-Aircraft Photon Machine Gun (Able to be hand held by any Action Master figure, or mounted on either the Jet Throne or Missile Launcher)
• High-Impact Battle Tank (Neutro-Fusion Tank)
• Ground-to-Air, Wire-Guided Missile Launcher
• Fusion Missile Rack (removable from the Missile Launcher without breaking it)
• Corrosive Smoke Shells, Four
• Search and Destroy Jet Throne
• Wings Left & Right (removable from the Jet Throne without breaking them)
• Fusion Missile/Fusion Cannon Tank Barrel

Unlike most earlier Transformers, Megatron’s box wasn’t a window box, and he was twist-tied to a cardboard insert.  Included in the box was a small plastic bag conatining both the 1990 toy catalogue and the transformation Instructions Leaflet.  Also unique to the Action Masters boxes was the inclusion of a set of Power Plans printed on the back of the box along with the usual Tech Spec & box art (Power Plans have just – 2009 – been reintroduced in the instruction booklets for the Alternity figures released by Takara-Tomy).  The front of the box featured artwork of Megatron piloting his Tank into battle.

Technical Specifications - readable without a decoder - guess he stopped caring who knew his weakesses...

Power Plans

The robot doesn’t transform, the vehicle is very blocky, it only has a simple transformation and the rockets & missiles aren’t actually designed to be launched , when I bought mine (back in December 1990), these faults didn’t matter too much to me, It was at that time the only chance I had of getting a toy version of the Decepticon’s Leader.  At the time the only complaint I had with the toy (other than Megatron not transforming) was that Megatron only had some silly red hand gun – where was his Fusion Cannon?

Megatron gets his Fusion Cannon back after looing it behind the sofa...

and didn't he look naked without it

For me this question was answered in 1998 when I learned that back in 1992, a Japanese Transfan had actually made a Fusion Cannon for Megatron.  A custom then, no big deal… but then I learned that Takara (who had never actually released any Action Masters) had actually given the custom their seal of approval and allowed it to be sold bagged with a label bearing Takara’s copyright stamp.  It was sold for ¥2,000.  It fitted to Megatron’s arm by pushing a post (on the sight-end) into the same hole that attaches Megatron’s arm to his shoulder.

The pictures of the Neutro Fusion Cannon that I’ve included I downloaded from someone else’s website back in 1998, I apologize for not crediting the source, but I just can’t remember where I got it from, and a quick search online couldn’t help me – if it’s your picture leave a comment and if I can confirm it, I’ll credit you .

Thanks to Botch for the Box & Tech Spec images.

I’ll get a better set of toy pics soon – expect this to be reposted with a full gallery soon .

Is this the Destiny of the Dinobots?

Swoop was first issued under Takara‘s Diaclone toy line – not a part of the Hasbro‘s Transformers toy line.  Dinobot Swoop was officially released in Hasbro & Takara’s 1985-6 Transformer line-up along with the other Dinobots, Grimlock, Slag, Snarl & Sludge.  Whilst Hasbro’s European division reissued Slag, Sludge, Snarl & Grimlock in 1992 as the Classic Dinobots and there was a reissue of Grimlock, Slag & Snarl in Hasbro’s Generation 2 series (along with 2 recolours each), Swoop was only reissued once and then by Takara in 1992 and although the name has been reused for other toys, the original Swoop hasn’t been reissued since (it is believed the original mould broke, or was misplaced in one of the various manufacturing companies used by Hasbro/Takara in 1992).

Dinobot Swoop’s original two modes were robot and Mechanical-Pteranodon.  The recent reuses of Swoops name were two different recolours of Beast Wars Basic Terrorsaur (the first a cancelled BotCon figure, the second issued with a recolour of Beast Wars Deluxe Dinobot renamed Grimlock under the Dinobots toy line), a new mould reissued with a new Grimlock mould both of which combine together to form Mega-Dinobot in Hasbro’s Energon toy line, a Mini-Con issued with Terrorsaur & Knockdown during Hasbro’s Classics toy line, & finally Animated Deluxe Swoop.

In recent years (2000+) what appears to be the original Dinobot Swoop has been showing up Mint in Box or Loose but in excellent condition.  It can be assumed that these miraculous finds are in fact knock-offs and when I compared the one sent to me (claimed to be an original) with the broken one I bought back in 1985 – it can be seen that they are in fact from completely different moulds.  Even though the knock-off Swoop is an absolutely excellent piece of work, features the correct copy-stamps, is made with high-quality plastics, has well printed labels and quite good chrome – it is still a knock-off.

Here are ten tells that I’ve compiled to help you ID any impersonators.
(Fake – Real)

1. The wings don’t fold flat when in robot mode & when open the tips are twisted when compared to the main. – The wings fold flat in robot mode & when open the tips are flat when compared to the main.
2. The Chrome wings are a darker color (more platinum than silver). – The chrome wings are a lighter color (silver).
3. The labels have been printed on a Laser or Jet Printer. – The labels have been printed in a Press.
4. The red Lower Jaw & Crest are rubbery & the jaw doesn’t open properly. – The red Lower Jaw & Crest are stiff & the jaw opens easily.
5. The wing tips have 2 oblong rotation stops on the pivot. – The wing tips have oblong detailing on the pivot, but no rotation stops.
6. The fine molded details in both the plastic & die-cast have greater extrusions, and mould points are obvious. – The fine molded details are generally flatter on the surface with no mould points evident.
7. There are five lines molded into the dino-mode ‘talons/feet’ (not including the five on the shins). – There are six lines molded into the dino-mode ‘talons/feet’ (not including the five on the shins).
8. There are eight lines in the die-cast mold at the collar & a thicker ‘bar’ on the inner edge. – There are nine lines in the die-cast mold at the collar & all are the same size.
9. The red paint on the lower legs & die-cast is dark in color. – The red paint on the lower legs & die-cast is light in color.
10. The arms slide loosely into the die-cast and the fingers scrape the die-cast. – The arms slide tightly into into the die-cast without the fingers scraping the die-cast.

C-30 Swoop - Fake Wing @ Top, Real Wing @ Bottom

C-30 Swoop Fake Torso

C-30 Swoop Real Torso

Unless you have the knack it is not easy to spot the fake (it really is a rather remarkable knock-off) – Given that Hasbro and Takara/Tomy are currently unlikely to reissue the original Dinobot Swoop, and if you’re unable to find a real unbroken Swoop – this is a good alternative.  Personally I’d prefer a broken original over a perfect fake any day.

The 15 Lives of Swoop:

• Divebomb - Marvel UK ‘What’s in a Name?’ Swoops first name, used until it was stollen by the Predacon of the same name.
• Swoop - Dinobot 1985-6.
• Swoop - Rubbery Decoy Figure 1986-7 packaged with small carded figures like the earlier Mini-spies had been.
• Swoop - Dinobot 1991 Mail-away reissue by Takara durring their Operation: Combination era.
• Swoop - Generation 2 Dinobot 1995 unproduced Grey, Blue & Green recolour of 1985-6 Dinobot (if you find one, it’s a fake)
• Swoop - TransCon 1998 Men-In-Black unproduced recolour of Beast Wars Basic Flipchanger Terrorsaur (if you find one, it’s a fake)
• Windrazor - BotCon 1999 recolour of Fuzor Silverbolt – the Veteran was meant to be Swoop in the distant future, who merged his spark with ‘the Cub’ to become Windrazor
• Terranotron – Dinobot Deluxe 2001 recolour of deluxe Transmetal Terrorsaur with an added spark crystal
• Terranotron/Swoop - Dinobot 2003 gift set packed with Grimlock recolour of Beast Wars Basic Flipchanger Terrorsaur
• Ravenus - Armada Manga character depicted as being under the evil influence of Mini-Con addiction – looks a lot like Armada Terrorsaur with Ironhide, who in turn looks a lot like Dinobot Deluxe Terranotron & Transmetal Deluxe Terrorsaur
• Swoop - Armada Manga character depicted as having been called Ravenus before being cured of his Mini-Con addiction
• Swoop - 2000-6 Mint in Box Knock-Off Swoop starts appearing on the shelves
• Bombadier - 2003-6 Custom made World’s Smallest DinoRobo Bomadier aka Swoop came in one of four different colours, Diaclone Blue, Autobot Red (with a Christmas Elf’s hat, gift packed with Grimlock), Retribution Black or Crystal Red (last two gift packed with the other four Dinobots in the same colour scheme)
• Swoop - 2004 Energon combiner gift packed with Grimlock combines to form Mega-Dinobot
• Swoop - 2006 Dinobot Mini-Con Team gift packed with Terrorsaur and Knockdown
• Windrazor - 2008 Universe single packed Mini-Con recolour of Dinobot Mini-Con Team Swoop
• Swoop - 2007 Animated Dinobot
• Swoop - 2010 Animated Dinobot (Japanese Exclusive)

Happy hunting for your preferred Swoop