Cliffbee.com Slicer Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Slicer
Series: "European" G1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Massive Assault Specialist
Alt Mode: None (was a Lancia Stratos, presumably)



ROBOT MODE
Height: 9.5cm Width: 4cm

   A mid blue robot with grey arms, head and thighs, Slicer has gold paint on his groin and face, with black fists. There are black tyres moulded onto his shoulders and ankles, and some black, red and pink details painted in various locations (including red eyes). Before I go any further I should point out that he's a repaint of Actionmaster Wheeljack, and is something of a Fakor to Wheeljack (the miscoloured He-Man clone). The colours are a stark contrast to Wheeljack, which is a good thing since the face is so distinctively Wheeljack's - while the Wheeljack head is instantly recognisable, in these colours Slicer manages to be his own figure. For what it's worth I quite like these colours, the Faker-esque look works in his favour and the blue and grey work well together.

   The head is based on that of cartoon Wheeljack, with distinct eyes, and the arms are similarly copied from that version of the Autobot's mad scientist. There are no wings - but then Actionmasters always seem to lose those. Slicer sports a Decepticon symbol sticker on his left shoulder - curiously Wheeljack's is in the chest rather than the shoulder. While Slicer might not have been a Lancia (I guess we'll never know), the wraparound window is visible on his chest while the racing patterns on Wheeljack's boots are still present. The black tyres tell us that Slicer was some sort of car, at the very least.

   Poseability is the same as every other Actionmaster - head turns, arms rotate and legs have G.I. Joe poseability (fully poseable hips, knees bend 90 degrees). Slicer has more rounded thighs than most Actionmasters for some reason, which makes some leg poses a little less stable, since the legs try to snap back.

EXO-SUIT

   The Exo-Suit's alternate mode is a ride-on assault vehicle, which Slicer rides like a dune buggy. It's deep pink with big grey plastic tyres, a black seat and side cannons, that can rotate to point upwards. There's a red safety bar, which has handles that Slicer can grasp while seated. The hubcaps are red, and the front pair sport giant black spines on them, which give this vehicle a rather menacing look.

   The Exo-Suit mode is huge compared to Slicer himself, and wraps right around him. The safety bar again locks the toy in, while the handlebar can swing up to again allow Slicer to grasp the handles (which is a nice added bonus). The spines fold out to form buzzsaw like blades, while the side guns rotate to form hip-guns.

   If you've got two AA batteries, you can pop them in the back of this puppy and have some fun. In vehicle mode it'll roll along, and mine rolls very straight. The mechanism is noisy, but effective. In Exo-Suit mode the toy can again roll, but there's a panel you can swing underneath his feet so you can anchor the toy. The spine-blades will rotate when the motor is running, so fixing the toy in place allows the turning blades to come into their own. Both configurations are fun - I personally love the fact his assault vehicle can lumber across the room.

VARIATIONS

   None that I know of. Slicer himself is a repaint of Actionmaster Wheeljack, as already mentioned, while his Exo-Suit is new. Slicer was not available in North America.

OVERALL

   As repaints of landmark characters go, Slicer is pretty good, and he's certainly better than the other Exo-Suit Actionmaster based on a classic character (Actionmaster Thundercracker is quite possibly the worst repaint ever). The Exo-Suit is fun and it's motorised gimmick is nifty - especially compared to the plethora of crappy sound gimmicks in Armada toys. The deep pink of the Exo-Suit doesn't quite work with the mid blue Slicer figure, but frankly the Exo-Suit is nifty enough that I don't care. His relative scarcity (especially in North America) means Slicer can be pricey, but he's a worthwhile Actionmaster, especially if you can find him at a decent price - 8/10

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