Until now . . .

RAMJET

Aircraft Mode: Ramjet appears to be some type of fighter jet. Measuring a mere 4.7 cm (1.8") long with a 3.5 cm (1.4") wingspan, he's the smallest Mini-Con to date. His main colours are purple, red, and silver with a metallic gold canopy. His faction symbol is on his left wing and his PX socket is on his underbelly.

Transformation: Fold up Ramjet's wings, pull back his cockpit, and flip out his legs.

Robot Mode: Ramjet stands just about 5.7 cm tall at the head. His face is red with a large mouthplate and he has some nice sculpting on his chest. Although he has joints at the elbows, hips, and knees, his legs are one solid piece of plastic, making him little more than a statue in this mode. He can sit down or bend over and that's it.While his jet mode is pretty good, Ramjet's somewhat of a disappointment. Fortunately, his big friend more than makes up for that.

TIDAL WAVE

Vessel Modes: The first of Tidal Wave's components is an aircraft carrier. About 17.5 cm (6.9") long, it's primarily silver and dark gray with some light green parts at the front, red landing stripes, exposed black machinery, and a big purple moulded Decepticon symbol. Two dead hardpoints are on the deck and a third one is mounted atop the bridge. The underside of the carrier has four small wheels and various technobits. I've never had the privilege of gazing at the underside of a real aircraft carrier, so I have no idea if all this is accurate or not. (I do know that the wheels aren't. /:)

By far the neatest thing about the carrier is the working elevator on its left side. Slide the elevator up using your finger and the top springs open, revealing a shortened dead hardpoint. Fold up Ramjet's wings and pull back his cockpit, and he can be attached to the hardpoint and then transported below deck for repairs or storage. Nifty.

Next up is some kind of twin-bowed battleship, 17.5 cm (7") long, 19.5 cm (7.7") with torpedoes loaded. Its main colours are light green and dark gray, with various silver parts, red, purple, black, and metallic silver accents, golden brown airbrushing on the bows, and a moulded Decepticon symbol behind the bridge. Like the carrier, the battleship rolls on four small wheels. It has two dead hardpoints, one on each bow, and a live hardpoint near its stern. It's by far the most heavily armed of the three vessels, with twin spring-loaded torpedo launchers at the front (the torpedoes launch about a meter), four double-barrelled gun turrets, and four small triple-barrelled gun turrets. The larger turrets can be rotated manually and their barrels can elevate past 45 degrees, but don't remain in place, unfortunately. Attaching a Mini-Con to the live hardpoint and then pushing it forwards repeatedly causes the eight turrets to rotate back and forth rapidly, as though unleashing dozens and dozens of salvos at multiple targets. This dreadnought could probably sink half the seagoing G1 Autobots with ease.

The last and largest vessel is a troop transport. 16 cm(6.3") long with a 19 cm(7.5") wingspan, it's mostly dary gray with a purple bow and gold, black, red, metallic silver, and golden brown accents. A moulded Decepticon symbol is located on the left side of the bow. The wings are equipped with triple torpedo launchers and can be folded up. The transport rolls along on four wheels and has four dead hardpoints mounted on top. In addition, the top opens up to reveal a large platform for Mini-Cons to stand on, and even four fold-down seats. Perhaps after this war is over, Tidal Wave can rent himself out for romantic cruises or fishing trips.

Transformation to Dark Fleet: Swing the knobs at the aircraft carrier's stern out to the sides, swing out the bows of the battleship, seperate halves of the transport, snap them all together, and you have the mighty
Decepticon spacecruiser known as the Dark Fleet.

Dark Fleet Mode: Measuring in at 34 cm(13.4") with a 25 cm(9.8") wingspan, the Dark Fleet is one of the most imposing-looking Decepticon crafts of all time. The components go together very well, making the DF appear like a genuine spacecruiser as opposed to three oceangoing vessels attached end to end. The ship holds together fine and the rotating turrets and firing torpedoes still work in this mode. If only Megatron had an entire fleet of these titans at his command, he'd probably vanquish the Autobots for good.

Transformation to Robot Mode: No need to disassemble the Dark Fleet. Unlike previous combining toys such as RID Ultra Magnus, RID Optimus Prime, and God Bomber, Tidal Wave can be transformed in one piece. The transport section becomes his hips and legs, the battleship becomes his upper body, and the
aircraft carrier splits to become his arms.

Robot Mode: Yeow. At 29 cm(11.4") tall, Tidal Wave is the biggest of the Armada Decepticons. Only Combined Optimus Prime looks down on him. With massive arms and even more massive legs, Tidal Wave looks more than capable of tying an Autobot into a pretzel or using him as a soccer ball. His huge head, which is sculpted to resemble a ship's conning tower somewhat, is light green with metallic silver accents, a purple face, narrow red eyes, and a cold, hard "Do NOT Screw Around With Me" expression. Whereas some fans prefer the mostly black and purple colour scheme of his Japanese counterpart, Shockwave, I much prefer this version's; it's more vivid and eye-catching yet still quite sinister.

Tidal Wave is articulated at the shoulders (hinge & swivel), elbows (hinge & swivel), knuckles, thumbs, waist, hips (ratchet joints), and knees (they only swing out to the sides though). Aside from the wings on his shins, he's got no kibble whatsoever. And if you're one of those fans who enjoys rough play, Tidal Wave's your bot. Shake him and swing him as much as you want; he will not come apart. Dropping him down the stairs might do it, but why anyone would want to do such a thing to a great toy like this is beyond me.

The only drawback to Tidal Wave's robot mode is that his torpedoes have to be removed and set aside, as they will not stay in the launchers due to his transformation.

Transformation with Megatron/Galvatron: Transform Tidal Wave back into his components. Push down the bridge on the carrier, swing down the clips on the battleship, and open up the transport and rotate the halve downward. Extend Megatron's upper body and rotate his turret around to the front. Connect the clamp on the transport to Megs' spine and attach the battleship and carrier to his right and left arms respectively using the hardpoints.

Burning Megatron/Galvatron (yeah, it's a strange name given he's merged with ocean vessels, but that's what he's called in Japan):

This is essentially Megatron with a massive flight pack and enormous gauntlets. He weighs in at a whopping three pounds. Although he can still move his arms with the gauntlets attached, they're so heavy that poseability is almost nil. Oh, and to all the fans who were complaining last year about Megs' lack of hip joints: if he had them, he'd most likely be unable to stand due to his bulk. Still, there's no question that he looks pretty damned impressive like this. He looks like he could knock aside even Jet Prime with a single swipe from either gauntlet. And, of course, the potential for attaching Mini-Cons is tremendous. Right now, I've got 25 of the little guys on him, including one in the prison on his right leg, the Dark Saber in his right fist and Ramjet inside the carrier's elevator, but I'm certain you can find a way to attach even more.

Overall, Susp Sez: The biggest problem with many large combining robots is that they tend to fall short as stand-alone toys, God Bomber and RID Magnus being two examples. Tidal Wave, however, is an exception. As a stand-alone toy, he's nothing short of excellent. The three vessels, the Dark Fleet, and
the robot mode all rock. The combined mode is huge and somewhat ungainly, but still impressive and lots of fun. This one's a winner all the way. 10/10

Susp

"TIDAL WAVE APPRECIATES!"