Terradive is a Lockheed Blackbird SR-71 Stealth Jet. It's one of the few planes I can identify by name, maker and model number as the X-Men used one for many years. This is pretty much the same shape as the actual plane with perhaps a slightly longer nose and the addition of two fins beside the cockpit. The shape is distinctive and evocative and yet this is the only Transformer that's been made of it to date. Terradive - wonderful name - has got a fold down landing gear under the nose. The plane is mainly moulded in black as befits him, but the nosecone is moulded blue (some is then painted silver) and there are grey robot parts underneath.
There are two minicon sockets under this toy towards the back allowing him to be mounted blade like on an arm. All he really needs is a fold out handle at the back and you could use him as a sword
His weapon mode is formed thus: Separate the blue sides of the nosecone from the silver core. Fold both wings and engines up & in raising the nosecone sides. The resulting weapon is a three bladed claw of the kind used by Ninjas - many GI Joe Stormshadow figures have one starting with the 1988 Urban Camouflage version. Buy two & wrist mount them and you can continue the X-Men theme by making your transformer look like Wolverine !
TF (from jet to robot) separate the nose cone and fold the sides back so they point over the back of the jet. Link them back together at the tip. Pull the undercarriage away from the back of the jet. Fold the silver middle of the nose up bringing the undercarriage with it to form the legs. The nose middle then folds up the back. Fold back the heel spurs. Pull the wings and engines away from the side of the body to form the arms.
Terradive's robot mode has real character. Beautifully sculpted face, Minicon symbol on the chest surrounded by the blue panels from the back of the claw.... Just looks superb. His knees bend and his hips & shoulder are ball jointed. I've said in the past about how if a larger toy can be downsized without loosing any of it's features that makes it a bad toy. I look at Terradive and want it upsized to a deluxe with a bit more articulation thrown in and the ability to remove the nose as a sword blade. Seriously the quality of the design is wasted on a Minicon.
I like it. Lots.
In Japan Terradive is appropriately named Recon and appears in Micron Legend Micron pack MM-11. They also appears in giftset MS-06 with Strato (Thrust) which won't have done Thrust any favours !
Once again we go down the white for black route with grey becoming black. This time the blue is also white giving us an all white Stealth Jet apart from some gold & silver painted details. It looks superb, well worth getting.
The most important feature of this release is that they are remoulded - Transformers Wiki's Mugen page clearly shows the remoulded heel spurs which now form 5mm pegs that can be used as handles. The entire jet can now be held as a sword or the claw used as a hand weapon. The amusing aspect to this is that Sonic Bomber does not possess fists with 5mm holes in so cannot hold Mugen. (see also Overload for a similar problem, but do especially see the Thunderwing review for what happens to Calibre Micron Ichibi).
Mugen was available from Joshin Denki stores in Japan. Then name (again appropriately for a Stealth Jet) means Illusion.
Terradive becomes Shockwave - the first time Shockwave has been a jet. Black turns a more matt black than before, blue becomes a dark teal blue and grey gets a darker shade too. My original review says "He isn't vastly different to the original version, but you expect a stealth jet to be black or close to it - the only other version that might work would be an all white one I think....." which is true - most of the above repaints are variants on either the black or white theme. I suspect there may have been a name slip up with this set - I think that Razorclaw is more suited to this toy seeuing as it becomes a claw and the Shockwave name better matches the Stealth Bomber (originally Thunderwing now Razorclaw) toy's robot.
Disappointingly this release uses the original version and not the one modified so that it can be hand held.