Twin Combat

While I certainly have a soft spot for strange robots, my favorite toy line is unusual in the remarkable nature of its vision, execution, and influence. Many know of Diaclone as the largest progenitor of the Autobots and Decepticons. Indeed, Diaclone gave us such iconic designs as Optimus Prime, the Constructicons, and the Dinobots, but many of its finest pieces never saw the light of day in the English speaking world. Diaclone was a “Big Tent” line, incorporating a sometimes confusing variety of styles in its releases.

For every sleek, chiseled Fortress X, there was a quaint, ungainly Warudaros. Twin Combat is in the quaint camp, vaguely old-fashioned, but superbly engineered with modern flourishes. Twin Combat is unexceptional within the Diaclone line-up, but even a lesser Diaclone is something special.

Twin Combat was packaged in a diminutive, but lavishly decorated box. The tiny photographs are engrossing. 

Inside, Twin Combat rests in a styrofoam tray. Included are a Diaclone driver (naturally), a sprue of missiles, a pair of fists, and a cockpit attachment for the spaceship mode.

This figure is small, at 3.5 inches high, but it is substantial, with respectable diecast (chest, feet), sturdy ABS, and an insane amount of moving parts. Twin Combat is packaged in one of two robot modes. The blue bot uses the attached fists. Each is spring loaded.

Articulation is limited to the shoulders and knees. The knee joints are unique for a bot of this vintage.

Both bots share the same head/central torso block. You can flip up the head and insert the driver, who peeks out from the helmet. He looks pretty smug, and why shouldn’t he?

Transformation to the red bot is way more involved than you’d think. The logic of the transformation is that the two modes are upside-down from each other. After folding down that torso block…

…you flip over the whole thing and slide up the two halves of the body before tweaking all sorts of parts.

The red bot isn’t as well-proportioned as the blue, but he’s still good looking enough.

Articulation is the same as the blue mode.

There’s also a ship mode, which is a variation on the blue bot laying on its back.

the included cockpit accessory fits between the legs and tightens everything up.

The ship mode is a tad perfunctory, but I like it all the same. The little conning tower for the driver is a nice touch.

While Twin Combat isn’t as dramatic as some of his peers, I continue to find enjoyment in the piece’s refinement.