As the years progress, we are getting more and more obscure characters from Generation 1 turn up in the Transformers Generations toyline. Characters such as Greenlight and Lifeline who were non-speaking background femmebot characters from single episodes, Zetar & Chromar who were mail-away figures from 1984 that never showed up in any media, and even characters like Scrounge who appeared in a single comic 30 years previously only to die.
Well today we are looking at character/s, who while certainly not obscure, has never really been characters. And they’ve gotten their first transforming toy in a big way! So let’s look at, from the Kingdom line, the Titan-Class Autobot Ark with Teletraan-1.
The Ark
Ship Mode
Perhaps the most recognisable ship in all of Transformers lore, The Ark has been in everything from multiple different comics to multiple different cartoon series to video games. It’s the legendary ship that first transported the Autobots from Cybertron to Earth. And it’s been lovingly recreated here. It’s very big and bulky as befits a ship that is meant to be able to carry 300 Autobots across the galaxy. The details on it are beautiful, if somewhat plain due to the overriding orange colour scheme.
The Ark comes with different play features such as an opening loading ramp and fold down landing gear. You are able to open up the front to put the tiny Optimus Prime that comes with the figure onto the bridge, which you can then see by looking through the front window.
It is covered in gun ports but sadly none of these are able to rotate. Also disappointing is the lack of paint apps on the ship. It certainly would have helped to break up the orange to have the windows in the observation tower at the back painted blue and for there to be more colour on the internal bridge. However these minor detractions aside, this is truly the ship we all know and love.
Robot Mode
I must admit I would have much preferred the Ark to be able to open up and become an interactive play set, much like the DOTM Ark, than turn into a robot. Don’t get me wrong, the robot/transformation gimmick is cool, and it has been explained in the Kingdom Cartoon, but it still seems odd. However this is a very nice looking Titan-class toy with good articulation, though no individually articulated fingers and the ratchet joints in the shoulders and arms really grind.
Some detractors from the robot mode are the once-again plain orange and grey colour scheme and the fact the gun ports can’t rotate. Since there are some located on each forearm it would have been great to be able to rotate them so as to blast his enemies instead of his own elbow joint. He scales very nicely with Titan-Class Omega Supreme, and one could imagine in fiction that in size they would be on par with each other.
Teletraan-1
Computer Mode
Teletraan-1 – the famous computer of The Ark, who was consulted episode after episode in the first two seasons of the G1 cartoon. Like The Ark, Teletraan has shown up in various media over the years but as a computer rather than a character.
The figure starts off life as the bridge of The Ark (with a BIG cube of kibble underneath) but can be removed in both modes.
Transformation to the Teletraan-1 computer is basically folding out of panels to make a hollow display, but it looks the business and is infinitely cool. Makes for a lot of play value with your Deluxe-class Autobot figures.
It also comes with some very well-known accessories, such as Sky Spy which was the probe used by The Ark and controlled by Teletraan back in the G1 cartoon, and the Golden Disks that make up a hefty portion of the plot in the Beast Wars and Kingdom cartoons.
Mainframe
This…. is an interesting choice. The original Mainframe was a non-transforming G1 Action Master character whose bio described him as ‘a walking talking computer terminal’ rather than a regular Transformer. So making him the robot mode of Teletraan-1 is a kinda cool concept. However the two have always been distinct entities to each other so making them one and the same doesn’t really seem to sit right canonically. Still, it’s a nice enough robot mode, though like The Ark itself suffers from being one big blob of orange when it comes to the colour scheme, and he comes with no weapon.
Worth Getting?
For the spaceship mode of The Ark and the computer mode of Teletraan-1 one I’d have to say yes. These are by far the best representations of these iconic mainstays of the franchise we have ever had. The robot modes add some play value too and of course make the Transformer toys actually transform. However the uninspiring colour scheme and the lack of rotating turrets prevent this figure from being a must have. Personally, I’d recommend grabbing as long as you can find it as a reasonable price and have room on your shelf.
Got something to say about this Titan-Class toy? Pop it in the comments section below!
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