Sunday, December 6, 2020

Toy Review: Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Earthrise Snapdragon (Voyager)


Review:  #612
Name:  Snapdragon
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Decepticon
Line:  Generations - War for Cybertron:  Earthrise
Year of Release:  2020
Size Class:  Voyager (Wave 2)
Mold Status:  new

JET MODE:


For the Earthrise line up, we get a brand new mold for Snapdragon, which was a nice surprise.  His alternate mode is a space jet.


This is a really nice jet mode, despite its simplicity.  There are exposed robot fists below the thrusters and he features flip down landing gear as well.


Snapdragon is fairly big and while this should be expected now, he is fairly light as well since there are a lot of hollow sections.  Above is a comparison against Titans Return Optimus.


Snapdragon is a Headmaster, and he comes with a Titan Master, who while not named on the packaging, is Krunk.


Krunk is the same as the Titan Masters from the Titans Return and Power of the Primes toylines so there are no surprises here.  He only has arms that can swing forward and a head that turns left and right.


To be fair, Krunk's color scheme is somewhat diverse, with two primarily colors and a painted head.


The only interaction Krunk has with the jet mode is that the third windowed cockpit opens up that he can sit in.  The instrument panel is even painted!!


This is an excellent jet mode.  There's just something about a fairly sizable jet that holds together well that is a lot of fun.

TRANSFORMATION (TO DRAGON MODE):

To get from jet mode into dragon mode, you flip the jet over and most of the body becomes the tail.  The thrusters and wings flips down to form the feet.  Then you can flip out the dragon head from the back, including the arms and in a neat way to integrate the Titan Master, Krunk forms the lower jaw of the head.

DRAGON MODE:


Snapdragon is a triple-changer and his second alternate mode is a robotic dragon, so what's not to like?


The biggest flaw in this mode are the proportions.  The tail is massive and chunky, although this does help stabilize this mode completely.  The upper body is also slimmer and the arms skinnier in comparison to the legs.


Krunk is integrated into the head, forming the lower jaw.  It works remarkably well.  This also means that the mouth can open and close.


In terms of size, Snapdragon has the bulk of a Voyager, just that due to the nature of this mode, is not as tall as a typical Voyager in robot mode.


Poseability is not too bad.  The legs are the robot's arms so they have a wide range of motion.  The mouth can open and close, and the arms seems like they should have more flexibility but it is restricted by only a swivel hinge for the shoulders, and a balljoint that only allows rotation for the elbows.


This is a menacing dragon mode and surprisingly it managed to hide nearly all of the jet elements.

TRANSFORMATION (TO ROBOT MODE):

Going from jet mode to robot mode is very simple.  The thrusters at the back pulls out to form the arms.  The front then splits into two to form the legs, and then you plug in Krunk in his head mode to complete the robot mode.

ROBOT MODE:


Snapdragon's third and final mode is as strong as the other two.


This is a really solid robot, both in terms of looks and functionality.  The main piece of kibble are the wing parts behind his forearms.


The head is formed by Krunk, and it looks fairly decent, especially with the painted faceplate.


While Snapdragon is a bit shorter than a typical Voyager, he looks a lot more bulky.  "Looks" is the keyword since Snapdragon has various hollow parts.


Articulation is where Snapdragon fails a tiny bit, and that is due to one thing:  his elbows only allow a 45 degree bend.


Otherwise, the rest of his articulation is great, with joints for his shoulders, waist, hips, knees, neck and ankles.


Snapdragon comes with two weapons, a pair of guns.


He can hold the gun in either hand, he is missing wrist swivels given that a swivel in the other direction was required for transformation.


One of the better things with the Earthrise line is the elimination of the silver battle damage, which gives the robots a cleaner look and also the opportunity for paint to highlight some of the excellent sculpting.


This is a great robot mode and while the limited elbow articulation is disappointing, it is a not a deal breaker.

OVERALL:

Snapdragon is 100% worth the purpose.  It is an excellent mold, and as a triple-changing to boot, all three modes is a lot of fun and built solidly.  The Titan Master gimmick is added play value without compromising the engineering of the figure, there really isn't any reason not to grab him.

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