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10-26-2008, 11:59 PM | #1 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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For a long while now, joe fans have been clamoring for a F-22 Raptor for their joes, especially something that was compatible with their 25th anniversary/modern era figures. Sure there already was a G.I. Joe F-22, the Thunderwing, from the Valor Vs Venom line. Yet that toy was not as accurate to to it's real-life counterpart, than previous joe jets were to theirs. The body was fat, had tiny wings, and it was very obvious that the sculpt and proportions had give way to the gimmicks. Also, it was hard to get 25th anniversary figures such as the comic pack Ace to sit inside.
The True Heroes F-22 came out of the blue and showed up unannounced on Toys 'R' Us shelves earlier this month for $24.99. No one saw it coming. The first thing joe fans wondered was "will our anniversary/modern era joes fit inside?". Do joe fans really have an ideal F-22 for their joes to sit in? Read on and find out!
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The Transformers! More than meets the eyes! For those who collect multiple toylines! Thundercats, HOOO!!! Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and more! CHECK OUT OUR RESOURCES! GI Joe Database Transformers Database Watch me FIX the Sky Striker XP21F! CLICK HERE! Last edited by Shin Densetsu; 10-27-2008 at 02:08 AM.. |
10-27-2008, 12:27 AM | #2 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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The F-22 comes with JDAM(Joint Direct Attack Munitions) bombs(x4), and AMRAAM(Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missles)(x2). The cannon port above the intake on the right is sculpted in the closed position. Most of you know that the F-22 carries it's weapons internally, however on the battlefield, after aerial superiority has been established and stealth is no longer a priority, the F-22 can be armed with external weaponry on pylons. This toy lacks internal weapon bays, but if it had those the price would have been much higher for sure. It would have been cool to see(like for the sidewinder missle bay shown below) but I understand why those were not implemented.
The weapons can be mounted on four pylons, one weapon per pylon. I do wish this included four missles as opposed to two, I wanted to equip my Raptor with four air to air missles. Plus it would be nice to have the amount of missles match with the amount of bombs. Oh well. If you want to mix and match, the weapons mount on the pylons the exact same way as on the Power Team Elite(PTE) planes, and the missles from the PTE F/A-18 are compatible. For that matter, the weaponry and accessories from the PTE A-10 are most likely compatible too(the sidewinders on the PTE F/A-18 and A-10 are the same, and those are the ones I tried on my F-22). Due to the same design used for the pylons, and overall quality/design of the toy, this leads me to believe that this toy was designed/produced in coordination with M & C Toy Centre, the makers of PTE. Now the manufacturer's markings on the bottom of the plane show the logo for MotorMax Toys. It turns out that the recently released True Heroes Blackhawk may actually be a retooled PTE Blackhawk, and also sports the Motormax Toys logo. Either the companies are working together, Motormax bought out M & C, or Motormax absorbed the latter.
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The Transformers! More than meets the eyes! For those who collect multiple toylines! Thundercats, HOOO!!! Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and more! CHECK OUT OUR RESOURCES! GI Joe Database Transformers Database Watch me FIX the Sky Striker XP21F! CLICK HERE! Last edited by Shin Densetsu; 10-27-2008 at 02:09 AM.. |
10-27-2008, 12:41 AM | #3 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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The detail on the engines is very impressive. For such an affordable toy I honestly did not expect to see such great amount of detail. Very rarely do you ever see this kind of detail on similarly priced jet toys.
The afterburner is sculpted with impressive detail. The nozzles have detailed grill lines, and the nozzles are layered, with the pieces that actuate the vectoring on the real plane sculpted within the nozzle. This detail surprised me. Sadly, while the engines have a lot of detail that enhance the realism and depth, the intake is opposite. The interior is not cut out, it is just a solid piece of plastic. |
10-27-2008, 12:52 AM | #4 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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The landing gear are sturdy and simple, with sculpted detail. The gear are short, accurate to the real F-22. The landing gear are attached to doors, so when folded up there are no huge, toyetic gaps. This is a common feature on PTE aircraft, further leading me to believe that this is actually a PTE aircraft. If we see this thing at Big Lots with a PTE pilot, there's your proof! The nose gear is secure, but lowers a bit too easily. If you are putting your Rattler through barrel rolls or having a dogfight with Cobra planes, the nose gear will not flop down out of nowhere, so no worries there.
The rear landing gear are spring loaded, and snap into place, providing a very secure position either when closed or open. Both the nose and rear gear have small indentations near the doors, and small bumps to aid in retracting the gear, another common feature on PTE aircraft. The gear bays are not very detailed, but in some way that is to be expected, not very many joe planes have detailed landing gear bays. The rear gear doors are sculpted in a way to blend in with the panels/panel lines on the underside of the fuselage, and it is impressive to see these fit flush when retracted. This was another thing that I did not expect. |
10-27-2008, 12:55 AM | #5 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
|
The F-22 has a few parts that need to be attached. Mainly the edges of the wings, and the vertical stabilizers. That's about it. It is so simple that no instructions were included. The pieces are very durable, and meant to detach, rather than break, if pressure is applied. Basically this is a toy detailed enough to satisfy the older collector, but durable enough for kids to play with.
The console in the cockpit is easily detached, and here we see the only piece prone to breaking. It is attached via a small peg, just make sure not to bend the peg too far. |
10-27-2008, 01:02 AM | #6 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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The canopy has a frame painted around it, accurate to the real F-22. The console in the cockpit has detail, but not all around it. The seat within the cockpit is detailed, as is the surrounding area. It may not seem like it, but there is enough room for a 25th anniversary/modern era figure to fit in, and still close the canopy with enough clearance. The Ace I have in the cockpit is the 25th anniversary comic pack version, with the helmet from the VVV Ace. Even with the helmet one, Ace fits in just fine.
Now I've read comments saying that Ace looks too big for the plane, that the cockpit is too small, et al. Honestly, we have seen worse on the Thunderwing(which you will see later and had a huge cockpit with tiny wings), and on the Rattler(where there were complaints about the cockpit looking huge). It is true that Ace is out of scale, in a larger scale than the plane. Ace is in 3-3/4"-4" scale, which is just about 1/18 scale, while this plane, is 1/32 or very close to it, with enough room for a 1/18 scale pilot to fit in. There are other joe planes that did this, like the Skystriker. I do realize the concerns that were posted, however I would rather have a smaller cockpit that just happens to fit a 1/18 figure, and with accurate proportions for the vehicle overall, rather than a vehicle with a huge cockpit obvious to the naked eye that it can fit a 1/18 figure, but with proportions that suffer(Rattler canopy/cockpit, Thunderwing overall).
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The Transformers! More than meets the eyes! For those who collect multiple toylines! Thundercats, HOOO!!! Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and more! CHECK OUT OUR RESOURCES! GI Joe Database Transformers Database Watch me FIX the Sky Striker XP21F! CLICK HERE! Last edited by Shin Densetsu; 10-27-2008 at 01:48 AM.. |
10-27-2008, 01:28 AM | #7 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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This toy has details all over the place, which appeals to us older joe collectors, and kids might find fascinating. The tailhook(used for emergency landings on runways, not carriers since this is a USAF plane) is sculpted on, but sadly not retractable. Nonetheless, it is there and could have been easy to overlook, so I am glad Motormax went out of there way to include it.
Unlike previous PTE planes, this toy barely came with stickers, and these stickers were preapplied. This is dissapointing, I would at least like to have numerical stickers and above all, the US military aircraft roundel. I mean come on, not even that came with it? Luckily, the stickers we did get do not look as childish as the old Elite Operations stickers that came with TRU's Elite Operations repackaged toy releases. I believe TRU is phasing out the Elite Operations name in favor of True Heroes, but still repackaging the same companies' toys, only this time with lackluster figures, instead of the superior PTE figures. We have the F-22 sticker, which was shown a lot during the ATF competition(which the F-22 won). Then the True Heroes stickers, which have wings for the wing stickers, and then crossed lightning bolts on the vertical stabilizers. The sticker designs are okay, but lacking, we should have at least gotten a sticker sheet with roundels, and numerical markings. |
10-27-2008, 01:33 AM | #8 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
|
The pilot included with the Raptor will not be a permanent asset in anyone's collection. We should have gotten a PTE pilot instead. The pilot in this set is rubbery, prone to stuck joints which leads to breakage, and only has 4-5 points of articulation(head..maybe, arms, and legs). I haven't thought much of this figure, in fact, I have never placed it in the cockpit, probably never will. Besides, anyone getting this F-22 wants it because they want a great F-22 toy, or want an F-22 for their joes. This figure is far from being a highlight of this set, in fact it is the opposite.
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10-27-2008, 01:40 AM | #9 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
|
This toy is fun to play with. Don't be fooled by it's size. Not only is it highly durable, it is light, and will most likely not weigh your arm down. Kids will have no problem lifting this toy up, and zooming it around the backyard.
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10-27-2008, 02:04 AM | #10 |
VALKYRIE
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Over the rainbow where your mom is at son
Posts: 23,515
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If you want a F-22 Raptor for your joe collection, skip the Thunderwing and buy the True Heroes F-22. The True Heroes version is far more accurate to it's real life counterpart, with no bloated body/small wings/obvious spacious cockpit for joe figures that is out of scale with the rest of the body. Hell, buying the Thunderwing now would most likely be more expensive(it was $35.99 upon release), and 25th anniversary Ace will not fit in it's front seat with a helmet on. I'm surprised at how accurate the True Heroes F-22 turned out. The only thing the Thunderwing has over the True Heroes F-22 is the paint scheme. That's it. The gimmicks on the Thunderwing are nice, but I hate how the proportions and overall aesthetic were completely compromised for them. With the True Heroes F-22, there were no gimmicks to compromise anything for. The Thunderwing is, and looks far more toyetic. The True Heroes F-22 is the F-22 we have been waiting for. I only hope this is the beginning; a sign of more great joe compatible planes to come from Motormax Toys. Hell if future Motormax planes turn out anything like this, I will be extremely happy.
Check the pics below to see how the True Heroes F-22 stacks up to the Thunderwing. This comparison was inevitable. You'll see why I like this thing so much better than the Thunderwing. In comparison, the Thunderwing looks like a Super Deformed(SD) version of the F-22, whereas the True Heroes version looks like an accurate representation of the F-22. Now that I have the True Heroes F-22, the Thunderwing looks more like a trainer aircraft that the joes would use in preparation for using the F-22 or YF-23 Skystriker II from G.I. Joe:Resolute. |
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