Cliffbee.com Rumbler Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Rumbler
Series: "European" Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Front Line Defence
Alt Mode: None (was a fighter jet of some kind)

Thanks to kup for loaning me Rumbler's exosuit, making this review possible.



ROBOT MODE
Height: 10cm Width: 4.5cm

   A grey Actionmaster with blue thighs, fists upper arms and head, Rumbler has neon green painted on his forearms, knees and feet. There are canopy and air intake details are painted amber along with his face, while the eyestrip and crest on top of his head are neon orange. While the basal grey fits for a fighter jet, the other colours - which are all very bright - would make Rumbler a rather unusual looking plane. The basal grey helps keep Rumbler's colour scheme relatively subdued, and while there's no real need for the orange, the other colours work okay together. There's an Autobot logo sticker on his right shoulder.

   While he's a repaint of another Autobot Actionmaster, Sprocket, Rumbler is a new character, but he was quite obviously a fighter thanks to a few well placed hints such as the aforementioned canopy and air intakes on his chest. Also, there are green thrusters on his heels and small vestigial wings on the back of his shoulders. There are even small tailfins on the top of his head, which thankfully don't dominate his head.

   Rumbler'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 degrees). When you fold the knees you might notice that the thighs have sculpted undercarriage on them, which is a great touch.

ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE

   A 22cm long open buggy type vehicle, the base colour is amber while the tyres are grey, the weapons blue and the handlebar red. There are two sets of weapons, claws on either side and double maces attached to the red hubcaps of the front wheels. While the robot on his own might just escape being labelled gaudy, this vehicle is (and the combination definitely so).

   The handlebar locks down to hold Rumbler in place (akin to that on a roller coaster). He'll sit securely under the handlebar while his buggy rolls along. If you insert 2 AA batteries (the battery compartment is underneath), it can roll either forwards or backwards, thanks to a blue switch at the front. As it rolls the maces rotate, but they're composed of a fairly soft plastic and can pop out easily as a result. The claws can rotate and swing out to the sides, but are too short to grasp anything.

   Transforming the vehicle to exosuit essentially involves standing it on end. The seat lifts up to cover his feet while the handlebar again locks down, this time over his upper body. The actual handles pivot so that Rumbler cam grasp them in both modes. The claws flip and face forward, the flip giving them a little extra length. Optionally, you can pivot an amber panel underneath the vehicle down so it's underfoot.

   The motorised gimmick again works in this mode - the switch is over his head. If the panel is underneath, the exosuit remains still, if at the back, it'll roll forward or backwards. Again the maces spin. It's much ado about nothing in a way - the mechanism is very loud but the rolling exosuit looks weird and the maces spinning on their own aren't especially exciting.

   With gaudy colours and a loud but underwhelming electric mechanism, this exosuit is quite forgettable. It clashes badly with Rumbler, who actually makes decent use of his own bright colours. The maces are soft and hard to keep attached to the vehicle itself.

VARIATIONS

   None that I know of, although as mentioned he's a repaint of Sprocket.

OVERALL

   A good figure despite some questionable paint choices, but his vehicle isn't worthwhile and frankly, Sprocket has better colours anyway. Given the likely high price you'd pay for Rumbler (who wasn't sold in the USA), I can't recommend Rumbler, even if the robot itself is decent. I grabbed just the robot and am happy with that unless the vehicle presents itself at a steal, and I'd only really recommend the entire thing if you're completist about Actionmasters - 6/10

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