I have not held back in the past in saying that my favourite Transformer of all time is Starscream. I am not all that certain why that is. Was it the wonderful voice acting of Christopher Collins in the original series? Was it the fact that he transformed into an F-15? Was it the fact that at every chance he would try and usurp Megatron's command? Or even in the face for death he never did disappear? Well at least as much as a ghost can.
So when you have a favourite and you're a collector, you always have your ear to the ground and if something new appears on the market, well you at least have to have a look at it, right? That is the way it was for me with Impossible Toys TS-01 Banshee. With the closure of Impossible Toys theses are going to become rare, but thankfully I was able to pick up one of their Tetra Jet from
TFsource before that sad day.
In the past Impossible Toys has been plagued with quality control issues, cheap plastics or just overall poor reviews from previous product lines, so of course I was hesitant on even giving Banshee a second or third look. It was not until
Internet Personality Vangelus's review of the almost complete squadron did I become sold on the figure. I will say my first impression of this third party toy is impressive and it is sad to report that Impossible Toys banked their future on presales of the Tetra Jets and the company will no longer be producing any more after the release of their Minibot line.
Now with most third party figures, you will pay a premium for, meaning you will pay more than a regular Hasbro release or even an imported Takara price. I did pick up Banshee on clearance, and it now appears to be sold out on TFsource, but I have done some searching and I have been able to find the squad from other sources.
If you remember way back to September 1984 with the original TV series, in More than Meets the Eye Part One, when what appears to be Skywarp and Thundercracker transform on Cybertron they do not form their familiar F-15 mode they change into something more alien, something more befitting a Cybertronian jet in the shape of a tetrahedron. Granted back in 1984 and sooner the engineering to make a complex shape out of a brick was impossible, but who had the foresight to think that a couple minutes of screen time would make fanboys of the Seekers like myself cry out for what later became known as the Tetrajets.
This figure is on the fly review, so I shall start with the box. Short of no picture window you can clearly see the G1 influence.Stylized art work of what the toy looks like in both robot and alt mode, the fonts and colours they choose. The one side panel explains how the Tetra Squad came to be. The back has the bio for Banshee, sadly there are no tech specs to read or decode and the final side panel has a drawing of Banshee, the same one located on the front. Once you open up the package the figure comes in Robot mode inside a plastic clamshell as well the instruction sheet.
Even though I wanted to write the majority of this review on the fly, can you really blame me from wanting to check it out first before moving forward? I hope not and it is because of that reason we start in jet mode. Banshee has some slick and curved lines, and plenty of little details that were not present in the short time they were represented on screen. Clearly in this mode you have the classic Starscream colours of grey, blue and red. In keeping with classic seeker design the nullrays have their spot under the wingtips, but in keeping with the original series there are two tiny blasters on either side of the nose. The bright yellow canopy does open to reveal a shallow cockpit, not large enough for any figure I have seen. It is a shame that with this additional detail they did not make the canopy in a semi-opque plastic,and with the noticeable overspary on the inside (at least on my figure) the canopy shall remain closed while in tetrajet mode. The rear of the figure is showing more of that artistic licence, as a main thruster is present along with some added moulded in details that could have been enhanced with some paint detail.
While sitting on it three retractable landing gears, with actual rolling wheels, it is hard to imagine where the panels all fit, but like any jetformer, this figure suffers from the same flaw they all do. One flip of the jet and you clearly see Banshee's arms and legs, but this is a flaw that no amount of engineering can solve when covering a robot into a jet. The day it is completely solved, it have better be a version of Starscream....just saying.
Now this is where I would normally go into the transformation process, but after careful review of those steps in the print it was very boring, very long and to be honest not very useful. Instead I have scanned the instructions for your viewing pleasure. There are few points I wish to add:
- This is an adult collectible and not a child's toy.
- There are multiple tabs that will need to be separated before transforming.
- The multiple joints that are strong, but I would not put any undue force on them.
- Take your time transforming for the first time as this can be confused with a shell former but surprisingly is not engineered that way.
If you stopped and looked at the instructions there might be only 17 steps but may of those steps are done twice but you will have Banshee in his robot mode. Looking straight on at this figure, could it be anyone but Starscream?
Starscream is here, down to the greys, reds and blues jumping straight out of the original cartoon series. The body design was borrowed directly from the Classics Seeker mould in which is not a bad thing at all. Well time to get to the main difference that is staring you right in the face, or should I say his face? That's right the head sculpt.
The head on this figure is as large as the ego is from which the character is inspired from. The eyes are painted red, the face is silver and with a black helmet. The details are there, but the mouth is shallow and is easily lost within the silver paint. As for the rest of the figure, there are some noticeable paint details missing when comparing this to a Generation's Seeker, something that could easily been solved with some reprolabels, but due to the lack of popularity of this series I doubt that set will ever surface.
The majority of the robot mode folds up and behind the figure creating an interesting backpack, nothing that seems out of the ordinary, but is really the only sign that this is a shellformer. The full back panel is in one piece, but on closer inspection there appears to be an abandoned extra transformation to add further shape.
During transformation I noticed a screw that looks to be holding a plastic washer inside a slip joint. The screw goes into the small circles that are present to the left and right of the main thruster, and yet there is no movement to slip those parts over each other. The curve that is present in the side panels, and with the tip bending over those pieces it does look like they belong. Now I did wish the tips bent over all the way versus the 90 degrees they do. The long nose drapes over the whole assembly in the classic seeker position. The stem that is connected to the back of the head is long enough as to not get in the way of the backpack created from the wings.
As I continue to provide my first impressions with Banshee I am impressed by the joints and how tight they feel. The head can look left and right, the shoulders can move up and down as well as in and out. There is an upper arm swivel along with a double jointed elbow and the hands are pretty well static unless you count the transformation step of moving them into the forearms. The is no waist articulation. The legs move in and out, but forward motion is limited by the front area panel and details on the thigh. There is also a upper thigh swivel followed by another double joint in the knee. The foot moves up mainly from transformation and the rear heal created from the wing tips does offer some additional movement and stability. With the large backpack the centre of balance is thrown off but it is possible to get Banshee into a walking pose. It is in the arms in which this poseibility shines, the free moving shoulders, double jointed elbows and the nullrays placed on the upper shoulder versus the forearms are not being oversized which is a bonus over the Generation's Seeker.
This entire review has been written based on first impressions. Banshee arrived from TFsource around noon on Wednesday April 18th 2014 and although this review was posted a few days later for editing and photos. There are some flaws with figure that I need to note.The peg holes for the nullrays do slightly split at the shoulders and easily pop out when placed into those holes. Those same nullrays seem to be a last minute thought. There are no paint applications and the backs are hollow. The oversized head with some missing details is screaming (no pun intended) for a replacement. As well there are some great paint details, I feel this figure would be enhanced further with a third party sticker set that would 100% need to include some Decepticon symbols for the wings. Outside the large head those are minor flaws and can be adjusted or fixed . I am happy to add Banshee to my other Starscream figures and Seekers as a welcomed addition. If you are looking for something new to add to your collection, a conversation starter, are you are a G1 purest, a fan of Seekers or Starscream himself this figure is a must have.
TheRealRonin
Like Transformers Reviews on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment