Cliffbee.com Computron Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Computron
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Super Warrior
Alternate Mode: N/A - Gestalt comprising Afterburner, Lightspeed, Nosecone, Scattershot & Strafe.



COMBINED ROBOT MODE
Height: 25cm Width: 17cm
(these exact measurements will vary - Strafe is a tall shoulder, for example..)

   Despite being made of five separate toys, Computron does a pretty good job of coming together seamlessly. All five Technobots have a common white, with three reds, two oranges, a maroon, a yellow and a brown. All earthy shades, Computron reminds me of pottery, and always has. To simplify it, he's red and white with touches of other colours. The chest is red, the hands & feet are maroon, and the head is maroon with a red face & big gold eyes. He's got maroon antennae on either side of his head. His handgun is also red.

   In terms of who goes where, I don't really fancy Nosecone as a leg, since his knee-connector is behind his foothole and it makes Computron look like he's about to start walking. Similarly, Strafe's tainfins mean he has to be backwards as a leg, otherwise the foot can't connect. And the back of Strafe isn't much to look at. Thankfully both make pretty decent arms, although Strafe sits close to the shoulder and Nosecone a fair way out. Both Lightspeed and Afterburner can connect as legs in two different ways, I prefer folding back Lightspeed's feet so he faces forward, and starting Afterburner's transform in Cycle mode so the cockpit faces forward rather than the chest.

   You can leave most of the smaller toys' vehicle mode weapons attached, though I don't add Nosecone's missiles, mainly because I'm missing one. You also have the choice of whether to fold Scattershot's wings up or down. If you fold them down, they hug the leg toys, and can stick out a tad. If you fold then up, they sort of ruin the illusion of the waist. So I leave them down.

   Worth mentioning is the fact that the chestplate covers most of the torso, skipping only the chestplate part of Scattershot - which is the same colour. It gives his torso a very uniform look and good shape.. something some Gestalts (especially Menasor) lack.

VARIATIONS

   The five components all can with (1987) or without rubsign & indent (1988), not that it makes all that much difference to Computron.

OVERALL

   While some of his components have some major flaws, Computron comes out pretty much unscathed. I'm not a bit fan of Strafe & Nosecone as legs, but it's up to you what you do for each limb, anyway, so I can't be too critical of that. He's got a very unified colour scheme for something made of five toys that don't actually share a colour scheme, and he's got a good chestplate and a nice headpiece. He didn't feature all that heavily in the Cartoon, though he did have his moments. Definitely worthwhile, 9.5/10

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