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Name: Misfire
Allegiance: Autobot (!)
Number of pieces: 11 + brick stand

I own the entire first wave of Kreon Microchangers, because back then I thought it was cool, and a nice, cheap way to own cute Lego miniature versions of characters like Scorponok or Waspinator who’s unlikely to get a new Generations toy any time soon. But word for the wise? The first wave is made of such inferior plastic they came out of the bag with stress marks, and there are so many pieces involved that there isn’t a mode you can display them in without having three or four pieces left over that you’re destined to lose or mix up. All their alternate modes are awkward-looking versions of ‘robot on their face’, and require too much effort to assemble so much pieces to make it look like a jet nosecone or a scorpion.

The whole wave is a general mess and I would review them, except I can’t transform any of them anymore since I lost all the pieces not attached to them in robot mode. I had wished that they had stuck to just making regular ol’ Kreons… I have some of the non-transforming ones and they’re rather cute and inoffensive.

The later Microchanger waves, though, in addition to using sturdier plastic, made it so that there are less pieces involved in a single Kreon. I didn’t really give it much thought other, though, having been disappointed by the lackluster first wave. I ended up getting a couple of Microchangers time went on, including this dude – Misfire, who is part of the fifth wave.

Robot Mode:
Misfire isn’t painted in a glorious shade of pink, but rather a rather subdued shade of red. He’s, um, also an Autobot. He’s got an Autobot insignia on his chest, and on his instructions, and on the package. Probably something got mistranslated somewhere down the line. Maybe the Decepticons kicked them out? Whatever the case, though, Misfire is a fun little Kreon, and I am a big fan of Misfire. I played him for a long time in the site’s old RPG, and he has since grown into one of my favourite characters. What’s the good of a Targetmaster that can’t even shoot a target in front of him? Misfire recently rose to relative prominence in the MTMTE comics… here’s hoping for a Generations toy somewhere down the line.

Anyway, Misfire the Kreon. Hmm. He’s your average Kreon, able to swing his hands, legs, wrists and waist around, and turn his head. Misfire uses the same helmet with Sentinel Prime and Galvatron in my collection, though it suits Misfire’s G1 head design extremely well. He’s got this backpack that gives him Seeker-esque wings, though they are far more angular and look better than the actual Kreon Seekers I own. They are individually jointed on the backpack piece, which isn’t something Sunstorm or Starscream can say. He comes with two elbow-mounted guns similar to the ones used by the Seekers.

The detailing painted on his chest and legs are a labour of love – whoever did this didn’t just dunk a random Kreon in red paint and slap it into a bag with jet wings and guns. Comparing it to a picture of the original Misfire, the chest deco recreates all the details found on the original Misfire’s chest, from the faux cockpit to those silver exhaust things to those white things on his feet.

Also, like I said in the intro sentence, Misfire is a really clean Kreon. He doesn’t have any piece left over, and only has a small backpack in robot mode. Like all latter-wave Kreons he comes with a brick stand so you can display him without having him toppling over because of those articulated Kre-o legs. You go, Misfire.

Alternate Mode:
‘Transforming’ Misfire is relatively simple, and you don’t even have to disassemble much. Just orient the black sloped piece resembling the cockpit, move the guns onto the sides of the cockpit, and orient the wings and have Misfire kiss the floor. Like all the Microchangers, Misfire’s jet mode is basically a Kreon facing the ground with some parts switched around a bit. It’s idiotic, but it doesn’t really affect the robot mode at all or give me a massive amount of random bricks to keep track of, so kudos for… not trying, I guess?

Marks out of ten for the following:
Transformation Design: 0/10 Misfire doesn’t so much transform as lie flat on his face and have his arm guns move to his back.
Durability: 8/10 Short of losing bricks, Misfire feels really sturdy, unlike all the flimsy Kreons from the first wave.
Aesthetics: 8/10 He’s cute, and he looks like Misfire. Probably should’ve came with a gun and, y’know, a Decepticon symbol, but for a tiny Kreon he’s okay.
Articulation: 8/10 He’s got wrist joints (which are absent in some of the Kreons I own), but otherwise he’s got about the same articulation as all the other Kreons. I find it rather satisfactory for these little minifigures to have around that much, so yeah.
Fun: 7/10 Misfire is fun to muck around with, not having to be afraid of durability or have a lot of parts to keep track of. Neither do I get confused which parts go where.
Price/Value: 7/10 I got Misfire for a discounted price thanks to a promotion, but for the full price they’re asking Misfire’s not too shabby either.
Overall: 9/10 Misfire is a fun little Kreon of a character I particularly enjoyed, and remains extremely faithful to the original character design. He’s durable, he doesn’t have a lot of pieces to keep track of… he’s #47 in his batch if you’re keen on tracking him down. The Microchangers have these black numbers on their packaging so you can sorta find which one you want. TFWiki has a full list if you want. Other than that, though… Misfire’s cool.