Cliffbee.com Cybertron Defence Scattorshot Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Scattorshot
Series: Cybertron
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Missile Tank



TANK MODE
Height: 9cm Length: 19.5cm Width: 8.5cm

   A blue missile tank with a grey missilerack on top, Scattorshot has a black mine plow (thanks to Fit For Natalie for the correct term) on the front with a silver paint wash on its teeth and moulded black treads on the sides, with silver paint above the treads. There is some gold paint and a mustard colour plastic visible underneath the missile rack, completing the colour lineup of the previous Scattorshot toy. The colours work well here, and the paint job is simple without being minimal. There's some midnight blue on top of the missilerack, along with an Autobot logo on the left side. The colour scheme works well and while a blue tank might not be the most likely choice, there's no reason why this colour scheme couldn't be used.

   While this is a a fairly straightforward vehicle there's quite a lot of fine detail in Scattorshot's mould, including hatches and panelling, rivets and links in on the treads, rivets on the missilerack and some pistons on the mine plow. There are 22 moulded missiletips on the missilerack, and while they don't fire this tank still has plenty of play value (which I'll come back to). There are two hardpoints, one on either side of the tank itself, towards the back (which is handy for me, since my Scattorshot came with a bonus Minicon two pack as part of an in-store promotion!).

   There's a lot of play value here, and it's all quite cool. There are four ridged wheels underneath allowing Scattorshot to roll, along with the Minicon ports I've mentioned. The missilerack lifts on a ratcheting joint to about 75°, with three stable intermediate positions thanks to a ratcheting joint (well, two working in unison). Lifting up the missilerack exposes the robot thighs, groin and head (but not the face), so I'd recommend lifting it no further than the first click. The missilerack can rotate through 360° on a ratcheting joint, which works in tandem with the lifting joint. The mine plow lifts up and Scattorshot's blue handgun can clip onto the leftside hardpoint.

   Scattorshot has two keyslots, and a single, transparent Planet Key (code: v4kt) with a red Autobot symbol on it. The slots are on the back of the missilerack, side by side. If you plug the key into the left side, the left half of the rack opens out to reveal a cannon, which sits to the side of the rack itself. The right side similarly unfolds to reveal a twin missile launcher with gold missiles, the launcher extends manually from its casing, and also features a transparent yellow sight. The slots are too close to each other for two keys to plug in at the same, but the weapons will stay deployed until you fold them back in (and since both mechanisms are spring loaded, they can't fold back as long as the key is loaded). The front section of the missilerack actually stays in place throughout, giving Scattorshot a rather impressive total of 26 barrels and projectiles when you include the handgun on the side.

   While the gap underneath the missilerack is a weakness, Scattorshot is simply brimming with play value. Both key gimmicks are good and the movement of the missilerack is impressive, even if it does expose the aforementioned gap. The toy looks good before you deploy the weapons and once you fully arm him, Scattorshot looks like a one-robot invasion. This really feels like the upgrade of the basic sized toy of the same name, too which is nice (even if the new extended name is rather awkward).

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   I should point out that the deployed weaponry doesn't need to be stowed for you to transform Scattorshot, although it will make things a little easier. You do need to remove the handgun before starting, however. The missilerack needs to be facing forward.

   The rear side panels unclip and swing around, clipping over the front of the sides. The front splits to become the legs, with the mine plow becoming feet and its pistons becoming heelspurs. The missilerack simply splits and swings to the sides, forming arms. The fists flip out and the left half of the missilerack (now on the outside of his right arm) slides down if the cannon is deployed. Scattorshot's head swings up from his back.

   The transformation is relatively simple since the torso integrates the swivel of the missilerack, which itself merely splits during transformation, but I'm glad that the simple transformation allows for worthwhile play value rather than a large battery compartment for a stupid malformed sound (or something equally bland).

ROBOT MODE
Height: 18cm Width: 15cm

   Primarily blue with black thighs, feet, elbows and hands, Scattorshot has mustard shoulders, forearms and a mustard head with a silver face and yellow eyes. The head feature yellow goggles similar to those on the smaller toy, which is a nice tie-in. The grey missilerack halves on either arm contribute significantly to the colour scheme and to Scattorshot's overall appearance, and while it's not quite as close to the original's scheme as the vehicle mode, the link is still fairly clear.

   This robot mode is well detailed, with extensive silver paint on the chest and a good sculpt all over (both robot parts and tank aspects). His bodyshape is good, although you tend to notice the weapon blocks on the arms more than anything else. The boots are big and blocky, giving the toy a rather colossal look - which is helped by the massive armaments.

   The play value, unsurprisingly, dominated by the missilerack pieces on his arms. The key gimmicks function as in tank mode - this time you _can_ plug in two keys together, since the slots are now on opposite sides of the toy. The missile launcher on his left arm more of less covers his arm while the cannon on the right slides down to line up with his hand. Both weapons hand pseudo-handles that line up to his fists, although he doesn't actually grasp the handles. Curiously, the handgun can't be held in his hands while the gimmicks are deployed, although it can attach to the undersides of the missilerack halves (in a total of four positions).

   The weapons mostly stay out of the way of Scattorshot's articulation, although the missile launchers on his left arm do get in the way of his elbow. The head turns through about 100°, the shoulders rotate through 360°and lift out to the sides - the latter is thanks to the joints that lift the missilerack in tank mode. The elbows bend and there are rotators in the upper arms (which are limited a little by the grey blocks next to them). The waist rotates through 360°, the hips swing and lift out to the sides while the knees bend and rotate. The feet and heelspurs can swing down. The end result is a remarkably poseable robot, considering how blocky it is. He's also fairly stable, although since much of the weight is on the sides (the missilerack halves), you'll find really dynamic poses are out.

   A great robot mode that makes full use of the key gimmicks. The detailing is good, the colours work and the link to his previous form is handled well. The poseability is very good, which makes sure that the gimmicks aren't wasted in this mode. Scattorshot can't look through the sight on his left arm and the handgun doesn't look great attached to the outsides of the gimmick, but he doesn't really need the handgun to be honest (he has more than enough weaponry) and the sight is a minor issue.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of. This toy was called Backgild in Japan (a far more sensible name). BotCon 2009 Flak is a repaint of Scattorshot.

OVERALL

   While Scattorshot's transformation is reasonably simple for a mega, the toys works very well since the lost complexity transfers into great play value. The missile tank mode has oodles of play value, and much of this transfers to the robot mode. The key gimmicks are among Cybertron's better gimmicks and the addition of hardpoints is a nice touch. The robot is poseable yet can still make full use of the key gimmicks, and makes a great display piece to boot. The only significant flaw of this toy is a gap in the tank mode that becomes visible when you lift the missilerack, but that's nowhere near enough to ruin a great toy - 9/10

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