Cliffbee.com Combiner Wars Defensor Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Defensor
Series: Combiner Wars
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Super Warrior
Alternate Mode: N/A - Gestalt comprising Blades, First Aid, Groove, Hot Spot, Rook & Streetwise.



COMBINED ROBOT MODE
Height: 29cm Width: 22cm

   A fusion of white, baby blue, red and black. The central torso is the baby blue and black Hot Spot, one limb is the predominantly red Blades (most will have him as the right arm). There is some inconsistently as to which limb is which otherwise, but the remaining limbs are all broadly white. Regardless of which limbs you put where, Defensor will come out of it with colours that are basically the same as his G1 self.

   The standard G1 configuration is First Aid as left arm, Blades as right arm, Groove right leg and Streetwise left leg. However... the deluxe Combiner Was Groove is - nominally - not part of this team, with Rook being the left leg. The legends class Groove is meant to form a chest plate, although I find the Combiner Wars chest plates rather ridiculous as a whole, and makes him front-heavy, both in terms of the look and the weight distribution. So personally I leave it out entirely. I'll admit, I much prefer having the Deluxe Groove in my Defensor, but I'm equally happy with how Rook works - just not the chest plate option. In truth, the inbuilt chest plate works nicely.

   On that note, the chest plate and head are integral to Hot Spot; the sides of his groin look like a plate at a glance but they're actually part of Hot Spot's boots. All five feet/hand pieces are black, and there are four slightly different moulds (Blades and Groove share the same mould). He wields Hot Spot's twin guns and while they're small, they don't cause any weight issues.

   Typical of Combiner Wars gestalts, the limbs are quite chunky and the his arms are long. For whatever reason, Groove as a leg can't really stow his arms. Rook as a leg has a pretty huge knee of the robot backpack. Neither of these make them ineffective as legs, thankfully. Poseability is what you'd expect - he has ratcheting shoulders and knees, the head turns and the elbows bend thanks to the knees of First Aid & Blades (or whoever you have in the arms). Of course, effective poseability is limited by the broadly top-heavy nature of this combined form with two deluxes as arms.

   Overall, I'm quite happy with how this combination works out - as long as you leave out the chest plate. All five deluxes work as limbs and he really feels like Defensor - even if you include Rook as a limb.

VARIATIONS

   The Hasbro release saw Rook as an official limb along with the legends Groove; the Unite Warriors release (with some deco differences) has Deluxe Groove but no Rook & was only sold as a boxset.

OVERALL

   A visually impressive gestalt with good colours & a really strong G1 tribute - and that's even if Rook is in play. I do feel he tugs the nostalgia strings more effectively with Deluxe Groove in the mix, but I like that Rook still works (and is a good toy on his own). The poseability is about what you'd expect, and while it's not fantastic it gives him some poseability, and it's only the weight that holds him back rather than parts getting in each other's way. Recommended if you like the Protectobots, as I do - 8/10

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