TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Osku's review of: Needlenose

Name: Needlenose
Targetmaster partners: Sunbeam and Zigzag
Function: Aerial Warrior
Sub-Group: Decepticon Double Targetmaster
Quote: "Get hip or get hit!"

Needlenose is one of the background characters, easily forgotten. As one of the Decepticon Double Targetmasters his shining moments were being part of Thunderwing's Matrix searching group and a not-so-brave part of the "Mayhem Attack Squad" (an elite group of Decepticon fighters) in the Marvel UK black-and-white short stories. In the former Needlenose did nothing spectacular and in the latter he appeared a nervous and fearful warrior, overshadowed by his group leader Spinister.

Robot Mode:
How can I put this? The robot mode isn't necessarily bad, but it could be a lot better. Proportions are okay, there are five different colours and stickers used, the head mold is fine and you'd have trouble trying to break the toy. So... what's the problem?

I'll start with my biggest complaint: colours, or the lack of them. The main body colour is dull gray with no painted details; his hands are entirely made of light purple, which has never looked good to me, and a nice head mold is ruined with ugly bright yellow. If the faceplate and eyes were painted in a way similar to the comics, I'd be much happier with the toy. On the other hand his legs look good in blue, with purple feet and stickers added to the mix.

Like pretty much all of the toys from this era, there's little articulation. However, his hands move pretty freely and the Targetmaster partners add to the posing possibilities. If you want, you can also prevent Needlenose seeing anything by lowering his helmet. One particular criticism is that his wings stick out badly and from behind it looks like Needlenose is carrying a plane on his back.

In short, a below-average robot mode.

Alternate Mode:
Needlenose transforms into a gray and blue fighter plane with a red cockpit. Articulation is very limited, as the only moving parts are the landing gear, tail fin and Targetmaster weapons. Coupled with a rather bland colour scheme, Needlenose's plane mode isn't very impressive.

On the positive side,the plane mode hides most of the robot parts well, the only exception being the head. Luckily stickers on the wings as well as Targetmaster weapons add some greatly needed colour and details to the mould.

The plane mode is neither good or bad... just boring. At least for an adult collector.

Targetmaster partners:
Sunbeam is the purple one of the pair, with gray and red used for details. He transforms into a purple single barreled gun, and in a nice little detail has a hand weapon in his humanoid mode.

Zigzag is the black one with yellow and gray detailing, transforming into a black double barreled pistol. Like Sunbeam, Zigzag has weapons in his humanoid mode: a sword and shield. The usefulness of those weapons is debatable...

Transformation: 6 - Easy and intuitive. A bit too simple for my taste.
Durability: 8 - Like most other Double Targetmasters, almost indestructible. Targetmaster partners can get lost though.
Fun: 6 - Not a bad toy, but with the limited articulation there's not much to do with it.
Price: ? - I've no idea. I found mine at a flea market.
Overall: 6 - One of those toys that are nice to have, but I wouldn't go to any trouble finding one. If you happen to find a complete one cheaply, buy it, but otherwise don't bother.