KO Landcross

Three simple words is all you need to describe the ultimate fighting machine: LAND, AIR, and SEA. Three rugged land vehicles, two swift air vehicles, and one mighty sea vehicle combine to form this unstoppable force of good! Few know him by this name, while most of us just know him as Landcross. A cheap, Chinese version that is…

The only thing that I know about his true origins is that he is a combiner that appeared in the Japanese exclusive “Transformers Victory” and his component parts (known as the “Multiforce”) can not only combine into Landcross, but any two members can combine with each other. I don’t really know much else about the Multiforce. Check this link out for more info on the TFwiki.

One thing I do know is that the Multiforce never came with a helicopter drone. That’s right, we’re actually getting a free figure that (to the best of my knowledge) is not based on anything that exists. I’ll call him “Choppa.”

Choppa has two points of articulation which are both of his rotors. Underneath you can see he has a robot face meaning that at some point this guy was supposed to transform, but it was scrapped. You can just see the anger in his eyes. It’s okay though. Choppa is still armed with two cannons to provide Landcross with excellent cover fire!

Yes I know you’re thinking, “what’s the point of including him with this set if he doesn’t even transform?” Well, maybe he’s used as a transport and doesn’t NEED to transform because there would be a lack of space. If you’re feeling imaginative then maybe you can find some way to attach him to Landcross for added fire power. The possibilities are endless! (Check out the red Decepticon symbol)

Why not start off by talking about the strongest as well as my favorite component of the group, Mach! Mach transforms into a cute little blue and white space shuttle with blue windows. The wheels are solid pieces so no movement which is okay. He becomes the left arm of Landcross.

To transform Mach into robot mode, pull out the front of the shuttle, separate and rotate the two halves inward. Flip the nose cone halves up, rotate the arms up, place the small gun in one of his hands and you’re good to go! In robot mode Mach has 4 points of articulation. Both of his arms swivel up and down and both of his legs have good range of motion.

In robot mode we have even more blue and tiny specks of black. His head has a cool design but you can’t really see his face because it bleeds in with his helmet. If Mach is not the leader of the group, he sure needs to be. For one thing, he’s the only one in this set who can actually hold a weapon. There are other reasons, but you’ll see what I’m talking about very shortly…

Next we have Dash, who transforms into a red sports car that looks very similar to a Pontiac Fiero and also forms the right arm of Landcross. Besides red, he has absolutely no other paint apps other than the decal on the side of his door, his windows, and his wheels which are unfortunately molded into place. You can’t chase down Decepticons like that.

To transform him into robot mode, pull the front end of the car, split and rotate both parts opposite of each other, flip the front halves of the hood up, pull his robot arms up, and that’s it. He has only 4 points of articulation in this mode (which is a LOT more than I can say about his comrades) His arms swivel up and down and his legs move from side to side. If you want to get creative with it, his feet can move up and down so you can make him stand on his tippy toes bringing his articulation up to a whopping 6. The only new color here is his white chest that has some nice details molded into it. (you may have to look hard to see it)

From behind Dash is completely red with tiny specks of black peeking out at you.

His head has a nice sculpt, but his face is completely washed out because it’s the same color as his helmet. I’m going to be completely honest with you. Dash is the second strongest character in this group along with Mach being the first. The others however…well, just read along and you will find out…

Okay, this is where things start to go downhill. Third up we have Wing, who becomes the top have torso of Landcross, transforms into a white jet with red wings and a black window on his cockpit….okay, so far so good…

To transform Wing into robot mode stand him up, push his red wings forward, flip the nose cone back and…

Wait……..THAT’S IT!? No…

Hmm…surprisingly, yes. That is it. From the back you can see the contour of what LOOKS like it could be an actual robot mode, but there’s no way to pull neither the legs nor the arms out. In short, he basically IS a leg.

Wing has absolutely no face to speak of, but he does have a cool three pronged helmet with a gigantic under bite. Maybe that blank space is supposed to be a large visor? If so would it have been too much trouble to paint it? There also a peg sticking out of his chest that I assume is supposed to represent front landing gear but your guess is as good as mines.

Number 4 who also happens to form the bottom torso half of Landcross is Waver. I don’t know what kind of boat he is, but I do know that people use this kind to travel through swamps. Waver is predominantly white in this form with red bits and a black stripe on the side. His windows are a dark blue. Being the only sea type vehicle in this set, there’s no way that Waver can disappoint. To transform him into robot mode pull out the front of the boat and split the legs. Flip the front halves backwards and then you…

Oh dear…

Wow…um…well, Waver has two points of articulation in this form which are his legs. His chest is red and his arms and head are a very nice shade of invisible. He may not be able to throw a decent punch, but his kicks are faster than lightning.

Get ready for a double whammy. Tacker and Tackle who form the left and right legs of Landcross.
Tacker transforms into a green armored vehicle with orange windows while Tackle transforms into an orange transport truck with black windows and a blue hitch.

Seems like they both are retools of each other and they have the same amount of articulation as a brick. No wonder they were both chosen to be legs. In robot mode Tacker has no face and is completely green with some mechanical details molded in and Tackle is pretty much the same. Both of their rear wheels can rotate. That counts for something, right?

Before I start talking about Landcross himself, I would like to talk about the packaging. It’s almost entirely in Japanese and Chinese except for where it says “Land Air Sea.”

Cool boxart illustration with Japanese text.

Oh, what should have been…*sigh*

In the right hand corner we see some more boxart of Mr. Land Air Sea himself, but something about his right hand looks a little off…

Now that he’s out of the package we’re treated to even more boxart of random robotic characters who not only don’t belong there, but are the wrong colors. Something REALLY looks off about that green jeep looking fella in the middle…

All of the parts that came with the set:

Large robot head x1
Two fists x2
Breast plate x1
Crotch plate x1
Small gun x1
Feet platforms x2
Helicopter drone a.k.a. “Choppa” (not pictured) x1
Small robots x6

*Batteries Not Included. Some Assembly Required*

His fists have guns on them so I guess that makes up for him having a little tiny pea shooter.

His feet have pegs underneath them. Originally they were supposed to peg into the smaller robots but with bootlegs things don’t always turn out the way you want them to…

His chest plate is beautifully sculpted. Note the two stickers with the red Decepticon-ish symbols on them. I wonder what THAT’s all about…

In robot mode Landcross stands a little under 7 inches tall which is a good size. He stands up well enough on his own but be careful when you move him because his chest plate doesn’t like to stay on because the pegs on Wing’s legs are a little too big. Also his legs are a little loose and dangle around.

From the sides, Landcross is a spindly looking thing

Thanks to his added arm articulation, Landcross can assume a good amount of poses. Depending on which angle you photograph him from, of course.

Since he’s articulated at his thighs, you can also pose him like he’s walking. Something very rare among first generation Transformers.

All that walking has gotten him tired. Time to kickback and relax! Choppa however, is not impressed…

Personally for me, despite the problems with his component parts, I really like this version of Landcross. One because it’s a rare Japanese mold and I have absolutely no chances of getting a legit one, and two, I like first generation Transformers…okay, robots in general. The extra articulation, the small details like the guns on his hands, and his very Bruticus-like helmets are all a plus in my book. He even came with a free figure! (if some of you can even call it that) Landcross fits right at home on my shelf with the other Micromaster KO’s I have and he is just a bit taller than the rest. If you don’t like knock offs (or anything related to Generation 1) then skip it and pursue other items that may interest you.