Vivid brings us yet another Thunderbirds toy, a giant Thunderbird 2 based on the new ITV series Thunderbirds Are Go, this set includes a giant Thunderbird 2, a giant Thunderbird 4, and 2 mini figures; Virgil and Gordon, and will rob you £39.99.
Something that is front and centre with this brute is it's size, Thunderbird 2 comes in at 40cm long, 19cm tall with the landing struts deployed, and 30cm from wingtip to wingtip, while the obviously smaller Thunderbird 4 sits at 12cm long, 4cm tall and 5cm wide. So if you felt the other Vivid TB2 they've released is a bit too small, here is your replacement. However, speaking of the smaller one, in a few aspects this toy is just an up scaled version of the smaller one, one of them is sculpt, the supersize Thunderbird 2 isn't exactly a giant leap from the smaller one with sculpt, in fact it's not even a small step. I don't see this as a bad thing, given that they both get the look of Thunderbird 2 in the show right, an they are both decently sculpted individually for what they are. For the most part he same can the said for paint, one crucial difference though is stickers; the supersize Thunderbird 2 has lots of stickers, about 70 to be more exact. While this is better than nothing, and applying the stickers really brings it to life, it begs the question of why some smaller details are painted on and others are stickers, and why some details are even stickers at all, like the stickers on Thunderbird 4's underside view port. That said, I haven't had a sticker peeling off yet, so the stickers appear to be decent quality, and with the exception of the Thunderbird 2 cockpit, they were reasonably easy to apply, so I can't really complain. Something pretty weak in paint and sculpt is the mini figures, they're supposed to the Virgil and Gordon, but you wouldn't be able to tell if they didn't wear different colours, since they don't really have faces, and while the detail of the bodies is serviceable, it's not particularly great either, this can the put down to their size, but it's worth mentioning.
This set has a lot of playability. First off by pushing a button Thunderbird 2 can deploy it's transport module with thunderbird 4 inside. Thunderbird 4 can be locked inside the module and fired from it by hitting 2 mechanisms on the outside of the module, I think this is a cool little feature; launching Thunderbird 4, but it is hampered, at least on mine, by how stubborn the module door is about opening. Thunderbird 4 has various little things too, the Cockpit can be opened up and has enough room for 1 mini figure, the back hatch can be opened up, though it doesn't really lead to anything inside, and the 2 dry tubes can be removed, something I find to be awesome. Back to Thunderbird 2, the cockpit can also be opened up and has seating for 3 inside, as well as a hatch on the roof of the cockpit that can also be opened. all 4 of Thunderbird 2's VTOL jets can be posed individually, which is also god damn awesome. And it does have sounds, but it didn't come with batteries and I'd have taken them out anyway if it did, so I don't know how good the sound feature is. There is 1 thing I've left for last, because it is pretty much my only serious criticism of this toy, it is however a very serious criticism. By folding up the wings, you can lower the landing struts, something very important to any Thunderbird 2 toy really. But I'd have preferred a simple button to lower the legs like on the smaller toy and the original Vivid TB2, because not only is there my paranoia of moving parts going wrong to deal with, but there is a very serous risk of damage over time. I noticed it immediately, and apparently this is a problem with all of these toys, but stress marks have already started to appear on the wings from folding them in and out. I really hate stress marks on toys, and that they have already started to appear on this toy makes me very concerned for how long it will last.
If only for it's size, this supersize Thunderbird 2 set is better than the smaller super set Thunderbird 2, and if you are a toy collector with a love of Thunderbirds, this thing is a must buy. I know that if I was 7 years old again this set would be on my Christmas list, because it's an awesome toy. But just like the smaller toys, I'd be mindful of why you buy it and or who for, only more so since this toy is enormous and more expensive than all the smaller ones put together, and it has a design flaw in it's wings that has me very worried for it's future. I'd say the same of this toy as I did for the super set, go pick them up, but proceed with caution.
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