Cliffbee.com TFU Inferno Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Inferno
Series: Transformers Universe
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Lamborghini Diablo Fire Rescue Car

Thanks to Goktimus Prime for loaning me Inferno, making this review possible.



DIABLO MODE
Height: 3.5cm Length: 12cm Width: 7cm

   A white fire rescue Diablo with red along the bottom of the sides and bumpers. The fire theme is about all that links this figure to the original toy of the same name. In truth this guy is a much better match to G1 Red Alert - and not calling this toy Red Alert is a negative. Anyway, there's a red stripe on the hood sporting the words "FIRE RESCUE" and an Autobot logo (similar to Red Alert) and the spoiler also sports "FIRE RESCUE", this time in red. The enginecover at the back is painted gunmetal grey while the windows are a smoky transparent plastic. The stroberack on his roof sports one red and one blue light - both composed of transparent plastic. Up to this point Inferno scored a good colour scheme - but the hubcaps, which were painted on RiD Prowl are now an unpainted bronze colour, which frankly doesn't fit into the rest of the car.

   This is a pretty realistic car mode. The proportions are good and the tyres are rubber. Inferno has front indicators painted on the front _and_ sides, rear indicators painted on the sides, transparent taillights, two sets of twin exhausts at the back and rear vision mirrors. Heck, this toy has _seats_ moulded into the undersides of the robot feet inside the cabin!

   I do like the tribute to Red Alert - but wish they'd done something better with the wheels - black would have been better than bronze if we're not going to get chrome. The sculpt is still excellent, mind you - and while Inferno missed out on chrome he does contain three different transparent plastics.

   His spoiler has tips that fold up to reveal attachment points for his weapons. If you point them forward they become flamethrowers or missile launcher, if you attach them backwards he's got rockets. He also rolls quite well on his wheels, but you've got to make sure the chestplate is folded up properly for this to work. For some reason the missiles are a fairly bright light blue colour. The launchers are black - nice and neutral - but the missiles don't look so good. I'd recommend hanging them off the back so they resemble blue flames on thrusters, but the launchers don't attach firmly here - most likely due to a plastic switch.

   A great mould, and for the most part this is a good repaint. The wheels are disappointing and the missiles downright garish, although you can always leave the latter aside. While it's still a good car mode, the repaint is a slight step down from Prowl.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Pull out the sides, lift up the roof. Fold up the front section, exposing the legs. Unfold the legs, slide the section to which they attach in, fold the front section up and the roof down again. Fold the chest down and push in, position the mufflers upwards or out to form chestguns (whichever you prefer). Spilt the rear section, fold the sides out to form the shoulderpads. Position the arms, as well as the shield on the left arm. Rotate the shins 180°, swing down the feet and rotate forward. You can put his guns on his right forearm or attach them to the tips of his spoiler (ie on the shield) on his right arm.

   I've heard people call this mould a "shellformer", but it's more than just unfolding panels. Aside from that, this isn't a mould with panels hanging off it everywhere.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 12cm Width: 14cm

   Wider than he is tall, Inferno's robot mode has less white than the car mode. It's a mixture of whites, red, bronze and black, with quite a lot of smoky transparent plastic. There isn't a single colour that dominates, although the most extensive element is the transparent plastic. The colours are spread all over without being muddled - they generally work well together. Sadly, the detailed Autobot logo sculpt on his chest is left unpainted - strange considering there's quite a bit of red paint around already. Whilst I would say this guy looks as good as Prowl or the redeco, as Universe goes this is a pretty good colour scheme. It's not really classic Inferno, nor is it really Red Alert either, thanks to the bronze.

   Lanky and poseable, Inferno does have some car kibble, but it all serves to enhance the aesthetic. The doors are hanging off his hips, but give his legs plenty of clearance. The shield attached to his right forearm is the engine cover & spoiler, and the shoulderpads are the rear fenders. The shoulderpads look cool, the hip pads the sides form look decent, the shield is nice, too. It'd be nicer if you had the option of detaching it, but it's attached with a metal post through it's joint. Still, the joint gives it meaning since he can do stuff with it, rather than just have it as kibble.

   This toy is really poseable. His head turns, he has ball joints at his shoulders, and swivels below his shoulderpads on his upper arms. He has two joints on each elbow giving full poseability, as well as the joint on the shield's attachment point as mentioned. His hips and knees are ball joints and his ankles have _two_ ball joints each! So yeah, this guy's pretty much a contortionist. He's reasonably top-heavy, since the car bits are almost entirely above his waist, so while you have to balance him, he has a wide range of poses available, and the twin ball joints in each ankle mean you can find a way to make him stand up in the vast majority of poses.

   There is a flaw introduced into the mould here - the elbows joints are far too lose, and tend to flop around rather that sit up in poses. While his forearms look okay hanging down, this does limit Inferno's action poses.

   The wide array of poses, the missile launchers, shield and chest guns give Prowl a _lot_ of play value in this mode. Add to this a good colour scheme and a great moulding and this is a good robot mode, hampered by minor balance issues and some elbow problems most likely related to a change in plastics.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of.

OVERALL

   On the one hand this is still a fantastic mould. On the other hand, this repaint is unfocused in a few areas and suffers from a few problems. Overall Inferno is still a great toy, but there are a few quibbles that stop me from recommending him as a repaint. The loss of chrome, ugly missiles and some side effects of a change in plastic hurt Inferno. The misplaced name also counts against this repaint - which is close but not quite there. As Universe toys go he _is_ one of the better repaints, but that's not saying much. If you don't have the mould, then this is still a good enough toy that I could recommend him, but if you have the mould, then i wouldn't worry about Inferno - 7/10

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