Cliffbee.com Deluge (G2) Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Deluge
Series: Generation 2
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Scientific Advisor
Alternate Mode: Racing Car

Thanks to griffin for loaning me Deluge for this review.



RACING CAR MODE
Height: 4cm Length: 12cm Width: 6.5cm

   A blue and white Formula 1 style racer with yellow along the spine and a pink bellow at the back, Deluge is a minor repaint of Speedstream, released in a different market. The blue is a slightly brighter shade here, and the grey tyres are now black, although they retain the chrome hubcaps. There's an inevitable passing semblance to Mirage, although there's no homage, since this guy's on the other side (from both Mirage and Speedstream, actually). There are racing stickers here and there, including "5" on the sides. The stickers are metallic gold foil here while most of Speedstream's are white. Included in the stickers are "Decepticon" and G2 Decepticon logos on the left side of the cockpit, and "M. EDMINSON", which I would assume is the driver. The nose and airdam are painted blue over transparent plastic, which works better than the violet Speedstream ends up with. As with the other colour changers from this era, the painted plastic area is meant to turn white when splashed with hot water. The colours work well enough without being anything special. They're awfully similar to those of Speedstream, overall.

   Deluge is effectively quite realistic, since F1 racers can vary on shape and style. Okay, so he lacks finer moulded details like suspension, but the basic idea works. The bellows is of course a departure from realism.

   Deluge shares a central gimmick based on a water-squirting mechanism with the other Aquaspeeders. There's a small nozzle on the yellow piece just behind the seat, which shoots water stored in the bellow at the back when the bellow is compressed. It's not a terribly impressive gimmick although it works reasonably well. There's a secondary gimmick based on the painted nose & airdam. If Deluge is himself shot with warm water this paint will turn white. The changing paint is unimpressive, but this gimmick doesn't really hold him back at all. Deluge can roll on his tyres although his ground clearance is minimal (which is realistic to F1, I suppose).

   A simple but fairly effective vehicle mode. The colours work fairly well and the car is realistic enough. The water gimmick isn't that impressive but it's quite unobtrusive here. His has slightly better colours & stickers than his Autobot counterpart.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Detach and set aside the spoiler/nozzle. Unclip the rear wheels, fold down and forward, forming his legs. Flip up the feet. Open the rear fenders, fold out and swing down the arms. Lift up the cockpit, rotate the rear section of the car, fold down to form his back, revealing the head. Place the weapon in either hand. It's a fairly imaginative transformation with an interesting torso twist or two.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 10.5cm Width: 8cm

   A blue robot with white feet, some white on his torso, white shoulderpads and white forearms. Deluge has a silver face with transparent eyes (offering a fairly poor lightpipe). The Decepticon logo is no longer visible, and most of the stickers are on his back now. Again it's a decent colour scheme with shades of Mirage, and it's solid but not spectacular. The colour scheme is probably slightly behind that of Speedstream, purely because that toy has a more effective lightpipe.

   Deluge's bodyshape is somewhat flawed. The torso is very gappy and the groin is far too wide since it's the airdam. The fenders work well as shoulderpads even if the arms are then quite wide - he gets away with wide arms since they have to clear the front tyres on his hips. The legs area single piece, with a gap between them and a bar linking his ankles.

   The play value is centred on the water gimmick, of course. Pressing the bellows will cause him to fire a stream of water. The torso is dominated by the heat sensitive paint, so splashing him with hot water will cause his chest to turn white. Poseability is limited to his arms swinging at his shoulders.

   A disjointed robot mode. While the colours work fairly well and the weapon is less obtrusive than some of the others in this series, his torso is awfully gappy and the shape is off

VARIATIONS

   Deluge was available with larger and smaller bellows on his weapon. As mentioned, he is a repaint of Speedstream, who was released earlier in the same year. Deluge was released in North America while Speedstream was released in Europe & Australia.

OVERALL

   A pretty mediocre toy, Deluge has some nice aspects but doesn't really stand out. His robot mode is awkward although his car mode is decent and his transformation is interesting. I'd recommend him just ahead of Speedstream by virtue of better stickers in car mode, if you have the choice, but really it's a fairly forgettable mould - 6/10

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