Name: Topshot & Flak
Allegiance: Autobot
Size Class: Micromaster
The Micromasters, whilst great, were an era of Transformers I wasn't expecting to see revisited at all. They came towards the end of the original run in 1989 attempting to compete with Galoob's Micro Machines and evolved into Transformers does Polly Pocket, with a variety of playsets and bases creeping into the line. At a time when the line was going bananas with the Pretender concept, these more traditional Transformers were a godsend.
The Battle Patrol were favourites of mine and I liked the unusual bits of military kit they transformed into. I wasn't too excited when the Siege line revealed Micromasters were to be joining the throng, particularly as I still appreciate the originals and couldn't really see how they'd be 'improved'. Hasbro did, by adding in an extra play feature and only putting out half of each original team.
Robot Mode: Topshot (the new name for Big Shot) is a decent looking robo-man. He's very crisp and sharp looking, with finely etched details which both the plastics and the paint apps bring out. He looks very tough and strong for his size, but with a genial side perhaps as why else would you wear a big blue pair of pants?
Alternate Mode: Supposedly some sort of Cybertronian cannon transport, he looks suspiciously like his Earth mode of a Denel G-6 self-propelled gun. Only without the viagra. It's nice enough and does the same stuff as the orginal. Disappointingly, there was no budget for black plastic, so his wheels are moulded in the same brown as the body of the vehicle.
Robot Mode: Flak is the slightly derpy looking one of the two. His arms always look massive. Doubly so here, where the wheels in the treads are now his hands, which you can tell from the tiny fingers poking out at the front. He has the same precise level of detail as Top Shot, but it feels a bit lost in the murky grey plastic that makes up much of his robot mode.
Alternate Mode: Again, Flak looks very much like his Earth mode TOS-1 Buratino, just a bit tidgier. It's cute but doesn't roll very well. I like the tiny Autobot sigils these two both have. They look very nice and sharp.
Alternate Mode: Both Topshot and Flak can combine into the Electroverge Neural Blaster, which sounds like a Nerf gun. As you can tell from my pictures, I think this is a bit rubbish as it's basically two vehicles mashed together pretending to be some sort of gun. It's not the worst play feature in the world, but does make the Siege line's own Battle Masters look a bit redundant.
Marks out of ten for the following:
Transformation Design: Straight updates of the originals – these really are “G1 with knees” - plus some extra tooling to allow them to convert into a handheld weapon. 7/10
Articulation: They've both got very posable legs, but not much else. They can wave their arms about and Topshot can turn his head, but it's nothing amazing and only seems to be there to show how toy engineering has come on. Which we knew from Armada's Minicons over a decade ago. 4/10
Durability: I wouldn't fancy my chances trying to turn Topshot's head without scraping off a load of paint. Other than that, they seem fairly solid and I've not had the repeat problem of limbs popping off I've had with the other Siege Micromasters. 8/10
Fun: Obectively, these are good fun. They're triple-chaging mini-mates for the big lads and are cool little robots. They just don't have anything particularly different or amazing going for them that the originals didn't. 6/10
Price: £9.99 for two, which is roughly a fiver each. That's pretty good value, considering the Battle Masters – which only have one job – were £6.99. These are easily the small Siege robots you should be spending your money on. 8/10
Overall: I like Topshot & Flak. I don't mind that the other half of their team isn't here. I could do without the silly weapon mode, but it's not ruinous. It's fun and builds into the wider Siege play pattern. There's just not enough to make them feel particularly special to me for a modern update. In some areas, they're worse than their 1980s versions and I just feel like I've ended up with duplicates of those older toys. 6/10
Siege Topshot & Flak
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Siege Topshot & Flak
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