Powerpinch (1997)

Height:  16.5cm (beast mode length);9cm (robot mode head height)

Articulation: 11 points total- swivel neck; 2 points each arm: ball joint shoulders, ball-joint elbows; 3 points each leg: double-joint hips; hinged ankles.

Colors: Molded dark transparent green, and orange. Painted yellow, orange, and silver.

Accessories: Pincers.

Gallery: 14 images.

Author: RAC

Despite his long body length and the giant pincher claws he drags behind him, Powerpinch is surprisingly fast; six speedy legs power him forward over almost any obstacle. His greatest assets are the powerful pincher claws that are strong enough to sever most enemies in half. And as all Maximals know, those pincher claws are as dangerous in insect form as they are when he converts to robot mode, which is why they never underestimate the ferocity of this truly evil insect.

It's not a big surprise the Predacons are big on bugs. Bugs are pretty ugly to the majority of the human race, and when you couple the ugly with the ability to pinch, sting, drink your blood, or ruin your picnic, you've got a solid set of villains for a toy line. Though it's sort of an obscure choice, never having appeared in the animation, something about an earwig named Powerpinch really appealed to me, and he was in fact the first purchase I decided on for Evolution Revolution. Some things just grab you, I guess, and a toy with giant orange pincers is well-equipped to do just that.


Beast Mode

Yup, that's a big orange and so-dark-green-it's-practically-black earwig! Powerpinch is an (extremely) oversized earwig with yellow eyes, orange legs, and big orange pincers (scientific name: forceps) in the back. The pincers are mounted in a double-hinged block, which allow them to swing around to face forward, and allow Powerpinch's Predacon "Energon Chip" rubsign to be seen underneath it. There's also a small knob on the bottom of the pincers (or top, in Attack Mode) that allows you to open and close them. That's about it for useful articulation in Beast Mode- the head can be moved slightly since it's on a pair of ball-joints, but the legs are attached to the Robot Mode arms in solid, unposeable blocks of three. The color scheme (and size) mean it's never going to be mistaken for a real earwig, but it looks good nonetheless.


Transformation

Unlike the first year Basics, Pinchy has a manual transmission- no springs here. Mostly pretty standard stuff, but there's one clever bit that I don't remember many other Transformers using, if any: the backplate swings up, and the entire lower torso swings around 180 degrees to pull the feet through the chest down to where they belong. If I had my druthers I'd like to see the arms and chestplate lock down in either mode, but since they didn't even do that on the similarly-engineered torso of Transmetal Cheetor, I don't think it's a reasonable thing to expect from an earlier figure, and a Basic at that.

Robot Mode

Powerpinch looks pretty standard for the Basic figures at the time. The slim, almost Gundam-esque legs are one of the things that stuck in my mind most readily way back when I first saw Basic Beast Wars figures. Having come back to the line, insect legs on Robot Mode arms is also a pretty common design choice. His head is a bit less human than Terrorsaur or most of the non-mutant heads on the first-year figures, but far cleaner and less ugly than the heads on my other two `97 Beasts. The color distribution is like a negative version of Terrorsaur's, and is well-balanced. Somehow reminiscent of classic Mega Man bosses, oddly enough. Though there's only a bit more orange in Robot Mode, the dark green that was there is broken up a bit more, making the orange more of an equal partner in this form.

The head is a simple swivel which turns in a full circle without interruption of any sort. The decorative flared pieces on the shoulders prevent them from swinging outwards by a full 90 degrees, but it's a close call, and swivel along the other axis is only restricted if you get the bug legs tangled in something. Likewise, the forearm's ball-joint is designed to swivel as well as flex, but you have to mind that the upper-arm kibble and lower-arm kibble don't get in an argument. The holes in the fists fit the pincers' peg, but are somewhat smaller than the modern standard of 5mm, so don't expect to be outfitting him with the Star Saber or anything like that. The little guy would probably keel straight over anyway.

The mid-torso still displays the socket that holds the pincer assembly in Beast Mode, which I'll get to down in accessories. The neat rotating transformation prevents any waist joint, but the legs do well, with ball-joints at the hip and knee. The hip joint is capable of 90 degrees to the front, back, or side, so Powerpinch can do a split with the best of them. The knee has unrestricted swivel, and the extra transformation joint allows it to double up on itself. The thighs are extremely short, though, especially if you employ the transformation swivel, so that does affect the way it can pose. Also, as the knee joint is screwed into place, it may be in danger of breaking- there's a crack in my Powerpinch's left knee, but it's holding fine and I'm careful not to put any excess stress on it. The ankles only move front-to-back, but move far enough forward to make for some dynamic posing. He's able to balance pretty well most of the time, but the ankles are a bit weak at times and he may have to bend his knees pretty far to hold his weight.


Paint and Deco

The deco is simple but effective, with the only trouble spot being the orange paint on the back- it matches the color of the orange plastic as well as can possibly be done, but the edges are a bit sloppy, betraying the underlying matte green plastic. That plastic is kind of interesting, too- from any appreciable distance it appears black, but under bright lights it's actually a very darktranslucent green. It's similar in appearance to the dark green glass used on some beer bottles. The overall effect is very different from the kinds of clear plastic on most modern toys- a toy made of that plastic would appear insubstantial, or ethereal, but Powerpinch seems very solid, and the green showing through a bit better when well-lit looks neat without detracting from that solidness.


Accessories

-Pincers

The pincers are removed for transformation, and can be attached to Robot Mode in one of two ways: you can use it as an ordinary hand-weapon (well, as ordinary as a Pinchgun would ever be), or you can plug it into Powerpinch's chest. It actually looks pretty good that way, and you can use the same lever from Beast Mode to open and close the pincers, which you can't do as easily when Powerpinch is using that lever to grip his Pincer Gun- the way it's engineered the whole thing wants to tilt to the side when held by the peg. I'm not sure which way I prefer, but I'm leaning towards chest-pincers right now. I like having the choice, though!


Things To Look For When Buying Loose

The mount for the pincers is detachable, but necessary to connect them to the earwig's body, so if you see one with its pincers attached in Earwig Mode, or attached to the chest in Robot Mode, the toy is complete and you're safe. Other than that, it couldn't hurt to have a good look at the knees, if you can.


Closing Remarks

Powerpinch is indeed Basic, but also fun, and was an extremely pleasant start for my Beast Wars experiences. All the things it means to do as a toy, it succeeds at. If you're looking for a toy built around a gimmick in the best possible way, or the idea of owning a robot earwig appeals to you, you should absolutely get one. Powerpinch is Very Good, and I'm particularly pleased with him.

-RAC