Review: #382
Name: Baldigus
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Unite Warriors
Year of Release: 2017
Size Class: N/A
Mold Status: repaint of Unite Warriors Bruticus
PACKAGING:
Baldigus is a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive (being the online store), although he comes in the same fancy box as the rest of the Unite Warriors releases.
The original Baldigus in the cartoon uses the "scramble city" style of the limbs to create two attack modes, a Flight Mission and Land Mission mode.
The front flap opens up to reveal the Commandos in their alternate modes and all their accessories, which makes it a really nice display piece.
COMMANDOS:
Baldigus is comprised of Dolrailer (Mega-Octane), Shuttler (Movor), Hepter (Ro-Tor), Dangar (Armorhide) and Greejeeber (Rollbar).
These guys are pure repaints (with additional weapons) of the Unite Warriors Bruticus release, but are very faithful to the RiD characters they are homaging.
Their color schemes are nice and are a little bit more realistic and fitting compared to the G1 versions of these molds.
This release uses the dedicated hands and legs of the Combiner Wars Computron release (i.e. better proportioned). When not in combined mode, the hands can slot into the bottom of the feet.
In vehicle mode, they can peg (very tightly) onto the sides of Dolrailer.
In robot mode, they are pegs into the shoulders of Greejeeber. Note these are the official placements, but each figure has various 5mm pegholes such that there are plenty of other places to peg them.
LIMBS:
Dolrailer forms the torso and it is solidly built. The chestplate pegs onto the the sides to keep it in place, and the waist plate hides Dolrailer's small hips.
Shuttler normally forms the right arm and while the nose of the shuttle is flatter, thus not as pronounced as how the cartoon had it, it's not too bad. The leg mode is just the shuttle with the nose pushed out.
Hepter is the left arm and the key feature here is the four-blade rotor, although situated a bit lower than you'd want to look good. The leg mode is also fine provided you can tuck the blades in further, although it can easily pop them out if you're not careful.
Greejeeber forms the right leg. Its arm mode is bulkier and shorter than Shuttler's or Hepter's.
Finally, Dangar forms the left leg, and unfortunately due to the way the mold was designed, cannot replicate the leg configuration of the original which had the front of the tank facing forward as a knee cap.
COMBINED MODE:
The standard and most recognizable configuration is the "Flight Mission", which has Shuttler and Hepter as the arms (i.e. the flight capable characters).
The combined mode is relatively kibble-free, although the limbs usually have their robot arms hanging off.
The headsculpt is fantastic, and it is on a balljoint but is restricted so that it cannot really look that far up and down.
True to stock photos, the chestplate and head are painted a metallic gold which looks amazing in person. It's only slightly let down by the unpainted jointing plastic between the chestplate and waist plate.
A comparison against Combiner Wars Bruticus.
A size comparison against Generations Rhinox. Being comprised of four Deluxes and a Voyager, the figure is tall and hefty.
The poseability is pretty good, since Baldigus has knees and elbows joints coupled with swivels.
The dedicated hands and feet are miles better than the hybrid ones that came with most of the figures in the line. The feet also have ankle tilts to help keep the legs flat in various poses.
The multiple weapons from each character combines into two bigger guns. While not as impressive as first expected, it's still a nice gesture and means that there isn't a heap of guns randomly attached to the combined mode.
The biggest weapon against Baldigus while posing is the weight since he's more than likely to tilt over. Most of his joints are ratchets so there're no issues there.
The other sweet thing with the additional weapons this set has is that Baldigus gets to keep his iconic twist cannons behind his head.
The other configuration is "Land Mission" which has Greejeeber and Dangar as the arms.
The result of this configuration is a beefier look thanks to the bulkier arms.
Dangar's weak waist still causes a problem here since it likes to detach when you're posing his arm mode.
This mode has a few dedicated paint applications such as the thighs (which are hidden away in Dolrailer's robot and vehicle mode) and of course the chestplate.
Baldigus has an upside down G2 insignia prominently on his chest.
On the whole, this mode holds together really well and has heaps of play value.
A great homage to the character and one that was somewhat unexpected since it's a bit niche.
OVERALL:
A great set and combined mode. It's the perfect homage to a lesser known character but one that looks amazing. The molds are solid, each separate figure is good and when combined, still presents heaps of potential and fun.
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