General Information:
Release Date: June 2019
Price Point: $9.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: None
In 2018 the "Power of the Primes" line finished off the "Prime Wars Trilogy" which had begun with "Combiner Wars". To kick off a whole new G1 inspired series of "Generations" figures, a new line known as "War for Cybertron: Siege" started in late 2018 (with a planned wide release in 2019).
In the past few years, the "Generations" line has been paying homage to Generation One toys and characters in a kind of chronological order. First they went all out with Combiners in "Combiner Wars", then leading to Headmaster homages galore in "Titans Return" and last year's "Power of the Primes" focused on paying homage to Pretenders, and to a lesser degree, Powermasters. Following this pattern, "Siege" brings us homages to Micromasters. These small Transformers had varying origins in G1, but origins aside, these characters were represented as tiny Transformers who transformed into an assortment of vehicles. Whereas they were once packaged in four member "Patrols" (or six member "Squads"), "Siege" uses the Micromasters to fill in the price point previously occupied by the "Legends" class figures, featuring two Micromaster figures in one package.
As a counterpoint to the G1 Race Car Patrol, the Decepticons had the Sports Car Patrol (who almost all shared similar engineering to the Race Car Patrol). Fast forward to 2019 and this new Sports Car Patrol features two members of that team: Blackjack and Hyperdrive. Both figures are redecos and retools of the Race Car Patrol so you'll want to check out my review of that set as well.
Packaging:
The "Siege" Micromasters are packaged in a bubble attached to small card. The card features the same dramatic artwork style as larger boxes in the line. This set recycles the artwork from the Race Car Patrol, repainting each vehicle to match the figures in this set. The packaging also includes a black background fading into a honeycomb pattern behind the figures. The right side features the "Transformers", "Generations" and Takara Tomy logos. The left side features a vertical chyron with a Decepticon symbol with the names Blackjack and Hyperdrive printed on it. The package art features the two Micromaters in vehicle mode since the figures are packaged in robot mode. The insert inside the bubble has the large "War for Cybertron: Siege" logo on it. It is dramatic and eye catching and I love how it looks on toy store shelves.
Blackjack Review
Robot Mode:
Blackjack is a redeco and retool of the Swindler sculpt from the Race Car Patrol. In a way, this is history repeating itself as G1 Swindler and Blackjack shared engineering and looked similar in many ways. Both had shoulder pylons that raised far above the head. Both also had lower legs formed from the rear of the vehicle mode. For this release, the figure features both a new head and torso. The head is designed to be an updated version of the G1 head sculpt featuring a thin crest and regular eyes (instead of Swindler's visor eyes). The chest features lots of mechanical details, but they are different than those on Swindler, featuring some "L" shaped designs that angle downward. Overall I'm very happy with the retooling and I can totally buy this as a new version of Blackjack.
Blackjack is (not surprisingly) made up of black plastic. His face and lower legs have gold paint on them while the head and shoulders have purple paint. I do wish the thighs were either purple plastic or painted purple to make him look more like his G1 counterpart, but it is hardly a dealbreaker.
There are seven points of articulation on this figure. I think some time between the development of the Race Car Patrol and the Sports Car Patrol the designers tightened up the joints on these figures because the legs do not pop off the ball joints on this figure the way they do on the Race Car Patrol. I was very happy to see this since the joints popping off were not only annoying but hampered a smooth transformation.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Push the arms into the sides, using the tabs on the arms to connect to the corresponding slots on the sides.
- Swing the front of the car over the head.
- Swing the lower legs up to form the rear of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
Blackjack's vehicle mode is a direct redeco of Swindler with no new parts featured. This works fine as G1 Swindler and Blackjack shared very similarly shaped vehicle forms. Again, this mode is all black plastic with the windows all painted gold. The left side has a white and purple Decepticon symbol tampographed onto the door.
Robot Mode:
Hyperdrive is a redeco and retool of Roadhandler from the Race Car Patrol. From a structural standpoint this works well since G1 Roadhandler and Hyperdrive featured similar engineering. For this release, the head/torso piece is a new one. The head sculpt is based on G1 Hyperdrive, featuring a thin crest, round helmet and visor eyes. The chest features Hyperdrive's distinct six "notches" and a belt-buckle like rectangle in the middle. These changes may be simple, but they are effective in turning Roadhandler's sculpt into a modern day version of Hyperdrive.
Taking their cues from G1 Hyperdrive, this figure is made up of light blue and black plastic. The head/chest is painted yellow while the face and mid-body area are painted blue. The lower legs and shoulders feature grey paint. This deco matches up beautifully with G1 Hyperdrive. The designers did a great job on it!
Like Blackjack, all seven points of articulation on this figure are nice and tight without parts popping off this time around.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the front of the car up and tuck it in between the two shoulder pylons.
- Swing the lower legs up to form the rear of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
Hyperdrive's vehicle mode is a straight up redeco of Roadhandler's, which is unfortunate in one respect: Roadhandler has a very distinctive front end (resembling an 80's Firebird) and Hyperdrive also had a distinct, curved front end in G1. The result is that the two characters had distinctive shapes, but here this is just Roadhandler's vehicle mode in blue. I think it would have been cooler if the front end piece of the car had been replaced with a curved one.
This mode mostly shows off blue and black plastic. The windows are painted gold and there is a Decepticon symbol tampographed onto the left side door. From a color perspective it is consistent with G1 Hyperdrive's deco.
Unlike their G1 counterparts, Blackjack and Hyperdrive can each transform into a "weapon mode". Swing out the rear of the vehicle on each, then swing down the pegs under the front of the car. Using the pegs, you can connect each weapon to the other by connecting the peg to the ports on the torsos. Unfortunately, this leads to the figures wind up in a rather...awkward position so I tend to prefer keeping them separate to be used as individual blasters. There are ports on the front of each weapon that allow you to attach Blast FX from the Battlemaster figures like Blowpipe. The weapon modes look a lot better when you attach the FX, for sure.
In an unintended bit of functionality, the pegs also allow you to attach these two figures to larger ones in vehicle mode, resembling the Mini-Con power ups from the "Armada" series. Of course, this works in weapon mode as well. I think I enjoy this (unintended) functionality more than the combined weapon form.
Final Thoughts:
The Sports Car Patrol is a nice update of Blackjack and Hyperdrive. I do wish Hyperdrive had been modified more in vehicle mode, but otherwise I really like this set. Recommended!
Pros:
- Retooled parts are a nice G1 homage.
- Good decos.
- Quality control on this set seems to be better than on my copies of the Race Car Patrol.
- Good play value.
Cons:
- I wish Hyperdrive's vehicle mode had more retooling.
