I had plenty of TFs as a kid, but my fondest memories are of the little guys. My (wonderful) parents were happy to oblige when I wanted a larger Transformer, but when their kid was easily placated by a smaller, less pricey one, they were smart to not look that gifthorse in the mouth.
While I have plenty of love for the Dinobots, Ratchet, the Insecticons, Defensor, Tracks, etc., I really love just about every mini-vehicle (yes, even the Throttlebots… curse you Toy World…). I could say that it might simply the power of “having them all”, but many of them were memorable little Transformers all their own. Cosmos. Seaspray. Tailgate. While I want to pick up that reissue Fortress Maximus something fierce, it turns out that some of my favorite Transformers were just a few inches tall.
Sadly though, Hasbro doesn’t revisit the Mini-Vehicles often (unless you’re Bumblebee or an easy repaint of Bumblebee anyway). I haven’t kept up with every Transformers release over the years, but the only memorable update I can think of is the Generations version of Warpath. There have been a few other “recent” attempts like the Legends Cosmos (which I would’ve bought had I ever seen it), that giant Voyager Seaspray, and a Windcharger (which I would’ve bought had I ever seen it), but they often seemed to lack the charm of the originals.
Since Transformers is the one franchise where if the company in charge isn’t making something, someone else might just make it, collectors still have an outlet for the 80s Mini-Vehicle love. iGear started up their Mini-Warriors line with Spray & Rager. Those first releases were pretty fantastic toys (so much so, that this guy has ordered five colorways of Rager and two of Spray… I got it bad). I think the only thing I didn’t really like about those first two releases: they could be a little bigger. I wasn’t alone with those critiques and iGear stepped up to the plate making these newest figures a little bigger. I’ll talk about that more with Hench (who’s significantly bigger), but I’m glad that UFO is larger than Rager & Spray. He’s much better for it.
UFO is the unofficial version of one of my favorite Mini-Vehicles, Cosmos. Looking back, I’m not sure how Cosmos came across his particular alt mode, but I didn’t mind one bit back then and I’m not about to start now. A transforming UFO was a pretty cool idea when I was a kid and it’s still a pretty cool idea today. Unlike iGear’s other Mini-Warriors, UFO’s alt mode doesn’t bother with staying true to the original. I don’t mind in the least. The new, updated design is plenty slick and I love this figure just as much for being a more “modern” take on a UFO.
In his robot mode, UFO could be considered a little cumbersome, but that’s normal for the little guy. He was rather portly in his G1 days after all. Like the alt mode, the robot mode isn’t really concerned with homaging the classic version too much. He’s not particularly toy or cartoon accurate, but there’s enough elements of the original design here to make it work, particularly when the changes have mostly been made to let this guy finally move. The ball-jointed articulation is great throughout and I found it easy to put UFO in a ton of poses despite the curved design in the arms. The hip joints were a little loose, but not so much that UFO had trouble holding his poses. Continue to Page 2…
The first car I ever drove in was my parents’ VW bug, so it was a pleasant surprise to come home from school one afternoon and find a carded ’84 Bumblebee on my bed, courtesy of my mom. I loved the Throttlebots too, and hope that iGear looks into revisiting the entire team soon.
I always like Cosmos, mostly for his portly appearance and cool Peter Lorre impersonation. If you think about it, his vehicle mode fits right in for an Earth dwelling Autobot given people’s beliefs in UFO lore. I’ll likely be picking up this guy next chance I get.
I didn’t have the original, partly because he looked so clunky and had little airtime on the cartoon, partly because the only characters I’ve ever thought really worked the RYG color scheme are Robin and Vision, and partly because I had the Go-Bots’ version, which actually looked a bit like this guy in alt-mode, if he was dark grey and silver. (his articulation was limited to shoulder and hip swivels, which were mainly to accommodate the legs that swung up to transform him.)
This guy does look nicer, esp in alt-mode.
That poster just makes the review for me! LOL
Great review, great pics! Looking forward not only to the rest of the figures on the line, but also the (hopefully) inevitable reviews.
This is a pretty sweet item, no doubt. My only complaint is that a couple of key joints are a bit loose on my figure, and all the joints on the stand are too loose to do much posing. Other people have complained that the same joints on theirs are way too tight. If they could just attain uniform quality, iGear would shoot right up the charts as excellent toy makers.
This version of the flying saucer guy seems to be based on some modern prototypes that never got made (from TFwiki):
Titanium / Classics Deluxe prototype design:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Image:TitaniumSeries-Cosmos.jpg
Wasn’t the gobot ufo a fembot?
Cosmos was a fav of mine as a kid. Found him later in a box and played with him some more. Untill those darn mice killed my G1s. I never saw the tf u version that came out except in pics in Toyfare.
If would see these I probably would buy. Depending if price is reasonable but if Hasbro updates like they did warpath that is were my money will go.
i have no idea. I caught maybe a handful of eps and don’t remember seeing it on there, just Leader-1 and Scooter. barely.
So this is the world of third party Transformers? Mighty, mighty tempting …. I LOVE the UFO!
I’m loving the 3rd Party TF reviews! My love for 3rd Party TF’s is relatively new, and it completely stems from iGear’s great Mini-Warriors line. This guy looks awesome, and I can’t wait until mine comes in the mail this week! Keep up the great reviews!
Growing up, my favorite minibots were Beachcomber and Gears. My inner child squealed with delight when it saw there was a not-Beachcomber and a not-Gears coming out next!
man Noisy you have done some great pics before, but that last one really takes the cake…should we call you Fox Noisy from now on?
If you like the smaller Transformers, I can’t recommend the TRU Asia Exclusive Legion line enough: http://tformers.com/ig.php?mode=album&album=17914&dispsize=&start=0&sl=transformers-sdcc-2012-official-toys-r
They’re repaints of Reveal The Shield vehicles, which you might still find in som closeout stores. They’re all fantastic little robots, I’m especially fond of Prowl/Bluestreak.
Some of those look awesome. I wouldn’t mind picking up a few if I found ’em easily, but I never did get the U.S, releases of Windcharger and Grapple.
For those looking for Windcharger:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK11359&mode=retail
You can pick up him and his decepticon repaint for $40 (originally $60) in an imported 2-pack. That’s how I got him
Also, for you UFO owners, I just ordered the reprolabels set for him and Seaspray and it really bumps up the product:
http://www.reprolabels.com/Classics/cosmos-seaspray.php
Nice! It should read, “I STILL Want to Believe” — Its too bad Generations Cosmos was part of the phantom series, he would have been nice to pick up. This one is out of the question though for the price point. Its still nice to have pictures though.