You Can't Walk All Over Doublecrosser

While out doing some Christmas shopping, the wife picked me up Doublecrosser from Earthrise at Target. Doublecrosser is a Battle Master and seemingly the last new mold Battle Master (as of now anyway). It was pretty surprising that she found him as the only Battle Master I've seen has been Soundbarrier after finding exactly one Slitherfang. 

The quest for Shawn's tiny snake Transformer continues. I know he already has one, but I'm still getting him one. I was about to say my word is my bond, but I hated that line. Good movie though... where was I? 

Doublecrosser is a double headed robot like Doubleheader, but since he's a Decepticon... get it? I really appreciate the variety and the symmetry on the helmets is a nice touch. He looks great. Or they look great. Whatever.

I love the way Doublecrosser looks in robot mode. The purple against the gunmetal with that red face has that classic late G1 Decepticon look. Add in the red kibble and it almost looks like a red cape. He almost looks like a Pretender inner robot, so I'm hoping for a Doubleheader repaint that will likely never happen. 

Like other Earthrise Battle Masters, Doublecrosser turns into a shield and a dock plate/connector piece for Micromaster bases. It's done pretty basically by arranging his robot parts under the shield/plate parts which swivel in place. 

Thanks to the color and shape, he almost looks energy generated in in these modes. That's pretty neat. He comes with that gun shot thingy that the others came with and can connect in both modes. This shows him being shot at. Probably because all that double crossing.

That'll get you shot.

Fictionally, Doublecrosser's a Decepticon... and that's about it. On the Hasbro end anyway. He could pop up in later fiction maybe. On the Takara side of things though, like other Battle Masters he's a Selector in the Generations web comics. These take place in Japanese cartoon continuity.

Selectors are a race/faction of Transformers created on Earth who serve menial tasks who ultimately rebel against their human creators. As a Selector, a Doublecrosser units were used as walls and ceilings. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Do you really need a robot to turn into a wall?

No wonder they rebelled.

A Barrier For Sound

I picked up Soundbarrier in June shortly after moving. Like other toys bought during that time, I've just gotten around to opening him up. Soundbarrier is a Battle Master from Earthrise which makes him a tiny bit different than the ones from Siege. Instead of a weapon, he turns into a shield and a connector for Micromaster bases. 

I had been looking forward to this guy as he just looks neat. The shield kibble on his back looks like wings giving him a much cooler look than somebody who turns into a dock plate should look.

The bright blues with the grey robot parts with accenting red makes for a sharp looking little robot. I'm sure this mold would look good in almost any color you throw on it. He looks like he turns into a jet almost.

Almost.

I mentioned he turns into a shield right? Two things, he does in fact turn into a shield and I've had to right click on shield every time I've typed it. Clearly cannot spell that right. Considering it's basically just a dock plate that doubles as a shield, it doesn't look too bad. 

He comes with one of those blast mark thingys and two places to connect it. So you can have him being a barrier for blasts as well as sound. 

There's some silver paint here that's pretty nice looking and dresses it up a bit. It mainly dresses up dock plate mode and adds to the appearance when connected to Micromaster bases. 

Not to mention is helps hide the robot hanging off the other side in clear view. You think Micromasters flip him the bird when they drive over? You know they do. 

Jerks.

In dock plate mode, he can connect to any Earthrise Micromaster base or so they say. He can serve as a connector to provide a road from one to another or a ramp for driving up or off. You can still plug the little blast effect thingy on here to make it look like somebody is shooting at Big Daddy. 

He's Autobot in Hasbro releases or on the Japanese side a Selector like Smashdown. Considering his alt mode, it's a good fit for the new group. I could imagine a dock plate having enough of others bull crap and revolting.

He's pretty great. I'd love to see recolors in blind packaging. 

I say that about everything.

Smashdown Is An Allstar

I picked Smashdown up in June shortly after moving, but just got around to opening him up. Life found a way. I was happy to get him as the Siege version never shown up in my area, so when he was re-released in Earthrise. I uh, got him. I really like Battle Masters. A nice evolution of the Targetmaster idea, where not everyone has to be a gun.

Speaking of variety, I really like it when there's variety in robot modes. Keeps things fresh. Smashdown has a bulls head instead of a standard robot one. No real reason either and I'm not complaining. He looks like a Battle Beast and I freaking love Battle Beasts.

Smashdown turns into a hammer. Which seems pretty pointless in a gun fight, but so does a sword and we're all ok with those. The idea here is that he's an ideal weapon for one of The Wreckers. On the Japanese side of things, Smashdown is a type of Selector, another faction of Transformers. 

Selectors are a race of Transformers created by humans using Angolmois Energy as a working class for construction needs. Smashdown is a type of Selector that turns into a hammer. Get it?

Whichever fiction you prefer, Smashdown is a great little toy.  The handle from hammer mode can be used as a gun for bot mode. In hammer mode that handle can be held by most Transformers toys in case they see some watermelons nearby. 

Like most (all?) Battle Masters, Smashdown comes with a little energy special effect piece. This is to emphasize the force from a good whack from that hammer. Considering his body is that hammer, I wonder if that hurts? It's a neat little extra that I'd like to think is appreciated more by those who like to display their toys in action poses or in dioramas. Smashdown is a neat little Minotaur robot that turns into a hammer. I don't think I can find enough words to explain how great that is, it's pretty a pretty universal idea. Go buy one.