Prowl has been pretty prominent in different forms of Transformers fiction, with the only exceptions being in the movies (because of Barricade), the Aligned Continuity (at least in the cartoons and High Moon games), and Earthspark (not yet but he has a toy). RID 2001 brings him back, and I feel it makes sense to see this guy as one of the returning names in this reboot to add a sense of familiarity to an entirely new version of the Transformers series. He is more of a cop that follows the rule book compared to the G1 version who so happens to turn into a cop car and is a military strategist instead, but then again, RID Prowl works as more of a robot in disguise in, well, Robots in Disguise (2001). How does this guy hold up along with recent action figures?
Here we have Prowl in his vehicle mode, which depicts him as a Lamborghini Diablo. While odd that a higher-end car is used in law enforcement, this at least could be justified by having him chase after the craziest of street racers across the city he happens to be in. And amusing how he is another Lamborghini Transformer long nearly 2 decades since the G1 brothers Sideswipe and Sunstreaker or AOE Lockdown 10+ years since RID 2001 ended. People would probably wonder why he looks more like Red Alert rather than Prowl, so here are two things I want to say: 1) who cares, and 2) we'll cover you on some repaints later in the review. This guy, like the two Super Class toys covered, has rubber tires and chrome rims. Unfortunately for me, my copy has the white paint on the siren chipped away, though it's due to the toy being over 20 years old.
The two thrusters can connect on the spoiler via two tabs on each edge to make an already fast car double its speed for any Predacon/Decepticon chases.
Here he is along with the other two Autobot Brothers, and as mentioned before, I like that they represent a more modern take of the G1 Autobot Cars concept where despite being smaller as a group, they each have unique identities that also showcase a sign of evolution. With Prowl, he's not just a new take on the classic character, but he also represents a bit of Lambro DNA with his altmode, especially in the case of the altmode being a white emergency vehicle similar to Red Alert. More on that later in the review, but I should mention his chipped siren paint is more visible here.
Transforming him into his robot mode is easier than with Side Burn, as the kibble isn't anywhere near as cumbersome this time around. The rear of the car serves as some of the major body parts of the design via shoulders, and the rear panel that connects to them both in vehicle mode makes for a smaller yet easier to use shield. The back is compact this time around in spite of not being flat and flush, while the doors serve as hip skirt armor that almost gives a samurai vibe. Cliche comparison, I know. That being said, I like the design Prowl's robot mode generally has. The forearms may be a bit skinny, but it is at least appreciative to see the rest of the design feel better engineered compared to his younger brother. The doors add to the design as far as action figure standards are concerned, the shoulder pads are nicely painted from the inside on top of utilizing clear plastic for a layered appearance, and the blue on the waist and lower legs compliments the white. Even the chest emblem has red chrome, though the molding of the Autobot insignia looks a bit off. The back does look ugly, but not as cumbersome as Side Burn.
His head sculpt is more reminsicent of the Japanese super robot vibe, what with the mouthplate and pointy chin vibe to go with a pretty aerodynamic head shape we'd later see on Team Bullet Train, but it makes sense given how RID 2001 was an anime while G1 was more traditional Transformers affairs with aesthetics (as far as reusing Japanese toys or making new designs up are concerned). His articulation consists of a neck swivel, ball joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles, and hinges for the arms mostly used for transformation. The upper hinge could help work for a double elbow, while the outward hinge makes the articulation a bit awkward. You can attach the two thrusters on the right arm to balance out the kibble and make him ready to fight any bad guys with the pressure launch missiles. The only issue I have would be how the waist tends to dislodge from the sliding rail if you try moving the legs out while the doors are in the way, so maybe move them up a bit while posing.
You can also attach them to the siren if you want to give him a bit of a flight mode, which I think fits well for a character design like this.
As far as repaints are concerned, we have to start off with the Super Prowl repaint, where he's got a whole lot more blue this time around to go with the alt mode's different police cruiser paint job. Gold Chrome is used this time around, while the sirens and the red and blue circles on the shoulders correspond pretty well. This and the Prowl I have with me are the Hasbro versions, since they have Autobot insignias while the Takara aversions don't; I feel the insignias compliment the designs well.
After that, we have an all clear version of the Takara Mach Alert. Exclusive only in a 3-pack featuring himself, Speedbreaker/Side Burn, and Wildride/X-Brawn with matching clear plastics.
Hasbro made their own repaints from here, starting with the Universe 2003 Prowl, adding red paint apps on the spoiler, "105" on the wind shield, dragon flame decals on the doors with additional red paint apps, and a huge Autobot insignia. The toy is otherwise the same as on the Hassbro version.
Up next, we have Universe Inferno, available exclusively in a 2-pack with a red X-Brawn repaint named Ratchet. Yes, this Red Alert-looking guy is named Inferno, but it's because Hasbro intended to use the name for him before something popped up (probably because of Armada's Red Alert to avoid confusion with the G1 guy), though this guy being named Inferno was a mistake. As a result, there is a story where a version of Beast Wars Inferno took over the body of this Red Alert when the latter died.
Hasbro did, however, use the names of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. This is Sideswipe, making the Diablo look surprisingly good in G1 red. No remolding was done, and I'm sure TFWiki still wished this guy was a retool of Armada Wheeljack. But this looks neat in a weird way.
And finally, we have Sunstreaker, who is Sideswipe but in the appropriate colors. It should be mentioned that their roofs were in unpaintable plastic so they had to use stickers to cover up the white plastic.
Here we have Prowl along with his G1 counterpart, showcasing how much has changed between the two. I honestly like the way RID Prowl looks when it comes to having an identity of his own, especially if you compare his more stylized design to that of the more mundane Datsun Design Affairs. Not saying G1 Prowl sucks, but I know one has a lot more going for him than the other. I bet there were G1 purists who made jabs about how anime was crazy back in the day for doing something like this when it's easily better than what anime does nowadays in general; I also bet that if this was how Prowl looked in the Bayverse, people would get triggered easily.
And here he is with the Autobot Brothers, as he stands on his left side (our right side in this POV shot), looking radical yet awesome like a lot of RID 2001 is. This is a figure I do recommend the most out of the trio, especially given his alt mode and bot mode are both equally appealing when it comes to their appearances; this is in contrast to Side Burn, who looks great in car mode while his bot mode may take things a bit too far for some. We'll check out X-Brawn next time!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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