Combiner Wars Offroad Review

Offroad-108Combiner Wars deluxe Offroad is a new member of the Stunticons, replacing Wildrider on the team and borrowing some of his color scheme. A confident and charismatic Decepticon, his personality clashes with the other Stunticons, but is grudgingly accepted as the team’s extreme conditions warfare expert.  Offroad turns into a souped-up sport pickup truck, as well as a combiner arm or leg. Read on for the full review and photos.

Packaged: As part of wave 2, Offroad comes packaged with a copy of The Transformers comic book from IDW, it’s a reprint of Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2013) issue #14 which actually does feature Menasor (although not Offroad); the issue is referred to in publishing details inside as “The Transformers: Combiner Wars #6″. The back of this exclusive edition of the book has an in-universe evaluation by Soundwave and a biography, inside that rear cover is the design desk genesis of this figure.

Vehicle Mode: Offroad’s vehicle mode is a sports pickup truck with rear spoilers, a big hood scoop, and wind deflectors on the roof. The sculpt has a few interesting touches, the front end is very appealing, but the wheels and the king cab don’t quite fit the design - the wheels are a tad “street” while the cab seems more like it’s been chopped from an SUV, why they went with a 4-door cab is beyond me – and the front windshield is too tall compared to how narrow it is due to huge A-pillars. The bed, which is either the shallowest in the world or is sculpted with a tonneau cover, although the sculpting suggests the former, has a tab in the center and 5mm holes on either side; the rear fenders have a 5mm hole on either side as well, and the rear bumper has a 5mm hole for the combiner accessory.

Paint in this mode cribs the look directly from Wildrider/Brake-Neck with dark gray plastic, dark silver hood with a Decepticon logo off to the left, and crimson windows and side detail — though that side detail here is a very ’80s curved sketch line. Unfortunately, the back window and tail lights aren’t painted. But the front end has some nice painted details.

While Offroad’s ax accessory can just be pegged on any of the holes, the hand/foot accessory has a notch on the underside to line up with the tab in the bed, lining it up with the roof deflectors. The hand/foot accessory also a big trumpeted engine design sculpted into it (although it could be a crazy Cybertronian calliope).

Robot Mode: Have you transformed an Aerialbot yet, especially Firefly? Then you’ve transformed Offroad, because he shares the same transformation except for the addition of shoulderpads to the mix. It’s almost surreal how similar it is, since the other Stunticons seem to work hard at being different.

In robot mode, Offroad has Ruckus’ headsculpt since Hasbro was originally designing him to be that character. It’s an engaging, dynamic likeness of a confidently evil-looking guy, and fairly different from the rest of the team since it’s not meant to emulate a G1 Scramble City combiner joint. The rest of the body sculpt is a little lean on fine detailing, but has a balanced amount of broad detail. The deco is different from the rest of the team in that he adds teal to his limbs and crest, and has a lime green face, all of which look decent enough for a Decepticon.

Articulation is the same as you’d get with most of the other limb-bots, and like them the feet here are sculpted at an angle to stand apart. Due to his big boots, he can stand one-legged with a little patience. The arms also require patience due to the hinged shoulderpads often running into the backpack.

Offroad comes with 2 accessories, an ax and a hand/foot accessory that makes for a gun, and both share a subtle theme of either being engine parts with a lot of valves or possibly being musical instruments. The ax has a silver blade and an angled handle, while it has a 5mm peg on the side it really doesn’t look appropriate held as a gun. The hand/foot has 2 sets of small twin barrels with angled tips, making for a beefy gun that that throws a lot of lasers at once and can be held above or below the hand.

Limb Modes: As Offroad replaces Wildrider, it stands to reason that he’s traditionally going to be the left leg of Menasor, and as such he looks like a pickup truck stood upright with the front end placed over the windshield and a foot attached at the bottom.

As an arm though, Offroad adds a new color to Menasor and a different shape to the shoulder without seeming too out of place. Offroad’s arms have slots that attach to tabs on the B-pillars of the truck, it’s not the most secure arrangement but it does follow the lines of the outer shoulder. The forearm actually tapers in, making Offroad the most balanced-looking arm of all the Stunticons.

Overall: Offroad may be the new guy, but he’s a welcome addition to the team, adding a different kind of car look to the team — if the Stunticons had been all sports and race cars, he’d feel almost out of place despite being a sports truck, but since Motormaster is a semi tractor it makes it easier to justify Offroad’s inclusion. The truck mode is a little awkward at the cab, but the rest looks good and the hand/foot accessory integrates well. The transformation lifting the Aerialbots wholesale isn’t ideal, and the shoulderpads end up awkward and in the way. But robot mode has charm and balance, while limb modes both end up adequate or better.

Review sample supplied by Hasbro