Insecticon
"I have an appetite for your destruction."

Insecticon is a merciless Terrorcon who declares allegiance only to himself. He possesses a powerful arsenal of Energon weapons in both robot and insect mode. His infamous battle tactics are feared by both Autobots and Decepticons alike, though few of his opponents have survived to speak of them. His enemies are advised to avoid the swarm of Insecticon.

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Review

Set Includes

The aptly-named Insecticon is a large, green, yellow, and brown beetle. His front mandibles and legs are brown, while his shell is dark green with some silver and purple highlights, and his underside is a muted yellow. His mandibles pivot at the base, next to his metallic-blue eyes and his front two legs are on ball-sockets. The rear two legs on either side are connected and share a hinge for positioning. A secondary hinge allows the back-most legs to move independently of the middle legs.

Near the front of the shell is Insecticon's Energon receptacle where Energon stars can be placed. To the right of that is a purple Decepticon emblem with a white border around it. I should note that the artwork and the toy pictures on the back of the packaging do not depict the final version of the toy. The green in the artwork is much more vibrant than what the toy has. And while the pictures on the card have the right shade of green, the insect legs on both the picture and the art are yellow as opposed to the brown Insecticon has. I realize the packaging is done in advance, but would it be really too much to ask to accurately portray the toy on it's own packaging?

Energon

As with his fellow Terrorcons, Insecticon comes with a few Energon accessories to aid in the revival of Unicron. These are all made of a clear yellow plastic. He comes with an Energon star, sword, and Gatling-gun with a Mini-Con port near the barrels. The Gatling-gun can be attached to a hole, just above the Energon receptacle. The sword can be placed in the center of the gun to give Insecticon a spinning drill.

Start-Change-Finish

To transform Insecticon into robot mode:

1. Remove the Energon accessories.
2. Bring the middle and back legs together and slide them back to the rear of the beetle.
3. Swing the front legs forward and split the shell down the center, bringing the sides out.
4. Rotate the head, the lower torso will turn at the same time, around 180 degrees.
5. Slide the outer portions of the shell down and rotate 90 degrees to form the hands.

Robot Mode

In robot form, Insecticon is a stocky, strong-looking Terrorcon. He is literally all arms and legs and they are thick. His upper torso and arms are primarily green black upper arms and waist. His upper legs are yellow with green and brown highlights and his legs are completely brown. Insecticon's helmet is yellow with a silver crest matching his eyes. His face is purple, contrasting well against the other colors. His mandibles protrude from the top of his head, but can be positioned back. It would have been nice for them to point forward with the two weapon barrels in the center of it, to give him some built-in firepower.

One interesting detail is on Insecticon's back. There appears to be another face there, somewhat resembling Armada Red Alert. Whether this was an intentional homage to the missing Autobot, perhaps foreshadowing a future episode where his fate is revealed, or simply someone for Insecticon to talk to is unknown. Due to the nature of his design, Insecticon doesn't have as much articulation as he could. His shoulders rotate and he can raise and lower his arms as well as rotate them at the elbows. His hips are on ball-sockets, but with his thick legs they are limited in their movement. While he can turn his head, his lower torso and legs will turn with it. These could possibly have been made separate entities.

Energon

As in beast mode, Insecticon can wield his Energon accessories in robot mode. The Gatling-gun and sword can be placed in either hand or combined into a drill weapon. He can also wield them as he did in beast mode.

Overall

Insecticon is a fun toy. He's stocky, transforms well, and comes with some fun accessories. His articulation is a slightly disappointing. The inconsistencies in his portrayal on the packaging is as well, though I've long since stopped saving the packaging with the bios and tech specs being online-only. Still, that aside, Insecticon is worth picking up.

Reviewer	Richard C. Mistron
Date	May 3rd 2004
Score	(8 out of 10)
Reads	5036
Link	Remy's Insecticon Gallery

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