Nightstrike's Reviews: Revenge Of The Fallen Sonar

While I normally focus on reviewing newer releases, there's something to be said for some of the "middle-aged" figures that are out there. Revenge Of The Fallen is probably the best example of this I can give, mainly because of one thing: non-film charactersI understand the appeal of wanting to put together on-screen line-ups. I'm still debating if I want to do that with Kingdom, and Iron Factory's IDW figures. But there's just something special about completely original designs that I can't help but just immediately fall for. The fact that they didn't need to perfectly resemble pre-existing characters made it so the designers could focus on incorporating more interesting details, such as "attack modes," many of which were actually pretty fun. While some of the designs were an easy pass, others definitely caught my eye. Many years ago, now, I received two scout-class figures that I absolutely LOVED. Brimstone was clever with his almost insect-like skeletal appearance and saws built into his hand, while Ransack simply was unique both due to his biplane alt-mode, and the fact that he literally had skeletal arms. This past weekend, I went back to New Paltz, NY, and dropped by a store I'll write about in the next post. On shelves packed deep, there were a few figures of interest, but in particular, one caught my eye that I hadn't seen there before:

Revenge Of The Fallen: Scout Class Sonar

While I'm preferential to combiners and beasts, there's something that I really like about the Scouts, so let's dive in, shall we?

Robot Mode

While nothing special, the details of vehicle mode come together fairly well, with a leg shape that's reminiscent of the more recent Decepticon (and unfortunately named) Ped. His head sculpt is where the figure truly shines in my opinion, having this fierce appearance that almost resembles some sort of aquatic predator. The paint apps on this figure aren't anything too special, but they help establish a 'theme.' Of note, is his posable thumbs on his hysterically large hands, and the jointed missile launchers on his shoulders.

Vehicle Mode

As is a similar case with the robot mode, the vehicle mode is mostly just a case of 'what you see, what you get.' Because of how he transforms, the other colors of paint are concealed, leaving only the stealth camo, and the ominous red window visible. The missile launchers carry over from robot mode.

Attack Mode

Now this is where the mold truly shines. Sonar is based off concept art for a movie, and as such, is not reliant on the appearance of characters in the film itself. Despite simply being a reconfigured robot mode, the pontoon feet set him apart from the other more generic figures quite a bit. It's easy to imagine that he's more agile on water than he is on land. Take care when handling, though, as according to an acquaintance of mine, the joints that connect the main leg assembly to the boat halves, and thus the pontoon feet, are prone to stress marks.

Overall - 8/10

Besides just minor tolerance issues and the standard robot mode, there's not much else that detracts from this figure. It's fun, it's a boat, and you should absolutely get it if you like more unique designs. I am strangely intrigued by a lot of the aquatic designs, and chief among those characters that I absolutely adore are Piranacon and Nautica. When I get Selects Piranacon, I am absolutely pairing these two, with Sonar acting as a sort of "advance scout."

Next up, Hunt For The Decepticons: Scout Class Crankstart! Stay tuned!