The Thrilling Thirty line and the first two chapters of the Prime Wars Trilogy gave fans what were considered the best CHUG figures of the Insecticons, with Shrapnel coming first with a Reflector Targetmaster, followed soon after by Bombshell in Combiner Wars with his seemingly planned third weapon mode. Kickback received his own in Titans Return with his own opening cockpit. Apart from their own lines being distinct, these figures are pretty different in their own way in terms of their features mentioned above and how they handle the yellow (solid yellow, metallic gold yellow, and translucent, respectively). However, Hasbro isn't done with the Insecticons yet, as we now have a remake for the last character to receive his figure in the trio, especially with the upsize and better articulation that we've gotten in the WFC trilogy. Now let's take a look at Legacy Kickback!
Here is Kickback in his robotic grasshopper mode. It's quite self-explanatory with how the Insecticons are pretty basic all around, with a few adjustments to their robot parts to make them vaguely insectoid, but it's nothing that substantial considering they're mostly using the wings, twisted heads, and altered legs to convey the look of bugs. I do like the wings and the etched patterns that he has, which help them feel more intricate as is the case with the WFC trilogy's quality. You can add the blades on the wings to make him look more striking, especially if you want to have some weapon storage that adds a bit of a striking look to him.
His weapons can also be placed between his legs for an abdomen type of look that grasshoppers have; it fills in the gap between his legs and adds a bit of a unique look that was otherwise absent on other toys of the character.
For a bug size comparison, you can pretty much tell that there's a major difference between a retro robot that was at first not meant to be a specific character before being rebranded as Transformer next to the characters who were made from scratch while adapting real-life bugs with organic details.
Transformation is pretty straightforward and nothing that inventive, with this guy already having the part layout change from being horizontal to vertical. The arms change a bit and the head turns around but that's it. The robot mode is nicely done and makes me think of Skywarp; in fact, the black and purple works wonders for a potential subgroup exclusive to the Seeker (perhaps an allusion to Cyclonus and his Armada?). He is very vertical in this mode thanks to his knife-like wings, and I have to commend the big legs for filling in the backs of the robot limbs. His chest does not open and is meant for decorative purposes; I don't get it either.
His head sculpt is pretty well done and he almost looks like he's sneering which goes well with his visor. The antennae are thankfully vibrant in yellow though I kinda hate the blemish on the left ear. His articulation is consistent with the rest of the WFC Trilogy, with a ball-jointed neck, shoulders that move front and back on a swivel as well as in and out on a hinge, bicep swivels, elbow bends, a waist swivel, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, slight toe movement from the transformation, and ankle pivots.
His weapons include the gun he normally comes equipped with, which has some metallic purple accents to go with the silver. His blades can be dual-wielded or merged into some form of sword. They remind me of Dark Energon, almost like something that's come with a TFP Hardshell if he wasn't a Cyberverse-only toy.
As for the reuses, we have Ransack in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Creatures Collide 4-pack, which has more yellow and black combined as radiation of colors compared to the refined color scheme Kickback has. His new head is a mouthplated noggin that's Grimlock if he was a bug. The toy-accurate Kickback head is meant to be given to Kickback for a toy-accurate deco.
For a size comparison, he is now a normal Deluxe dude when put next to a Deluxe like Runamuck, while still having a leaner body to make him feel smaller than any normal Decepticon, which is a neat trick of illusion if you ask me. Kickback is a pretty neat addition in the Legacy line that, while not mindblowing, does make for an even better offering for Decepticon fans that felt the Legends Insecticons felt too small compared to everyone else. He certainly made me excited for BombShrap!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment