Preamble
What can I say… Well, I knew that when I picked up the DS version of Blaster that I’d end up having to get some cassette-bots for him. I had no intentions of going for the ones on offer due to scaling issues, besides I knew Ocular Max would have my back. I just had to be patient and wait… and wait I did. First up was Tempo, he was good but it was Rewind & Eject I really wanted… I would not be disappointed.
Box & Accessories
Keeping in line with the previous Remix releases, Motif & Pitch are presented in a plain brown card box with black lettering. Inside the box is a clam with the cassette cases housing both figures in their cassette modes. Both have the same accessories; x3 alt heads, a pair of shoulder pads and their weapons. And as the previous Remix cassettes, it’s 1:1 scale. Ocular Max have changed the design of the packaging, gone is the inlay and replaced with a rather nice slip case. This slip case folds out to show the different modes and the transformation sequence. A point of note: if your slip case is not fixed at one of the fold points, this is easy done by using some double sided tape. There is also the obligatory collector card.
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The Transformations for both are very straight forward and as such I doubt whether you will actually need to consult the instructions. However, as a point of process I would just so as to avoid any mishaps.
Cassette Mode
Out of the cassette cases and you have both in their cassette modes. The cassette mode is solid enough and feels really nice. I could be wrong but it feels like a change of materials from Ocular Max’s previous releases, to me it certainly feels a lot better. Where Tempo had a plain and devoid of detail cassette mode, Motif & Pitch are full detailed up. Some nice highlights and even better tampo labelling. As previously mentioned, these alt modes are 1:1 scale to an actual cassette tape.
Robot Mode
In their respective robot modes and both look really nice. They hold together well, joints are stiff and the articulation is immense, another improvement over the previous Riot & Furor. Paint application on the die-cast parts with gold & silver detailing to the chest & waist areas. The faces and weapons are also painted. As mentioned earlier, the articulation is spot on with not just the usual arm, leg and waist stuff, now we have a chest expansion joint too! Motif & Pitch scale well with Deformation Space Recording Alliance, and compliment him very well.
Closing Thoughts
Another solid pair of Cassette-Bots from Ocular Max, really shifting up a gear with regards design and execution, giving us another must have pair of release. My personal cassette-bot journey with Ocular Max is at an end as I have all the ones I wanted, but if you are eager for more, they just announced Ratbat!
Were I to have one gripe, and it would be a very minor one, it would be aimed at the chest panels. As part of the transformation, they pivot upwards to hide the head. However in robot mode the just kind of hang there. I would have liked to have seen some sort of locking mechanism for them to keep them level and straight. As they are now they ‘slope’ down towards the shoulders, both front and back, which when the weapons are on their backs makes them drift off at an angle rather than just straight up. Oh, I think I would’ve also had the visible screw to the tops of the legs to that back rather than the front in robot mode…. I did say it was a minor gripe!
Another short and to the point review of my thought, so that’s about it. The rest you can gather from the photo’s or by heading over to Kapow Toys and buying a pair for yourself.
Right, I’m out of here. I’ve been Edd, they've been Rewind & Eject and you’ve been awesome for spending a little time reading my ramblings.
