Name: MachTackle
Series: Japanese Generation 1
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Air and Land Warrior
Alternate Modes: Space Shuttle, Four Wheel Drive
Mach
SHUTTLE MODE
Height: 5cm Length: 8cm Width: 5cm
A small white shuttle with blue around the base and black wings. The original has white paint on the top surfaces of the wings, but the reissue has unpainted wings. The cockpit windows are blue, there's a black edge on the tail of the original, which is missing on the reissue, but that version does have an Autobot symbol stamped on the port side.
The shape is not really accurate - it's flattened somewhat, largely because he has to be able to be half of MachTackle, and since the fuselage becomes legs, the top is flatter than it should be. The blue robot arms are clearly visible on the sides of the fuselage, above the wings. There are plastic wheels on the bottom, so he can roll along.
Not really a great shuttle mode, but it's cute in it's own way. I'm not so sure I like the unpainted wings on the reissue.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Remove the wings, extend the front two thirds to form the legs, rotate them 180°, flip up the nose halves to form the feet. Pull the head out from inside the chest.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 7.5cm Width: 5.5cm
Still white and blue, the torso is white with a big fin (the tail), the feet and insides of the legs are white, the outsides of the legs and the arms are blue. Mach has a blue head and red eyes, the entire face is red on the original, but the mouth is silver on the reissue. The thighs are black on the original and dark silver on the original.
With very long shins and very short thighs, he's rather oddly proportioned. The torso is very short, the arms are slightly longer. He has very wide shins, in fact, although this means his feet are wide so he stands with no problem. He has holes in both fists to hold his gun.
His arms swing up and down, his hips are swivel joints and knees are hinge joints that bend outwards. Considering how simple the transformation is, he's actually pretty poseable - although the joints are part of his transform.
Tackle
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 7cm Width: 4.5cm
An old style 4x4 with the camperback, like Trailbreaker, He's red with a blue camperback. The original is a vermilion colour, the reissue is a bright orange. The cabin windows are painted black, the camper windows are light blue on the original, and left unpainted on the reissue, although that version does sport an Autobot logo on the right side of the hood.
He has black plastic tyres, which are ridged, so he has a tendency to slide rather than roll when pushed. The front section is a bit of a mishmash, with the connecting peg and socket for MachTackle and the top of his robot head visible. I can deal with this kibble, but it would have been nice if they'd given him headlights. The front fenders stick out quite noticeably, being the robot arms. Ideally it'd be better if the arms weren't there but they've dealt with them better on Tackle than most Multiforce toys.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Extend the rear section to form the legs, slide out the robot head, position the arms. You're meant to rotate the legs 180°, but I'd recommend against it, since it gives him an unnaturally wide gap between them.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 8.5cm Width: 4.5cm
A vermilion (or orange) and blue robot, Tackle has vermilion arms and legs (with blue shins if you rotate the legs), his torso is blue with yellow and black stickers on the chest. The original has a vermilion head with a blue face, the reissue has an orange head with a silver face and red eyes. The original has black thighs, they're dark silver on the reissue.
Like all Multiforce members, Tackle has short thighs and long lower legs. His torso is also quite small, which looks ok if you don't rotate the legs, but by rotating them, you create that wide gap, which makes his torso look far too small, which is why I recommend against that step. At any rate, the arms extend to his knees, they have wheels on the forearms and there are hols in his fists for his handgun. The arms swing at the shoulders.
It's a decent looking robot mode, the vermilion of the original works better than the bright orange of the reissue.
MachTackle
TRANSFORMATION TO WINGWAVER MODE
Keep in mind you don't _have_ to make MachTackle. You can make TackleMach (ie Tackle on top), although I'd recommend against that, since the tailfin becomes a phallus. Alternatively, you can steal Wing, Waver, Dash or Tacker and make any other combination you want...
Starting with both robots in robot mode, swing back the arms. Push in Tackle's head (or whoever's going to be the legs), Spread Mach's legs until they're up in the air on the sides of his body, flip out the nosecone halves. Push Mach's head right in and pull MachTackle's head out the other side. Clip Mach's shoulders onto Tackle's shoulders. And you're done.
MACHTACKLE ROBOT MODE
Height: 11cm Width: 10cm
White on top, vermilion (or orange) on the bottom with blue throughout, this a rather unified colour scheme, and as a result MachTackle looks pretty good. His chest and arms are white, the legs vermilion with blue shins, his head is also blue with red eyes. The original also has a red mouth, the reissue has silver - both work. The thighs and shoulder struts are black on the original and dark silver on the reissue.
MachTackle has no hands as such, instead he has holes on the bottoms of his arms, which is probably the greatest flaw of this mode. I recommend giving him both handguns to hide this. As I said, he actually looks quite cool, thanks to the colours - the hands are really the only visible flaw of this mode.
VARIATIONS
The original was released in 1989, he was reissued in 2004. The main differences are unpainted wings on Mach on the reissue and replacement of vermilion plastic with orange on the reissue, and lack of paint of the reissue's camperback. Both of these are for the worse - the orange plastic and missing paint on the back gives the reissue a slight knock off feel, and the orange is a little bright for my liking. It's not a bad colour, but the vermilion was better. The other differences are substitution of silver for red paint, dark silver plastic for black and the addition of stamped Autobot symbols. I'd recommend the original over the reissue, although the reissue is likely to a lot easier to find. I actually have the original, but it wasn't cheap.
Reissue Mach comes with Landcross's groin while Tackle comes with a footpad.
The reissue set also had chase black versions, which were all black except for the thighs and Mach's wings, which are charcoal, and silver windows.
OVERALL
My favourite set of the three sets that make up Landcross, this is the only set where I'd recommend one version over the other - WingWaver and DashTacker are about equal in both versions. The colour scheme of the set works well on both versions, and the components are both reasonably strong for Multiforce members. If you only feel like getting one set of this team, get MachTackle. I do recommend the entire set, though, since MachTackle is a lot more fun when you can mix and match and form Landcross - 7/10 for the original, 6.5 for the reissue.
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