Toy Review: Generations Blurr

05/6/11

Transformers: Generations Blurr

 

Ok, ok. So this is months overdue. But I took the pictures, so I’m gonna finish this review.

To be honest, I was on the fence about Blurr. Though I loved the character in the 1986 film, the Generations version wasn’t based on that design. It was more of an adaptation of his look in recent comic issues, while the BFG he comes with is a nod to his role in the Armada continuity where he plays the part of the Autobot sniper. Why ROBOTS who should have perfect aim programmed into them would need a designated sniper is not something I can fathom. But then again, neither Autobots nor Decepticons could ever hit anything during the cartoon, so maybe it’s not that flaky.

One reason I wasn’t so keen on getting him was the fact that his car mode is nothing like you’d expect. Generation 1 Blurr was a fast-talking, fast-walking speed machine. He was shaped to LOOK fast. The 2008 Transformers Animated Blurr took that into account. That toy looked like it could out run the Mach 5. Even the Armada Blurr had a slick looking car mode, despite it’s many problems.

 

This, on the other hand, doesn’t really look all that flash.

Generations Blurr is really just a re-tooled Generations Drift with a new head, new weapons, and a new head, so naturally, his car mode looks exactly the same as Drift’s. While the form looks ok for Drift, the bulky, heavy look of it is all kinds of wrong for Blurr.

The car mode is also where the paint problems become the most apparent. The toy is mostly cast in a light sky blue, but his roof and hood get a coat of a lighter powder blue, and then a wide stripe of white down the middle. The paint for both applications is not tampographed, so there are some ragged edges that make the toy look incomplete. Coupled with the matte nature of the paint, you get something that looks unfinished.

There is some good news, though. The toy is among the new Transformers that can store all his accessories while in vehicle form. His sidearms slide into the inside panels of his doors, while the rifle tucks up underneath, the end of the barrel doubling as a tailpipe.

 

The transformation from car to robot is relatively easy, once you’ve done it the first time. The bulk of him is in his shoulders and feet, and the process is mostly done once you’ve flipped out his legs (the trunk of the car form) and swung out his arms (under the front tire wells). His hood forms giant shoulder pads which you can pose depending on the look you want. Personally, I like them swept backwards.

Blurr’s head is completely different from Drift’s, which is a welcome change of pace from Hasbro’s simple redecos. Personally, I dont’ really like this new look, which has an oddly high forehead. It makes him seem like his face is tiny.

It’s not helped by the way his body looks either. The design worked great for Drift since he’s supposed to be the Cybertronian equivalent of a samurai. The various parts hanging off him looked kind of like a samurai’s armor. On Blurr, they only serve to make it look even less likely that he’ll be winning any races. He’s far to bulky too move fast.

 

The one saving grace of Blurr is really his weaponry. Transformers is not G.I. Joe. We’re lucky if we get even ONE gun with a figure and this one comes with three.

First off are a pair of long barreled pistols that are holstered inside his door panels. When he turns into a robot, the doors hang off pegs at his waist with a ball joint at the end. It’s an innovative, if rather awkward-looking, idea.

The pistols on the other hand are full of win. Dual wield is the shit. They’re sized nicely for his scale, and fit perfectly in his cube-with-a-tube fists, which means if you want to give them to say, Classics Cliffjumper, it’ll work. 

His long sniper rifle is just as sweet. It can be held in either hand and has a secondary handle that swings out from the middle for added stability. Because of his excellent arm articulation and small torso, he can hold the gun in a variety of positions, including lying prone on the ground.

The fact that he can use his primary weapon in that classic sniper pose is Blurr’s trump card in my opinion, and more than makes up for any points his overall bulked out look may have lost him. And lest I forget, you can plug the two pistols into the end of the rifle’s barrel (face the barrels of the pistols toward the but of the rifle and fit the raised slats in to the slots in the rifle barrel) to act as a bi-pod of sorts.

Awesomeness.

 

Articulation is kind of schizo. His upper body is excellent, with great elbow and wrist action. His shoulders are a bit blocked by his humungotastic shoulder pads, but since they’re also articulated to a degree, you can work around it. His head has also got an excellent ball joint that lets him look up a bit, and he’s got some nice hip movement thanks to two more ball joints.

Sadly, his knees are pretty bad thanks to the terrifically chunkgantic books. You basically take the entire book end of that chunky car and split it in half. His feet are easily half the mass of the toy, so naturally, you can’t get much range out of them.

It doesn’t help that he’s got no ankle movement to speak of.

Still, the big feet do provide a certain amount of stability (not to mention points when you’re macking on fembots). And hey, I just remembered I LIKE chunky robots, so thumbs up all around.

Both Blurr and Drift are easily gettable in Metro Manila at most any SM Department store or Toy Kingdom thanks to a recent restock of the more popular Generations figures from recent waves, and word is the newer figures have much better paint then that first batch. At Php700, he’s a relatively good deal; a great toy with good articulation and a fair amount of accessories counts as a win for this collector.

And he’s another character to go along with your Movie robots like Hot Rod, Kup, Ultra Magnus and Springer.