Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 11, 2009 18:42:27 GMT
Universe Inferno
As a kid, I was never fortunate enough to have Inferno, or many official Transformers for that matter. When he was re-released by Hasbro, I snapped him up and I was suitably happy. He's a great looking toy.
The only way to improve on the original was in his poseability. That was all that really suffered.
With Universe Inferno, you get more than an updated character. You get something so well updated and something more impressive than your average Voyager. He's big and tough and is larger than his peers of the same class.
Universe Inferno - Vehicle Mode
His vehicle mode is a more contemporary fire truck, obviously. It's quite long, very chunky and drips of quality. The body of the vehicle is full of detail, including molded ladders on the side of the cab and silver pumps towards the rear, underneath the "water" cannon.
The colour scheme used is burgundy, white, black, grey and silver. Also here are translucent blue for the "water" missile projectile and clear plastic for the sirens, windows and headlights.
On the front of the cab is a "401" tampo, presumably indicating what precinct the vehicle belongs to, and an Autobot logo, also tampoed.
Along the side is a white stripe similar to Optimus Prime, with "Fire Rescue" and again, "401" tampoed on.
Behind the windscreen are two seats, which makes a nice change from blacked out windows or clear plastic ones that reveal, say, a characters head which is supposed to be hidden.
From the front, back and sides, everything is very well hidden courtesy of several panels that fold in on themselves in robot mode. From the top though, you can make out the arms and legs of the main mode. But this really isn't that big of a deal for me.
This is one of the coolest alt. modes in the entire line. It just feels absolutely perfect.
Universe Inferno - Robot Mode
Inferno has a fairly similar transformation to his G1 counterpart. Behind the cab, the top and bottom halves need to be seperated. Then the bottom half needs to split in two. From here, swing the legs and the waist armature down, spin the lower legs around and push the front bumper down.
Likewise, separate the top half at the rear of the cab in two also, fold in the grey panel at the sides and the longer red panels at the back. Rotate the arms forward, then twist the forearms around so that the fists face forwards. You can also rotate the cannon in the desired direction.
A really cool gimmick now reveals the head. Slide the left siren on the top of the cab forward, and Inferno's head will flip forward. Behind the cab, fold the remaining panel in on itself twice and this will create a support for the flap that the head is attached to.
His bulky appearance will make you think that his poseability is sacrificed. I was surprised myself to find that you can achieve quite a few poses with him, though his waist doesn't twist
His arms and legs can move in and out, up and down and rotate all around. The only point where you might run into a problem is in the arms. The shoulder pad that hangs off to the right of his torso, as the instructions show, mean that use of his right arm is limited as the water cannon bumps into it. Fortunately, both the right and left pads can swivel behind his shoulders altogether, meaning that the problem is solved.
His head is on a ball joint which means that he can pretty much look in every direction.
Everyone will also remember that Inferno had those white wings sticking out from the side of his head on the original toy. They're not lost here either, though they not white and far more subtle. See the first picture at the top of the review to see what I mean.
What you now have is a very dynamic toy that captures the essence of the classic character perfectly. He's also very large for a Voyager figure in terms of height and bulk.
His design is first class.
Comparison
Definately bigger than your average Voyager class from this line.
Weapons
One "water" cannon with a projectile missile. It's attached to his right arm and really, I'm glad they didn't make it his actual arm, a la Heavy Load(which has since put me off buying him).
Overall
With the Classics and Universe line, Hasbro have rarely failed to hit the mark. And with Inferno, you get something that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the toys. They got it so right, it's impossible for me to fault. For the first time ever, I'm giving a perfect score.
Score - 5/5
As a kid, I was never fortunate enough to have Inferno, or many official Transformers for that matter. When he was re-released by Hasbro, I snapped him up and I was suitably happy. He's a great looking toy.
The only way to improve on the original was in his poseability. That was all that really suffered.
With Universe Inferno, you get more than an updated character. You get something so well updated and something more impressive than your average Voyager. He's big and tough and is larger than his peers of the same class.
Universe Inferno - Vehicle Mode
His vehicle mode is a more contemporary fire truck, obviously. It's quite long, very chunky and drips of quality. The body of the vehicle is full of detail, including molded ladders on the side of the cab and silver pumps towards the rear, underneath the "water" cannon.
The colour scheme used is burgundy, white, black, grey and silver. Also here are translucent blue for the "water" missile projectile and clear plastic for the sirens, windows and headlights.
On the front of the cab is a "401" tampo, presumably indicating what precinct the vehicle belongs to, and an Autobot logo, also tampoed.
Along the side is a white stripe similar to Optimus Prime, with "Fire Rescue" and again, "401" tampoed on.
Behind the windscreen are two seats, which makes a nice change from blacked out windows or clear plastic ones that reveal, say, a characters head which is supposed to be hidden.
From the front, back and sides, everything is very well hidden courtesy of several panels that fold in on themselves in robot mode. From the top though, you can make out the arms and legs of the main mode. But this really isn't that big of a deal for me.
This is one of the coolest alt. modes in the entire line. It just feels absolutely perfect.
Universe Inferno - Robot Mode
Inferno has a fairly similar transformation to his G1 counterpart. Behind the cab, the top and bottom halves need to be seperated. Then the bottom half needs to split in two. From here, swing the legs and the waist armature down, spin the lower legs around and push the front bumper down.
Likewise, separate the top half at the rear of the cab in two also, fold in the grey panel at the sides and the longer red panels at the back. Rotate the arms forward, then twist the forearms around so that the fists face forwards. You can also rotate the cannon in the desired direction.
A really cool gimmick now reveals the head. Slide the left siren on the top of the cab forward, and Inferno's head will flip forward. Behind the cab, fold the remaining panel in on itself twice and this will create a support for the flap that the head is attached to.
His bulky appearance will make you think that his poseability is sacrificed. I was surprised myself to find that you can achieve quite a few poses with him, though his waist doesn't twist
His arms and legs can move in and out, up and down and rotate all around. The only point where you might run into a problem is in the arms. The shoulder pad that hangs off to the right of his torso, as the instructions show, mean that use of his right arm is limited as the water cannon bumps into it. Fortunately, both the right and left pads can swivel behind his shoulders altogether, meaning that the problem is solved.
His head is on a ball joint which means that he can pretty much look in every direction.
Everyone will also remember that Inferno had those white wings sticking out from the side of his head on the original toy. They're not lost here either, though they not white and far more subtle. See the first picture at the top of the review to see what I mean.
What you now have is a very dynamic toy that captures the essence of the classic character perfectly. He's also very large for a Voyager figure in terms of height and bulk.
His design is first class.
Comparison
Definately bigger than your average Voyager class from this line.
Weapons
One "water" cannon with a projectile missile. It's attached to his right arm and really, I'm glad they didn't make it his actual arm, a la Heavy Load(which has since put me off buying him).
Overall
With the Classics and Universe line, Hasbro have rarely failed to hit the mark. And with Inferno, you get something that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the toys. They got it so right, it's impossible for me to fault. For the first time ever, I'm giving a perfect score.
Score - 5/5
