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TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:

Clay's review: Thundercracker

Masterpiece Thundercracker

Thundercracker was part of the original lineup of the toy and cartoon cast back in 1984. Unlike most of the smiling zombies that were passed off as characters in the cartoon, Thundercracker could fly.

Alternate mode:

Like this, but glossy blue instead.

Robot mode:

Pretty close to this, but blue, and he has a different "scowling" face.

Unlike the first release of this mold (the greenish Takara Starscream), the parts that the wings rotate on to join the back of the robot are made of a much stronger plastic now. The original release of Starscream had a problem with the plastic cracking at the pins in those parts, but the later releases (Skywarp and the Hasbro Starscream, and now Thundercracker) all seem to have this fixed.

Transformation: 7. I still think it's a great design, and suitably more intricate than the smaller Classics F15 mold. It takes long enough that it could be a chore depending on your mood, though.
Durability: 8. In a collector's hands, this mold should last a while. Bonus points to Takara for acknowledging and fixing the problem with the first release of the mold.
Fun: 6. It's not the kind of thing that can stand up to the abuse of frequent fiddlin' with (by adult or child), but it is satisfying to take off the shelf and fool with every once in a while.
Price: 5. $100 isn't cheap, but the release rate of one Seeker jet per year proved to be fair and manageable. Also, if you're actually interested in Thundercracker, you probably already have the other releases, in which case another $100 at this point will not incite the same pause as a cold sell.
Overall: Hard to say. If you've got the other iterations of the mold, you might as well get this one too to have the complete set of 1984 jets done up all fancy-style. And the three (or four) of them do look fantastic together when lined up on the top shelf. If not, the only thing Thundercracker really has going for him is the better plastic used for the hinge joints, but he has this in common with both Skywarp and the Hasbro issue of Starscream. Otherwise, Skywarp's got teh sexy and Starscream's got the name draw, so Thundercracker doesn't have much pull of his own unless you just prefer blue.
 
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