Warbotron: Warbotron

Happy New Year everyone, and here’s to the hopes that 2019 will be a good, healthy, stable year for all of us. Let’s start the Coffin’s New Year with a real challenging question, that being what the combined mode of the Warbotron Combaticons is called? We’re going to go with “Warbotron,” as it sounds good and sensible, but really, you could most likely call this monstrosity anything you like.

And I meant ‘monstrosity’ in a good way.

Warbotron is the combined form of Air Burst, Heavy Noisey, Sly Strike, Whirlwind, and Fierce Attack. He is a big, big boy, too tall to fit on a detolf shelf, getting some extra lift from large feet and the trailer section of Fierce Attack which converts into Warbotron’s waist and thighs. And, just like his five component parts, Warbotron has some points that are real wins, as well as a few things that are not.

First off, it must be said that Warbotron holds together exceptionally well, in terms of the general body. The limbs attach very solidly, and you can pick the figure up with one hand by the shoulders and give it a bit of a shake without anything (limb wise) falling off or even feeling loose. So it’s a very sturdy piece, something which is not always the case with combiners this large. Some of the add on parts are not as solidly connected, the chest crest in particular, which attaches via a small peg and pair of tabs that fit into slots on either side of the shoulders. The peg does not hold very well due to its being a little too short for the distance it needs to cover in order to work, so the terrain of Warbotron’s chest and upper torso doesn’t let the peg plug in all the way. This causes the chest plate to be floppy and dislodge easily. Once attached, and the figure situated on a shelf, there is little issue with this, and the plate is not known to fall off at random or without provocation. Warbotron has been standing on a shelf for several months now with the chest plate attached without coming off or slipping or anything; but pick him up and jostle him, and the piece starts slipping.

A component that works out surprisingly well on Warbotron is that Fierce Attack trailer part, which folds up into a pair of thighs for the combined mode. Sly Strike and Heavy Noisey connect to plugs on the bottom, and Fierce Attack clips on to pegs on the top. This piece gives Warbotron hips and knees, the knees being fairly standard 3P combiner knees, but the hips being independent of the combiner waist and thus able to be used a little better than the average giant robot conglomerate. This, together with the fact that the ankle joints are probably the strongest of any 3P combiner I own, allows Warbotron to hold some poses very well, if only to have that compromised by the aforementioned loose chest plate.

But the trailer legs are a thing that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, and have had some very mixed feelings about, pretty much since I obtained this set. There’s a real feeling that this level of partsforming compromises the overall Warbotron figure, but that may be a little extreme. While I am not the biggest fan of this part as a trailer in Fierce Attack’s vehicle mode, for Warbotron it adds extra size and stretches the combined mode enough that it makes the giant more imposing looking. Also, better and fuller looking. Sometimes, the need of a combiner torso figure to serve as both torso and waist/thighs makes the combined mode seem a bit high-waisted, or can make the combined mode look too thin in the waist and legs (see: all Combiner Wars combined modes. –mr). But the extra piece here allows Warbotron to look tall and well proportioned, even with his huge shoulders and upper torso. When I bought this set, I didn’t know about the trailer legs, and was pretty skeptical for most of the time until I finally got them all combined, where I was immediately approving of such an unusual piece. Now, I almost wish more combiners came with this kind of pants. The piece ultimately serves a role similar to that of Heavy Labor from the TFC Toys Hercules team.

Warbotron wields an enormous blaster that fits securely in hand. There is an upgrade set that contains more weapons for the individual members, as well as a converting Shockwave that would serve as an additional blaster for Warbotron in homage to the two or three frames of a G1 episode wherein Bruticus wielded blast mode Shockwave, but I have not obtained said upgrade set, and honestly don’t see much of a need for it. It’s more an accessory pack, and I’ve seen it online at etailers for about $20. So, probably one of these days, but there’s no rush. The huge cannons that attach to Fierce Attacks’ back attach to Warbotron’s in a very similar way, giving the combiner one of its trademark looks. The combiner head is pretty great, a G1 Bruticus through and through with a few embellishments. Chief amongst these is a really pronounced horn in the middle of the head, very rhino-like.

The overall look of the figure is very menacing, and a lot of that is thanks to the upper torso being so incredibly boxy yet filled out. Warbotron looks like a guy wearing giant shoulder pads or something, his head flanked by protrusions that give this really powerful impression, and then of course, Air Burst and Whirlwind sticking up above the arms. This layout gives Warbotron a real Space Marine from Warhammer 40K look, like it’s a person inside a suit of armor. While it may cut down on peripheral vision, it gives Warbotron a silhouette that none of the other Third Party combiners in my collection can match, and perhaps no other combiner can match, regardless of origin.

The feet, made up of those bizarre little tank drone things, are solid and stable, so Warbotron always has excellent footing in battle. The ankle joints are amazingly solid, almost to the point of worrying that something is going to break if manipulated. This is not the case, as the ankle rocker joint is made of a ratchet joint with some exceptional detents, which make almost startlingly loud clicks when engaged. The official configuration is to have those blasters pointing to the rear of the figure, but this leaves a space where the ankle joint is fully visible, and that looks thin and weak. With the blasters positioned forward, this space is filled in, making a much less obvious separation between the foot and either Sly Strike or Heavy Noisey, as well as giving Warbotron extra firepower because, let’s face it, Bruticus never seems to have enough firepower.

Warbotron has a very unified and uniform look, as the Combaticons always have had. This has always been one of the most visually satisfying combiners, with one pretty noteworthy exception in its history, and this version continues that lineage. It’s also surprising that, save for the recent Masterpiece scaled offerings, the Combaticons have been so lightly represented in the 3P market. They are a popular team, with perhaps the most popular member of any combiner team, and it is hard to see where a tank and jeep and helicopter and space shuttle and truck would not be popular toys to purchase. When the Third Party scene was overly focused on Constructicons, it made sense, as they were the first combiner team. When the scene was overly focused on Predacons, it made some sense, since everyone was trying to out badass each other. Why has there not been more of a focus on Combaticons? Doesn’t it seem like, by now, there should be three or four competing 3P Combaticon sets available? To me, it almost seems like a no-brainer, but what do I know, apparently? Who knows.

If I have to lodge one complaint, it would have to be that, due to Fierce Attack basically folding in half at the waist, with the legs curling up behind the Warbotron back, the figure is top- and back heavy, occasionally leaning slightly backward. But, we all know that this can be addressed by leaning the figure slightly forward at the hips, to counter the backward lean. There is a lot of weight on Warbotron's back, so this issue makes some sense. I don't feel that this is much of a complaint, honestly.

I like Warbotron a lot. Some of the individual figures ended up being a little bit of a let down, as three of the five have some pretty glaring issues to overcome. But they did, and the resulting combined mode is almost devoid of any problems. The greatest issue is that floppy chest piece, but once you’ve got that situated, everything is just fine. I can see people not being enthused about the plastic quality of the set, although it is far from bad. We’ve mentioned this as an “issue” on this blog for quite a while now, but it really is not a thing that effects the combined form. Warbotron is big and sturdy and solid, and very intimidating looking. The set is also, now, not when I bought it earlier in 2018, at that stage of its life where it can be found for fairly cheap online, hovering around the $200 point at some etailers.