Review: #70
Name: Bombshock w/ Combaticons
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: PowerCore Combiners
Year of Release: 2010
Size Class: Commanders with Drones (Wave 1)
Variations: core robot repainted into Steelshot, while the drones were repainted for PCC Stakeout and Crankcase
VEHICLE MODE:
Bombshock transforms into a twin-barreled artillery cannon truck. It has a fairly realistic colour scheme but you can't help but feel the turret is to big, out of proportion with the rest of the truck. All six wheels roll which is a really nice touch.
He is a bit disappointing from the back, with two bright blue combiner ports sticking out, it wouldn't be so bad if the colours didn't clash so much with the rest of the truck.
There's an unsightly gap at the back, you know, the engineers could have easily molded the elbow joint such that you can flip the arms around and hide the combiner ports, therefore filling the gap and making the back look better.
The turret itself is fully rotatable, but it might catch slightly on some stuff. However, as you rotate the turret, you do reveal the legs. The side panels also do not peg like they are supposed to, probably because of an assembly error that a lot of people have gotten.
You can pretty much see the whole of the robots on the underside.
Since this is a 5-pack robot, it's smaller than you would expect. Still clearly bigger than a legends class, but as a scout, he's fairly small.
It's a good vehicle mode overall, the turret takes most of the bulk but considering this is effectively a triple changer, the compromises can be forgiven.
DRONE VEHICLES:
Now for the auto-transforming drone vehicles. The first one which forms the right leg is an APC. This is one of the better and more stable drones, but as an leg and as a vehicle. The small gun on top is rotatable. Some nice details, but fairly bland to be honest.
This armoured car drone form the left leg and is easily the worst of the set. The twin missiles on top are rotatable, but the obvious seam lines wreck this car, as well as the cutesy proportions. It doesn't help that this sucks as a leg.
The missile carrier drone is another mediocre drone. It looks good but there are some heavy compromises for the auto-transforming gimmick. Apart from which the missiles and the front plow being instantly identifiable, the driver's compartment is pretty much non-existent. However, there are a lot of paint for such a small drone.
And lastly is the tank drone. Another one where the transforming gimmick made some compromises, with a loose 'claw' at the back and a huge seam splitting it in half. The turret is rotatable and he has four tiny wheels underneath for rolling.
Overall, a very bland set of drones, and there are flaws. However, as a set, they look great together, both in terms of a military theme and their colour scheme.
TRANSFORMATION:
A very simple transformation, yet it's very effective. For such a small figure to do so much, forming a robot and a torso, the liberties taken are easily forgivable. It's actually quite ingenious at how the turret folds over the normal robot's chest and head to form the combined mode's chest and head. True, the combined ports get in the way, mainly aesthetically. Terribly simple but this just means it's fun to convert between the two modes.
ROBOT MODE:
First thing you'd notice about Bombshock's body is that there's some unusual proportions, the legs are thick and chunky, and there's two absurdly long cannons behind his back. You can tell straight away Bombshock has some Onslaught elements so it's a bit weird why they just didn't name him that.
The turret, once again, is one of Bombshock's shortcomings, it's simply too big and since it takes most of the mass the budget allows, it leaves the core robot being very small. Size is another thing you'd notice about Bombshock straight away, he's tiny! However, taking in effect how small some of the recent DOTM Commanders are, he isn't so bad...
Now, those bright blue combiner ports are very visible, and more often than not, a liability. However, the ones behind Bombshock's legs can be used much more effectively, as heelspurs. They greatly help him to stand out, as if you leave them stored in the legs like the instructions suggest, you'll have to lean him forward in order for him to stand up.
There are a few different ways to arrange the backpack, and you can compact is a bit more so the cannons aren't shooting straight up. There's pros and cons against each configurations though, since they all have something about them that isn't 'just right'.
The cannons are on a hinge so you can point them forward, allow Bombshock to at least utilize some sort of weapon in robot mode.
The head sculpt is average, it's small though, and this, combined with the panel on his back, makes it hard to get a grip and turn the head from side to side. Oh, and it's also pretty hard to get the camera to focus on it.
As mentioned, when compared to his brethren, he's fairly small, and this does work against him.
The poseability is okay, he's got the joints, but some are really tight, while others have things getting in the way. Especially restricted are his knees, since they're so high up (a liberty taken for his combined mode), and his feet so big, you can't get much of a range for swiveling and bending. Overall, considering what they had to do, it's a decent figure.
COMBINED MODE:
The combined mode is where Bombshock is stronger at. It's supposed to evoke Bruticus and you really do see that here. One complaint is that it seems too spindly to look menacing, couple that with the fact that one arm is longer than the other, and the awkwardly angled elbows, and it's not as good as it seemed at first sight. The left leg, at least on mine (and I know there's this issue with some other pieces as well),has a hard time staying on properly, as far as I can discern, it's due to the fact that the spring is too strong, pushing the plug out.
I can, however, say this, the auto-transforming gimmick of the limbs are pretty cool to see in action. They're not enough to compensate for the fact they don't transform into robots, but it's a neat little feature. Bombshock can be a bit hard to balance in any sort of action pose, so most of the joints are wasted and his left 'hand' just flop, which is annoying.
The head sculpt looks really really good, and I like it. The cannons are proportioned much better now. The head can only turn from side to side. All in all, an okay combined mode, and considering it was only the first wave, and latter waves improved upon this concept, it's a job well done (except for the pricing of these sets).
OVERALL:
It's a decent set, but I wouldn't really recommend this unless you find it on clearance or at least a very good sales price. It's not bad, but there are a lot of compromises taken to make sure that this works, and it kinda ruins the figure overall. The engineering is impressive and it's a fun figure overall, but if you're only into these things for displaying, then steer clear from Bombshock and his Combaticons.
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