General Information: Images:
*Images and text below from the official Transformers web site: Turn the tables on the good guys when you throw this warrior into the fight! Your TERRADIVE figure is dedicated to destroying any opponent and his spear accessory will help you two get the job done. The "spear" even converts to a "trident"! If robot combat turns into a chase, convert your villain into fighter jet vehicle mode, put his "weapons" in the storage compartment and send him into the "skies"! Battle-ready robot-to-vehicle figure converts from robot mode with a spear accessory to fighter jet vehicle mode with weapon storage -- and back again! Ages 5 and up.
Vehicle Mode: Unlike his Generation 2 counterpart, Terradive has more modern design elements, most notably a good amount of sculpted detail. There's a lot of little stuff which you have to stare a bit to see. Inside the cockpit he has a chair and control panel for a pilot. In front of the cockpit cover is a small cone that looks like it could be a camera or sensor. Along the body of the jet are rectangular and angled line details. Towards the back are layered line details on the ends of the thrusters. There's quite a bit of "undercarriage junk" in the form of his robot parts and stowed weapon, but there's really no helping that as those parts have to go somewhere so I don't hold this against the jet mode at all. Terradive is cast in orange, silver, black, light grey (almost white) and translucent orange plastic. His colors are somewhat reminscent of Sunstorm, but the tone of the orange is darker so he doesn't have a "neon" look. In this form the orange plastic dominates most of the top of the vehicle. Black plastic is found on the vertical stabilizers. More black plastic with silver and light grey plastic are concentrated on the undercarriage junk. Terradive's weapon is cast in gold and silver plastic, with the staff portion cast in gold and the blades on the side done in silver. There's definitely some heavy duty contrasting going on here, and it continues with the paint scheme. Paint details are done in off-white, orange, black and metallic purple. The black and light grey are the most heavily used colors. Black is used for a line that starts at the nosecone and then spreading out to the sides and running along the sides of the vehicle to the back vertical stabilizers. Black is also used to paint two Decepticon symbols, one on each wing. Orange is used more sparingly, specifically on the edges of the cockpit cover. The light grey is found on the edges of his wings. The purple color is found on the silver sections of his staff weapon, and it's painted on in a very nice spray pattern that looks fantastic. I like this color scheme partly due to how bold it looks. You get this sense that Terradive doesn't care who sees him in battle! The staff weapon from the robot mode clips on to the bottom of the vehicle mode, giving him a very distinctive weapon. I can imagine bolts of energy firing out from the end of the weapon as he swoops at enemies. There is landing gear built into the front of the vehicle's underside and on each of the robot legs on the bottom of the vehicle. However, you have to move the staff out of the way a bit to let the forward landing gear come down unobstructed. It's not a huge deal, it doesn't even look particularly bad, it's just a bit odd. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: Terradive has a fantastic amount of sculpted detail, and some of it is unexpected. His head design has a helmet section with what looks almost like a dorsal fin on the top in the center, with fins sticking out the sides. His eyes are thin and angular, as if he were giving a really evil look. His mouth is designed with a mouthplate ending in an extended chin piece. In many ways, his head design is very reminscent of Beast Wars' Depth Charge, who transformed into a manta ray. This nautical type look works in concert with his trident weapon to evoke an ocean bound warrior instead of one who transforms into a jet. This dual identity of sorts makes for an interesting set of design decisions and emphasizes the "robot in disguise" aspect of the figure even more than just having a transformation. The sculptors worked really hard to give this figure a lot of intricate details that hint at the inner mechanical workings of this Decepticon. On his forearms are exposed mechanical parts sticking out to the sides. The chest panels formed from his front stabilizer fins have similar details on the sides and his thighs offer up a series of overlapping parts including tubes that run over sections with horizontal striped patterns. It's a fantastic sculpt and I really love the emphasis on mechanical detail combined with nautical references on the head and weapon. All of the plastic colors that showed in vehicle mode are represented here, but no one color really dominates the figure. Instead, colors are used in an alternating basis that gives the figure a complex and rich appearance. The head, torso and forearms are orange while his shoulder joints and feet are light grey. Black is used on the upper arms and lower legs while silver is found on his hands and thighs. This combination of colors is taken further as you find silver paint used to color in the mechanical details on parts like his forearms and chest as well as the face. Anoher nice deco note is the way one of the horizontal stabilizer panels forms on the chest to reveal a Decepticon symbol on the right side, painted in black. The only part I would have added a bit of color to are the lower legs, but the figure looks great regardless. Terradive has twenty one points of articulation in robot mode. Even better, most of these articulation points offer up a lot of posing possibilities. This includes five points of articulation on each arm and leg. This is due in part to his weapon, which he can hold in just one hand, or both hands. He can wield it overhead or in front and various other positions. This is one of those figures you purchase to pose really nicely on your Transformers shelf, not stand in a static pose (though he looks great either way). Terradive's trident weapon has some functionality of its own. Push the silver blades up and they extend to the sides, making the weapon wider. There are several points along the staff that are thicker than others, and these are the best ones for Terradive to hold onto the weapon securely. The staff can clip on to the C clip hanging off his left shoulder or on the silver panel on the back of the figure. I thought this extra touch for storage on his back was a fantastic idea and it looks great to boot!
Final Thoughts:
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The name "Terradive" is one that has appeared several times in Transformers history. In Generation 2 the name was used for a Decepticon jet. In the Energon series Terradive was one of the Aerialbots. More recently the name was used as a Mini-Con in Armada. Things seem to have come full circle now as the name is once again being used for a Decepticon jet, this time as part of the "Hunt for the Decepticons" series of figures.
