Review – Transformers Duocon Battletrap

Line: Transformers * Manufacturer: Hasbro * Year: 1986 * Ages: 5+

“Battletrap is a team of one. One of Shockwave’s failed early experiments to create a Transformer with two vehicle modes, Battletrap consists of two separate vehicles that join to form a single robot. Battletrap is enormously cruel; the two vehicles enjoy trapping an opponent between them and batting him around (their idea of ‘fun’), before destroying him, usually after combining to robot mode.”
— from More Than Meets the Eye Volume 1, The Transformers Official Guidebook

Last month I took at look at Flywheels (review here), one of the two Transformers Duocons that were released in 1986. (The box says 1986, but I swear I didn’t see these until early 1987 . . . who knows when they actually hit shelves.) Today, because I was lucky enough to snag him at a great price on eBay, we’re taking a look at Battletrap, the — in my opinion — neater of the two Decepticon Duocons. Others may prefer Flywheels, no doubt because he’s a figher jet and a tank (at least, that’s what the Transformers Identification and Price Guide claims), but I place Battletrap at the top of the (very short) list.

Unlike Flywheels, I’ve got Battletrap’s box. It was open, and a little bruised, but it’s definitely in excellent shape for a toy from 1986 that someone opened and played with. I’m not sure I understand why someone would keep a box for over twenty years — I don’t think any of my toy boxes survived for more than seventy-one second back then — but I’m happy that this particular box managed to make it into the twenty-first century so that it could pose for my camera. Say cheese, box!

One thing I always loved about the Transformers toys when I was younger was the huge piece of artwork on the box back. Each year Hasbro updated the artwork on the back to show that year’s awesome new Transformers toys. As the artwork clearly demonstrates, the big deal for this year had to be the Headmasters and Targetmasters (I refuse to link to explanations of either one; if you’re not sure what they are I can’t be your friend, sorry). I don’t see either Duocon anywhere in this picture. Damn Hasbro, they were against the Duocons from the start. It’s no wonder that these guys are obscure, mostly unloved Transformers toys.

And unloved is the best way to describe them. A review of Battletrap at www.cliffbee.com calls him:

“Both vehicles are very lazy, and while the helicopter works in spite of the lack of effort, the robot mode is really a disaster. The combination gimmick does work quite well, but if you are interested in the Duocon gimmick, Flywheels has a stronger robot mode – 4/10”

Maybe more people really do agree with the Transformers Identification and Price Guide than I do, but I’m gonna argue that Flywheels isn’t any better in robot mode than Battletrap is. Sure, Battletrap can’t move his arms (don’t worry, I’m getting to that), but Flywheels can’t do much more. It’s really nothing more than a matter of choice . . . it’s just unfortunate that so many people out there choose wrong and prefer Flywheels over Battletrap.

Vehicle Modes

Battletrap’s two vehicles — a helicopter and an SUV-like truck — are functional and semi-attractive, with the chopper a grayish white and the truck a bright blue. The helicopter is almost 5-inches long and 2-inches wide and does little more than sit there on the table. You can spin the rotor with a flick of your finger, but if you’re expecting anything more than that then you’re gonna be pretty upset. The only non-gray bits on the helicopter are the stickers on the tail (and a Decepticon symbol on the canopy) and the black of the rotor blades and center of the vehicle. There’s a little sculpted detail, such as the canopy design and vents on the rear, but overall the helicopter is little more than a basic shape. There aren’t even any guns sculpted into the design. Poor, poor helicopter. (Okay, at least Flywheels has sculpted missiles, but that’s really not enough to make him better than Battletrap.)

The truck, shown here with the cannon accessory mounted to the roof, is smaller than the chopper, coming in at about 4-inches long and almost 2-inches wide. A blue chunk of plastic with black wheels, the truck’s other colored details are stickers (the red windows look great; why can’t I have a car with red windows?). There’s not a lot to the truck, but it does roll very nicely across the floor.

Robot Mode

Battletrap has the exact same transformation sequence as Flywheels. Place the flying component on top of the land component, push down, and BAM! you’ve got a robot. Okay, it’s not quite that easy, but it’s almost that easy. He looks great in robot mode, with the colors of the two vehicles working together a lot better than Flywheels’ color scheme. As you can see in the image at right, Battletrap is actually little more than a block of plastic, with the only articulation in robot mode being the fact that he can roll on his wheels and his rotor still turns.

Okay, he’s got no articulation whatsoever and that sucks. His arms just hang off the sides of his body and if it wasn’t for his cannon he wouldn’t have any real depth on that one side. (Always look at him from the cannon side, please, or else you’ll see just how bad he looks.)

Still, I can forgive his rock-like nature because, well, I can forgive it because I like him for what he is. I admit that if this toy was released today I’d tear it to shreds, calling it a chunk of useless plastic without any play value. But instead I’m going to sit right here and tell you that Battletrap is a great toy.

Stop looking at me like that.

Closing Thoughts

I’m overlooking Battletrap’s flaws and focusing on how cool it is to now own a toy that I wanted when I was younger. I know this, admit it, and I’m not proud of the fact that I’m going too easy on him. You want to know the truth about this Transformers toy? It’s junk. It’s not a good toy and it’s not a good collectible. He’s a rolling piece of plastic that can’t raise his arms, can’t turn his head, and has about zero reason to exist.

He’s mine, though, and staying with me. I love him despite his flaws, and can get right behind this statement from a review at TFArchive:

“At around 3 ½” (19cm) tall, he’s still a wee guy for all the plastic that goes in there, but he does look quite nice in overall design. The helicopter makes his upper body, chest and back, revealing his blue head. This leaves the Decepticon logo standing proud on his chest. The head sculpt is pretty cool, with silver goggles, and a sinister face. On either side of the head are little shoulder pillars, which would appear to be a little nod towards the original Seeker design.”

I probably wouldn’t have rattled on about the Seeker design, but otherwise I agree. Battletrap, like Flywheels, is staying with me. He’s not worth more than about $10, but if you can find him for that price I recommend that you pick him up. (And choose Battletrap over Flywheels, because Battletrap is better.)

Philip Reed has both Jumpstarters, both Duocons, but not a single Throttlebot or Battlecharger. He’s gonna have to fix that problem.