TFC Toys Ares: Phlogeus

 

 In Greek mythology, Phlogeus was one of four horses gifted to twin demigods by Hermes and Hera. Since TFC Toys has adopted a Greek mythology naming scheme, Phlogeus is also the name of their version of G1 Predacon Rampage, who, true to the mythological Phlogeus, transforms into a . . . tiger.

Phlogeus does a great job of channeling the original Rampage figure while still making it something different, much the same way that Nemean does with Razorclaw. The robot mode is posable and attractive. It shares a transformation scheme with Nemean, and seems to be mostly identical to that larger member to the point that Nemean could conceivably be an upsized Phlogeus with some specific modifications. While this causes Nemean to be less than stellar, it doesn’t effect Phlogeus much at all.

No, the strange thing about Phlogeus is that it, and the other three Ares team members, were designed with a rather strange play pattern. Not only are they individual figures, and not only are they members of a combiner team – Phlogeus serving as a dedicated arm for Ares – but each of the four limb figures can convert to a torso mode that is compatible with Power Core Combiner drones, or the other TFC Toys figures that tried to ape the Power Core Combiner concept. This is a really strange concept, as Ares is released in 2013, already a full year after Power Core Combiners are abandoned by Hasbro. Small PCC pegs flip out form the robot shoulders and are also hidden in the robot legs. Initially, they seem like places to attach the large weapons that ultimately become the feet of Ares to the shoulders of the smaller robots, which would have been awesome. But no, they are ports for a dead gimmick that was basically universally hated. They don’t detract at all from the figure in any mode, and they are easily ignored, so this is a total non-issue, outside of its oddity.

 

Robot mode features a great range of motion, and as long as the shoulders aren’t moved too far away from the body, or at too extreme an angle, everything looks fine in poses. The feet are a little fiddly, as they are angled to accommodate a wider legged stance due to the lower legs being blocky and squared at the bottoms, as well as the rear animal feet folding under them but not actually going away. This means the figure has a hard time standing in a straight legged stance as the feet are not flat, so the slanted feet parts are needed to stabilize the robot. There’s also not much in the way of elbows, so while Phlogeus can bend his arms and everything, the shoulders are large and the forearms are stumpy and there’s no transition to speak of. The legs, on the other hand, are very jointed, though much of that seems to be due to transformation. All five of the Ares figures have lower bodies that transform the same way: the robot does the splits, with their legs at 180 degrees, and then they fold downward at the robot knees to produce two 45 degree bends. So the robot legs contain knee joints and a very unnatural but occasionally useful mid-calf joint that bends outwards.

 

One step that is really appreciated, but so easily overlooked is the way the tiger head tabs in between the chest panels in robot mode. Rather than just hang in front of the chest, the animal head is secured and because of this, looks more impressive than the lion head on Nemean, which does just lay on top of the chest.

P.iece O.f S.word

Phlogeus comes with accessories of varying value. The tiger tail detaches and can be help as a whip, and he also has another part of the eventually giant Ares sword. Phlogeus’ is like a long pick, or perhaps a long handled ax, and it is the worst of the sword designs. But these sword parts aren’t really meant to be wielded by the individual robots, but rather to be combined to give Ares a tremendous and fearsome weapon. Phlogeus also comes with a blaster weapon. It’s the third part of the large Ares foot, a rear-pointing heel spur for stability.  Finally, and for the time being pointlessly, Phlogeus comes with one of the Ares hands, a spikey , double thumbed (?) claw. There’s nothing for the hand to do at this point, unlike Hercules members Exgraver and Neckbreaker who at least incorporate the hands into their alt modes,  but Phlogeus has it anyway.

Tiger mode shares so much with the G1 Rampage it is wonderful. This is what a modern day, Classics-style update of Rampage would look like, if there were one. The rear legs are short and stumpy, and this does cause the tiger mode to look a bit misshapen. While all four of the limb figures will share this design issue as well, it is Phlogeus who seems to bear it the worst. But, it’s not an enjoyment killing issue, by any means. The tiger mode  is reasonably posable as well, and the animal claws are pointy. POINTY. So used to the blunted edges of official products that need to pass safety tests and regulations, it is a straight up surprise (sometimes painful) to find Phlogeus digging into your hand. In beast mode, the blaster can mount on the back but the sword and hand have nowhere to go.

There is a lot of really nice detailing on this figure. The tiger head has a legitimate expressiveness that just invokes everything that you know about the Predacons: that savage hunter quality, a true sense of viciousness and an accurate quality of being a mechanical animal. The paint is excellent, the original Predacons having maybe the most uniform  color scheme, and each featuring orange. Phlogeus combines that orange with a distinctive red, and black on the thighs and animal claws. It has been said so many times by now, but Phlogeus looks like it would fit in exactly with the Cybertron era of official toys, which would be an even older compatibility than the Power Core drones. The top of the tiger head as well as the back of the robot head have translucent yellow plastic for light piping, but it doesn’t seem to add that much to the figure in either mode overall.

The combiner port is nicely hidden, a TFC Toys standard practice it would seem. However, the body of the figure displays a number of tabs , all needed for securing the stability of the arm mode. They wind up being the kind of thing that is only really noticeable is you stare at them, and they are simply enough overlooked.

Phlogeus is good looking and a fun figure. The inclusion of the PCC drone pegs adds some playability to the individual figure that is lacking in the Hercules team, or the Hades team, as it would be entirely possible to buy Phlogeus, or any of the other three, without needing to get the full group and still have a number of play and display options. It just seems very odd that a concept that was pretty reviled by the fandom and quickly abandoned by Hasbro would wind up living on in third party figures that are already intended to combine, and not it standalone ones instead. TFC Toys did produce some PCC limb figures of their own, before they abandoned the concept as well, so maybe from a brand standpoint this inclusion in the Ares squad made sense, but in a big picture way, it’s a really bizarre decision. It’s not really advertised by this figure though, so it is completely forgettable if that’s what you choose to do, and then you’re only left with some head scratching fold out pegs.

All cats love stalking.

Speaking of combining though, the TFC Toys limb figures are able to scramble. At the very least, Hercules and Ares limb members have the same combiner system, so they can be switched around between combined modes. This seems like a much bigger realization than has ever apparently been mentioned, and why it is not something that had been promoted is not clear. Obviously not all of the figures can take advantage of this feature, as torso figures don’t count in this scramble ability, and the limb figures are all specific, dedicated limbs. But what it means is that Phlogeus can be an arm for Ares or Hercules, and that is kind of amazing.