Toy Review: Reveal the Shield Autobot Legends

01/26/11

Reveal the Shield Autobot Legends

 

Back in 2009, I lucked into the Legends Class Transformers that were based off the classic designs of Beachcomber, Brawn, Bumblebee, Cosmos, Hot Rod, Hound, Jazz, Warpath, and Wheelie. This was fortuitous because they were only on the pegs for a short time due to limited numbers, high demand, and a markdown that came a few days after they were shelved. Even before those tags were changed, these tiny morsels of plastic-y goodness were already flying off shelves. Once the discount hit, they warped out of the toy stores like the Enterprise out of the Neutral Zone.

This is why I told myself when the new Generation One Legends Class figures in the Reveal the Shield line came out, I wouldn’t wait. Thanks again to the various heads-ups I received from fellow collectors, I was able to hit the stores the morning after they stocked and pick up almost everything I needed from the first waves of the Reveal the Shield line, including 5 of the 6 new Legends (Decided to leave Bumblebee on the pegs because who really needs 47 Bumblebees in a collection?). From the buzz it looks like the initial stocks are running out fast, but there’s been news that there are re-stocks on the horizon, so keep them fingers crossed.

The assortment this time includes the aforementioned Bumblebee (a gold re-paint of the one I reviewed on 06/12/2009), a new Optimus Prime, Prowl, Trailcutter (Trailbreaker with a new copyrightable name), Starscream, and Megatron. Each of them maintains those Classic G1 looks while fitting a decent transformation into a 3” frame, which is pretty impressive in itself. I’ll be covering the Autobots first.

 

Packaging for the series is pretty much the same as the Hunt for the Decepticons with blister packs on yellow-orange card backs. There’s some art on the front and photos of the robot and alt modes of each figure, along with the short instruction sequence on the back. The Autobot figures are listed as difficulty 1, or “very easy”, while the Decepticons are both difficulty 2, “easy”. If you need the instructions for these, don’t believe your parents when they tell you that you can be a doctor when you grow up. It’s not going to happen.

I’ll start with the “big” man himself, Optimus Prime.

 

This is probably the figure that will disappear from the shelf first since it’s been hyped up since it was announced. It’s not the first Legends Class version of Optimus. We got one several years ago that was based off the Cybertron incarnation of Prime, but that was pretty bad. This one is much further up on the quality scale with a nice sculpt and a much nicer shape.

His shoulders are impressively wide, and he looks like he’s wearing proper stomping boots, the kind that can smash Decepticons to bits. Even with the small stature, he looks like he can kick some righteous ass with his itty-bitty fists. Those fists are sculpted open, but it’s mostly just so they’ll fit into his sides when he transforms, and not to allow him to wield any ordinance, which is sad, but understandable.

One of the things I really love about modern Transformers is that Hasbro now angles the soles of their feet. When they stand on your shelf, you can spread their legs a bit and make them look a little more heroic and the feet still remain flat on the ground. That little modification makes them much more natural looking and stable. It’s very apparent on both Prime and Megatron and I totally geeked out when I realized that they’ve been doing it for quite some time now.

Articulation-wise, Prime’s not as good as some of his predecessors. Warpath really is the best in terms of jointage and Prime fails to meet that standard with his lack of knee joints. He kind of makes up for it with what is essentially a torso crunch and something that serves like a waist joint (but right under his chest). His hip joints aren’t too great, though, having a limited range that doesn’t allow a lot of flexibility. His arms are a marvel though, since they can move out and back as well as up and down. The multiple swivels needed to get him into the cab shape come in handy as extra joints.

His alt mode is a sweet little Cab-Over-Engine semi; a little cube with his feet sticking out the end. Really, it’s all you need. The transformation involved is a lot like the Voyager Class Classics/Henkei Optimus Prime, with a torso twist, and arms forming the sides. The little Reveal the Shield rub sign is found on the side of the cab. I wanted to move the thing to another area, but with all the little embossed/engraved detail on the truck mode, there isn’t an area big enough to fit it except where it is now. You could stick it to his windshield, but that’s a safety violation under Cybertronian law.

 

 

Next up is Trailcutter, or as we knew him in the cartoon, Trailbreaker. Apparently, Hasbro’s had some trouble trademarking names for these robots which is why we keep seeing names like “Solar Storm” Grapple or “Special Ops” Jazz. I’m all right with it until they come up with “Poso Negro” Wreck-Gar. “Trailbreaker” must be another word that is too common a term to get the rights to, so Hasbro went and made up a word. Like I did when I made up the word “majestinificent” playing Scrabble last night. Triple word score, too!

This is the first time I remember us getting another Trailbreaker figure since the old G1 toy. I never really had him myself. I had Hoist who was a retool of the Trailbreaker figure and a ton of fun, but never was lucky enough to own Trailbreaker. It was too bad too, because he is one of the characters that I identified with. In the G1 cartoon, he was the jolly cheerleader of the Autobot group. His cheerfulness was to hide how bad he felt that he required massive amounts of energon to fuel him and his stonkin’ force field generator. Basically, he’s the resident fat kid with low self esteem who cracks jokes to hide it.

The new Legends figure does that description justice, at least from the front.

 

Looking at Trailcutter from the front, he looks a little rotund and a bit too solid. His legs are thick stumps with the characteristic red banding around them. It all looks great until you turn him around. The design of Trailcutter basically sacrificed his back to make him look wide when displayed. From the rear, he’s basically an empty shell. Still, I can’t help but admiring the figure’s proportions and I don’t really turn him around in the display anyway so it’s a minor matter.

Articulation is similar to most of these legends figures, with shoulders and hips, and an ankle hinge if you want to count that leftover from his conversion scheme.

The vehicle mode looks something like an Escalade, but it’s a too flat. It really looks more like one of those old sedan/pick-up hybrids that you used to see back in the 70’s. But with a camper top.

 

The third Autobot in the new Reveal the Shield wave is Prowl. Prowl is Prime’s right hand robot, being a military strategist who is indispensible in the fight against a better armed, better trained opponent. The Autobots were never meant to be as heavily outfitted as the Decepticons, so they’ve got to resort to some good old-fashioned guile to get things done. Prowl is basically Optimus Prime’s man-with-the-plan.

 

Just like the original toy and the 2008 Universe Deluxe figure, Prowl is a police car when he transforms. I’m not sure if there really is a police car this slick looking, but that’s standard operating procedure for this toy line. Hell, Red Alert was a Fire Department Chief’s car that was a Lamborghini Countach. I’d love to live in the city that could afford that.

The set-up is very similar to the way the Legends Class Jazz transforms, with ball jointed shoulders forming the sides of the car, and the feet folding up in back. Both figures have the engine block as their chest, with the doors hanging over their backs. Of the two, however, I think that Prowl is the better figure because his rear wheels remain on his legs in robot form, unlike Jazz who has to carry them in his hands.

 

His robot mode is probably the best of the 4 Autobots that came in this wave. He’s well proportioned and looks less like a Japanese gashapon than Prime does. With his transformation design, his articulation is far more functional than the other two: shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. It’s par for course for Legends figures.

He’s also got a few more paint applications than Jazz does. This time out, Hasbro’s decided to paint the front windows. It’s still left the rear windows on the sides unpainted which is irritating, but anything is better than the plain white that was Jazz.

 

Again, I didn’t pick up Bumblebee because he’s really just a gold version of the old one, which I didn’t really like to begin with. If any of these are going to hold out and become peg warmers it’s going to be that guy, so I’ll probably have another chance to get him later on.

At p330.00 (about $7.50 US) a pop, these toys aren’t really cheap, but they’ve got a high play value. If you don’t mind the inherent scale issues that are part and parcel of this class of Transformers, then they’re an excellent buy. They’re still out there now (since most people are focused on getting those Deluxe Jazz and Tracks figures), so hurry up and get to your local Toy Kingdom or Toys ‘R’ Us and pick these up.