Cliffbee.com Legends Brawn Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Brawn
Series: Universe
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: 4x4



4X4 MODE
Height: 3.5cm Length: 7cm Width: 3cm

   A menthol green old style 4x4 with black windows and tyres, Brawn sports a gunmetal bull bar and some silver junk on his roof. His headlights are painted baby blue while the spare tyres at the back is black plastic. The rearmost windows are unpainted green which is a little disappointing but not unusual for a Legends toy. The colour is a notably brighter green than that of the original, but this still feels like Brawn.

   I like the fact that Brawn is still a rugged little 4x4 rather than a "pretty" SUV - the spare tyres on the back looks purely functional, there's a sculpted roofrack on top and the bull bar on top. There's a fair amount of sculpted detail as well, including a rather functional looking vent on the hood, door seams and handles, taillights and side mirrors.

   As you'd expect from a Legends toy, there's minimal play value in this vehicle mode. All five wheels turn and whole the turning spare tyre is an interesting extra, it doesn't really bring anything to the play value.

   A decent 4x4 mode but not a great one. The unpainted windows towards the back and the silver junk on his roof hold Brawn back. The shade of green is a little off compared to the Minibot, but quite close to his cartoon colours. The rugged looking 4x4 fits the character well, so this tribute works, and the slightly cute look here also fits into the Minibot tribute.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Pull the front fenders out and forward, pull the rear back and down to form legs, stand him up. Rotate the arms down to his sides and you're done.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 7.5cm Width: 4.5cm

   A green robot with silver forearms and thighs, Brawn has a silver groin and rounded silver head. His barrelled chest is amber and sports a silver Autobot logo while his face is black with baby blue eyes. The colours are quite close to those of both the original toy and the cartoon version of the character, although I'm struggling to work out where the black face comes from. The colour scheme looks pretty good and despite the black face, very much looks like Brawn.

   This is a rather "cute" robot mode thanks to the tapering boots and exaggerated rounded head shape. Which at once fits into Brawn's small stature and - with his wide shoulders - rugged nature. The barrelled chest also helps with his rugged feel. There's some hood kibble behind his head, which is the front of the truck, and while it's not the same, it's akin to the yellow block behind his head in G1.

   Brawn's poseability is good for a Legends toy. His shoulders and hips are ball jointed and the feet naturally stand slightly apart. His legs aren't that poseable, although his hips give him some leg movement. His shoulders are very poseable. The downside is that his legs have a tendency to splay to the sides.

   A good robot mode albeit one that could use tighter hips and some movement in his knees. The black face is odd but this is still a very nice tribute which is Brawn in both colour and shape. A good tribute if not a fantastic robot mode, Brawn is satisfying for a G1 fan.

VARIATIONS

   The Henkei version features a drabber, olive green instead of the menthol green, which is closer to the Minibot - although the amber is yellow on the Henkei version, which is less like G1 Brawn. The Henkei version also has a black face.

OVERALL

   A solid Legends toy despite the silver junk on the 4x4's roof, loose hips and black face. The tribute works very well in both modes, the colours are clearly Brawn and both modes suit the character well. His poseability is good without being great. Recommended if you like the Classics/Universe toys - 7.5/10

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