CLASSICS ASTROTRAIN GALLERY

This will be a very short and temporary review/gallery page for the upcoming Transformers Classics deluxe-class Astrotrain mould. This is obviously an early pre-production item, but it has been kindly donated by the owner for a brief photographic outing. I was personally looking forward to more information on this release greatly. As in G1, Astrotrain is a triplechanger with a shuttle mode, a robot mode and a train mode. The shuttle mode is pictured here to start with. Notice the landing gear and the tiny rear fin. You might also notice that this sample has no rubsign or faction indications.

You can see where the undercarriage folds away, and in the final thumbnail you can see where the handgun attaches underneath in shuttle mode. It does look a tad plain in this mode, so there is some possibilty maybe that the final release will come with a stickersheet. Then again, maybe not. The wings have a cavity in them where the wheels from the train locomotive front-end clip into. In fact, almost everything clips into place in every mould. There are a number of pegs/tabs on the mode.

Here are a few pictures to give you some idea of how Astrotrain comes apart during transformation into a robot:

The shuttle nose splits and the top and bottom halves of the nose sections separate as well. The legs extend and you can see the arms are inside the train nose sections. The whole rear assembly folds down and the rocket booster section rotates. The robot head is revealed in the last picture as it was previously concealed beneath the flap on the back. The transformation is quite reminiscent of G1 Astrotrain but a little more advanced.

Here is the robot mode in static mode first:

This mode is extremely reminiscent of the G1 Astrotrain, moreso than any of the other two modes. The wings, head, chest-wings, boosterpack and whole layout are a tribute to the original mould. The colours are about halfway between the Japanese White Astrotrain and the US colour G1 Astrotrain.

Now how about poseability?

Now that's more like it! Here's where the personality comes out. There is some very good articulation in this mode and some impressive poses are possible. I have extended the undercarriage section at the back of his feet in order to increase stability.

I liked this pose as it is very much like the boxart pose the G1 White Astrotrain had in Japan, and with this mould those kind of poses are a real possibilty, even if it was a bit of a balancing act.

Now those who remember G1 Astrotrain will recall that he had an absolutely huge handgun...

So no changes there then! Here is a close-up of his weapon which is double-pegged to allow attachment in all modes:

And a close-up of the robot head:

Finally, a look at his train locomotive mode:

When the first pictures of this toy became available, I didn't realise that the train mode had been updated. Of course it makes sense that a modern-day Astrotrain should have a bullet-train appearance, and I actually really like the front-end design. The back end however doesn't appear as well-designed, but overall it is a convincing enough mode. Maybe not for all collectors though.

Here is the train mode with the gun attached:

Here is a size comparison alongside the E-Hobby Astrotrain so that you can see how big the figure is next to its G1 counterpart:

Finally the copyright:

It appears to be a very well-designed mould and I absolutely love the fact that it's so reminiscent of the G1 toy but with such improves poseability. It is also much better proportioned than the original Astrotrain toy as well, especially the arms. The transformation is enjoyable and engaging enough to warrant further fiddling. The robot mode is probably my favourite and the production version of this toy should be of much better quality and strength with a projected $9.99 price point. Definitely one to look forward to. Roll on November.

All the best
Maz