General Information: Images:
Tech Specs: Rank: 7 Courage: 7 Firepower: 5 Skill: 9
Packaging: It is no secret that the Real Gear Robots line of Transformers is meant to pay partial homage to the roots of the Transformers. Back in the days of G1, there were plenty of Transformers who became every day objects. Among the many lines Hasbro brought into the Transformers fold were the Kronoform line of transformable toys. These simple digital watches were able to transform into all manner of forms including jets, scorpions and robots. The Real Gear line continues this tradition with Meantime, a Decepticon disguised as a watch.
Watch Mode: Look at the sides of the watch and you'll find non-working buttons on either side. On the right side (if the watch is facing you) is a large button akin to one used to set modes on a real digital watch. On the left are two smaller buttons sticking out that on some watches help you switch from function to function and adjust numbers. The wrist bands are all sculpted in solid plastic since they form parts of the robot mode. Running along each bandare a matching set of details including indented lines, a six sided shape (almost a diamond shape) in the middle and H shaped designs towards the ends. Each band is segmented with three joints to allow the strap to curve. On the top band, you'll find two ball joints at the end. On the bottom band you'll find two holes that correspond to these ball joints. Curl the two towards each other and you can connect them to wear. This does not fit on my adult wrist, but I can easily see a child being able to wear this watch without a problem. This element of the figure's playability adds to the fantasy that Transformers can be objects that you see every day, even something you wear like a watch! Meantime is cast in silver and a light purple color (almost blue in shade). Most of the figure is the light purple plastic while smaller parts such as the joints on the top and bottom connected to the watch piece itself are silver. Paint applications are done in neon orange, silver and purple. As you can guess the Decepticon symbol on the top is colored purple. Line details, the indentations on the side of the LCD and the pattern of shapes on the lower part of the LCD are all painted neon orange. The LCD screen itself is non-functioning, but the colors chosen for it make it look very real. It has a greenish background that has a glow to it that one would expect of a real watch. The numbers and letters on top are in black. The upper left hand corner indicates an alarm is set, the time is set to "5:17:40am" with a date of "01-02" indicated as Wednesday with the letters "WE". According to what I'm seeing on the calendar the next Wednesday that will be January 2 is in 2008 so this definitely fits in with the modern day era. For those curious if "5:17" has any significance in the Transformers universe, it does. 5/17 was the date that the extended trailer for the "Transformers Movie" was released, and certainly marks a big day in Transformers history. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Meantime's robot mode is one of the taller robots in the Real Gear line. He owes a lot of this to the fact that the wristbands become his arms and legs. Their sheer length gives him a tall look, but he's not weak looking in any way. His shoulders extend out very wide because of the way he is jointed and his arms are relatively large. Since the wristbands have a segmented design, his arms and legs have that look as well. With the upper body the only thing I find distracting is the fact that his arms are made up of hollowed parts. I would have preferred his arms rotate around instead, but this is a minor quibble. Meantime's head design is an interesting one. The buttons to adjust date/time settings wind up on the ends of horns sticking out to the sides. His face is slightly reminiscent of G1 Rumble and Frenzy with a central crest, visor eyes leading to a nose and section with a wide mouth. The G1 Rumble/Frenzy influence continues on his legs. If you look on the lower legs there is a detail with a raised diamond shape in the center with two triangles coming out of it horizontally. This matches a similar detail found on the leg stickers of G1 Frenzy and Rumble. I think it's really neat how a bit of homage was worked into this figure without it having to be something audio related such as a cassette. The details serve the dual purpose of adding visual appeal to the figure while giving a nod to the past. Since so much of the watch mode already shows in this form, there are few new colors to be found. The robot head has some silver on it on both the crest and mouth section. The eyes are cast in translucent orange which goes with the orange paint used on other parts of the body. This makes it sound like there is not a whole lot of paint detail, but the chest is choc full of details since it is made up of the watch face. Meantime has seventeen points of articulation thanks to the need for the wristband segments to bend. I was honestly very surprised how much articulation he had, with ball joints on the arms to boot, allowing for a wide range of movement.
Final Thoughts:
 |
|||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|
