Here we have Filch and Cannonball in their respective alternate modes. Filch's altmode is a mechanical corvid decently matching the RID15 aesthetics while Cannonball is a mix of a Dodge Magnum's design traits with a Honda City Turbo's smaller size. Filch's alt mode retains the same functionality found in Airazor, with a neck swivel, opening beak, multi-hinged wings (with 5mm ports for the outer parts of the wings), and slight leg movement despite them being folded up. Meanwhile, Cannonball was retooled to better match the alternate mode of the original toy back in 2005, though Cannonball being a Dodge Magnum meant that this new toy would have one row of seats/doors less. The deco is also different from the old toy, with more bronze surrounding the tires and the hood whereas the original toy had them as silver for the former and was blank on the latter. At least the rims are painted silver, including the mushroom pegs for the front tires.
For a comparison with the vast, predatory birds, here we have Filch next to Airazor. The remaining parts from Airazor are not as noticeable in their alt modes beyond the feet and the structure for the torsos, but so far we can see how distinct the two already are as we go from organic to mechanical, with the obvious coloring differences.
As for Cannonball, here he is next to Medix, last year's (final) Walgreens exclusive toy. The white and orange/green-accented Autobot is a use of Legacy Crankcase, already a heavy retool of Skids from the same line, with a new shell for the vehicle mode that ditches translucent plastic for the first time. The squatter proportions don't match the original toy's look, but I do find it to be a decent compromise if we're going to stick with this figure as our Cybertron Red Alert.
Of note, this figure comes with a new accessory that goes on the roof, giving Cannonball a siren and Cyber Key port to complete the look. The key itself isn't translucent like with Vector Prime, Hot Shot, and Starscream, but at least it tries to break up the inaccurate bronze patch on the back. Said lightbar even has Cannonball's head sculpted as faux to homage the old toy.
The transformation is the same as with the Kingdom Airazor mold, transformation is the exact same as one would expect. Filch adds an additional step where the wings would be removed from the 5mm ports, allowing them to be pegged on the forearms just like the show model. As far as the new parts are concerned beyond the wings and beast mode head, the back, the robot head, the shoulder pieces, and the shins are new. While I am impressed with the retooling applied to Filch, I do feel that there is room for further improvement, mostly with the rest of the torso, the codpiece, the rest of the arms, and the thighs. Regardless, I'm surprised Hasbro went back and made a Decepticon from RID15 that we didn't get previously in the show's line, on top of the current state of representation in RID15 characters in the Legacy line (don't get me started on that Ratbat redeco named Nightstrike).
As for Cannonball, the shoulders are new to better match how they looked on the old toy, this time better-scaled as faux parts, thankfully. While a more faithful update would be ideal, the Skids/Crankcase mold is the next best thing for the character design. The original Cybertron Red Alert had a charm of its own yet didn't feel as practical aesthetically compared to most of his contemporaries, with the oversized lower legs that surprisingly retain knee articulation in addition to the doors. The Skids/Crankcase mold is admittedly basic as it stands, especially the original Skids tooling, but Cannonball could be the best version of the mold; the legs are functionally the same as the others, but I like how the upper body turned out this time, making it feel more robust compared to the others. And yes, the shoulder cannons from Crankcase are intact, and they're just as tiny as on the old toy.
One thing that I find ingenious would have to be the way Hasbro used the empty spaces within the lower legs as weapon storage. I don't know how early their retool plans were for Cannonball, but while many would find these empty spaces (and the knee joints) unsightly, this at least homages how the old toy would store its weapons.
Because of the nozzle replacing the left hand, Cannonball can utilize either a claw or hammer, which he could use for combat or repairs if he's a medic like Red Alert.
Overall, this is a remarkable pair of retools for the Star Raiders capsule line. Not only will it be great to have a Cybertron Red Alert to go with a growing Cybertron collection, but it's also great to see a RID15 Decepticon pop up. With the former, I can happily say that Hasbro went many steps further with their budget compared to Generations Selects Hot Shot being just a head swap of Siege Hound. As for the latter, I don't know how soon we'll get more Decepticons from Steeljaw's Pack, but this retool could fit in decently with the other Warrior Class figures (but please give us better versions of Steeljaw and Underbite, Hasbro).
Cannonball ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Filch ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Since I wanted to give more attention to the other Star Raiders figures, I'm happy to see a new reuse of the Kingdom Cyclonus mold, with Ferak featuring altered wings, nosecone, and a toy-accurate head to boot. He sadly suffers from the flat gray plastic, though there is a Reprolabel set to make him look better if you really want to. As it stands, he could have been made better.
I also have to show you Road Pig, the second reuse of last year's Crashbar. The black, silver, red, and gold from the G2 toy look cooler than the Junkion colors, but the pipes and even the head are cast in red plastic; the pipes could be an homage to the old toy's light-up gimmick, but the head is a possible consequence of them being from the same sprue. Amusingly, the Transformers logo is on the left of the altmode, but it is the current brand version of the logo seen since 2014 rather than the G2 version.
Since he is the second use of the Crashbar mold, we can now have a complete Junkion line-up consisting of three characters that color-match Wreck-Gar, a Decepticon Junkion whose deco does not match the others, and another Decepticon who was never a Junkion to begin with. Hey. beats a test shot version of Crashbar that the Hasbro designer used for Junkasaurus.
The proper Junkasaurus configuration is now possible with five members, with the Crashbar mold used as arms and the Scraphook mold used as legs; Trashmaster serves as the torso, and the result I have here...is similar to how Devastator looked in Revenge of the Fallen. See, depending on how strong the 5mm ports are, this combined mode wouldn't stay together or pose that well; Junkasaurus is best left as a display piece rather than a new mode to play with. I do like the approach in having the more colorful limbs on one side of the combined mode while the traditionally-colored Crashbar and Scraphook share a dedicated side of their own. Either way, this is even less stable than the 3-bot version of Junkasaurus from my experience.
As for the other repaints I have yet to buy, Lockdown is a figure I'd love to have given I'm a big fan of the Animated design. Apparently, Hasbro mentioned you can use Road Pig's arms to make the legs better match the unique design this bounty hunter is associated with. He appears to be the hardest one to find, likely due to being shortpacked (an annoying aspect toy companies do). Meanwhile, Thundertron, Calcitron, and Nightstrike come in a multipack labeled as a Leader Class set; the latter two are unique, but Thundertron isn't entirely different from his regular release beyond the brighter colors, a TFP-accurate head (with eyepatch), and a hook instead of a right hand. I don't think it's been reported if this set was spotted at retail like last year's Toxitron Leaders, so wish me luck.
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