Like all the Seacons limbs Overbite comes with a three part stand for his weapons mode. The base looks like a chest shield with a 5mm peg hole in but I'm yet to find a Transformer with a peg in the right place on it's chest that it will usefully fit. The connector at the top end has a 5mm peg hole in the bottom and a Scramble City combination socket in the top. This piece is designed to attach the Season's weapon mode to the stand using the Scramble City combination connector. It will also let you mount the weapons mode on any 5mm peg such as a Mini-com post. The third piece is an upright shaft with a 5mm peg at each end. At the side of one end of the shaft is a small peg that will let any of the Seacons hold it as a gun, with a 5mm peg mounted on either side that will let larger toys such as Snaptrap use it as a gun. The stand assembles by plugging the stock end of the gun shaft into the base and the connector into the top end of the gun. We'll use the stand shaft/cannon in many of the other reviews, but for another use for them see Snaptrap's review which will reveal why there's Two 5mm posts opposite each other.
To transform Overbite to weapons mode: Fold the shark's head up 90 degrees. Fold the arms forward. Straighten the legs out, fold so they point forward and fold the feet onto the top of the legs. Plug the 5mm peg on the stock of the gun into the 5mm peg hole under the chin. Fold down the combined mode connector from under the fish and plug into the top of the weapon base. You get a ground mounted single barrelled weapon out of the end of the process. I've always found all of the weapons modes a bit odd mounted on their stands like this, but now I think they're meant to be stood there as a weapon with another toy stood behind them. Having tried this with Snaptrap I've found he's just the right height. This would be the end of it, but for some changes made to the Seacon team from the Scramble City standard. For a star there's *SIX* Seacons rather than the five found on the other Scramble City combining teams. Then there's the Seasons' combined mode, Piranacon, who's fists don't have the standard 5mm peg hole seen on the other combiners. Instead they have a Scramble City connector that turns, similar to those seen in the shoulders of the Scramble City team leaders. This lets Piranacon hold the spare Seacon limb transformed into weapons mode as a hand gun. All the limbs can be used as Piranacon's gun but Overbite is the Seacon that usually serves this purpose. If you're looking for another use for the weapons modes then I'll point out that the Scramble City style connector used for mounting them in the weapons standPiranacon's fist will also fit the shoulder plugs on Metroplex and perhaps more relevantly Metrotitan giving them alternate weapons to their existing shoulder cannons.
Seeing as Overbite's weapon mode is important, let's have some fun with it and beef it up a bit. For a start you can remove Overbite's hand gun and replace it with one of the larger guns used in the weapons stand. Then we find that the claws at the front of the creature are also attached using 5mm pegs. So pull these off and replace them with the long guns from the weapons stand too to form a trident like triple barrelled weapon, which is somewhat appropriate for a sea going warrior.
To transform Overbite from shark to robot mode: Fold the head up 90 degrees and pull it out further. Fold the arms so they point the same way as the face. Stand on the bottom of the jaw with the underside of the fish facing you. Fold the dorsal fin flat on the robot's back. Fold the tail back onto Overbite's back and straighten the back legs out as arms. Fold the feet back under the arms to reveal the hands. Place his hand gun and/or the gun post from the weapons stand into his hands.
Overbite's robot mode is mainly the purple of the beast mode with the colours & articulation of the legs transferring into the arms while the feet are formed from the shark's head. The head - which is also the Scramble City combination connector for the toy - is the same aquamarine as used on the rest of the toy, with the face painted yellow like the eye of the beast mode. It's nothing really to write home about as robot modes go but the arms are articulated more than the average combiner limb of the time.
Overbite can form the arm or a leg for Piranacon:
Arm mode: Weapon mode but swap the gun for a fist.
Leg mode: Robot mode with a foot inserted into the post in his foot.
Overbite frequently serves as the gun for Piranacon but has also been shown as the right arm or right leg.
If you can get past the limbs on the beast mode then this is a good fun toy. The bonus weapon mode is nice, but I find it works better as Piranacon's gun than a stand alone weapon.
Overbite was sold in the west in 1987 where he was Seacon SE1. He appears in the Piranacon giftset released in the USA the same year where due to the absence of Nautilator he serves as Piranacon's right arm. In Japan he was released as Masterforce toy D-313 Overbite who was also available in the D-318 King Poseidon giftset.
Overbite has something of a dual identity. For some reason he's referred to as Jawbreaker right the way throughout his Marvel UK appearances. Oddly enough when Beast Wars Jawbreaker was released in the UK and Europe *his* name got changed to Cackle!
Sea Phantom was available in Japan in 1998 where he was only sold in the D-21 God Neptune set.
The following colour swaps apply for this release:
Pink becomes grey
Purple - including the gun - becomes grey/blue
Aquamarine becomes purple
This toy includes all the parts the original had that were missing from the Beast Wars II release. The toy looks OK, not great, unlike the version that TF Wiki have on their site where Pink becomes dark blue, purple becomes blue and aquamarine becomes Deception purple. That looks superb!
