Review – Impossible Toys’ Alicon

The Allicons in the Transformers universe are enforcers for the Quintessons. Along with the Sharkticons, the Allicons brutalize anything and everything ther Quintesson masters throw at them. Take a look at the Allicon page at the TFWiki and then sit back and get ready to enjoy this look at the Alicon, an unofficial Transformers toy from third party manufacturer Impossible Toys.

Packaging

Above you can see pics of the Alicon box. Great artwork and presentation; I’ve been pretty happy with Impossible Toys’ various boxes and love that they’re illustrating the toys. The background info on the box is also a fun touch; overall, the box is a professional presentation that does a good job of making you want to look inside and check out the toy.

Alien Robotic Alligator Mode

First up is the robotic alligatorian/dinosaurian mode of the Alicon. One problem with this toy is that it doesn’t come with instructions so you have to figure out the transformation process for yourself. Fortunately, it’s all pretty intuitive if you’ve ever played with transforming robot toys before — especially Generation One Transformers toys from the eighties — but the lack of an instruction sheet is a serious problem and I hope Impossible Toys starts including instructions in any future releases.

And even though the transformation is pretty easy there are two points I want to point out to make everyone’s life easier:

• The spikes on the shoulders need to be removed before transforming the robot to alligator; just the two spikes that prevent the robot arms from folding in completely.
  
• A small piece inside the alligator’s mouth connects the two pieces of the staff together.

But other than those two points the transformation really shouldn’t give you any problems.

Plastic and Paint Quality

Both are pretty good. The paint has a few rough spots here and there, but since most of the toy’s coloring comes from the plastic I’m not noticing any significant paint issues. The plastic feels a bit rigid and could crack if you drop the toy — there’s not really any flex at all in the plastic — but overall it’s fairly decent. The toy doesn’t have the same feeling as most modern Transformers toys, but it’s just fine and kinda fits in nicely with Generation One toys. Actually, everything about this toy makes it feel like it’s a better fit for someone’s Generation One collection than it would be a collection of modern Transformers toys.

Robot Mode

The creature mode is pretty neat, but for me it’s the robot mode where the Alicon really shines and makes me happy. And while the $80 price tag feels a bit high, the toy’s bulk — it stands about 7-inches tall — helps offset some of that cost. And it looks great towering over other toys; see this pic at Flickr for a shot of the toy with the unofficial Wheelie Survivalist (review at It’s All True). In robot mode this guy makes me want three or four so I can recreate images like the one shown at the TFWiki.

Articulation

The Alicon in robot mode as swivel shoulders, hinged/swivel elbows, a ball-jointed neck, swivel/hinge hips, cut thighs, hinged knees, and what might be ball-jointed ankles (heavily restricted by the design). It’s not as much articulation as you expect from Transformers toys today, but if you imagine that this toy was created in 1986 when Transformers: The Movie was released it’s pretty good. Again, I say this toy belongs surrounded by Transformers Generation One toys. For that era he’s actually got better than average articulation.

Closing Thoughts

Impossible Toys doesn’t get the respect I feel they deserve. Bringing us so many Quintessons and Quintesson agents that we can recreate several scenes from Transformers: The Movie with our toys I find Impossible Toys to be a welcome addition to the third party toy scene. The Alicon might be their best work to date, and I say that if you’re at all a fan of the Quintessons then grab this toy while you can; I’ve seen some discussions that this may go on clearance, but I say don’t risk missing out.

Besides, if this guy does go on clearance then you’ll have some familiarity with the toy and be better prepared to buy three or four of them at a clearance price. Yes, I want an army of Alicons.

Philip Reed hates to admit it but he doesn’t own a classic Gnaw toy. That’s just wrong.