The following toy review is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Laurel Smith, who passed away on Jan. 12, 2002 at the age of 86. Some of my fondest memories are of her giving me Trypticon for Christmas 1986, and of the two of us playing with Monsterbots. I love you, Nana, and I miss you.
Beast Mode
A recolour of Transmetal Terrorsaur, Terranotron is a Pteranodon ingens, most popular of the ancient flying reptiles known as pterosaurs. Mostly light silver and brown, with flaming orange on his wingtips, yellow eyes, red on his fingers, caramel talons, and brilliant red vac metal on his
wings, crest, back, and rump. Airbrushing is used to great effect on this toy, with brown fading to red on his beak, brown to yellow and red to silver on his wings, and vac metal red fading to yellow on his rear. The overall result is one vivid, striking toy, much more so than Terrorsaur.
From beak to butt, Terranotron measures 15 cm(6") long and has a mighty wingspan of nearly 28 cm(11"). He is articulated at the mouth, neck, shoulders, legs, and talons in this mode. He can stand in a crouching position with his wings folded, as though scanning the distant horizon from atop a cliff, his beady eyes tuned to any sign of movement.
Enhanced Flight Mode
Fold back Terranotron's wings, flip forward open the silver covers on his wings to reveal hover fans, and open up his rear to reveal a set of jet thrusters with a bright green Dinobot spark crystal mounted in them, something Terrorsaur lacks. Similarly, the vac metal panel behind Terranotron's head is thicker than Terrorsaur's. These are significant features, as they make Terranotron one of the few Dinobot toys to receive a mould change as well as a new colour scheme.
Transformation
Fairly straightforward, with little difficulty and no tricks. The front half of the Pteranodon folds down to become the robot's
chest and its arms and legs become the robot's.
Robot Mode
Terranotron stands 12.5 cm(5") tall as a robot. He looks very
powerful and warrior-like, with wide shoulders and muscular forearms and legs. He retains the same colour scheme except with more brown parts showing. His head is brown with a red face, orange eyes, and a white toothy snarl. Terranotron has articulation at the head, shoulders, elbows, hips, thighs, knees(two joints), and toes. His wingtips snap off to become long
blade weapons that peg into his hands. And if that's not enough to deter would-be foes, the heavy cannons mounted on Terranotron's shoulders should give them cause for alarm!
Overall
Suspsy Sez: Terranotron is one of the nicest-looking recolours in the TF line, and that's saying something. Combined with good articulation, play value, detail, and his (very brief) inclusion in the Wreckers comic, this is one toy that's definitely worth the money. Even if you already have
Terrorsaur, you might want to consider Terranotron as well.
Suspsy
"The future of Cybertron resides in the skies." -Terranotron
Images courtsey of
Dusty Peterson.
| Reviewer | Suspsy |
| Date | January 16th 2002 |
| Score |  (9 out of 10) |
| Reads | 10541 |
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