Re: AOE Figure Review Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 7:52 pm
Construct-Bots Lockdown: This is from the $6-a-pop bagged line. Went to the store for an unrelated thing, found a $20 bill on the ground in the parking lot, decided I absolutely needed more money in my life, and hurried into the store. Don't judge me, I'm very poor. Since there wasn't anything in the mainline there that I wanted (despite AoE and Generations being $10, they were absolutely out of everything except Slug...Slag...whatever, the triceratops guy.) so I decided I'd take a hit on more of this fiddly little line. If I didn't like it, $6 is no big loss. If I did, great!
Thankfully, I do like him! He's very easy to put together, maybe 10 steps altogether, super intuitive once you see which part is which. His robot mode is fiddly and fun and has a huge-ass gun, although I half wish he had some elbows to speak of. Not that much of a dealbreaker though when he's got solid enough legs. I do wish he had some neck articulation though. For $6, I can't complain much, especially when these guys are pretty much the cheapest possible thing in the entire TF line right now.
As far as colours go, he's got a lot of black, a little grey and a bit of neon green, which spices things up and goes a little ways in making him feel more like regular ol' Lockdown. A little more purple wouldn't be missed; these things honestly could go for a bit more painted detail than they have. His chest, for example, has a lot of neat greeblies moulded in, but they get drowned out in the black plastic (which is also sparkly, for some reason?). Again, he was only $6, so I'm not sure how much more they can squeeze out of these things and keep them at that scale--and considering their size, they wouldn't be worth it even at $7 or $8.
Transformation is simple enough; if I have one complaint it's that his Decepticon symbol just Legoforms from his robot chest to the back of the car. You can't even leave it on in theory because it sticks out so much that it makes the car ride up in the front. (I guess you can just leave it on the back on the car.) Unlike Breakdown, everything clicks together and has a place to go, and everything works much harder to try actually resembling a real vehicle. I will say that everything kind of pegs together a little too well. The first few times, I had problems separating his backpack from the arms, and the arms from his legs. Still, I guess that's a better problem to have than it not fitting together at all, right?
I will say this: For an intergalactic bounty hunter killer whatever, he's super cute. His face isn't, but his general size and proportions make him kind of adorable. He's almost chibified. This also applies to his vehicle mode, which is a super cute little car. The whole aesthetic with the neon green and the gun on top of the vehicle also gives him a little bit of a G2 vibe, which is something I am 100% okay with.
In terms of size, he's like a small-ish Basic from the days of old; he's a little smaller than someone like Airazor used to be. I guess a better reference point would be someone like the G1 Combaticons; he's really about the same size as guys like Brawl and Swindle, and it would actually be pretty cool to see someone attempt a full gestalt out of these. (They seem made for it!)
If you're into these things, they just seem like they keep getting better, and I hope the line doesn't die a quick death after AoE, because I'd love to actually keep buying these. $6 is definitely not a bad price in this economy.
Thankfully, I do like him! He's very easy to put together, maybe 10 steps altogether, super intuitive once you see which part is which. His robot mode is fiddly and fun and has a huge-ass gun, although I half wish he had some elbows to speak of. Not that much of a dealbreaker though when he's got solid enough legs. I do wish he had some neck articulation though. For $6, I can't complain much, especially when these guys are pretty much the cheapest possible thing in the entire TF line right now.
As far as colours go, he's got a lot of black, a little grey and a bit of neon green, which spices things up and goes a little ways in making him feel more like regular ol' Lockdown. A little more purple wouldn't be missed; these things honestly could go for a bit more painted detail than they have. His chest, for example, has a lot of neat greeblies moulded in, but they get drowned out in the black plastic (which is also sparkly, for some reason?). Again, he was only $6, so I'm not sure how much more they can squeeze out of these things and keep them at that scale--and considering their size, they wouldn't be worth it even at $7 or $8.
Transformation is simple enough; if I have one complaint it's that his Decepticon symbol just Legoforms from his robot chest to the back of the car. You can't even leave it on in theory because it sticks out so much that it makes the car ride up in the front. (I guess you can just leave it on the back on the car.) Unlike Breakdown, everything clicks together and has a place to go, and everything works much harder to try actually resembling a real vehicle. I will say that everything kind of pegs together a little too well. The first few times, I had problems separating his backpack from the arms, and the arms from his legs. Still, I guess that's a better problem to have than it not fitting together at all, right?
I will say this: For an intergalactic bounty hunter killer whatever, he's super cute. His face isn't, but his general size and proportions make him kind of adorable. He's almost chibified. This also applies to his vehicle mode, which is a super cute little car. The whole aesthetic with the neon green and the gun on top of the vehicle also gives him a little bit of a G2 vibe, which is something I am 100% okay with.
In terms of size, he's like a small-ish Basic from the days of old; he's a little smaller than someone like Airazor used to be. I guess a better reference point would be someone like the G1 Combaticons; he's really about the same size as guys like Brawl and Swindle, and it would actually be pretty cool to see someone attempt a full gestalt out of these. (They seem made for it!)
If you're into these things, they just seem like they keep getting better, and I hope the line doesn't die a quick death after AoE, because I'd love to actually keep buying these. $6 is definitely not a bad price in this economy.