Name: Beachcomber
Series: Universe
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Dune Buggy
DUNE BUGGY MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 6cm Width: 4cm
A small blue dune buggy with white front fenders, a silver rollcage and black tyres. Beachcomber's colours are similar to those on the G1 Minibot which he is tributing, albeit without the grey found on that toy. The tyres are plastic rather than rubber as on the G1 toy, and this version has a black spare tyre on the back, along with a black gun. There are black seats inside the open cockpit and yellow headlights on the fenders, rounding out a fairly simple colour scheme which is not underdone (as is the case with many Legends). The tribute isn't quite as strong as it could be, but works very well nonetheless.
This buggy is very angular, although there aren't many right angles, moreso a bunch of wide angles. Beachcomber has a fairly high ground clearance and there are shocks sculpted in the rear wheel bays which are clearly visible since there's a fair gap between the tyres and rear fenders. His tyres have moulded grip, including the spare tyre on the back. As on the original, the knee joints are visible on the front, although they're less obtrusive here since the thighs are now black. There is a moulded flaw on this vehicle mode - the left side of the rollcage (which is actually composed of four pieces, all painted silver), doesn't quite line up with the rest of the cage, and this is something I've seen on a couple of Beachcomber toys.
The play value is pretty limited, which is to be expected at this size. His wheels roll although not well. The spare tyre and gun are a single piece which can be removed and repositioned (the post is hexagonal) allowing you to aim the gun.
A pretty good dune buggy mode as legends go, despite the moulded flaw. The colour scheme and paint job work well and the detail here is pretty good. The colours aren't perfect for Beachcomber but the tribute is very obvious. The rollcage defect is a significant flaw, but not a killer at this size scale.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Fairly similar to the Minibot. Pull the rear fenders/rollcage sides out to the sides to form arms, flip over the front to form boots. Split the boots, fold the seats down to form feet. Stand him up and push the chest down into place, which reveals the robot head.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 7.5cm Width: 4cm
A blue, black and white robot. Beachcomber has a while chest, blue arms, boots, groin and head while his thighs and feet are black. There are some red and yellow painted details including a red Autobot logo stamped on his chest. The face is silver with a metallic mid blue eyevisor. While the colours aren't identical, the layout of his colours strongly resembles that of the Minibot. The colours work very well visually, and while he's lost the grey from G1, the while does the trick nicely.
The detailing here is pretty good and contributes to the tribute. The face looks very much like that from the G1 cartoon and the chest detailing matches both the show and the Minibot. The front of the buggy is visible as the boots, as on G1. The rear tyres are visible on the shoulders while the front tyres are on the back of boots - not as visible as on the G1 toy. There's a lot of the character here, which is something I really like about this toy.
The poseability is fairly good here. The head and waist are fixed while the shoulders have both hinges and restricted ball joints. The hips are also ball jointed while the knees are hinged. The seats for decent heelspurs and while the lack of lateral movement in his knees does limit the range of action poses here, the heelspurs support what is available.
A very good robot mode for a Legends sized toy, Beachcomber has an attractive colour scheme, a very strong tribute and decent poseability. There's no mistaking the character here and no real flaws. Sure the leg poseability is a little limited, but is by no means lacking at this size.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. Legends Sandstorm is a repaint of Beachcomber.
OVERALL
A good Legends toy with a paint job that exceeds the usual standards of this size class, Beachcomber has a strong tribute, especially in robot mode. The play value is good at this size and the colours work well aesthetically. The misaligned rollcage is a notable flaw but not enough to curb my enthusiasm for the first revisiting of a fairly popular G1 character - 9/10
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