[Toy Review] Transformers Platinum Edition Seeker Squadron 3-Pack brings back fan favourites

 

Seeker Squadron 3-Pack (Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet)
Platinum Edition
Transformers Generation 1 (originally)
MSRP: $109.90

Should you buy them? Have you seen Ramjet or Thrust ever reissued before?

7 June 2015 Update: Thrust and Ramjet have been reissued before, by Takara! But it looks like they weren’t as available then as they are now, with this release.

Woo hoo! It’s the Conehead Seekers! Thanks, Hasbro, for sending these over! While Dirge has been reissued before, this marks the first time that Ramjet & Thrust have been reissued since their original G1 incarnations. Well, it’s about time!

The original three Seekers have also been reissued, and in any case, it’s not difficult to get ahold of the first three (Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp). Starscream has been reissued a number of times, and the other two most recently came out in Takara’s Encore series.

In any case, getting ahold of the Seeker Squadron 3-Pack completes most collectors’ dreams – to own all six Seekers in a full set!

And to think that I went to hunt down the vintage versions of Thrust and Ramjet (do you know hard it is to acquire all of Thrust’s missiles?!) prior to this. But a fresh, new, unyellowed Ramjet is difficult to find, so I’m glad they reissued it.

Their box art also officially depicts them in “conehead” robot mode. Previously their nosecones would be swept back in stock images, just like with the original three Seekers.

Best of all, they come with all their different accessories, which means that they can all be fully armed next to your original three Seekers (who were asleep when I reviewed this, so they won’t be making an appearance).

If you’re a sticker fan, then you’re in luck – this set comes with a whole bunch of decals for you to apply. I applied all of them except the eye stickers – how do people ever get them to stay on?

And here you have the Seekers in all their unboxed, unstickered, naked glory. Let’s do Dirge first!

Dirge

So here’s an unstickered Dirge. Doesn’t look too impressive hm?

But once you sticker him up, he looks much more like his cartoon incarnation.

As mentioned earlier, I generally don’t place the eye stickers because they don’t always stay on, and I’m pretty clumsy at sticking something so small. So I usually colour their eyes red instead.

I find that it’s much more accurate that way.

His wing/fins stickers are difficult to paste though – the stickers are slightly too large for the surface area they’re meant to be on.

But he has a rubsign, which comes preattached!

In robot mode, he looks much more impressive.

You can see how he differs from the first three Seekers here.

But then again, I think his wings are the least different from of the Conehead Seekers bunch.

So here are his engine parts.

His nosecone with the Decepticon symbol.

And voila! Yes, I’ve attached his guns to him in plane mode.

Ramjet

And here you have a pristinely white Ramjet.

And Ramjet with all his stickers on!

Personally, I confused Ramjet and Thrust quite often.

I think it’s largely due to the fact that Ramjet looks like a Thrust, and Thrust looks like a Ramjet.

Ramjet looks more aerodynamic than Thrust, so I’d expect him to… Thrust better.

While Thrust is wider, so I’d expect him to have more mass and ram better than Ramjet.

In any case, yes, I had to find and replace several instances of wrongly named Ramjets & Thrusts in this review.

But all’s fine! The names are correct now. Crossing my fingers and hoping I didn’t miss out one.

I like how Ramjet & Dirge both don’t have launchers, so you don’t end up inadvertently losing their missiles.

The flipside is that they have enormous guns that look kind of out of place sometimes.

But hey, that’s what makes them unique right?

And here you go  – Ramjet!

Thrust

So here’s a naked Thrust before any clothes/stickers are on.

Thrust has the most elaborate wings of the Seekers.

And because of that, his wings give him the “cape effect” more prominently than the other Seekers.

Depending on your preference, his larger wings can go in front or behind his fins.

I also like his deep maroon colours… which make him sound more like Ramjet than Thrust, really.

His VTOL fans aren’t very detailed from the other side though.

And here are Thrust’s missiles! He’s the only one one in the set to have loose, firing missiles.

Well, not really firing missiles. The firing mechanism has been removed. You can still put them in though!

Of the three, I prefer Thrust’s jet mode the most.

I think it has the most high-tech look of the three.

Granted, VTOL fans aren’t that high tech though.

But it’s just this feeling of additional detail that makes him so fun to look at and examine.

That, plus his smaller, slightly more realistic looking guns.

And there you have it, folks! Thrust.

So the Seekers have been out for about a month now – have you seen them in stores?

They’re pretty awesome looking together because of their varied designs and colours.

So here are the Conehead Seekers! Pick them up and complete your Seeker collection for Megatron to command!