Name: Hopper
Series: Micron Boosters
Allegiance: Minicon
Alternate Mode: Hovercraft
I've seen this guy's name translated a few ways, including "Hover", which to be honest makes more sense. From what I can gather, Hopper is the actual name - although this might be a mistranslation of Hover.
HOVERCRAFT MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 7.5cm Width: 2.5cm
A lime green hovercraft with a pair of black windows at the front, Hopper has a pointed bow and twin turbines at the back. He's a repaint of Waterlog of the Sea Team, and despite being lime green, Hopper has a better colour scheme. The cabin is painted menthol green while the launcher and missile on top are lemon yellow. There's a fruity (citrus, of course!) feel to this colour scheme, which is downright strange for a hovercraft yet kinda cool - especially for a limited toy like this.
The launcher attaches via a ball joint, so you can aim it, and the missile is the cyberjet style. The launcher is the only play value in this mode. I haven't tried to see if he floats, since I rusted a Seaspray that way - Hopper would a pain to replace.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Swing the rear down to form the lower half of the body, fold out the boots and rotate the turbines down to form feet. Split the cabin, swing down to the sides to form the arms and reveal the head. Rotate the missile launcher (now on his right forearm).
ROBOT MODE
Height: 8cm Width: 6cm
With dimensions inflated by the launcher on his arm, Hopper is still a stocky little Minicon with wide shoulders. The lime green is prominent still, on his torso, head and boots, while the arms, groin, knees and arms are menthol green, his thighs and the launcher assembly on his right forearm are yellow. Hopper has a black eyestrip and black crest on his head. The colours again work, in spite of him looking like an escaped Skittle. I'm not sure I'd want to see a general release toy in these colours, but to be honest they beat those of Waterlog.
There's quite a bit of poseability here - the head turns, the shoulders are ball jointed, the hips and knees bend and the launcher is on a ball joint. While the legs take a bit of work to find a stable action pose, the arms are quite versatile and aiming the launcher is easy. The missile fires well, too, giving Hopper good play value. The Powerlinx port is on his waist.
OVERALL
Since Hopper was only sold blind-packed with eleven other Minicon repaints in the first Micron Booster series, it's difficult for me to recommend him - which Micron you get is pot luck. His colours are funky for a limited toy like this, and while he might be Mr Citrus, he sports one of the best colour schemes I've seen on a Sea Team mould - they tend to be awful, though. Hopper is the only member of his series that I own, but I'm quite happy with him. If by chance you get a chance to grab Hopper for a few bucks, pick him up - 8/10.
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