Mastermind Creations Reformatted Feral Rex Part 3: R02

Over a year ago, Mastermind Creations started releasing their Reformatted Feral Cons, their take on the G1 Predacons. They had a bit of competition in the form of Unique Toys' War Lord, which kind of sucked at the very start, and in TFC Toys' Project Ares. But this series of reviews isn't about those guys, it's about Feral Rex! I've covered Bovis and Fortis, and Leo Dux earlier, so now we come to the fourth member of the team who was supposed to be first: Talon. Let's see if the long wait for the Aerial Assaulter was worthwhile... though this may just turn into a gush-fest.



Talon's alternate mode is like some vast, predatory bird... actually, it's a mechanical eagle. He's based on the G1 Predacon Divebomb, what did you expect? Black and orange are the main colors with yellow on the chest. A tiny dab of gold in the eyes, some black, and a few buckets full of metallic champagne paint adorn the figure, especially in those wings. Yeah, his arms don't really hide at all, but then again those with an aerial alternate mode tend to have... difficulty hiding their robot mode parts, so I can see past it. While the topmost feathers are static, the feathers below them are each on their own hinge to allow the wings to open up to a great degree. There are many 5mm ports on the wing-pack to store his twin blades, and a couple of specific ports along the middle for his sniper rifle. The double barreled cannons are also utilizing this, so they can be removed and stored if you don't like them.

So I guess a size comparison is in order... Talon's most impressive feature is his wingspan, so let's compare that to the good Doctor... Dr. Crank, that is.



Dr. Crank's crane boom is extended as far as it will go, and it still fails to match Talon's wingspan. That's kind of crazy awesome. Let's peak at that robot mode of his, shall we?



Talon is the simplest of the group to transform, but that doesn't make him any less impressive than his peers. Red shows up in his face... and crotch, and metallic red is used for his eyes. The pairs of bombs in his forearms are part of something I hinted at in Bovis and Fortis' review... and won't cover here. Wait until Tigris, who's obviously next in line. (he's the only one left, after all) Whereas Divebomb would be described as very happy, especially when he's got so many targets to shoot he hardly knows where to begin the hunt, (and head-shots) Talon features a much more calm and serene face. His job is to take out individual threats from high above for his comrades, and it's one he takes very seriously. He can't let himself get too excited even in the satisfaction of watching a target's head explode before moving on to the next target. Not that he's at a disadvantage in close-mid range combat, what with his blades and arm blasters... Speaking of the blades, as they don't have any weird stuff around them, they're considerably easier to get in and out of his hands. He's got about 26 points of articulation to use for very natural sniping poses, or nearly whatever else you'd like to pull off with him. You can even technically cheat and use the joint in his torso meant for combined mode for an abdominal bend forward or back depending on how you orient it. And this isn't even covering the 14 points in his wings! (counting each feather being able to move) I personally like draping the wings over his shoulders like a shroud or cape.

Another feature he has has to do with Leo Dux. His wings provide spots to attach Leo Dux's beast chest halves as is shown here. And his beast head can either fold down over his robot head like a hood much like what Divebomb is known for or it can slide down if you want him looking a little more like a conehead. But I hear you people demanding a size comparison! ...Or maybe not, but here it is anyway!



Still bigger than Dr. Crank. And I don't really like his head transformed like it is in this pic. And as a bonus, this guy's version of THE BATTLE FOR MORITORUS has a cameo appearance by a certain freelance peacekeeping agent, yes? Even mentions payment in Shanix, hm? Neat little nod...

Talon was the first figure many preordered of the Feralcons. So was all that wait worth the end result? Hell. Yes. Yeah, he's needed to BUILD GIANT ROBOT! but he has little trouble standing on his own if you just want a cool version of Divebomb that's not the old G1 toy... or a Kreon.

Oh just a bird, a large bird that is, a large angry bird! Nice DB

how well is the durability of the plastic?
what is a real good price on these (not) Predacons?
Have you seen reprolabels upgrade kits for these guys??

Galvatron wrote:how well is the durability of the plastic?
what is a real good price on these (not) Predacons?
Have you seen reprolabels upgrade kits for these guys??

The plastic is extremely durable on these guys. I may have broke the handle on one of Bovis' blades, but that was more my fault for trying to force it in the wrong way. The best prices would have been getting in on the early bird deals for their initial releases, but about $100 for each limb and $125 for Leo Dux sounds about right. And I've seen the results of all the Reprolabels upgrade sticker sheets for these guys except Tigris from EmGo's review of Feral Rex some time ago. It's a little too flashy for my taste, but then I'd only really be tempted to put Decepticon symbol stickers on 'em.