Cog WFC-S8 Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Siege Deluxe Item No.: Asst. E3432 No. E3536 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: 2 RT-5 Circuit Welder Action Feature: Transforms from Robot to 1 or 2 vehicles or armor Retail: $19.99 Availability: December 2018 Other: Fortress Maximus pal
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If you neither know nor care who Cog is, you likely never had a Fortress Maximus as a kid. I didn't - I just knew this was thrown out there as one of those things Hasbro should try to do a lot. The character is of minimal (read: no) significance to fans of the cartoon, appearing in a comic or two and otherwise being a toy that Fort Max owners probably lost. The new toy does a great job bringing the older, simpler toy to the 21st century with things like leg joints. It doesn't take much to upgrade this one.

Cog's robot form is a little more old-school than the rest of the line. Thanks to the construction kit format of the toy, the articulation is a little different - arms and legs plug in via the 5mm peg-and-hole system. You get those quasi-rocker ankles, but there's no wrist articulation. Instead, you get wrist-mounted cannons that move up and down, but they work best in vehicle mode. The robot head and chest are close to the original toy, and it's covered in guns, 5mm pegs, and 3mm pegs. There's a lot to play with on this one. It's a little more stiff than the other figures in this line, with guns and pegs and other elements that somehow mostly stay out of the way of limb movement. It's kind of amazing when you get it in your hands, it isn't as super-poseable as a Spider-Man but it puts a lot of other similarly sized human figures to shame.

"Damage" deco comes in the form of silver smears on the arms. If you plug the black blasters in the forearms, odds are you won't even realize the damage deco is there - the silver from the chest drowns it all out, as does the red highlights on the shoulders and shins. The silver visor doesn't exactly pop out of the head, but it's nice to set it off from the rest of the body.

Transformation from robot to the combined vehicle mode is some of the least interesting we've ever seen at this scale or price point. Pop out the arms, plug them into the chest. Plug the guns into the shins. Rotate the robot head back. You're done. A few more twists and turns are needed to make the various armor configurations or the two mini-vehicles, but it's not exactly involved. In any sense, to get Hasbro's modes you would need to consult the instructions because it's kind of a "mode because I say it is" not unlike some of the more peculiar third modes of the late 1990s Beast era. It's not something your instincts would discover, necessarily.

Depending on the configuration, you have some rolling wheels, lots of 3mm hardpoints for C.O.M.B.A.T. blast effects, and articulated cannons on what used to be arms. It's a little silly, but a battle buggy seems like a decent war machine in a toy diorama.

You can also tear this guy apart and make him into back-mounted weapons, a shield, and lift shoes. It's not a bad option to have, and it works well with most Siege deluxe toys. Admittedly, $20 is a lot for an upgrade pack - but when you factor in all of the modes, if you play with these, it's a pretty nice bonus option. It's certainly better than the Beast Wars Neo "trap" modes.

While a lot of fans laud the virtues of G1, this is one of those parts of G1 you didn't care about and probably would never miss. As such, it's a bit more exciting to have this military vehicle/buggy/train thing with loads of guns to play with over yet another version of a car. I like what teams Hasbro and Takara-Tomy did with it, but odds are you won't connect with it emotionally. But I expect your kids will love it, or anyone who still plays with their toys.

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