Dave's Transforming Toy Rant: Insect2sides Dragonflyer and Grasshop-bot As long as you're scouring Kay Bee for Machine Wars, you might want to check out these new insect-to-robot toys I found there today. They're on "instant clearance" to $2.50 each, and I suspect the line has more than just the two I was able to find today. CAPSULES Dragonflyer: Kinda fragile, but clever transformation, okay colors and pretty good poseability. Mildly recommended. Grasshop-bot: Sturdier than Dragonflyer, transformation reminiscent of Ransack (Deluxe Insecticon), somewhat less poseable. Mildly recommended. RANTS Dragonflyer Insect Mode: 6.5 inches (17cm) long with 6 inch (15cm) wingspan. Wings move independently, but legs don't (not that they move a whole lot on a real dragonfly). Stinger partially articulated. Main color is red, with green wings, yellow and gold accents. Fairly stable, with interlocking tabs keeping parts from flopping around. Transformation: Several steps which have to be performed in the correct order. The way the insect head folds down to become the robot chest is particularly clever. Robot Mode: Robot form is 4 inches (10cm) tall at the head, 5 inches (13cm) if you include the insect legs on the shoulders. Elbows, hips and knees poseable on hinge joints, and the arms can swing out at the shoulders although they can't pivot. Robot will not stand up if transformed according to instructions, as weight of tail and wings will make it fall over backwards. However, with the wings out straight and the tail tucked between the legs, the robot will stand. And, aside from the tail, it looks pretty keen in this configuration. Robot carries a goldtone version of the polearm that comes with the Insectabot/Robo-Invaders mosquito toy. Grasshop-bot Insect Mode: Strongly reminiscent of a cross between Kickback and Ransack in mainly green with yellow and gold wings. Insect mode is 4 inches (10cm) long and 3 inches (8cm) wide. Wings move a bit, but otherwise pretty static. Transformation: Arms pull out in much the same way Ransack's do, although without the spring-loading (you pivot the fists out). Ends of hind legs fold up in a manner similar to Kickback's, but they form the front of the robot shins, not the back, since there's no torso twist available here. Be sure to extend the arms and legs, or you get the Superdeformed variant. Robot Mode: 4 inches (10cm) tall at the head, 6 inches (15cm) tall if you include the raised wings on its back. Arms rotate at shoulders, hips and knees swivel. Lacks Dragonflyer's back-mounted stuff, so stands nicely if transformed as per the instructions. Face is strongly recessed under the insect face, for a sort of visor effect. Insect arms hanging off forearms don't look too hot, but even Beast Wars toys suffer from this problem. Robot carries the wavy sword which comes with another one of the Invader-Bots, I think it was the Bee's. Be careful in removing the sword from its hand, the hand might come off the arm more easily than the sword comes out of the hand. While the head is not actually poseable, the one on mine seems to have been set on slightly askew (note: the head looks better if you remove the sticker on it). A note on weapons: they'd actually look better holding each other's weapon, but the fist holes are different sizes, so this doesn't actually work. Dave Van Domelen, has Grasshop-bot sort of carrying Dragonflyer's polearm as a shoulder-mounted bazooka weapon....