Fanstoys Soar [T] review

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Knightdramon
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Fanstoys Soar [T] review

Post by Knightdramon »

Name: Soar
Function: N/A
Sub Group: Dinobots
Size Class: N/A
Company: Fanstoys

As stated in my Scoria D review, Fanstoys needs no introduction. The company that brought us fan favourites such as Quakewave, Sever, Grenadier and the more recent Stomp are on their last legs for the completion of their first multiple release project---MP versions of Dinobots. Today we will be looking at their second, chronologically released Dinobot in the line, Soar.

Soar is Fanstoys take on Swoop, one of the most popular Dinobots. Taking aesthetic cues from Scoria before him, Soar evokes elements from both the toy and cartoon versions of Swoop. Unlike the other dinobots which had minimal deco differences between toy and cartoon decos, Swoop was vastly different.

The cartoon model for Swoop used the diaclone blue chested deco, whereas the toy [and comic] version was changed to red to better match the rest of his dino brethren. Fanstoys released the blue deco first, with the red one released just a few weeks later. The differences between them don't stop at the torso colour; the missile tips, dino toes and thigh detail are also red, unlike the golden on the blue version.

To date, Soar [whichever version you pick] is the most generous, bang-for-buck figure that Fanstoys have released, coming with a sturdy display stand, two different sets of wings [which are massive and feature paint and chrome details] and two different dino beaks, allowing you to further customize your figure to your liking.

Alternate Mode

Soar is a massive pteranodon. Much like Grimlock and the rest of the dinos, his alt. mode has been predominantly the same dinosaur with miniscule variations, or a bombardier aeroplane in his pre-Earth disguise.

Soar has more colours on him than you'd think at first glance. This being the red version, his torso is made up of a two-tone red combination, the bare plastic being more of a maroon tone and the painted upper chest being glossy red. His massive wings are vac-metallic silver [stock version] and the second pair included is painted silver if you wish to swap them. Gunmetal gray, gray and silver are used for his limbs and his toes and thigh guards are vac-metal red. The stock beak is a smoky transparent clear plastic covering a vac-metallic red lower jaw with glossy blue eyes.

I will commend Fanstoys for not skimping on any of the detailing. Soar is full of -painted- on details, utilizing additional colours to bring out sculpted detail [an art, apparently, lost on most mainline figures]. A combination of yellow, red, gunmetal gray, silver and blue is used to that effect on his upper chest, shoulders, wings and his back to highlight circuitry, vents and tech detail. The overall effect of these colours and the massive vac-metal wings make him very pleasing to the eye and a standout no matter where you place him in your collection.

He has copious amounts of articulation on this mode, mostly focused on his wings. Each wing has six points of articulation, most of it double-jointed, allowing for very expressive flying or swooping down poses, but be aware of the mass he occupies with the wings fully out. Each leg has got roughly 4 joints, including foot and ankle bends, but do note that he can't hold his weight in most poses so don' put too much thought on the legs supporting him. The dino neck has got three joints, allowing for ratcheted back and forth motion on the main neck joint, a 45 degrees each way swivel and a secondary back and forth joint at the base of the head. The lower dino jaw is also ratcheted.

Soar is MP-scaled, which means he is absolutely massive, despite being the smallest Dinobot in the team. Standing on his feet he is 22 cm to the top of his beak [neutral, forward-looking] and his wings have a massive 46.5 cm wingspan. Of note is that the display stand will add 24 cm to his height, and he has two configurations. More on that will follow later, but make no mistake; you need space for this dino!
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