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Transformers Energon Landmine - TFormers.com Featured Toy of The Month!

The TFormers Featured Toy for the month of October is Landmine from Transformers Energon.

Much like Armada before it, Transformers Energon is a very divisive toyline, with a majority of the toys requiring degrees of sacrifice to execute line-wide play features. But no matter how you feel about Powerlinking Autobots, it's difficult to dispute that when Energon was on target it really hit its mark dead on. Landmine is probably my favorite example for the strengths that existed by having the Autobot combination gimmick take different forms through the series.


Sold as an Ultra, commonly a $25 pricepoint at that point in time, Landmine has a good deal of interactivity, electronics and action features that made for a very dense bundle of toy. At its core Landmine is an armored truck cab. Through extra parts it can become a halftrack vehicle with a crane for rescue or salvage, and a missile launcher for, uh, long range rescue or salvage. The halftrack parts integrate fully with the appearance of the vehicle, so as long as they're attached everything looks completely natural. The option to disconnect that and have an equally legitimate looking truck cab is a great extra, and it lessens any feeling of partsforming from the vehicle to the main robot mode - something even the long-admired Fire Convoy didn't accomplish.

Transformation isn't difficult, but it never really was in Energon anyway. That lack of complication that still gives a satisfying change between modes should be seen as a sign of the strength of the toy's design. The toes are the only aspect that ever presents trouble, as there's a series of twists and bends needed to bring them to the right position and it's not exactly intuitive.

Landmine's robot has personality, and sadly that was an element more than a little lacking in many Energon toys. It might be the visor with the large, bright eyes visible behind, or maybe the exhaust pipes on the shoulders adding a little ornamentation. Whatever contributes to it, there's character here and he's not just another neutral-expressioned Autobot. Today the toy's articulation might seem more on the average side, when it was new it was a very welcome move forward from the often limited poseability larger toys of Armada. But despite being almost ten years old now it holds up very well with current figures, aging far more gracefully than many toys have. Landmine's core robot is roughly on par with a current Voyager. For an Ultra toy that may sound like a serious negative, but remember there are a number of pieces not being utilized at the moment!

The leftover halftrack bits can be formed in to their own freestanding emplacement. Whether you view it as a battle station or just a recovery or repair unit is up to your imagination. Regardless of assigned purpose, it's far from the worst execution I've seen of making a combat deck out of leftovers, and actually seems physically suited to its most visible purposes as either a small crane rig or a missile launching platform. Just with that alone it leaps ahead of the far more abstract majority.


But combining with the robot is the true intent. For the US released version with intact electronics, attaching the backpack to the toy triggers the classic transformation sound effect. With only the backpack and one piece each for the arms, the conversion from the basic robot is not drastic, really just serving to bulk up the upper body. In terms of the visuals, I think it works best for me by still looking consistent with the purpose of the vehicle mode. The big claws and the suddenly much thicker arms look well suited for grabbing large pieces of debris or wreckage, perhaps aided by the crane on the shoulder. It looks like construction (or demolition) gear that's also suited for combat; a utility mode as well as a "super" mode.

Much like a few of the luckier Decepticon toys, Landmine breaks the mold of an Energon toy. It's strong design with few drawbacks that stands up to the test of time. The mold was reused in 2009 as a Botcon exclusive, the first and only reuse of the mold since Transformers Energon. And even being as strong of a toy as it is, both versions released in Energon can be had inexpensively, with complete pieces going for right around original retail. Sometimes you can even get them boxed for that price. The Botcon Landshark isn't much more expensive, either. So don't let the line it comes from scare you off, this is a well designed, fun toy that can have a place in just about any collection!


5 Images - Click to Enlarge

Cab (1 of 5)

Emplacement (2 of 5)

Head (3 of 5)

Super (4 of 5)

Truck (5 of 5)

Data Center

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