TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

ganon578's Review: Divebomb

Name: Divebomb
Function: Aerial Warrior
Subgroup: Revenge of the Fallen
Size Class: Scout

Entranced with the romance and daring of ancient Decepticons living on Earth, Divebomb rescanned his vehicle mode to mimic one of the most famous of those old warriors. Unfortunately, paired with Skystalker to fight an Autobot anti-aircraft specialist, he’s quickly learning the limitations of his new form.

I won’t go deep into the character’s history, as Divebomb is a semi-obscure character that has gone through several iterations over Transformer fiction. In short, he began as a Predacon in G1, made an appearance in the Unicron Trilogy, showed up as a mini-con in the Classics line, and has recently turned back up in the Movieverse, initially as a jet, and now as a biplane.

It’s interesting to note that the 2007 movie saw him as a yellow and brown camouflage Su-27 Terminator Jet, which was a Wal-Mart exclusive toy. When Revenge of the Fallen came out, Divebomb has maintained his character and rescanned a new alternate mode as a biplane from an earlier era in Earth’s timeline. I think this is great to keep an obscure character the same throughout the Movieverse, and actually giving the character some continuity instead of just recycling the name on a different toy.

Alternate Mode:

Divebomb transforms into a biplane designed to represent the Red Baron. This mode is a nice departure from the norm of current technology and vehicles typically seen in the Movieverse. His biplane form has some nice detail in the wings, as well as some molded weapons on each wing like bombs and machine guns. The front of the plane sports a molded engine and even a little cockpit can be found just behind the top wing. The wheels underneath don’t spin, but this doesn’t really detract from the toy. The propeller on the front does spin and adds a little fun to the alt mode. The paint applications are great; the red is really vibrant and the white stripes on top of the wings along with the black Decepticon symbols really make Divebomb an attractive display piece in alt mode. It would have been nice to get a little weathered look since he’s portraying an older plane, but as a scout class toy, the paint job is still commendable. All the robot parts are tucked away well, and even the hands underneath the bottom wings aren’t terribly noticeable. For a scout class toy, this alternate mode was done very well.

Robot Mode:

This is where things start to fall apart. Maybe it’s just the toy I ended up with, but Divebomb is really fidgety and loose. After getting him into robot mode (through an easy transformation that isn’t really noteworthy), it’s difficult to get him into good positions. The legs on mine seem loose and tricky to work with. The arms are a little loose too, but are tight enough to pose them well enough. Balance can be an issue, but this may also be due to the loose legs; the folded up wings on his back may also be contributing to a poor mass balance. In the end I just couldn’t get him into any worthwhile positions outside of just standing straight. Detail-wise he has a nicely molded head/face, and the weapons previously under his wings are now conveniently on his forearms. Overall I think Divebomb has a sub-par robot mode for the scout class Transformers that I have seen or have experience with.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 5. It’s easy to get him back and forth, but nothing is really interesting or fun here.
Durability: 7. He’s very lightweight and has many ball joints. Maintaining long term joint stiffness can be a problem though.
Fun: 4. He’s got a nice paintjob, and nods back to an interesting historical figure, but other than that there’s not much else.
Aesthetics: 7. He looks great as a biplane but I think his robot mode is a little goofy. The color scheme is nice and vibrant though!
Articulation: 6. Pretty good for a scout class toy, but the joints can be somewhat loose and the legs are problematic for positioning.
Value/Price: 8. He was cheap when I got him, though I don’t know what he fetches now on auction sites. He's decently fun for a scout toy.
Overall: 5. Definitely not a must have. He’s got a nice bio, character continuity, and he’s a nice display piece in alternate mode, but the instability in poses makes him best as just a biplane. I can’t recommend hunting him down.