Cliffbee.com Bot Shot Brawl Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Brawl
Series: Bot Shots
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Tank



TANK MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 6cm Width: 4cm

   A beige superdeformed tank with mineplows on the front and missileracks on the back - the latter have red paint on the missiletips. Despite being a tank with treads, Brawl sports four black wheels - so he can participate in Bot Shot contests - the rear half of the treads is painted dark grey while the front halves are unpainted. I'm not a fan of the unpainted half treads, but the overall look still works since here's enough sculpted detail on top that this mode works well enough visually.

   While this tank is superdeformed Brawl has an impressive level of detail with the mineplows, missile launchers, main cannon and various hatches all easily discernible. There are also detail on the treads, but the paint job on those is such that it's wasted. There's no play value here.

   One of the better Bot Shot vehicles despite the lazy paint job on his treads. Brawl has a good sculpt and colours that bring it out. Sure there wheels are a little out the place, but no more so than on the various plane Bot Shots.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   In theory you have to crash him headlong into another Bot Shot. You can always just press on the front mineplows. Either way, through internal gears and springs he'll stand up on his feet (between the rear wheels), the front will flip back to reveal his head and the painted parts of his treads pop out to form arms.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 5cm Width: 6cm

   A beige robot with dark grey paint on his face, thighs and arms, Brawl has red eyes and spinning panel on his chest which will be either red, blue or green depending on position. The dark face is a little unusual, but works in it's own way here. There are two screwheads on his chest which barely stand out against the light colour of his torso.

   As with all Bot Shots, this is a very short, chibi robot. The feet are big while the legs are vestigial, the torso short and the head huge. His arms splay out to the sides and there's a backpack in the form of the front of the tank. Aside from the spinning panel, there's no play value here. His facial features more G1 than movie, although they're not that easy to discern under the dark grey paint.

   The scores on his chest are Sword 120 (red); Blaster 910 (blue) & Fist 580 (green).

   This is a simple robot mode, and while the light colours should allow the facial sculpt to stand out, the dark paint on his face is itself his main feature.

VARIATIONS

   There's a blue repaint sold in a three pack and a green one in a four pack.

OVERALL

   Bot Shots are incredibly simple, cutesy Transformers. You're either going to appreciate them or hate the concept. Brawl is the best of those I've sampled, since the tank mode works very well for the size thanks to the light colour & sculpt. His robot mode is a little unusual but works well enough compared to other Bot Shots. I wouldn't call any Bot Shots toy compelling but if you're looking for a sample of the line, Brawl is a good candidate - 8/10

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