Cliffbee.com Trailcutter Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Trailcutter (would be Trailbreaker, save for legal reasons)
Series: Generations
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: 4x4



4X4 MODE
Height: 2.5cm Length: 7cm Width: 4cm

   A black 4x4 (of the type we used to see in the 80s, before SUVs) with a dark metallic blue windshield, silver painted front bumper & grille and gold headlights. There are no stripes on the sides, his side windows & taillights remain unpainted - so this is a very black vehicle mode & the red pinstripes of Trailbreaker aren't present here. The colour scheme is clearly underdone, so he doesn't look as nice as he should - which is a shame given how _under_ used this character is compared to, well, almost every other 1984 Transformer. There's a small "Reveal The Shield" style rubsign on the back corner of the roof, facing backwards - and this is the only allegiance symbol on the whole toy.

   There's no play value here, which is to be expected of a Legends toy that turns into such a boxy vehicle. There's a fairly awkward gap at the back - which is very much a G1 hallmark, actually. He sports black plastic tyres and rolls okay, so I guess that's some play value. The sculpted detail is actually pretty good - with side mirrors, door seams and a fairly detailed grille amongst other elements.

   A somewhat disappointing vehicle mode, largely because of the colours. The detailing is lost amongst all his black - Trailbreaker would have worked better with a simpler sculpt and some more colour (on the sides). He ends up feeling generic & underdone in this mode. We've been spoilt with the well executed Legends in the movie lines - Trailbreaker feels like a return to the earliest (Cybertron) Legends.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Swing the lower half down & forward to form his legs. Split the legs and flip up his feet, then stand him up. Swing back the roof, split the camper and swing out to the sides to form his arms. Flip up the panel on his roof to form his head.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 7.5cm Width: 6cm

   A black robot with silver thighs & red knees, Trailbreaker has a dark metallic blue eyestrip to match the windshield now on his chest. Above his head there's a silver weapon similar to that on the G1 toy. There's a lot more colour here now - he no longer looks underdone, even if he's still dominated by black. And this colour scheme has enough definition for the character to really come through here. The rubsign is on the outside of his right hand now.

   There are a few elements here taken from G1, such as the windshield above a folded down hood as his torso - although he has a groin which the original toy lacked. The head and weapon, along with the distinctive red knees are all signature features of the character. His arms are effectively just the sides of the camper, with his hands popping out on the insides, so they don't look that great. Still, this is a Legends toy and the character is well defined so I'm not complaining.

   Trailbreaker has ball jointed shoulders & hips and his ankles are hinged, giving him some poseability. It's about what I'd expect of a Legends toy, really.

   This is easily his stronger mode and while the arms are a little weird, it works well visually, has some play value & is clearly Trailbreaker (despite the name). And hey, it wasn't awkwardly renamed like the only other Trailbreaker homage.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of.

OVERALL

   Amazingly this is the first time we've had a Trailbreaker revisit, notwithstanding the missed SpyChanger attempt in TFU. It's not an awesome toy - he can feel shortchanged compared to the increasing cast of G1 characters done in Classics/Universe 2.0/Generations - but it's definitely Trailbreaker. The vehicle mode needs more paint but the robot mode is on point and he's worth the price of a Legends toy. There's enough attention to detail & poseability in the robot mode to offset the underpainted vehicle mode - 7.5/10

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