TF Views

andersonh1 wrote:Since I just got Universe Onslaught, I dug the original out for comparison and review as well.

G1 Combaticon Leader Onslaught

Originally, Onslaught was the head of the Combaticon sub unit, one of the Decepticon combiner or gestalts. Like just about all of the G1 combiners, the group consisted of four 'limbs' and a larger central figure, which is Onslaught's place in the Combaticons.

Vehicle mode: A very long flatbed truck, with ten wheels, a cab in the front, and what appears to be an anti-aircraft gun mounted on the top. The gun can elevate slightly, but does not rotate. It's removable, and is fastened to the back of the truck via two small pegs. All ten wheels roll, none are fake molded wheels just for appearance. The overall color is a rich dark almost navy blue. The secondary color on the AA gun and in various sticker details is a dark olive green. There is a black camoflage pattern on the truck cab. Both doors have a Decepticon insignia, and the heat-sensitive rubsign is on the cab behind the driver's door.

Transformation: nothing too complicated. The cab splits in the middle and folds to either side to become the arms, while the fists slide out. The head is revealed when this is done. The rear quarter of the truck bed folds onto the middle section, and that section splits and pulls out to form the legs. A small blue 'shield' piece plugs into the upper chest. Stand him up and you're done.

Robot Mode: Still dark blue and olive green, with a silver midsection and black head and hands. The twin cannon barrels stick up from his back. Various stickers provide some detail, though on my original they're all worn. The overall visual effect is a dark bot with no real bright contrasting colors, though the midsection and red optic visor probably stand out the most.

Articulation is limited. The head rotates, and the legs can swing out to the sides, and bend sideways at the knees due to the transformation joints needed for Bruticus. The arms rotate at the shoulder and have nearly 180 degrees of up and down motion, since the fold straight up over the head to form the truck cab, and fold down to the sides to form the arms. Probably middle of the road, or slightly above average articulation for a G1 figure.

I didn't include anything about Bruticus in this review, but as part of a combiner, Onslaught has extra play value beyond his use as an individual figure.

Overall: A sedate and effective color scheme, simple but effective transformation and two good modes add up to a strong G1 figure. It's clearly lacking in detail and articulation by today's standards, but that's the case for a good many older figures. Still a worthwhile addition to anyone's collection.

andersonh1 wrote:I completed my collection of 84 bots a few years ago, though it's a mix of originals and reissues. What a great set of figures, despite the brickiness of some... they made me a fan for life.

Shockwave wrote:

andersonh1 wrote:I completed my collection of 84 bots a few years ago, though it's a mix of originals and reissues. What a great set of figures, despite the brickiness of some... they made me a fan for life.

Reissues really do make it a lot easier to comlete the '84 set without totally breaking the bank. At least 75% of my Decepticons were reissues, including Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak and half of buzzsaw. The rest were originals, I actually found a sealed '84 released (ie: no rubsign) Thundercracker for $200. I opened him, put the stickers on and displayed him. But yeah, reissues, good way to complete the set.

Shockwave wrote:More reviewocity!

Soundwave: (and tapes): Soundwave, to me, was one of the coolest toys EVER! It looked just like my parent's walkman (well not just like, but... ah hell, you get the point) and transformed to a robot. And it came with Buzzsaw who was a tape that also transformed and fit into the tape deck compartment. Then there were other tapes that transformed too. And not just into human looking robots, but animals too. Ravage was one of the coolest, being a black panther with silver legs and chrome missiles on the hind faunches. An all around awesome look, although the altmode didn't allow the panther mode to stand all that well sometimes. Buzzsaw and Laserbeak turned into condors with Buzzsaw being gold and Laserbeak being red. They have jet engines on their backs with lasers point to the front on either side of the head. This form allowed for it to be perched on Soundwave's arm. Rumble and Frenzy were the two most human looking robots of the '84 cassetticons and I liked their overall look. Their transform didn't make them the most stable in robot mode (they lean to the back slightly and have winged rocket guns on their backs that make them lean further). They tend to fall backwards at the drop of a hat. But still, they're not bad for their size and still a lot of fun. The whole concept of these six toys just blew my mind. It was awesome and had a lot of play value and remains to this day some of my favorite G1 toys. And the characters were awesome too.

Optimus Prime: A big red truck that turns into a robot. Trailer transforms into the base. And it has an additional little roller thing. That's a lot of awesome to cram into one toy. A little bit of parts-forming with the fists and gun, but not as bad as the Decepticon jets. The cab forms the main robot and the character's red and blue chassis is at this point iconic (Iaconic?). Chest compartment opens up and depending on which version of this you have, might come with a Matrix of Leadership that fist there. I have the 2002 New Year's edition which comes with said matrix. Trailer has a lot of play value, there's a missile launcher, two side stations on either side of the platform for the launcher and a repair arm. Then there's a little car in there that acts as a scout. Which also launches! There's also a gas pump, hose and nozzle so that Prime can refuel the rest of the other Autobots. This is easily the biggest toy of the '84 Autobots and it's easy to see why this one was chosen to function as the leader of the heroic Autobots.