Cliffbee.com Energon Bonecrusher Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Bonecrusher
Series: Energon
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Payloader




PAYLOADER MODE
Height: 5.5cm Length: 6cm Width: 6cm

   A pale grey-green payloader with a dark brown pneumatic arm, dark brown tyres and mechanical bits on the sides, Bonecrusher has yellow on the engine at the rear and inside the shovel at the front. The hubcaps are painted gold and there's a purple Decepticon logo stamped on top of the yellow roof of the cabin, which has transparent blue windows. Bonecrusher is a repaint of Sledge, with significant changes to the paint mask including the Decepticon symbol (something Sledge lacked). Whilst Bonecrusher doesn't evoke the G1 Constructicons as Sledge, the name is a clear G1 homage. This is a pretty good colour scheme, and while it's not quite as nice as Sledge's, I'm glad they've made it distinctly different and changed the paint mask. overdone.

   Bonecrusher's spark crystal sits in the middle of the pneumatic arms, on an angle so it's visible from in front or on top. There's a blue cog painted inside the shovel, which has five teeth on it's lower lip. From most angles this is a very believable digger, although from behind you'll see his robot thighs, although they conceal better than Sledge's since they're dark brown. For a basic this isn't unacceptable, and thighs or knees visible is pretty common on construction vehicle Transformers. At any rate there's a lot of detail in the sculpt elsewhere, so you don't really notice the thighs.

   The play value here is a mixed bag. On the upside, the pneumatic arms hinge as one at the base, and the bucket is also hinged, allowing Bonecrusher to lift loads. The tyres all roll, and ridged tread adds a bumpy feel as he rolls. The downside is that in this mode the Energon weapon can't do much except attach to the rear, forming a reaping sort of claw.

   Good colours, some really nifty details like the placement of his spark crystal and the steps on either side of the cabin make for a good payloader. This is the best of the three vehicles modes in the Energon Constructicons, and even if the weapon isn't much here, the payloader is cool enough that I don't mind the lack of a weapon. The Decepticon symbol on his roof is a nice addition for this repaint, so even if the colours aren't quite as cool, we get compensation of sorts.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Lift up the bucket and fold underneath the pneumatic arms. Swing back the rear tyres, unclip the engine block to form his legs, swing the legs and chestplate to which they're attached underneath the vehicle, clip the groin into the front of the vehicle to form the main torso. Rotate the waist, swing up the front wheels - onto his back - and then swing out and down the steps to form the edges of his chestplate, which will also swing the folded arms into place. Unfold the arms, rotate the head and give him his weapon.

   This is a clever and elegant transformation, and is quite complex for a basic. It's actually a notch above what I'd expect of a basic.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 12cm Width: 9cm

   Now a mixture of the dark brown plastic and yellow paint, with some grey-green on his head and shoulders. The upper arms, fists, central torso and thighs are brown while his pecs, forearms, groin, thighs and feet are all painted yellow. The face is a metallic purple and there's a Decepticon symbol moulded in the middle of his chest, painted purple with white relief - which makes for a great centrepiece. The eyes are transparent blue but the kibble behind his head means Bonecrusher misses out on a lightpipe. Despite there being a lot more paint here than on Sledge's robot mode we actually loose a little bit of detail since most of that paint is yellow. The colour scheme is again pretty good, although Sledge's is easily better. At least they're nice and distinct.

   Bonecrusher has a considerable backpack, since the bucket is tucked away under it's own arm and the front tyres form quasi-wings behind his upper arms. There's also the cabin behind his head. The good news is that it's all close to his body so stability isn't an issue. He has decent heelspurs and you can lie the rear wheel struts flush against the table, which will actually allow for some stable poses in which Bonecrusher is leaning back!

   The Energon weapon has three configurations, which depend on two hinges. If it's straightened out, he can hold it like a staff (well, ok, he's holding the base of the shaft). If the top hinge is bent and the lower one straight, it'll resemble a two-pronged sickle. If the lower hinge is bent it becomes a giant claw-weapon. It's a great melee weapon, and depending on the pose, different options work better. This reason for this weapon's failure in the vehicle mode is now apparent - it was really designed with this mode in mind. It's quite big compared to Bonecrusher, so if you want to give it to Steamhammer, you can.

   The facial detail is pretty good although the purple doesn't really bring it out that well, especially since the purple is darker than the surrounding grey-green. The Decepticon logo works well, and the yellow panels on either side are a great way to use the steps from the payloader mode. The waist section is a brown grille section, which is actually the underside of the vehicle (which lacks a grille, ironically). The grille isn't as prominent as I'd like, thanks to the dark brown used - a by product of the colour changes on Bonecrusher.

   Bonecrusher is quite well articulated and this translates to good poseability. The head turns while his shoulders, knees and hips are all ball joints. The elbows are hinged and the waist rotates. The arms are somewhat hampered by the wings, but only in that they can't swing backwards (sideways motion is fine). The heelspurs and poseable struts really add to the possibilities here.

   A good robot mode, and while Bonecrusher has a fair bit of kibble, it's all out of the way minding it's own business. The layout of this robot mode is impressive - from the well stowed kibble to the well designed torso to the poseability. My only real complaint is that his lightpipe has been neutered, but then I'd rather no lightpipe on a poseable toy to a lightpipe on an unposeable toy. The colour scheme is both distinct from his predecessor's and a regression, although it's still nice. The G1 undertones on Sledge disappear here.

VARIATIONS

   None that I know of, although he shares the mould with Sledge, as I've already discussed.

OVERALL

   A solid payloader mode and a very good robot mode, good colours and a nifty transformation, and Bonecrusher still manages to form an arm or a leg of Constructicon Maximus. His Energon weapon only really works in robot mode, but the most important thing is that it works for his Devastator modes. If you're only after one version of this mould I'd recommend Sledge instead, but Bonecrusher is still nice in his own right, and you'll need him if you want to complete the gestalt - 8/10

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