Windy City Chase (Walmart exclusive)
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Review by EVA_Unit_4A
"With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And Fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call home. We live among its people- hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to all Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here, we are waiting."
--epilogue from “Transformers” (2007)
With those words, a beacon was sent, alerting the cosmos to our presence in a way we never imagined. Some Autobots responded, but more Decepticons- learning of the death of Megatron- came to seek revenge, to take the throne of their faction for themselves, or simply to see that their leader was truly gone and wonder what would happen next. Two years after the All Spark Cube was destroyed, the Autobots have sought asylum in the United States, and they work closely with its government to form N.E.S.T. (Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) to cooperate in tracking down arrant Decepticons hiding on Earth and keep the human race unawares amidst growing conspiracies. But with increasing alien activity across the world, it is suspected that the Autobots themselves may be encouraging Decepticons to come to Earth by their very presence here, and the relationship is beginning to become strained. Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky has gone to college, but on his first day he begins uncontrollably spouting gibberish like his great-grandfather over a hundred years earlier. It is discovered that he now retains, deep in his mind, the full knowledge of the destroyed All Spark Cube! Learning of this, the Decepticons steal the last shard of the All Spark, and rebuild Megatron. Teleporting himself to another dimension, Megatron consults with his master- an ancient and evil traitor known as The Fallen, who is the leader of all Decepticons. The Fallen plans to harvest Earth’s Sun for Energon at the cost of destroying the planet as he would have thousands of years ago were he not driven off by the Dynasty of Primes- the original leaders of Cybertron. But to do this, The Fallen must recover the long-lost Matrix of Leadership from the secret Tomb of the Primes- which Sam now holds the only key to finding- to activate the Solar Harvester. And the last surviving descendant of the Dynasty- Optimus Prime- is the only one who can stop The Fallen now…
Autobot Slap Dash and Decepticon Trenchmouth are new characters in the Transformers multi-verse, and so have no dedicated individual backgrounds other than what it says on the box:
“Everything SLAP DASH does, he does in a hurry. Not because he’s fast- though he is- but more because he’s lazy. Careful planning just isn’t his thing. Unfortunately, TRENCHMOUTH is not the sort of Decepticon you want to fight without some foresight. He may be a filthy, poorly tuned road hog, but he’s also a smart, canny fighter.”
(Umm… okay.)
Autobot Slap Dash
This toy is the second repaint of Autobot Nightbeat, which debuted in the “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” toy line. There are no changes to it other than plastic & paint coloring.
The choice of coloring, however, seems to be based on Generation One’s Autobot Wheelie, whose vehicle mode is somewhat similar.
Vehicle Mode
Robot Mode
Decepticon Trenchmouth
This toy is the third repaint of Autobot Knock-Out, which debuted in the “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” toy line. There are no changes to it other than plastic & paint coloring.
Vehicle Mode
Though both wheels spin freely, there is no kickstand to keep it upright. Coincidentally, because of his transformation, Trenchmouth can turn his front wheel side-to-side a little.
Robot Mode
I will say it can be a bit of a pain to get Trenchmouth (what the Hell kind of name is that??) out of his vehicle mode, especially when it comes to separating the bumper and back wheel parts, but I still like his transformation. I kinda wish the panels on either side of his legs would snap into position rather than always free-turning. I also liked how his right arm has a blaster instead of a hand, and how both halves of the back wheel are on ball joints to allow you to reposition them as you wish in robot mode. Nice small changes. I do fear, though, that his ankle joints are too lose and will eventually give out and never hold him upright again.
For Slap Dash, getting everything to realign in vehicle mode can be time-consuming and a bit of a pain. But it is a totally adorable compact muscle car he changes into, very European commuter car-ish. The little Automorph bit in his torso is nice, but the first few times you do it can be tricky because you don’t know where to hang on to. Also the lower half of his head (this little figure has a movable mouth when even the larger Leader-class figures don’t!?) can slip down too far over time, necessitating a fishing trip every two-or-three transformation cycles. The kibble on his lower arms can get in the way once in a while, and he is a bit disproportionate body-wise, but overall his poseability is quite superb for such a little figure. No weapons for Slap Dash, shrug?
To be honest, the only reason I got these two was because I missed my chance to get any of their earlier incarnations, whether it be from lack of money or disinterest in the colors used in the repaints. AND I got both in the same two-pack! Trenchmouth’s colors are not the best, but they’re not puke-y like some of the previous ones. He’s got more attitude that his partner in this set too, though the kibble panels on his legs might drive some crazy. And Slap Dash is what he is, and I would have gotten any of his predecessors. He’s a bit of a pain to transform, but both modes are on the satisfying side even if his alt mode is more reminiscent of the cartoon-y G1 Wheelie rather than the serious Bayformers style. Recommended if you like repaints of these two.
Author Information
| Posted 2 January, 2011 - 22:30 by EVA_Unit_4A |
Comments
1 comment postedI'd like to see Trenchmouth repainted as CyKill from GoBots. He does sort of look like an updated CyKill,with the shoulder wheels and the sort of dome head with inset mouth area.