Blind Bagged: Transformers Kreon Micro-Changers

If you're unfamiliar with Kre-O; they're Hasbro's answer to Lego.  The bricks work the same and are interchangeable with most Lego or Mega Bloks bricks.  The major thing that separates the various building toys, however, is the little figures they package with them!

I wasn't terribly impressed with Kre-O's building procedures (the first batch of them, anyway).  I can't put my finger on it perfectly, but somehow the building process wasn't as fun and easy as with Legos.  The little guys - Kreons - however, were awesome!  They based all the little guys on classic Transformers (for the most part) and the simplicity of the look and range of motion you can get from the ball joints is very appealing!  I thought to myself: "The building sets are okay, but MAN they gotta sell these Kreons in blind bags!"

And so they did!  Not only that, but they added on a subtitle called "Micro-Changers", which means that these little guys can be rebuilt into sort-of vehicle modes!  They're not all amazing, but I'd say I'm pretty impressed with what they can do with just laying down the figure and adding a few parts.

So lets get down to brass tacks: You can see the package at the head of the post, and here we have the back of the package displaying the figures you can obtain and what they turn into. 

You'll notice a string of numbers on the bottom of the package on the front.  There's the same number on all of them, and then a separate number a few spaces over from the standard number.  That number is different for each guy, so on a whim I picked out five (should have picked six and just gotten them all) different numbers.  I got five different guys! 

When you open them you get this:

And a little directions sheet.  You'll notice a number for each character on top of their name, and you can see that the last number in that series corresponds to the last number on the front of the package:

So you can easily find who you want! 

0 = Crankstart
2 = Waspinator
7 = Spinster
8 = Galvatron
9 = Sunstorm

And I found out that Scorponok is a 1.  So thankfully this is an easy series with which to grab only what you want (though I'm sure Hasbro will change that, since that always seems to happen).

Now, inside the folded directions are....directions.  This will show you how to build both robot and reasonable-representation-of-a-vehicle.  You'll also get a checklist:

Now, onward to the little guys!

This is Spinister, and he turns into a helicopter with guns on his landing gear!  That same landing gear is a large double barreled gatling gun for his hand, with a little translucent purple pistol as his side-arm.  He has a quick transformation and a solid vehicle form; probably one of my favorite vehicle forms out of the bunch.

Next is Sunstorm, one of the many recolors of Starscream.  He's kind of an oddball in the Starscream Color Brigade but I always liked the bright colors!  This is actually my first version of him.  Anyway, he takes a bit of disassembly to transform (don't tell Johnny 5) but it's simple enough, and his plane form is pleasing to the eye.  In his bot form he has that tale part with the added nose cone parts as extras that he can use as a sort of gun.

Crankstart has some junk left over in bot form, but not too much.  Also he's got a different chest underneath the armor, which seems to be a thing with this line.  It's cool, but it also makes you have to choose between looks!  On the other hand, it's a neat, basic Decepticon body if you want to use him as an army builder. 

Crankstart is another sleeper; lay him down, add some wheels, turn his head around and you have a car, of sorts!  He looks better or worse depending on the angle.  He's not bad, but he's a little hard to push around and "vroom!" because his ball jointed arms just flop around...not that you need to "vroom" him or anything. 

Galvatron!  Everyone's favorite insane version of Megatron...sorta.  Speaking of sorta: Look at that cannon form!  Whew!  Honestly I think it looks kinda neat, but I still think I'm going to fiddle with it and see what else I can make.  No complaints on his bot form!  In fact, I'm a little torn, because he looks good with the armor, and his body is painted all classic-like so he looks good without it.  Double score!  This one is all around neat, 'cause it doesn't take much to make a good Galvatron.

Now for my favorite: Waspinator!  He was one of my original Beast Wars figures back in the day, so he's always a favorite, but I still hold this one higher than the others because I think he's the most fun.  His bot mode is cool (though he's got the most junk left over) and his wasp mode is just as silly as the others, but in the best way possible!  I can't explain it fully - I just think it looks cool!

Now as for those leftover parts, I reconfigured him a little different, since I don't think they use his wings very well in bot mode:

That way you can see his wings better in bot mode, and sorta get his little butt gun that his old figure had!  This'll be the way I'll keep him.

All in all I'd say these guys are as fun as the regular Kreons, but with the added kick of the funny little alt modes!  They aren't perfect, but I think they're just the right amounts of silly and awesome to make a fun toy for collectors and kids alike.  Plus...mix and match!  Come on!  Any toy that allows you to customize easily gets major points from me.  Even if you want to keep them how they are, you can still fiddle with both modes to get pretty much what you want. 

These are 2.99 at TRU - haven't found 'em anywhere else yet.  Give one a shot if you see 'em!

Addendum

I went out and bought Scorponok, so I figured I'd just add it to this post rather than make a new one just for him:

Scorponok has pretty much everything Scorponok should!  He looks like a robot that should turn into a scorpion, and does! More or less, like the rest of them.  It's not bad, though I could have gona for another set of bug legs to really let him stand in bug form.  Anyway, I think they made some good choices here, and they even painted his original chest on there under the armor.  'Course I can't fully vouch for how he looks when compared to the toy, 'cause mine had not head...

There we go, perfect!  So Scorponok is definitely a stand-out guy in this set, and I'd break for him if you weren't planning on getting any.  The claws and tail really set him apart from the others in robot mode, and he's SO ANGRY.  I love it.