The Street Action Team is the most kiddie-friendly Mini-Con team, what with their portrayal on the TV show and the comic. They also get points for truly unique alt modes.
GRINDOR
Skateboard Mode: Now here's an alt mode you don't see every day. And Grindor's not just an ordinary skateboard, but rather one with twin jet thrusters mounted at the rear. A board built for the suicidal at heart. Mostly navy and light blue with metallic silver thrusters and yellow friction pads, Grindor measures about 7.5 cm(3") long. A Mini-Con symbol is etched into his back. He rolls along quite nicely on four small black wheels.
Transformation: Simple, naturally. The rear of the skateboard separates and unfolds to become the robot legs, the front splits to become the arms, and two black panels slide down to reveal the head.
Robot Mode: At just under 6 cm(2.4") tall and with a wingspan of 7 cm(2.8"), Grindor is the most proportional and best-looking member of the Street Action Team. He's still mostly navy and light blue with yellow for his face and chest panel and black shoulder pads. His wings make him seem imposing despite his size. Unfortunately, he's not very poseable in this mode. His arms and legs swivel out to the sides to do jumping jacks or a Superman flying pose, and that's it.
Overall, Grindor's a pretty cool toy. 7.5/10
HIGH WIRE
Bike Mode: At some point in all our lives, we've speculated on what a bicycle Transformer would be like. But no longer. Meet High Wire, a nifty little black and light blue bicycle that measures about 6.5 cm(2.6") long from wheel to wheel. He's got all the features of a real bike: brakes on the handlebars, a headlight/reflector, a seat, a moulded chain, and turning
pedals that double as kick stands. His faction symbol is on his left side. His wheels spin freely and his tires are moulded to look like off-road ones. One couldn't ask for a neater bike, except High Wire does look a little strange with a big robot head hanging down from his rear.
Transformation: The simplest of the three. The rear of the bike separates to become the legs, the front section rises up, and the front wheel detaches from the right arm.
Robot Mode: Only 5 cm(2") tall in robot mode, High Wire is the smallest member of the S.A.T. And definitely the cutest. He's got a skinny head and body, rod-like arms, and very weird legs. His face consists of a red visor and white mouthplate. His right arm ends in a claw, his left one has the bike's front wheel attached to it. Yes, High Wire may look darling, but piss him off and he'll shred your face right off. His shoulders and hips are ball-jointed and he can actually attain a pretty good action pose thanks to the wheel halves on his legs.
High Wire is one toy that you'll either adore or abhor. Count me among the former. 8/10
SURESHOCK
Scooter Mode: Yet another first for the TFs line, Sureshock is a motor scooter, conveyance for many a European. The most colourful member of the S.A.T., he's mainly bright orange with light blue handlebars, a blue-green seat, yellow headlights, light blue and metallic silver mechanical parts, and black wheels. He measures just under 7 cm(2.75") long, and can balance
on his two wheels. His detailing includes textured lights, handlebars, and tires. His faction symbol is etched into his left side.
Transformation: The front of the scooter splits to become the arms and the rear unfolds to become the legs.
Robot Mode: Okay, he's 6.5 cm(2.6") tall in this mode, he's got a blue-green face with yellow bug eyes, and . . . he's clearly the loser of this lot, the one whose robot mode suffers the most as a result of being a gestalt component. His arms feature moulded fists and combination ball-and-swivel joint shoulders, but have the front halves of the scooter dangling off them. His legs are one solid block, one which cannot be separated without the entire robot splitting open down the middle as though he'd been sliced in two by the Star Saber.
Overall, I'd recommend feeling sorry for Sureshock. 6/10
PERCEPTOR
Transformation: Fairly involved for a toy of this size class, but it's possible to figure out how to assemble Perceptor simply by looking at the pictures on the packaging. Sureshock folds up to become the legs, Grindor spreads out to become the arms and body, and High Wire forms the head and back armour.
Robot Mode: Just shy of 9 cm(3.5") tall, Perceptor's twice the height of a Mini-Con, but still smaller than a BW/BM Basic toy. He holds together surprisingly well, better than most Scramble City gestalts. He looks pretty good from the front or back, but from the sides you can see he's got enormous legs. His head is navy blue with a silver face and cyan visor. Looks kinda like a biker wearing a helmet and shades, very appropriate. His shoulders each have two ball joints, his legs can spread apart a little, and his head can rise up and look around on an elongated neck. His fists have holes in them, and can actually hold the weapons of certain RID toys (Armorhide's gun works best).
A decent gestalt mode overall. 8/10
Overall, Susp Sez: No doubt some fans will balk at TFs with such unorthodox alt modes, but I rather like these little guys. Sureshock's robot mode is lame, but the scooter mode is nice. Grindor looks good in both modes. High Wire's great. And Perceptor is pretty impressive considering the size of his components. 7.4/10
Susp
"Seek your true power." -Street Action Team
Reviewer | Suspsy |
Date | December 11th 2002 |
Score | (7 out of 10) |
Reads | 5367 |
Back to Reviews Index
|