ToyWorld: TW-06 Evila Star
Release date: Current 2015
Character: Decepticon Astrotrain
First Impressions
I first saw this figure back in October at TfCon 2014 in Chicago. I was looking through a display case and I couldn’t get a very good sense of the figure, but from what I did see, the locomotive looked good. When I had the Evila Star delivered, I thought to myself, big shoebox, small figure and poor use of space. It comes in locomotive form, and looks tiny in the large box. Really poor use of space.
The figure itself:
Train mode – I’ve always been a big fan of old coal trains, and I was very impressed with the look. It had all the basics for what I would need for a locomotive – large wheels, coupling rods/ piston rods, a cowcatcher and other things. It looks good – but I was disappointed that the main wheels don’t actually touch the ground. The smaller wheels hold it aloft.
Shuttle mode - He’s a sleek looking shuttle. It looks like a space shuttle, but the shuttle has a lot of panels. If your transformation is off the panels will not fit together properly, and you will have noticeable issues. The train mode’s piston rods are dangling loosely about underneath the shuttle’s wings. There is nothing to secure the rods, and no they do not look like guns. The shuttle does have landing gear which are molded plastic.
Robot mode – The robot mode is very G1-esque so people who are looking for an update on the toy should be somewhat happy.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the robot mode, I was quite disappointed.
Starting from the bottom, Evila Star has strange pod-like feet. It has a small toe section with a fat pod of a heel. The foot in its entirety is quite small to the rest of the leg. The feet are also strangely designed - there is a small red plastic tab that is unfolded from the calf that presses against the foot to hold it in place. It looks out of place.
*** in the photo below of the foot - the purple tab just above the grey top of the foot- should be flipped all the way up. Thanks 'timcrook'!
The calves – E.S has a large lower leg which look extremely odd. If you’re looking directly from the front, they seem extremely thin. From the side, they are fat and are wider than the rest of the figure. Some of the photos that are online, have his legs transformed incorrectly. According to the instructions, part of the leg that one of the train wheels is connected to – is supposed to be turned, so that the wheel faces the back. If this is done, the wheel and a piece of plastic stick out from the inside of the leg. This prevents E.S from standing with his legs close together. Looking at the figure, you will want to have the figure with a wider stance, because it may trick they eye into not seeing how awkward the figure looks if it is standing straight. He has extremely thin hips and because of the pegs, he makes a triangular type base.
Thighs – E.S suffers from short thigh syndrome. What does short thigh syndrome entail? It means less range of positions, and he looks like you, when you’re out in the woods taking a number 2 without the benefit of a seat. No - it really does look bad. He looks like a hockey goalie, with thin goalie pads.
Lower torso – The panels here work to a nice advantage for this figure. The rib area tapers into the waist so that he doesn’t have the typical cylinder torso look.
Upper chest area - The shuttle’s tail fin opens up on E.S' chest. If you look at him at eye level the tail fin hides his face. For those of you who like taking photos of figures, you’re going to be placing the camera higher than his eye level and pointing downwards. You wont get any pictures from bottom going up. The big tail fin also helps hide the shoulder caps. There's nothing wrong with the shoulders, they don't have much design.
Arms – the arms transform well. His hands have the crab clamp, which is all that is necessary. The wrists swivel, but can pop out of the groove so you need to be careful, because popping them back in can be irritating. Bicep swivel exists, elbow joints, and the shoulders have a decent range of mobility - except for anything that would require his arms to be held out in front of him where the chest plate covers his shoulders.
Head sculpt – The head sculpt is good. The little sliver of coloured plastic that you can place over his eyes, don’t really add anything to the face. I almost think it makes his head look more round and squat because of it.
The wings – his back are good. You can hide the wheel rods that are left floating in the back by clipping them with parts of the wings. It’s a little strange how the rods were left without a placeholder, because they really do dangle. His backpack isn't too bad and helps to give him some girth if you look at him from the side.
Detail
The detail that was put in the train definitely shows and displays well. Looking at an actual coal train, there are a lot of things that stick out on a train, and ToyWorld does a good job to try and capture that detail.
The shuttle is basically a long tube, with a nosecone, wings and a tail fin. The boosters are done well as is the underside of the shuttle.
In robot mode, E.S' detailing isn't bad. He has decent lines that help break up the monotony of the white/grey. Plenty of room for stickers, but now that I look at it, his colourful chest plate does have a lot of lines. It's not terrible, but I am a little surprised that there is so much colour on the tail fin .
Guns - E.S' weapons are decent and have paint apps on them which is nice. Unfortunately, they do not fit in the pegs for the shuttle that have been illustrated in the instructions. I'm also wondering how easy it is to hold aloft a long range rifle type weapon in each hand. Isn't there some sorta of recoil? Bah - I know nothing of guns, but i would think it would be awkward holding those type of weapons in each hand.
Transformation
The instructions are detailed up until a point. That point is where the artist decided that it was too difficult to illustrate the next steps. They’ve basically skipped sections and left out details that would assist ANYONE in trying to transform it. Thankfully you can watch Youtube videos, which help assist with this issue. The loose panels everywhere can make the figure a floppy mess. If you get frustrated easily, I would really recommend that you watch a video instruction, and take your time. It's not terribly difficult, but some parts will come out and you may incur stress marks.
Engineering
Certain parts of the figure’s transformation is certainly advanced. The robot mode’s backpack and how the thrusts merge to become part of his back, I found interesting. The flipping of the nosecone to become his feet were also nice, but fails to make up for the weak foot design.
Material
The plastic is fine, which is typical of Toyworld. The only poor area of the plastic would be the thinness of the panels on the top of the shuttle - that help form the legs of E.S.
Summary
I'm a bit lucky, because I get figures at a discounted price. The American companies have him at about 115$ USD/ $146 CAD, and that's before shipping. I do think this is a poor figure overall. Poor instructions where parts are just left out will make this figure a frustrating experience. The general look of the figure in robot mode and it's shortcomings with everything below the waist makes me question how Toyworld would ever think that this was an acceptable figure? The train mode and the shuttle forms are decent once you have all the panels lined up, but I question how many people would actually display it in one of these modes. I guess probably a lot since his robot mode is weak. For the price that he's listed at, I would say that this is a poor offering from Toyworld and not worth the money that retailers have him at or what Toyworld is charging. If you desperately need an Astrotrain, wait for the DX version to come out before purchasing, and or hope that TakaraTomy has one in the making.
Questions:
Best mode - Train
Would I buy this for myself? - Never
- I don't disagree with certain parts of your statement. Yes, its a nice train. Shuttle is nice - aside from the train rods that are underneath the wings that don't clip into anything. Robot mode we are obviously disagreeing on. Aside from the feet? I can see that - but what about the thighs? They are definitely short. So i guess - i can compromise on the whole lower half of E.S since the train and shuttle look good. Ha! 
