Cliffbee.com Beast Hunters Twinstrike Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Twinstrike
Series: Beast Hunters
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Two Headed Dragon



DRAGON MODE
Height: 8cm Length: 16.5cm Width: 8.5cm

   A sulfur yellow dog like beast (I actually suspect he's meant to be something of a cerberus, or at least a two headed dog), Twinstrike has some teal on his twin tails and all four lower legs while his body is purple. He has four red eyes & silver painted horns. There's no allegiance symbol in this mode. While the colours aren't a great match, he's clearly a tribute to Sinnertwin (who's also a yellow and teal two headed dog). The colour scheme works well enough; it's essentially a non-metallic equivalent of the Legends toy - this deluxe is a scaled up version of that toy.

   Twinstrike's a lankier version of Sinnertwin, without the blocky G1 proportions. There's some nice sculpting here, including the segmented necks & tails, the teeth inside his mouthes and "dog-legged" limbs (a realistic touch that really gives him a good shape). He's very much robotic and angular. The sculpt is similar to that of the smaller toy, but I'm happy to report it doesn't feel too simple

   Play value is pretty limited here. His limbs can move around a little but really the joints are for transformation. Similarly his necks can move a little but not in any meaningful way. The purple gun on his back - which can also plug into either hip - represents Twinstrike's only play value.

   A static but visually appealing beast mode. The tribute to Sinnertwin is strong although somewhat diluted by the purple which the Legends toy lacked.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Detach & set aside his weapon. Lift up his tail, swing back the hind legs to form his legs & rotate the feet. Pull out his beast thighs, rotate down & push back in to form his shins (these pieces can detach despite being pinned on). Stand him up, swing back the beast forelegs & pivot the beast heads down to his sides forming the arms. Place his weapon into either hand as a hammer.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 7.5cm Width: 5.5cm

   A yellow robot with teal thighs a teal head, Twinstrike has silver face & red eyes. His shoulders are purple along with some ankle details. There's a black Predacon logo painted on his chest. The Sinnerwin tribute again comes out here, although this robot has a much better body shape.

   That body shape is actually pretty cleverly done. The dog heads as hands work well & the boots are cleverly formed. His backpack is quite hefty though; the tails can sit against his back & he gets away with that but there's just nowhere good for the beast forelegs to go - I prefer them as kibble behind the shoulders but it's not ideal. They are slightly less awkward than on the smaller toy - I suspect the joints are of a slightly different shape. He has stocky shoulders - which is kind of opposite to the tiny arms of Sinnertwin.

   Poseability is poor. His hips and shoulders both features swivels & hinges. His neck, waist, knees & elbows are fixed. There no elbows by virtue of the arms being beast necks - which makes sense but is disappointing of a deluxe. In fact Twinstrike has very poor poseability for a deluxe (and it wasn't so great for a Legends toy, in truth). I would have liked to see something added - even a neck joint would have kept me happy. The purple hammer weapon works well visually & can be held as a gun.

   While it's a nice looking robot with good colours & a fairly strong tribute to G1, Twinstrike is a brick by modern standards.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of. As mentioned he's a scaled up version of the Legions toy.

OVERALL

   A nice idea, Twinstrike has good colours & a nice tribute. He display well enough in both modes but the play value is awful for a modern deluxe. Some of the missing joints would have been difficult to add into this design (such as knees) but it leaves the feeling that this is a poor value deluxe. I still like this toy, but I'd only really recommend him for less than the retail price - I grabbed mine on clearance & so I'm happy enough - 6/10

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