Cliffbee.com Chromedome Jr Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Chromedome
Series: Transformers Junior
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Computer Programmer
Alternate Mode: Futuristic Car



CAR MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 9cm Width: 5.5cm

   A scaled down version of Chromedome, with some changes to the colour layout. This car is still red, brown and beige, but the front of the car is die cast metal painted red, rather than the brown of the larger toy. The cockpit is brown and the sides and rear beige while the windows are light blue stickers (previously black plastic). His wheels are brown plastic rather than black plastic and the twin red guns which mounted on top of the roof have been replaced by a single brown gun of similar shape. On the one hand, Chromedome has lost any trace of red plastic, but the addition of die cast is pretty cool.

   There's a lot of detail here relative to the original - the headlight and bonnet pinstripe stickers have been replicated and there's an Autobot logo on the roof (which is covered by the gun if it's mounted). The sunshade on the back is still there and most of the sculpt has been copied.

   The roof no longer lifts up, instead there's a hollow underneath the toy. The tech specs meter is clearly visible, Chromedome has lost the hatch. The reduced play value does bother me a little, and the wheels barely roll on a smooth surface, Chromedome will tend to slide on a table.

   On the one hand the die cast is a nice touch and the level of detail is admirable, but the loss of tech spec meter cover annoys me. Overall I'm still happy with this mode, although it's inferior to the car mode of the original.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Essentially identical to that of the original. The major difference is how you form his head. Chrome (Stylor) comes in two pieces - the beige torso becomes the head while Chrome's brown legs simply detach and set aside (or stow in Chromedome's back) in robot mode. While I'm on the subject, Chrome cannot fit into the underside compartment in one piece - although this doesn't really matter since he'd only fall out if you could.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 12cm Width: 5cm

   The robot mode is a closer colour match to the original, although the grey head is now beige. I don't mind this at all since it makes for a more unified colour scheme. You don't notice the lack of red so much since the chest is a red die cast block and the groin covered in red stickers. The gun slots onto the outside of either hand rather than fitting into the front of his fists.

   The only play value here is the swinging shoulders and tech spec meter - which is about the same as that of the original. The tech spec meter is now simply a spinning cylinder with a black sticker around it, the individual stats represented by three orange lines. There's no way to fix it into position, other than manually rolling the cylinder. I hate the way this gimmick has been included yet rendered utterly useless, and would have preferred Chromedome to have a permanently-shut hatch.

   There are some things that bother me about this mode, but the only thing that I really dislike is the tech spec meter. The metal chest is really nice, though, and I like the fact that his head matches Chromedome's colour scheme. The handgun doesn't quite work but on the whole this is a pretty good scaling down of the original considering it's half the size.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of, although Chromedome was available on his own or as part of the Leaders 3 pack along with Convoy and Fortress Maximus. The latter seems to be far more common for some reason.

OVERALL

   Not as cool as the original, but this is a pretty good copy and the die cast metal is a great touch. While I wouldn't recommend this over the original, it's worthwhile if you like the character, or are a fan of Headmasters. Whether or not you want to track down a toy that's so similar to the original I'll leave up to you - 6/10

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