Armada Air Defense Team

Robot Modes: The Air Defense Team robots look quite well for so little guys. More posable and versatile than some of the early G1 toys, the three of them look cool in the way only transformable jet robots do. The clear plastic parts are not one hundred percent my cup of tea, but other than that no complaints. Three very good Minicons.

Vehicle Mode: Not much of a stretch, the three little guys transform into airplanes. Three very different jets, but all three look good and pretty realistic, even to the inclusion of landing gear (though you need to have long nails or small fingers to pry it loose). No complaints here, three good jet modes.

Combiner Mode: The main reason to get these three Minicons is, of course, that they combine into the Star Sabre, the most prominent Minicon weapon in the Armada cartoon. This powerful weapon changed hands quite a few times and slayed Starscream in the end. The toy version is not terribly stable (liable to shatter when struck against the Skyboom Shield), but it looks pretty cool and certainly enhances whichever Transformer gets to wield it.

Remarks: The Star Saber sword went through many hands in the Armada cartoon. Megatron, Hot Shot, Starscream, Megatron again. Finally it was used to power the Hydra cannon that (temporarily) killed Optimus Prime, Megatron used it to (temporarily) kill Starscream, and Unicron used it to power up his body until he became mobile again. The three Minicons themselves do have some play value, being among the better Minicons in the Armada line, but the big attention getter here is the Star Saber, no doubt about it, and that's why I bought them.

Rating: B

Picture Gallery: