A group of twelve random packed Microns (Minicons), consisting of various repainted MiniCons. I hope to review the entire series eventually, and will link to the original moulds as I do so
Thanks to Excelon Zero for loaning me much of this assortment for the purposes of this review.
Bug General
Repaint of: Dead End
A black and red repaint, I have yet to source Bug General for this review. I hope to locate an example eventually.
Bug Drone
Repaint of: Dead End
A fairly minor repaint, Bug Drone is basically Dead End with silver on the "sides" of moon mode. The robot mode is essentially identical to that of Dead End. If you have Dead End (and let's face it, most fans will want Unicron anyway), this figure offers nothing. Sure it's a drone, but that isn't enough to justify making it such a minor repaint.
Gauge
Repaint of: Nightbeat
A fairly dull and uninteresting bike mode that's really not helped by the colours. Gauge is significantly different in colour to Nightbeat, and probably more realistic, but as a limited repaint I'm not sure that the colours make a lot of sense. His robot mode is disappointing since it really only exists to make the bike mode work. He's fun if you have Cybertron Runamuck - and the colours match, but I'm not sure that it justifies this limited toy being so dark. I have Runamuck and so I'm not unhappy with Gauge, but I'm still not a huge fan of him. I have written a more detailed review of Gauge.
Dice
Repaint of: Cybertron Backtrack
A grape purple repaint of Cybertron Backtrack, himself a retooling of Armada Backtrack. The car windows are black and the thighs a darkish grey, making for a very dark repaint, while the headlights are red for some reason. I'm actually glad most of the supporting colours are dark since bright colours would clash with the distinctive grape colour. I do like the grape colour used mind you, so overall I'm happy with this repaint, as a Micron booster Dice is quite interesting.
Jack
Repaint of: Cybertron Spiral
A carmine red repaint of Cybertron Spiral (also a retool of an Armada MiniCon from the same set), Jack uses a primary colour you don't often see on Transformers, which in itself makes him worthwhile to me. The windows and eyes are silver while his thighs are the same grey as Dice's. Granted this is the weakest mould from this trio, but Jack's carmine plastic makes him a worthwhile Micron Booster.
Plug
Repaint of: Cybertron Oval
A white repaint, I have yet to source Plug for this review. I hope to locate an example eventually.
Socket
Repaint of: Six Speed
A red repaint of a green toy, Socket certainly looks different to the original version. The front of this Le-Mans style racer is white and the windows are yellow. His face and forearms are painted silver, rounding off a slightly unusual colour scheme which is very bright - and a touch garish - but still appealing. Socket has the sort of colour scheme which doesn't work for general release but suits a Micron Booster style of release well.
Plier
Repaint of: Reverb
A charcoal repaint of Reverb with red windows and fists, Plier's MiniCon symbol on his chest is also painted red - and the fine painted pattern is wonderful. The thighs and upper arms are composed of a light grey plastic which adds just enough contrast to the darker colours. The headlights, floodlights and face are silver, which fits into the overall colour scheme well. A good repaint of an inventive mould.
Bit
Repaint of: Cybertron Jolt
A white chopper with orange around the cockpit, with grey on the peripheral areas. The orange works fairly well for the helmet - sure the helmet is an odd idea but why not emphasise it? I'm not so sure about a white body with grey arms, however. It's a nice innovative mould, so I can live with a repaint like this, although it's a mould I don't actually own myself.
Clamp
Repaint of: Refute
A cobalt blue repaint of Refute with ochre tyres and brown horns and arms. Refute was lame, now Clamp adds ugly to that mixture. No colour set would make this mould work, and while cobalt blue is nice, the ochre tyres are ridiculous. In theory he can augment Cybertron Longrack, but frankly Longrack is better off without him.
Trigger
Repaint of: Armada Crumplezone
A yellow and grey repaint of Crumplezone, who was already an odd little tank designed specifically to work with Armada Cyclonus. The back and the turret are grey, the tapered front is yellow and the sides are white with grey treads. The single cannon is purple. These colours look bad on their own but match those of Buzzsaw well, and he plugs into Buzzsaw's gimmick very well, enhancing that toy significantly. There's a black cockpit window on the yellow boots (underside of the front) for the combination. His turret rotates through °360 and while the robot mode looks a little gimpish, he's a worthwhile figure if you have Buzzsaw. If not, then Trigger's a very random figure.
Wrench
Repaint of: Incinerator
A somewhat minor repaint of Incinerator, Wrench still manages a very different look. The mid blue which was most prominent on Incinerator is unchanged, but the silver torso becomes blue while the orange fin becomes light grey and the tyres are a smoky transparent plastic. The colours line up to Cybertron Blurr, except without the red stripe that ruins the G1 tribute. Wrench can augment Blurr quite well, even if the slot at the back means he doesn't have the unique connection that the Armada pair had. The colours are really nice, and while Wrench is still based on blue, he looks good enough that he's worth having alongside Incinerator.
ASSORTMENT OVERALL
A mixed bag, with some really nice repaints of good MiniCons such as Wrench and Plier through to bad repaints of bad poor MiniCons such as Clamp and Trigger. Four of these toys are designed to line up to Cybertron toys, which is nice, but not enough to really make two of them worthwhile, although Trigger does gain from this. I wouldn't say the overall quality justifies buying these blind-packed figures, but if you like the idea you'll find some of them rewarding.
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