So. Here we are with another Transformers crossovers line, hot on the heels of Star Wars Transformers. Though I owned a few of those, none of them really thrilled me that much. They just weren't all that good. The Marvel Crossovers line is another thing entirely. It's evident that they're made by a different crew than most Transformers, and they don't quite live up to, say, the movie line or Animated line so far, but the detail work, transformations, and, well, just about everything else about them are a lot more solid than I had any right to expect based off of the concept. Even the base story as seen on the back of the packaging has actual Transformers ties, unlike the Star Wars line. Based off of alien (read: Cybertronian) technology, Mr. Fantastic and Tony Stark built special mech suits for the other heroes, with Dr. Doom providing the same for the villains. Not much, but much better than the Star Wars ones. And I like some of the little touches like Iron Man has a remote inhibitor in his suit to shut off the other heroes' should it be neccesary. Just like Stark, the jerk. They are packaged like deluxes, but cost $15. A bit more expensive than most and likely due to licensing, but they are at least large sized deluxes, with a couple approaching traditional Voyager sizes. They are all bigger than, say, Animated Bulkhead. I'm not gonna reveiw the packaging, except to say one thing: there are absolutely no twits ties to remove. Just open the package and take out the toy. Now, moving on to the individual toys...
IRON MAN
Vehicle Mode: Iron Man is a stylized somewhat futuristic jet in vehicle form. The main colors are grey and red, with some yellow detailing. There's a diamond shaped uni-beam piece right behind the cockpit--which is translucent red--and a few other bits and pieces of yellow to make the mode stand out. On the underside of the wings are the spring loaded rocket launchers, and a three other authetic looking missiles. There's no landing gear, but I am impressed by the sheer lack of undercarrage garbage in this mode. There is virtually none. This is a good mode and would actually be worthy of a Seeker with the right color scheme.
Transformation: Not a whole lot to say. It's a basic seeker transformation, but you fold the wings on his back to hide them. Also, the leg armor has a pretty unique transformation and the nosecone separates to be hip armor. Pretty simple, even so.
Robot Mode: While red and grey were the main colors of the vehicle mode, the robot primarily red and yellow. It features a lot of the basic Seeker attributes, specifically the cockpit on the chest and arm mounted rocket launchers. The Unibeam shooter is still located on his chest above the cockpit. Not much to say about the head. It's...Iron Man's head. Much like Darth Vader, there's not much to do with it to make it more mechanical. It's a detailed head, though. Iron Man is quite posable, except there's an issue with the legs. They pop into place in such a way that you either have Iron Man standing ridgedly straight, or with his legs waaay spread apart.
Final Thoughts: Iron Man is a good, solid toy, but the fact that he's basically a Seeker done up to look like Iron Man, and the leg issue, keeps him from being "must have." I'd rate him at a B+.
Hulk
Vehicle Mode: Hulks Vehicle mode is a green tank. It's a futuristic tank, with a cannon that looks more like a blaster than heavy ordinance. There's a lot of great mechanical detail work at play here, especially the wheels within the tank treads. Apart from green, there's also some silver detail and gold within the treads. The treads themselves are dark grey. Due to the transformation, the turret does not swivel, but the mode looks cool enough that doesn't bother me too much.
Transformation: It's very simple, with most of it revolving around the treads which become his arms.
Robot Mode: Naturally, green remains the primary color here, with some silver detail. The upper legs are grey, giving the impression of Hulk's pants. I would've liked some purple paneling, but whatever. The Hulk is appropriately bulky looking, with a wide body, huge hands, and a little head, and, well, if Hulk was a robot, he'd look like this. That's one thing I like. It's clearly a robot, but also clearely the Hulk. In the process, Hulk's head became square shaped, which makes him look a little like the Frankenstein Monster, but he has a look of sheer rage that only the Hulk would have. He's quite posable, and even his head turns 360 degrees--with a bit of work. Nothing seems missing in that department. He doesn't have a rocket launcher, cuz he's the Hulk. Instead, he has a sprng loaded punch, like Cybertron Mode Animated Prime. He does suffer a bit from Bulkhead syndrome in that he's the shortest in the line, so if scale is important to you this will be somewhat irritating. He's still not as absolutely tiny as Bulkhead, though.
Final Thoughts: I like this one. Very nice. The scale will likely bother some people and his gimmick is slightly weak, but it's a good addition to anybody's Transformers linup. A-
Spider Man
Vehicle Mode: Sipder-Man is a motercycle, and is the longest vehicle in the line. And I'll be honest, the weakest. It's not bad, just suffers a bit from DreamWave Syndrome. It's obviously a robot in the basic shape of a motercycle. There are some nice details here, especially on the wheels, and Spider-Man's missiles are stored to be a dual exhaust on its right side. The main colors are of course, red and blue, with web design on the red. The deigners did a good job of positioning the colors in such a way that they seem plausible rather than completely random. There's some silver on the wheels with black tires. I like the windshield piece. It's supposed to be designed after Spider-Man's head, but the headlight and overall shape actually reminds me of Peter Porker Spider Ham
It has two kickstands for excellent stability. Nice, but a bit flawed.
Trasformation: It's a lot like the various Arcee's actually. At least the windsheild goes up his back rather than hang off his butt.
Robot Mode: Well--it's Spider-Man. The designers did decent work in making it a robot Spider-Man, but there's really not much to say about it. There is some nice tubing detail on his legs, and his arms are a little bulky-er than the rest. His hands are of course in web launching mode, and his missiles, which have a black and silver web design on them, are wrist mounted. The head seems based on the movie version--you can tell by the shape of the eyepeices--and the designers put SOME mech detail on it--a vent on his forehead, and some black and siver detail along the sides of his head--but I feel they could have done better. It's very posable and the tallest in the line.
Final Thoughts: Well, in my opinion Spidy's the weakest of the lot. But he's nowhere near as bad as, say, Luke Skywalker. He's still a pretty good motercycle transformer, but I think Energon Arcee and Movie Arcee are superior to him. B.
Venom
Vehicle Mode: One word. Wow. Venom is a large, black muscle/sprts car. The white Venom Spider is on the hood, there's purple flame design, and theres subtle but excellent detail work throughout. The bumpers have a fang design, and wheels have an almost shuriken design. The turn signal lights are painted red and yellow, and the liscence plate on the back reads 'Venom.' The windows are a solid blue. If you look at the bottom, there's actually a bottom to the car. This is uncommon in Tranformers, and very nice. This is seriously the nicest vehicle mode in the line and one of the best I've seen period in a long time. The missiles store here. All that's missing are doors that open.
Transformation: Kind of a pain. The transformation itself isn't too complex, but the peices like to get in the way. Probably the only flaw to the toy.
Robot Mode: Wow. Again. This is also the best robot mode in the line. Venom's head is a wonderful mixture of the Marvel design and mechanical detail. He's got his wicked grin in place and his prehensile toungue--which also has mech detail--haniging out. The big white spider is on front of his chest, of course, with the rest of the hood making shoulder armor. He's a bit bulkier on the top than the bottom, as Venom should be, and his arms are quie large. His hands are large and insanely detailed. Like Spider-Man his missiles are wrist mounted. They actually look like Symbiote globs. The extra robot detail--of which there is plenty--is purple and well done. If the Symbiote was a mechanical being, it would look much like this. You kind of have to see this mode to beleive it.
Final Thoughts: This is the one single Must Have in the line! Whoever designed this thing must have been a Venom fan. Not only is it the best of the line, but it stands up ot many of the mainstream Transformers out there. The transformation can be a bit frustrating at first, but is oh so worth it. A+.
Final Thoughts on the Line as a whole: Much, much better than Star Wars. These actually do feel like Transformers. All of them are worthy additions to any collection. Highly reccommended, especially Venom.
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