Ooh, post #600. Yay me. I'm a post whore.

Picked up 3 Cybertron figs during the big TRU ship today. First review is for my personal fave of the 3: Landmine.

As new forms go, Landmine got shafted big time. To go from a giant war machine/construction vehicle/alien death loader to this has gotta be embarrassing. Guess there wasn't enough material left over from Jetfire's latest upgrade.

Landmine's new form is a slightly oversized bulldozer. In vehicle mode, his weapon clips on the back, and aims backwards (similar to his old alt. mode, but more obtrusive). There is NO storage space for his Cyber Planet Key -- a common theme in all the figures I bought. As vehicles go, it's kinda generic.

Transformation to robot mode is a bit more complex than expected -- but the extra bits add to the fun. Lift the shovel, swivel the bottom half down to make legs and swivel the attached wheels down flush with the feet. Pop up the rear wheels and fold the rear panel down to reveal the head. Split the shovel and rotate the front gray parts to reveal the fists. Rotate the gray bits next to the torso to bring out the codpiece; bring arms down. Split the pipes and swing them back next to the head. Turn head around.

The bot mode also looks kind of generic at first. The only details that tie this figure to the previous Landmine are the pipes next to the head, and the forehead sculpting.

Where the figure really shines is in posability. Except for waist rotation, Landmine's got all the major joints covered. Knees bend AND swivel; elbows are ball joints, shoulders turn and pivot outward.

So, you might be wondering where the Cyber Planet Key gimmick fits into all of this. Well, take the back panel and flip it up. Notice the slots in the hub of those back wheels. Notice how they're completely hollow and don't trigger anything when you stick the Key in them. Now (VERY CAREFULLY) start turning the Key. Notice the VERY SHARP PLASTIC SPIKES now digging into your fingers.

That's right -- the Key is a SCREWDRIVER.

The feature it unlocks (sawblade wheels) is decent enough -- but holding the wheels in place to do it involves putting your fingers over the slot where they pop out (or having REALLY small fingers). I can't imagine kids are going to be too happy with this the first couple of times they try it (unless they're trying to prank their friends). At some point, I imagine some whiny parents group will ask for a recall (and probably get it). And there's STILL no place to store that damned Key in robot mode.

To offset this, there's (another) nice detail: turn the small wheel between the saw wheels to spin them. Simple (it's a FRICTION gimmick), yet effective. Hey, I'm easily amused.

The sawblade gimmick is also accessible in vehicle mode. Yeah, he looks a little weird rolling along without rear wheels, but seeing as they're SAWBLADES, I doubt enemies would be worrying too much about aesthetics.

The more I fiddle around with this figure, the more his subtleties grow on me. He's posable as hell, has a nice looking gimmick, and a simple but fun transformation. The only major problem is the Key-as-screwdriver-OW-MY-FINGERS gimmick, which should've just been a standard spring-loaded dealie, but instead is just badly done. I'm hoping it doesn't get this guy pulled off the shelves, because he's lots of fun otherwise.

Final grade: A- (B+ if you have sensitive fingers.)

-XCN-

P.S. The Cyber Planet Keys on this and all the other figures have a code printed on the back. Supposedly, this is for use on the Transformers Web site ... which hasn't updated in weeks, and still displays Energon as the main line. Whoops.

 

Thanks for the review I'll probably get him when I see him in stores (like I won't have a year to decide while he and every other wave 1 figure warm the shelves).

 

I just got landmine today. He's interesting, its an ok upgrade from energon to cybertron, if thats what he's gotta be. He's lost some size but his vehicle's still very similar. I don't like how his force chip ignites. but its still an interesting gimmic, and one of the few that's not "FORCE CHIP IGNITION. GUNS APPEAR" gimmic. Nice move.

 

I personally think Landmine/Guardshell is the best Deluxe in the line that I currently have. Simple yes? But a solid vehicle mode, solid robot mode, great articulation and poseability and a gimmick that is unintrusive.

In fact more than Hot Shot I'd recommend Landmine as a good gift for younger brothers, cousins, nephews etc if trying to get them into TF's, while still being a great figure for collectors our age!

 

Landmine is a a diamond in the ruff. When I first his pics, I thought he was pretty boring toy but I was going to buy him last if I saw anything else. Since I got him, Ive been playing with him non-stop. A very solid and great figure.

 

Well put!

 

I'm wishing I'd bought Landmine instead of Thundercracker.  
Thundercracker sucks in robot mode.

 

completely agree, the posability of the figure is damn impressive.

 

Landmine is the first deluxe I plan on buying.

*btw, you're not a post whore till you hit over 2k.   *

 

Got him tonight. Love him. When was the last time we had a TF with a well articulated alt mode? He's a pretty cool little dude, even if he has had a size downgrade, from Energon.

BTW, grab the wheels by the flats, when you use the force chip.  

 

Picked him up yesterday and he does indeed rock. However, in 'bot mode, his screws are showing. I tried to fix it, and the best I came up with was having only 1 show on each arm, instead of both. Anyone know how to mode him so nothing's showing? It's kinda the Energon Storm Jet problem all over again, but not as severe.

 

I've had Landmine for a week now, and I absolutely love him. I'm impressed at how much poseability has been engineered into such a chunky little bot.

One thing that really amazes me his how good the silver paint apps are on the shovel. For the first time it actually looks like the colored "paint" is scratched away and the bare silver metal underneath is exposed. In previous attempts of this effect (Energon Landmine, Steamhammer, Demolishor, etc.) the paint apps always looked like silver flames instead of exposed bare metal.

One thing that doesn't amaze me is the force chip gimmick. I think the concept is sound, but the execution is a little off. It seems that for the sawblades to be an effective weapon, Landmine would have to charge into enemies backwards.

I also noticed that when comparing the actual toy to the picture on the back of the card, in addition to gaining a faction symbol, it seems as though Landmine lost two of the amber lights molded on the top front of his vehicle mode cab. In the picture there's four, but on the toy there's only two.

 

Picked him up today with Dirt Boss. WOOOHOOOOOO!!!

 

They conceptually work just fine in vehicle mode. In the show, in 'bot mode, he generates tornados with them.

 

Okay, I'll accept that force chip gimmick works fine in vehicle mode, as he turns into some sort of tank with his gun sticking out between the two sawblades, but I'm basing my feedback solely on the toy alone, whose gimmick has never been described in any Hasbro documents as having the power to generate atmospheric disturbances, so I still hold that in bot mode, his sawblades would only be an effective weapon if he ran into things backwards, or possibly sideways.

 

Landmine is by far the gem of what I have (Hot Shot, Landmine, Ransack, Jetfire, Scourge, Crumplezone and Vector Prime)

Poseability is top notch, the colors aren't bad (they definitely suit both modes), and it's an innovative planet key gimmick. If the all of Cybertron is as good as this little guy then I'm hooked.

I give Landmine an easy 'A'

 

i realized something recently about my landmine, maybe others have the same problem...

his gun doesn't fire.

i click the trigger and the missile pops out a bit, but doesn't go out of the gun.

does anyone else have something like this?

 

Nope, mine fires just fine.

 

I gotta say I was very hesitant on getting this guy when Cybertron first hit shelves as his size and vehicle mode through me off. But after finally getting this guy I can safely say he is probably one of my fav Cybertron toys to date. Not so hot on his vehicle mode as its just got to much of that playschool feel to it but his robot mode more then makes up for it. He has very good poseability and articulation, cool weapon, and just fun to play with. Probably the only drawback is his size which just seems a little disproportionate, if they had him a little taller he'd be perfect but I guess you cant have it all. At any rate I think this is a great toy and a real gem if you as me  

 

I got him about 2 weeks ago and I must say he a really cool deluxe. He is quite articulated for his size and the colours work well for him since he is a contruction vehicle. Personally I think he'd be better in a mega size since he is a contruction vehicle after all giving the sense that he is a strong bot and he does stand eye-to-eye to Starscream in the show so that would also work mch better.