I'ev been on an action figure roll for such a long time that I thought I'd take a break today and tomorrow for some transforming toys. Air Vectors is a littke known toyline of the early 90s. The main gimmick of the toys was a pull-back motor, and a self-launching glider when the vehicle is powering fowards. The basic idea is the same, but the variety of vehicle designs was innovative and interesting.
Thunderbolt is the Air Raider that's in the form of a rally car. The card has the chequered flag on two edges and the logo on the front. Then there's this interesting illustration of the vehicle transforming and launching the glider taking up much of the front of the card, although the illustration isn't specific to the vehicle. There's a little inset of the actual vehicle on the left that is partially obstructed by the actual toy. The toy is packaged with the main vehicle on an inclined tray to better show it off.
Out of the card, there's just the vehicle and the glider with a little instruction booklet that's more text than illustration, and whatever illustration there is, it's generic.
The combined vehicle mode is seamless - it looks as if it's a single vehicle. The aesthetics of the vehicle is good, with the paintwork providing details not only on the door and the hood, but also on the roof and the spoiler. One can never go wrong with the red, white and blue colour scheme.
The glider can't be launched manually, but it can be revealed by pressing down on the spoiler. When that is done, the top bit of the car is raised and the wings of the glider pop up. The glider, though, can only be launched by pulling back and releasing the entire vehicle, and even then will only launch about half a second into the roll.
I'm going to guess that the target market for this toy was younger kids who were into transforming toys . But Transformers and MASK were coming to an end by the time these toys were in the stores and the hot new property was TMNT and its many copycats, such as yesterday's Bucky O'Hare. The Air Vectors tanked, which is good as I picked them up on clearance. I like the action feature, and the overall looks of the vehicles, and I would have no qualms displaying these on my shelf!
Thunderbolt is the Air Raider that's in the form of a rally car. The card has the chequered flag on two edges and the logo on the front. Then there's this interesting illustration of the vehicle transforming and launching the glider taking up much of the front of the card, although the illustration isn't specific to the vehicle. There's a little inset of the actual vehicle on the left that is partially obstructed by the actual toy. The toy is packaged with the main vehicle on an inclined tray to better show it off.
Out of the card, there's just the vehicle and the glider with a little instruction booklet that's more text than illustration, and whatever illustration there is, it's generic.
The combined vehicle mode is seamless - it looks as if it's a single vehicle. The aesthetics of the vehicle is good, with the paintwork providing details not only on the door and the hood, but also on the roof and the spoiler. One can never go wrong with the red, white and blue colour scheme.
The glider can't be launched manually, but it can be revealed by pressing down on the spoiler. When that is done, the top bit of the car is raised and the wings of the glider pop up. The glider, though, can only be launched by pulling back and releasing the entire vehicle, and even then will only launch about half a second into the roll.
I'm going to guess that the target market for this toy was younger kids who were into transforming toys . But Transformers and MASK were coming to an end by the time these toys were in the stores and the hot new property was TMNT and its many copycats, such as yesterday's Bucky O'Hare. The Air Vectors tanked, which is good as I picked them up on clearance. I like the action feature, and the overall looks of the vehicles, and I would have no qualms displaying these on my shelf!
Air Vector...Air Vector... these things ring a vague bell in my head! I must have wanted them when they came out but didn't get the chance
ReplyDeleteYou mean Air Raiders? There was only a direct to video episode of Air Vectors.
ReplyDelete