Dave's Digivolving Rant:

     Agumon Playset
     Gabumon Playset

     Picked these up today at Toys R Us, but probably shouldn't have wasted
my money on them.

CAPSULES

     Agumon: So-so playset, weak figures, weak "digivolve" action, pieces
don't snap into place very well.  Avoid.  $9.99 at Toys R Us.
     Gabumon: Decent playset with some nice gimmicks.  Weak figures, lots of
part-swapping for the "digivolve," with a poor result, leftover pieces no
matter what mode it's in.  Neutral.  $9.99 at TRU.

RANTS

     Common features: Basically, this is an extension of the idea of the Zord
playsets Bandai does for the Power Rangers series.  The figures open up to
reveal interactive scenery and some motion gimmicks.  There's four gummyplas
figures with each set (the kid, the Ultimate and Mega levels of the 'mon, and
one Dark Master) that peg into various parts of the playset.  The figures are
shown with decent paintjobs on the package, but are pretty bad in reality.
You can change the figures into their Champion levels by snapping on parts or
even moving them around.

     Agumon: Snapping on a tail and putting on a helmet turns it into
Greymon.  But the helmet just rests on the head, it doesn't even pretend to
snap into place.  As far as I can tell, the legs are immobile, but it may
simply take more force than I'm willing to exert in order to get them
moving.  The arms do move easily, and the head turns.
     To get playset mode, flip up the top of the head, pull down the front of
the belly, and attach the Greymon bits to the belly panel.  The tail is
supposed to snap into place inside the helmet, but it just sits there
loosely.  A panel flips open to reveal a skull and crossbones.  In the upper
part of the head, double doors swing open and provide a platform you can
stand War Greymon or Tai on.  Closing the doors sends the figure down a chute
into a prison built into the chest.  This prison is where you need to cram
most of the figures for storage.  There's a rotating platform in the belly
panel, and underground river detailing that extends into the helmet.  The
snap-on tail provides a cave for the river to enter, and there's a platform
at the top for Tai or Metalseadramon.  The helmet's horns swivel to let them
act as legs for the segment.
     This set has some nice ideas, but really pathetic execution.  Don't
waste your money on it.

     Gabumon: To transform Gabumon you have to pull pretty much everything
off his torso and putting it on in different places.  His Garurumon head fits
over his Gabumon tail (which can hinge up and down), a separate tail plugs
badly into Gabumon's neck, and other bits swap around.  The result is a
highly dubious Garurumon, but at least they tried, I suppose.  There's
nowhere to put the Gabumon head in Garurumon mode, and vice versa.  There's
molding inside the Garurumon head that's clearly intended to hold the
Garurumon tail, but it's nowhere near snug enough to keep the tail in place.
     The playset mode involves removing the Gabumon head, pulling down the
chest, snapping the head onto a tab at the top of the chest and removing
Gabumon's horn to become a spire in the scenery.  There's no role for the
Garurumon parts.
     Gabumon's playset mode has several motion gimmicks.  Turning a dial on
the side of the head turns a platform which can hold any of the four figures
on pegs.  Turning the horn/spire activates an "earthquake" section Matt can
stand on, plus making a lake churn (three slats tilt back and forth).
Finally, pushing a button inside the chest causes a waterfall to flip up and
a holder for one of the figures (Weregarurumon or Machinedramon fit best)
pops out.
     Storage is somewhat iffy.  You have to cram the figures in at weird
places to fit them all into Gabumon.  Only a couple will fit behind the
waterfall. 
     Oh, and Gabumon's proportions are a little weird and stretched out.  He
almost looks like a Simpsons version of himself.
     Overall, not a complete loss, but not really worth the money, either.
If they ever go on clearance, you might want to consider getting this one.

     Dave Van Domelen, saw T-Wrecks at Target and gave it a pass, he already
has the original T.rex Megatron and the new colors aren't a $20 improvement.