Here we have Springer in his ground vehicle mode. In terms of looking like accurate to one of his altmodes, it does the job fairly well. As a vehicle on its own, the design is the stronger of the two. What I mean by that is how the ground vehicle mode does look like what he should turn into. I appreciate it for having that sci-fi design, even if it's clearly based off a toy from the mid-80s. At least the front wheels look better integrated with the altmode, and having them in the front for this mode works well compared to the old toy where the wheels remained in place. Still, you gotta wonder how big this guy's going to be given how small the cockpit is if it was a real vehicle. The rear of the altmode does look a little too bland without the green and yellow, but it looks fine otherwise.
The turret of the vehicle mode can freely swivel, and maybe a little too freely for this mode. Also, the design of the turret looks tacky. You have the propeller base with the guns and blades attached, but it looks too half-assed for it to look. You can simply attack the gun on the roof if you like, but you gotta use all the ports and tabs, I guess.
Sadly, the yellow paint on this toy chips off a little too easily. This is the other kind of battle damage I hate in this figure. Try and be careful when handling this toy.
Getting to the helicopter mode is fairly involved, and more than I originally anticipated. The tail is more involved in this case thanks to the legs hinging out into the proportions of what a helicopter tail made from Springer's legs would look like. The arms shift back to flow with the front of the altmode also have some small fins to hinge out if you untab the shoulder tabs before attaching them under the hands. This mode is not quite as nice as the ground vehicle mode for plenty of reasons. First off, it's barely altered from the front, even with the side pieces moved back and the guns added. Also, the helicopter tail looks like the rear portion of the altmode has been stretched out and squished to vaguely resemble what it's supposed to. The helicopter blades work better here and spin nicely, though making it look like it's integrated rather than a separate accessory would have worked better, honestly.
You can tell just how weird the helicopter tail looks in this view. I know it's trying to be like the G1 design, but I would have at least preferred if it didn't resemble an overly stretched car with a propeller blade attached.
Now for the transformation(s); if you transform him from armored car to robot, it's a bit simpler with the legs. Transforming Springer from his helicopter mode to his robot mode is a bit more involved due to the legs requiring that you hinge the pieces of the lower legs into their robot mode tab. The hips have to rotate to face forward, and then the thighs have to face forward. When going back into his vehicle modes, you have to waist with the back of the cockpit. The torso's transformation consists of the chest opening up to allow the hinges used to hold the arms in their proper spots before locking them in. I think the chest could have a slightly tighter connection, but everything else is fine. Shoulder flaps hinge into the front pylons while the boosters hinge up on the back.
The robot mode is undoubtedly based on the character model of Springer, though the torso has the old toy's flat surface (albeit being predominantly green than being all yellow), and the shoulder pylons are hinged down but don't go to the sides. Seems like an amalgamation, but at least it's not a straight slavish look to the cartoon, as the cartoon design looked a little too rounded out. This guy looks better than the cartoon model, though I have to admit, he does feel a little underwhelming next to the T30 version (which we'll get to soon). He's got all the Springer details you need, including lower legs that are a blue-gray while the thighs are in very pale green. He's fairly chunky from the sides, and the back has most of the forest green. The battle damage is fairly spread out in this mode like with Optimus and Megatron, as it's featured on the chest, shoulder pylons, and shins.
The head sculpt looks like Springer, and the cheek guards are painted in a dark green compared to the base light green plastic for the helmet (and pale green for the face) while the eyes are blue with the inner slots of the cheek guards painted in yellow. Also, he vaguely looks like an Autobot version of Galvatron in terms of the head design, except he's less maniacal and more self-assured.
You already know the articulation by this point if you read the other reviews, but to the uneducated, here are the points of articulation he has: Head is on a ball joint, shoulders move front and back on swivels, in and out on shoulder hinges, swivel at the biceps, more than 90 degree bends at the elbows, and wrists that swivel. The waist swivels (but not at 360 degrees because of the back kibble), the hips move front and back as well as in and out, the thighs swivel, knees bend, and the ankles hinge as well as pivot. Sadly, the ankles and even the hips on my copy feel a little loose. Not to the point where the toy will have trouble standing regardless of what surface it's on, but it does make posing the toy or having him stand up next to some other figures a little challenging.
This Springer and the Kreon are the only versions of the character to come with two swords. Normally, he comes with at least one sword to wield, but because of the way these work as propeller blades, he instead goes for the dual wield. What are the chances this guy will be repainted into a version of Drift to homage the similarities in design and the altmodes Drift turned into from Age of Extinction? Selects would make a perfect way to get that version of the toy.
Some of his other weapons include the two pistols that combine into a longer rifle as he's known to wield. If you want, you can pose him with one sword and the combined gun. Springer's propeller blade base can attach to his forearms and mimic Blackout's rotor blade weapon; could go for some effect parts, but I'm not going to buy two Lionizers just for the effect pieces. The gun and blades can combine to form a super weapon of sorts, but if the weapons aren't needed, you can always stash them in the back, and it makes for some decent weapon storage. Perhaps the weapon storage does foreshadow how the back kibble will look if the toy was reused for Drift...hmmm...
The only reuse we have is one based on his Marvel Comics and toy appearances, which is a pretty unexpected repaint for him to have. He's now pea green and corn yellow while his arms and lower legs are no longer green or gray blue but are now instead gray.
For a comparison between his 2013 predecessor and a non-Hasbro figure, here he is next to Thrilling 30 Springer and FansProject Warbot Defender. I gotta be honest and say that I was disappointed that the new Springer doesn't have the same kind of kickass look present on the Thrilling 30 version; by comparison, it looks more like a smaller Masterpiece in comparison to the mainline action figure. While that doesn't mean that Siege Springer is an awful toy (far from it, he's actually pretty good overall!), it does make him look a little too uninspired compared to Nick Roche's redesign of the character in the Last Stand of the Wreckers comic series. However, he does look much nicer than Warbot Defender. The thing about Warbot Defender and the likes of the City Commander armor and the Protector armor is that you know what they are going for; assets meant to go along with the early CHUG display when it comes to the aesthetics of the Classics figures, made in-between the Cybertron line and Transformers MV1. Those figures had that stylized look to them, and while it worked fine for City Commander and Protector, Warbot Defender ends up looking a little too stylized. Sure, the paint apps and details look great, and there's a nice heft of metal included, but the design looks a little too out of place compared to the other figures, though it might just be me seeing the Generations line since I didn't really know anything about Classics and Universe until years later. Combine the dated aesthetics with the frustrating transformation and lack of stability, and Warbot Defender is summed up with being a decent figure for its time yet manages to be worse with age, especially compared to both of Hasbro's offerings.
For a size comparison with his fellow 1986 Autobots, here he is with fellow Siege figure Ultra Magnus, Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar, Legends Arcee, and Titans Return Hot Rod. As you can see, Springer's leaning to Magnus to talk about Arcee's hips while Magnus plans to shoot Wreck-Gar with one of his rockets, but more importantly, the scale between these figures works well as far as I remember the 1986 Autobot crew's individual heights. I'll anticipate the release of Earthrise Arcee and wait for better offerings for Wreck-Gar. I'll also get Titans Return Kup, Blurr, and Wheelie.
As for Springer himself, I think he doesn't have quite the same levels of awesome that the T30 version is, and I do plan to get that version soon to fill up my Springer appetite (while also making a shelf devoted to Transformers that are too good to be next to other figures or don't scale with them). Still, this take on the Autobot Triple Changer is pretty good when it comes to design, ground vehicle mode aesthetics, articulation, leg transformation, and weapon options, though he falls short with the helicopter mode, loose hips & ankles, and the propeller/turret base not looking that integrated with either vehicle mode. He'll be a little hard to get, so if you see him at a good price, buy him.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
For a size comparison with his fellow 1986 Autobots, here he is with fellow Siege figure Ultra Magnus, Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar, Legends Arcee, and Titans Return Hot Rod. As you can see, Springer's leaning to Magnus to talk about Arcee's hips while Magnus plans to shoot Wreck-Gar with one of his rockets, but more importantly, the scale between these figures works well as far as I remember the 1986 Autobot crew's individual heights. I'll anticipate the release of Earthrise Arcee and wait for better offerings for Wreck-Gar. I'll also get Titans Return Kup, Blurr, and Wheelie.
As for Springer himself, I think he doesn't have quite the same levels of awesome that the T30 version is, and I do plan to get that version soon to fill up my Springer appetite (while also making a shelf devoted to Transformers that are too good to be next to other figures or don't scale with them). Still, this take on the Autobot Triple Changer is pretty good when it comes to design, ground vehicle mode aesthetics, articulation, leg transformation, and weapon options, though he falls short with the helicopter mode, loose hips & ankles, and the propeller/turret base not looking that integrated with either vehicle mode. He'll be a little hard to get, so if you see him at a good price, buy him.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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