This is my second United release (the first being Rumble & Frenzy) and I feel as if I made a good choice. The blister packaging for these United deluxe figures is amazing. Like with a lot of Japanese packaging you can safely remove the backing card from the bubble without any damage. This feature also allows you to effectively repackage your figure on the card if you so choose to.
I love how the toy is presented on the back. The small trading card size tech spec cards have now been replaced with the info on the back of the card. I was sad to see this as the cards were a contributing factor when it came to whether or not I should buy the Japanese version. Oh well. Speaking of the techs see how every category is ranked 'unknown'? I don't recall many (if any) TFs ever having every category as such.
Axalon is labeled as an Autobot spaceship. This is a nice nod to the history of the Autobots spaceship as that was the name of the Maximal's ship in Beast Wars, the Autobots ship in Armada and from Animated.
While the mold does an OK job invoking a spaceship there are still many elements that scream shark. Of course this is because the mold was originally the Decepticon Sharkticon from the Energon line. This really doesn't bother me as the mold is fantastic and new paint apps are down right beautiful. Until this toy was in my hands I never noticed the resemblance to Universe Depth Charge. Was this intentional? Perhaps since this mold was originally an aquatic character.
The mold in vehicle form retains all the same features from the original. The four small turrets can rotate a full 360 degrees and to some degree elevated. The missile launchers are still hidden and can be revealed (and fired) by separating the side panels. This same attack feature can be utilized in robot mode as well.
The new colors really pop in robot mode. Just look at the beautiful metallic red and silver! The Spark crystals were first introduced in Beast Wars and were carried over into the Energon line. Instead of simply painting over this crystal in the chest Takara Tomy replaced it with the Autobot symbol. This is a nice touch and frankly something I wasn't expecting.
Articulation is pretty good for an older mold. He has the swivel thighs which I like. You can also swivel the entire top half. Elbows and knees are on hinge joints. I will point out that I forgot to snap in his left shoulder assembly before snapping the pictures...hence one shoulder has more of a downward slant. You are able to extend and rotate the missile launchers onto his sides as depicted on the back of the packaging. I always thought this mold could benefit from having a hand gun of some sorts packed in, but with the launchers on his sides I guess he doesn't need one.
The same blue plastic that the missiles are cast of is used on the back of the head to give it good light piping for the eyes...even though you can't tell that in my picture! No other changes were made to the head.
From left to right:
Energon Sharkticon, United Axalon, Botcon Sky-Byte
Articulation is pretty good for an older mold. He has the swivel thighs which I like. You can also swivel the entire top half. Elbows and knees are on hinge joints. I will point out that I forgot to snap in his left shoulder assembly before snapping the pictures...hence one shoulder has more of a downward slant. You are able to extend and rotate the missile launchers onto his sides as depicted on the back of the packaging. I always thought this mold could benefit from having a hand gun of some sorts packed in, but with the launchers on his sides I guess he doesn't need one.
The same blue plastic that the missiles are cast of is used on the back of the head to give it good light piping for the eyes...even though you can't tell that in my picture! No other changes were made to the head.
From left to right:
Energon Sharkticon, United Axalon, Botcon Sky-Byte
Wouldn't you know that while I was uploading this pictures I looked up on my shelf and saw that I forgot to grab my Botcon Sharkticon that shares this same mold for the photo shoot.
Owning 3 versions of this mold previously I didn't hesitate at all when I first saw the solicit pictures last year. It's a fun toy and the new color scheme is absolutely beautiful. Being that this is the first use of the mold for the Autobots makes it unique. Now the question I have remaining is where do I display this figure? Do I stick it in with my Classics/Generations Autobots or does it fit better on my mix match "Universe" shelf?
Great review. :) I have mine on order from BBTS now. :D
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