The year 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Seibertron.com will look back at a quarter-century of great Transformers toys, bringing back into the limelight some brilliant figures that have fallen through the cracks over the years. Once a week, a fan (be it a member of the staff or a user on the site) will have the opportunity to write about one of their favourite "hidden gems" of the Transformers Universe, and have their review posted on the site's front page.
We hope this feature will be a great success, and that many of you will be encouraged to look back at the last 25 years of Transformers and perhaps take a worthwhile second-look at some real unsung classics of the Transformers universe.
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Buried Treasure - Snapdragon (Generation 1 series - 1987)by
Jeep?Ah, good old
Snapdragon. Who could forget that loveably stinking filth-ridden Horrorcon? Well, if you were one of the unfortunates without the toy in your collection, you’d be forgiven for missing his hi-then-bye appearances in “The Rebirth” and the Marvel Comics series, since this is a character whose real legacy lies in moulded plastic, screws and washers. Now, since I didn’t have the toy growing up (being raised in the time of G2 and the European ‘Classic Series’ re-releases, coupled with the fecker being three years older than I am), I can’t speak for precisely how awesome he was considered ‘way back when’, - though the TV advert for the Horrorcons does feature a suitably enthused kiddo revelling in owning the thing. No, I’ve owned the fellow for a grand total of around six or seven months, and even in this day and age of high-tech ball joints and flashing lights, he blew me away.
For those who don’t know, the Horrorcons were a triple-changing subgroup (well, duo) of the Headmasters series – which meant that in addition to the Headmaster gimmick of a removable head which transformed into an additional robot, the Horrorcons (
Snappy and his buddy
Apeface) also featured two modes, one being a fighter jet and the other an animal - in Snappy’s case, appropriately, a dinosaur. Another interesting twist is that the Headmaster partner forms both the robot-mode and animal-mode heads, which I suppose could be considered two triple-changers in one box? Eh? Ah, worth a try.
It’s probably best to look at the jet mode first, as it’s the mode he’s packaged in whilst in the box, and the mode I received mine shipped in when I got it second-hand. As you can see here:
He’s got quite a long nose for a jet, with an opening cockpit to place his Headmaster partner – the oddly named
Krunk – into. His twin guns fit under the wings, whilst two detachable fins adorn the top side. As jets go, it’s quite interesting, with a strangely sleek design more reminiscent of a star-ship than a fighter jet. Either way it’s a bundle of awesome.
Next mode is the dinosaur mode (labelled as a lizard, but damn it, you know that’s a T-Rex, and you knew it back then too!). It’s a relatively simple transformation, most of which involves flipping the jet round and spinning the turbines round to form the legs. Here’s the first instance of
Krunk being used a Headmaster, when he fits into a socket in the flip-out neck used for the dinosaur. Showing an angry gob full of teeth, appropriately enough coloured a nice suggestive red, the angry lizard is further augmented with the addition of the two guns which can now be mounted on his back (or in his stubby little dino hands if you really want). You can see the blighter here:
Worth noting here is the articulation in his tail – while not as articulated as some later figures, it’s surprising for a toy of this era to have detail like this, especially when the tail serves a whole other purpose as a jet nose – but there are two points of articulation there, allowing a few poses to be worked out, and helping with any balance issues the toy might have.
However, the real joy of
Snapdragon's toy is his robot mode. Humorously, the robot seems a complete reversal of the dinosaur, with the legs of one forming the arms of the other, and vice-versa. In fact, the robot mode head even plugs into what we could assume to be the dinosaur’s, well, poop hole. Again armed with his twin balance-destroying gyro guns, the figure is remarkably articulated for a toy of its time, as you can see here:
Of course, the main gimmick of the Headmasters line is revealed behind the flip-down panel on his chest, revealing three of his tech spec stats – speed, strength and intelligence. Without Krunk, all of these seemingly read as zero, but plugging in the Headmaster partner gives our little Snappy a definite boost to Strength 10, Speed 9 and Intelligence 9. Head on! The Headmaster gimmick is interchangeable throughout the entire line, with each Headmaster partner giving different stat boosts to whatever robot they’re attached to. Try it out if you have any of them.
As for
Krunk himself, there isn’t a lot to say but it’s worth saying it, I suppose. His small size and the necessity for several uses means he’s not much more than functional, though he is able to move his arms up and down, either for a hug or a zombie shuffle – or, in a pinch, the monster mash. The nature of his dual head modes means that as a robot head, he’s got the yellowest cheeks you’ll ever see, and as a dinosaur head, there’s a disturbing purple mouth-plate on top of his noggin, but overlooking these is easy enough in light of everything.
Overall, the toy holds up well even today, although it is prone to a bit of yellowing due to the huge areas of white adorning it. Thankfully, with the black and dark purple parts offering a good contrast, this isn’t enough to ruin the figure. A highly recommended figure, and a buried treasure well worth digging up – or searching for.
Links:Snapdragon galleryHeadmaster Krunk gallery ...Or find your own buried treasures by visiting all the toy galleries
here!
*** If you would like to submit a review for our Buried Treasure feature, please send a private message to
Skowl on the Seibertron.com forums!
Previous Buried Treasure Reviews:
Cannonball by Skowl (
Link)
But a cracking figure, and one I'm always surprised isn't more widely regarded.
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