Transformers Reviews

Dropkick

May 29, 2008 5:31 pm Ryan Deluxe, Movie Toys, Toy Reviews

OK, because I grabbed him while fumbling around in the dark for a toy to review, today’s review is going to be about Dropkick.

Dropkick, despite being connected with the video game adaptation of the movie, is actually a pretty nice figure. His altmode is a very nice blue and silver Chevy Silverado (actually, it’s not licensed - I’m tempted to call it a Chavy Silverada or something like that, but that seems annoying to try to keep up). In the deco of the truck mode, he’s got what is possibly the biggest faction symbol in the history of the brand - it’s about half the length of the truck. Clever. The truck is lowered to an insane degree, and if I hadn’t seen people actually doing crazy things like that, I wouldn’t believe it to be accurate to reality (Autobot tip: to evade this Decepticon, find some speed bumps!). Unlike Ironhide, this vehicle features something I’ve never seen on another Transformer - the bed cover actually has a pickup bed underneath, and is removable. Very nice. The bed cover doubles as a “capture claw” type device, which is deployable through a spring-loaded cover in the tailgate.

Transformation from Lowriding Pickup Truck to Robot

Separate the two halves of the front end.
Swing the legs down from under the truck bed and remove the bed cover/capture claw, if present.
On each leg, swing the inner section around to the front, and then swing it down. and then swing the foot up. It’ll look kind of like a W. Unfold the heel spur from each foot, and swing back that decorative stick thing on the outstep of each foot.
Pull the two sides of the truck bed away from the centre piece, and then swing them up.
Swing the centre piece of the bed up at the hinge nearest the cab, and then down at the next, and then flatten the tailgate against the back (bumper faces out). Don’t strain these parts like I did, because I can’t follow instructions.
Swing the parts with the front wheels on up, and pull the front bumper pieces away from the remaining hood. The grille and bumper sections can then be swung around and locked against the outside of the forearm, exposing the hands and weapons. Flip the weapons down.
Making sure the bed sections are clear, bring the shoulders back so that the hole on the grey part of the shoulder (under the hood) locks with the peg on the side of the cab.
Flip the roof of the cab up, which allows the spring loaded head to pop up like a jack in the box. Position those spikes next to his head however you think looks good.
Swing the halves of the windshield down, separating them. Put the capture claw in one of his hands (despite the pegs, it’s too bulky and his arms aren’t flexible enough).

With his long, multisegmented legs, Dropkick is pretty tall for an otherwise bulky deluxe. There’s an awful lot of detail in his robot mode, which adds dark blue to the blue and silver colour scheme he had in vehicle mode. I like that he avoided that blasted lens face that the other drones from the game got, and I love the little mechanical details on his chest and abdomen. He’s a got a bit of kibble, but none of it is terribly obtrusive, and I like the interesting placement of it. He’s a bit clunky, unfortunately, due primarily to a bulky upper torso (the cab of the truck is almost unbroken, and it all goes into his chest), and awkward joints. He’s got a lot of articulation, but much of it is spent on ratcheted joints in his legs. I’m also disappointed by the always-deployed blasters on each arm - it would be nice if they could fold out of the way under the forearm, say.

Articulation Breakdown

Head - Appears to be a ball joint, but without the freedom of movement to take advantage of it. Also, two wiggly antenna things.
Arms - Ball joint shoulders, swivel joint elbows (limited to about 150 degrees, by my estimate).
Legs - Ball joint hips, two ratcheted swivel joint knees (that’s one joint per knee), swivel joint ankles.

Score

Deco: Rating: . I like silver and blue, I really do, but something just feels “off” about it. Maybe a bluer blue or a brighter silver would have made it feel more right to me.
Posability: Rating: . He’s got a lot of joints, but too many of them just don’t work. The ratcheted joints in the legs make posing a pain, even though it should be fun with a non-humanoid leg. The arms just clip the torso too much for my liking, too.
Transformation: Rating: . I really like the transformation scheme they went with on this figure. Vehicle parts go to interesting places, and the double-swivel to swing out of the way parts (I’m not sure how best to describe it - like the compound joint and armature that are used to swing the grille out of the way of the hands) is a nice feature that I like for some reason.
Badassery: Rating: . He’s got an interesting face sculpt that screams “Decepticon” to me, and is not physically capable of putting down his blasters. He’s always armed, and ready to rock. Except he can’t run after you, because his legs are a mess, and speed bumps or sharp curbs will defeat him.
Vehicle Mode: Rating: . There’s nothing else I could ask for in a pickup truck alt mode. Lots of detailing, especially the bed cover deal, really sell this as a toy truck. He’s also pretty solid in vehicle mode, which I like.
Robot Mode: Rating: . I like the detailing on the chest, I like most of the kibble placement, but the always-out guns and the rather odd looking abdomen cost some points here.

Overall, he rates in at Overall Rating: . Not too bad, but nothing spectacular. I like him enough that I bought Salvage, but his lack of personality and posability really hurt him.