Cliffbee.com Breakdown Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Breakdown
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Scout
Alternate Mode: Lamborghini Countache



CAR MODE
Height: 2.5cm Length: 8cm Width: 4cm

   A beige Lamborghini Countache with navy blue trim along the bottom on each side, as well as a blue front bumper, Breakdown has black windows and black plastic tyres, and his hubcaps are metal rivets. There is a red sticker on the front, in the bottom left of this is a Decepticon logo, and in his roof he sports a rubsign, inside it's own indent. While a light beige car might seem unusual for a Decepticon, it works really well, and the blue compliments the beige perfectly.

   Breakdown's sculpt is quite detailed - hood seams, front headlights, door seams, air vents on the back and air intakes on the sides are all visible. The air intakes are actually holes in the beige plastic with blue poking though, which looks great. The only real negative is the back - it's a mess of hinges and holes, since his blue attack gun and Menasor's appendages attach there, and because it's essentially his knees.

   Play value is about what you'd expect - he can roll on his wheels and the blue twin cannons attach, giving Dead End an attack mode. His main purpose in life is combining with the other Stunticons, so I can forgive him for not doing much as a car. It would have been awesome if he was on scale with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, if only to recreate Transeurope Express!

   For the size and time, this is a pretty detailed Lamborghini, and while it's an unusual colour scheme, I'm a big fan of Breakdown's colours. The mess at the back is really the only flaw here - and all four small Stunticons have the same problem - along with many other combiner limbs.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   It's pretty simple, really. Swing the front of the vehicle up to reveal the head. Pull out the rear and swing the legs out sideways. The sides become the arms - all you need to do is swing his shoulders. Give him his handgun.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 9cm Width: 4cm

   The beige recedes now, with the navy blue really coming to the fore. Breakdown's arms, head, central chest and boots are blue while his thighs and the outsides of his arms are beige. His torso is die cast metal and his face painted red. While this colour scheme isn't _quite_ as nice as his vehicular scheme, it's much more apparent that he's a Decepticon. There are silver stickers on his arms and ankles, as well as on his beige kneecaps. Breakdown has a Decepticon insignia sticker on his groin.

   The random facial colours are a running theme amongst the Stunticons, and luckily for Breakdown, his works quite well. He has a very tall eyevisor and small mouth - while I'm glad his face is detailed the proportions could have been better. The red face was retained in the cartoon, and the face in that medium is surprisingly toy-accurate.

   The play value is laughable by modern standards - his shoulders rotate and that's it. This is typical of the G1 combiner limbs, and doesn't give Breakdown much to do. He's saving himself for Menasor, I suppose.

   The mould is still fairly detailed and Breakdown has a big chuck of die cast, which will please a lot of more traditional fans. Nice colours and no real flaws. A little more play value would have been nice - but he's no worse than most other G1 toys.

VARIATIONS

   There were two releases of this toy - one in 1986 and another in 1990 in Classic packaging. Breakdown was also done in jade and purple during G2 as a BotCon '94 exclusive - being the first BotCon exclusive, it's extremely rare.

OVERALL

   A good toy with a very nice vehicle mode for what it is, Breakdown's robot mode is also quite solid. On his own he's solid but unspectacular. I wouldn't really recommend you run out and grab him on his own, but if you want to complete Menasor, he's essential - 6/10

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