Cliffbee.com Circuit Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Circuit
Series: "European" Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Messenger
Alt Mode: None (was a ground vehicle of some sort)

Thanks to Griffin for loaning me Circuit, making this review possible.



ROBOT MODE
Height: 10cm Width: 4.5cm

   A mustard yellow figure with blue feet and joints, Circuit has some orange and magenta highlights and green eyes, making him even more muddled than Axer, the original version of the mould. There is a theme of bright colours, and while there is some consistency about this, Circuit ends up being rather gaudy. Anyway, there's an Autobot logo sticker in the middle of his chest, blue moulded tyres on his calves and red headlights on his chest. I'd be interested to see what the original alt mode is meant to look like.

   Along with the wheels on his legs, Circuit has two more wheel-halves on his back - which are also painted blue (and were unpainted on Axer). The antennae on his head remind me of handlebars while there's a burgundy patch on the top of his head which could be a windshield. The boots look very much like a bike's saddle. I'm wondering if Circuit's meant to be a bike with split wheels. The two pairs of lights on either side of his chest look quite car-like, making his suggested alt mode quite ambiguous. I'm going to hedge my bets and say he was a very gaudy motortrike (c8

   Circuit's poseability is the same as every other Actionmaster - his head turns, arms rotate and legs have G.I. Joe poseability (fully poseable hips, knees bend 90°s). There's a lime green gun underneath his car which can double as a very awkward (and clashing) handgun. I'd recommend leaving his weaponless.

EXO-SUIT

   The Exo-Suit's alternate mode is a Formula One style racing vehicle - which I suspect is meant to be a dragster. The main body of this car is red, the oversized rear engineblock is purple with some silver around the pistons while the handlebars, front wheel struts and various other elements are lime green. The four tyres are all black, with the rear pair much larger than the front ones. There's an Autobot logo on the nose and "ACTION MASTERS" loudly printed on the red spoiler. The red, purple and lime do such a poor job of matching the mustard, blue and orange of Circuit it's actually kind of funny.

   The Exo-Suit is pretty lame - the engineblock becomes legs while the red main section becomes the back and the nose folds down to form a chestplate. Circuit just stands in the boots, his arms unable to hold anything. The front wheel section folds out to become a rather phallic cannon (the gun that can also be handheld). The whole thing is a mess of colours - compounding the mashes colours is the fact Circuit can't grasp the suit in any way. Without any motorised action or anything to grasp, this thing is weak.

VARIATIONS

   None that I know of. Circuit himself is a repaint of Axer, as already mentioned, while his Exo-Suit is new. Circuit was not available in North America.

OVERALL

   The second year of Actionmasters is notorious for some dicey repaints, and Circuit finds himself in the thick of the action. The figure himself is intentionally garish, and while he almost gets away with it, the colours of his Exo-Suit also clash, making this a rather ugly set. The figure itself is based on a somewhat average Actionmaster - and Axer is both better aesthetically and easier to find. The Exo-Suit is simply a waste of time (I don't have it - and I'm not worried about that) and sunglasses. Unless you find him for a dollar or two, you can safely skip Circuit - 3/10

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