I think I've already indicated that I'm a huge fan of the TransFormers Prime Vehicon mold (the RiD version, at least - I have yet to handle the First Edition version, but I believe it's broadly inferior). Not only did I end up buying three copies of the ground Vehicons, but I ended up getting the TransFormers Adventure Ground Vehicon General (accidentally) as well. Even today, I'm impressed by the way it transforms in that, while it's technically a shellformer, it does more with its shell than simply collect it on its back.
Then there's the Jet Vehicon, which is essentially the same, but with wings which... end up on its back. Nevertheless, I bought the Arms Micron version of that (just the one, but after buying the Cyberverse scale toy, which was the only version made available in the UK), and wanted to buy the Jet Vehicon General/Ace as well, because it gave me a valid excuse to buy, essentially, a fifth instance of the same toy. However, once again, the only version available in the UK was the Cyberverse one... which, while cute, didn't quite scratch the itch. The Deluxe class toy, unsurprisingly, proved more elusive than the standard Jet Vehicon, coming in the final selection of Arms Micron toys.
So, props to APC Toys - who already impressed me with the Airachnid garage kit they mass-produced - for not only remaking the standard Vehicons, but also the Generals/Aces... and the upgraded paintwork made this one an absolute must-have. I added it to my Christmas/Birthday list shortly after it became available, and my sister ordered it as my Christmas present last year.
Bottom line, though, this is essentially the fourth iteration of the Deluxe class mold that I've owned so, for a more detailed assessment, look at one of the previous write-ups.
I believe this package is rather more similar to the boxes containing APC Toys' other straight knockoffs of TransFormers Prime toys than it is to the style of the packaging for Night Countess, with a full-colour rendition of the character on the front, and an outline version on the back. Curiously, the QR codes linking to transformation videos are absent from this toy - likely because the official toy had printed instructions and has been widely reviewed, but it still seems a little odd.
Two factors I'd completely forgotten about this figure was that it comes packaged with two pairs of guns - full size for robot mode, dinky for vehicle mode - and a pair of Scraplets in TF Prime's particular style, one with red eyes, the other with blue, but otherwise identical in appearance and function.
Vehicle Mode:
I was aware that APC toys tended to upgrade the paintwork on their TF Prime knockoffs, but wasn't quite sure what to expect from this one, considering Takara's Ground Vehicon General was covered in silver paint... at least in its vehicle mode. That one also had some gunmetal on the bonnet and red highlights on the grille and wheels. What's curious is that, while APC made some improvements to its paintwork on both their standard Ground Vehicon and their ground Vehicon General, there were notable omissions, and that's carried over to the Jet Vehicons. In particular, the sculpted linework on the back of the vehicle and the small flourishes on the sides were painted on the Takara Tomy toys, but aren't here. Additionally, what were headlights on the Ground Vehicons had stickers applied to add some contrast, and the same was true of the leading edges of the wings. While this one does have a different tone of silver paint applied - almost a gunmetal, in fact - when the light catches it in a certain way, it becomes barely distinguishable from the silver.
Also, somewhat awkwardly, the brighter colour of this toy highlights all the transformation seams and, on mine, there's a portion of the roof where the paintwork doesn't quite cover the clear plastic. Similarly, the patch of bonnet directly in front of the windscreen isn't painted at all, which feels like something of a downgrade... except that the silver paint on this is so much brighter and shinier than the paint Takara Tomy used on their Ground Vehicon General, so it looks fantastic regardless.
The accessories feel a little odd in this mode, to be perfectly honest: neither the larger nor the smaller guns really 'fit'. Either can be pegged into the 5mm ports - on top of the main wings, the undersides of the tail wings, or on the sides of the nose - while the smaller guns can also plug onto the small tabs on the main wings. However, the wing ports are all hexagonal rather than circular (seemingly a trick Hasbro adopted to reduce the likelihood of round pegs getting stuck in their ports and breaking) and the smaller guns, with the cutaway for tab mounting, have a habit of sitting in the ports and a weird angle, never quite pointing forward, and the tabs are very definitely angled outward. Meanwhile, the circular ports on the nose are perhaps not even supposed to be ports, because neither size of gun fits especially well, nor mounts at a useful, forward-facing angle via them.
Robot Mode:
While Takara Tomy's Ground Vehicon General had a lavish paint job in vehicle mode, that gave way to a staggeringly bland, largely unpainted grey plastic robot mode. APC toys have ensured that their Air General is every bit as impressive in robot mode as he is in vehicle mode... perhaps even moreso. Along with a healthy coating of silver paint, this figure features contrasting dark metallic grey plastic on the legs, along with glossy black paint on the chest, belly and feet.
The central part of the chest was painted bright red, but I added a Decepticon insignia sticker over that. This seemingly minor detail was another aspect missing from the official Ground Vehicon General, which only got a single insignia, set within the weird colour-ring sticker which ended up on the robot's heel. APC Toys actually packaged the transparent plastic overlay for the chest as a separate part, specifically to allow for the addition of a sticker here... though the initial result, for me, was a sense of panic and disappointment, as I didn't even see this thin sliver of clear plastic in the box when I first got the toy out. Nevertheless, even without the sticker, though, this would still put Takara Tomy's offering to shame. In addition to the darker gunmetal plastic, the paint used for the leading edges of the wings has also been applied to the robot's forearms though, here again, when the light catches it at a certain angle, it looks every bit as silver as the rest of the paintwork.
As mentioned, there are four guns packaged with this figure... though the smaller two are largely useless in this mode. While they can fit over the tabs on the 'cuffs', they're just too small to be effective, so I tend to leave them plugged into the wings. APC Toys elected not to adjust the sculpt of the forearms to allow the larger guns to clip on the way they do on the Ground Vehicons, but this figure isn't reduced to wielding his guns in the traditional hand-held configuration. Whether intentional or not, the guns can be fitted into his hands while they're left untransformed, folded back into the forearms, giving a slightly more screen-accurate appearance. They sit at a weird angle, but they do mostly look as though they've transformed out of his forearms. It's also worth remembering, too, that the only official versions of this mold ever released came in the Arms Micron branch of Takara Tomy's TransFormers Prime analogue, each one packaged with the Igu Micron, which turned into a hopelessly oversized version of the Vehicons' arm cannons that could only be carried in their hands. Whatever their shortcomings, the mirrored pair of guns included here ensures that he can wield both at once, just like the on-screen Vehicons.
While the dearth of paintwork on Taraka Tomy's Ground Vehicon General extended even to its head, APC Toys have really gone the extra mile with this. Unlike their Jet Vehicon, this General doesn't come with a whole alternate head sculpt, but it does have an amazing paint job in glossy black and silver, with a dash of red on the chin. It also features light piping with translucent red plastic, but the thin visor is not conducive to effective channelling, even with a light source directly above, so the effect is rather disappointing, and I feel they might as well have painted the visor instead.
Obviously, there's nothing new to say about his transformation or articulation... In fact, I consider it somewhat disappointing that APC Toys haven't bothered adding waist rotation, which would have been very easy to accomplish. Nevertheless, this figure is impressive not only for its paint job and for including two handguns for the robot, but also for the fact that its joints are firmer than those of my copy of the Ground Vehicon General. On the flipside, I have had trouble tabbing the shins into the lower legs and getting the back end to properly align in vehicle mode, but nothing serious.
APC Toys have taken one of the greatest feats in Deluxe class TransFormers engineering and given it a nigh-Masterpiece level paint job, as well as accessories that were absent from official versions of the toy, and yet it's approximately the same price as a contemporary Deluxe class toy. On that score alone, I feel it's a must-buy for any TransFormers Prime fan, and particularly for those of us who ended up troop-building with the Vehicons.
But, amazing as all this may be, there's more...
Scraplets:
Yes, this set includes Bulkhead's nightmare, a pair of Scraplets. While I wasn't a huge fan of the bizarre design they got in the TFPrime TV show, Scraplets - for better or worse - have been a huge part of TransFormers lore since the (fairly) early days of the comics, debuting in issue 29 of the US comics (#124 in the UK, thanks to all the filler stories) in early/mid-1987.
The main issue I have with the TFPrime interpretation is that they're cute. The cuteness of large, round heads and bulbous eyes might belie the gaping maw full of spinning, serrated, metal-shredding teeth, but they also pretty much outweigh any sense of actual threat, since they're perched atop tiny, spindly bodies. Making matters worse, the bodies on these things are molded in fairly soft plastic - clearly because they'd otherwise be too brittle, thanks to their thin limbs. The only other complaint I'd have is that they're just too large compared to any TransFormers Prime figure - either official or APC's knock-offs... But there's an intent behind this: articulation.
Rudimentary as their articulation may be, these were quite a surprise. The heads are on ball joints, and the legs are attached to the torso in such a way as to allow them to rotate. The arms, naturally, don't move except as far as the plastic will flex. Meanwhile, the heads open up via a two-tiered upper jaw, and the teeth inside the mouth can be rotated - reluctantly - via the dial on the back of the head.
Curiously, while both Scraplets are coated in the same metallic paint, with the first row of teeth picked out in silver, their eyes are painted red and blue, where the Scraplets in the TV show all had purple eyes.
This toy went onto my wish list as soon as I learned of its existence. While I wasn't exactly disappointed with the TransFormers Adventure toy I bought, this is closer to what I'd hoped it might be. Much as I kind of enjoyed the Arms Micron figure, I honestly think both Takara Tomy and Hasbro should have packaged their Vehicons - both air and ground varieties - with two handguns from the start, and it's an absolute travesty that the Jet Vehicon wasn't even sold outside of Japan until Hasbro made a Pulse-exclusive 2-pack of the standard Jet Vehicon and Breakdown back in 2020... a full eight years after both molds debuted.
Hasbro really dropped the ball with their TransFormers Prime toys, from the hard-to-find First Editions to the simplified, gimmicky Robots In Disguise line, to the bonkers and wholly unnecessary Dark Energon offshoot to the perfunctory, ill-conceived Beast Hunters concluding chapter. It's nice to see APC Toys taking the better aspects of the toyline and, while not always improving on them, as such, at least giving them a new lease of life, and making some of the most elusive figures more easily available.
If I had one complaint about Galaxy Mob Air General, it would be that APC Toys chose not to fill in some of the egregious waffling on the toy - the inner faces of the thighs, forearms and shoulders are still full of holes... and with the arms, the extensive paintwork actually highlights these chasms.
While I now have most of the figures I want from TransFormers Prime, I'll be keeping my eyes open for new releases from APC Toys in the hope that, if nothing else, figures like Ratchet and Smokescreen at least get a more complete and accurate paint job than Hasbro's versions.
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