Friday, June 23, 2017

Fans Hobby Feilong - Doublecross

I have some nostalgia for Doublecross the toy, not so much the character. Whether authentic, cheap KO, or the wrong toy line altogether, I remember playing with a two-headed transforming dragon with a sparking-gimmick. Fans Hobby Feilong brings back some memories, but not the gimmick.

I'm not a big fan of his dragon mode. His dragon arms don't seem right. I distinctly remember my childhood toy having organic-looking arms that weirded me out. The lower and upper halves don't seem to stay together very well. I do like the heads and how crazy wide the jaws can open. A sparking gimmick would have been appreciated for nostalgia points, if I'm even remembering the right toy.

His dragon necks will become his arms. As such, they swivel at the base of the necks. Double-jointed hinges allow the heads to look up and down. Both heads can swivel. His arms are on ball joints with limited range of motion. Small arms with single-jointed elbows can neither straighten completely nor curl past ninety degrees. His wings are hinged at two spots. His hind legs are on ratcheted swivels with limited ball joints at the knees. The ratchets sometimes have trouble holding up the weight of the figure. His ankles are also on ratchets. Long heel spurs on swivels give him quite a bit of stability.

Transformation is pretty easy in either direction. The clearances could have been better for his legs/tail section, but I didn't really have any problems. Everything clicks together pretty solidly. In robot mode, I have the arms extended to get wrist swivels. If collapsed as per the instructions, he can no longer swivel his dragon head hands.

Like Megatooth, Feilong is a big and beefy robot. The aesthetic may not be as appealing to some, but I don't mind it for the Monsterbots. I'm not a big fan of his feet though. Compared to the rest of his body, they seem really small and skinny. There is some line work and clean paint applications, but he's mostly colored plastic. Thankfully, the Fans Hobby and Master Builder branding do not make a return. He definitely has Die-cast in his feet.

His head is on ball joint. Like Megatooth, he can look down but probably can't see past his chest. His shoulders are on swivels and double hinges. The ratcheted parts are probably meant for transformation, but they allow him to raise his arms straight up into the air. He has bicep swivels. If the dragon heads are left extended, he also has wrist swivels. His double-jointed elbows almost let him perform full curls. On my copy, the left elbow joint cannot support the weight of his rifle. His hands are his dragon heads. They can open and fold out of the way to expose cannons. He swivels at his waist and thighs. His hips are on ratcheted universal joints that allow him to do a full side splits, but only a partial front splits. His ratcheted, single-jointed knees barely curl to 45 degrees. His feet are on ball joints, but the joints are positioned near the front of his feet, making his ankles a bit wonky. He has a tendency to lean backwards. 

His only accessories are his two rifles. They are gray plastic, have some line work, and are identical. Both use Masterpiece-styled tabs that work better than I had expected. They can also tab onto his back in dragon mode.

Until and if Maketoys releases their own line of Monsterbots, I'm content to display Doublecross alongside Cupola, Ironwill, and Contact Shot. If Fans Hobby had included a sparking gimmick, they would have won back points lost to the terrible feet and ankle design. Still, I can't have an incomplete set so hope that Grotesque will be out soon. I'm not sure I will be buying in on the rest of their line though.








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