TFC Toys Ares: Phobos

Phobos, the son of Ares and the personification of fear, is the fifth and final member of the Ares team, and is the TFC Toys version of G1 Predacon Divebomb. The figure appears to be the same base mold as Phlogeus, which is pretty amazing given that figures’ more slender and lithe appearance compared to the stockier, thicker Phobos.

Phobos looks like the one figure from this set that most immediately resembles its G1 self. The figure has the large, block chest with the yellow vents and the orange arms that ever so slightly collapse in to the torso of the robot during transformation. Like Aethon and Conabus, Phobos is able to position the animal head behind the robot head for a more G1 appearance, but the effect is least successful on Phobos. The animal head is too small, and ends up looking just like something sticking up behind the robot head, rather than the helmet-type look that the other two figures display. The official configuration is to have the hawk head folded against the center of the chest, in a fashion similar to that of Phlogeus, but pointing beak down. This arrangement looks really good, or at least better than the official transformations of Aethon and Conabus and the storage of their animal heads. The robot arms attach to the body differently than do those of mold mate Phlogeus, as they lack the armature that figure has which allows the arms to angle away from the body more dramatically. This does not make much of a difference in Phobos or alter anything the figure can do, but it does make it a little less apparent that the two figures share a form. More like they share a general idea or concept of the figure, but are mostly different in terms of execution. Kind of like Conabus and Aethon. Phobos has a ton of molding that Phlogeus does not, truly giving the two figures distinct appearances despite being basically the same. This different-but-the-same-but-different quality makes all four of the smaller team members pretty intriguing toys, as they feel the same as one another, yet do enough differently that it is totally possible to ignore their similarities.

While Phobos comes equipped with the same blaster piece and strange pick ax weapon that Phlogeus does, the real accessory here is the wing backpack. The large wing pack is a truly defining visual feature of the combined mode, and is a pretty stand out element of the individual figure as well. Just as with the official original, the wing pack detaches from the robot, and is generally poseable in animal mode. All of the five feathers are separated from each other, so they are capable of being posed (to some extent) individually, giving the option for a really spread-out look. Extra cool is the functionality of each feather to be removed from the wing and wielded in hand as a sword, and Phobos has a few swords to choose from. The pieces are of varying lengths, so there are longer swords and shorter ones. These parts are vastly better than the weak designated sword the figure has, with its strange, pick part up top. The sword wings remind of the mixing barrel that Mad Blender has, itself capable of providing weapons to all his teammates. Almost makes you wonder why TFC Toys went the route of packing sword parts in with the team members instead of advertising Phobos as being able to supply the others with blades, and just including a large sword with Nemean, for the combined mode. But, you know, whatever. The ridiculously large melee weapon appears to be a third party combiner standard, so let’s just leave it be for the moment. This figure also comes complete with one Ares fist, and a light up large blaster for Ares, replicating the large arm-mounted blaster that Predaking carries that came with the original Razorclaw figure. But there will be time for that later, when Ares takes the stage.

Hawk mode is a big, thick bird, looking powerful rather than swift or graceful or anything. This clearly is a hunting animal, a predator, and it’s a good look. The transformation shares the team-wide animal legs hidden inside the robot legs, as well as the T-shaped leg transformation. The wings being as poseable as they are allow for a lot of very expressive looks, and the tiny beak opens. The wings of this figure are truly enormous. They require the toy to be packaged in a large (for its size) box, the same size as that of Nemean. Nemean is a substantially larger figure than this one is, so that says something about the size of the wing pack. It would be understandable to think that the complexity and size of the wings leads to a compromised figure, but that’s not the case. The wings just happen to be the thing that, like the original G1 version, really make the figure. They complete the look, and provide most of the play value. The beast mode is really expressive, as despite the thicker nature of the figure in general, a lot of good, expressive poses can be had out of it.

If there was one figure of the group that was really exceptional, the one that should be sought out if one has no interest in the full set, that figure would be Phobos. Just like the original Divebomb, Phobos has the best color placement and overall look, and is the one that is most different. This figure looks much more detailed than the others, like extra time or care was put into designing this one, and there are lots of details molded right on the body that just seem to be missing on the other three smaller members. The extra weapons provided by the wings adds points for an already excellent toy, and again, while the wings exponentially increase the look and play value of the figure, they are not great at the expense of the base toy. This is especially amazing when considering that there are many official figures from the same time that Phobos was designed and released (2013-2014) that absolutely sacrifice the main toy for a gimmick or a feature. (the first example that comes to mind are the Fall of Cybertron Combaticons, but I’m not sure if that’s because they usually are toys that pop into my head when I think of odd design choices or totally blown opportunities. -- mr)

The Ares set is composed of four good figures and one that is so-so, but Phobos is the best of the bunch. As usual, if you are investing in one of these toys, you’re probably in for the entire set, but Phobos feels like the one that actually could be owned by itself without losing much, or needing too much “it’s part of a combiner” rationale the way Nemean does. Phobos is a quality figure that is absolutely worth adding to your collection, whether you’re in for Ares or not.