Three Times the Trouble
Transformers Legacy Needlenose is already a great figure for the inclusion of his Two small Targetmaster buddies, Sunbeam (blue) and Zigzag (black). I've always liked the idea of including smaller bots with the toys to add to play value and add to the $24.99 price tag. Each of his little figures can turn into a gun with a single flip of the gun barrel. Needlenose can transform from a robot to a plane in 14 steps.
Needlenose's alt-mode is based on a F-16XL, a rather obscure plane that was part of the Enhanced Tactical Fighter competition, that yielded the F-15E “Strike Eagle” as the winner. Only 2 of these aircraft were ever built! This beefy plane was a suped-up version of the F-16, now sporting a delta wing (specifically this is called a cranked-arrow delta wing), a wedge-shaped, single wing across the aircraft. The history behind this plane is interesting and the plane looks very menacing with the new design.
The figure is well-designed and has an easy and interesting transformation. The way the arms fold into the body is clever, while the legs in jet mode remind me of old-school G1 aesthetics. For the most part, everything tabs together nicely on this figure, though you may find yourself struggling a bit with the upper delta wing section from time to time. My only real complaint is that the tail section is a separate piece so that it can fit into the box, this may result in a kid losing the piece over time. The standout of this figure is the perfectly designed head sculpt.
As I mentioned, I love having smaller figures included with Transformers. I don't care if it's something as simple as a 1-step toy. These toys are made for kids and extras like this add to the fun and expand on what they can imagine. Both Targetmasters are molded in blue plastic and then painted over to create the highlights. This leads to a major issue on Zigzag. When you get these two out of box, you have to attach their gun barrels, which are hiding in the now infamous “tissue paper” that is included with so many figures. When attaching Zigzag's barrel I immediately noticed that the black paint on the body was being worn off and leaving behind the blue molded plastic. I have highlighted this in one of the pictures. This also means, that every time you transform Zigzag, he is damaging the shiny black paint, thus ruining his sleek look. Thankfully Sunbeam does not suffer from any of this.
This is a fun figure and does his G1 predecessor proud. I think any kid or collector would be happy to add this to their collection and he helps round out the ever-growing modern era of G1 figures. It's solid, well-built, and has a lot of play value. I'm very happy to add this guy to my collection.
