Dave's Transformers Shattered Glass Rant

Decepticon Slicer (Earthrise Wheeljack redeco) with
Exo-Suit (Earthrise Fasttrack redeco)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/SGSlicer

Technically, Shattered Glass is its own thing, neither War for Cybertron
nor Legacy, and the packaging is not branded as part of either line.
However, since it's reusing WfC molds, and I'm simply not buying enough to be
worth a new directory, this review is going in with Kingdom despite coming
out during Legacy.

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeE1 - Wheeljack mold
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeE3 - Fasttrack mold

Way back during Combiner Wars, I got a spare Wheeljack with the plan of
dyeing it blue and using Toyhax labels to turn it into Slicer. I never did
get around to that, but now I guess it's a little superfluous. :)
For those who don't know, Slicer was introduced at the tail end of G1,
part of the Actionmaster line. He was a redeco of Wheeljack, but came with a
new partner, the Exo-Suit that could transform into a buggy he could ride
around in. And technically you can make the new Exo-Suit into a buggy by
fiddling with its vehicle mode a bit.
According to TFWiki, Exo-Suit is colored slightly different than in G1
so that he can turn into a more show-accurate spear for Black Zarak, since
Black Roritchi in G1 did not turn into that spear and is therefore the wrong
color to be the spear.

CAPSULE

$49 at Hasbro Pulse. Given current prices for Deluxes, you're basically
getting the comic free.

Decepticon Slicer: Original mold was recommended. This is a bold redeco
and gets some new guns, plus it's the most accessible Slicer since 1991.

Exo-Suit: Original mold was recommended. This is the third time around
for it, but probably the best donor mold to do the job of being Exo-Suit.
Garish, but a little toned down compared to the original late-G1 toy.

Comic: https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants/102922.html has the review,
it was mildly recommended.

Set Overall: A good set of molds with some very retro redecos, and an
actual decent deal for and exclusive set. You don't really need to care
about the SG theme if you just want a transforming Slicer. Recommended.

RANTS

Up top, it's worth mentioning that the kind of garish color scheme
normally associated with G2 actually started in late G1. Slicer and his
Exo-Suit are rather significant examples of this sort of thing in G1, and if
anything this version is muted.

Packaging: Same trade dress as the first wave of Shattered Glass, but
now with the newer cardboard inner tray and general lack of plastic.
Exo-Suit is just wrapped up in tissue along with Slicer's weapons.

The Hasbro Pulse page has somewhat spoilery bio notes and techspecs. At
the time I'm writing this review, the final issue of the comic has not come
out, and Slicer is pretty solidly an Autobot and a Wrecker in it. This set
comes with #3 of the 5 issue miniseries.

DECEPTICON: DECEPTICON SLICER
Assortment: F6280
Altmode: Sports Car
Transformation Difficulty: 18 steps
Previous Name Use: None with "Decepticon" as part of it (G1 without)
Previous Mold Use: Gen:ER
Function: Skilled Decepticon Spy

Slicer is a spy, an assassin, and an Autobot infiltrator. When the fate
of Cybertron is on the line, his loyalties will soon be tested...if he has
any left.

STR 7 INT 9 SPD 7 END 5 RNK 8 COUR 9 FRP 8 SKL 10

Note, these are not his G1 techspecs, nor his Timelines techspecs.
They're actually G1 Wheeljack's numbers, but with the FRP of 7.5 rounded to
8. Oh, and the online techspecs do call it Firepower, not Fireblast.

Packaging: Four rattan strings hold the robot mode to the inner tray,
which has the purple into magenta shattered glass pattern seen on the outer
box as well. The two new guns are in the tissue bundle with Exo-Suit and the
shoulder launcher.

Color Swaps: Wheeljack had multiple white sprues, and they don't all
change to the same color. The wheels and thighs stay black, but the other
black plastic from Wheeljack is slightly metallic medium gray on Slicer. The
clear plastic is now all clear red. The white plastic on the boots and upper
arms becomes a medium blue, the elbows and the struts on the soles of the
feet become slightly metallic medium gray, and the rest of the white plastic
becomes black.

Paint Apps: The slightly metallic gray paint on the shoulder fronts, the
upper face, and around the outer surfaces of the thighs is such a good match
to the plastic that it briefly confused me about what plastic was being used.
Almost all of the rest of each shoulder is painted matte black, leaving the
sockets and a round non-socket detail unpainted. There's more matte black
paint on the roof part of the chest, stripes along the sides of the boots and
the toes (basically the bottom edge of the car). The vent square on the cest
is painted blue that matches the plastic pretty well, even under UV, and this
is also used on the top surfaces of the spoiler. There's a red strip around
the border of the roof, red headlights, red on the shoulder launcher tip, and
the eyes. There's red with black outer stripes detailing on the shins and
the toes where they form the hood. The faceplate, ears, and pelvis center
are painted bronze. The wheel hubs are silver, and a regular purple and
silver Decepticon symbol (not a red SG one or a purple SG Autobot symbol) is
printed on the front of the right shoulder.
In vehicle mode it hangs together pretty well, although the back end is
a little too abruptly black, it could have used a little more blue paint just
to continue the patterns on the sides. Obviously, this is the first
non-convention-exclusive Slicer, so there's no real "official" vehicle mode
to compare to, but...it looks unfinished.

Mold Changes: The fold out window bits in the knees are still a
potential problem, but I remembered them and managed to not pop either off
during transformation. The left rear wheel on mine might have some mold
flash or something inside, it doesn't spin as well as the other three. Okay,
accidentally popped it off during transformation back to robot mode, no
obvious problems...but swapping the rear wheels lets both spin well, so
that's sorted.
The new guns are reportedly homages to the 2010 BotCon toy of Slicer
(well, Decepticon Slice). Each is made of clear red plastic, and they have
hinges so that they can be attached to the sockets on the rear bumper and
then bend around to point forwards. You can also mount one on the back of
the shoulder launcher and bend it forwards, although that looks a big doofy.
One has a single barrel and an air-cooling jacket (like a smokestack), a
5mm grip peg and another 5mm peg on top at the same position, and a 3mm stud
tip (and a slightly bigger than 5mm barrel behind that). Unbent it is 3"
(7.5cm) long. Mine won't quite bend all the way to 90 degrees, possibly due
to the pin in the hinge being a fraction of a millimeter off.
The other new gun has two barrels, and a 5mm peg on the left side even
with the hinge. It's a little shorter at 2.5" (6cm). Its muzzles are 3mm
sockets, so you can plug the two guns together tip-to-tip, or attach the gun
to a 3mm socket on any figure that has 'em (like this one).

Other Notes: http://www.dvandom.com/images/SlicerBend.JPG

Overall: Vehicle mode colors could use a bit of work, and it has the
same flaws as the original Earthrise Wheeljack mold, but also the same
virtues.

DECEPTICON: EXO-SUIT
Assortment: F6280
Altmode: Cybertronian vehicle, exo-suit
Transformation Difficulty: 10 steps
Previous Name Use: None
Previous Mold Use: Gen:ER

No separate techspces or bio on the website, it's implied to be a
non-sapient drone tool used by Slicer. It does not appear in the comic,
other than being on the variant cover used for the version shipped with the
set. Well, one of his arms showed up in Ratchet's spare parts bin.

Packaging: All wrapped up in tissue paper at the bottom of the box,
wrapped in a bunch of tape to keep anything from coming loose in shipping.
Some assembly required.

Color Swaps: Orange becomes cool medium gray, black becomes hot pink.
The gray parts of Fasttrack's torso (including the shield part) and boots are
red, while the other gray parts (including speartip) are black.

Paint Apps: Hot pink paint (a bit darker than the plastic) on the toes,
chest windows, and the non-peg part of the abdomen. There's faintly metallic
cool gray paint (good match with the plastic) on the kneecaps, collar area,
vehicle mode windows, and the molded bands on the shoulders. The borders of
the chest windows are black, as are the 3mm stud bits on the vehicle front.
The guns are coated in dark silver paint, the visor is also painted with that
color. The right bicep has a silver and purple Decepticon symbol printed on
it.

Mold Changes: This uses the no-antenna head mold from Black Roritchi,
either because they just grabbed the fresher tooling for a second exclusive,
or because of the Black Zarak connection. Otherwise, no changes.