The Insecticons have always been a favorite of mine. I was ecstatic when Mastermind Creations announced their take on this group. The package consists of Inflecto (Bombshell), Potestas (Shrapnel), and Calcitrant (Kickback). I’ve been awaiting this release for quite some time. In the end, I’m left feeling just a little disappointed.
As insects, they don’t look too bad. As expected, the proboscis, mandibles, and wings are chromed plastic. Calcitrant is my favorite of the group. I like his overall shape and the ridges on his rear legs. Inflecto is probably my least favorite. His underside is rather hollow and his robot head is clearly visible. On my copy, one of Potestas' legs appears to be on backwards, but it doesn't seem to interfere with his posability. I'm more bothered by his legs being yellow.
For articulation, wings and antenna swivel, proboscis waggle, and mandibles open and close. All their legs have several points of articulation. Some joints are ball-jointed while others are ratcheted. The joints have no trouble supporting the weight of the figures. It's just a bit fiddly to pose them. Calcitrant's head is locked in place so does not swivel. Potestas' head splits apart whenever you manipulate his mandibles.
Transformation back and forth is pretty straightforward for all three figures. There are a couple of pain points though.
Inflecto's lower legs are on sliders and will lock into place. His hands are also on sliders, but I don't think they have a locking point. They are prone to sliding back into his forearms. His rear insect legs fold up cleanly against his legs while the rest form a fairly clean backpack of limbs. His arms were tabbed very tightly to thin panels, and I did not feel comfortable having to use as much force as I did to release them.
I had an unbelievably hard time flipping out Potestas' wrists. A tab is provided, but the swivel was really tight. His lower insect legs fold into his lower legs, but the instructions aren't too clear how you are supposed to angle them. You just have to shove them in and hope for the best. His backpack is probably the worst of all the Insecticons in my collection. I suppose you just have to angle the legs however you can stand them. Unfortunately, that one backward piece is preventing any sense of symmetry. I'll probably try knocking out the pin to reverse it.
I like how Calcitrant's insect legs basically fold into his body. Unfortunately, they hinder his articulation and sometimes pop out. His insect toes stick out his back, but it doesn't really detract too much from the aesthetic. I do not like how his hands and knees are on sliders, especially since they don't seem to have a noticeable locking point. Like Maketoys Despotron, his knees are prone to sliding back into his lower legs. Although there are little nubs to flip his fingers out, you then have to yank on the fingers to slide his wrists out.
They pretty much hit all the right notes as far Insecticons are concerned. I’m not familiar enough with IDW to know if they should be this close to the G1 cartoon. Strangely, the eyes are not metallic paint. They are just a thin layer of a shiny red and not very cleanly applied. The purple on their bodies is pretty flat too. Calcitrant has gaps in his torso, but has the cleanest back. I like Potestas' aesthetics the most, except he has the worst backpack. I don't believe any of them have Die-cast parts. The Badcube bugs still hold the title for cleanest backsides.
Inflecto's and Calcitrant's heads are on ball joints while Potestas' is on a swivel and hinge. All can achieve a decent range of motion. All their shoulders are on hinges and swivels. Inflecto has ratcheted hinges, but on mine his right shoulder doesn’t ratchet. Except for Inflecto, they can raise their arms up and to the side parallel to the ground. Inflecto comes well shy of that, but he can butterfly and reverse butterfly his arms. They all swivel at their biceps and waists. Only Potestas has wrist swivels. All their thumbs are fixed and all have single-pinned fingers that articulate as a single unit. Inflecto and Potestas have single-jointed elbows while Calcitrant has double-jointed elbows. Only Calcitrant can perform full curls. Only Calcitrant has proper thigh swivels below his universal jointed hips. The others have limited thigh swivels because of their thigh sculpts. Inflecto has fully ratcheted hips, but the ratchets are too far apart. Calcitrant only has ratchets for the side-to-side axis. His ratchets are closer together, but there is a lot of wiggle room within each ratchet. Calcitrant and Potestas can perform full side splits, but not front splits. Inflecto cannot perform either. They all have single-jointed knees. Only Inflecto can perform half curls. Potestas can’t really curl his legs. Calcitrant can curl his legs, but his insect legs will come out, breaking the form. They all have various degrees of ankle tilts and rockers. The short of it is that Potestas, with his lack of ratchets, has the best articulation of the group.
Their only accessories are a rifle each and alternate faces for Potestas and Calcitrant. The rifles are chromed plastic with some line work. They all use a peg that is different for each and can store in insect mode. Calcitrant can't hold his rifle properly, but the other two have no trouble keeping theirs in place. The alternate faces for Potestas and Calcitrant have more whimsical expressions.
The group will stand on my Mastermind Creations Reformatted shelf. I suppose they wouldn’t look too out of place on a CHUG display of mostly Voyager class figures. They don't have the heft of the Fans Toys figures nor the bulk of the Badcube bugs. All three are bulkier than Cynicus and Azalea, but somehow feel more fragile. They also lack the posability of Azalea. As a set, they look fine on the shelf, but I’m not enamored with the design. The quality doesn’t seem quite up to Mastermind Creations’ usual standard. Still, I love their figures and eagerly await their next release.
I had an unbelievably hard time flipping out Potestas' wrists. A tab is provided, but the swivel was really tight. His lower insect legs fold into his lower legs, but the instructions aren't too clear how you are supposed to angle them. You just have to shove them in and hope for the best. His backpack is probably the worst of all the Insecticons in my collection. I suppose you just have to angle the legs however you can stand them. Unfortunately, that one backward piece is preventing any sense of symmetry. I'll probably try knocking out the pin to reverse it.
I like how Calcitrant's insect legs basically fold into his body. Unfortunately, they hinder his articulation and sometimes pop out. His insect toes stick out his back, but it doesn't really detract too much from the aesthetic. I do not like how his hands and knees are on sliders, especially since they don't seem to have a noticeable locking point. Like Maketoys Despotron, his knees are prone to sliding back into his lower legs. Although there are little nubs to flip his fingers out, you then have to yank on the fingers to slide his wrists out.
They pretty much hit all the right notes as far Insecticons are concerned. I’m not familiar enough with IDW to know if they should be this close to the G1 cartoon. Strangely, the eyes are not metallic paint. They are just a thin layer of a shiny red and not very cleanly applied. The purple on their bodies is pretty flat too. Calcitrant has gaps in his torso, but has the cleanest back. I like Potestas' aesthetics the most, except he has the worst backpack. I don't believe any of them have Die-cast parts. The Badcube bugs still hold the title for cleanest backsides.
Inflecto's and Calcitrant's heads are on ball joints while Potestas' is on a swivel and hinge. All can achieve a decent range of motion. All their shoulders are on hinges and swivels. Inflecto has ratcheted hinges, but on mine his right shoulder doesn’t ratchet. Except for Inflecto, they can raise their arms up and to the side parallel to the ground. Inflecto comes well shy of that, but he can butterfly and reverse butterfly his arms. They all swivel at their biceps and waists. Only Potestas has wrist swivels. All their thumbs are fixed and all have single-pinned fingers that articulate as a single unit. Inflecto and Potestas have single-jointed elbows while Calcitrant has double-jointed elbows. Only Calcitrant can perform full curls. Only Calcitrant has proper thigh swivels below his universal jointed hips. The others have limited thigh swivels because of their thigh sculpts. Inflecto has fully ratcheted hips, but the ratchets are too far apart. Calcitrant only has ratchets for the side-to-side axis. His ratchets are closer together, but there is a lot of wiggle room within each ratchet. Calcitrant and Potestas can perform full side splits, but not front splits. Inflecto cannot perform either. They all have single-jointed knees. Only Inflecto can perform half curls. Potestas can’t really curl his legs. Calcitrant can curl his legs, but his insect legs will come out, breaking the form. They all have various degrees of ankle tilts and rockers. The short of it is that Potestas, with his lack of ratchets, has the best articulation of the group.
Their only accessories are a rifle each and alternate faces for Potestas and Calcitrant. The rifles are chromed plastic with some line work. They all use a peg that is different for each and can store in insect mode. Calcitrant can't hold his rifle properly, but the other two have no trouble keeping theirs in place. The alternate faces for Potestas and Calcitrant have more whimsical expressions.
The group will stand on my Mastermind Creations Reformatted shelf. I suppose they wouldn’t look too out of place on a CHUG display of mostly Voyager class figures. They don't have the heft of the Fans Toys figures nor the bulk of the Badcube bugs. All three are bulkier than Cynicus and Azalea, but somehow feel more fragile. They also lack the posability of Azalea. As a set, they look fine on the shelf, but I’m not enamored with the design. The quality doesn’t seem quite up to Mastermind Creations’ usual standard. Still, I love their figures and eagerly await their next release.
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