Here we have Steeljaw in his cassette mode. Why does it look incomplete? You have one side that has the spool and a bit of paint apps representing the reel, but then you got another half where it's unpainted, you have the lion heads visible, and it's the biggest form of asymmetry on a cassette that I have ever seen. The backside even has the faux spools painted on, which makes this feel like an afterthought overall. There's very little to say.
Steeljaw is compatible with Blaster, but he is far too snug and has to fit in a specific way. The Siege Micromasters meant for Soundwave and Blaster aren't always the best for compatibility, but this is even worse.
Do I need to point out the obvious with this alt mode's failures? And yes, that is the Rumble who comes with Legacy United Soundwave. More on him later.
Transformation feels somewhat cheap, with how tight the joints feel on a figure that is small and likely poorly designed. I worry on there being stress marks where the little bolts are connected, especially from repeated transformations. Steeljaw's lion mode is adorable, yes, and you do get articulation for the legs, but is it really worth having to make the figure's altmode be shit? I'm also unhappy with there being no proper integration for the winglets behind the mane, which would have helped the altmode. There is also a joint meant for the butt where the legs can be spaced apart...why?! It makes him look like he has a silver chrome anus!
The backpack can be removed if you want to use his other accessory to make him have an additional attack mode. That speaker can slide into Blaster's hand to recreate the moment where he fought like this in Auto Bop.
Meanwhile, on the side of better-quality Core Class figures, with Geocron on the right is what may look like a palette swap of Bouldercrash, yet apart from the replacement of burgundy with light brown and red with lavender, we at least have a few different placements for the paint apps on both toys here and there, which include the pistons near the front wheel and the bit of red on the front.
The main difference you'd get would be the robot head, which looks more like the rock monsters that were featured in the Headmasters episode My Friend, Sixshot. Hasbro did say that the monsters there were homaged along with the Rock Lords for the Infernac crew.
As for Energon Galvatron, this is the best saved for last. I already loved the original Energon Megatron, and seeing this with the purple and richer blacks was a treat. It isn't a direct color swap either, with the re being different paint app placements this time around. So for example, the angry black unibrow and the nosecone are replaced with the red guns near the cockpit.
I really love the original figure's robot mode for being faithful to the original, but this manages to be even better with the Energon Galvatron repaint. I hope we get a larger-scale version of this design, but until then, we can joke how Armada Galvatron shrank into his Energon form...or you could be boring and repurpose this as a G1 version of the character.
Overall, Steeljaw is the worst Core Class figure we've got yet, and I thought Concept Art Rumble was an awful toy. As for Geocron and Galvatron, the former is alright while the latter is awesome. I recommend you get Energon Galvatron. The ranking below represents the wave combined.
Geocron: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Galvatron: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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