Divebomb is one of the latest wave of releases from the overly drawn-out Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toyline. Like most of the figs from this wave, Divebomb is a repaint of an earlier released character, specifically the scout class figure Ransack. This time around, the good folks at Hasbro decided to repaint that old hunk of biplane into the image of one of the most famous planes in the history of forever.
Yes folks, Divebomb here is repainted to look like the personal plane of a certain Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron. With over 80 kills under his belt while flying the thing, that distinctive red Fokker Dr. I triplane was one of the deadliest machines to ever leave the ground and would forever be associated with total aerial badassitude. Man, Divebomb here's got some mean pedigree!
Divebomb is cast in red plastic, with some white and black paint mimicking the markings of Manfred von Richthofen's famous ride. My Divebomb had minimal paint slop, and the white just helps his overall color pop. He looks great in vehicle mode, and even if I've already bought Ransack before (which I didn't), you wouldn't notice they're from the same mold!
Click on the pics to enlarge the awesomeness!
If you've read any review of Ransack before this, you pretty much know all there is to know about Divebomb's robot mode. If not, then contextual clues dictate that Divebomb hold no surprises for anyone who's seen Ransack. But even with the same biplane mold, there's just something about all that red that gives Divebomb much more personality than his predecessor. You could really imagine the great Baron having a Decepticon guardian ala Bumblebee as they went on adventures picking off noobs from the sky!
Divebomb has pretty much all the articulation you might expect from a scout: ball-jointed hips and shoulders and hinged knees, elbows and feet. You pretty much have to have the dexterity of a yeoman to pose this guy, as the size and articulation makes him hard to pose in positions you want. My Divebomb is a bit floppy himself, but once you get him in the pose you want, he pretty much stays there.
Divebomb has pretty much all the articulation you might expect from a scout: ball-jointed hips and shoulders and hinged knees, elbows and feet. You pretty much have to have the dexterity of a yeoman to pose this guy, as the size and articulation makes him hard to pose in positions you want. My Divebomb is a bit floppy himself, but once you get him in the pose you want, he pretty much stays there.
I especially like his 'battle mode', which basically consists of just straightening out his wings and lifting up his propeller to make it look like he's gliding. Add his machine guns and what looks like two nukes strapped to his arms and he would totally beat up Optimus Prime if he could!
Revenge of the Fallen Divebomb is a welcome repaint that literally gives new life to an earlier mold. The Red Baron redeco just gives his robot and vehicle mode so much more personality that he can stand (or fly) all on his own.
It's already out in the local markets, so take your time picking the evenly painted ones. Though at the price point of P645.75, some might think they won't get their bang for the obviously big buck. But trust me, this is one repaint you definitely need to get!
It's already out in the local markets, so take your time picking the evenly painted ones. Though at the price point of P645.75, some might think they won't get their bang for the obviously big buck. But trust me, this is one repaint you definitely need to get!
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3 Comments
There's actually an interesting bit of historical trivia that has to do with ROTF Divebomb, although it may well be just a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteThe Fokker Dr.I triplane is the equivalent of a "Gundam" type mobile suit when it came to World War I German fighters: it was a prototype produced in limited numbers that, I think, may have often been assigned to ace pilots.
Divebomb (and Ransack before him), on the other hand, transforms into one of the Germans' better and more famous mainline, mass-produced fighters, the Albatros D.III. Many legendary German aces of WWI flew this plane - including Freiherr (German for "free lord" or "baron") Manfred von Richtofen himself.
In fact, when I looked up Richtofen and the Albatros D.III on Wikipedia and several other WWI-themed web sites, I read that Richtofen's Albatros was the first airplane to actually bear his distinctive red-and-white color scheme, so I guess that would mean that Divebomb transforms into Richtofen's own airplane.
I'm not sure if Aaron Archer and the folks at Hasbro knew this going in and designed the paint job with that in mind, or if it was just coincidence. The fact that they were able to model the toy on one particular type of German airplane does suggest that someone's doing their homework, though!
There's only one gripe that I have with the figure - and it has to do with the decision to make this historically accurate paint scheme:
The original Divebomb's Decepticon insignia were cleverly disguised by combining them with the logo of the Deustche Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service), which resembled the famous Iron Cross. It would have made much more sense to keep those special symbols on Divebomb instead of changing them to plain Decepticon logos, heightening both his "disguise" element and his association with the Red Baron.
This is an addendum to the previous comment. The URL listed below gives the source where I found the reference to Richtofen's first "red" airplane being the type of plane that the Ransack/Divebomb toy is based upon.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/richthofen2.php
Whoah...BRAIN BOMB!
ReplyDeleteBut I digress. Welcome to the blog, mr. anon. I guess I should be glad my review made you research so much about the historical accuracy of Divebomb.
But don't worry...I absolutely fucking love trivia like this. If you got your own blog, I'd love to hear about your insights!