Review – Warbotron Heavy Noisy

After taking a look at Warbotron’s Air Burst a few days ago (review here) I just had to open up another member of the not-Combaticons team. Hey, when a toy is as incredible as Air Burst there’s no way I won’t get curious and have to see if this new third party Transformers company can keep creating fantastic transforming robot toys. Heavy Noisy isn’t quite as cool as Air Burst, but the overall design is strong enough that I’m really looking forward to seeing the team assembled when the last two members are released.

Tank Mode

The turret separates from the body of the tank/robot, but that’s the only downcheck I can think of . . . and even that’s reaching since the separation actually helps when transforming this not-Brawl from one mode to the other. There are no wheels and the treads don’t roll so tank mode is purely for show.

In robot mode Heavy Noisy has two pistols that can attach to the turret, so as with Air Burst (review here) all of the toy’s pieces can be carried in both modes.

Transformation Design

Great! The arms were very stiff during the first few transformations between modes, but a screwdriver solved that problem when I loosened the forearms just slightly so that the forearm could collapse into the upper arm without sticking. The most inventive part of the transformation process is the legs which fold up and the outer edge swivels 180-degrees, allowing the feet to become the rear of the tank.

Robot Mode

Heavy Noisy is almost as great in robot mode as Air Burst (review here) is, and once again I’ve got a minor complaint with the toy. The shoulders would look much better (and function better) if the arms popped out from the shoulders an eighth inch or so. Take a look at the shoulders in the below photo and you can see how tight the arms are pressed up to the body; really, if those arms popped out away from the body the arm problem would be solved completely.

Articulation

Point by point we find:

• Head – Ball-jointed neck.
• Arms – Swivel shoulders on a joint that swivels the arm upward, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, and swivel wrists.
• Legs – Swivel hips with an outward swivel joint, swivel thighs, hinged knees, and hinged ankles.
• Torso – Swivel waist

Air Burst (review here) has the better articulation (in the shoulders and ankles), but other than that the two are almost identical in terms of articulation.

Closing Thoughts

Heavy Noisy is another strong entry in this unofficial Transformers Combaticons team making me looking forward to the day when the entire team is on my shelf. While there are minor issues with the design — those shoulders really bug me — Heavy Noisy stands up to inspection and is a durable and fun design. Air Burst (review here) is the stronger of the two toys and still the one I would suggest you try first if you’re looking to buy any of the toys in this line.

Now to grab Sly Strike and see if he’s as great as Air Burst or is it another step down from Heavy Noisy?