Post by gavfather on Apr 21, 2012 11:24:15 GMT
Just a quick review of the recently acquired Power Core Combiners Heavytread with Groundspike.
Bio: At his core, HEAVYTREAD is a gentle soul. He enjoys the fragile beauty of Earth, appreciating it all the more because of the ease with which it could be ruined. He is glad of the power he now wields, because it gives him the ability to defend the delicate creatures he loves.
First off, I love this figure! The plastic quality is excellent, no flimsiness about him.
The mould is superb. All 3 modes feel solid and there is some gorgeous moulded detail all over him.
The paint apps are good, but not great. They are sharp and have been applied with care, and there is some nice detail like the yellow used on lights and the silver used on the heads, but the camouflage is only two colours, the moulded tan on the arms and legs and Moulded green for the upper legs and body, and the painted brown and grey. Some flecks of black would have added that little hint of extra detail that would have been more akin to modern camouflage patterns, even the original US Woodland pattern had 3 colours - Green, brown and black.
Now, the full review:
Robot mode: Heavytread is a great figure in 'bot mode. He's solid, very well articulated and looks cool! The only negative comment I have to make is about his hands.
Arms. They're moulded within the front part of the tank treads. While they can both hold 5mm posts, I prefer hands that are free and unencumbered. It wouldn't have been hard to have hands that swivelled out from the tread section, even if they weren't ball-jointed it would have been nice.
The rest of the arms are great - the shoulders are articulated on ball joints, the upper arms are jointed with 2 pins each and the elbows bend. The joints move freely without being floppy at all. 3 out of 5 stars!
His legs. They look cool and bend at the knee, with a articulation at the hips too. The feet are solid tabs at the bottom of the legs but they're not bad at all.
Again, the joints move smoothly without being floppy - 4 out of 5 stars!
The waist. The waist swivels to great effect so that in bot mode, you get Heavytread's legs and in combiner mode you get a different crotch piece and the legs face the other way to hide his feet.
As well as the two different looks to the legs in the two robot modes, there's a very nicely detailed panel that flips down in Alt. mode to cover the gap between his legs.
The detail in the waist alone shows the effort Hasbro went to in the last wave of the PCC commanders. - 5 out of 5 stars!
The body. The chest is very well executed. The chest is long with a hinge at the front. While the hinge doesn't look great, the designers have thoughtfully made full use of it. The panel on the top of his chest opens so you can pull the Combiner mode head out of the chest cavity. The hinge also holds the 5mm Armada-style minicon peg for attaching Groundspike in Combiner and Alt. modes. The paint apps are basic but well done and the mould detail is fantastic.
4 out of 5 stars!
The head(s). The heads for both robot modes are great. First of all, Heavytread's individual 'bot mode head is well detailed with some nice silver paint and a solid black visor. It's obvious that light-piping was intended here but they moulded the visor piece opaque which is disappointing as it would have worked very well. The head is on a ball joint with a nice range of movement and like the other joints on this mould, moves smoothly without being floppy.
This head folds down into the larger head hidden in the chest cavity
The combiner-mode head is just fantastic. He looks like a Manga/Anime style military killbot yet doesn't have so much of an evil glare like a 'Con would. The head is chunky and has a heavy feel. The paint apps here are again sharp and applied with care. This head is on a swivel joint which is perfect for this mode as a ball joint wouldn't support the head.
4 out of 5 stars!
Weapons. The minicon isn't part of this section as he is a Transformer in his own right.
The only other weapon is the tank turret. The turret itself hangs on his back in 'bot mode a la Guzzle, but in Combiner mode actually transforms - the turret swivels to the side and a sensor/launcher flips over the left shoulder. It looks really cool and an enterprising customiser could probably fit an LED in there somewhere
The mould itself for the turret is hollow and it would have been nice if Heavytread had a separate blaster or something that could fit into the 5mm post in tank mode.
3 out of 5 stars!
Other accessories. Groundspike. I'm going to skim over him because he's a translucent blue minicon, in other words he's shit. The robot mode is alright although he has no hands to speak of, just the Alt, mode plough things. He also has tan coloured legs which look crap woith the blue. Alt. mode is alright, he fits on to Heavytread well and looks like part of the mould. Or at least he would if it were not for the translucent blue plastic. Claw mode is growing on me although you'd think a transforming tank would have a minicon that could turn into a machine gun or something instead of a crude melee weapon.
Power-up armour mode is alright too and looks good on Heavytread's chest in Combiner mode.
In short, he's getting painted when I have time.
2 out of 5 stars.
Alt. Mode. Heavytread's vehicular mode is a modern-style tank of no particular model. As is standard for any TF on caterpillar tracks his treads are solid and he rolls along on small wheels. the camo looks alright here, especially because the painted pattern is nice and sharp. The turret can spin 360 degrees totally unhindered which is excellent and the port used to attach Groundspike in bot mode could be used here to mount an additional weapon here. The Minicon peg flips out of the front to attach Groundspike in this mode. Overall the alt. mode is well executed and I have no complaints. Moulded details looks great and everything pegs together to make a nice, solid tank.
4 out of 5 stars!
Overall. Overall, Heavytread is an excellent figure. While the Power Core Combiner line of toys has attracted a lot of scorn and criticism from collectors, most of which is justified, however Heavytread would be a great figure by himself as part of the Classics or Movie line. The fact he can combine with PCC compatible drones and all minicons is a nice bonus.
A proper blaster or machine gun type weapon would have been nice, as would a more detailed camouflage scheme but these are minor points that don't detract from the figure.
The main negative points have been the hands moulded into the inside of the treads and the light-piping feature moulded in opaque plastic. The only other real negative is the godawful blue PCC connectors. I wish Hasbro had moulded these in colours appropriate to each commander toy as had they been in Black, Green or Tan they would have been inconspicuous and this would have been an improvement to the colour scheme overall.
The positives of this figure outweigh the negative massively and with MakeToys' PCC compatible MOBINE set due for release in the next few months', Heavytread looks set to reach his full potential as a hardened military Autobot.
Final score: 4 out of 5 stars
Thanks for reading!
Bio: At his core, HEAVYTREAD is a gentle soul. He enjoys the fragile beauty of Earth, appreciating it all the more because of the ease with which it could be ruined. He is glad of the power he now wields, because it gives him the ability to defend the delicate creatures he loves.
First off, I love this figure! The plastic quality is excellent, no flimsiness about him.
The mould is superb. All 3 modes feel solid and there is some gorgeous moulded detail all over him.
The paint apps are good, but not great. They are sharp and have been applied with care, and there is some nice detail like the yellow used on lights and the silver used on the heads, but the camouflage is only two colours, the moulded tan on the arms and legs and Moulded green for the upper legs and body, and the painted brown and grey. Some flecks of black would have added that little hint of extra detail that would have been more akin to modern camouflage patterns, even the original US Woodland pattern had 3 colours - Green, brown and black.
Now, the full review:
Robot mode: Heavytread is a great figure in 'bot mode. He's solid, very well articulated and looks cool! The only negative comment I have to make is about his hands.
Arms. They're moulded within the front part of the tank treads. While they can both hold 5mm posts, I prefer hands that are free and unencumbered. It wouldn't have been hard to have hands that swivelled out from the tread section, even if they weren't ball-jointed it would have been nice.
The rest of the arms are great - the shoulders are articulated on ball joints, the upper arms are jointed with 2 pins each and the elbows bend. The joints move freely without being floppy at all. 3 out of 5 stars!
His legs. They look cool and bend at the knee, with a articulation at the hips too. The feet are solid tabs at the bottom of the legs but they're not bad at all.
Again, the joints move smoothly without being floppy - 4 out of 5 stars!
The waist. The waist swivels to great effect so that in bot mode, you get Heavytread's legs and in combiner mode you get a different crotch piece and the legs face the other way to hide his feet.
As well as the two different looks to the legs in the two robot modes, there's a very nicely detailed panel that flips down in Alt. mode to cover the gap between his legs.
The detail in the waist alone shows the effort Hasbro went to in the last wave of the PCC commanders. - 5 out of 5 stars!
The body. The chest is very well executed. The chest is long with a hinge at the front. While the hinge doesn't look great, the designers have thoughtfully made full use of it. The panel on the top of his chest opens so you can pull the Combiner mode head out of the chest cavity. The hinge also holds the 5mm Armada-style minicon peg for attaching Groundspike in Combiner and Alt. modes. The paint apps are basic but well done and the mould detail is fantastic.
4 out of 5 stars!
The head(s). The heads for both robot modes are great. First of all, Heavytread's individual 'bot mode head is well detailed with some nice silver paint and a solid black visor. It's obvious that light-piping was intended here but they moulded the visor piece opaque which is disappointing as it would have worked very well. The head is on a ball joint with a nice range of movement and like the other joints on this mould, moves smoothly without being floppy.
This head folds down into the larger head hidden in the chest cavity
The combiner-mode head is just fantastic. He looks like a Manga/Anime style military killbot yet doesn't have so much of an evil glare like a 'Con would. The head is chunky and has a heavy feel. The paint apps here are again sharp and applied with care. This head is on a swivel joint which is perfect for this mode as a ball joint wouldn't support the head.
4 out of 5 stars!
Weapons. The minicon isn't part of this section as he is a Transformer in his own right.
The only other weapon is the tank turret. The turret itself hangs on his back in 'bot mode a la Guzzle, but in Combiner mode actually transforms - the turret swivels to the side and a sensor/launcher flips over the left shoulder. It looks really cool and an enterprising customiser could probably fit an LED in there somewhere
The mould itself for the turret is hollow and it would have been nice if Heavytread had a separate blaster or something that could fit into the 5mm post in tank mode.
3 out of 5 stars!
Other accessories. Groundspike. I'm going to skim over him because he's a translucent blue minicon, in other words he's shit. The robot mode is alright although he has no hands to speak of, just the Alt, mode plough things. He also has tan coloured legs which look crap woith the blue. Alt. mode is alright, he fits on to Heavytread well and looks like part of the mould. Or at least he would if it were not for the translucent blue plastic. Claw mode is growing on me although you'd think a transforming tank would have a minicon that could turn into a machine gun or something instead of a crude melee weapon.
Power-up armour mode is alright too and looks good on Heavytread's chest in Combiner mode.
In short, he's getting painted when I have time.
2 out of 5 stars.
Alt. Mode. Heavytread's vehicular mode is a modern-style tank of no particular model. As is standard for any TF on caterpillar tracks his treads are solid and he rolls along on small wheels. the camo looks alright here, especially because the painted pattern is nice and sharp. The turret can spin 360 degrees totally unhindered which is excellent and the port used to attach Groundspike in bot mode could be used here to mount an additional weapon here. The Minicon peg flips out of the front to attach Groundspike in this mode. Overall the alt. mode is well executed and I have no complaints. Moulded details looks great and everything pegs together to make a nice, solid tank.
4 out of 5 stars!
Overall. Overall, Heavytread is an excellent figure. While the Power Core Combiner line of toys has attracted a lot of scorn and criticism from collectors, most of which is justified, however Heavytread would be a great figure by himself as part of the Classics or Movie line. The fact he can combine with PCC compatible drones and all minicons is a nice bonus.
A proper blaster or machine gun type weapon would have been nice, as would a more detailed camouflage scheme but these are minor points that don't detract from the figure.
The main negative points have been the hands moulded into the inside of the treads and the light-piping feature moulded in opaque plastic. The only other real negative is the godawful blue PCC connectors. I wish Hasbro had moulded these in colours appropriate to each commander toy as had they been in Black, Green or Tan they would have been inconspicuous and this would have been an improvement to the colour scheme overall.
The positives of this figure outweigh the negative massively and with MakeToys' PCC compatible MOBINE set due for release in the next few months', Heavytread looks set to reach his full potential as a hardened military Autobot.
Final score: 4 out of 5 stars
Thanks for reading!
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