Customer Reviews

Transformers Deluxe Classic Astrotrain

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not going to go into my childhood, or how I love the Transformers or any of that stuff, I just wanted to give a quick review. As always, you get what you pay for. I bought this today and within five minutes of transforming it one of the joints popped out and I can't for the life of me get it to sit correctly back in the socket.

Bottom line is that it is very cool that ten dollars will get you a G1 inspired Astrorain or Starscream, but be aware these feel very flimsy and are definately better utilized sitting on your desk at work in robot mode than being transformed back and forth while you are bored watching TV.

Very cool, very flimsy, very inexpensive.

Astrotrain isn't bad, but he's the weakest of the first wave of Transformers Classics.

1) He does not have his traditional purple coloring, but instead is mostly white. True, most of the original G1 Astrotrains I have seen were of this coloration, but an Astrotrain that looked more like in the cartoon would have been much better.

2) Serious kibble issues. In robot mode both his shuttle and (especially) train cockpits seriously detract from the overall figure. It is very difficult to put his rifle in his fists due to the cockpits. In shuttle mode the train cockpits are very conspicious above the wings, detracting from the shuttle design. I am tempted to remove the train cockpit piece and just transform it from shuttle to robot.

That said, the transformation between three modes can be done without reading the instructions if you are a veteran in transforming robots. Also, the rifle looks very much like that of the original's rifle. Still, there is a reason why Astrotrain is the last one still stocked at retail stores after the rest are bought, and I told you the reasons. Unless you really like trains and Transformers, I'd make this the last one you pick up for your collection.

Serious collectors of the Classics/Universe/Generations line will likely have Astrotrain on their Decepticon shelf. He was one of the prominent triple-changers (and an interesting character) in the second season of the show. The Hasbro release has him in white with black and purple accents (which looks better in his vehicle modes) while the Henkei release has him in gray with purple and white accents (which is cartoon-accurate).

Colors aside, each mode has its niceties and drawbacks: Space shuttle mode might be the best, as it looks nice and has smoothly rolling wheels, but it does have those big train heads on top of its wings. The front of train mode looks good, but the back is unfinished and has those bulky wings folded over the rear cab.* Robot mode looks impressive and has pretty good articulation, but his hands are hidden behind those train halves and his legs are a bit difficult to pose due to the knees being high up and the feet not being rectangular.

He fits in well with most of the other figures, though he's comparatively small in shuttle and train modes compared to the seekers or Tankor/Octane in their vehicle modes. Then again, the seekers are under-sized and Megatron is over-sized (and scale was always screwy in the series), so it's all out of whack anyway!

* I have to note that it's cool how you flip the whole thing over going from shuttle to train mode (or vice versa), given that's how he transformed in the 1985 movie.

This toy has three modes. The best I think is the space shuttle mode. The train mode is hideous and looks like it wasn't very well thought out. The robot is alright. In the robot mode the forearms have to stay bent of the two shuttle halves easily cover them back up. The legs are kinda of wobbly. I was expecting something more.

My 6 year old son got this Transformer with his birthday money. It does just what it is supposed to (including popping apart if moved the wrong way). He has some trouble getting the configurations just right, but he's memorizing it. Also, he can't reattach the pieces when they pop off. This is a great toy though, and my son (and my husband) enjoys playing with and transforming it.

First of all, I'll start by saying my favorite Transformer of all time from the series (I grew up with the G2 incarnation) was Astrotrain. Not only was he a triple changer, meaning there were three times the way he could transform, but both of his alternate modes were cool and fairly unique.

The bad: there are copious amounts of kibble (extant parts of other modes) in each of its modes. Shuttle mode has two halves of a locomotive on either side of it and a robot waist near the engine, robot mode has those locomotive halves mostly blocking its hands, and train mode barely resembles as a train--half of it is very obviously the shuttle, upside-down. Durability-wise, the tail fin seems flimsy, and the arms tend to pop out of their sockets, though they're easy to pop back in.

The good: you get not just a Transformer, but a triple changer for 10 bucks... I wish Chinese labor was this cheap when I was a kid. Robot mode is fully articulate, and Astrotrain, as a whole, is large and quite complex, considering what you pay for it. The robot also has a sizable footprint, which allows it to stand on almost any level surface, including carpet.

Overall, I'd say Astrotrain is well worth the price.

Some of these pieces come off a little too easily (wing tips) and it can be a little confusing in which direction they are supposed to be snapped back on. Otherwise, it's a pretty cool toy, especially in shuttle form. My little son loves it.

I like the "Classics" line of transformers. Without exception the toys from this toy line, which are made to resemble the original G1 toys, are superior in many ways.

Astrotrain is no exception. He transforms into 3 modes, Space Shuttle, Bullet Train and Robot. In Space shuttle mode he looks the part. The only thing that is weird is the sides of the bullet train flanking hte fuselage, but it is minor and doesn't detract from the Shuttle at all. In Train mode, well first off lets say that the original Astrotrain turned into a steam engine, which, if you think of it what kind of stupid, since in the year the original G1 was set, most trains were diesel (and still are). I mean why would you combine a futuristic shuttle with a museum-relic train?. Now he turns into a bullet train, and although not perfect is is not bad. The only strange part if that the back end looks like it sits up on stilts since the wheel are on the tips of the folded down shuttle wings.

Now the robot mode is where this, and most other "Classics" shine. this toy is extremely poseable, and looks like his G1 cartoon counterpart. The only things that keep it from being perfect is the cockpit sections that are on the outside of the forearms and also on either side of the feet. They are not too distracting, but they are just a little wierd.

Compared to the poseability of the Original Astrotrain toy, however, this new one is much better, and much more fun.

I'll preface this review by saying I do actually like this toy. I really like the shuttle mode and the robot mode's design is pretty cool. That said, it has its issues. The train mode is just plain weird. It looks like somebody took a bullet train and stuck an extra chunk of boxiness on it. I don't mind the fact that he's now a bullet train instead of the old-school smokestack model (it's not like those kinds of trains even exist anymore), I just think the actual train design was slightly off. The arms in robot mode are also a bit of a problem. The cockpit of the train covers his hands and forearms a bit too much. I think the look of his robot mode is awesome, but the forearms could have been done much better with only a little bit of work. However, he IS a triple changer and he IS cheap, so if you don't let these things bother you too much, it's a nice purchase.

This phenomenal re-incarnation of one of the 2 most notorious G1-1.5 triple-changers;Astrotrain is a must have/buy item for any Trans-fan.Articulation,molding, and alt-modes are worthy of an accolade of praises, as weel as a commendation to Hasbro for finally listening to fans and "doing it right." Make sure you don't miss out,buy yours today.