Datastream Reviews: Generations Perceptor

[Datastream]

Perceptor's a character that I have the utmost respect for. He is a dutiful scientist whose advancements allow the Autobots to have a an even playing field with the Decepticons. I was greatly anticipating his update as a Generations figure with all of the previews and reviews looking promising. However, upon closer inspection with my own eyes, I have noticed a few flaws that ruin an otherwise excellent figure.

 

Robot Mode

Generations Perceptor is about the same size vertically as a standard deluxe figure, and almost looks exactly like his G1 counterpart in terms of a color scheme. The main hues present are black, gray, turquoise, and maroon with accents of silver, orange, yellow, and surprisingly, chrome. Perceptor comes equipped with a scientific shoulder laser to use for whatever he pleases and does not have any other weapons. The mold is very clean when viewed from the front, very reminiscent of the blocky G1 style. However, there is a lot of vehicle kibble seen when viewed from the rear forming his legs and backpack. His face sculpt is very devoid of any noticeable characteristics and is very flat and computer-like, suiting him as a scientist and possibly giving a nod to Animated Perceptor and his text-to-speech voice.

 

Posing is a bit less than standard for a deluxe. His arms can rotate 360 degrees at the shoulder and can extend outwards fully unhindered. The elbows can bend slightly over 90 degrees and a bicep swivel along with a wrist swivel allow for a wide amount of movement. The head is on a swivel, but is hindered in its rotation by sculpted detail to the point where he can only look slightly left or right. The hips have a good range of movement to make up for the lack of a waist joint. They're able to give Perceptor a normal range forward and backward motion in the legs and allow him to spread his legs outward into a perfect 180 degree split. The knee joints are extremely limited in forwards and backwards motion due to the vehicle kibble that the rear of his legs is made up of. His feet are on ball joints, but these are also very limited and do not allow very dynamic footing.

 

As a whole, the robot mode really nails the overall look of Perceptor, but it isn't very flexible. There are actually a few places on my particular figure that have some QC issues that I would like to point out in case these aren't limited to my figure. First off, the tab that holds the backpack in place on my figure is slightly too small to lock in place in the slot. So whenever I go to move his arms, his entire backpack comes loose. I also have another specific tab and slot problem with the tab that holds one of the knee-guards in place. It fits so snugly that I really have to pry it open in order to transform the figure. Other than that, there is also the well known issue with the shoulders not holding on place when the arms move, so that's a general flaw overall.

 

 

Vehicle Mode

Instead of a microscope like his G1 counterpart, Generations Perceptor takes a page from Animated Perceptor and takes the form of a halftrack research truck. Ideally, this type of vehicle would be used to traverse hostile environments such as the arctic in order to observe the native wildlife, but that's neither here nor there. As a vehicle it's a standard deluxe size compared to other figures, however for some reason the front wheels to not roll properly on mine. The vehicle is mainly made up of Perceptor's maroon while it loses the turquoise half of the main color scheme. There is also noticeably less chrome on the vehicle, with the only viewable part being the laser that can be deployed from the vehicle's roof lights.

 

Overall, it's a nice nod to Animated for an alt design that was never used. Contributing to the uniqueness is the fact that it's an alt mode that hasn't been used before, so it's a nice addition to those who keep their figures in vehicle mode.

 

 

Transformation Overview

This is where I really have a beef with the figure's design. I can't imagine a child would have much fun transforming this figure, even when reading the directions. It's not that the transformation is too complex, but there are actually a LOT of pieces that collide with each other when you try to change modes. Some of that can be attributed to the transformation sequence while others can just be chalked up to clearance issues in the design. Case in point: Getting the arms to connect and store away when converting to vehicle mode. It is nearly impossible to do the way the figure and mechanics are constructed and can actually start to wear on your fingers when you try configure them in different ways without success. If anyone actually has a fix for this, or I've been attempting this the wrong way, PLEASE let me know.

 

 

Final Verdict

In my personal opinion, I wouldn't recommend this figure to children. It really isn't a very dynamic simple figure to be played with and could end up with a lot of frustration. I'd actually like to believe that this figure was specifically designed for collectors and fans who wanted to see Perceptor updated with modern engineering. It would explain why Hasbro decided to mass produce it with chromed parts instead of painting them silver like normal. Regardless, anyone who's at least remotely a fan of Perceptor should pick up this figure because of the level of detail they put into the design. Just make sure to keep him safely on the shelf where the kiddies can't get him.