This week is a big week.
The start of Wave 4.
Wave 4 was the start of the end for the PCC line. The toys barely made it into stores and the 2 packs got shortened from three figures per Wave down to two. Wave 4 is when everything started to get really good though. Waves 4 and 5 had some of the best figures in the entire line.
The start of Wave 4.
Wave 4 was the start of the end for the PCC line. The toys barely made it into stores and the 2 packs got shortened from three figures per Wave down to two. Wave 4 is when everything started to get really good though. Waves 4 and 5 had some of the best figures in the entire line.
Heavytread is one of, if not my favourite PCC figures. Yeah I'm dropping that information straight away. No reason to hide it. He's great and he's one of the reasons I love the PCC line so much.
Heavytread transforms into a tank but not any particular make or model, a root and a torso. His tank mode is a solid design with a little bit of visible peg syndrome. The leg pegs stick out at the back like bright blue exhausts. The turret rotates and while some people might say “Of course it should!” never take this for granted. Heavytread looks good as a tank, the camo paint apps really make him pop. Some of these paint apps carry over into robot mode. He has a Mini-Con port that flips out in this mode but only Groundspike really works well in this mode.
The transformation is a pretty simple affair and it works pretty much like you'd expect it to. In his robot mode Heavytread looks pretty good, He has two visible pegs in this mode but this time they are on his arms, the ones from the back of the tank are tucked away in the legs. He's got some nice articulation as a robot to, knee joints, a waist joint and his shoulders and arms are nicely done to.
The only real complaint I have about the robot mode is the hands. They're sculpted into the front of the tank and it really doesn't look like he has hands. They are sculpted to hold 5mm pegs but they don't do it very well. The saving grace is that on the back of Heavytreads right arm is a peg hole, this hole is perfect for mounting Groundspike on.
His head has some nicely sculpted but simple detail, he doesn't have any light piping and his eye is a block of black. I might have to paint that one day so it matches the eyes on the torso mode.
Lets move on to the torso shall we?
The only real complaint I have about the robot mode is the hands. They're sculpted into the front of the tank and it really doesn't look like he has hands. They are sculpted to hold 5mm pegs but they don't do it very well. The saving grace is that on the back of Heavytreads right arm is a peg hole, this hole is perfect for mounting Groundspike on.
His head has some nicely sculpted but simple detail, he doesn't have any light piping and his eye is a block of black. I might have to paint that one day so it matches the eyes on the torso mode.
Lets move on to the torso shall we?
The torso is formed by mostly transforming Heavytread back into his tank mode but leaving the waist down. Torso mode looks awesome, it's one of my favourites. It just comes together perfectly. The new head has some lovely details and his eyes are picked put in Ultramarine blue.
I don't usually team Heavytread with any of the Drone teams, I've used the Dinobots for the photos here.
I don't usually team Heavytread with any of the Drone teams, I've used the Dinobots for the photos here.
Paired with Mobine Heavytread really comes into his own. There was a reason a lot of the promotional photos for the “Jungle Type” had it paired with Heavytread. They look amazing together. Even with the Chaos version he looks great. All of the bulk Mobine adds sits perfectly with the torso. There's no clearance problems with any of the parts and it looks great (I said that already right?). If I had a set of the Jungle Type They'd never be separated.
With Iron army the goodness continues, the extra height the tank legs works well with the torso and don't make him feel disproportionate. As with Mobine he has plenty of clearance for the arms and the shared military theme makes the teaming really pop.
Time for Groundspike!
Time for Groundspike!
Groundspike is molded in a light blue plastic with some details picked out in silver and his calves molded in the same olive green that Heavytread is molded from.
Groundspike is an interesting figure but I'll get to that in a moment.
He does the usual trick for PCC Mini-Cons in that he transforms into 4 modes. Robot, chest armour, a claw weapon and a mine plow.
His robot mode is pretty standard, he's very long legged and unfortunately he doesn't have any paint apps on his face. It's kinda hard to see what he has there. I already know the photos wont show up the facial detail, he's kind of got a Knight helmet look. It's a rounded off square with some slits in it.
Groundspike is an interesting figure but I'll get to that in a moment.
He does the usual trick for PCC Mini-Cons in that he transforms into 4 modes. Robot, chest armour, a claw weapon and a mine plow.
His robot mode is pretty standard, he's very long legged and unfortunately he doesn't have any paint apps on his face. It's kinda hard to see what he has there. I already know the photos wont show up the facial detail, he's kind of got a Knight helmet look. It's a rounded off square with some slits in it.
As chest armour he works really well, the plow blades form up as really nice armour.
The claw weapon is a bit different, being one of the small amount of melee weapons in the PCC Mini-Cons for a start (only three, two if you don't count repaints) it's a cool little weapon that works especially well with Heavytreads wrist mount.
The mine plow mode is where things take a down turn. The plow mode will only work with Heavytread. He's the only PCC with a front mounted vehicle Power-Linx port. It would kind of work with Sledge's scoop based port but that's about it.
As a pairing these guys really work well together and I can't wait to get the United EX version one day. Groundspikes few weaknesses are easy to ignore when Heavytread comes into it. Great figure! If you only own one PCC make it Heavytread!
Next week we meet our first Decepticon of Wave 4 and what I call the “speed bump” of Wave 4.
As a pairing these guys really work well together and I can't wait to get the United EX version one day. Groundspikes few weaknesses are easy to ignore when Heavytread comes into it. Great figure! If you only own one PCC make it Heavytread!
Next week we meet our first Decepticon of Wave 4 and what I call the “speed bump” of Wave 4.
Stu "Darkageis" Murray is a founding member of The Old Oilhouse, a lifelong transformers nut and collector of Sentai and Kamen rider in most of it's forms.
He sometimes takes epic trips to Newcastle, and tells tales of these sagas often.
When not watching people in spandex fight each other he paints miniatures, go HERE to take a look.
He sometimes takes epic trips to Newcastle, and tells tales of these sagas often.
When not watching people in spandex fight each other he paints miniatures, go HERE to take a look.
