Power of the Primes Battletrap

When I talked about Battleslash and Roadtrap, I said they were parts of a combiner that's the newest incarnation of Duocon Battletrap right? That's right I did and here is is in all his Trappin and Battlin glory! The two toys form a pretty well done new version of the classic character.

The two smaller robots form Battletrap who's roughly deluxe size. He's the sum of both parts and it shows as the two distinct forms show clearly, which is part of the Duocon theme after all. I can't find any fault with this approach and hope Flywheels gets similar treatment (I've always liked him).

As I've noted before, the two toys are nice looking, but are obviously intended to form a bigger mode and it really pay's off here. I can't really find any faults with the toy as he forms together pretty well. If I have anything negative to say, it's pretty minor. I'm not fond of how parts of Roadtrap come loose easily in leg form, making the knee's look a little messy without sticking them back together (that could also be just mine though) and that helicopter blade of Battleslash is just kinda stuck in the back of Battletrap kind of awkwardly (I did say I'm usually never happy with how helicopter blades work out). There is an attempt to stow it between parts, but the bottom half is still dangling.. I'm sure if the components were deluxe or larger, there would be an additional few steps to work this out better. As is, it's just part of the scales economy and not the end of the world. Two minor gripes in an overall great toy is pretty reasonable and there's always a little give and take with any combiner.

Power of the Primes Battleslash

Battleslash, like his partner, is the other part of Battletrap in Power of the Primes. Giving the helicopter portion of the Duocon a life of his own and serving as a stand alone toy as well. Oddly enough for a toy that turns into a helicopter, Battleslash is very stocky looking. Wide chest, big thighs, aside from the propeller on his forearm, you'd never know he turned into a helicopter.

Probably owing to his colors and that helmet, Battleslash makes me think of Astrotrain. I'm sure I can't be the only one, but for now let's just assume I'm crazy and just said something ridiculous. Of course with his wide stature, the only thing that really clues you into his alt mode is the propeller on his arm serving as some sort of melee weapon. That's a drawback in helicopter modes for me. Most of the time the blades are kinda just there in robot mode or combiner mode (more on that later this week). At least Battleslash has a weapon thanks to the propeller and it matches up with his name. You see he will slash you, presumably in battle. Or if you said something about his Momma, then he might cut you. I guess they could have called him Mommacutter.

Like I said, he turns into a helicopter, and unlike his partner, it's a much easier transformation. I really like this mode, just a good helicopter that's not too unrealistic for a space robot that turns into a helicopter. Fortunately his combiner mode doesn't impose too much into the toy aside from some visible hands and a hidden away head (and they're decently hidden). Though I'm sure there's a fair complaint for the connector outlet on the helicopters nosecone, it doesn't bother me regardless.

Battleslash is a fairly neat toy that's fun on his own aside from the combination gimmick, and I really like the colors. I really wish I could find more words to say about him, but it's really as simple as that.

Duocons, Throttlebots commercial 1987

Power of the Primes Roadtrap

Somebody at Hasbro had a great idea, taking the classic Duocon Battletrap and turning his two vehicle forms into separate characters. That's what we got here with Roadtrap, now the SUV portion of the robot is his own character as well part of the combiner. The end result is pretty neat, with Roadtrap (now his own bot) making for a pretty decent little toy.

He's short and squat, owing to the fact that his third form is a pair of legs. Often with combiners you have to sacrifice a little for the combined form and that's true here as well. Fortunately, it's not too bad and Roadtrap's still a pretty satisfactory little figure. I'm really impressed with the articulation, which owes more to his various modes and the means to put the toy into them than anything. Which equals a pretty articulated little guy. However, it that means to transform between the forms leads to my only real problem with the figure. I don't like transforming him.

While at first glance, he doesn't seem to challenging, but to go from robot to truck, there's a bit of magic with his chest that must be done that I didn't enjoy doing. It wasn't terrible or anything, just a little more fiddly than I'd like for a smaller figure. This partially owes to the fact that he also turns into a pair of legs (more on that later this week), but it still hampers the fun of the stand alone toy. Either way, I quite like the little guy despite a little trivial inconvenience. It's nice to see a little original thought go into a update of a classic character and add to him a bit.