Tracks is a character that won't shut up about how fabulous he is. He literally said he'd rather be in his vehicle mode than his robot mode, and he likely wants you to remember that even if he just said it. Seriously, that was one of the aspects of how G1 characters were written, which doesn't help that Season 2 certainly added far too many Autobots and Decepticons in the already crowded show. He has had some presence in the previous lines, which is proof that he's not just some filler-type robot. Whether it's Alternators, Reveal the Shield, or Masterpiece, you know he's had a presence in one way or another.
Here is Tracks in his vehicle mode. It's an unlicensed approximation of the Corvette Stingray that he had in G1, and it looks like how it should. The Autobots in the WFC trilogy generally capture the vehicle modes that they take the form of G1, all without being too specific to the real-world vehicles that the Masterpiece line generally boasts (though Bumblebee's Netflix release breaks the norm). The shade of blue is nice and appropriate for the character, and I like the clear windows also in blue (though they're as fragile as the backpack of Studio Series 86 Jazz). It's nice that the rims are painted silver, and the flame deco, while good at breaking up all the blue, is pretty lackluster apart from the Autobot insignia. I wish it had the toy deco because this looks more like a splotch of paint instead of a proper Trans Am Firebird logo. It looks good overall but I can't help but wish that the front fenders tabbed in place better since they have small cracks left. You have the obligated flight mode that is accessible simply by bringing the arms out, then the wings, and the tailfins. You can also attach the weapons on the back. It's neat that it's carried over, and it was definitely around the same time we had a more famous car that can fly (The DeLorean from Back to the Future), but this makes him less of a triple changer and more on-par with the Transmetals from Beast Wars.
For a size comparison, here he is in-between Earthrise Hoist and Siege Red Alert (I will find the Kingdom versions, don't worry). He's appropriately smaller than both of them given how the Corvettes were not big cars to begin with. That's sadly the nice I can say about the figure.
Transformation is good in theory, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Put simply, the way the roof transforms makes me worried about how the clear plastic will last from repeated transformations; it's not durable enough to withstand the tabs and tolerances of spacing. I don't like how the wings have to be taken out; the white plastic feels too thin, and while they're great for preventing paint-chipping, they feel flimsy. Speaking of flimsy, the piece that swivels the backpack feels like it's as thin as the spine on the modern Camaro Studio Series Bumblebee. The way the legs transform is by far the worst, as you have to contend with panels and a handful of hinges that are too loose and don't stay in place even if you have everything aligned right. It requires putting everything in the right spot in a precise manner, but it's nowhere near as nice as the way figures like Siege Sideswipe or Earthrise Wheeljack did. The resulting robot mode looks accurate overall, and it looks mostly good. The chest is faux, which is fine, but it does feel much smaller than the rest of his blocky body. The backpack is as big as the ones that the Battlechargers, but while they looked like blocky bots, Tracks looks kind of fat with the backpack and front of the torso combined. The legs are fairly good, but the gaps around the ankles are inexcusable. Every figure manages to look good with their feet, but this guy screws it up badly. Oh, and the missiles are on the top.
Head sculpt is very accurate, and the weird thing is that the helmet is painted white while his face is painted red...and neither has washed out details...so what is the base used for the figure's head plastic? His articulation is on-par with every Deluxe in the line; ball joint in the head, shoulders move front and back, in and out, biceps swivel, elbows bend, and the waist swivels. The hips move front and back, in and out, the thighs swivel, the knees bend (a little loosely), and the ankles are on ball joints. The shins tend do dislodge as badly as Beewun Optimus in Studio Series. Oh, and he has his little gun.
For the only reuse out of the mold so far, here we have Road Rage! This figure is a Target exclusive like T-Wrecks, and while it may be a color swap of Tracks to some extent, I like this deco more than Tracks; sure, it's another red car, and there are plenty of red Autobots overall, but I like the black compared to the gray, the black windows look nice, and the head sculpt is a nice touch to further make her distinct from Tracks. Also, her flame deco is superior to Tracks!
For a size comparison, here he is in-between the same Year 2 Autobots. Funny how he's a new mold while in G1, Red Alert and Hoist were reuses of Sideswipe and Trailbreaker (though in Earthrise, Hoist came first). Tracks could have been an amazing figure, but I don't like the torso, I don't like how the legs don't stay in place, the ankle gaps are bad, I am not a fan of the clear plastic or the wings, and the tolerances are just flimsier than with any other figure in the line. It's on par with Chromia's thighs and the looseness of Wingfinger. This guy also commits a major Transformers sin by leaving the production number on the shin! ON A SHIN!!! Sure, the articulation is solid and the car mode looks nice, but from a line that made solid Autobot Cars, I expect better.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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