Review: #37
Name: Terradive
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Autobot Alliance
Year of Release: 2010
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 3)
Variations: retooled in the DOTM line as Space Case with a new head
JET MODE:
Terradive transforms into an orange and black jet, that is based off the Sukhoi Su-47. It is a very striking colour scheme, and it is one that I immediately like. The orange is a nice shade, and the black paint is really good, most of the plastic is of the glossy type.
Terradive features 3pt landing gear, although they don't roll, they are molded solid wheels. You can clearly see the trident stored on the bottom, but I really love this jet. The overall shade, with the winglets and then the forward swept wings, make this a distinctive and memorable jet. It's not the standard thing that we get with a lot of jet Transformers nowadays.
Terradive is thin, there is not much undercarriage kibble, most of the bulk is at the back of the plane where the legs and arms are situated, but they are not obvious. Everything pegs together nicely, there are no loose bits flopping here and there.
Too bad the cockpit is a smokey, leaning towards opaque, orange plastic, if it was fully transparent, it would look a lot better.
Terradive does look a bit cluttered from the back, but overall, a great looking jet. There are plenty of paint applications to keep everyone happy.
TRANSFORMATION:
I admit it, I do not really like the transformation. I still haven't completely figured out the front, as to what causes the nose to catch and what doesn't. The arms are in a such a position that you would have to bend the plastic in order to get it out from plane mode, which worries me in the long term. There are a lot of thin plastic parts that move during transformation, creating a lot of opportunities for them to snap. It's not a fun transformation, but it does the trick.
ROBOT MODE:
Despite the precarious transformation, the result is well worth the effort, as Terradive is just stunning. He has a lot of great visual aspects that jumps out at you, from his awesome trident weapon to the way the cockpit and winglets form his chest.
The legs are a bit iffy, and doesn't work as well as the rest of the figure. One thing to note is that all Terradive figures have extremely loose hips, but nothing that some nail polish or superglue can't fix.
The chest juts out when viewed from the side, but the major thing is how gappy his chest it. It works against him, a lot, viewed from any angle other than the front and you can see that his chest is a mess of panels and doesn't look very solid. Everything pegs together in place, but he lacks mass.
His weapon can be held either by one or two hands, there are two sections of the handle that are thicker and sized just right for his hands to grip. You can leave it like it is in alt mode and wield is like a spear.
Or (the preferred way) you can extend the prongs to form a trident, with purple tips. I personally don't like the purple, I would much rather prefer silver or even red. He also has too many different base plastic colours, from black, to orange, to white, to grey, it's visually messy.
You can store the weapon by folding it in half and clipping onto a clip on his left shoulder (the same place for jet mode), or you can (just barely) clip it onto his back.
The head sculpt is another reason why I like this figure, it is very original and contains so much character, it is unbelievable. I think it is my favourite head sculpt ever, no kidding, I loved it when I first saw it. He has a clear lightpipe, but it's neutered due to the eyes being painted red.
If you're craving for a ranged weapon you can also switch the hands back into thrusters and pretend it's a hand-mounted gun, it works fairly well.
Poseability is excellent, just have to watch out for those loose hips as he will most likely do the splits whenever you touch him. An excellent robot mode, with some minor flaws.
OVERALL:
A great jet mode, albeit a bit bulky towards the back, I was really hyped for this figure, but I found myself like his wave mate Tomahawk better instead. Why? Terradive's trasnformation feel flimsy and I can see a lot of areas where there might be problems, and the robot mode, while it has a lot of character, has a really gappy torso. The trident weapon is awesome, but it is dragged down by a lot of tiny design flaws that could have been smoothed out. The legs and feet are okay, but I felt the wing transformation down there was a bit lazy, I don't know how to improve it, it just feels incomplete. However, that being said, Terradive is still an excellent figure, and one that I recommend picking up.
--------------------
Check out this link for Seibertron's gallery of this figure (named Hunt for the Decepticons Terradive).
Credit: the pictures and text are all my original work, but I've linked a few pages to TFwiki.net.
Have a look at my other reviews by clicking here, thank you!
