Me Lead Dinobots Away... At Least, Till T-Wrecks Comes Out
Written: Jun 08 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: fairly neat gimmicks, sturdy toy
Cons: difficult transformation, kibble-riddled robot form
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| zobovor's Full Review: Dinobots - Triceradon |
Triceradon is the most interesting, but most complex of the Dinobots toys. Though his dinosaur form has the most kid appeal, the sheer complexity of his transformation makes me wonder if kids would be able to decipher the toy at all.
Originally part of Japan's Beast Wars Neo toy line, Triceradon was imported for release in the U.S. A sizable 7" long in triceratops mode, Triceradon is colored more realistically than many recent Beast Wars/Beast Machines toys. He's almost entirely mahogany brown with yellowish horns and some green spraypainted deco on his back. The toy is nicely designed in this form; other than a small gap in his belly, his dinosaur hide covers him completely--a rarity, given that your average Transformer would be exposed for the robot he is if you looked underneath him. Each of his legs moves, but he doesn't have any other articulation.
In his original incarnation as a slight-lighter-brown-colored character named Guiledart, he was also equipped with a "corpse mode" that didn't completely make it into the U.S. instructions, even though the toy is still fully capable of utilizing the gimmick. By flipping the horn forward on the triceratops nose, an internal mechanism causes his eyes to roll back and his tongue to stick out. Opening up body panels the reveal his bony ribs and meaty flesh completes the look. Apparently, this is a camouflage mode designed to make his enemies think he's just your average dead dinosaur. It surprises me that Hasbro didn't acknowledge this mode, considering that the Jurassic Park toys from only a few years ago had "dino-damage" removable flesh panels.
Transforming Triceradon is a nightmare! He's probably the most difficult Transformer from this year's assortment, rivalling the difficulty level of Toys From Hell like the Animorphs Tri-Rex and Beast Wars Tripredacus. After removing the tail section, his six different body panels open up which have to be manipulated in a given sequence to reveal the robot head and body. The triceratops head becomes the right arm, while the left arm is hidden under the dinosaur's back. The read dino legs connect together and extend to form the robot legs. Honestly, I don't see how any kid could figure this out intuitively, let alone adult collectors.
As a robot, Triceradon is quite short--about 4 1/2". In robot form he's a mix of mahogany and caramel brown, with a few light purple components and touches of color here and there--a red face and shoulder, some turquoise on his chest. He's a bit more visually striking than Guiledart, who was primarily brown and red. He's saddled with a colossal amount of kibble in this form--the dinosaur's entire back section and two front legs ends up hanging off his left shoulder awkwardly, and there's no real way to position it any differently without hiding his left arm. The designers tried to add some functionality by incorporating spikes that swing out from the front dino legs, but they still look stupid. I suppose the assembly could be an arm-mounted shield or something.
In this form, Triceradon has around 12 points of articulation; his range of motion is fairly limited, particularly his left arm due to all the armor hanging off of it, but at least he's sturdy. His tail form a missile launcher similar to Wolfang's or K-9's in that a small gun handle flips down for use in robot mode. It fires missiles that are stored inside the dinosaur's back section. The missiles will travel five or six feet. His tail weapon also sports a spark crystal bearing the Dinobot team insignia, a triceratops head. (Guiledart was already designed for the standard spark crystals used for the Beast Wars Neo line.)
Triceradon doesn't have any other gimmicks, but he's got some interesting robot-mode features. While he's very clearly a robot, his helmet is shaped a bit like a rhinoceros head, with a large protruding horn on his forehead and little rhino ears on either side. He's not trying to be cute by any means, I don't think, if the scowl he wears is any indication. He even has what appears to be a bandolier strapped to his chest. This is one guy you don't want to mess with.
Triceradon is probably my favorite Dinobot in dino mode, but I really don't care for the toy as a whole. His transformation is far too frustrating, and his robot form is bulky and ungainly. Guiledart was modified and re-released in Japan as a styracosaurus named Killerpunch, which I think is a much nicer toy since the silly roling-eyes gimmick was replaced with the ability to fire his dinosaur head. Striker, then, makes a nice collector piece for those who like the Beast Wars Neo toys but can't afford to import Guiledart or Killer Punch, but otherwise he's got little redemming value.
Recommended:
No
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zobovor
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Member: Zobovor
Location: Ogden, UT
Reviews written: 350
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