Comettor, being a very spacey-moonie thematic name is being introduced in Transformers Dark of The Moon to complement the movie theme that revolves around the moon and space. Since there is no actual moon buggy transformer being released before, Movie Landmine has been chosen as a candidate to fill in this role as his alternate mode resembles closely to a real moon (lunar) buggy.
In the fictional tech-spec not mentioned nor depicted in the movie, Comettor appears to be one of Optimus’ partner in the moon exploration to retrieve Sentinel Prime from the Ark’s wreckage. If you realised, Comettor ‘did’ make a brief appearance (in alternate mode of course) on the moon when Ratchet and Optimus hurried to the Ark. Being an off-screen character, he is definitely obscured with only an alternate mode.
To get him, he is packed along-side ‘Moonie’ / ‘Sparkle’ / ‘Starry’ (whatever you call it) Optimus Prime, a voyager class size re-deco of HFTD’s Battle Hook Voyager class Optimus Prime as Bonus Value figure. He is released as a Walmart exclusive in the US but in Malaysia, he is made as a Parkson’s exclusive – only available in Parkson’s.
Comettor’s mold is no stranger as he was released for the third time for Dark of The Moon. He was first released in the first Movie as Landmine and for the second time as Armorhide in Revenge of The Fallen. While the first two was decoed dark, Comettor is almost pure white. What I can honestly say that this mold is one of the nicest mold for movie deluxe class.
Alternate Mode
In alternate mode, Comettor transforms into a lunar buggy, a modded version of the Chenowth Desert Patrol Vehicle commonly used by the US Army. His deco clearly matches the ‘spacey whiteness’ that NASA space apparatus bears, with an orangey-gold colored accent.
He measures around 5.5 inches, around 1:30 scale, equipped with guns that can be mounted on the buggy’s roof both with elongated firing mode or rapid assault mode. The gun is mounted via a port which is slightly smaller than the MechTech port. His backlights / bumper can be shifted up but I am unsure what purpose is this for. His windscreen is black and in contrary to the see-through ones for Landmine, Comettor’s is the opposite.
He had impressive detailing on the buggy’s armour with rivets all over the place and looks robust cage chassis to protect the passengers. All four wheels can rotate freely. The tires are grey to give it a spacey feel. What is impressive about the front tires is the shock absorbers that comes with it.
He also comes with front lights with gold plating armors protecting it at the front. At the back he comes with a double barrel tank that transforms to his feet in robot mode. His doors comes with protective bars painted in grey for the metallic feel.
Robot Mode
His transformation is pretty easy as he emulates the old-school style of G1 transforming sequence most notably his legs, and body. His articulation points is almost everywhere from the head rotation, shoulders, elbow, hands, waist, knee, thigh, toes/feet and heels.
The only tricky part is his hands that needs to be carefully folded to fit in the buggy. The arrangements will determine whether you have successfully provided some seats for the astronauts or not! His claws becomes the seat cushion and the rest blends in naturally as the buggy’s interiors.
Comettor must be transformed by splitting the halves of his back-half (legs) of the buggy then folded out. The buggy’s hood then becomes his chest and the radiator plate opens and there goes his head popping out just like most typical transformer. His folded arms and hands must be pulled out and straighten. Being articulated, this is very simple and straight forward.
He stands nearly 6 inches tall with his head able to rotate only 90 degrees as it was limited by the ‘collars’ which was part of the hood. His head can arch up also around 90 degrees for sky spotting. Comettor’s body looks proportionate and he stands humbly stable.
Comettor is super articulated that he can loosely hold his energon assault gun. The gap of his fists is unfortunately larger than the gun. His energon assault gun can be elongated or folded for a rapid fire form. His energon assault gun is mounted on his back and can be used as shoulder cannon. To reach it’s shoulder, it must be elongated. What I love about this is the G1 car transformers feel that this figure gives. The only downside is the gun nozzle is not long enough to protrude his shoulders. The gun can also be loosely hand-held.
The back wheel of the buggy forms as part of his heels and back-sole which gives him the ability to roll like a roller-skate, I bet. The barrels becomes his toes and feet. Since the mold is from the first Movie, the Automorph elements are still there such as the retractable sliding shin when the knee caps are positioned into place and also the retract-into-the body front wheels.
His face loosely resembles a baseball catcher or a ninja, caging the real face. He should have a pair of eyes (though still there), but for this DOTM version, the whole eye section has been painted giving him a visor-eyed feel.
He stands sturdy, stable and highly posable.
Aesthetics
The proportional figure, the eye-catching colour scheme and the moony-spacey feel that the figure projects really complements the Dark of The Moon theme.
Articulation
Super articulated with four points-of-articulations (POA) on his hands. Two POAs on his shoulder, one on the elbow, one on the head, waist, two POA on the thighs, the knee plus knee-cap, the feet/toes and three on the gun.
Design
He retains the old-school style of G1 transformation that impressively conceals the modern outlook that it possess. You wouldn’t have a second thought that he retains G1 style transformation. Given by his deluxe stature, they still manage to squeeze in some gimmicks to give this toy extra fun. This guy is one of the ‘prettiest’ deluxe size movie transformer IMHO.
Gimmicks
The energon assault gun can be handheld with rapid fire or elongated form. Can be mounted giving it a real feel of a modern military vehicle. The Automorph gimmicks on the shin and the hood is impressive. In alternate mode, he rolls out like an average toy car! His palms becomes the seat cushion of the buggy. His gun becomes a shoulder cannon if rotated downwards, it becomes a waste cannon as well.
Paintjob
He comes with a faint-white deco with gold accents on the armor plating, metallic finish on the grids and bars with orange and black in between. Overall paintjob is impressive and the detailing of his face stands out better than Landmine’s giving him a sense of identity and persona. His overall colors are very Autobot-friendly that you can instantly recognize him as a good guy without seeing his insignia.
Fun Factor
Twist and turn him as you please! He gives you myriads of action poses! From flying kicks and assault action poses, he excel all poses. G1 fanatics will still love him for his G1 style transformation sequence and also most notably, the shoulder cannon.
Complexity
Not complex at all. Three stages of transformation that you need to be aware of – the feet, the body and the folded arms inside the buggy. The feet and body is the simplest – very G1. The folded arms can be a bit tricky not to robot mode, but back to alternate mode. If you are forgetful, this part can be a daunting task as the folding sequence can drive you crazy.
Value
In Malaysia, is like buy one get one free – a deluxe free along with a voyager. What more can you expect? For me it is a true bonus value and I cannot think of any other suitable deluxe movie figure to be a better candidate than him. Grab him only in Parkson’s and TRU.
Overall
Awesome paintjob, sturdy and stable. The POA’s and action poses is his signature feature. Get him with Landmine and Armorhide, you have those awesome trio as elite guardsmen for Optimus!
Gallery
Ratings
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Credits:
Admin Prime
