If you ordered Skytread with a glued/frozen hip from Chosen Prime you should contact them about it and include pictures. They are working with their distributor on a replacement deal but they need to build a case first so the more documentation they can provide, the better.
It doesn't seem to affect a ton of them if that helps you feel any better. It's a fairly limited issue from my understanding.
Prelude: He is Skytread, better known as Flywheels, he of the big feet and a possibly made-up form of psychosomatic hyperflexia that causes him to change form when he lies. Or alternatively a severe case of multiple personality disorder where his two vehicle halves keep arguing with each other even when combined into a single robot mode. Either way, he is not exactly of sound mind. But he is part of War for Cybertron: Siege and can now join his Duocon buddy Battletrap on the shelves. Let’s see how he measures up. Robot Mode: Let’s get the biggest difference between Skytread and Battletrap out of the way first: Battletrap was two separate robots with vehicle modes who combined into one. Skytread is two vehicles combining into one, no separate robot modes. Which is actually the original Duocon concept. Leaving out the (to me) superfluous separate robot modes gives us a much more solid an streamlined combined robot, which holds together very well and, on first glance, actually looks more like a triple changer than a robot that splits apart. Very nicely done. Skytread is very nicely articulated and the detailing is very good, too. The dreaded battle damage paint apps are restricted to the tank tracks on his feet and legs, which actually makes a lot of sense to me, seeing as those would be the areas on a real tank most likely to be scratched up and worn. His huge feet give him a stable platform for all sorts of poses and he has plenty of hardpoints for plugging in additional weapons (such as the components of Cog). Unlike Battletrap he actually comes with weapons, one being the tank barrel of his tank mode (called IR Laser Launcher) and a smaller handgun (called Electron Breacher). Side note: I really enjoy Hasbro coming up with individual names for each Transformers’ weapons again. I really missed that. One thing definitely worth mentioning: Battletrap and Skytread can switch pants. The connector ports holding the two components of the robot mode together at the hip are identical, so Skytread can use Roadtrap as his lower body while loaning his tank pants to Battleslash. Very nicely done. So bottom line: I love this robot mode. Nothing bad I can say about it at all. Alternate Modes: Being a Duocon, Skytread splits into two separate vehicles, a red jet and a brown tank. The jet looks vaguely like an F-4 Phantom II model and looks good in general, but despite being only half a robot, it still has somewhat of an undercarriage (the robot arms). You can plug in various weapons under the cockpit, on top, or under the wings. The second vehicle is a Cybertronian tank, basically the legs straightened out with the hips hidden beneath some panels. Overall the tank looks pretty good, the “damage” on the sides really coming into play here, but it does have some minor issues. The panels hiding the hip don’t close up firmly and the tank barrel doesn’t quite plug in properly. Just minor things, really, but a tiny little bit of a letdown after the superb robot mode. Also, the two vehicles cannot combine in vehicle mode like they did in G1. You can precariously balance the jet on top of the tank, but there is no connecting port or anything. So bottom line: two good vehicles, but with some very minor issues. Remarks: Flywheels never appeared in the original cartoon, despite being shown in the opening credits for season 4 (aka the 3-part Rebirth episode, in which he didn’t appear, either). He did have some scattered appearances in the Japanese Headmasters cartoon and the Marvel Comics. Most recently he was featured in the IDW comics as part of the Scavengers, but ended up being killed by the Decepticon Justice Division. The Scavengers mourned his death by stripping his body for spare parts. Battletrap’s appearance in Power of the Primes surprised many people, but he was quickly snatched up and even made “Toy of the Year 2018”. So everyone waited for his buddy Flywheels to appear, too, and now he did. Okay, under a different name, but whatever. In direct comparison I have to say that I like Skytread even more than Battletrap. Sure, he lacks the individual robot modes, but personally I never needed those to begin with. The vehicle modes have some minor issues, preventing me from giving him a straight A, but he’s a brilliant little Transformer. Fully recommended to just about everyone. Rating: A- Source: Transformers-Universe.com
Just got mine in, waited to just get a box of all the Wave 1 'luxes, And I am incredibly pleased with the quality increase with these guys over most of the Power of the Primes figures. Flywhee- er, Skytread is no exception to this. I didn't get the glued hips, so I'm grateful for that. My only gripe with his alt modes is honestly the tank. The peg that "plugs in" to his connector port, right where his main tank cannon are, don't leave much room for the actual tank cannon, and sort of force it at an angle instead of straight, as they show on the box itself. Still, though, that robot mode... Finally I have all three duocons (I technically count Overlord as a duocon, albeit a much more dangerous and psychotic one, but that's my personal thought"
I loved the G1 as a kid, me and my schoolmates really liked the gimmick. It was like it transformed as fast as anything in the cartoon! Looking forward to spotting the new guy soonish.
Wild that @Philister ‘s comparisons show the alt modes seeming to be pretty close to the same size, yet the ‘bot mode is massively larger. The comparisons with Battletrap really make me bummed out he’s got the individual robot modes, Flywheels looks so much more solid and better proportioned. He sure seems to be the ace of Wave 1 imho
I got this guy today and wow, he is good. This is what I wanted out of duocons. The joints are all excellent and I got lucky in that I didn’t have the glue in the hips (hope those that have this problem can get this fixed) I did the tank fix, which was an easy thing to do, made the tank fit together right. I’m really taken away by how complete this guy feels. You look from the side and there’s no hollow spots through the chest. The sides of the abs really fill in that area so well. Only thing I wish is for a different expression on his face. a grin would be nice to better display him with some scavengers, but I would really like a look of fear which would be perfect for when MMC’s Tesarus gets released. one weird thing, he only has one port for effect parts which is on his left forearm. Weird that he doesnt have more
Kapow were more than happy to take my return, and a replacement should be on the way shortly. The G1 was defo a bit rubbish. The waist bent, the lower arms could rotate out 90 degrees and.... he could transform in the briefest of steps. I love a shonky bot and he was one of the shonkiest! If anything the siege edition is too well designed; is it possible the glued hip is in honour of the awful G1 articulation ? lol
When I first picked this guy up, I was worried he was gonna be much bigger than Battletrap. He LOOKED bigger anyway in the box. Fortunately, that wasn't the case here. It would have been cool if he had separate robot modes like Battletrap, but it's fine.
Wow this guy is a lot of fun, made me really see the short comings of battletrap but to be honest if they put out SkyTread with two smaller robot parts I would buy it again but I really hope they do a battletrap without the 2 smaller robot modes.
Grabbed this guy tonight at local Target. Have not opened him up yet (will likely do so tomorrow) but I am really hoping mine doesn't have this glued hip issue people have been posting...
Great toy. My son digs it...I like it all around. Going to look into the tank fix.. This is a must get...love it
Got him today. Had to cut the inner lines to make his legs tab together in tank mode but he works nicely enough. Trying to remove the battle damage using isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip, but it just won't wash off. Normally I would just bathe the parts in alcohol and scrub it off later, but I want to KEEP the paint on the treads...
