General Information:
Release Date: July 2012
Price Point: $99.99 (included in five pack with Blast-Off, Brawl, Swindle and Vortex)
Retailer: San Diego Comic-Con/Hasbrotoyshop Exclusive
Accessories: Dual barreled cannon
2012's big "Transformers" multimedia event was not a movie, but rather a video game. Following up on the success of "War for Cybertron", High Moon Studios was due to release "Fall of Cybertron" in August of 2012 so a large portion of the "Generations" toy line became dedicated to characters and designs from the game itself. One of the key characters in the game is Bruticus, the Combiner giant formed by the team known as "The Combaticons". The leader of this elite team is Onslaught, who traditionally formed the core of the team both in leadership and their combined form of Bruticus.
The existence of a new Bruticus figure caused quite a stir among fans. For years we've wanted a new Combiner figure, and lucky for the fandom at large we now have one. Even better? This guy was composed of five Deluxe Class figures, each one with its own unique transformation and identity. Before the initial retail release of this figure, the summer of 2012 saw the release of the entire set in a special box (with different colors)as a San Diegeo Comic-Con exclusive. This guy sold out within minutes of being available on Hasbrotoyshop and by the following week went for easily double the price on ebay. No doubt, this is one figure tons of Transformers fans wanted!
While all the San Diego Comic-Con Combaticons were packaged together, I will be reviewing each individual robot separately for the sake of space (otherwise the review will involve insane amounts of scrolling). Here are links to the other reviews for your reference:
Vehicle Mode:
During the Generation One era, Onslaught transformed into a military truck that had two large cannons mounted on top. In this Cybertronian incarnation, he is a much more compact vehicle, but there are still some influences from his Generation One counterpart. The most obvious are the cannons attached on the top of the vehicle. This weapon is a single piece with two barrels, intriciately sculpted with rectangular cannon barrels leading to a ridged section in the middle and a back section with several line details and triangular shapes. The vehicle itself is still a truck-like vehicle, but it looks much more like it was built as a fast moving bruiser of a vehicle than the transport that G1 Onslaught was. The front end is basically a giant grille section flanked by armored wheels. The middle is angled in a "V" shape while the rear is more angled like the fornt end, complete with armor over the rear wheels.
There are some nicely sculpted details spread throughout the figure. On the front are raised details on the central grille alongside details like headlights and beveled sections of armor. Similar raised details can be found on the back of the vehicle, and the wheels have asymmetrical designs where the outside parts of the wheels are different in pattern than the inside sections, giving them an interesting and slightly alien appearance.
As a homage to his G1 counterpart, Onslaught is cast in metallic brown (that almost looks grey under certain light) and black plastic. The brown has metallic flake in it, giving it a nice, shiny appearance. The metallic flake really does a nice job of elevating the brown color from something that could have been flat and boring to something cool looking that manages to make the plastic look like it's actually the metal skin of a robot. Four paint colors are used to provide extra detailing: metallic green, purple, silver and black. The green and purple are spread throughout the figure, mostly on the sides where the green is used for larger, raised sections while the purple provides small details such as the thin, oval shaped details under the headlights and distinct circles on the sides of the grille section. Purple is also used on the sides of the wheels, evoking the "glowing lines" seen on many of the "Fall of Cybertron" video game. Interestingly, the grille section has a part that is sculpted to accomodate a faction symbol, but it doesn't have any there. I suspect one of the three upcoming versions of this figure will have a symbol but I still see this as an odd omission. The weapon on top of the vehicle is painted silver and the front grille is black. The color scheme does a good job of paying homage to G1 Onslaught while looking brilliant in its own ways.
In vehicle form, Onslaught can roll on all four wheels. His weapon on top of the vehicle has four holes on top that allow you to attach additional 5mm pegged weapons to. This includes one in the back, two towards the front and one in the center. This functionality is part of the Bruticus transformation, where this weapon serves as the primary connection point for all the weapons from the other Combaticons. Assemble the right mix of weapons and Onslaught can be more deadly than ever! The only slight problem here is that the weapon attaches via small pegs on Onslaught's arms (hidden here by the weapon). They're fine for display, but move the figure around enough and the cannon falls off without much effort. This is the main drawback in an otherwise cool vehicle mode.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Detach the weapon and set it aside for now.
- Swing the robot arms out to the sides.
- Swing out the rear wheel well sections to form the robot legs.
- Swing the lower body forward.
- Swing the Bruticus head (now fully visible) down to reveal Onslaught's head.
- Swing the black armor piece on the back of the robot up.
- Rotate the arms down.
- Attach the cannon in either hand.
Note: For some odd reason, the elbow/ball joint on my Onslaught's left arm pops off quite easily during transformation, so be careful. What's interesting is that the right arm has yet to do this at all.
Robot Mode:
Onslaught's robot mode is a really nice blend of sleek and bulky looking design. He certainly looks tough, with shoulder armor and his wheels on the tops of his arms, the blocky front end of the vehicle forming his chest and the thick, blocky appearance of his lower legs. This "blocky" appearance is very much in line with how the character looked in Generation One. The legs are perhaps the section that most resemble his G1 counterpart's body (aside from the head of course).
There are touches of thinner and sleeker parts too. Most notable is perhaps the design of the forearms, which angle into almost a V shape and look like an armored section out of one of the live action Movie Transformers (an aesthetic the "Fall of Cybertron" game taps quite heavily). In addition, his hip and thigh sections are thinner and more curved than the rest of the figure. Overall, it's a nice mixture of aesthetics worked into one figure.
No matter how much their bodies may differ from their G1 counterparts (even with homage bits here and there) the one inspiration the Combaticons take from their G1 iterations are the head sculpts, and Onslaught is no exception. His head is heavily based on the animated version of the character, which featured a more round and sleek design based on the original toy. His design is quite distinct, with a helmet section that is rounded on top, has a mouth plate section that wraps around to the front (looking almost like a mask that would be part of riot police gear) with thin, visor eyes. It's a fantastic modern day version of Onslaught's head design and I think it looks great.
All the same colors mentioned for the vehicle mode carry over here, but a bit more black plastic appears in the form of the head and thighs. More of the green and purple paint appears too, mostly on the legs, waist and forearms. Yellow is introduced to the mix in the form of Onslaught's eyes. While it is true most Decepticons wind up with red eyes in the Generations line, Onslaught has traditionally had eyes that range from orange to yellow colors in Generation One, so this makes perfect sense and contrasts nicely with the black plastic.
Onslaught has sixteen points of articulation in this mode. This includes three in each arm, four in each leg and waist articulation. I mention above that his left forearm has a tendency to pop off at the elbow joint. Sadly the ratchet joint on that arm just makes the problem worse. Try to bend the arm and it pops right off. This isn't a problem however on the right arm, and I haven't heard mass cases of this being an issue so I'm going to treat this as a one off problem, but it still speaks to some quality assurance issues - be warned.
Onslaught can hold a 5mm peg weapon in ether hand. That's about the extent of his functionality in this mode. In this sense, he really is an old fashioned Transformer, where transformation is his primary gimmick.
Transformation to Torso Mode (from Robot Mode):
- Swing each lower leg up.
- Swing the panel on the back of the figure out.
- Rotate the upper body around at the waist.
- Push down Onslaught's head to reveal Bruticus' head. Turn Bruticus' head around.
- Rotate the forearms around, then turn them up at angles so the fists hold on to the vehicle mode headlights.
- Swing the triangular shaped panels on the shoulder armor up.
- Swing the waist panel from step two down and up to form the waist armor.
- Other limbs can be attached to the square connection points on the shoulders and legs.
- The dual barreled cannon can be attached to the two pegs on the back of the figure.
Torso Mode:
Unlike the other members of this team, Onslaught only has one mode aside from his robot and vehicle forms. In this case, he forms the same part that his Generation One counterpart formed: the torso and head of the giant Decepticon. Like the other Combaticons in this iteration of Bruticus, all the necessary parts to form the giant are integrated into Onslaught's body. This includes the torso armor and Bruticus' head.
There's not much "new" per se here. If you've already seen or fiddled with Onslaught, most of the parts here were visible in his robot and/or vehicle modes. What is new is how these parts come together. I think the way his robot arms angle and fold back works very well to form the illusion of an angled looking chest armor panel. This is enhanced by the blade shaped armor sticking up above the shoulders and a similarly shaped waist/hip armor piece. Interestingly, this particular section is not entirely"game accurate" to the CG model, but in doing so, it actually provides more detail thanks to the sculpted details on Onslaught's torso and waist area. Still, the basic shape is right , it's just a bit less "pointy" at the ends then the CG model.
The head sculpt for Bruticus is based on his G1 toy and animated appearance. The major components of Bruticus' head are there including a high crest, antennae on the sides of his head and a mouth plate with thin, visor eyes.
New paint details are revealed in this form, mostly on the lower body and chest. Where Onslaught's head was, there is now a closed panel with a Decepticon symbol on it. Under the chest are purple paint details on the brown and black plastic pieces. The most heavily painted section is the head, which has a combination of red (on the eyes), silver (on the mouth plate), gold (on the antennae) and purple on the crest and the sides of the helmet (facing front). There aren't a ton of paint applications here, but to be honest they're not needed. Consider that four, different colored limbs wind up getting attached to this figure. The result is a very colorful Transformer and having too many paint apps on this particular section would almost be a waste. I wouldn't complain if they were there, but nor do I think Bruticus as a whole would look plain without them.
Each of the connection points has an eight sided connection post. In Generation One, it was the inverse, with Onslaught having holes in his shoulders and legs where the heads of each Combaticon could connect. This allows each limb to snap on firmly and not fall off. Note that most of the joints on the legs are ratchet joints. This allows the figure stability when standing in its combined form. Even better? The joints allow Bruticus' legs to move outward, forward and bend at the knees, something the G1 figure could not do.
Final Thoughts:
Onslaught is a strong figure. He looks great in each mode, but the issue with his weapon in vehicle mode and the forearm really knocks him down a few pegs. He's still recommended in my book, but beware the quality issue with the ball joint on the arms.
