Review – Mini-Warrior Spray

A few weeks ago we took a look at the unofficial Transformers Seaspray from MakeToys, Hover (review here), and the toy was decent but not great. With arms that like to pop off every single time that he’s transformed Hover has a bad enough flaw and, overall, is just not so exciting that I still don’t recommend him to anyone but the most rabid of Transformers Generation One fans.

And besides, iGear (website, Facebook) has one-upped MakeToys. Keep reading to find out how Spray is a better toy than Hover and why Spray’s the one to buy if you’re looking for an unofficial Seaspray transforming robot toy.

Packaging

When I reviewed iGear’s not-Bumblebee toy last month (review here) I complained about the simplistic nature of the toy’s box. Well, iGear really improved things with Spray’s box. Take a look at the above photos for the front and back of the box; nice artwork, a fun bit of text, and a decent enough design make this far superior to the not-Bumblebee box. Thumbs up, iGear!

Hovercraft Mode

Pretty nice, with great Seaspray-like colors and a design close enough to the original that there’s no question which character this is supposed to represent. The segmented arms are a little tough to align perfectly in hovercraft mode — you can see how the center section of the side tilts off at a slightly odd angle — but that’s a minor nit to pick at. He’s also a little tough to transform between modes the first few times (there’s no instructions with the toy), but after you switch back and forth between modes two or three times you’ll have it down.

The other minor issues with Spray’s vehicle mode are the gaps in the top of the vehicle — look at the below photo — and the fact that there’s nowhere to stick his harpoon gun when he’s in hovercraft mode. But considering the fact that it’s kinda neat that he even came with a hand weapon I can overlook the lack of a hiding spot. Anyway, it’s not as if I’m going to be displaying him in vehicle mode.

Robot Mode

At almost 4-inches tall, Spray makes a large mini-bot and, as you can see, he’s a lot more poseable than the classic Generation One toy. How poseable is he? Well, let’s run through his points of articulation:

• Head – A ball-jointed head, but it may as well be locked in place. You see, to move the head I have to use something small and pointed to get in there and position the head; my fingers just won’t get down into the space to manipulate the head. This is the toy’s biggest problem and one you can solve with a toothpick and some patience.
  
• Arms – Each arm is ball-jointed at the shoulders and at the elbows. And they’re great joints; nothing has popped loose and the arms move easily and hold position without any problems.
  
• Legs – Spray has ball-jointed hips and ankles and hinged knees which give him quite a range of movement.
  
• Waist – There is a ball-joint at the waist, but it’s more for the transformation process than playability. The joint gives him a slight degree of left-right movement, but the toy’s sculpt blocks any really dramatic range of movement.

Paint

Almost none to speak of. Spray’s face and the windows on his feet are painted, but all of the other colors are simply the plastic. And it works well; the couple of spots that are painted are clean and I’ve got no complaints at all with how the toy’s colors look. Very much a Seaspray-inspired set of colors.

Where Can He Be Found?

While Hasbro’s various Transformers toys can be found almost anywhere (Amazon.com search*) these unofficial toys are a bit tougher to locate. I ordered Spray from TFSource for $20, but you can also find him at Robot Kingdom and Big Bad Toy Store. I’ve ordered from all three sites before without problems, so if you want this guy choose a site and go. (And if you do order please let them know you read the review here at battlegrip.com; maybe one of the sites will decide to mail me some toys to review in exchange for a little promotion. I never mind free toys.)

Closing Thoughts

All in all a professional, well-produced transforming robot toy that looks good with other mini-bots on my shelf. I cannot explain why two companies would decide to produce an unofficial Seaspray at almost exactly the same time, but in this battle I have to declare iGear (website, Facebook) the winner. The colors are great, size quite nice, and the plastic feels durable and professional.

Yes, if you’re a Seaspray fan you should get this toy. And if you’re a Transformers Generation One fan you’ll want to keep an eye on this series since it looks like iGear is going to produce some excellent mini-bots this year.

Philip Reed should open his Transformers Voyager Seaspray* and display it with the two little guys.