Review - Fans Hobby MB-21 Tsunami
Batten down the hatches! A Tsunami is incoming! Fans Hobby’s take on Transformers Armada Tidal Wave, MB-21 Tsunami is a beast of a bot, with multiple vehicle modes, a giant robot mode, and even an armored power up where he combines with their previously released MB-17 Meg Tyranno! Let’s get stuck in and see if this release really makes a splash!
This review was made possible thanks to a sample provided by Fans Hobby!
Vehicle Mode
Tsunami has 3 distinct vehicle modes; an Aircraft carrier, a Battleship, and an armored troop transport vehicle.
The aircraft carrier is the most fully featured of the bunch, with spring loaded launchers, a hideaway radar and bridge, as well as a fully functional storage elevator for one of the included mini robots. Clean paintwork adorns the runways with sharp purple pinstripes and yellow safety indicators. The spring-loaded runways, as well as the bridge and radar antenna can be folded away for storage and to provide a cleaner look. The elevator can hold one mini robot jet, with the wings and cockpit folded into “storage” mode.
The battleship is the next most intricate of the three. With rotating, articulated cannons, and twin spring loaded torpedo launchers on the front of the vehicle. The cannons can be moved in sync by pushing the minicon post at the rear back and forth. This is also used to unlock the deck for transformation later on. The spring loaded torpedo launchers are very effective, and fire a small projectile with some decent power. The triggers are a bit sensitive and I found myself setting them off a lot while handling the figure. Removing the torpedoes is recommended before combining into the larger ship or the robot modes to avoid losing the projectiles.
The troop carrier is pretty featureless in comparison with its fleet-mates. A slab with adjustable wings, not much else going on. The silver paintwork is incredibly sharp and clean, as is the purple and yellow details on the wings. The thrusters on the rear are particularly impressive both in detail and paint-work.
Combined Vehicle Mode
The “Dark Fleet” can combine into a singular battleship that looks perfectly at home in the water, or as a space faring battleship for the Decepticon navy. With a central aircraft carrier, twin pointed bows on either side, and a large thruster section with forward swept wings this ship is ready to bring the pain to any unwitting Autobots who might try and pick a fight, or who might try and sink it to the bottom of the ocean. ;)
The launching torpedoes and the runway launchers are still usable in this configuration, however the storage elevator is blocked by the battleship deck and cannot be accessed. There is a rather unsightly gap at the rear, where the obvious hips and thighs of the larger robot mode are rather apparent. I’d have liked it if they had found a way to fill in this area with some sort of deck or armor piece. Even if it meant a removable component that turns into a weapon or something. The gap is consistent with the original toy but for some reason it feels a lot more apparent to me on this third party rendition.
The combined ship mode feels very solid when locked together. Very swoosh-able, very fun. It’s quite large too, almost too big for my photo table!
Robot Mode
Unlike Hasbro’s latest take, Tsunami can be transformed into robot mode directly from the combined ship mode without having to disassemble. The transformation is simple and tactile, with little need for instructions for experienced puzzlers.The combined robot is larger than the original Armada offering, but comes up a few inches short of the latest Titan Class offering. Fans Hobby approached this release as a more direct homage to the original design, rather than a modernized version the way Hasbro did.
The final bot mode is effective as an homage to the TV character, if a bit anemic as an in-hand toy experience. The whole thing is much lighter than you would expect based on his size, likely due to a large amount of the figure being hollow. I suspect this was done to lessen the burden on Meg-Tyranno when Tsunami is equipped in the combined power-up mode. This means that Tsunami is relatively easy to pose and balance, despite feeling a bit more like a model kit than something more substantial from Fans Hobby, for instance their take on Overlord; MB-08 Double Evil. From the font there’s plenty of detail and paint, however round the back he’s just grey and purple plastic.
The head has a face plate gimmick, with an included teeth-bared angry expression that can be swapped out. There is also a magnetic LED switch inside the head that can be activated using the magnets in the chests of the mini jet robots included. Fans Hobby even included a battery (separately packaged) in the box! This is awesome as I didn’t have to hunt down an obscure button cell to enjoy the LED feature. The eyes are also painted so that even without the LED the face has a lot of life.
Articulation is a mixed bag, effective but not overly expressive, and with a few oddities. From the top down;
Ball Joint at the neck. The transformation hinge can also assist with a bit of up/down movement. Not the most expressive but acceptable all things considered.
The shoulders have heavy 2-way ratchets that allow for a full 360 rotation front/back, and about 3 solid clicks outward which can bring the arm to about 45º. No T-Posing for this big fella. Once you hit the third click, the torso will start to come apart and the bridge of the battleship that comprises his body will lift up. While this can be considered an extension of the articulation (which will actually allow a full 90 degree T-Pose) it is a bit awkward looking. Further down we have double ratcheted elbows, with a bicep swivel. You can get a full bend in the arm, with the forearm touching the bicep. You have to be a bit careful with the bicep swivel as the runway components on the outside of the arm can collide if you aren’t mindful of them while posing. Finally a wrist swivel, and articulated fingers and thumb.
Tsunami has a very limited waist swivel, only about 10-15º in either direction. The waist movement is compromised due to the integration of the battleship bridge into the pelvis area. The frustrating thing is, the figure has a 360 degree waist joint built-in, but it becomes inaccessible due to the way the torso and legs combine. 2-way ratchets at the hips give you 85º kicking to the front, 90 to the rear, and one click past 90 out to the side. Thigh swivels, double knees that can click 2 notches past 90º if you manipulate them correctly, and finally a strong ankle tilt that can give 90º inward, however next to nothing to the outside angle. Only the front of the foot tilts, not the heel. So be mindful when trying to hit more extreme poses.
Due to the lighter nature of Tsunami, the majority of his joints are perfectly capable of holding onto most natural poses, though the hip ratchets do seem a bit weaker than I would like, and this can sometimes cause issues with both the robot mode and the combined armored mode with Meg-Tyrannno.
Combined Power Up with MB-17 Meg-Tyranno
There are three ways to combine Tsunami with MB-17. Two different backpack configurations, and with or without the boots adding extra height.
My copy of MB-17 is barely able to accommodate the added weight of the upgrade parts, and in the case of the boots, the ankle joints are not strong enough to keep him standing with the extra height.
Your mileage may vary depending on how strong the joints on your MB-17 are, but I would absolutely consider this a display mode only, with little play value. If you are going to display your Meg-Tyranno with the upgrade components I would highly recommend incorporating some sort of display stand to keep him upright. I think Hasbro made the right call with their Tidal Wave offering, by including smaller more proportional add on parts for their Megatron.
Included Accessories
2 x Mini Jet Robots w/ Magnets
2 x Torpedoes
1 x Alternate faceplate for MB-21 Tsunami
2 x Replacement faceplates for MB-17 Meg-Tyranno
Final Thoughts
Fans Hobby MB-21 Tsunami is a mixed bag to me. The design is a great homage to the original Tidal Wave, in animation accurate colors. The head sculpt, face swap gimmick, and magnetic LED eyes are really well done, and the overall silhouette of the robot mode is a great rendition of the OG Tidal Wave. The combined ship mode is very fun and swooshable and the individual modes are packed full of fun features and gimmicks with the exception of the troop transport.
The articulation could be much better, especially the waist and shoulders. The light/hollow feeling of the toy is understandable from a technical aspect, but still feels satisfying to handle. Despite this, the armored power up mode with MB-17 is still nearly unplayable. In fairness, this is owing more to the strength of the joints on MB-17, than any shortcomings on MB-21. The lack of any meaningful accessories or weapons aside from the mini robots leaves me feeling like something is missing from the final package.
As a singular experience, I think Tsunami is fun and could be a worthwhile pickup if you are a Transformers Armada fan. However, if your interest is due to the combining gimmick with Meg-Tyranno, or you just want a really satisfying self-contained “transforming robot” to mess with. I’m not sure I would recommend it over other options.
In a world where Hasbro’s Titan Class Tidal Wave didn’t exist, I think this release would be a lot better received. Unfortunately for them, Fans Hobby had the poor luck of taking a bit too long to release this fella and Hasbro beat them to the punch this time with a larger and more robust offering. In fairness, who could have possibly predicted the renaissance that the Unicron Trilogy has been experiencing from Hasbro in the last couple years. If you told me a couple years back that Hasbro would make a new Armada Prime, Megatron and a Tidal Wave, with combining parts for Megatron, all before MB-21 hit the market I would have called you crazy.
As always a huge thank you to Fans Hobby for letting me check out their latest release, and to all of you guys for checking it out with me! Until next time!
