Transformer Binaltech - BT-12 Overdrive Honda Spoon 2000

Series	Transformer Binaltech
Title	BT-12 Overdrive Honda Spoon 2000
Release Date	March 2005
Manufacturer	Takara
Suggested Price (JPY)	4,980
Scale	1/24
Height (cm)	Car: 17.3 cm (L) x 7.5 cm (W) x 4.8 cm (H) Robot: 18.0 cm
No.  of Parts	1 Honda S2000 + 1 10-pages instruction manual + 1 Overdrive ID card + 1 secret weapon + 1 convertible top
My Rating	Good

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Comment
I am not a too avid a Transformers fans. I remember watching the show about decades ago but somehow somewhere I could not remember who Overdrive from G1 is. I did some research on the web and found out that Overdrive is the first non-show character from G1 ever releases in this Binaltech series. Anyway, having nostalgic feeling with Overdrive is not my reason of purchasing. I am buying Takara 12th release of Binaltech series is all because of the cool looking Honda S2000 (a.k.a. Honda Spoon) and its features of some great gimmicks such as a long secret weapon and shield in robot mode and a convertible sport car in vehicle mode.

Packaging
Overdrive comes packaged in the usual Binaltech box design with clear plastic on all but the rear side of the box. The vehicle is safely resting in clear plastic tray secured with twisted wires. At the bottom of the box located a plastic wrapper containing an instruction manual, Overdrive ID card and the secret weapon (engine). It also comes with a convertible top taper separately in a smaller plastic bag.

The instruction manual is colored and 10-pages in volume. It contains brief introduction and schematic diagram as instruction to transform the vehicle into a robot. The manual is in Japanese only. The schematic diagram is in black on white, which is easier to read.

Vehicle Mode
Overdrive in vehicle mode is a faithfully 1:24 scaled replica of Honda S2000, a red 2-door convertible sport car powered by a VTEC 2.0L engine that delivers 240 horsepower. The engineering design for Overdrive is an excellent, where divider line is hardly noticeable. At a glance, this Honda S2000 is just like a detailed die-cast car. Only at close inspection, only small sections, which are the front and rear bumper, has a noticeable line.

Both front hood and rear compartment swings open. The rear reveals some sort of compartment area. As for the front, it is empty initially. You need to transform its secret weapon into the engine. Overdrive secret weapon is made of 3 connected sections, which are the VTEC engine, radiator and a transmission shaft. The engine is put in the hood with the radiator folded and the transmission shaft pointing downwards. The shaft is then poke thru and under the car. Next, it is folded underneath and kept in place by a slot.

Both door swings open revealing a detailed dashboard with moveable steering wheel. This is a twin-seater, colored in a sporty black and red. The seats are foldable during transformation. Overdrive second secret weapon is a shield also acts as the convertible top. Behind the seats comes with a black piece that is removable to swap with the shield to form its convertible roof.

This car is highly detailed on the outside. You will find a crystal headlight and taillight with 2 small lamps in it. The signal lamp and third brake like is made of clear deep orange plastic piece. The side mirror is silver plated to imitate a mirror. Red Honda logos are sported in front and rear of the car. There is no license plate in front, whereas the rear license plate is marked with the usual Autobot logo and the word 'OVRDRV'. The twin exhaust muffler is visible under the rear bumper on both side plated in silver. A radio antenna is also replicated here using a piece soft rubber on the right rear of the car.

The wheels here have much improved. It comes with a set of front wheels that steer in-sync. This is archive by its magnetic connector hidden under the hood. Each wheel has a 10-spoke sport rim with visible disc brakes. Its tires now no longer belong to any unknown manufacturer. It is now featuring patterned tires from Radial but somehow Takara still insist on putting the word "Cybertronian" onto it.

Robot Mode
As usual Binaltech culture, Overdrive is using the same head sculpt as in Transformer Generation 1. Overdrive design in robot mode is quite new and interesting. It is portrayed as a tall and slim robot. Its chest is interestingly sculpted with 2 cool tall shoulders with its rimmed wheels as decoration.

Overdrive solved some of the design problems that exist in earlier releases. The designer usually overlooks the aesthetic value of the robot from the rear. For example, Grimlock and Lambor have an unresolved large piece dangling at the rear making the robot looks awful from that perspective. Another example will be Smokescreen and Hound with a semi-exposed dashboard or seats. Overdrive does not have this problem thanks to its simple but ingenious design that it utilize. During transformation, front half of the car forms both legs. By right, the car hood should left dangling as in Lambor. However, as in Overdrive, its hood and windscreen rotates 360 degree enabling the car hood slap nicely to the rear forming an exterior metal armor. This makes Overdrive the first Binaltech robot I own, which has a clean rear.

Overdrive articulation is slightly less satisfactory. Its articulation is the same like others where the robot is fully articulated. It also comes with the usual hands with moveable forefinger and the last 3 fingers. The only downside in this department is that it has no knee bend. This is an obstacle in posing the robot.

Another interesting feature here is that Overdrive comes with 2 secret weapons, which consist of a long rifle and a shield. The shield is attached to the lower arm via provided sockets.

This item is purchased from a recent trip to Mongkok, HK.

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Document Date : 2005-08-09

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