Alright, I got both of these today and I figure I'll share my thoughts on each.

 

First up...

 

BT 16 Skids

 

Alt Mode : A very nice shade of dark blue. Not quite as metallic as Tracks...but still very nice. I don't really mind the Scion mold and it really does scream "Skids" to me. All four doors open and so do the trunk and hood. VERY large seat area with a 2/3 back seat fold down option. It also comes with 2 sets of side decal stickers, flames and stripes. It also has extra Autobot symbols and some green and yellow triangles(I still can't figure out where these are supposed to go...any ideas??).

 

 

Transformation : The scheme is probably the most complicated to date (with Grimlock being the next closest in my opinion). The arms fit in VERY snuggly into the hood and their foldout method avoid any un-needed chassis lines. This will be a joy for my fellow kikbashers out there. Skids roof has MANY joints of articulation, I count at least six....maybe more, so there is a lot of ways to mistransform and customize him. The leg transformation is actually VERY simple and I really appreciated the telescoping legs. Again, everything seems to fit VERY snuggly and considering the minimal space for "bot parts" it is VERY well done.

 

Bot Mode : No doubt about it...this IS Skids. Everything from the colorscheme, door wings, the head and the hunchback design are reminiscent of the original. The arms have great articulation, including a folding in wrist which is actually completely un-necessary for transformation. The legs are well proportioned and the knee joints allow for a fair bit of manueverability (which has been lacking in recent molds it seems). Unfortunately there ARE some down points. The gun is puny and does not sit in his hand very well.....sigh..... Additionally the rear bumper sticks out infront of his leg like some sort of...well...BUMPER. The ankle joints are weak when it comes to tilting forwards and back....and being a BT you can imagine that the guy is topheavy and wanting to lean back as is. Another down side is that there is no waist pivot....and I'm really not sure why.

 

BTA 03 Broadblast feat. Lumina :roll

Broadblast is basically the same as Skids except for the following noticable differences:

 

Stickers : Broadblast only has the flame decals, not the stripes. He also has some large yellow boxes....I'm not sure where these are supposed to go...any ideas??

 

Colour Scheme : I didn't really like the fact that a Blaster homage wasn't red...it just didn't seem right. Anyways, the carbon grey IS pretty nice looking and really shows off the details better than Skids. Also the yellow around the shoulders is a REALLY nice touch.

 

Quality : BTA03 seems to have the edge in Quality control...which seems different than all my previous BTA experiences. Skids had a loose knee joint that I had to tighten (simply tightening the screw) and overall Broadblast just seemed to have a bit more TLC. Additionally his head mold seems to have had more attention paid to the paint job and also seems to have more "up and down" arching capabilities than Skids. Plus he comes with a lame-o anime driver if your into that stuff.

 

Overall:

 

BT 16 Skids: 7/10 I Really appreciate the G1 Homage and I like the VERY solid Transformation scheme. Plus it's nice to have something over than a car or a jeep for a change.

 

BTA 03 Broadblast: 7.5/10 I really wasn't feeling the homage from this one, but I did like the paintjob nevertheless and the quality seemed vastly improved from the other BTAs.

 

-Guld

The arms fit in VERY snuggly into the hood and their foldout method avoid any un-needed chassis lines.

-Guld

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That.

 

Unless you have the arms in the engine area PERFECTLY the head will not fit in which means the hood will not flip up.

 

 

I didn't find the mold as tricky as the Mustangs...  but it takes  a bit of getting used to.

The noob sticker goes here:

 

Driving stickers- New drivers must display a yellow-green sticker in the front and back window when driving. Police are stricter on these drivers. Whether you need one depends on the date on your home country license.

 

http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/new/tokyo_or...n_-_Handout.pdf

 

I hate the Scion, but love the Skids mold. :) I also hate ball jointed feet + heavy diecast. If I don't pose Skids and Prowl just right, it's a recipe for heartache. :( Pity they didn't use the stabilizing bar idea from Grimlock.

The arms fit in VERY snuggly into the hood and their foldout method avoid any un-needed chassis lines.

-Guld

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That.

 

Unless you have the arms in the engine area PERFECTLY the head will not fit in which means the hood will not flip up.

 

 

I didn't find the mold as tricky as the Mustangs...  but it takes  a bit of getting used to.

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Really?? I'll have to check the head alignment next time and see what happens.

 

Thanks for the sticker help WRX

The arms have great articulation, including a folding in wrist which is actually completely un-necessary for transformation.

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Prowl's is Unnecessary too. Wonder why they bothered?

Guld I am right there with you.  I really like skids and think the scion was a great mold for them to use.  It also helps break up the diversity of the alt/bt line with something other then a traditional car.  I applied the traditional skids stickers and they look great, and now that I know what the yellow ones are for, I might just go ahead and apply those. 

 

As for BTA #3, I agree the homage just isnt there.  I went ahead and removed the head and will use it when Dodge Prime comes out to make Ironhide, and instead painted the shoulders gray, used some of the extra autobot symbols to replace the ones I covered up, and used a Overdrive head with the visor removed to make Rollbar from the Throttlebots. 

 

I currently have three throttlebots done, and am just waiting for the right molds to finish the other three.  So far I have Freeway using the blue RSX mold, Chase using the Overdrive mold, and now the gray scion as Rollbar.  I think goldbug is going to get an upgrade to a viper when I get Sunstreaker, since i prefer the yellow tracks mod to the viper mold. 

Prowl's is Unnecessary too. Wonder why they bothered?

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Well......limp wrists ARE in. :roll

 

Guld I am right there with you.  I really like skids and think the scion was a great mold for them to use.  It also helps break up the diversity of the alt/bt line with something other then a traditional car.  I applied the traditional skids stickers and they look great, and now that I know what the yellow ones are for, I might just go ahead and apply those. 

 

As for BTA #3, I agree the homage just isnt there.  I went ahead and removed the head and will use it when Dodge Prime comes out to make Ironhide, and instead painted the shoulders gray, used some of the extra autobot symbols to replace the ones I covered up, and used a Overdrive head with the visor removed to make Rollbar from the Throttlebots. 

 

I currently have three throttlebots done, and am just waiting for the right molds to finish the other three.  So far I have Freeway using the blue RSX mold, Chase using the Overdrive mold, and now the gray scion as Rollbar.  I think goldbug is going to get an upgrade to a viper when I get Sunstreaker, since i prefer the yellow tracks mod to the viper mold.

That is a heck of an upgrade for Goldbug.

Nice reviews. I guess we'll only get one of those as an Alternator.

...forgot to say, the joint that holds that front seat in place is rather flimsy.

 

That combined with the large amount of kibble on the back could cause some problems..........

...forgot to say, the joint that holds that front seat in place is rather flimsy.

 

That combined with the large amount of kibble on the back could cause some problems..........

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Agreed....there is a fair bit of back kibble, but they did a good job of keeping it to a minimum. (throught folding of panels)

 

The front seats are loose because they are removable.