Toy Review: Sea Spray & Breacher

07/31/10

Sea Spray and Breacher

I bought Sea Spray a month ago and was planning to review the figure right away since I was so impressed with it. Then I saw that Sea Spray was meant to be partnered with another figure called Breacher.

Having loved the Mindwipe/Skystalker combination of Voyager and Scout Class toys, I wanted to wait until I could get both figures in the tandem before arriving to a conclusion.

I’m glad I did.

Both toys come packaged in their robot forms, which I think makes them more attractive on the shelves. Let’s face it, there aren’t too many kind who are going to say, “DADDY, DADDY, buy me that scale model hovercraft!” That just doesn’t happen. So displaying the robot in all it’s glory is an awesome move on Hasbro’s part.

Seaspray is a Voyager Class Transformer, which means he stands a little taller than the 6″ Superhero figure. Breacher, as a Scout Class figure is similar to a 4″ figure. Both sport designs that are more Generation One than they are Michael Bay, which is an excellent decision, seeing as how Sea Spray really wouldn’t fit in with Bay’s idea of shock and awe. A coast guard hovercraft doesn’t exactly shout “ACTION SPECTACLE!”

It does however shout “Numerous gratuitous bikini models!” but that’s another story. Maybe in the third film.

Seaspray’s articulation is pretty good for a Transformer who is so blocky. he’s got a huge range at shoulders, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle. I mean ROCKER ankles with a hinge! I’ve never seen that in a Transformer.

Because of the extra articulation, he’s very stable as well as being very poseable. The list goes like this: swivel neck, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel bicep, hinged elbow (but the construction gives you the range of a double hinge), swivel wrist (limited), swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, hinged knee, hinged ankle, and another swivel that allows his feet to tilt. That doesn’t include the extra articulation of his various parts, like the pop out swim fins and the joints on the fans on his back.

Many of the joints are designed into his transformation sequence, too. The whole thing comes off as a very well integrated figure, with a surprisingly easy transformation. I have to give it to the designers that despite the ease of the change, he doesn’t feel overly simple and doesn’t have a lot of robot or vehicle parts that look out of place in his alternate forms (also known as “kibble”).

The smaller of the pair, Breacher, is a Scout Class Transformer. I LOVE Scout Class Transformers. Since I first got the Scout Class Arcee and friends, I’ve been getting as many Scout Class toys as I can, including Dead End, Dirt Boss, Knock Down, Rollbar, and Reverb. I’m also a fan of the similarly sized Transformers Animated Activators Class, like my Starscream and Dirge, or the bootlegs of Bumblebee and Optimus I bought. They’re just the perfect size for a desktop decoration, and because they’re small, they can effective use ball joints without worrying about the weight of limbs causing problems with posing.

Unfortunately, this class has some problems. One, the ball joints are notorious for getting loose over time. Because of their nature, play wear affects ball joints relatively fast compared to a good hinge joint. Add to that the fact that there is rarely racheting on figures like these (where would they fit it?), you’ll understand how hard they’ll be to pose once those joints loosen up.

Two,Hasbro seems to love repainting these more than the bigger scales. Maybe it’s because since they are smaller and cheaper; buyers wouldn’t think much about getting one or two versions. Rare is the person who can afford to buy 3 Leader Class figures whose only difference is the color they’ve been painted in. But if a buyer likes one particular figure’s mold, he’ll be more inclined to buy another in 10 different colors if it’s relatively cheap (I say relatively because these are still p650.00 a pop). I know I’ve done it. Witness Energon Arcee, Transformers: The Movie Arcee, and Elita One. Or Knock Down and Reverb.

I’m sure that Breacher will have either an Autobot comrade or Decepticon nemesis anytime now. Since he’s a new mold, it’s only a matter of time before we see Hasbro re-purpose it to fund new toys. Especially since this is such an excellent figure.

Breacher’s got a nice assortment of joints; swivel neck, ball jointed/swivel shoulders, ball jointed elbows, ball jointed wrists, ball jointed hips, hinged knees, ball jointed ankles. Notice how many times I said, “ball jointed?” He’s super articulated for such a small figure. Plus he’s got a kind of torso crunch that’s a result of his transformation process. Absolutely amazing design.

That transformation process is pretty complicated for a toy this size. I felt it was even more complicated than Sea Spray, a toy that is at least twice as massive as this is. It involves a lot of flipping and 160 degree turning of various parts, and locking in oddly shapped panels. There is a bit of kibble; you’ll see the doors hanging off him in robot mode for instance, and the wheels on his legs, but it’s all fairly innocuous and none of it affects his range of motion.

Detail on this sucker is amazing! Most Scout Class toys have pretty simple face molds, but this one’s got something that I’d expect to find on a Deluxe or Voyager Class Transformer. It’s very well done.

The great thing about the pair is that once you get them in vehicle mode, they become a tandem, with the Armored Personnel Carrier parking on the back of the hovercraft. Again, it’s like the Mind Wipe and Skystalker combo, and works just as well or better.

I love the fact that you can do things like this with these toys, and that Hasbro has presented more play options for kids and collectors. It’s nice to know there are people who remember that these are supposed to be toys to be played with and not display pieces.

That small, anal nerd voice in my head wishes that they had made Breacher at least a Deluxe figure and Seaspray a Leader Class, so that they’d be more in scale with the rest of the line, but the rational consumer in me knows that the price would’ve skyrocketed and the chance of sell through would have dropped significantly, especially with such unknown characters.

Here’s a look at what might have been:

In the end, this is a pretty great pair of toys. Both are well articulated, nicely designed, and come with weapons. It’ll run you about p2,350.00 to get the set (p1,700 for Sea Spray, p650 for Breacher), which is a bit pricey, but as I said the play value for this pair is high.

If you want, you can wait and see if Hasbro decides to eventually release Sea Spray in his Generation One colors, like his fellow former mini-robot, Powerglide, when they released a red G1 version. I love the fact that they gave the little guy an upgrade (the original bot was smaller than Breacher is now), but it would have been nice if he was blue and yellow like he was before.

I figure we’ll see him again in some exclusive offering at Walmart or Toys R’ Us and I’ll be one of the guys scrambling to find one of the few imported here at Greenhills when they do.