Undertow with Waterlog

Height: 11.5cm (head height); 12cm (vehicle length)

Articulation: 15 total points - swivel neck; 3 points each arm: Ball joint shoulder, hinge and ball joint elbow; 4 points each leg: Universal hip, pre-knee swivel, hinge knee.

Colors: Molded black, Hawkes Blue, brown, light blue, clear green; Painted gold, black, grey, silver, bronze.

Accessories: Waterlog

Release Data: Released in the first quarter of 2011 in the United States at a retail price of US$9.99

Author: ExVee

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Undertow was stupid and mean even before the Power Core process turned him into a Combiner. He hates folks who think they're smart, and now he has more than enough power to smash those guys to pieces.

Of the final few PCC two packs, Undertow was kind of an also-ran for me. The only set that was lower on my want list was Salvage, a recolor of one of the five pack Commanders. Currently Undertow also stands as the only one of his group of final new molds I actually was able to get hold of. I'm gonna be more than a little irritated if events conspire to prevent me getting Heavytread and Skyhammer entirely. Still, Undertow was a bit interesting since watercraft aren't frequently visited upon by Transformers, and it turns out there's a bit more than that to offer.


Robot Mode

Just to look at the robot mode I don't think it'd be immediately obvious that this turns into a boat. The most apparent vehicle design feature on the chest is rows of engine cylinders, and two pairs of what could easily be exhaust pipes. Really, I don't think it'd be until you get into the shape of the legs that it'd even start to suggest "boat hull". Though I guess things like an absence of wheels or wings would help rule out more conventional options.

In build terms, Undertow is one of the better, more solidly built PCC Commanders. There's not any design quirks or transformation concessions that compromise the integrity of the robot mode. It just works well as a solid robot action figure. The major articulation is all unrestricted, it has a large foot print giving it a firm stance, and it even has standard fists, allowing it compatibility with all the regular weapons and Mini-Cons. About the only thing you could even start to say might be absent is a waist joint, and that's pretty unimportant. Honestly, without the PCC connectors sticking up from the shoulders, you could be easily convinced this was just an ordinary Scout toy. To me that seems like the best praise that can be given to a Powercore Combiner figure.

Let's get to some specifics of what the toy does well in robot mode. First up, there's the head design. It's made to look like a helmet with a large dome visor that starts at the top of the head and sweeps forward past where the nose would be. I could swear I've seen a design like this in an anime or something, but I can't place it right now. The visor is a solid chunk, there's no face sculpted behind it. It has two channels that stretch into the back of the head for the light piping, so that there would be glowing green eyes within the empty green visor. Or that's the intent - on my example the left eye isn't so hot on lighting up. When not backlit, though, both eyes are noticeably darker than the surrounding visor, so that's an alternate way to represent eyes behind there, I suppose.

The other specific feature I really like about the toy is the weaponry. Though Undertow has a Targetmaster-style Mini-Con that I'll detail a little later, he really doesn't need the help. Why? Because he has huge gold vulcan cannons attached to either arm. They're mounted to swivels so they can get out of the way when not in use. But really, if you had these giant guns strapped to your arms would you ever not be using them? They're solid pieces, so no spinning barrels or anything, but they're nicely detailed, and being painted gold as they are is just a nice stylish touch that adds a degree of personality. Really makes it unfortunate that this mold is not currently planned for any recolor and use with a five pack. He'd be the first I can think of that'd still be armed even with the absence of a Mini-Con.

And like I already mentioned, the toy has a great assortment of joints that all work together really well. It's difficult to get into specifics more without just listing all the articulation and commenting how it works just great. In short form, I'm really impressed with how well this robot mode was carried out and comes together. I can only assume that it's a credit to the unusual vehicle form that allowed for the design flexibility to accomplish this. In that case, can we get a few more boats?

Transformation

Surprisingly confusing, in fact. A helpful thing to remember is that the screws on the thighs should face upward in vehicle mode. Get that part right and the rest kind of falls into place around it. And for no good reason, I really enjoy that all the PCC connectors end up in the same spot in vehicle mode.



Vehicle Mode

Undertow transforms into an indeterminate twin-hull racing boat ...with combat options. The huge gold vulcan cannons mounted to the arms in robot mode serve as the primary weapon system for the vehicle mode, and thanks to the swivels can pivot to any angle along that axis. A pair of smaller guns flanking the cockpit fill out the armament for the vehicle mode, but aren't nearly as cool looking as the main guns. Though the boat may have all the essential elements, on some level I can't help but see it as being incomplete. It may be due to the basically undisguised robot arms sitting higher than any other structure on the boat, making it look like there should be more to the midline above and behind the cockpit and engine, but it just doesn't look like it's all there. Having Waterlog attached can help fill in that space, but since it doesn't connect down flush to the body, there's still evident gaps. Really, if you took the arms and vulcan cannons off, I think this would come across a lot better as the speedboat it's supposed to be.

Happily, the vehicle mode manages to give the appearance of being otherwise solid. Sure, if you look too closely you'll pick out gaps and spaces, but under the circumstances I'd say they did a god job at making the design passable as seaworthy, and without ending up with the entire hull as extraneous kibble in robot mode like the last good boat Transformer featured.


Combiner Mode

Going to combiner mode can be a little tricky at first. The chest piece unclips at the bottom, and from there it seems like it should fold out to allow for the head swap, but it's not at all that simple. From behind you need to push on the back of the combiner head near the lower back of the robot mode. The chest plate is part of the flip around piece that changes heads, so between robot and combiner mode the front and back of the torso reverse. Be sure to push the combiner head through - there's very little clearance for it to either side and you'll struggle needlessly if you try to get things moving any other way.

Undertow has one of the better combiner torso modes out of the line. While the structure of the body may not have the same sort of character as Smolder, there are other advantages. Like the combiner head being an old style metal diving helmet, much like Octopunch's Pretender shell features. The torso mode also uses the giant cannons as over-shoulder guns. Otherwise it's a fairly standard looking and stable torso. It sadly doesn't offer quite the bonus articulation in the shoulders like some of the others can, but at least the legs are pretty solid. Nothing kills the fun of a combiner like being unable to support its own weight.

I can't say any particular set of drones suits Undertow especially well, given none are even vaguely aquatic-themed. In that kind of case I'll probably always point to the Constructicon drones just for being the best set released. You might want to stay clear of some of the ones that make especially short arms, since Undertow makes a somewhat long torso and it'll emphasis the already existent proportioning issues with those drones, but otherwise it's not like anything will fit worse than anything else on a boat, right?


Waterlog

It saddens me that I can't see that name without thinking of a certain unsavory connotation, especially when the Mini-Con itself is pretty nice. Waterlog continues the trend of PCC Mini-Cons being more and more Nebulan-like - which I can't say I have a problem with so long as they keep up the bright translucent colors. Waterlog looks like a basic humanoid robot, possibly with head designed after some other sort of diving helmet, albeit not so much an antique as Undertow. The arms move at ball jointed shoulder, while the legs have ball joint hips and hinge knees with an impressive range of 120-130 degrees. Waterlog's only real problem is that for whatever reason it's very difficult to make stand. At the very least you'd have to hunch the Mini-Con forward, and then hope your desk, table or other surface isn't inclined at all. I suppose in part this is a result of the winged "backpack", but I suspect the feet as well may not be exactly flat or level, leading to exaggeration of whatever issues the wings and guns may be providing. In theory the wings should be folded straight back in robot mode, but that kills any possibility of the thing standing, so probably skip that step.

The suggested armor mode on the packaging has the guns pointing upward in front of Undertow's face, but I think it's better looking as armor with the guns down and wingtips pointing up. Either way, it's regrettable that the guns themselves aren't hinged to be a bit more useful in armor mode. Where I really prefer Waterlog is as vehicle and robot weapons. If you're not too broken up about an obviously visible robot face, Undertow makes a nice handgun for 5mm compatible toys. The legs can even fold into something passable as a stock. For mounting to the vehicle mode the face is out of view, plus for this and armor mode the legs can fold over the back and securely tab into place at the base of the cannon barrels. There are pegs on Waterlog's hips and matching holes on the insides of the fists, seemingly to secure things together someway, but so far I haven't found an application where this is beneficial in any way.


Closing Remarks

I ended up liking Undertow a lot more than I expected to. I'm still waiting to get wave-mates Heavytread and Skyhammer, but since I expected this to be the weakest of the group, hopefully that means those are that much better. Undertow puts me in mind of the high points of Scout/Basic Transformers many years ago, and it's a great thing to revisit. Even without drones to combine with, Undertow would be a great figure to get just on its own strengths. Much like with Steamhammer, it makes me sad that Powercore Combiners only really feels like it found its groove so near to the end of the line. It would have been great to get another wave or two of figures with build and design quality like this.

Undertow scores an easy Excellent. The robot mode more than makes up for any minor shortcoming I might find in the design of the vehicle mode. Plus, that dive helmet, and those guns... there is some personality waiting to happen in this toy. Now, if only I could figure out how to get the dive helmet to be the normal robot head without compromising everything else...

-ExVee