I decided for once in my life to be a completist, since Classics is such a small an manageable line, and as such I picked up the entirety of the first wave of Minicons, and for the most part was not disappointed with what I found.

 

So, without further adue (adieu? adu? adeighueauh?)

 

 

Classics Minicons Wave 1. I gotta admit I was pretty skeptical of this crowd when pictures first surfaced on the web, especially since Minicons are such a recent addition to the Transformers mythos and seem out of place in a line titled "Classics." I was swayed their side, however, when I took a closer look and noticed just how bizarre they were. These guys are really, really weird.

 

 

The Night Rescue Team is the set I bought last, and probably my least favorite of the three. Their vehicle modes are pretty nice, but Strongarm's (and I'm so glad they didn't name him Prowl) car mode is quite plain and could do with some nice neon colors to spruce him up. Each does contain quite a few tiny little details and movings parts to keep them interesting. Divebomb's got little missile pods sculpted under his wings and Firebot has nifty little rotating water blasters on his roof. The transformations are all fairly complicated and involve a lot of weird joints moving into places you wouldn't expect. Strongarm especially shows this, and is actually quite difficult to transform. Divebomb may have looked nice on paper, but in robot mode he comes off as a little...stiff. Actually, very stiff. He has no significant articulation, save for his "elbows" which only allow his arms to kind of flap out laterally. Points for originality, though. Of all the minicons from Wave I, Firebot gets points for having the "most humanoid," although he did his best to be as different from Armada's Firebot as possible.

 

Divebomb and Firebot both exhibit the phrase "TMR 77" on their vehicle mode. This must mean something. Strongarm is the odd one out, only having "RR Police District" stamped on what becomes his chest/arms in robot mode. Maybe he's a spy for the Red Ribbon army?

 

Hopefully everyone has discovered the following about Bumblebee:

 

 

Flip his arm panels away and powerlink points can be found underneath. He so far is the only Autobot to have powerlink points (I don't yet have Grimlock or Jetfire). Also, he's awesome. That's another review, though.

 

 

The Demolition team, the only Decepticon reinforcements we've received since Wave I. These guys have pretty strong vehicle modes, but also have the weirdest robot modes I've seen on any Minicon yet. Broadside, apparently the leader (judging from his tech specs), has a very convincing tank mode, with swiveling turret and pivoting cannon, but turns into some kind of horror freak show robot with a hugely off-balance back and tiny feet which make it very hard to stand him up. He still manages to have character even with his bizarre robot form, and I like how the designer sculpted a tiny gattling gun in place of his right hand. His left hand has a little hole sculpted in, and maybe he can hold something. Wideload gets the "least painted face" award this time around, and by that I mean his face has no paint. The box photos show some extra purple and silver on his helmet and crest, but this simply isn't there. So don't believe the lies. He also has giant wheel-breasts. Oh, and most photos show him mistransformed with his feet backwards. The cab of his dump truck mode should actually face forward (forming much better looking feet). Sledge must have gotten confused when he scanned his back hoe alt-mode, as his robot mode looks like it only half-transformed. His arms are shovels which point in the wrong direction, he has a huge ungainly cockpit right next to his head, and he seems to be wearing either a grill-less football helmet or a really old bicycle helmet. Whatever the case, he should be left in his far more eye-pleasing back hoe mode.

 

The Demolition team gets points for being really strange, but lose them for practicality. Or rather lack of. Also, they were surly and refused to powerlink with Bumblebee.

 

 

They somehow did agree to powerlink with the only two Decepticons who can, though.

 

 

Astrotrain's peg is on his rifle, by the way. Unfortunately the Decepticons' powerlink pegs are not in such a cool place as Bumblebee's is.

 

And, on to my favorite group:

 

 

Yes, the Dinobots. All my life I've missed the Dinobots, and now they're back. Sort of. Let me note that I've mistransformed Knockdown (the tricera) in robot mode, he has a flap which should have been pivoted down which discreetly increases his height and coolness. I have failed. Anyway, dinosaurs. These were the first ones I picked up, since dinosaurs are intriguing, especially Minicon dinosaurs which haven't ever been done before. I'm pleased to say I'm a big fan of this group, even though their robot modes are ungainly they have a lot of heart. Actually, their head sculpts are some of my favorites I've ever seen on Minicons, and the paint jobs on them are also surprisingly good. It's the small details which really impress me about these guys, though--a lot of tiny panels lines and streamlined goodness that I've rarely seen in such tiny figures. They have a lot of little bonuses like tiny fists sculpted into the end of Swoop's arms and a little gun barrel sculpted inside of Terrorsaur's (opening) mouth. Terrorsaur got the short end of the stick in the robot mode area here, with just half a T-Rex head acting as his left hand. The other half gets the gun, so it's not quite so awkward, He makes up for it with his angry Cruellock/BW Megatron hybrid head, though.

 

Oddly enough, according to the tech specs, Swoop seems to be the leader of this set. He also makes a great crossbow for Bumblebee.

 

So to conclude, I would suggest picking up at least one of these sets, if only for the tiny details and weird transformations, and if I could recommend one, it's definitely the Dinobots. They're such little fighters.

 

 

Rook Jones out. More reviews to come.

I might get these, if spare cash is in hand next.

 

 

 

 

 

your pics and speech bubbles make me :rofl btw.

 

 

 

Its the shenanigan side of things, that make them appeal I think

I want.

 

I want most of classics to be finally available here.

 

Damn evil Hasbro and shops here. *sniffs*

That's prolly the best review I've ever read on here. Wheel-breasts! That's gonna be my firstborn's name. I don't care what Melissa says.

I agree, though- the flat-out WTFness of this series' Minicons makes them irresistable...I have the Dino and Demolitions teams, and love them. All points go to creativity...Aesthetics certainly didn't get any. Sledge would be better in a Deluxe where you have more size to have a better transformation...

 

...and it's 'ado'

...and it's 'ado'

 

So it is.

my problem with classics mini cons... is there is nothing classic about them.

:pfx there - i dont mind "minicons" in and of themselves since we have had micromasters, and minibots all along.

 

but I dont know why these guys are such random names and stuff.

 

Does anyone else think that the Black Police car looks exactly like the the Movie Barricade dude?

(other than being tiny and stuff)

very much so, even the same shoulders

my problem with classics mini cons... is there is nothing classic about them.

I'm guessing you weren't wowed by the discovery of Bumblebee's mini-con ports. :tflaugh

 

I think Tank Guy is cool.... of course

*fights urge to insert a "redface" into pete's post" :tflaugh