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Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades

Posted by D-Maximal_Primal May 18, 2016 at 11:01pm CDT 56,868 views
Well, yours truly has managed to snag hold of a Combiner Wars Victorion from Hasbro Toy Show using that good ole 15% off May Mayhem code, and it even managed to arrive 30 hours after ordering. A great story, but one for another time.

Now, it is time to give the Rust Renegades a good pictorial review. Now, most of you will remember that our very own Seibertron did a nice little Video Review as well as his typical and fantastic Gallery, but now it is time for a different type of review. We will be taking a nice pictorial review of the figure that I received today, and we will also bring up some important characteristics of the figure, such as some remolding, some neat little tricks, and a few issues to keep an eye out.

Alright folks, dudes and dudettes, ladies and gents, lets get rolling!

First up, We will investigate the Box and the extra little pieces of paper and posterboard:


That's right peoples, she not only has a massive box, but she comes with a collectors card, instructions, and a poster of herself with her individual bots in alt mode! (Well, except for poor old Rust Dust...)

Alright, now on to the alt modes:





For quick clarification: Stormclash has the visor and the left-side chest-mounted Autobot symbol, while Skyburst has the individual eyes and the right-side chest-mounted Autobot symbol.


And if you use the feet on the underneath side, you can get some nice flying poses!



Now, Jumpstream's front end where the chest tabs to the bumber is a bit messy, but it still pegs in nice and snug. She also looks really good with the Pyra Magna axe as a spoiler.


Be careful with Dust up: her underside likes to drag on the ground. Just a warning.




And here is a nice little look at the new ladder and bucket assembly Pyra Magna is decorated with.


Now, after looking at that, some thoughts:

Dust up to me feels like she could be the winner since, despite the several uses of the mold, besides Dead End I don't have this version of the mold, so it feels cool. I only wish some of her other issues did not exist, but we'll see those later.

Pyra Magna has some issues with the front of her firetruck mode as it won't level out, so the second set of wheels is almost always off the ground. But overall, not terrible. I just wish it leveled out and had some better plastic.

The twins are a choice treat. Yes, they are the coptor mode, but they feel a little bit different and nice, and I love their heads. One issue: Their legs peg together so snug that separating them is a bit scary.

Jumpstream has a bit of a roundish and weird looking head, but overall she is not bad. Mine came with some paint chips off the chest plate, but she transforms well, and may be the most fun one to transform.

Rust Dust may be a repaint, but she is still nice, and I like her, she makes me smile.

Robot modes:






A comparison for the Twin's heads



The new head and chest of Jumpstream




And this is where I have another issue with the figure. if you look at the joint close enough, you see stress marks from only transforming her 3 times. The roof joint is very tight and I worry for the longevity of the windshield screen. she has major issues staying together and transforming. Ouch.


Another issue: her chest panel does not want to peg into the main body.



Pyra Magna may use the main Hot Spot body and alt mode, but she did get Onslaught's heel spurs, a nice touch very much appreciated since her ladder assemble is shorter and no longer touches the ground.


and how I find the feet and hands store away the best.


Now, you may notice that the hands are hiding inside the feet. They actually slide in there pretty nicely too. In the images shown below, you can see how this works, but the hands have a little slot on the underside of the hand in the 5mm port that enables them to slide into the feet, and they stay very snug. Nice touch.


Now, for a quick peak at her fantastic new weapon, which is the combined mode of all 5 weapons seen previously:



And now for some combined mode:


This right here is her new chest detail without Rust Dust


Nice little trick here. I have seen several reviewers have the issue of the new coptor arms clashing, but there are 2 different tabs in the arms, so you can rotate them and peg them in like this, meaning that there are no clashing parts in combined mode


She has 2 different limb configurations. Here is the "Flight mode" with the coptor twins as the feet.


And gravity control mode, with the coptor twins as the arms


Dust up is a recurring issue, as her arm mode does not like to stay together unfortunately. If hse is still she won't separate, but if you move her, BAM! She will fall apart.



So, on to my final thoughts.

Box and bonus stuff: Works for me. The poster was a nice touch and I will hang it up somewhere, and the card shall join my other cards lying on my desk. Awesome art though, as per usual boxy stuff.

Pyra Magna: the plastic is very soft and not overly heavy, a major weak point. Her knees no longer want to tab in place and I'm scared to push any farther, and her left arm does not like combined mode. I do appreciate the heel spurs, a great improvement, and she does look good. Her new chest and head are also pretty good. I'd give her an 7/10, with the alt modes, left arm, and plastic quality issues letting her down.

Dust up: The weakest of the group. Alt mode drags the ground, the chest won't tab, and the roof scares me, not to mention sticking together in arm mode. But, she does look awesome, and the Nightbird head is amazing. So, 6/10. She is the one that I fear actually breaking.

Jumpstream: the best of the bunch to me. Decent head, transforms well, the hips are now far more solid than the original Breakdown and she has some nice new arms to go with the head. Plus, she rolls nice, and looks awesome with the axe weapon. 9/10, with the only losing points going to the nose piece.

Stormclash/Skyburst: I love me some twins, and they are no exception. The mirrored paint apps and the slightly different heads make them just different enough, and they transform nice, have new parts, and they make great limbs. They may be the best pair of limbs. 9/10 for both, the legs transformation being the only letdown, due to the scariness of potential breaking.

Rust Dust: Nice little repaint. she works, and she looks alright. tabs in better than Groove too, so 10/10 for what she is.

Victorion: the main event herself, and the best of the combiners in my opinion. The uniform color scheme is awesome and matches and makes her look like a big bot made from a cohesive team. And she has loads of paint, loads and loads of it. You will not get bored looking at the amount of paint apps. this is on par with club or Botcon exclusives! nicely done there. She also looks symmetrical and the new hands and feet are awesome, just wish the hands were a touch bigger. Now, I found that she is more balanced with the coptor sisters as legs, but you can go whatever route you want. It's combiner wars! Mix and Match! And her head, oh wow, it is big and detailed and lovely. she actually has eyes, and then the visor overtop! I really like that, and the detail on the crest is nice touch. Overall, I give her a 10/10 for what she is.

Now, you may be exhausted when you consider she is entirely repaints with some retooling, but she is still well worth it. She is uniform in paint and symmetry, has special new parts, some fantastic heads, and that sword! I'd recommend her, even if you have collected all the other combiner like I have. Take a look, and should you decide to leap: Hasbro Toy Shop still has that May Mayhem coupon, so go get her!

I hope you all enjoyed this review. Let us know what you think of this new gal in the comments section down below, and as always stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all your latest Transformers News and Galleries!
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades
Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades

More Bots. More News. More Awesome.

Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Bounti76 May 18, 2016
Nice review! I picked her up at my local Target today (had her shipped to the store), and really like her. Some of the issues you mentioned I'm not having with mine. My Dustup stays together fairly well in arm mode (that's how I have her right now), and her chest piece does peg in, but it takes some effort. It fits tightly in there, though. Also, I've noticed that if you pull up on the windshield a bit on her, then open it the rest of the way by pressing down at the back of the windshield piece, on the roof, that it avoids those stress marks. I started doing that when I got Wildrider and the stress marks on his haven't gotten any bigger.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Sabrblade May 18, 2016
Sounds like your Pyra Magna is one of the misassembled ones (if they aren't all misassembled, that is).
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Flashwave May 18, 2016
Dust up is a recurring issue, as her arm mode does not like to stay together unfortunately. If hse is still she won't separate, but if you move her, BAM! She will fall apart.


This, right here is an issue I have with every iteration of the Dead End/Streetwise mold and is why I will never be using them as arms period. And if its not the legs, it's the pivoting socket piece drooping down under weight prying the legs apart. I get the same issue with the Leg mode too, but not as much since weight of the gestalt holds it in place.



Your chest plate issues I have not noticed with mine, maybe it's a lesser thing.

You mention the front of Pyra Magna's truck not level, I have that problem with my Onslaught, and I don't recall but I miight have seen it on Hot Spot to a much lesser degree. So it's not just her.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by D-Maximal_Primal May 19, 2016
Bounti76 wrote:Also, I've noticed that if you pull up on the windshield a bit on her, then open it the rest of the way by pressing down at the back of the windshield piece, on the roof, that it avoids those stress marks. I started doing that when I got Wildrider and the stress marks on his haven't gotten any bigger.

I'll have to remember this and give it a try tonight when I get back from work :-? Thank you! :MAXIMAL:
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Va'al May 19, 2016
It begins.

Image

More photos will appear shortly in my collection thread!
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Randomhero May 19, 2016
She arrives tomorrow and I cant wait! I think I'll keep the coptors as arms and cars as feet. It looks more attractive and they're a bit more stable than the cars. Also that's how she's primarily portrayed in the comics and it over looks more attractive.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Giant Purple Griffin May 19, 2016
I really appreciated this review. I always prefer a good pictorial review to video and would love to see more (even if just for special cases like this).

Anyway, this set is so tempting. I keep waffling back and forth....
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Randomhero May 19, 2016
The legs on pyra Magnus are misassembled. I don't know if there's a way to fix them, I haven't seen anything about it yet.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Madeus Prime May 19, 2016
Flashwave wrote:
Dust up is a recurring issue, as her arm mode does not like to stay together unfortunately. If hse is still she won't separate, but if you move her, BAM! She will fall apart.


This, right here is an issue I have with every iteration of the Dead End/Streetwise mold and is why I will never be using them as arms period. And if its not the legs, it's the pivoting socket piece drooping down under weight prying the legs apart. I get the same issue with the Leg mode too, but not as much since weight of the gestalt holds it in place.


Small note, I found that while most of the molds do have this issue, my Prowl doesn't. :-?
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Counterpunch May 19, 2016
If you get your Victorion set, please confirm whether Pyro Magna is missassembled or not.

You can check this by whether her legs lock into the knees in robot mode.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Va'al May 19, 2016
Counterpunch wrote:If you get your Victorion set, please confirm whether Pyro Magna is missassembled or not.

You can check this by whether her legs lock into the knees in robot mode.


Definitely misassembled on my Pyra Magna. First thing I checked (followed by fixing them - tried removing rivets to no avail, so blade-trim it was, and it holds fine)!

Image

(More in my thread, pictures start here.)
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Mindmaster May 19, 2016
IMO, I think she looks best with the twins as her arms and the cars as her legs. Makes her more... streamlined? Certainly goes with her hands better, given how the cars give her a wizard-sleeve look with those girly little hands.

I kinda want her, but once more, finances aren't strong right now, but if she's still available by summer's end, I'll totally grab myself a set.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Bounti76 May 19, 2016
D-Maximus_Primal wrote:
Bounti76 wrote:Also, I've noticed that if you pull up on the windshield a bit on her, then open it the rest of the way by pressing down at the back of the windshield piece, on the roof, that it avoids those stress marks. I started doing that when I got Wildrider and the stress marks on his haven't gotten any bigger.

I'll have to remember this and give it a try tonight when I get back from work :-? Thank you! :MAXIMAL:


You're welcome! It only seems to be an issue on the Dead End version of the mold (Dead End, Wildrider, Dustup) but thankfully, there's that workaround.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by TF-fan kev777 May 19, 2016
Bounti76 wrote:
D-Maximus_Primal wrote:
Bounti76 wrote:Also, I've noticed that if you pull up on the windshield a bit on her, then open it the rest of the way by pressing down at the back of the windshield piece, on the roof, that it avoids those stress marks. I started doing that when I got Wildrider and the stress marks on his haven't gotten any bigger.

I'll have to remember this and give it a try tonight when I get back from work :-? Thank you! :MAXIMAL:


You're welcome! It only seems to be an issue on the Dead End version of the mold (Dead End, Wildrider, Dustup) but thankfully, there's that workaround.


I actually push down on the roof/back of the windshield first on the Dead End, Streetwise and Breakdown molds (and various retools/remolds) before pulling on the windshield itself. In my case, its fat fingers and short nails that make it hard for me to grab the windshield first, but I'm also glad to know I've been preventing stress marks the whole time. This seems to be really important on the G2 stunticons where the tolerances are really tight.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Cobotron May 19, 2016
TF-fan kev777 wrote:
Bounti76 wrote:
D-Maximus_Primal wrote:
Bounti76 wrote:Also, I've noticed that if you pull up on the windshield a bit on her, then open it the rest of the way by pressing down at the back of the windshield piece, on the roof, that it avoids those stress marks. I started doing that when I got Wildrider and the stress marks on his haven't gotten any bigger.

I'll have to remember this and give it a try tonight when I get back from work :-? Thank you! :MAXIMAL:


You're welcome! It only seems to be an issue on the Dead End version of the mold (Dead End, Wildrider, Dustup) but thankfully, there's that workaround.


I actually push down on the roof/back of the windshield first on the Dead End, Streetwise and Breakdown molds (and various retools/remolds) before pulling on the windshield itself. In my case, its fat fingers and short nails that make it hard for me to grab the windshield first, but I'm also glad to know I've been preventing stress marks the whole time. This seems to be really important on the G2 stunticons where the tolerances are really tight.
I remember early reports of the stress marks and straight up breaking. I too always push on the back first to get my finger under the windshield, than apply pressure to both sides. I do the same for the Breakdown mold also. Out of habit.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by D-Maximal_Primal May 19, 2016
Amazingly enough, Dust up is the only version of the mold that I have had issues with. Hmm....

And thanks for the positive feedback :D Maybe we can try to make this a regular thing! :MAXIMAL:
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by no-one May 19, 2016
Cobotron wrote:
TF-fan kev777 wrote:
Bounti76 wrote:
D-Maximus_Primal wrote:
Bounti76 wrote:Also, I've noticed that if you pull up on the windshield a bit on her, then open it the rest of the way by pressing down at the back of the windshield piece, on the roof, that it avoids those stress marks. I started doing that when I got Wildrider and the stress marks on his haven't gotten any bigger.

I'll have to remember this and give it a try tonight when I get back from work :-? Thank you! :MAXIMAL:


You're welcome! It only seems to be an issue on the Dead End version of the mold (Dead End, Wildrider, Dustup) but thankfully, there's that workaround.


I actually push down on the roof/back of the windshield first on the Dead End, Streetwise and Breakdown molds (and various retools/remolds) before pulling on the windshield itself. In my case, its fat fingers and short nails that make it hard for me to grab the windshield first, but I'm also glad to know I've been preventing stress marks the whole time. This seems to be really important on the G2 stunticons where the tolerances are really tight.
I remember early reports of the stress marks and straight up breaking. I too always push on the back first to get my finger under the windshield, than apply pressure to both sides. I do the same for the Breakdown mold also. Out of habit.
The other option is to pop the combiner peg down and push from the underside with a pen or something slim.
Re: Pictorial Review and Tips: Combiner Wars Fan Built Bot: Victorion and the Rust Renegades (view post)
Comment by Slashercon May 19, 2016
My Pyra Magna figure is also misassembled. :BANG_HEAD: Just compared her with Onslaught and the legs won't lock properly. I wonder if Hasbro will be willing to fix the issue.
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