Cliffbee.com Impactor Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Impactor
Series: Generations
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Cybertronian Truck



TRUCK MODE
Height: 6cm Length: 11cm Width: 9cm

   An orange truck with indigo painted details, an indigo twin cannon on top, large black tyres on mid blue wheels and a gunmetal psuedo-cabin window at the front. Impactor's colours copy those of his namesake in the G1 Marvel comics - although whether or not this toy represents that same character is debatable. He's a retooling of Onslaught with a different head. The orange & indigo work well and represent the character nicely.

   This truck is a short, wide affair. It's a bulky Cybertronian truck. Impactor's comic vehicle mode is broadly similar - a largely purple hover tank - and one could argue for more indigo here. There's some visible kibble in this mode, sadly - there are combiner pegs on the front hubcaps & hanging on the rear end, Ruination's groinplate is also visible in the centre of the the truck - and it crudely conceals the combiner head (the face is covered at least).

   Play value revolves around the weaponry. His wheels roll and the two weapons can attach on top of the truck. The double barrelled indigo cannon attaches on top - it's similar to Onslaught's cannons. The harpoon gun is unique to Impactor (and tributes the harpoon seen in the Marvel comics). It's unable to attach to Impactor directly - instead it mounts on top of the indigo weapon - but provides some extra play value including a single missile it can fire. Oddly, the silver harpoon has three hooks, but rather than being evenly spaces at 120°, they're on top and either side - like a fourth has been cut off the bottom.

   A rather compromised vehicle mode and one that doesn't resemble his comic appearances much. While the bits that are dedicated to this mode (at the front, mostly) work okay & the colour scheme works well for the character, it's not an awesome truck. The harpoon gun provides enough play value to make this mode work well as a toy, however.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Detach and set aside the weapons. Fold the rear down, lift up the forearms & rotate away Ruination's head. Rotate the front fenders to form his upper arms & pivot the elbows into place. Unclip the large groinplate & swing up behind Impactor's groin. Fold the rear ends of the truck down to form boots, place the weapons in his hands and you're done.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 15cm Width: 9.5cm

   An orange robot with indigo & forearms, head and shoulders. Impactor has grey thighs & elbows. His torso and head colours are reversed front those seen in the comic - I guess this is a limitation of the mould's colour map. His face is silver with light blue eyes & ears. There's a blue Autobot logo below his chin (which is actually the Wrecker's logo, though the shape isn't as distinctly different as it should be) with a smaller red Autobot logo below that. While the torso "should" be indigo and the head orange, this colour scheme really does feel like Impactor, even if some of his more distinct features are absent here.

   The other reason this does feel like Impactor is the head - this resculpted head matches the Marvel character quite well. Sure he lacks the shoulder cannon & the harpoon-hand but then the added weapon provides a harpoon here. His vehicle mode suffers aesthetically for the combined mode but this robot mode makes fewer compromises. There are still some shortcomings here, but nothing jumps right out and says "I combine!". Those combining pegs on the front wheels are on his shoulders but don't really stand out now. The groinplate on his back is visible but unobtrusive. The rear wheels on the inside of his knees are more prominent, actually. His bodyshape is actually quite good, although there's no gap between his shoulders and torso.

   Play value here is limited to his weapon & poseability. His head and waist both turn - albeit both are restricted. His shoulders swing while his elbows are ball jointed with hinges. The hips have two ratcheting joints each allowing them to swing & lift out to the sides. The knees are hinged with rotators just below the hips. His ankles and wrists are fixed. Impactors's feet are moulded so that his legs are splayed slightly. The indigo twin cannon can sit in either hand. It can also clip onto the small posts on the outside of either forearm - which works fairly well although it's designed for vehicle mode & I think it works better in hand. The leg poseability is very good although his arm poseability is very limited. The harpoon gun can clip into either hand on onto the indigo gun. Aside from providing a link to the Marvel comics, it also gives this toy another action feature.

   This is easily his better mode; although the vehicle mode isn't so great. The poseability is decent & while the colours work well aesthetically this robot mode's best feature is that it does a good job of tributing the Marvel comic character who quite likely will never see another toy. The resculpted head and harpoon gun accessory mean that Impactor is a very successful co-opted repaint. Mouldwise, nothing jumps out but overall this is a solid robot mode for a combining toy.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of. He's a recolour of the Comicon Onslaught, "regular" FOC Onslaught & G2 Onslaught.

OVERALL

   With a kibbly vehicle mode that almost feels like an afterthought & a visually impressive robot mode, it's a flawed mould with an upside. Given it forms a torso & a lot of the mould revolves around that, it's actually a good effort. The tribute works well thanks to good use of colours (even if the layout of the mould's colours meal the colour map is off), a resculped head accurate to the comics & the added harpoon gun. I'd actually recommend this toy more for Impactor than for the combining feature - simply because some of his teammates are quite poor & this is possibly the only Impactor we'll ever get. Recommended if you're a fan of the Wreckers in general or a fan of the Marvel Comics - 7.5/10

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