Silversnout (Transformers: Age of Extinction Kre-O Microchangers)

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2014

RRP: $AUD4

BACKGROUND

I’ve previously reviewed some of the Transformers Kreon blind bags, from the Preview Series and Collection 4. Making my way through Big W today, I came across a new series, tying in with the impending release of Transformers 4: Age of Extinction – though it’s confusingly known as “Collection One” and doesn’t actually include the "T4" logo or the words “Age of Extinction” anywhere. No doubt some eBay confusion and/or fraud is going to arise in the future.

 

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

The most obvious point of reference for those unfamiliar with Kreons is a Lego Minifigure – they’re around the same size, and the Kre-O range as a whole definitely owes Lego a debt of gratitude. However, Hasbro refers to their figures as a “Kreons”.

Silversnout is built on the same basic body as all the other Kreons, and he changes into what looks to be an ankylosaurus – one of my favourite dinosaurs. His “transformation” is incredibly simple – just lie him down on his face and adjust the arms and legs to support him. It’s almost like one of those quick-changing transforming toys. The only part that detaches is his gun, so make sure you store that safely.

If this was a “real” Transformer, I’d be incredibly annoyed at the simplicity of the changing scheme. But as he’s a Kreon, I’m quite happy with it – I don’t want a whole bunch of spare pieces lying around that I have to store somewhere, which is what has happened with most of the other Kreons I own.

ACCESSORIES

Silversnout comes with the same black pistol that has been showing up for some time now, and the standard Kre-O stand.

PAINT

All the paintwork appears to be done by tampographs. They’re mostly pretty clean, but there are some small areas of paint slop on his face. No deal-breakers though.
The tampographs are a little more detailed than most of the other Kreons that I’ve owned, presumably to better fit the movie aesthetic. I’ve got mixed feelings about that; one of the coolest things about the Kreons is their simplicity. But he is a robot dinosaur, so I’m ready to let it slide. The only real point I think they could have added is some dots in his eye sockets, rather than having his head as a big blank piece.

OVERALL

I could see myself picking up a few characters from this Age of Extinction line. There’s some cool-looking Kreons, and now they've added robot dinosaurs to the mix too!  

Silversnout himself is a pretty cool Kreon. He’s not my favourite robot, but he’s one of the Kreons that I’ve actually liked the alt mode on. If you’re looking at picking him up, his bag code seems to be 40551 56.