Review – Transformers Collectors’ Club Depth Charge

Yesterday we looked at the 2010 Transformers Terradive toy (review here). The design is fairly cool, and in the interest of making sure everyone gets as close of a look at this mold as possible I went ahead and snapped pics of the 2013 Transformers Depth Charge* toy that was the Transformers Collectors’ Club membership piece for that year.

Physically Identical

As you can see by the photos, Depth Charge* and Terradive* are physically identical designs. There are no mold variations between the two, so once you’ve held one you’ve basically held them both. But even though they’re the same the coloring differences are so dramatic that displaying the two together makes the pair look even better than either one does on its own.

Love Those Colors!

What makes Depth Charge* really pop are the color choices used to decorate the Terradive* mold. Bright — some would say garish — colors that feel like they’re straight out of the last year of Transformers Generation One or the best years of Transformers Generation Two, you either love or hate the color design of Depth Charge*. I really don’t think there’s a middle ground here. I’m on the love side of the divide.

Trident Weapon

Stored beneath the toy in jet mode, the Terradive* mold’s accessory is a trident weapon that is created by snapping off a missile-like attachment, opening the piece to its full length, and then sliding the tip down until it splits into the three blades of the trident. Looks great!

Articulation

In robot mode, Depth Charge* has perfectly functional and playable articulation with roughly twenty separate points of articulation that break down:

• Head – Ball-jointed neck.
  
• Arms – Swivel shoulders that are hinged to swing outward away from the body, swivel biceps, double-hinge elbows, and swivel wrists.
  
• Legs – Ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, hinged elbows and feet.

The toy has no waist or torso articulation at all, which is kinda sad because a swivel waist would have really upped things a bit. BUT a swivel waist would have also complicated the transformation so in the end I’m happy the designers resisted the urge to add another joint there and left the Terradive* mold without any torso articulation.

Closing Thoughts

Like Terradive (review here) before him, the Transformers Depth Charge* toy looks great and has a fun transformation design that’s clever and really makes the finished jet look great. I personally find this coloring far more interesting than the basic Terradive release, but either way the jet mode is fantastic and the robot mode is playable, poseable, and really fun.