Do the "fingers" on the hands flop around when you move the arms around or do they stay where you would pose them?
-G

 

Everything here is made of win

 

Bombshock & The Combaticons

Bombshock ("No, I'm not Onslaught. Really I'm not!") is a six wheeled flatbed with a turret on the back. He's mainly dark green in colour and has a low flat cab at the front. The turret is about 1/3 the length of the vehicle and would be just as wide as the vehicle if it wasn't for a pair of missile arrays each containing four moulded warheads. On top of the turret is a Minicon plug, with another mounted between the twin gun barrels at the front of the turret. The turret turns, both barrels elevate together - although they can be moved independently - and the barrel mount also elevates as part of the transformation. Unfortunately sticking out the back of the vehicle we have two of the Powercore combination connectors, not even remotely hidden like they are on Smoulder. Ignoring the connectors he's 10cm long x 4.5cm wide at the widest point (rear wheels). The flatbed is 1.5cm high plus an extra 1.5cm for the turret.

TF: Rotate the turret so the guns point forwards. Turn the toy over with the front facing downwards - you'll see most of the robot already. Fold the panels on the middle of each vehicle side down to cover the fronts of the sides as the robots legs. Lift the robots loin cloth and rotate the waist through 180 degrees. Fold the loin cloth down. Fold the cab and the panel on the other half of the vehicles front down to form the feet. Separate the arms at the back of the vehicle, folding the lower arms out so they're straight above the robots head. Rotate each upper arm inwards 90 degrees at the elbow so the Powercore connectors are facing you. Fold the arms down. Separate the legs.

The resulting robot is a little back heavy for something without heel spurs so I suggest folding down the Powercore connectors hidden in the back of the legs to act as heel spurs. He's about 9.5cm high in this mode and 4.5cm wide at the shoulders. He feels slight compared with Smoulder lacking the bulk that Smoulder has due to his vehicle mode parts. He does however have a huge back pack made from the turret which if anything makes it worse! The gun barrels can either point straight up - as per Onslaught - or be folded forward as shoulder cannons. His articulation consists of bending knees, ball jointed hips, a turning waist that's hindered by his loin cloth, ball jointed shoulders & elbows and a turning head. The head looks like it's made of two pieces so it could have been originally intended to contain a lightpipe. He has one Minicon port on his back - the turret's one - and the other between the gun barrels should be accessible with the guns folded forward. He lacks the chest plate Minicon peg that Smoulder does so Chopster can provide no phallic Minicon armour for him. Bombshock also can't use Chopster as an axe - the 5mm hole in his fist doesn't pass all the way through the hand so the axe handle can't recess far enough through for the edges of the peg hole to catch on the rings on the axe handle. Bombshock doesn't have any hand weapons as such to hold but if you fold forward the Powercore connectors under his hands it makes it look as if he has some sort of square energy guns mounted under his hands.

Bombshock comes with four legends sized drone vehicles, all with a military theme. They form the limbs of Bombshock's combined mode but can also combine with any of the other Powercore commander toys such as Smoulder. All four have Minicon plugs on the top of them to allow a Minicon to command with them. We've got a pale yellow tank with a black missile bank containing 2 silver moulded missiles - this forms an arm. Motion is provided by four wheels mounted in the tracks. There's another tank, this time grey with a rotating turret with 2 gun barrels either side - this is the other arm. Movement here is powered by two wheels hidden in the tracks at the back and a roller across the front. The other two vehicles form legs: a pale beige armoured car with a rotating missile array on the back - in leg mode this has a moulded gatling gun appear out the side of the leg - and a half track vehicle with wheels at the front and track at the back (movement at the back provided by a roller). This has a grey fixed gun on the top of the vehicle. All four limbs connect to the blue cubical Powercore connectors which causes them to auto convert into whichever limb they are. You can attach a leg limb to a shoulder socket and an arm to a hip but they'll still turn into whichever they're meant to be. None of the limbs have robot modes which may be a deterrent to some who expect a more traditional transformers combiner with limbs that turn into robots as well as vehicles.

Bombshock himself forms the core of these combined robots - hence the Powercore name. From robot mode fold the guns so they point upright. Rotate the turret through 180 degrees so the gun barrels point down. Fold the arms straight out to the sides & rotate at the joints so the wheels on the upper arm and the Powercore connectors under the lower arm face forward Fold the back of the turret over the standard robot head to form the combined robot chest popping up the turret's hatch with the Minicon port on. Turn this around 180 degrees to reveal the combined robot's head. Fold the gun barrels upright. Fold the robot arms upward at shoulder & elbow so the slots on the hand hole side of the arm meet the tabs sticking out the sides of the turret. Fold the robot feet up and fold out the Powercore connectors inside the lower leg. Fold the thighs upwards and out to the sides until they meet the sides of the waist piece. Rotate each leg at the thigh so the silver panel faces forward. Bend the legs down at the robot's knee. Push each connector into a hole on an appropriate vehicle to transform it into a limb.

Smoulder's combined robot core is basically the same as Smoulder's body with the parts re-arranged. However Bombshock's combined mode transforms the character from a slight robot to a bulky body thanks to the addition of the new chest adding height and weight to Bombshock's body. This new version has much of the articulation of the smaller version: a turning head, turning shoulders that also shrug upwards, a waist limited by the loin cloth, hips, bending knees and a rotational joint bellow the knees. Once again we have the choice of leaving the gun barrels upright or bending them forward over the combined robot's shoulders. We get a new head here with a solid red visor - no light pipe here sadly - and a solid face plate. For those interested in dimensions the combined robot consists of 6cm legs and 11cm body making a robot that's 17cm high. From shoulder joint to shoulder joint he measures 7cm across plus whatever width the arms give him - the missile launcher arm is itself 6cm wide at the top while the tank arm is just 3cm wide.

There's a general Onslaught/Combaticon/Bruticus theme going through this set without being an actual aping of the original G1 toys at any point. The limbs aren't going to be to everyone's liking lacking robot mode and bending elbows but over all this is a fun set. Factor in the interchangeability with other Powercore toys - the limbs have spent quite a bit of their time with me attached to Smoulder. Well worth a buy when they come out.

 

Have Hasbro given up on combiners? first supreme devastator and now PCC! what happened to individual robot's?

 

This is something different. Why does every combining toy need to take after the original G1 concept ? I like the idea of the smaller drones powering up the core figure.

 

So the drones can only do one limb? I was under the impression that a leg could be removed and attached as an arm.

 

No. A drone is either an arm or a leg. Can be either arm or either leg but not an arm *and* a leg.

 

poop  

 

sigh. Powercore Combiners. So much potential, so much fail.
too short/small. bad looking, non-poseable, automorphing limbs. Non-transforming drones.

(the combined mode's headsculpt is epic though)

 

Bombshock's drones with Smolder's body is a great combination....I think overall it just simply looks better

 

Bombshock remindes me of Roughstuff more than Onslaught for some reason.

I like the variation in combination and possing of the legs etc.. that may proove handy for giving different looks to any repaints.

I agree the implementation on the limbs is not up to scratch - if they had movable hands or something that might help a bit.

But as with Energon Autobots the more you get the more fun is added.
I do feel the UK price of £22.99 is a little steep i'd not really want to pay more than £17.99 and that is me being generous after all it's only a scout with some gloves and boots on.

Perhaps the thought here is get them but don't overpay for them and you won't feel as disapointed then.

Despite what the bios say and the 'Allspark blue' I don't really get a movie vibe from these very much aside from the weird drone hands having two thumbs... but that is obviously for reversability.

I may add a little blue paint on a few spots that don't show in vehicle mode to pick out an accent with the plugs rather than have the plugs be the only blue on them.

 

The drones for this set are leaps and bounds above those in the Aerialbot set but they still have a couple of issues. The biggest problem is that the arms aren't even CLOSE to the same length. And while I like the leg drones, I got a defective one...the Armored Car Drone keeps pushing its way out of every connector, which should never happen. If you're going to overload a figure with gimmicks, they sure as hell better WORK.

Bombshock makes a pretty good torso overall but the skeletal knees are rather disturbing. His robot mode, however, sucks.....He falls over constantly and his "apron" not only blocks poseability but also looks ridiculous. I actually think the vehicle mode looks pretty cool but I'm having a hell of a time getting the two side panels to plug solidly in to their pegs. It is damn finicky and it really has no good reason to be; the pegs are clearly smaller than the slots. That's just sloppy.

 

they flop around

 

Have you tried flipping out the blue connector pegs on his legs to act as heels? It looks a little weird, but he won't fall over constantly.

This, the lack of articulation, and the proportions are the only problems I have with this set.

I just opened it last night and am very happy with it otherwise. Everything fits together well and I have not had any problems with balance or drones popping off their pegs. In fact, the armored car drone stays on so tight that it requires a fair amount of pulling force to get it off. It's a nice little set to mess around with, and I can see kids loving these, but I don't see this as a series of figures that will need to be collected since the gimmick will only be novel for so long.

If you can get a set that has good QC, I recommend getting one to try out.

 

I was pleasantly surprised with this set. Mine came with good, tight joints and all the connection pieces fit snugly. The gimmick's interesting enough to fiddle around with...but I don't plan on investing any more capital into the overall line. It's a fine gimmick for a standalone figure, but it'll get old real quick.

 

I would agree with this statement:


I'm still thinking on getting a second Bombshock set to be able to create symmetrical limbs.

 

I am thinking the same too. For Bombshock, I prefer 2 tank drone arms than having the thin and floppy Missile carrier arms.

 

He's essentially a scout with megazord limbs.

I just wish the pegs for the limbs weren't so bright...

 

well, the damn blue parts cant be painted, heres a headsup
failed with acrylics big time