Army Building with Steve

Time to go back to what I am famous for (or at least in my own mind) and that is to review a toy that makes me happy. I figured since my last review was of the abysmal Darth Vader crossover, I ask you this. What is a leader without his troops? Well the answer would be a mad man, as every great leader always has mindless troops to carry out their orders.

On that note I present to you the only fitting troops for a Transforming Vader and that is, Robots in Disguise (RiD) Deluxe Class Vehicon. Now I was very fortunate to come across two in a case I purchased a while back, so I could begin my army building and as you can see those two lead to me purchasing the Takara Tomy Arms Micron Deluxe Class Flying Vehicon.

I never went and purchased the First Edition (FE) Vehicon and you know what, I'm glad. Sure the FE is slightly larger, but is no where near as screen accurate to what the RiD version is. I have not seen a FE up close and personal, but from what I have seen from other reviewers and watching Transformers: Prime, I prefer the second release. The one thing I am impressed with is that they decided to use a whole new mold and not rework or repaint the old and in my book that is a huge Thumbs Up.

First I think I will start with their alt modes. In
their respective vehicle modes you can see the many differences in the design and yet at the same time you know they are cloned cousins. For the RiD Vehicon you have a very classic muscle car look. With its clear windshield, passenger windows and headlights, enlarged rear fenders and spoiler, as well as a beefed up front end. There are two weapon ports on either side of the rear fenders, but the weapon works better when you plug into into the driver's side panel. The plastic wheels roll easily and no robot junk is rubbing on the ground, table or pavement. Speaking of robot "junk" and I am not certain why some people do this, but a quick look on the undercarriage shows very little in the way of what this figure is and how it transforms. The paint apps are sparse, with purple pin striping on the rear bumper, front fenders and a Decepitcon logo on the hood.

Now on to the vehicle mode to the Flying Vehicon. It is easy to imagine a muscle car in which the lines have been elongated and made aerodynamic. The beefed up front end is replaced with a knife sharp edges, the large rear fenders and spoiler morphed into tail fins and with the addition of the forward swept wings and elevators to complete the look. Unlike it's pavement bound cousin the paint applications are far more sparse with just a unique wind swept stripping on the doors. Now being a Takara import you have the additional bonus of something you really see outside of G1 toys, Generations Metroplex and Whirl....Stickers! There are a few you see in this mode. Silver stickers on the leading edge of the wing tips, the front fenders as well as a purple Decepticon logo on the nose. Now being an Arms Micron figure there are multiple 5mm points in which you can attach weapons to, but I feel that will disrupt the air flow over this sleek jet car, unless I missed a third party creating under mount weapons or the wings.

Even with their slightly different outward appearance, the transformation between the two is very similar with the added bonus of an awesome piece of engineering to prevent that normal fault that the majority of carformers suffer from. These figures hide the entire rear windshield, roof, front windshield and hood within the calves of the well articulated legs. The main difference is the starting point of which one you are transforming. If you start with the Flying Vehicon you need to first unpeg the wings from the body and flip the whole assembly over, followed by bending the wings in on themselves using the hinges on the additional piece. Now that you have the one main difference out if the way time to bring the Decipticon cannon fodder to life! Take the rear fenders and untab them and move them out of the way via the swivel joint on what will become the figures shoulders.

Now starting at the back, flip the trunk, roof and hood all in one piece. Once flipped up here is the really awesome trick, separate the two halves and flip the spoiler over (on the Ground Vehicon), flip the trunk over next in the same motion the roof, windshield and hood. By combining those sections you have just created the backs of the robot mode lower legs. Now you want to bring down the feet up and front half of the legs, making sure you have pegged them into the folded section's available slot. Now position the front fenders how you see fit and you are now done the lower body.


The arms themselves have a unique joint built into them. First you will need to separate the door panels from the rear fenders, and on the swivel joint, rotate that 90 degrees. Now bring down the lower arm using it's pivot and ball joint till straight, flip out the hand and you are done, well you will need to follow those steps for both arms. All that is left now is a little auto-morph, once you pop up and flip down the rear bumper, the head will pop into position. The  final step on the Flying Vehicon is to reposition the wings back out to complete its look.

Articulation is what you would expect from today's deluxe figures. The head is on a ball joint and can move freely. The shoulders are on a double joint with a swivel needed for transformation and a ball joint in the outer shoulder as well there is an upper arm swivel. The elbow joint is different, but aides in the show accurate look. There is pin joint that connects to a ball joint that fits into the forearm. The hands only movement is a flip in and out with no swivel or rotation. There is no waist articulation. The hips are on a ball joint and surprisingly no upper thigh swivel. The knees bends a full 90 degrees and the feet just move down from a pivot joint. Poseability can be difficult, but if you ever saw Transformers: Prime these troopers mainly just wandered the halls with their long arms swinging at their sides.

In robot mode the two figures really show off the fact that they are cousins. The purple and clear chest in my humble opinion goes back to the days of the Cobra B.A.T.s in GI Joe, with a deception logo under the clear piece. The purple colour continues in the joints, hands, hips and shins. Its flying cousin has an almost pink colour, with the Deception logo and shins being stickers.

Both figures come packing heat that they will miss each and every Autobot by a country mile. The Flying Vehicon comes with an Arms Micron weapon. In the package there is some assembly required, as well as a multitude of stickers that need to be applied. Once assembled you have perhaps the only thing that is not show accurate. Yes the blaster's barrel is triangle in shape, but that is where the similarities end. Now being an Arms Micron in does transform. By rotating the the back piece over and flipping down the legs, now you have a very odd cycloptic creature with a large triangular tail.

The pavement cousin has a closer to show accurate weapon with two different ways to hold said weapon. You have the traditional 5mm peg that fits quite nicely in the hand but by doing so you give the Vehicon a gangsta look, holding the weapon sideways or you have my favourite way. Flip the hand in as you would for transformation and on the forearm a small cut out. On the bottom of the weapon you will see a small clip the clips into the small cut out giving you the appearance that the arm transformed into the blaster.

In the end I am happy to have Steve and his buddies in my collection. I have not been one to army build even with wanting a dozen of every Cobra Trooper there was when I was younger, but these three standing tall with other Prime figures looks impressive. The unique engineering, the show accurate look and just lack of bot kibble brings these figures to life. In my opinion both figures are a must have but can be difficult to come by. The Flying Vehicon version is only available as an import (in Deluxe Class) and somewhat recently there was an updated version released, in a silver/grey application matching those found in the last season of Transformers: Prime. Do yourself a huge favour if you collect the Transformers: Prime line, get two, three or twenty and build yourself an army to do battle with the Autobots, but leave Steve back at the base, we like Steve and well Starscream needs someone to blame.

TheRealRonin
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