MakeToys: Quantron

 I have been ranting and raving about Quantron to anyone who will listen to me for the last seven months, so it’s time, as this year winds down and I try to finish half-written articles that have been languishing on my flash drive since the summer, to give this figure some attention.

We’ve already looked at and praised Blindfire, Celeritas, Metalstorm, Overheat, and Sonicdrill, and these five combined are Quantron, the MakeToys take on Computron. The four smaller figures become limbs, but cannot be scrambled, so Celeritas and Sonicdrill are forever legs, while Blindfire and Overheat eternal arms. As this is the canonical Computron configuration, it’s not an issue, and really, some 3P figures are so time consuming and labor intensive to combine that once a configuration is realized, it generally does not change. (I’d initially decided that, when covering Poseidon, I was going to get pictures of it in multiple layouts, with different figures serving as the combined mode weapon, but abandoned that plan real fast. –mr) Quantron overall has a great profile, with Overheats’ wheels sticking up off of one shoulder and Blindfires’ cannons sticking up off the other, the huge Metalstorm nose section behind the head, and the drill from what’s his name hanging off the one leg. This is an attractive combiner, gorgeous in its maroon and while and orange paint, with some translucent orange parts thrown in periodically for emphasis. Quantron is a slight bit taller than a Hasbro Combiner Wars combiner, which sounds like it should be small, but is only an inch or maybe two shorter than a 3P goliath like Hades. Combined size was a concern initially, since there is such a discrepancy between the limb figures and Metalstorm, but the combiner is well proportioned and the height “issue” never appears. Sort of amazing, given how small Celeritas in particular seems next to all of the other team members.

The joints in the shoulders and knees are amazing, super tight and strong. The arm figures attach via rectangular plugs on Metalstorm, which then act as outward shoulder hinges, and if not positioned well look bad. It’s often a trick of angles or again, positioning of the tab, but it is not a problem, and is simply rectified.  Both arms and legs attach very firmly, and the arm figures have these little piston parts in them that go over the robot knees to make the arm look more like an arm, and less like a robot bending at the knees and waist. The elbows don’t bend all the way, stopping at maybe 45 degrees, though. The legs are not as poseable, but it is a compound issue, as the ankle also does not flex enough to allow for real serious knee movement anyway. There is a waist joint, thanks to Metalstorms’ waist joint, but too much rotation causes the figure to become unbalanced, a common issue for a figure of this size and mass.

The feet are really great, large and solid. They are the additional rocket pods that can be attached to Metalstorm, and have positionable vents on the heel that serve as an extra heel for standing, and plastic strips on the soles that grip the surface. This prevents Quantron from sliding, the way that combiners like Ares and Ryu-Oh occasionally do. The combiner hands store inside translucent orange flaps on the front.

Quantron’s armament is insane, as usual. The two large weapons that Metalstorm wields can be combined with an additional piece to form a huge, double barreled blaster, and then there’s Metalstorms’ nose piece that can be deployed in two different ways. Removing the hand on Blindfire allows the nose piece to slide over the combiner wrist to serve as a huge blaster. The other, better and cooler, but less practical arrangement is to extend the barrel and sides to form a giant bow, which then slides over the wrist section of Blindfire, and turns Quantron into an enormous archer. This is a fitting weapon, I think, given the nature of some of the Decepticon combiners Quantron would face off against. Ares is a combiner made of wild animals; Poseidon of sea monsters; Ryu-Oh and Ordin (coming soon . . . mr) of regular monsters. It makes some sense that the adversary of these beasts would be a hunter. The bow configuration gives Quantron that hunter of myth and legend feel, and that’s excellent. The box has no G1 precedent, so it’s an interesting and unique idea as well. The bow is very heavy, and while the shoulder joint and, for the most part, Blindfires’ knees and hips can handle the weight, the swivel in the wrist cannot, and so it is difficult for Quantron to hold this massive weapon unassisted by human hands.

I have been a Quantron evangelist for several months now, having obtained the set thanks to a great TFSource sale back in February. It arrived very shortly before our move in March, and was combined for the first time in maybe late April or early May. I am a huge fan of this group of figures and their combined mode. Quantron has gone on super deep sale again and again over the rest of this year, hitting the absurdly low price of $110 this Black Friday. Somehow, etailers have still managed to not sell out of it. This is a shame. I personally cannot imagine why anyone would not have an interest in this set at a price like that. The build quality is excellent, the figures themselves are outstanding, the combined mode is terrific. I can understand not wanting to go for the individual figures at $60 or more, or whatever their initial retail cost was. But for $110, it’s foolish to resist.

After we moved, and I was in the process of reestablishing my displays, I combined Quantron and the UniteWarriors Computron, which I was a real staunch fan of since its release. Standing side by side, there is absolutely no comparison between these two Computrons, and a clear winner was almost immediately apparent. Thus went Unite Warriors Computron to eBay, and Quantron reigns in its place. I could not recommend this set enough, to anyone. If you want a combiner, or Technobots, or quality stand alone figures, or some G1 homages, or reimaginings of G1 characters, or a good set of converting robots, or something that is white and maroon, buy Quantron.

Hell, go buy Quantron, even if you don’t want it. This is an absolute home run of a combiner.