Name: Waterlog
Series: Armada
Allegiance: Minicon
Alternate Mode: Hovercraft
HOVERCRAFT MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 7.5cm Width: 2.5cm
A terracotta hovercraft with a pair of black windows at the front, Waterlog has a pointed front and twin turbines at the back. He's a clear homage to Seaspray, even if the colours don't line up at all. There are some silver and grey paint applications while he has a purple missile launcher on top, which holds a single long, purple missile. I can't say I'm a fan of terracotta and purple - which is used on all three members of this team. The two shades are actually quite nice, but look awful in tandem. The mould is quite cool, but the colours ruin it. The launcher attaches via a ball joint, so you can aim it, and the missile is the cyberjet style (as are the launchers on his teammates).
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, Waterlog is still a stocky little Minicon with wide shoulders. The terracotta is still his main colour, with the silver, grey and black here and there, along with the purple launcher on his arm. It's actually a great robot mode for such a small hovercraft - colours aside.
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 Waterlog good play value. The Powerlinx port is on his waist.
OVERALL
Two good modes, a useful launcher that doesn't get in the way and nice G1 tribute are the ingredients for success, but someone spiked the mix with purple and terracotta. What should have been a great Minicon comes out good, but annoyingly off-colour - 7/10.
Name: Stormcloud
Series: Armada
Allegiance: Minicon
Alternate Mode: Jet Boat
JET BOAT MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 7.5cm Width: 2.5cm
A terracotta speedboat, Stormcloud is an arrow shaped boat with a fast look - he slopes back and has a black windshield. The cockpit is open, with a purple stem rising out of it, which has a purple launcher at the top. The stem has hinges at the top and bottom, allowing the launcher to lift up and aim up and down.
This is probably my favourite boat in this group, even if Waterlog's is a stronger vehicle. There's just something about a jetboat with a giant gun on top that grabs me. The gun is proportionally bigger than those of Ocean Glide or Waterlog, especially since the tail end of this boat is narrow and there's such a long stem on the launcher itself
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Flip out the back to form the legs, split the bow and pull the halves out and down to the sides to form his arms (and reveal the head), lift the missile launcher up over his head.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 7cm Width: 4cm
The terracotta isn't that prominent now. His head and arms are terracotta, the launcher and thighs are purple while the chest, fists and knees are all painted grey. The shins are white, the feet black and his eyes are yellow. The added colours are a good thing - anything that lessens the impact of the two main colours is a blessing in this team. His shoulderpads are huge, with the rest of his body rather slender. The launcher overhead looks pretty good, and conspires with the shoulderpads to make Stormcloud look like one mean mofo who you don't want to mess with.
Stormcloud's got some play value here. The legs and head don't offer much, but the shoulders are ball joints, the shoulder struts have hinges at the anchor points and his elbows bend. The overhead missile can lift up and down, as well as being able to shoot. The Powerlinx port is on his chest.
OVERALL
While Waterlog is a stronger mould, the robot mode colours are better, and there's a coolness about both modes. The giant missile launcher is well placed in both modes, and since the boat is built for speed and the robot powerful looking, Stormcloud is my favourite of this team - 7/10
Name: Oceanglide
Series: Armada
Allegiance: Minicon
Alternate Mode: Solar Powered Boat
BOAT MODE
Height: 3.5cm Length: 7.5cm Width: 2.5cm
A weird boat with a concave solar panel on top, which sits detached like a shield. The boat is of course a terracotta colour, the solar panel is silver and the launcher, which lives underneath the solar panel, is purple. The windows are black and there are two jet outlets at the back which are silver. While the purple isn't as prominent on Ocean Glide as on the other two, this is an ugly boat.
The launcher works, just as on the others, and there's a clever turntable at the base of the solar array, allowing the entire top (including the launcher) to rotate through 360°. This gives Ocean Glide the best play value as a boat (even if the launcher can't aim up or down), but the fact is this boat still looks awful.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Flip over the front to form the legs, split the solar panel and swing the halves down to the form his arms. Stand him up and you're done.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 8cm Width: 5cm
Ugh. The head and legs are terracotta, his torso white and his face is silver. Ocean Glide has purple arms, with the launcher tacked on behind the right arm. The silver jets form weird ears, and give him a gigantic head. The face is already fairly large, but with the ears the head is as big as the torso. To make matters worse, Ocean Glide has tiny purple thighs. The colours are muddled, but you hardly notice this - the head steals the show (and ruins it).
As seems to be the theme here, Ocean Glide has ball jointed shoulders, but unlike Stormcloud his shoulder struts don't move in a meaningful way. The launcher can of course be posed, along with the right arm. The launcher is fairly useful, and is the highlight of this robot mode by some distance.
OVERALL
Two out of three ain't bad, I suppose. I can't get excited about either mode - the boat is weird, although not inherently _bad_, and the awful head ruins the robot mode. Once you factor in the colours, there's not really a lot here to be excited about - 2/10
VARIATIONS
There's a limited "X Dimension" version in Japan in a darker purple, with grey launchers. The X-Dimension colours are better, even if purple boats are just as odd as terracotta ones. There was a later general release set of recolours, still in Armada, which were blue with bone launchers. The recolours are a much better idea, even if Waterlog has bad yellow windows and the others silly red flames on their bows.
TEAM OVERALL
This team was the shelfwarmer of Armada - there are still some at a store near me, five years on. Waterlog and Stormcloud are both cool toys, but this set seems cursed to bear bad colour schemes, drastically reducing their appeal in package. Ocean Glide is awful no matter what colour you out on him. With proper colours this would have been a good set despite the one bad toy, and while the blue repaints are the best version, this is a mediocre set when it comes down to it - 5/10
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