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Transformers: Armada
Smokescreen

By Daniel Lipkowitz, Assistant Editor

Mini-Con

Breaking away from the largely Earthlike Mini-Con vehicle modes, Liftor is a very Cybertronian-looking forklift/bulldozer hybrid with a few dragster elements thrown in for good measure. Interestingly, he somewhat resembles a few early design concept sketches from the abandoned Transformers: Transtech line. It looks like someone at Hasbro liked the idea of the vehicle fusion enough to carry it over to Armada.

To transform Liftor to robot mode, flip back the rear of the vehicle and separate it to form legs, unfold the arms, fold the forklift prongs to the sides and flip back the front of the vehicle to expose the robot head. Well, that's the official transformation, at least, but a pair of additional swivel joints makes it appear that the toy was designed for the over-the-shoulder prongs to fold back, making them much less obtrusive and ungainly than they appear in the instructions and package photos.

In robot mode, Liftor has swivel joints at the shoulders, elbows and knees, plus limited ball-joint hips. He's very poseable for a Mini-Con and looks terrific in both modes, with a distinctively asymmetrical face and very nice sculpting and mechanical detailing. His Powerlinx port is in the middle of the robot torso, and his faction symbol appears on the nose of the vehicle.

Vehicle Mode

In vehicle mode, Smokescreen is a compact but heavy-duty, futuristic-looking utility crane. Diagonal warning stripes are painted on the sides, and a working winch with a hook is built into the back of the vehicle. Smokescreen's orange, dark purple-blue and gray plastic is almost a perfect match for Laserbeak's colors, but seems appropriate enough for a construction vehicle. His Autobot symbol is molded on a flip-up panel on the right side of the driver's cabin, while a nonfunctional Powerlinx peg is set on the left. The vehicle looks fairly small as Super-Cons go -- until you take into account the mass of the immense crane arm, which can rotate and elevate through three positions with a strong ratchet joint. There are some very nice blue and silver paint applications here that highlight some of the details of the sculpt.

Vehicle Mode Features

• Attack Mode: Attach Liftor to the Powerlinx peg on the back of the crane arm. This lets you slide the peg forward to extend the arm. At its maximum extension, an additional section flips out to reveal a spring-loaded missile launcher. When fully deployed, the gigantic cannon stretches nearly 10" in length.


• Tow Mode: The hook on Smokescreen's winch has a Powerlinx peg attached to it. You can manually extend the line (which is about 6 3/4" long) and attach a Mini-Con or anything else that the hook will hold, then roll the crane forward to automatically retract the tow-line. Moving a small blue switch on the back of the vehicle deactivates this feature, letting the crane roll freely. Great, clever gimmick.


• The panel on which Smokescreen's Autobot symbol appears can be flipped up, revealing sculpted detail that resembles the Mini-Con Blackout's radar dish. There's no mention of this feature in the instructions, leaving its purpose up to the imagination.

Transformation to Robot Mode

Smokescreen's transformation is surprisingly similar to Hot Shot's, although the end result is quite different. Fold the warning-striped sides of the crane forward over the front wheels. Pull down on the front bumper to free the lower chassis, swinging it down 90 degrees and then pushing up to compress the waist. Separate the front halves of the vehicle and rotate the tire-sides to the back, flipping down the feet from the shin sections. Separate the halves of the driver's cabin and slide them forward to lock in the shoulders. Pull out on the cabin halves to extend the arms and fold them down. Rotate the crane arm 180 degrees, automatically turning the robot head to face front.

Robot Mode

In robot mode, Smokescreen is short, stocky and very tough-looking. All of his proportions seem compressed, from his short legs to his broad, metallic-blue face. Barely visible from the front and lacking holes for accessories (no Star Saber for this guy), his large fists are set into the shell of the driver's cabin halves and painted silver. The winch sticks out of his chest and the giant crane arm sits on his right shoulder. Thanks to the low center of gravity and large feet, the toy manages to keep its balance well despite being very front-heavy. Smokescreen's overall look gives the impression of an "immovable-object"-style no-nonsense ‘bot.

Articulation

Smokescreen has rotating shoulders and his arms can swing out to the sides. His elbows bend, but only by a few degrees. His neck turns manually or by rotating the crane arm. He has strong ball-joints for his hips, and although he lacks bending knees, his upper legs have a horizontal rotation point that allows for some nicely dynamic poses.

Robot Mode Features

• Attack Mode: As in vehicle mode, attaching a Mini-Con to the Powerlinx peg on the crane arm allows it to be extended into a huge missile-launching cannon weapon.


• Smokescreen's winch works as in crane mode.


• Rotating the crane arm also rotates Smokescreen's head. If you'd prefer that the two point in different directions, just hold one in place and move the other.

Overall

I really dig this little guy. With a great Mini-Con and some nifty features that show off why the Armada line is so fun, Smokescreen offers a mixture of the durability of the Big Adventures toys and the gimmicks and detailing of the traditional Transformers line. He also has decent articulation and good-looking modes in which all of the parts lock together solidly. Nice stuff!

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