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REVIEW:
Certainly one of the entries in this two-pack would qualify for coming about as a result of a question like that. I'm not a regular collector of Transformers Cybertron. The reasons are purely financial. Honestly, I'd love to have the whole line, but I can't afford it. So I have to pick and choose. And I wasn't about to pass up a two-pack that included a small Transformers that looks like an extremely authentic space satellite! His name is Scrap Iron. Let's hope Destro's main weapons expert from the world of G.I. Joe - also named Scrap Iron - doesn't get wind of that. Of course in a battle of man vs. satellite, I wouldn't want to bet on the outcome on behalf of the human, especially since the Transformers Scrap Iron is a Decepticon as well. As a satellite, Scrap Iron is pretty effective, even though as a toy he's not quite four inches in length, and that's assuming that his spring-action missile is in place. But he sincerely looks like an entirely plausible man-made satellite. The only real giveaway, apart from the embossed Mini-Con logos on him, is that one end of his satellite modes ends in a fist! One aspect of the paint detail should be mentioned -- the checkerboard pattern along the main body of the satellite. This is a level of detail that a lot of toys wouldn't go into these days, or if they did it'd be a pretty sloppy paint job. There's quite a bit of other paint detail on Scrap Iron, as well -- the gold plating on the "solar panels", the tiny eyes on the robot head -- all neatly done. Transformers has thankfully eluded the sloppiness that has been affecting other toy lines, and I hope it continues to do so. Scrap Iron is pretty cool in robot form, as well, although his head is a little strange. It basically looks like a series of lenses, almost like the front of an old-style TV camera, and there's no apparently mouth. Granted, this hasn't stopped other Transformers in the past from speaking (Shockwave, for example), so I don't see why it would be a hindrance to him. Scrap Iron's file card reads as follows: Scrap Iron gets his name because of his takent for locking onto and destroying moving targets from space. You'd know you were in his target zone when you stumbled across the unidentifiable remains of whatever was there before. He's not too into the idea of running a defesive operation in deep space, which was why he was glad to hear that the Street Action Team was on its way. He's never met them, but it's nice to have the opportunity to destroy a celebrity. I'm not entirely sure what those last few lines mean, but it's pretty clear that Scrap Iron isn't a very nice guy. According to the package back, he can be combined with two other Decepticons named BACKBLAST (another name borrowed from G.I. Joe) and BLASTCHARGE to form this space- rifle-like contrivance called the UMBRAL BLASTER. Weird name. Now, just because I bought this two-pack primarily for Scrap Iron, doesn't mean that I intend to ignore the other Mini-Con in the set. His name is GRINDOR, and he appears to be a futuristic, but not implausible- looking, hovercraft. The main color is a nice turquoise, entirely appropriate for a seacraft, with dark blue, white, and silver trim, with the Autobot logo stamped on the front. His transformation is extremely simple, almost too much so. Pop open the front halves of the vehicle and there's his head. The arms pop out of the side and the legs lower. Granted these Mini-Cons tend to be relatively simple, but this was almost ridiculous. The end result is also a very ungainly-looking robot. He looks like he'd have trouble walking in robot form, or picking up any sort of decent speed. Honestly, he looks at least as peculiar as a small Autobot I remember from the Generation One line, a flying saucer named Cosmos, whose background actually stated that he preferred to remain in vehicle form because of how difficult it was to function in robot form. Although his file card doesn't specify such, I can well imagine Grindor having much the same problem, and perhaps attitude. His file card reads as follows: Like High Wire, Grindor has fond memories of the peace they found on Earth after the end of the Energon Battles. He had fully supported the formation of an independent Mini-Con state on the moons of Cybertron, and was a vocal booster of the Mini-Con Council of Sages. He believes that all Mini-Cons can and should live in peace, and he still harbors hope that the conflict with the rebels can be resolved without too much fighting. Honestly, that description has a little too much broad history and not enough specific details on the capabilities of the uindividual. According to the package, Grindor can be combined with High Wire and Sureshock to form a new robot called PERCEPTOR, a name with a lot of history in the Generation One world of Transformers. Bottom line on this particular two-pack? It's pretty cool. Scrap Iron as a satellite is very impressive, and Grindor, although not quite as plausible vehicle-wise, still makes for a cool vehicle, even though his robot form is a little strange and ungainly. Any of the TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON MINI-CONS would have my recommendation, and I certainly give high marks to SCRAP IRON and GRINDOR! |
