Review: #718
Name: Paleotrex
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Predacon
Line: Generations - War for Cybertron: Kingdom
Year of Release: 2020
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 1)
Mold Status: new
BEAST MODE:
Paleotrex is a Fossilizer in the Kingdom line, transforming into a skeletal Tyrannosaurus.
It's a unique take for sure. The color scheme is a mix of light and dark brown, which is somewhat befitting of a fossil (although bleached white would be more striking).
Being a "fossil", Paleotrex is literally just bones, and so he's quite skinny as a result.
There is some articulation. The mouth can open and close, the tiny forearms are on balljoints, but most of the flexibility are in his legs, which contains several joints.
A good beast mode that's more because it's so unusual and odd, rather than something amazing.
TRANSFORMATION:
Similar to previous lines' Weaponizers, Paleotrex transforms by being a parts-former. It's not hard, the legs splits to form parts of his robot arms and legs, while the torso splits to form the robot torso and thighs.
ROBOT MODE:
Robot mode is where it really hits you on how weird he is. At first glance, this has got to be one of the ugliest robot modes ever, rivalled only by the other Fossilizers in the line.
As you get used to him though, the unique design starts to grow on you and maybe he isn't too bad just because he's such a far cry from a typical Transformer's robot mode.
The head sculpt is unique as well, with a sort of demon look to him.
For size, just like in beast mode, he's around the height of a typical Deluxe. However, due to the skeletal beast mode, he lacks the usual expected heft.
For articulation, he's pretty good with joints in his head, shoulders, elbows, forearms, hips, knees and "ankles".
The ankle joints are situated halfway up his shins, so they look a bit weird if you end up utilizing them.
While he lacks a ranged weapon, he comes with a handheld weapon that's too thick to be a sword and too thin to be a club, but still looks good.
He can hold it in either hand, as despite his huge hands, he has a 5mm port at the base. The downside is that it doesn't look like he's gripping it properly.
With the huge hands and tiny feet throwing his body out of proportion, you might think he'll have balancing issues. Surprisingly, he doesn't and he's quite easy to keep upright.'
One of the cool gimmicks that harkens back to the mutant masks of early Beast Wars toys is that he has a flip down mask (mainly for his weaponry modes but works well here too), that turns his head into a skull. It's fun and unobtrusive, working really well.
This is a hate at first glance type of robot, but there is a chance that he'll grow on you.
FOSSILIZER MODE:
The other major gimmick of Fossilizers are their ability to split apart and recombine into weapons for other Transformers. The first of which are a pair of giant hands, a giant axe and a weapon made of his head.
The instructions officially pair him with Warpath, but as you're attaching a Deluxe as armor to another Deluxe, this can cause some weight issues, so it might be better to attach it to a Voyager instead.
The other mode are shoulder cannons, a giant lance and a small shield.
This looks fairly decent as well, although just like before, the weapon is a bit big proportionally compared to the Deluxe sized robot. You might also have trouble with the arms of the Deluxe not being strong enough to keep holding one-third of another Deluxe in their hands.
OVERALL:
Paleotrex is an interesting addition to the line, but fitting considering the beast focus. It's actually a cool concept to have transforming fossils, and the designer nailed the beast mode. However, the robot mode may have been too far on the weird side, so it's definitely ugly, and it'll forever remain so, but does have certain charms to it.
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