TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Kamen's review: The Fallen

Name: The Fallen
Function: Myth, Origin of Nightmares, Enemy of all that is Good and Lemony Fresh
Subgroup: RoTF Voyager Vehicles

For millennia, he has waited. Thousands of years have dragged by as he recruited proxies, on by one, to scour the cosmos for the artifact he required. Now he finds he must return to the primitive, flesh-slug infected planet no which his quest began. Nothing will stand in his way this time. If need be, he will scour the surface of this disgusting world clean in the fire of his rage, and search through the blasted rubble for that which he seeks.

The Fallen first appeared in Dreamwave's second arc of “The War Within” comic series. He was on fire, and one of the Original Thirteen Transformers created by Primus. But he was tempted by the Dark Side and fell. Lucky, he didn’t catch a sprain; instead he donned a flowing black cape, impersonated James Earl Jones, and started choking bitches left and right. Or maybe that was somebody else. He did some stuff that people who are on fire generally do (mostly, kicking the crap out of Grimlock and monologuing, I guess). Later, he got extinguished, and was never heard from again.

Until now. ‘Cause, according to Hasbro, Unicron, Primus, and the Thirteen are multiversal singularities, so there is only one of each throughout the multiverse. Well, that certainly makes sense! No, wait, the other thing. Anyway, maybe he’ll have better luck this time around.

Robot Mode:

The Fallen comes packaged in robot mode, and boy is he large, filling up almost the entire box and not even standing up straight! Out of package, however, it’s clear that his size his merely a packaging illusion. The top of his head only barely clears Animated Lockdown’s, and RoTF Starscream is just as wide. None of this really counts against him, though, unless you where expecting an enormous figure for the size class. Otherwise, the Fallen has a very thin, scarecrow-esque look going for him. In fact, there is very little to suggest that he’s a robot at all, much less a transforming one. All of his detailing, and there is a lot, looks sinewy and organic, from his spring-loaded toes to the pointy hair on his chiny-chin-chin. Even the parts painted grey and silver, which break up the forest green`overture, look “bonish” or perhaps armour-like, rather than mechanical. Everything works together very well, making the Fallen one of the more visually impressive and unique figures of the line.

His Mech-Alive gimmick is less impressive. The box declares that he has “slide-out energy absorption panels”, and really, they are the most mechanical looking part of the figure. But the bright translucent read clashes with the otherwise subdued colour scheme. Maybe, I’ll like them better if they have some role in the film, for now, they’ll stay retracted. Unmentioned by the box, the Fallen also has sliding knee armor (sorta) and spring-loaded toes. Like last movie’s Voyager Megatron, the springs are weak enough to allow him to stand, but strong enough to keep you from fiddling with his toes during transformation.

After reflecting on the Fallen’s articulation, I’ve come to the conclusion that he was designed for his ability to loom. He has plenty of joints, even a pinned waist and hinged and pinned wrists, yet his legs are constructed in such a way as too keep him hunched over. There are still plenty of posing options (do be aware of a little precarious balance issues); I just feel that he could do with a better distribution of joints. Also, replacing his Mech-Alive gimmick with neck articulation would improve him significantly.

Alternate Mode:

In vehicle mode, the Fallen comes off better than I expected. As a Cybertronian destroyer, he’s still essentially a robot contortionist, but all his robot parts are hidden well enough that he could pass as an alien bomber at a glance. With that in mind, the flaws here are only that all the parts don’t lock into place, so there are some options as to how you arrange his wings; however, this also means that there may be some alignment problems. Other than to mention some unsightly gaps when viewed from the top, there’s not much to say about this mode. No gimmicks (well, he does have landing gear) or weapons.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: You probably won’t need the instructions your first time, as long as you have a picture of the official end result! 1
Durability: He has a few rubbery bits, and I’ve had a few joints pop off. Otherwise, he seems rather solid. 6
Fun: His alt mode isn’t stellar, and his robot mode isn’t all that poseable. He doesn’t have any weapons or accessories either. But, hey!, he’s the Fallen! 5
Price: Voyagers are around $25 USD. If he wasn’t the titular villain, I’m fairly sure he’d be shelf-warming. 3
Overall: Really, his figure’s entire appeal rests on either knowing about his Dreamwave origins, liking his performance in the upcoming movie that bears his name, or digging his (very cool) aesthetic. Just be aware he has very limited play value. 7

Savannahtron's review

Name: The Fallen
Faction: Decepticon
Function: The Fallen Prime, the original Decepticon, and Megatron’s master.

“The Matrix shall be mine!”

For millennia, he has waited. Thousands of years have dragged by as he recruited proxies, on by one, to scour the cosmos for the artifact he required. Now he finds he must return to the primitive, flesh-slug infected planet no which his quest began. Nothing will stand in his way this time. If need be, he will scour the surface of this disgusting world clean in the fire of his rage, and search through the blasted rubble for that which he seeks.

Alternate Mode:

The Fallen’s alternate mode is a Cybertronian Destroyer. This ancient war bird looks alien in design and in many ways more advanced in design that most of the other Cybertronian seekers. The word primeval comes to mind, and Prime evil is the function of this seeker. No firing missiles, no electronics and the feet turn into the wingspan of the destroyer mode, but the seeker mode seems appropriate for the age of The Fallen. One of the nice things that makes the seeker a bit sturdy is there are pegs and holes that click together keeping the thrusters in place and the seeker in decent alignment. The Fallen seeker has flat platform landing gear.

Robot Mode:

The Fallen’s bot mode offers a few distinct features. The Fallen is built with the combination of sturdy plastic and soft plastic for the pointy parts such as the nose cone, face spikes and cranium spikes as well as the hand. His hands have eight digits each and are symmetrical from right to left, each having four thumbs and four fingers. The feet have spring loaded toes, which give surprisingly good balance during different poses. The Fallen also has the Mech Alive features as well.

The Fallen’s Mech Alive opens like battle armor. The Mech Alive features for The Fallen start at the head. The head leans forward and two slide-out energy absorption panels flip out and augment his head. His shoulders also have panels that flip out into energy absorption panels as well. His forearms each have a pop out cannon that reveals energy absorption panels as well. Last but not least, his knees and shins have similar energy absorption panels.

Since The Fallen comes in robot form in the box, he looks huge for the Voyager sized toys. He is rather wide and in seeker mode is pretty large, but he is no taller than an average Voyager sized toy. He has a lot of articulation from the shoulders down; however the only articulation the head has is to flip down to reveal the energy absorption panels. Another feature to consider is that the hands, which open and close and are attached to a joint that spins 360 °

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 5. Transforming The Fallen into seeker mode was a bit tricky the first time around, but once you see how the connecting pegs work, the transformation is very simple.
Durability: 5. While transforming The Fallen, his arms and legs repeated popped out of joints with even the least bit of pressure. The elbows are a rotating joint connected to a male-female-male joint which connects to the forearm, and is very easy to disconnect accidentally. The paws also pop out of the ball-joint easily as well. I am not a huge fan of soft plastic either as I have had older Beast Wars toys with this (thinking of Depth Charge repaint) where the soft plastic can bend and harden in another shape that is not true.
Fun: 8. The Fallen is what I expected for this sized toy and represents the character from the Revenge of The Fallen decently.
Price: 7. Picked up The Fallen at Toys R Us for $21.99 which is normal for the Voyager class toys.
Overall: 8. Overall, The Fallen is a decent toy. I really would have liked seeing a staff accessory with this toy considering the movie version had one. Then again, The Fallen would have to have mitts that could grip it.