COUNTDOWN

At last, I have the time to sit down & take a better look at one of those hard to find hauls that I made sometime towards the end of last year.

Countdown comes in the form of a mobile launch platform. I got hold of this set from a fellow collector in town who is a fan of G1. Although the sticker condition of this base isn't perfectly great, I intend to get a new sticker sheet from Reprolabels. This set however is almost 99% complete, as it is only short of a mechanical arm.

 

Here's other views of the base. The red elevator platform at the back of the tower can be moved downwards. At the back of platform, there is another cannon turret for another Micromaster to command.

Here is the fully transformerd base. The tower leans forward and splits apart forming a huge & flat platform, while the base splits open three ways. Unlike the usual Transformers, you'll have to move about a number of components to complete the transformation.

It is in base mode that you'll have to attach the three additional ramps that come with it, a helipad & an overhead ramp that leads to the rear of the base. The rocket splits open at the bottom forming what seems like a depot bay.

The left image shows the left part of the base where you can attach the mechanical arm that I currently do not own. From the image on the right, there's actually a twin laser blaster that you can actually flip out from inside the rocket. I did not notice this during transformation as I didn't have the actual manual with me.

Here's the back right of the base where you can see the long ramp, leading to the back of the base. It just doesn't really make sense when the base is fully protected & to have a window of opportunity for enemy fire.

At the centre of the base is the command centre & watch tower above it. The layout of this area reminds me of GI Joe's PIT Mobile Headquarters.

Here, let's take a look at the front of the base. This is where the cannon turret is placed which makes more sense since you're going to place a ramp entering the base next to it.

Just showing the side views of the base.

Now let's take a look at the bot in charge of this command centre, Countdown.

In vehicle mode, Countdown resembles a space exploration buggy with a radar dish attached to the back of the vehicle.

All you have to do is to flip the arms forward & the legs down to transform this Micromaster.

There isn't much you can do about posing this small but but overall, this is one of the few must have toys if you're into collecting bases.