Cliffbee.com Autostinger Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Autostinger
Series: Beast Wars Second
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Guard Captain
Alternate Mode: Dump Truck

Thanks to Goktimus Prime for loaning me Autostinger for this review



DUMP TRUCK MODE
Height: 6.5cm Length: 14.5cm Width: 6.5cm

   A rich yellow dump truck with a transparent red cabin on the left side, Autostinger sports a black grille with "TFORM" in chrome silver. His headlights are also chrome silver while there are black lines on the front bumper, giving him dangers stripes. The tyres are black plastic with silver painted hubcaps. There are also danger stripes on the rear with red taillights. The striped areas are actually stickers. There are some outbursts of a light amber, on joints and the like, which is close enough to the rich yellow to not ruin the illusion, despite being fairly visible. Underneath the sides we see some black and silver robot kibble, there's a black switch at the back and you have the option of attaching his transparent purple missiles on top. Overall it's a good colour scheme which is realistic and not garish (as the original G2 version, Dirtbag, is). I'd recommend leaving the missiles off.

   The level of detail is decent, but there's not that much focus on detail here. The Autorollers were originally intended with a slightly younger age group in mind that is the case with most Transformers, so Autostinger ends up a tad sparse. There are various amber triggers in the tray, but the tray lines help them blend into the background.

   The play value here is minimal. He rolls very well, on two axles, but that's really all we get. If you flick the switch, rolling him will autotransform, adding something. As mentioned, you can add the four missiles on top, if you feel the need.

   A simple dump truck with good colours, Autostinger is unremarkable but works well enough. I'm glad Takara abandoned the tennis ball green of Dirtbag, instead allowing this mould to be a little bit more realistic. Autostinger does what he has to, without really being remarkable.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Flick the switch and roll forward. The front slides forward and them lifts up, while the tray splits out to the sides to become the arms. You're left to manually pose his arms. Slide the claw out of his left forearm and plug two of the missiles into the right forearm. While it's very simple, the autotransform works very well. If you flick the switch back, he locks into robot mode.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 12.5cm Width: 12cm

   A rich yellow robot with amber shinpads and thighs, black feet and groin, a silver waist and a silver face on a black head. His eyestrip is transparent red without a lightpipe. The front of the truck, including the front wheels, forms his chest (think Long Haul). The left hand is an amber claw while the right arm ends in two purple missiles. The colour scheme again works well, with the yellow anchoring and amber, black and silver highlighting well. These colours are all over the tennis ball green and orange eyesore that is Dirtbag.

   The bodyshape is... limited. Which is to be expected when a blocky truck autotransforms into a robot, so I'm not really unhappy with this robot mode. The boots are a single yellow block, but the amber shinpads define his legs well. The arms are huge blocks, but the elbows help define them and the weaponry is good. The cabin sits behind his left shoulder, and the chest protrudes more than I'd like, but both are carried over truck elements that work fairly well, visually. There is a rubsign on his back.

   Poseability is limited, which is again what you'd expect. His shoulders swing and lift out to the sides while his elbows are hinged and can rotate out to the sides, although the latter is limited by the lip of the tray hanging off his forearms. The play value is all on the end of his arms, with the left claw opening and closing as you move its slider. The missiles on the right can be fired independently, the other two can clip onto the lip on either forearm. He can roll on the rear wheels, if you hold him and roll.

   While the robot mode is always going to be limited, the end result is actually pretty in context and the play value is decent. This mode is better than you'd expect really, and the colours are very much an improvement over the ugly G2 effort.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of, although as mentioned he is a repaint of Dirtbag. AutoStinger was sold either on his own or in a two pack with Bigmos.

OVERALL

   A good toy considering the limitations this sort of autotransform imposes. The vehicle mode is well defined in realistic colours, the robot mode is playable and does a great job of being an undefined lump. I would have preferred the missiles in a colour other than purple (maybe red, to match the cockpit), but otherwise I have no complaints. The simple nature of this toy isn't going to suit everyone, but with better colours than Dirtbag, I'd recommend Autostinger over his G2 counterpart, and if you like the idea, I'd definitely recommend Autostinger - 7/10

"Transformers" and other indica trademarks of Hasbro and/or Takara.