Well folks it's that time again, time for another Kre-O review, this time we'll be discussing the Micro-Changers Kreon Preview Wave (with Special Guest), and much like some of the larger set reviews this one actually has a lot more images than I thought it would, so we'll be breaking it up between two posts. On with the show.
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The Micro-Changers are a new style of play pattern for Kre-O, taking a cue from similar brick build toylines the fellows over at Hasbro have introduced individually packaged Kreons. The big selling point for these are the fact that with a small number of pieces you can have a Kreon in Robot mode or a 'Vehicle/Beast/Alternative' Mode.
The packaging is special envelopes or pouches with easy to tear off tops (making thievery simplistic for shoplifting kiddies), inside you will find a second plastic bag (the same kind that all Kreons come in) with all the parts and a folded sheet of 'instructions'.
The packaging is pretty simple, it's a basic white color with Kre-O Micro-Changers stamped on the top and an image of some of the Kreons in 'Dynamic Action Poses!' For the Preview Wave you have all six available on the package, from left to right there's Scorponok, Galvatron and Sunstorm on top with Crankstart, Spinister and Waspinator on the bottom.
The back of the envelope shows you the entire Preview Wave available and gives you the standard copywright information. Unlike similar brands the Kreons are numbered, for the Preview Wave you will find these numbers on the bottom of the envelope, what I believe is a batch number of some type or something followed by a single digit number which reveals who is who.
7 for Spinister, 8 for Galvatron, 9 for Sunstorm, 0 for Crankstart, 1 for Scorponok and 2 for Waspinator.
This makes it much easier to buy who you want and what you want, it also makes it easier to select which doubles you'd care to pick up for either extra Kreon parts or to have one for Robot Mode and one for Alt Mode.
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We'll start things off with Spinister, a personal favorite of mine. Spinister is a little purple and dark blue Kreon based on one of the Dual Targetmasters from the good old days of G1, a curious choice for our first batch of Not-So-Blind Packed Kreons.
As you can see in the image above he uses all of his available pieces in both modes, in robot mode the undercarriage gattling cannons becomes a hand-held variety, while his vehicle mode uses them to great effect. (The Clear Stand is from a LEGO set, it does not come with the Kreon sadly.)
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Like with most Kreons who wear something for kibble the chest detailing is partially covered up by the Helicopter Backpack, it isn't as bad though as the Tac Vests from Battleship that a lot of these first batches of Micro-Changers are using.
His vehicle mode is nothing more than the swapping of parts from his weapon sitting on his face kind of transformation/parts-formation, but for something as small as a Kreon it is serviceable.
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Up next we have Crankstart, I believe a name re-use from one of the Triggercons of G1, this is another curious first outing for the Micro-Changer line, it isn't a big named character we've commonly seen up to this point. He's like D-Level or E-Level Characters, someone you wouldn't expect to see as a Kreon until all of the typical 84-86 characters have shown up.
As you can see I picked up three of him, he looks generic enough that he could pass as a Decepti-Trooper, or Decepticlone, and here we see the Tac Vests of Battleship used for his front kibble.
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Or in the case of my alternate robot mode configuration the back-kibble. While these Tac Vest parts serve to cover up the unique torso printing Hasbro insists upon for each of their Kreon Micro-Changers, I think the beefer looking version of Crankstart's robot mode is pretty nifty. Plus it has the added benefit of allowing for all of his parts to attach to him in robot mode. (Minus the extra wheels, in case you were wondering the extra wheels from two of these Crankstarts are currently being used to give two of my kibble-free Autotroopers wheels to simulate Motorcycle Variants.)
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And here we find an alternate variation on his Vehicle mode transformation, using two Crankstarts you can make a double-barreled ground vehicle, simulating the Triggercon effect of his G1 days.
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Next up is the Emperor of Destruction himself, Galvatron. Quite an effecting looking Kreon is he not, he's got some really great chest detailing that sadly get's covered up when you turn him into Kibbletron, seriously with the Tac Vest on him and all the parts to his 'vehicle' mode on his back he's basically a top-heavy disaster.
As you can see in this shot I found a much more effective use for all those extra parts. Leaving the torso print free to show off the great looking Galvatron chest detailing. Yep you can build a standing cannon of some type, much better use for all those parts and it even incorporates the Tac Vest so you aren't left with any loose parts.
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Here's a side shot of the cannon and the official 'alt form', seriously Hasbro made up something that looks atrocious as far as alt modes look. It's worse than Cybertron Metroplex's sit down on my ass and curl up to pretend I'm some kind of vehicle alt mode. It is utterly a disgrace to call this thing an alt mode.
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Fortunately there are alternatives. Take this attempt for example, instead of making him look like a splayed out statue or whatever here we have a cannon mode that, while not accurate to G1, at least looks like something menacing. (And not the AHHHHHH FEAR ME FOR I AM THE BOX GHOST patheticness of the official mode.)
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Waspinator here is another fine example of a Kreon who has gone to waste, but first of all let's adress something much more important.
Wazzzzzpinator izzz prepared to infiltrate the competition's offices because Wazzzzzpinator has yellow hands.
Yep, Waspinator is the first Kreon to use the same yellow coloring that is found on all of LEGO's Mini-Figures for his hands. He also reuses Jazz's helmet quite effectively as the alternate non-mutant head of the original Waspinator toy.
If only they'd made a piece to mount the wings better so it wouldn't cover up the exclusive torso printing.
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As you can see from this shot there are two ways to make Waspinator, the official use less parts way on the right and my alternative take giving him a proper thorax in robot mode. Take a spare C-Clip part from your existing parts bin and you too can mimic this re-build of waspinator's back assembly.
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Here's all the wonderful printing that Hasbro included on the Kreon that the Tac Vest and Jazz's helmet cover up. A shame really, but I'm not about to break the toy just to show off that alternate printing. Although it is an option, as many fans have simply hacked off the front of the Tac Vest, personally I think that's a crying shame as the part is pretty fun looking in that green coloring.
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And last, but certainly not least, for part one of our look at the Preview Wave is Waspiantor's official Beast Mode. He's pretty fun looking, even if you are left with a spare set of legs once he's transformed.
Also I don't think his arms should be facing forward as they are here, because it looks a little off honestly. Still that's the official build so I pretty much stick with that, for the time being.
In a few short moments we'll discuss the last two members of this Preview Wave, the overall thoughts and of course our special guest.
