Armada Wave 1
Land Military Mini-Con Team

By Daniel Lipkowitz, Assistant Editor

Vehicle Modes

Bonecrusher is a black and blue-grey missile loader truck with red and gold details. On package photos and at Toy Fair, Bonecrusher’s missile was flat-tipped and featured sculpted detailing that made it resemble a cluster of rockets. On the final toy, however, the missile terminates in a rounded safety tip. The missile launcher can raise, lower and pivot, and six of the eight wheels spin freely (the other two are sculpted on, with hubcaps molded and painted to match the real ones). More robot parts are visible in this mode than for most Mini-Cons, but the tradeoff is a truly unique and innovative transformation.

Knock Out is a mustard-tan personnel carrier with a huge missile launcher mounted on the roof. All six of his wheels spin freely.

Wreckage is a green rocket launcher tank with black treads and twin blue-grey missile launchers. Four wheels are hidden inside and between the treads.

Transformation to Robot Mode

Bonecrusher: Here’s where we see the difference between Mini-Cons and Micromasters. Split the front and back of the vehicle in half, then rotate one side 90 degrees to form a "plus" shape. Twist the quarter with the launcher and the quarter with the cab outward 90 degrees to the sides. Rotate the halves another 90 degrees so that the launcher and cab are aligned on the same end of the body. Lock everything together again and rotate the head to face forward. Holy cow!

Knock Out: Fold the forward sides of the vehicle up to become arms. Fold down the rear half to form the lower body and flip down the back to make the robot’s lower legs and feet. Rotate the arms down and flip the launcher to the right shoulder, exposing the robot head.

Wreckage: Un-peg the launchers and fold them down to the sides as arms. Flip down and separate the front of the vehicle to form the robot’s lower legs.

Robot Modes

Bonecrusher is mostly black, with red upper legs and a grey-blue pelvis and weapon arm. His face, left fist and right chest are detailed in gold, and his green and red eye makes him look a bit like a He-Man villain. His faction symbol appears on his right arm, a relatively immense missile launcher, and half of the wheels from his vehicle mode run up and down the midline of his torso. Oh, and his head is a gas can.

Knock Out, with his overall bulk and detailing, seems like he should be a much a larger toy. His head shape, shoulder cannon and squared-off, armored appearance are reminiscent of Tankor from Beast Machines. For a tiny guy, he looks pretty tough. Knock Out’s faction symbol is molded onto his left shin.

Wreckage looks a lot like a Micromaster, really. He can’t move much, and he has a fairly simple transformation. His arms, with fists sculpted on, carry a pair of large missiles. His Mini-Con symbol appears in the middle of his back.

Articulation

Bonecrusher’s shoulders both rotate. His left elbow is hinged and his weapon arm can swing out to the side. His hips and knees are also jointed.

Knock Out has rotating shoulders and jointed hips and knees.

Wreckage has ball-jointed shoulders and jointed knees. His legs can spread apart a bit at the hips, but the right leg does not move as far as it looks like it should, forcing him to have a slightly narrower stance than his feet were designed for.

Features

Each Mini-Con team seems to have its own unifying gimmick, and the Land Military Team’s is missiles. Bonecrusher and Wreckage carry pressure-mounted missiles, fired by pushing on the back until the projectile pops free of the launcher. Knock Out is armed with a trigger-fired, spring-powered launcher.

Impressions

If this is what we have to expect from the Mini-Cons, then bring ‘em on. Bonecrusher may not be much to look at in vehicle mode, but he features one of the most creative transformations of all time. Knock Out simply looks great in both modes, and Wreckage... well, there’s nothing especially wrong with Wreckage, but he’s not quite as inspired as his teammates. Overall, the Land Military Team is a terrific little set of Transformers.

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