Brakedown!

[138 Scourge]

Scouts are a tough sell these days. Deluxes range around twelve, thirteen dollars, but they just got off a ten-dollar sale, which makes the eight dollars that a Scout command seem really kinda high. So it's gotten harder for me to buy 'em lately, despite my love of smaller-scale robots. That said, I had to buy this fella on sight, because the Stunticons were an awesome merge team, and a toy that just goes ape with the homage to one of 'em is irresistible to me. So, did the toy justify the high purchase price?

Bio: Like the rest of the ROTF toys lately, this isn't a bio as much as a short story that describes the character's personality. In this case, Brakedown's a scout (in the right class, then) who is not equipped for battle at all. The bio says it right there, he's designed for speed, not for combat. He's a runner, not a fighter. And Mudflap, of all people, has every intention of chasing him down and killing him. This is especially kind of disturbing because there's no equivalent-sized toy of Mudflap, so you just picture the much bigger Deluxe running down our hapless scout. So this whole sub-line of ROTF can pretty well just be descibed as "Decepticons try to not get killed by the Autobots". Shattered Glass won, guys.

Robot Mode: Because that's what he's packed in. So, he's got a wide chest, a sort of digitigrade thing going with his legs (not as obviously as some of the other movie toys, but if you look at him from the side, they're pretty clear), and big ol' long monkey arms. But all that aside, he's very much the image of his G1 counterpart. If you'd gone to someone right after the first movie and said "Draw Movie Breakdown", this is what you would have gotten. He looks good, though, and I especially like the face, it's very expressive, looks mean, and has the yellow eyes against a red face, so they really pop. He's got a lot of kibble in the back, his windshield and roof combine to just hang out as a big backpack. If that piece could fold down flatter against his body, it'd be less distracting, but if it bothers you that much, that whole piece pops right off. It actually looks like it was meant to, which makes me wonder if maybe it was meant to be a shield at some point in the design. Anyway, that bit slides out when you want it to, and stays in place when you need it there, so it's not a big worry for now. Solid robot mode with good articulation and a neat look to it.

Transformation: Despite looking a lot like a fairly standard G1 limbformer, Brakedown's got a fairly clever transformation. The legs swing sideways, and the feet fold in to become the front of the car, the arms fold in and become the sides, snd the chest and back kibble make up the back and top of the car. It sounds easy, but it took a minute to figure out, it's really a little more involved than the usual small car-bot transformation. I'm not nuts about movie-style, but I gotta hand it to 'em, they come up with some interesting transformation schemes.

Car Mode: I like this a lot. Again, like G1 Breakdown, what we got here is clearly a lamborghini in an off-white, with a red trapezoid on the hood. It couldn't be anything but the Stunticon. But on top of that, it's got an almost superdeformed quality to it, the front of the car seems to be a little rounder and wider than the rest. It's a really appealing little vehicle mode. Everything fits together nicely, and the cracks from the robot parts don't stand out too much against the white car. Good stuff, right here.

So Overall: Well, I like it a lot. Good robot mode, good transformation, good vehicle mode. Nothing to dislike, right? When you factor in the homage to one of the best of the Decepticon combiners (and that's saying a LOT), you get a toy that I'm definitely inclined to enjoy. The Scouts may be an overpriced section of TF merchandise these days, but if the idea of a Movie Breakdown appeals to you, then you may as well pick this thing up, because it delivers on that concept exactly like you'd want it to. No doubt in my mind that this lil' dude gets an "A".

[Mirage]

In a line full of nice scout figures, he's the best to come out in a while. I definitely dig him, and if you *squint* you can shove him onto your Classics shelf next to Drag Strip (who now seems inexplicably tall). I love the innovative alt-modes we've been getting from the scouts, but every once in a while it's nice to see a plain ol' car done at this scale. It works particularly well for a Stunticon, which means the smart money is on him getting redecoed as Wildrider at some point.

[andersonh1]

Nice review. This is one figure from ROTF that I'm looking forward to myself.

[Dominic]

Bio: Like the rest of the ROTF toys lately, this isn't a bio as much as a short story that describes the character's personality. In this case, Brakedown's a scout (in the right class, then) who is not equipped for battle at all. The bio says it right there, he's designed for speed, not for combat. He's a runner, not a fighter. And Mudflap, of all people, has every intention of chasing him down and killing him. This is especially kind of disturbing because there's no equivalent-sized toy of Mudflap, so you just picture the much bigger Deluxe running down our hapless scout. So this whole sub-line of ROTF can pretty well just be descibed as "Decepticons try to not get killed by the Autobots". Shattered Glass won, guys.

I dunno. I do not have a problem with the Autobots fighting decisively. (I do mind them playing with their food, as shown in RotF. But, that is another issue.)

The problem is that it will be hard to see the Decepticons as a credible threat after the Auto-pogrom.

Dom
-well, at least the movie Autobots are smarter than the IDW comic-bots.

[Onslaught Six]

Mind, Mudflap is a really short Deluxe. Brakedown actually sorta stands a chance.

[JediTricks]

I keep seeing this figure on shelves, and it keeps looking especially underwhelming. I just can't seem to pull the trigger on it. I am not sure if it's the colors, the gappy design, or the chibi alt mode. I'm glad to hear it's better than I suspect though.

[andersonh1]

I finally bought Brakedown. Scouts were on sale for $7.00, and that's still a bit steep, but I'd been meaning to get this figure for some time. I pulled out my original Breakdown for comparison since this new figure is a clear homage.

Auto: Well, it's a deformed Lamborghini, probably altered to avoid licensing issues. It's white rather than the off-white/cream of the original figure. The red angular shape on the hood which has the Decepticon logo on the driver's side is very similar. Ground clearance is tight thanks to the robot waist components, but the auto is light enough that it rolls well despite this.

Transformation: Brakedown has some characteristics of a shellformer. Parts of the car are integrated into the robot mode, and parts hang off the arms or fold up into a backpack. The hood becomes the lower legs and feet, the sides of the car pull out to form the arms, and the back of the car becomes the chest area. The roof folds back to become the backpack and the head is pulled up. The only real weak point in this scheme is the joint that the head sits on. It's very stiff and tight, and I'm worried that it might break at some point.

Robot mode: A lot of blue is introduced in this mode. Apart from the well-integrated chest area, most of Brakedown's bot mode is a thin and detailed blue set of arms and legs with car parts on them. This is a case where most of the robot is hidden inside the car rather than made from car parts, if you see what I mean. But this transformation method works pretty well on a basic-sized figure. To be fair, the split between integration and shellformer parts is probably about half and half.

The visual style of the figure is very movieverse. Thin and monstrous with odd proportions set it apart from the straight lines and hard angles of the original Breakdown. ROTF Brakedown reminds me of Barricade with chicken legs and longer arms. Posability is fairly good, and while the feet could be better to allow for better balance, Brakedown is light enough that he doesn't tip over in most poses.

Overall: I'd still love to see a Universe/Generations version of Breakdown in a more traditional style, but this is still a nice homage to the original Stunticon. I still think basics cost too much even at $7.00, but it's worth getting one every now and then. If you're a Stunticon fan, Brakedown's worth the purchase.

[Shockwave]

I knew there was a thread for this guy somewhere. I finally got one last month and I'm pretty happy with it. Although, Prowl I hate to say you're wrong, we didn't get wildrider or dead end out of it. Instead we got Oil Pan. If you have breakdown, skip Oil Pan. It's almost literally the same figure but in yellow instead of white and a slightly different shade of blue.

[JediTricks]

I did end up getting Breakdown/Brakedown finally, and was disappointed. Compared to Hubcap and some of the other middle-of-the-road-transformation figures, Brakedown doesn't even live up to the simple side of things. It's not a terrible figure, but it's an uninspired one with an ugly alt mode and weak use of kibble.

[Dominic]

In related news, while reading this thread and thinking of Oilpan, I seriously considered using one of Shockwave's upcoming duplicated BotCon Breakdown heads on a Red Alert body to make Oilpan...a yellow recolor of that mould....because I totally forgot about Sunstreaker....and Tigertrack......

Dom
-needs to sleep.