TFC Uranos

Prelude: Legal stuff first as always. Uranos is not a figure released by Hasbro or Takara-Tomy and thus not an official Transformers toy. It's from third party provider TFC Toys and an obvious homage to the G1 Aerialbot Combiner Superion, but for legal reasons it can't be called by that name.

Components: Uranos is the combined form of the TFC Not-Aerialbots, each of whom I have already reviewed individually here at TFU. 

Combined Mode: Naturally we’re going to be doing quite a few comparisons to TFC’s first combiner, the mighty Hercules. Size-wise the two are a pretty close match with Uranos being a tad taller, but Hercules being a bit wider. Of course Uranos combines in a somewhat different manner than Hercules, being that his torso is composed of just one robot instead of two. Overall Uranos has a somewhat more homogenous look as his four limbs don’t really differ that much from one another (except in color), while Hercules is a bit more mismatched. The limbs are interchangeable between the two combiners, by the way, thanks to identical connecting ports.

Hercules comparisons aside, Uranos looks fabulous as a combined robot. Sure, there is quite a bit of jet kibble hanging off his arms and legs, but those don’t really get in the way much. If you want you can detach the wings from all the limbs, too, to get a somewhat smoother silhouette. Just imagine they’ve vanished into subspace. The only thing that bugs me a little bit is the chest plate. It looks good, but it’s not very stable and just about every time you touch Uranos, it shifts. I already have the “Wing of Uranos” set on preorder, which will include a different chest plate, so we’ll see if that improves then.

As for comparing the look to the original G1 Superion, the two figures are clearly meant to be the same character. They have different chest plates – another thing that will change when the “Wing of Uranos” arrives – but otherwise: a clear and definite homage. Of course Uranos is far better articulated than his G1 predecessor and – some restrictions due to kibble aside – is able to move pretty freely. The only drawback is the upper legs, which are made from SR-71 Blackbird’s legs, could be a good deal tighter, as Uranos is prone to doing the split in more elaborate poses. Also, the shoulder arrangement could be a bit more stable as well, as moving Uranos’ arms almost inevitable pulls Blackbird’s smaller arms out of their pegs.

In terms of armament Uranos carries SR-71 Blackbird’s big gun, either with the barrel elongated or not, your choice. Not really looking very much like Superion’s gun (nor the cannon he wore on his arm in the G1 cartoon), but again, will probably be fixed by “Wing of Uranos”.

So overall: I like Uranos a lot, he looks incredibly cool, but in terms of stability he is taking a bit of a backseat to Hercules, who holds together better and can do poses more easily as well. Still, TFC’s second combiner is definitely another win.

Remarks: Superion was the first of the Autobot combiners, introduced a year after the Decepticons had begun putting the monstrous Devastator in the field. Created by Optimus Prime and Alpha Trion, the Aerialbots were created as a counter to the Decepticons’ newest combiner Menasor. They continued appearing as one of the Autobots’ big guns in the second and third season of the G1 cartoon, as well as numerous G1-based comic books. Like most combiners Superion was shown to be of limited intelligence, basically being a single-minded warrior fully intent on destroying his enemies.

TFC’s Uranos is most definitely for G1-loving collectors only. The price tag, the stability, and the rather sharp edges you find here and there most definitely disqualify him as a kid’s toy, but then again, he was never meant to be one. If you’re willing to dish out the money, you will get a great combiner here. Yes, Hercules is a tiny bit better, and not just because his components got proper names, but I can still easily recommend Uranos to anyone who isn’t bothered by his price tag.

Rating: A-