A Little Plane

Skyhammer is the wavemate of Heavytread and because of this he has always lived in Heavytread's shadow, and never seemed as interesting as the Autobot tank. Skyhammer's plane mode is quite dull looking, but is actually nicely detailed and painted. Like Heavytread, Skyhammer features a camouflage colourscheme; in this case a blue-gray combination. The underside is quite bulky, but not horribly so, particularly for a figure this size. The rear landing gear is permanantly deployed but the nose wheel can be folded away. An orange peg can be flipped up between his tailfins to attach his minicon airlift in his vehicle weapon mode.

The transformation is similar in many ways to the wave one Skyburst, with the arms and legs stored in a very similar manner and the cockpit ending up on the robot mode chest. The most distinctive feature in robot mode is the position of the wings which stick out from his shoulders and back, positioned so as to not get in the way of the arms, it looks a little haphazard, but in a practical sense it works better than keeping them flat. His legs look a bit too wide for the rest of him, but apart from this his proportions are good. Airlift can be rearranged so he can be held in this mode, exchanging the socket for vehicle mode for a handle for Skyhammer to hold.

Skyhammer's torso mode is one of the tallest in the line, and whilst he has a somewhat lanky build he manages to avoid looking skinny. Rather than simply switching heads, Skyhammer instead gets a helmet and goggles over his existing one. It creates a different look whilst adding the mass necessary for this mode. The wings now point straight up and are held in place by the folded robot arms. Articulation here is pretty standard, but the way his legs are formed hinders his hip movement. Airlift can form a chestplate (not very good) or put into his own robot mode (recommended).

Skyhammer is a good indication of the progress this line has made, compared to wave one Skyburst there are a lot of refinements. Whist he may not be as popular as Heavytread, he is still well worth a look.

Autobot Tankdozer

It is unfortunate that the Transformers Power Core Combiners line is ending; whilst it didn't start on the best footing, the overall quality of the line has increased with each wave of new figures. Coming from the same wave as the Constructicons and Dinobots I've already looked at, Heavytread with Groundspike shows the progress that the two packs have made alongside the five packs.

Heavytread turns into a large (for the price) tank in a vaguely desert based camouflage, with some yellow and drab green areas. His minicon groundspike can form a large mine plow that can be attached to the front of the tank on a flip out post. There is a lot of subtle detail on every surface of the tank, and though I won't pretend to know what it all represents, I'm sure that it is all based off real features of real tanks. There are four wheels embedded in the treads, and the turret is capable of a full rotation. The only weaknesses in this mode are apparent from the back, two of the blue blocks are visible and the rear of the vehicle is somewhat incomplete.

Robot mode is as bulky as you would expect from something that was just a tank. More of the dark green comes into play here, as well as the black treads commanding more attention. For being so bulky he is surprisingly articulated, with ankle joints being the only noticable ommision. There is more than a hint of G1 Brawl in this guy's design, despite him being an autobot, the blocky head and position of the main gun are similar. Groundspike can be put in his own robot mode or can become a large claw weapon that fits over Heavytread's right hand.

Heavytread's torso mode is one of the bulkiest of the line, with a larger but equally blocky head and the entire front of the tank forming his chest and shoulders. The turret is cleverly turned into an asymmetrical backpack. Groundspike can form a chestplate for this mode, but like most of the other minicons in the line this mode falls a bit flat compared to his other modes. Whilst he doesn't come with any drones of his own, Heavytread can utilise those from any of the five packs, and looks best with the Combaticons or their redecos. He forms the core of a stumpy but imposing combination that gives the impression of a lot of mass.

I really do like the Power Core line, the two-pack figures in particular are a lot of fun and feel much more substantial than the similarly priced scout class figures. It's a pity that these guys are becoming hard to find, and are often marked up slightly compared to earlier waves. Heavytread is worth it though, even if you don't have any drones, he is a great little standalone figure.