Dave's PRiD Rant - One-Step Fixit

[Dave Van Domelen]

Dave's Prime: Robots in Disguise Rant: One-Step Wave 2

Fixit (riding drill)
Grimlock (T.rex, not reviewed)
Steelkaw (offroad car, not reviewed)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/PRiD/OneStep2

Well, the Target 25% off One-Steps expired, or I might have picked up
Grimlock too. But for now, just Fixit.


CAPSULES

$10 price point.

Fixit: It has the floppiness endemic to the concept, but otherwise looks
pretty show-accurate in both modes, and is probably the biggest (if not only)
transforming Fixit toy we get. Mildly recommended, but pretty good for a
One-Step.


RANTS

Before I review the toy, a few thoughts. Fixit is supposed to be a
Mini-Con, which means that even a One-Step is way too big to be in scale with
anything except the Hyperchangers. A Legion class version would be more in
scale with the Warriors, hopefully we get one. That said, I'd almost say
this figure is to scale with regular human action figures, and I may modify
mine to have pegs for holding a Marvel Universe size figure.

Packaging: Same as first wave. Cosells on the bottom for Steeljaw and
Grimlock (or whichever the other two are, on each).

AUTOBOT: Fixit
Assortment: B0906
Altmode: Driller
Transformation Difficulty: One Step
Previous Name Use: G1
Previous Mold Use: None
Weapon: Drills
Function: Prison Ship Warden
Motto: "Gotta re-catch 'em all!"

Packaging: Two ties hold the vehicle mode in the blister. Package
photos are mirror-flipped in both modes.

Vehicle Mode: This is a weird one. It's like those stand-up riding
lawnmowers used by public works departments, but instead of a mower blade it
has a pair of drills on the front. The footrests and handles in back imply a
rider slightly smaller than Fixit, perhaps another Mini-Con, making him a
Deployer of sorts. Er, a Beast Machines Deployer, I hastily amend as I
remember that Deployer is being used later this year to refer to a figure
that deploys Mini-Cons. Man, we're really running out of words for things
anymore, yes? Anyway, I get the feeling that as a real Mini-Con, Fixit would
be designed to attach to a bulk's forearm as a drill weapon. Nothing about
this altmode really suggests repair, unless he was Metroplex's dentist. The
Functionalists would have a fit.
5" (12.5cm) long, although the last inch of that is foot rests. If we
assume a comfortable riding position for a human-sized rider, this is
somewhere around 1:40 scale (one inch is about one scale meter), which feels
way too big, so the rider is probably smaller than human or is meant to kneel
on the footrests. Amusingly, I can get my 2.5" tall Star Lord to hold onto
the handles (well, the hollow bits in the back of the handles) and ride Fixit
around.
It's mostly orange and silver or silvery gray, with black wheels. The
big rear wheels and the mostly hidden small front wheels are black plastic.
The handles, transformation release trigger, and some hinges around the
engine block are silvery gray plastic. The rest is orange (new Cleveland
Browns orange, not old Cleveland Browns orange...yeah, that joke's gonna age
well if I keep reviewing for another twenty years to match the twenty years'
worth already on this site). Silver paint is used on the drill bits in front
and a band around the engine block (robot's waist). There's a copper border
around each wrist, and a bit of blue visible on top of the engine block. The
code circle is in an intentation on the front right fender, and is
chin-forward.
While it doesn't lock in position in this mode, gravity helps keep it
intact, and it rolls along quite well. The drills don't turn, they're just
solid chunkes molded onto the front fender pieces.

Transformation: To change to robot mode, pull back on the handles until
they touch the foot rests (which does tend to make the idea of customizing
pegs onto the foot rests a bit tricky). To go back, there's a handle between
the foot rests that needs to be pulled back, the instructions give no hint of
this and I suspect there will be a lot of gear-stripped Fixits in Goodwill
bins in a few months.
Interestingly, only the top of the helmet swings around in
transformation, so it covers up the face entirely in vehicle mode.

Robot Mode: Fixit must watch a lot of MSNBC, because he's always leaning
forward (hey, if I'm gonna make topical jokes, might as well go all out). He
has eyebrows that Rung would envy, and no hands. Yeah, he just has drills on
the ends of his arms in this mode, but presumably he can stow them and use
proper hands in the show. He has little toe-like bits to keep him from
falling over entirely, but he's supposed to be a legless wheel-body sort. It
takes very little weight on the footrests to balance the figure standing
straight up (since I had him out already, I tested Star Lord, and it was
enough weight to do it).
3.5" (9cm) tall. Mostly still orange, with silvery gray plastic on the
shoulder roots (which don't lock in place, so it's a bit gappy). The face is
painted silver, the eyebrows copper to match the wrist cuffs, the eyes and
chest center are blue. The center of the helmet crest is black, and the
waist is painted silver. The code circle ends up on the top of the right
forearm.
The arms can lift at the shoulders, but need to be swung back all the
way down before transforming to vehicle mode. No other meaningful
articulation.

Overall: Given his size and sidekicky role, this is probably the biggest
Fixit toy we can expect to get, but I would buy a Warrior class version if
they make one. And it actually looks pretty close to show-correct in robot
mode, something that One-Steps like Strongarm can't say.


Dave Van Domelen, wonders how long David Willis owns one before the
waist gets painted gold/yellow.

[William A. Rendfeld]

On Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 5:21:48 PM UTC-5, Dave Van Domelen wrote:
> Before I review the toy, a few thoughts. Fixit is supposed to be a
> Mini-Con, which means that even a One-Step is way too big to be in scale with
> anything except the Hyperchangers. A Legion class version would be more in
> scale with the Warriors, hopefully we get one. That said, I'd almost say
> this figure is to scale with regular human action figures, and I may modify
> mine to have pegs for holding a Marvel Universe size figure.

A Legion version is due sometime in the next couple months. I've already got it preordered at BBTS.