Name: Scrapheap
Series: United
Allegiance: Cybertron (Autobot)
Alternate Mode: Motorbike
Thanks to Tiby for loaning me Scrapheap for this review.
MOTORBIKE MODE
Height: 10cm Length: 16.5cm Width: 6cm
A dull brown & grey motorbike with some tan, red & black elements, including obvious details like the saddle, tyres & handlebars. Scrapheap is a repaint (and retool) of Wreck-Gar, in duller and darker colours. The colour map has changed and he's not as ornate (no flames on this bike). He shares Wreck-Gar's red headlight, but loses the rubsign - instead there's a red Autobot logo stamped on his windshield. Most of the mechanical details such as the forks, chain & kickstand are "Hasbro" grey (as on Wreck-Gar). The colours work well for a Junkion and are distinctly different to those of Wreck-Gar, so this colour scheme works well - I just wish they'd dispensed with the red headlight.
This is a fairly sleek motorbike, not as blocky as the G1 toy. This bike is more of a trailbike than a road bike, with fairly wide tyres and chunky springs on the front forks. He doesn't have spines on the tyres, but then that would have been awfully impractical. The handlebars feature rear vision mirrors & are composed of a soft black plastic, making sure that these details protrusions wont easily break off. The sculpt is pretty good actually, with a detailed fuel cap. The engine is quite detailed (and painted silver) while the grey mechanical details such as the chain, front brakediscs & muffler are all quite detailed.
There's not much play value here. His wheels turn and there's a small grey kickstand on the left hand side, which can be folded away (although Scrapheap can't stand up without it). The mould is designed so that it can ridge itself - so Wreck-Gar car ride on Scrapheap (or the other way around of course).
A good bike mode and one that works well as a Junkion distinct from Wreck-Gar. It's more a trailbike and less a true road motorcycle. The sculpt is good and the colours mostly work. Nothing really stands out here, but it's a very solid vehicle mode.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Unclip and set aside the muffler (which also takes the right side of the rear wheel with it), fold up the chain on the left side, unclip the saddle & extend to form the left leg. Straighten the front to form the right leg. Lift up the front mudguard to form his right foot which will also fold in the handlebars. Flip out the left heelspur. Push the hips together & stand him up. Rotate the chest 90° so it faces forward, flip up his head. Swing the arms forward, fold down the forearms & rotate his hands. Unfold the muffler as his axe, open the blades & place in either hand.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 14.5cm Width: 8cm
A dull brown, robot with red on his groin and upper arms, Scrapheap has grey on his thighs and shoulders.His head is silver with a beige mouthplate and red painted eyes (painted over a colourless lightpipe). His forearms are gunmetal while there are red spines on his chest. Scrapheap also has some black, which is basically kibble - the saddle on his left boot, the handlebars on the right and the tyres hanging off the left shoulder & boot. The Autobot logo is now on his right ankle. Again the colours are darker than & distinct from Wreck-Gar. The resculpted head helps differentiate Scrapheap from Wreck-Gar, of course.
There's quite a lot of kibble here. The rear wheels assembly sits on the outside of his left knee, which is essentially G1 accurate, but the front wheel - and forks - on the back of his left arm is very awkward. The handlebars and windshield are on his right shin, so there are colourless false handlebars behind his head to match the G1 handlebars. The false handlebars are a nice touch, along with those red spikes on his chest (as per G1).
The play value is good thanks largely to his cleverly designed axe. His neck & shoulders are ball jointed while the elbows are hinged with rotators & the wrists rotate. Scrapheap's left shoulder is somewhat hampered by the chunk of kibble on the back of it, sadly. The hips swing and lift out to the sides while his knees are hinged with rotators. The feet both have some wiggle room, but due to the asymmetrical nature of his transformation, this jointing is different on either foot, so it doesn't add much to his poseability. The axe is interesting, impressive & thanks to his wrist joints can be wielded in a wide range of poses. Scrapheap has no action features or gimmicks, mind you.
A good robot mode despite some notable kibble. A lot of thought has gone into making this robot mode resemble G1 despite a vastly different transformation and the articulation is useful for the most part. The retooled head is well done & along with the colours really anchor this as _not_ Wreck-Gar. The only real downside is the chunk of crap on one shoulder.
VARIATIONS
As mentioned, he is a limited retooling of Wreck-Gar. He was exclusively available in a three pack with Kup & Hot Rod, only through e-Hobby, making variants unlikely. Junkheap also shares the mould.
OVERALL
While this is one of the weaker moulds from the Generations line, it's by no means a bad one, and this retool compliments Wreck-Gar well (given that they can ride each other as in the film). Both modes are solid and display well and he's a good tribute to a the Junkions. While the engineering is sub-par compared to most modern Transformers, this is a clever retool and a worthwhile exclusive - 7.5/10
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