Earlier this year, fans were perplexed by the inclusion of an exposed gear mechanism on Armada Cyclonus' gunship mode. As it turns out, each member of the Destruction Team can snap onto Cyclonus for added mayhem and destruction. Gotta love it.
BUZZSAW
Vehicle Mode: As most fans know by now, Buzzsaw is a bucket excavator, almost identical to the one seen
here.
He measures a little over 7 cm(2.75") long and his main colours are yellow, dark grey, and pine green. The sculpting on him is fantastic, especially the treads and the bucket wheel itself. His Powerlinx socket is mounted on his bottom. Pushing Buzzsaw forward causes his wheel to spin counter-clockwise---the wrong way for digging or slicing, incidentally. No worries, the wheel spins clockwise just as easily by pulling the excavator back.
Transformation: The bucket wheel and conveyor belt separate to become Buzzsaw's arms and his treads swing out to form legs.
Robot Mode: Standing 5 cm(2") tall, Buzzsaw is one stocky and powerful-looking Mini-Con. His head is yellow with a green face, and slightly resembles a construction helmet. His faction symbol is sculpted on his left shoulder and his right arm ends in a blocky fist. He's got articulation at the head, shoulders, waist, hips, and ankles, and his wheel still spins by turning the gear on his arm with your finger.
Overall: Buzzsaw is definitely one of the best Mini-Cons to date. Original and accurate vehicle mode, nice gimmick, good transformation, great robot mode. 9.5/10
DRILLBIT
Vehicle Mode: No longer a Beast Wars weevil, Drillbit is now a futuristic boring vehicle, 7.5 cm(3") long from nose to drill tip. Mostly orange and dark gray, with yellow side panels, airbrushed metallic silver on the drill and navy blue windows (The front window is dark gray for some reason). Pushing Drillbit forward or pulling him back causes his drill to spin noisily. His Powerlinx socket is mounted on the bottom of his drill mechanism. One thing I don't like about this mode is that the robot head is visible, even when you turn it around to face the rear.
Transformation: Treads lower to become legs, arms swing forwards, head rotates to reveal face.
Robot Mode: Drillbit stands just under 6 cm(2.4") tall. He's not quite as impressive as Buzzsaw, what with a sizeable potbelly and a ridiculously puny left arm that appears to have a laser blaster on the end of it. His cylindrical head is gray and yellow with beady eyes. He's articulated at the head, shoulders, hips, and ankles, and his drill turns by spinning the yellow knob in his arm. His faction symbol is on his right shoulder.
Overall:
Drillbit is a neat toy. Nice vehicle mode, neat gimmick, good transformation, and okay if lopsided robot mode. 9/10
DUALOR
Vehicle Mode: Whereas his comrades are digging vehicles, Dualor is a tank, 5 cm(2") long, with twin guns. Mainly dark gray and yellow with blue on the turret and side armour. Moving him forwards or back causes the guns to reciprocate, similar to those on BM Strika. The turret turns a full 360 degrees and the guns reciprocate no matter what direction they're facing. His faction symbol is on the front of his turret and his Powerlinx socket is on his bottom (ends up in a rather suggestive location when he's in robot mode).
Transformation: Very similar to many a Micromaster. The front of the tank extends to become the legs, feet flip out, and the sides become arms.
Robot Mode: Dualor stands 5.5 cm(2") tall at the head, with his twin guns adding a couple more centimetres. His head is gray with a blue visor and he has nicely sculpted fists. He's articulated at the head, shoulders, waist, hips, and ankles, and is pretty backheavy due to his turret. It's actually best to lean him forwards slightly.
Overall:
Dualor is probably my second favourite after Buzzsaw. Cool tank mode, neat gimmick, simple transformation, and good robot mode. 9/10
All three members of the Destruction Team snap onto Cyclonus' underbelly gear so firmly that it often requires excessive force to remove them. Once you've attached either Buzzsaw, Drillbit, or Dualor, activating Cyc's spinning rotor gimmick will activate their gimmicks as well. Dualor turns Cyc into a flying mass of firepower, Drillbit looks . . . phallic, and Buzzsaw makes him look similar to one of those tree-cutting copters from the James Bond flick " The World Is Not Enough."
Overall
Susp Sez: Definitely the most fun Mini-Cons to date. Snap them up when you find them. 9/10
Susp
"Destroy and conquer!" -Destruction Team
| Reviewer | Suspsy |
| Date | October 29th 2002 |
| Score |  (9 out of 10) |
| Reads | 9371 |
Image Gallery 1
Back to Reviews Index
|
