With a restock of wave 2 at a nearby ToysRus, I was able to get myself a Breakdown.
Before we start, Motormaster and Offroad were also present, but I'm broke, so I can't assemble the team yet. Also, The pics this time around are much brighter and sharper, since I took the pics in the morning, as opposed to a dimly lit bedroom.
So, Breakdown. I'll be honest, the 1st time I've seen pics of him, I was not impressed. He looked weedy and hollow. So expectations are dead low.
He's alternate mode is that of a Lamborghini, a bit of Diablo, and a bit of Gallardo on the head lamp cluster.
He is basically a pre-yellowed car, with the G1 deco. Red on the hood, blue around the sides. A lot yellower than what the picture suggests. I don't know where the designers are getting their head lamp designs, but they seem really impractical.
The wheels are painted. The window has 15racing tampographed onto the windscreen. What it references to, I have no idea.
I would have traded the 15 racing to maybe red tail lights. But that's too much to expect coming from Hasbro. The port can function as an exhaust, detail wise.
His weapon storage is a bit more involved. It's not as simple as pegging into round holes, Mainly because he only has one. His hand/foot gun has some engine detailing on top, and the thumb has a square peg...
..which pegs into the back rectangle port. The top of the car has two ridges, and the hand/foot gun has some grooves in it.
It fits snugly, and looks like a future Sunstreaker for Ultra Prime. It will look better if the engine detail on the top of the weapon was painted.
The sword/gun has a peg...
...which fits in a peg hole at the side of the car, where the the shoulder ball joint peeks through.
So now he has gun and slice people, while in reconnaissance.
Transforming him is similar to Dead End, at least on the upper torso. Unlike Dead End or Drag Strip, the order actually matters due to the way he is tabbed together. 1st flip the windshield up.
unpeg the front splitter. This connects the head to the chest.. but do not put it all the way down yet. Fold the rest of the hood to the back, leaving the head plate hanging for now.
One thing to note that there is a peg in the combiner port, which pegs into the base plate of the head (or the firewall). Quite tricky to line them up when transforming him back to a car.
Now swing the arms up a little bit. Note it swings from the blue part... but again do not swing it all the way up yet. This will untab the "door" to the leg. Note at the "hook" on the peg. Try pulling that out and see what happens.
You can now transform his legs. There is a hinge that allows the leg to be flipped down.
That will result result in the leg being extended... and a side effect of it being hollow.
Last step on the leg is to flip down the toes and rear wing to form the heel.
to continue on the upper torso, flip the arms up a little, and flip the chest plate down and tab it into the two tabs on chest.
finally flip the blue shoulders up. this will "lock" the shoulders into the chest.
And he is complete. Standing him up can be troublesome.. which we'll get to in a bit. He is a bit squat, with the shoulders too close to the chest, and a little low. He is primarily white (just), with large patches blue and silver detaining on the chest and feet, and a red face. One thing I don't like is the arms... which is just white. I wish the fists were at least painted.
The back contains a peg for the combiner hand/foot gun.
One thing going for him, is the head sculpt and the chest plate details.
Articulation-wise, He has all the basics. Ball-jointed head, shoulders. Double-jointed elbows and a waist swivel.
It has ball-jointed hips, thigh swivels and a 90 degree knee joint.
His hip joints are separate, like an SHFiguarts. Which means you can pull one leg down... but he doesn't need it. It's there for a different reason. But in robot mode, it just makes him fiddly to pose and stand. What I do, is after posing him, Plop him down and adjust the hips and legs.
Now , one thing that surprised me is how smooth and tight the joints are. The hollow shins are solid. Not flimsy at all. I was expecting FOC Grimlock levels flimsy.
For weapons, he comes with a double-barreled gun, and a gun/sword. The gun/sword blade is painted surprisingly, and the hand/foot gun are molded in two different shades of purple.
His poseability is just enough to make use of his weapon.
The hand/foot gun actually looks like a gun. Seems some of the aesthetics were sacrificed a bit for a good set of weapons.
Also, as mentioned earlier, you can peg the hand/foot gun can peg to the back.
Size-wise, he is a bit chunky, but is about as tall as the rest of the stunticons. He feels a bit better than Dead End, and doesn't feel as loose and brittle.
To turn him into arm mode, simple transform the upper body half-way into car mode, and peg the legs together.
Lower the shoulders to free up the chest plate, flip the chest panel all the way to the back.
Flip the connector out and peg the hand in and you are done.
Now going back to the hip joint, it functions as the elbow... but the range is a bit limited... and is too fat to be an arm.
Leg mode is simpler. From car-mode, just flip the hood and chest to the back, peg the foot and you are done.
He is a pretty solid leg. A log better looking IMO than Dead End as a leg.
In conclusion, I was surprised on how solid he is, despite the hollow legs and arms. He doesn't have the flimsiness of toys, with similarly hollow limbs. However, to me the perfect toy would be Dead End, with Breakdown's plastic quality, double-jointed Elbows and his foot. But as a stand-along toy, he is good. Joint's are tight and fluid, Great head sculpt, decent arm mode, solid foot mode, painted weapons with good detailing. Downside are his peculiar proportions, and fiddly hips. Still, I'd recommend him, simply because he is more solid than he looks.
 |
| His wallet is bleeding |
Before we start, Motormaster and Offroad were also present, but I'm broke, so I can't assemble the team yet. Also, The pics this time around are much brighter and sharper, since I took the pics in the morning, as opposed to a dimly lit bedroom.
So, Breakdown. I'll be honest, the 1st time I've seen pics of him, I was not impressed. He looked weedy and hollow. So expectations are dead low.
He's alternate mode is that of a Lamborghini, a bit of Diablo, and a bit of Gallardo on the head lamp cluster.
 |
| Not his photo |
 |
| Guess why He liked the stunticons the most. Ugh car bore |
He is basically a pre-yellowed car, with the G1 deco. Red on the hood, blue around the sides. A lot yellower than what the picture suggests. I don't know where the designers are getting their head lamp designs, but they seem really impractical.
 |
| You want realistic headlamps, in a toy.... |
I would have traded the 15 racing to maybe red tail lights. But that's too much to expect coming from Hasbro. The port can function as an exhaust, detail wise.
His weapon storage is a bit more involved. It's not as simple as pegging into round holes, Mainly because he only has one. His hand/foot gun has some engine detailing on top, and the thumb has a square peg...
..which pegs into the back rectangle port. The top of the car has two ridges, and the hand/foot gun has some grooves in it.
 |
| He found out about the pegs hours after he took the photos... which is why there are no pics of it. |
The sword/gun has a peg...
...which fits in a peg hole at the side of the car, where the the shoulder ball joint peeks through.
So now he has gun and slice people, while in reconnaissance.
 |
| A lambo with a blade... all his dreams have come true |
unpeg the front splitter. This connects the head to the chest.. but do not put it all the way down yet. Fold the rest of the hood to the back, leaving the head plate hanging for now.
One thing to note that there is a peg in the combiner port, which pegs into the base plate of the head (or the firewall). Quite tricky to line them up when transforming him back to a car.
 |
| firewall... really? |
You can now transform his legs. There is a hinge that allows the leg to be flipped down.
That will result result in the leg being extended... and a side effect of it being hollow.
Last step on the leg is to flip down the toes and rear wing to form the heel.
to continue on the upper torso, flip the arms up a little, and flip the chest plate down and tab it into the two tabs on chest.
And he is complete. Standing him up can be troublesome.. which we'll get to in a bit. He is a bit squat, with the shoulders too close to the chest, and a little low. He is primarily white (just), with large patches blue and silver detaining on the chest and feet, and a red face. One thing I don't like is the arms... which is just white. I wish the fists were at least painted.
The back contains a peg for the combiner hand/foot gun.
One thing going for him, is the head sculpt and the chest plate details.
Articulation-wise, He has all the basics. Ball-jointed head, shoulders. Double-jointed elbows and a waist swivel.
It has ball-jointed hips, thigh swivels and a 90 degree knee joint.
 |
| Add caption |
Now , one thing that surprised me is how smooth and tight the joints are. The hollow shins are solid. Not flimsy at all. I was expecting FOC Grimlock levels flimsy.
For weapons, he comes with a double-barreled gun, and a gun/sword. The gun/sword blade is painted surprisingly, and the hand/foot gun are molded in two different shades of purple.
His poseability is just enough to make use of his weapon.
The hand/foot gun actually looks like a gun. Seems some of the aesthetics were sacrificed a bit for a good set of weapons.
Also, as mentioned earlier, you can peg the hand/foot gun can peg to the back.
 |
| Le backscratcher. |
 |
| The pipe actually looks better on Breakdown |
To turn him into arm mode, simple transform the upper body half-way into car mode, and peg the legs together.
Lower the shoulders to free up the chest plate, flip the chest panel all the way to the back.
Flip the connector out and peg the hand in and you are done.
Now going back to the hip joint, it functions as the elbow... but the range is a bit limited... and is too fat to be an arm.
Leg mode is simpler. From car-mode, just flip the hood and chest to the back, peg the foot and you are done.
He is a pretty solid leg. A log better looking IMO than Dead End as a leg.
In conclusion, I was surprised on how solid he is, despite the hollow legs and arms. He doesn't have the flimsiness of toys, with similarly hollow limbs. However, to me the perfect toy would be Dead End, with Breakdown's plastic quality, double-jointed Elbows and his foot. But as a stand-along toy, he is good. Joint's are tight and fluid, Great head sculpt, decent arm mode, solid foot mode, painted weapons with good detailing. Downside are his peculiar proportions, and fiddly hips. Still, I'd recommend him, simply because he is more solid than he looks.
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