Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Core wave 6

Dinobot Scarr (Ankylosaurus)
Dinobot Swoop (Pterodactyl)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/Core6

The wave also includes a repackage of Kingdom Core Starscream, I'm not
rebuying that one just to get the QR code. Grimlock is reshipped in this
wave. And yes, I think these are the first ones I've seen on regular store
shelves rather than Gamestop or online.

CAPSULES

$10-12 price point (cheapest at Target)

Dinobot Scarr: Decent robot mode, kinda weird dino mode, better arm mode
than I expected. Also, it's the first toy for a comics-origin character.
Recommended.

Dinobot Swoop: Best robot mode of the Dinobots, decent beast mode, kinda
anemic limb mode. Worth getting even if you're not trying to assemble
Volcanicus. Recommended.

RANTS

Two more Dinobots and future Dinoforce pretools, adding Scarr to have
the needed sixth (I guess Paddles doesn't get an official toy). All we need
is Snarl, the right leg (and Doryu pretool).

AUTOBOT: DINOBOT SCARR
Assortment: F7181
Altmode: Ankylosaurus/left arm
Transformation Difficulty: 9 steps to robot
Previous Name Use: None
Previous Mold Use: None
Function: Dinobot Medic
Special Unit: Dinobots
Origin Universe: Comics
Signature Weapon: Concussion Blaster - Launches highly combustible compressed
energy in a fiery blast
Evo-Fusion: Volcanicus (4 of 6)

STR 5 INT 8 SPD 3 FRB 5

Scarr serves as the tactical medic of the Dinobots, quick to think
on-the-spot and adapt to situations as they unfold.

Note, this is supposed to be the Dynobot Skar from the IDW neo-G1
continuity, who was killed by a rampaging Grimlock after giving the other
Dynobots beast-based powers to help them survive. He never appeared again,
much less got a Dinobot mode, and since "Skar" was also used for the
relatively-recently released Cassette Battle Master, they changed the name to
Scarr.

Packaging: Two rattan strings (one twisted, one tied) hold the robot to
the inner tray. The tailclub and dino head are each held on separately by
single strings. The instructions do show a step on attaching the dino head.

Robot Mode: The shell parts acting as shoulderpads give a bit of a
samurai vibe to the outline, although for the head they stuck with a G1
Dinobot style rather than something kabuto-like. The shins are
disproportionately long, but it's an acceptable look for someone who's
supposed to be hulking and towers over humans...even if the toy can't tower
over even other Core figures.
3.5" (9cm) tall in mostly light gray with bits of silver, gold, red, and
black. The entire toy is made of slightly silvery light gray plastic,
everything else is paint. Gloss black covering most of the gun/tail club, as
well as the helmet. The face is silver with metallic blue (or clear blue
over the silver) eyes. The center of the chest is gold, flanked by red. The
boot fronts are silver with gold on the toes and central shins. The outer
faces of the shoulderpads are also silver.
The neck and waist turn smoothly. The shoulders are ball joints on
transformation struts that swing forwards, so the arms can cross over the
chest and you can even fake that he's holding his gun in a two-handed firing
range grip. Hips and knees are also ball joints, and it's a little difficult
to get a pose that doesn't result in falling over backwards (the dino legs on
the boots can't fold down farther than horizontal, and certainly can't act as
hell supports).
The fists can hold 3mm pegs, and there's a 5mm peg on the back meant for
attaching to the torso of Volcanicus. I suppose you could use the 5mm socket
through the "gun" to hold other guns? This also lets the gun store on the
back.
The gun is so obviously a left hand that having it held in the right
hand looks WRONG. It's a single piece of plastic 4cm long with a grip that's
one of those hybrid 5mm/3mm pegs. At the root of the "wrist" end is a 5mm
socket for attaching as a tail in dino mode. There's also a rectangular slot
on top of the wrist that serves as the attachment point in Volcanicus mode.
Sticking out from the back of the hand is a weapon barrel ending in a 3mm
stud like Robocop's data spike (well, or like Dinoking's or Monstructor's
fists, which this IS...I have my Monstructor out on display and compared).

Transformation: Dinohead flips up over the robot head, fold the back peg
up, rotate the waist 180 degrees. Then fold the arms together over the robot
chest and peg them together, snap the boots together and fold them over the
arms, position the dino legs, and attach the gun as the tail club. Fairly
simple, but it does need to be done in the right order.

Altmode: It's like a hunchbacked version of an ankylosaur, or one that
came to a too-abrupt stop and had all its backfat slosh forwards. Also, it'd
probably look more unified if they had left the tail club unpainted, but I
get that they wanted the black fists for Volcanicus. The back looks more
like it's meant to be a slab shield held by a Voyager-sized bot...and
technically it can be. There's triangular spikes in three rows along the
back and one row on either side.
4.75" (12cm) from snout to tail tip, 1.75" (4cm) tall. Most of the red
is gone in this mode, and all the silver is connected up on the back. The
head is painted gold with blue eyes and a red Autobot symbol printed on the
nose. The shin gold is on the back half of the shell, the tail is all
black.
The four stubby legs are on swivel hinges, no other articulation. The
fist holes are accessible on either side.

Limb Mode: I thought based on his shape that he was a leg, so I grabbed
two Swoops so I could make a two-armed Volcanicus while I waited for Snarl,
oops. Nope, he turns into the left arm, same as Gairyu of Dinoking.
(Gairyu's shell turned into a sorta-ankylosaur.) I suppose I could get a
spare Grimlock, but I already figured out that he doesn't work well on the
wrong side.
Anyway, it's mostly a halfway point between robot and beast, with the
legs folded out to be the forearm. The peg for attachment is a little above
the halfway point, resulting in a tall shoulderpad. It's a total of 5"
(12.5cm) long in this mode.

Overall: I was worried from pictures that this would be a really bad
figure, but it's not bad, aside from the aesthetic weirdness of dino mode.

AUTOBOT: DINOBOT SWOOP
Assortment: F7182
Altmode: Pterodacytl/right arm
Transformation Difficulty:
Previous Name Use: PotP (other uses were just Swoop)
Previous Mold Use: None
Function: Dinobot Bombardier
Special Unit: Dinobot
Origin Universe: G1
Signature Weapon: Dual missile launchers - Fires highly explosive missiles
at targets within an eight-mile radius
Evo-Fusion: Volcanicus (5 of 6)

STR 6 INT 6 SPD 8 FRB 7

Swoop may be the friendliest of the Dinobots, but his alt mode sends
enemies running in fear as he soars menacingly overhead.

Packaging: Two twisted-end rattan strings hold the robot to the tray,
the top one of which is wrapped around the torso to keep the dino head from
flipping up. The two guns (which are half fists) are held to the tray with a
single string.

Robot Mode: This is mostly based on the animation colors rather than toy
colors, although lacking a few bits. Rather than use silver paint for the
chromed parts, though, they made the interesting decision to use very light
gray plastic in keeping with "animation silver." And, as with Scarr, the
guns are black instead of based on the wing launcher colors, so that
Volcanicus can have black fists. These minor color issues aside, though,
it's probably the best robot mode of the Dinobots I have so far...good
proportions, good animation-accurate mold details, good articulation.
3.75" (9.5cm) tall in mostly gray, gold, red, and blue. Unlike Scarr,
it's actually made of two different colors of plastic. Very light gray
plastic is used for the wings, guns, and lower legs. Everything else is the
same light gray Scarr is made from.
The fronts and sides of the bootsd are painted gray in a very good match
to the main light gray plastic. The head is dipped in gloss darkish red with
silver on the face and metallic blue eyes (or the same clear over silver
trick as Scarr). The fronts of the right and left edges of the torso are
painted gloss blue, while the majority of the torso and pelvis front are
painted gold. Well, technically the pelvis is a separate unpainted piece,
but the dino beak hangs down in front of it. The dino eyes are blue, and
there's a red Autobot symbol printed on the dino forehead, roughly belt
buckle level here. Stripes on the outer faces of the boots are painted red.
The two guns are mostly painted gloss black, save for the grip pegs, inside
the fist sockets, and some rectangular sockets on the tops. (The sockets
used for mounting on the wings are painted, though.)
The neck is a ball joint and the socket in the head is shaped so that
the head can tilt all the way back. The waist is a smooth swivel, although
the beak impedes motion. Ball joint shoulders, elbows, and hips. There's
upper thigh swivels and hinge knees. The wings are hinged at their roots and
again at the halfway point so they can fold up against the back.
The fists can hold 3mm pegs, no other standard connectors. The guns are
each half of a fist, but each has its own entire barrel, with the hand half
sort of pretending to be an ammo drum. 1.5" (3.5cm) long, and it can be held
in pegged-together mode as a double-barrelled gun. There's no 5mm pegs on
this one, but as with Scarr's gun they connect to arm mode via the
rectangular slots on the back of the fist. Each barrel ends in a 3mm stud.