San Diego Comic Con 2013 Transformers Generations Titan Class Metroplex

It took me a while to find one at a price I was willing to pay, but I finally tracked down a SDCC Titan Class Metroplex.

Box: As has become customary for Hasbro, the box for SDCC Metroplex is much bigger and more complicated than it needed to be.  It’s almost half again as big as the box for the retail version.  I don’t see why Hasbro does this.  All it means is that it costs more for people to ship home from SDCC.  The only thing the enormous box adds to it is inconvenience.

Decoys

The SDCC version of Metroplex included twelve decoys similar to the G1 pack in bonus decoys.  You get six characters each in robot and vehicle mode for a total of twelve.  These aren’t really anything special, but they are kind of cool.  All are based on Generation Deluxe molds.

Starscream

Megatron

Orion Pax

Bumblebee

Trailcutter

Hoist

Scamper

Vehicle Mode: Scamper’s vehicle mode is pretty awesome.  He’s nicely detailed and certainly a huge improvement over G1 Scamper.

Robot Mode:  I’m not sure I like his head in red and I think he needed a few more paint apps, but his robot mode is pretty cool.

And now, on to the big guy.

Metroplex

Robot Mode: If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I almost always review vehicle mode first.  However, I thought we’d go over the good first.

Metroplex’s robot mode is absolutely awesome.  He’s got all kind of molded details all over him.  He has ratcheting joints giving him plenty of articulation without making him hard to stand up.  He is very top heavy though, making him difficult to handle.  If you hold him by the legs and tip him, it doesn’t take long before his upper body weight just overwhelms the joints in his hips and knees.

The SDCC version has chromed hips and face and the second gun.  His stickers are also metallic.  One of my problems with the SDCC version is that they should have used paint apps rather than stickers.  I can understand not doing it for the retail version, as it would almost certainly make it too expensive.  Since the SDCC version is a toy for collectors, a little more expense for a better toy would have been worth it.

Also of note the is poor quality control.  Many Metroplex’s have a defective battery compartment.  The left one need a small ball of tin foil put in to make his electronics work.  Talk about shoddy construction.

Tank and City Modes: To put it simply, they suck.  The tank mode (I always thought of G1 Metroplex as a tank) has his door open and the ramp leading down to the surface.  I have no idea why.  I guess he is supposed to be like an aircraft carrier, but it just doesn’t work.  His top heaviness makes it hard to do anything with him, because there is all that weight in the back.  There is also nowhere to put the second gun.  I assumed it was designed to have two guns, and Hasbro just left one out.  The extra gun is just that, extra.  If the end of his ramp attached to the bed, I think it would improve it greatly.  His City mode is by far worse than the tank.  His ramp doesn’t even reach the surface, it just sort of hangs in the air.  His right hand is visible.  He is so top heavy, I had trouble getting the base to sit with legs flat since the back half is supported by a single wheel.  Honestly, I think G1 Metroplex had better vehicle and city modes.

Overall: His robot mode is so good and the chrome looks so awesome, that you really can’t regret buying him.  Just don’t transform him.  You’ll be happier.

Thanks for reading!