Friday, October 11, 2013

Toy Review: Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Twinstrike (Legion)


Review:  #152
Name:  Twinstrike
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Predacon
Line:  Prime - Beast Hunters
Year of Release:  2013
Size Class:  Legion (Wave 1)
Variations:  there is a clear version that was a Target exclusive and also a Japanese version (coloured green)

BEAST MODE:


Once again, like the other Terrorcons, Twinstrike officially transforms into a dragon, albeit a twin-headed dragon, with two tails to match.


It is a striking beast mode that looks great and has a lot of sculpted details.


He is bigger than you would expect.  Much bigger than the other quadrupled Legion toy off the top of my head, Twinstrike feels quite substantial.


There are a few places where you can plug the robot weapon, I found the best way was to plug it onto his back since it kinda blends in more there.


There are a decent amount of paint applications highlighting the mold.  Each individual head looks great from the eyes to the menacing teeth.


I feel this is more like a twin-headed beast/monster than a traditional dragon.  He's also not completely organic, having a lot of sharp angles.


Articulation is okay, but it's quite limited in the limbs.  They're perpetually bent and the dragon heads only move in one piece at the end of the neck so it can look a bit awkward in some poses.


The colour scheme is nice, and it suits the mold very well.

TRANSFORMATION:

Very complex for a Legion sized toy, made more clumsy with it's small size.  It's clever and makes the toy very interesting.  Although it does somewhat feel more complex than it needs to find.  I find that when rotating the robot shin pads, there is not enough clearance to do it and you have to use excessive force to warp the plastic a little bit.  I found because there were so many joints that move and he's a small size, he feels flimsy.  Overall, Twinstrike contains some impressive engineering.

ROBOT MODE:


Twinstrike's robot mode is equally as striking as his dragon mode.  Perhaps the first thing you'd notice is his dragon head hands.  We haven't had a robot that has the beast mode for hands for a while now.


The only kibble is the forelegs which ends up on his back, this reminds me of Cheetor.


The Predacon insignia is prominently on his chest.  I really like the metallic paint used here.


The head sculpt can be a bit messy but the red eyes, surrounded by the metallic green and silver face looks wicked.


Twinstrike's weapon is the "Piston Hammer", it's the same mode as Blight's weapon and also used for BH Legion Prowl.


Obviously, Twinstrike can hold the hammer on either hand.


He shrinks a bit when in robot mode but is still a decent size.  I love the fact that the shin pads to hide the bent legs from dragon mode.


Articulation is what you would expect of a toy this size.  He only features balljoints for his shoulders, hips and ankles.  You can still pull off some nice poses though.


A stunning robot mode, like the rest of the Terrorcon group, the colours work well together.

OVERALL:

An amazing toy.  It seems that the Legion class are the stand outs of the Prime line.  I love the fact that Twinstrike doesn't go the lazy route and have the robot just the beast mode on it's hind legs.  The dragon head hands are unique and he's well detailed, a definite must, even if you do not plan on making Abominus.

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