2005 Boards member has shared with us some images and his thoughts on Power Core Combiners Undertow with Waterlog. Undertow is the last new mold Power Core Combiner planned for release, in the final fifth wave of two packs. He’s a cool little boat with an excellent Mini-Con and a rockin’ combined mode head sculpt. Read on and check out the images and Megatroptimus’ review.
Snake_eyes1975
I would go so far as to say, that the adult collectors would have embraced the entire line more if those blue connectors were colored different.
I love PCC. I think they were way underrated.
Gingerchris
I just pretend the connectors are some kind of spare Allspark Power energon cubes.
I would like to slap whoever decided the connectors on all the PCCs should be bright light blue though. I'm assuming they thought kids would be too thick to indentify the connectors unless they were brightly coloured.
itMFtis
For most of the PCC Commanders, I agree that the bright blue connectors are unsightly. They never bothered me on Undertow though, mostly due to the fact that he is a boat and having water colored pegs didn't feel TOO out of place. (Not that water has color, but blue is usually associated with it >: )
Philister
For more pics, click on the image above
Robot Mode: Transformers that are built around a certain gimmick – in this case the Power Core gimmick where each robot needs to become the torso of a combiner robot as well – are oftentimes hampered by it. Thankfully in Undertow’s case this is not the case. Or mostly not. My one beef with this figure’s robot mode is shared by most of the other PCC figures as well, the bright blue connecting ports for the Power Core link-up seem out of place on this otherwise black, grey and gold figure.
In all other aspects, though, you barely notice that this robot has been built around a gimmick. Undertow is a very nice-looking robot with his black and grey paintjob nicely accented by the golden and blue-green highlights. His partially obscured face, the golden pipes / guns on his chest and the golden gatling guns on his arms make for a very nice visual, so I have little to complain about in terms of looks.
Undertow is also nicely articulated and can pose with the best of them, despite his rather massive legs. The protrusions on his shoulders (with the glaringly blue Power Core connecting ports) restrict his head movement a bit, but otherwise he is unhampered and can strike all sorts of poses. The guns on his arms can be turned around in order for him to have his hands free and he can hold his Minicon weapon (see below) without problem (which isn’t a given, sadly). So bottom line: an excellent robot mode that would have worked just fine for a stand-alone figure as well.
Alternate Mode: There aren't that many Transformers with naval alternate modes, so I'm always glad to see us get a new one. Undertow transforms into a jet boat, bearing certain similarities to the alternate mode of G2 Manta Ray (though without the big propeller). The boat looks very cool from most angles; just don't look at it from the back too much, because there you can clearly see Undertow's robot hip and fists. The arms with the big guns only loosely click into place here, too, so the whole thing is a bit fragile out back.
Despite my complaints, I do like this mode. It looks cool, it's heavily armed, and even though you see the bright blue Power Core connector ports in the middle, they don't really bother me as much here as they do in robot mode. The boat can be armed even more heavily by powerlinking Waterlog on top. So overall, not a perfect boat mode, but still pretty good and bonus points for the rarity, too.
Partner / Add-On: Undertow's Minicon companion is Waterlog, a translucent blue-green figure with brown/gold limbs. I very much like Waterlog's design, from the fighter-pilot-helmet head to the wings and the big guns on his back. Makes him look like a flying infantry soldier from some Science Fiction B-Movie. He’s also as articulated as you can expect from a little guy like this, able to bust a lot of moves. Only problem is that he’s quite back-heavy, so you always have to make him bend forward a bit.
Like all PCC Minicons he is advertised as having four modes: robot, gun for the robot, gun for the vehicle mode, and armor for the robot. It's really just three modes, as the gun modes for robot and boat are pretty much the same. Waterlog looks cool as a gun, though, so no complaints here. The chest armor mode on the other hand isn’t the greatest, as you either have the wing tips or the gun barrels point down, both of which doesn’t look that great. Bottom line, though, a very decent Minicon.
Power Core Mode: Like all non-Minicon Power Core figures, Undertow can transform into the torso of a larger robot that can then use the drones available in the Power core 5-packs as limbs. Undertow is… strange, as a torso. I love the fact that they gave him an old-style diver's helmet as a secondary head for this mode and the fact that his gatling guns now rest on his shoulders is very nice, too. Articulation is as good as with most of the Power Core torsos, not perfect but fully sufficient. Overall, though, I'm not really into this mode. Not sure why, but I don't like his proportions here and he just seems very awkward. No objective things to complain about, I just don't like this mode.
Remarks: I have a very up-and-down relationship to the Power Core Combiner line. When it was first announced, I very much liked the concept. When the first figures came out, though, I was disappointed due to the lack of robot modes in the drones / limbs (hot on the trail of the similarly disappointing Supreme Devastator from ROTF). Recently, though, fellow TF-Fan BlackZarak loaned me his complete Power Core Combiner collection for review purposes and I came to recognize that many of the PCC figures were, if not spectacular, quite decent Transformers.
Undertow is among the best of the PCC figures. He has a great robot mode, a nice alternate mode, and while the Power Core torso mode isn’t the best ever, it’s fully serviceable, too. Plus, a nicely done Minicon as well. Personally I’d have preferred Undertow as a “normal” figure without the PCC gimmick, but either way, he’s a pretty cool toy and a good deal even for those who don’t like and don’t intent to use the PCC gimmick. Thumbs up.
Rating: A-
phoenix88
never saw undertow near me, but i was visiting the grandparents the weekend and saw him at a CVS by them. Waterlog is nifty, but i find his weapon modes uninspired and given Undertow's awesome weapons, Waterlog is a bit redundant and mediocre in my opinion.
Undertow on the other had is a complete gem for a scout class figure. Without waterlog, you can almost pretend the minicon port is a random torso gun. Love the desgin and colors on Undertow. My one gripe would be the dark green visor, which rendered the light piped eyes unnoticeable on mine at first
rattrap007
Just found him and Skyhammer at Toys R Us. Wasn't even expecting to find him… or looking. Just looked up at the PCCs and noticed him.. Got the two without hesitation…
Gingerchris
Had been looking forwards to getting this figure for ages but now I have him I'm kinda underwhelmed. His robot mode is fairly uninteresting to me and I'm not a fan of the big blocks right next to his head. His bell-bottom trouser legs give his lower form some decent sweep but I feel it's wasted with all that horrible pale blue plastic on the arms and trunk. It's become the new Hasbro Grey plastic to me and just looks cheap, especially when it's used for so much of the figure. It would've certainly benefitted things if the forearms had been molded in black and perhaps the coils on them painted gold.
I wish the cockpit had been bigger to hide the head fully in alt mode, and perhaps also cover the limb connector blocks a bit too.
The transformation was dull to me and it's like the designer did the leg transformation and then half-assed the arms and decided to shove on the big guns cover it while also using Waterlog and his big wings to hide the fact there's no real back end to the boat mode. Also what with Undertow's big guns Waterlog seems rather redundant as needed firepower in this mode.
The torso mode doesn't excite me either. The diving helmet head is a nice idea but it doesn't look quite right to me. Can't put my finger on exactly why but I look at it and it doesn't look 'right'. Also, wa it just me that has to turn the diving helmet sideways a little to be able to flip the head up? Otherwise the bits sticking out the sides get blocked by the chest.
I also didn't like how the arms were supposed to go for this mode, especially as the hands kept popping off pegs and they also wouldn't stay straight, so I did this instead as it fills the gap behind the head with the fins and also just looks nicer to me:
Warterlog is a pretty decent little figure and his mode for connecting to the boat or as a torso armour is quite nice. His gun mode where he's just squatting his legs up to his chest looks rather silly though, but I do like that Waterlog's head can rotate to hide his face in gun mode. The packaging just shows his face for all to see and it looked kinda dumb, so when I discovered his head could turn that saved it a little for me.
Overall Undertow is not a terrible figure. It just has more things I don't like than do like. I feel it was a bit of a step back in design to the earlier PCC commanders and Heavytread still remains my top PCC guy.
Runamuck
Just got mine in the mail. Really awesome figure. I saw a picture of him recently(first time seeing him) and instantly said I need this figure. Glad I got him.
I just wish his upper legs were the same as they were on his stock photo on the box I saw him on. It's a minor gripe, but the shape that the black and blue/greyish-blue line make are different(the line where the two colors meet). On the stock photo, the shape points inward towards the pelvic area….now they point out towards his outer leg. The line pointing inwards makes him seem a bit taller, more upright and just gives the illusion of a better stance. The way they are now, it seems like he's more bowl-legged. I don't know if anyone else even knows what I'm talking about, but it's a minor gripe like I said.
Oh, and his mini-con buddy is extremely back heavy. He can't stand up straight. Mine is leaning noticeably forward.
But all in all, he's an awesome addition to anyone's collection. The Transformers line is extremely anemic in the nautical category. Especially good figures. I just wish we could get larger versions of Depthcharge and/or Sonar. I loved those boat figures.
Stygian360
Agree!! Although there was a seeming attempt by Hasbro to take existing gestalt teams (Combaticons, Arielbots, etc.) and sandwich them into the PCC theme, it rarely worked for me because the limbs don't transform and there was no continuing fiction to latch onto. U'd think this was especially important if the omnipresent kids market was the target audience for these.
And in cases where there were commanders with no real history or fiction (like Undertow here), my interest was near zero. Hasbro had a golden opportunity to build off of this but they didn't. Why? Who knows. The only exceptions of greatness were great commander modes, again like Undertow! But with the death of PCC, I've lost complete interest in these.
Starfire22
Oddly enough, my TRU had one a while back along with PCC skyhammer.
BigPhill
I picked up one of these guys yesterday in UK Toys R Us for £5. He's a good scout figure worth the £5, and nothing more, definatly not the £40+ some people have been paying for him.
Keiichi
In case anyone is still looking for Undertow (or PCC Skyhammer), TRU has him in-stock online with free shipping. Furthermore, they've got 30% off all TFs today only, making him just 6.99.
Transformers Power Core Combiners 2-Pack – Undertow with Waterlog – Hasbro – Toys "R" Us
Ray Kremer
I saw one at TRU on Saturday. It's odd, seems like everything from the past year that threatened to suffer from the "last wave of the line, doesn't show up in stores" syndrome, and thus I bought online in a panic, has turned up on shelves after all. Good to see Hasbro get their crap together finally, even if it does mean I've spent more then necessary for these.
RedAlert Rescue
As Baby Sinclair used to say "I WANT ONE!"
Snake_eyes1975
Once again…its just too bad these didnt make mass market. These are the best PCC had to offer.
A Decpti-boat kicks as, Let alont one this damn good.
The minicon is one of the best as well.
DO NOT hesitate when and IF you see these. Even if your not a huge fan of PCC stuff, this one is worth a purchase.
KnightHawkke
Blast it Orio.. now you gave me a reason to find a terradive somewhere… /rage
anyway, I got a hole of this little chap at Slagacon thanks to a fellow board member and I live the little guy, he is quote fun and poseable, How the PCC line should have started.
Pravus Prime
I finally picked up this guy. I had been waiting to pick him up in stores, then online stores were sold out and the only one I could find was way more then I wanted to pay.
However, with the recent local TRU sightings, I made a stop today and found a lone Undertow, hooray! Was it worth the wait?
In a word, yes. I love his sleek little raceboat form (which reminds me more of the Demon class spacefighter from Wing Commander: Privateer though), fun robot mode with a lot of articulation and great eye lightpiping, a nice transformation and a fantastic minicon. In fact, Waterlog is probably on my top 5 minicon list.
The downside for me was the Gestalt core mode. It just doesn't do it for me. The thin shoulder bars, the wonky leg transformation, he just looks goofy, though I really dig the diver head. He definately feels like a robot and vehicle mode that happens to have the gestalt form.
He looks pretty good partnered with Deep Dive too.
Ray Kremer
Design reminds me of hydroplane racing boats. Seem 'em wreck a bunch of times on Destroyed in Seconds.
EmperorDinobot
I want this really bad.
ORIO
This would be a great companion piece to Deep Dive