Dave's TFPrime Rant: Legion Class Wave 2

[Dave Van Domelen]

Dave's Transformers Prime Rant: Legion Wave 2

Breakdown (Armored Truck)
Soundwave (DotM redeco)
Mirage (RotF Sideways retool, not reviewed)
Evac (Supercar)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Prime/Legion2

This is a weird hybrid wave with only one actual TF:Prime character in
it, but all sold in TFP packaging with the clear rubbery plastic weapons.
Soundwave and Mirage are repackaged leftovers from Series 1 Cyberverse
(probably held back because Hasbro realized none of the stores would bother
ordering tail-end DotM toys), and Evac is a tie-in to Transformers: the Ride
at Universal Studios theme park.
I didn't find Mirage with the other three, but wasn't too broken up
about that.

http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/RotF/Legends3 - Sideways mold
http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/DotM/Legion3 - Soundwave mold

CAPSULES

All are $5-6 price point.

Breakdown: Very interesting transformation, somewhat bricky robot mode
(pretty standard for bulky designs, though) and vehicle mode. Main flaw is
that it's way too small to be a credible opponent for Commander Class
Bulkhead. Recommended if you don't mind the size.
Soundwave: Original mold was Recommended. The retool adds more weapon
connection points, but the color choices are so dark they look black under
normal lighting. Mildly recommended.
Mirage: Original mold was mildly recommended. This is a pretty
extensive retool, and if I find it on the shelf I might pick one up and amend
this review later.
Evac: It's not often when a character created for some specific tie-in
(in this case, the Universal Studios ride) gets a toy in wide release, so
it's worth grabbing this purely on the novelty level. The design is pretty
standard in terms of the engineering, but the visuals are fairly
distinctive. Recommended.


RANTS

Packaging: Same as wave 1. Oddly, Soundwave has no bio note. Note that
Evac and Soundwave lack the word "Prime" on their packaging, although the
trade dress is otherwise identical to TF:Prime packaging. While I don't have
Mirage, I suspect it also lacks "Prime" on the card.

Weapons: They continue to reuse weapon molds, although the naming is a
bit haphazard. Evac gets the red Snap-On Blaster based on Bumblebee's
weapon, but Breakdown gets a new weapon that's also called a Snap-On Blaster,
and Soundwave gets the purple Blaster but has it called a Snap-On Hacking
Tool.


DECEPTICON: BREAKDOWN
Altmode: Armored Truck
Weapon: Snap-On Blaster (triangle barrel)
Series: 2
Number: 006
Transformation Difficulty: Easy (1)
Previous Name Use: G1, TFA (not to be confused with Brakedown)
Previous Mold Use: None
Function: Demolitions Expert
Motto: "I really REALLY hate humans."

BREAKDOWN is more than happy to take any mission MEGATRON asigns him -
especially if it means a chance to take on BULKHEAD. The two big bruisers
have had a beef for a long time, but BREAKDOWN means for it to end on Earth,
once and for all.

STR 9 INT 4 SPD 4 END 9 RNK 4 COUR 7 FRB 6 SKL 5 Avg 6

Packaging: Two rubber bands, with the weapon secured in the right hand
by one of them.

Robot Mode: Kinda puny. I mean, for the guy who's supposed to be
Bulkhead's one-on-one partner, he's not that big. I can understand that
there's limited slots in the Commander line, but really. If there wasn't a
Commander class, he'd look appropriately bulky, with wide shoulders and a
deep chest, but he stands about level with the middle of Bulkhead's chest.
He's a knuckldragger of sorts, thanks to roof kibble on his arms that nearly
touches the ground while he's standing straight. The vehicle spare tire ends
up on the back.
2.5" (6.5cm) tall at the head, add a bit for the shoulder spines.
Mostly dark metalswirl sapphire with black and silver, plus an orange face.
The true wheels, thighs and shoulder struts are black plastic. Otherwise
it's made of a metalswirl dark sapphire plastic.
Dark silver paint is used on the top of the head, fronts of the
shoulders and most of the abdomen. Orange face, yellow eyes, purple
Decepticon symbol on the center of the chest. The spare tire is painted
matte black.
Ball joint shoulders and hips. The elbows bend inward rather than
upward, and the upper arms are short enough that the joint isn't too useful,
even for a kinda-sorta salute. The knees bend backwards for transformation,
but not in the correct direction. You can use the transformation joint of
the chest to bring the spare tire (and its peg hole) over the head for a sort
of assault mode.
In addition to the backpack peg hole, there's holes on the backs of the
hands (vehicle roof) and loose-fitting ones on the tops of the shoulders.
The hands can hold 3mm pegs as well.

Weapon: This one isn't made of rubbery plastic, but neither is it quite
the polished rigid plastic of the Commander class weapons. Light clear
purple, 2" (5cm) long, it's a rifle with a triangular barrel. The main peg
grip is only a little behind the middle point, and there's peg holes on the
sides a couple millimeters behind the grip. The rear end is another peg, and
while I suppose you could have it held as a club, I think this is mostly for
connecting the LED hoses from the vehicle sets.

Transformation: Rotate the backpack over the head, fold the arms back on
panels, then merge the legs and fold them up against the chest a la
Powermaster Optimus Prime's inner bot. The arms do a complicated dance to
form the front end.
If you stop with just the rear part transformed and arrange the arms
properly, you can make a small gun emplacement mode. Leaving the arms open
will make it look less like a car crash, but closing them up for front of
vehicle configuration is a bit more compact.
http://www.dvandom.com/images/breakdownbase.JPG

Vehicle Mode: If the robot mode looked kinda small next to Bulkhead,
this mode looks downright puny. It's definitely not Hot Wheels scale, it's
like a monster truck version of a Range Rover or something, closer to 1:80 or
even 1:100 scale.
2.5" (6.5cm) long including the spare tire on back, with a lot more of
the blue than robot mode. The windows are painted gloss black, the grille
and front bumper are dark silver. There's two peg holes on the roof of the
cab, a bit far forward for elegan mounting of the rifle. The spare tire hole
diesn't work that well in this mode, at least not for the rifle. It's just
high enough up that you could put the rifle there pointed up and not have the
stock peg dragging, at least.

Overall: It has the usual tradeoff of bulk for articulation, but the
only real problem is that it's too small for the story role. If you can get
past that, it's a decent Legion class toy.


DECEPTICON: SOUNDWAVE
Altmode: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Weapon: Snap-on Hacking Tool (Blaster)
Series: 2
Number: 007
Transformation Difficulty: Easy (1)
Previous Name Use: G1, G2, BW, BW, MW, Cyb, TF:A, RotF, DotM
Previous Mold Use: None
Function: Intelligence Specialist
Motto: "I seem to be in the wrong place."

(No bio note, so no indication if they're even trying to pass this off
as the TF:Prime Soundwave. However, note that his tech spec numbers are
identical to the DotM version, and are markedly different from the recon
drone toy's techspecs. Plus, of course, there's the lack of the word "Prime"
on his packaging.)

STR 4 INT 9 SPD 8 END 5 RNK 8 COUR 7 FRB 9 SKL 9 Avg 7.375

Packaging: Two rubber bands. The "Hacking Tool" is held backwards in
the right hand.

Color Swaps: Black stays black, gray becomes an indigo so dark you need
to put it under a strong light to be sure it's not black.

Paint Apps: In vehicle mode, the windows, headlights, grille trim (the
BMW logo and the horizontal line through it) and some trim on the door vents
are painted silver. The taillights are red. Robot mode adds silver face and
red eyes, light blue circles on the arms (a bolder color than the original),
and a lot of dark blue on the thigh fronts and the front of the torso/head
piece. Again, you need a pretty strong light to tell it's not black. A
purple Decepticon symbol is printed almost invisibly on the right shoulder.

Weapon: Same purple blaster that came with Vehicon. And as with that
toy, it's not very rubbery.

Mold Changes: 3mm peg holes have been added to the doors and roof.

Other Notes: Paint on the thighs can make the hip swivels very stiff if
the application slops over a bit (as it did on mine), resulting in the legs
popping off during transformation.
The arm can be held so that the weapon looks vaguely like a half-
Laserbeak perched on it.

Overall: They really should have used a lighter shade of blue, so that
it wouldn't appear to be black at first look. If they meant black, they
should have used black.


(Placeholder for Mirage, will fill in entries if I get the toy.)

AUTOBOT: MIRAGE
Altmode: Sportscar
Weapon:
Series: 2
Number: 008
Transformation Difficulty: Easy (1)
Previous Name Use: G1, G2, MW, Alt, Classic, RiD, Armada, Energon, BMac
Previous Mold Use: RotF Sideways
Function:
Motto:

Bio

STR INT SPD END RNK COUR FRB SKL Avg

Packaging:

Color Swaps:

Paint Apps:

Weapon:

Mold Changes: Altered to hold 3mm pegs.

Overall:


AUTOBOT: EVAC
Altmode: Supercar
Weapon: Snap-On Blaster
Series: 2
Number: 009
Transformation Difficulty: Easy (1)
Previous Name Use: Cyb, Movie1, RotF
Previous Mold Use: None
Function: Autobot Commando
Motto: "Hang on, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Blistering speed and lightning-fast reflexes make EVAC more than an
effective courier - they make him a frighteningly powerful warrior. His
speed often catches DECEPTICONS by surprise, allowing him to strike and move
before they can return fire.

STR 7 INT 8 SPD 7 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 10 FRB 5 SKL 8 Avg 7.25

Yeah, first non-helicopter Evac. This is the character who patrons ride
in for Transformers: the Ride at Universal Studios, and the aesthetic is more
like the War for Cybertron video game series than Transformers: Prime.
Again, no "Prime" on the package.

Packaging: Two rubber bands, blaster in right hand.

Robot Mode: Definitely made for war, with a trio of cannon barrels
sticking out of the chest. The doors of vehicle mode form a sort of cloak
appearance, and he has the usual wheels at shoulders and knees.
2.75" (7cm) tall at the head, slightly higher at the shoulders. Blue,
black and silver with some odd flashes of red. The thighs, wheels and
shoulder struts are black, the rest is bright blue. A dull very light gray
paint is used on the abdomen and face. Silver is on the thruster halves on
the insides of the boots. Blue eyes, gunmetal chest cannons, bright red
biceps, and amber bits on the boots (turn signals). A small red Autobot
symbol is printed on the right side of the chest.
Ball joint shoulders and hips. The knees bend, but bend them more than
a little and huge gaps open up. The shoulder joints are a lot stiffer than
the torso's transformation hinge, so lifting an arm is likely to just lift
the chest up instead.
The hands can hold 3mm pegs, and there's peg holes on the outsides of
the upper arms and the boots.

Weapon: Regular red Snap-On Blaster. The plastic is less rubbery this
time out, closer to the stiffness of the Decepticon weapons. It's hard to
mount it on any of the four available pegs in vehicle mode without
interfering with a wheel, although the rear pair is a bit easier. The toy
really needs a weapon with a longer peg or otherwise less likely to lie flat.

Transformation: Pretty much the archetypical Autobot car
transformation. The legs fold up to make the rear of the vehicle, the chest
lifts up for form the front end, the arms become the doors.

Vehicle Mode: Like a cross between the Back to the Future DeLorean and
the Hot Wheels Vandetta (http://hotwheels.wikia.com/wiki/Vandetta). The
three chest cannons are joined by two more barrels in the foglamp positions
(which stuck straight up in robot mode and were more decoration than weapon),
and a big thruster is in the back. Despite the lack of rear fenders, it's
blocked from doing wheelies by the kneecap pieces sticking out the back
underside.
2.5" (6.5cm) long, it's about the size of the Vandetta. The amber bits
are now on the rear spoiler struts and probably intended to be turn signals.
The thruster silver is unified, all the guns are painted gunmetal, and the
large windshield is gloss black.
The peg holes end up above the rear wheels and behind-and-above the
front wheels, but there's nothing on the roof or hood.

Overall: It's cool to have the occasional Cybertronian combat car mode,
and while there's not much innovation in this design, it's a solid toy. A
pity it got stuck with a weapon that doesn't work very well with it, but I
suppose it's too much to expect them to create a new one just for this toy
when it's not a character people are going to be seeing on TV every week.

Dave Van Domelen, tempted to drill a hole near the top edge of Evac's
windscreen for mounting the gun.