By Loran
After my disappointment with Thunderhead, I decided to seek out another Human Alliance Basic for my Dark of the Moon collection. I wanted one that had an actual weapon mode, one that could enhance my other Dark of the Moon figures. I needed a Decepticon, since I always seem to end up with more Autobots than Decepticons (even though I always like having the bad guys outnumber the good guys, regardless of toy-line). After seeing some pictures, it seemed like the only Decepticon in the HA Basic line thus far was the perfect choice: Icepick.
Icepick is a snowmobile this time around! Personally, I think if Hasbro wanted to use an arctic-themed name for this figure, they should’ve used Frostbite. Either way, it’s a pretty damn good snowmobile mode. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any other snowmobile Transformers, but rather a few other arctic vehicles, such as half-tracks or whatnot. It’s always good to see a new vehicle mode in Transformers, especially one that works really well with the toy’s gimmick.
Icepick’s transformation is of average difficulty, but working with those treads can be a huge pain. He doesn’t hold together as well as I would like, but maybe I’m asking too much from such a small figure.
His robot mode is nifty, but he’s rather fiddly. His feet are really small and getting him to stand can require some tricky balance work. His arms are a bit oddly-proportioned, but he does have some actual hands, even though they can’t hold 5mm peg weapons in them (though you can place them slightly above on his forearms). Still, he looks like what you’d expect from a snow vehicle Transformer, I guess. He’s supposed to be the same guy as Power Core Combiners Icepick, but I’d much prefer him to be his own character… in a different universe.
His face seems to be based off of a hockey mask! Creative. As I’ve said before, I love stuff like this. Sadly, even with all that translucent purple plastic, he doesn’t have full-face light piping. Boooo.
His poseability is a lot better and less clunky than that of Thunderhead; complete with a great double-joint in his knees given to him by way of his transformation. It makes balancing him on his tiny feets a lot easier.
Two… laser claw things are included for weapons on this figure. They both have 3mm clips and can be attached to the snow foils, handlebars, or back rollbar thing. No, I don’t know what the heck it’s called. His left arm also has what looks like a Minicon port, but it doesn’t work that well…
Sgt. Chaos is Icepick’s human buddy, and damn, isn’t that the best name ever? And yes, he is pretty awesome. This guy would be perfectly at home as a member of Cobra, and I really want to make a G.I. Joe out of him. The mask works a lot better than the actual people faces, and all the better suited for an antagonist character.
Now I know what you’re thinking… yes, this isn’t the proper weapon-platform configuration. But screw that! The hoverbike-with-giant-chainsaw thing is stupid. He needs to be an ACTUAL chainsaw! You need to take a few liberties to get him in this mod (mainly compressing the front parts) but it looks much better this way, especially when being held by Mad Max-atron here.
Icepick has his shortfalls, but he’s a decent figure overall. His human buddy is very neat and his chainsaw mode makes for an awesome accessory for larger figures. If you want a cool little buddy for your new Voyager Megatron, this guy makes a great candidate, so stop buy and pick up yours from FPNYC!
