Obsidian
Vehicle mode is an osprey,
a kind of helicopter with a propeller on each of its wings. This mode,
although not very show-accurate, is very cool nonetheless, with a well-proportioned
look to it. Obsidian is complete with two rotating blades, two missile
pods with five "missiles" engraved into them each, and a really awesome-looking
vehicle head. The insidious eyes make it look like the Vehicon general
has some devious plan on his mind, and his also has a moving gun on its
underside for shooting pesky Maximals. The head also rests on ball joints,
so, depending on how you want the vehicle mode portrayed, you can leave
the vehicle head stationary or move it around a bit. There is only one
major thing that bugs me about this mode, and this downside carries over
to the other modes; his name's Obsidian, and he's SLAGGIN' GREEN! I have
no idea why Hasbro made such a stupid move- especially since he's black
on the show, for crying out loud. If it were not for this, Obsidian would
have easily gotten a rating of 9.0, or maybe even higher, and would have
made it into the "must-buy" category. Articulation is pretty limited too-
only the propellers and gun can move- but this is no big deal, since this
is typical for a vehicle mode.
Transformation is remarkably
easily- some would argue that it is too easy, in fact. By merely flipping
the tail section of the helicopter down, most of the transformation is
already done for you, thanks to the work of a few gears. After that, all
that is left is positioning the arms, legs, and turning the middle chest
section around.
Robot mode is pretty
nice, too, but it doesn't carry over the relatively flawless construction
that the vehicle mode had. The robot head, long and skinny, could not have
looked any better, and the propellers complement this mode. The chest,
made from the helicopter cockpit, is a bit bulky, however, and Obsidian
has no hands, merely missle pods with arms attached to them. His feet also
look incredibly odd- I wish Hasbro could have thought of a more creative
way of forming them. Obsidian also has a green plank of plastic sticking
out from his upper back, and, while this does not hinder movement ,it does
look a little odd. Obsidian's gimmick is "propeller-firing action". If
you press the bottoms of the propellers, they fly outward, kind of like
a spinning sawblade. Although this is technically workable in any mode,
it's only plausible in this mode, as he would lose his flight if he fired
them in any of his other modes. ;) Obsidian's spark crystal is embedded
in his back.
Obsidian also has a
fan-made show-accurate mode, in which his legs are stuck together and positioned
like they are in the show (see above picture). I like this mode a bit better
than the standard robot mode, as the oddity of the feet doesn't stick out
in this mode.
A really great basic
Vehicon, but not without its few flaws. Hasbro also made a bad move on
choosing his toy's color scheme. Still, I do recommend this toy.
Review by Beastbot