Toy Review: Transformers Club Figure – Depth Charge

The 2013 Transformers Club Figure is a reimagining of the fierce bounty hunter from “Beast Wars” – Depth Charge.  This incarnation is starring in the club’s 2013 comic story “Beast Wars Shattered Glass”, and while he no longer transformers into a manta ray, he still is very reminiscent of the now 15 year old toy.  Depth Charge is now a fighter jet armed with a polearm weapon that can be either a spear or trident.  As with all club figures, he is based off another toy; in this case, a redeco of Terradive.

“It’s not revenge I’m looking for; it’s justice.”

So, does Depth Charge work as a smaller toy?  Read on and find out!

On the whole, I really like this figure.  I had forgotten how good a transformation Terradive had; it’s complex without being frustrating.  Yes, there are a few steps that may make you question what to do, but once you figure out, it becomes obvious and intriguing how they made those parts move like they do.  It allows you to get some play value out of transforming, but not so much that you have to take 30 minutes to convert it, and thereby robbing you of your desire to continue playing with it.

His colors are brighter than I remember them on the original toy, but the overall look is great – a light grey with yellow, blue, and a shade of magenta.  While there isn’t a way to perfectly match the paint deco from the Beast Wars toy to the new toy, it presents all the colors in a way that make sense and don’t look out of place.  And although the head isn’t remolded, Terradive’s head is painted so that all the main parts are there – the light blue fins, blue crest, yellow face, red — okay, magenta light-piped — eyes, and — well, whatever you want to call the shape of his mouth.  It’s almost like Terradive was meant to be Depth Charge in another toy-life.  I’m glad to see the Maximal symbol on his chest; without it, it wouldn’t feel right.

His polearm weapon can change into a trident, which calls back to his ocean form, although you can keep it as a spear to simulate his manta ray tail weapon from 1998.  He can hold the weapon or store it on his back; personally, I keep it in his hands, so he’s always battle-ready.  One undocumented mode is to keep his jet thrusters transformed instead of fists, so it looks like he has blasters ready to capture his target.

As mentioned, the transformation to jet mode is fun without being simplistic, and it makes sense that Depth Charge would be a jet.  His original beast mode, a manta ray, could fly through the water; his third mode was a “space skimmer/cruiser”.  So it would be odd if this new Depth Charge was land-based.  The jet wings are mainly blue, with some purple in them, and as a nice touch, there are small yellow “rectangles”, similar to the manta ray wings.  Again, it’s reminiscent of the old deco without being able to recreate it directly.  The spear attaches underneath, and his landing gears go up and down to add a little bit of fun.

Again, overall this is a great club toy.  I still think Sideburn represents the best of the club figures, but this is a darn good runner-up.  Well done, Transformers Club!

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