HomeBattle Cougar (Hasbro "McCougar" variant) and action figure buddy
Battle Cougar, for reasons unknown, has been rereleased several times on American shores. The first was Storm Tiger of the Technozoids crew: a nice release, to be sure, as it kept the shiny thing the Japanese version had going on and threw in a nice matching gradeup weapon to boot. This Battle Cougar...well, it's a bit different. It seems as if they used whatever plastic was on hand when molding it-blinding Tigers yellow, peach, coral, and medium grey.
Still, it's a Battle Cougar, something not available elsewhere. Considering how pricey old ones are and that in the heyday of the Hasbro/TRU closeouts you could pick up one of these guys for as low as fifty cents, griping about color seems a bit silly. The model is fully intact, and while the Grade Up bits are pre-assembled, they're also easily taken apart with a screwdriver if you want the chance to play around with little gears and motor bits. Tomy did the same thing with the Genesis Houndsoldier, no doubt because kids these days have little patience and the Grade Up do-it-yourself motors like to be dodgy.
The only difficult bit of assembly gone, Battle Cougar here is thus very very easy to put together, though not uninteresting-it's a typical Gradeup, in other words. The plastic quality's good, too. Put side bits together around the motor, assemble legs, add a few caps, and you'll have a Battle Cougar in no time at all. Pop in a battery (unfortunately requiring unscrewing screws now like all the new models) and your new blinding friend will gurgle to life, padding along in the usual wobble granted by one-piece legs. It's not spectacular, but the battery motor as opposed to windup means it'll keep going (and going)-combine with a few others of its kind and it can be amusingly hypnotizing.
While I'm not a fan of gryphons and thus not a huge Battle Cougar follower, the mold itself is nice and the wings full of nice feathery details. They fold a bit, and along with a movable beak are about the limit to Battle Cougar's articulation. Seeming not to care about how garish it is, it will happily stand guard over a shelf of your choice, gazing out at intruders with a determined look and menacing them with its peachy-colored horn.
Conclusion? Buy one before the supply of unloved ones dries up, because while it's not worth paying much (if you're going to do that for a Battle Cougar, get an older one), it's still a chance to pick up a harder to find mold on the cheap. Use it as a painting project if you can't stand the colors, display it with cheesy plastic giveaway toys, whatever, because it actually isn't that bad of a Zoid.
Now, since my action figure reviews tend to be so short they're pointless to give their own page, I thought I'd mention the Hasbro Battle Cougar action figure too. Thanks Zinou :D.
Unfortunately very hard to find (though like the red Shield Liger, cheap when it does show), the Battle Cougar action figure didn't seem to get a proper release. It's a shame, as it's actually one of Hasbro's better offerings. Granted, it's still in the same eyebending colors as the proper model, but it wears them better. Somehow. The included weapon is an exercise in silly, but it doesn't hurt Battle Cougar any to leave it off, unlike some of the others.
Articulation isn't much: Beak, each of the four shoulders, and midpoints of wings, with the main part of the wings and the tail being involved in the action feature. It's more than the real thing, though, and on the scaled down babyCougar is enough. The action feature, as you might guess, is flapping wings, something which my easily amused side finds way more amusing than it should.
Plus it's cute. Really. It's all little and squishy and blinding, and adds to the McCougar effect in that it's a cheesy action figure with cheesy firing missiles (which, of course, do not work).
If you can find one, like Battle Cougars, and don't hate the line, grab it and give it a happy home. If you're expecting fancy hyper-articulated things from the Hasbro figures after all this time...you're silly. Go away!
written August 20th, 2006