Here we have Seaspray in his vehicle mode, which is a pretty solid recreation of his original toy but with somewhat bulkier proportions. Given how a lot of characters in Season 2 were as toy-accurate as possible for their character models, this is the case for Seaspray as well. For starters, you have the yellow stripes that are actually his robot thighs in the middle, in addition to the proportions capturing that toyetic look common with many of the Minibots from G1. The yellow and blue are appropriately bright, and the white is nice and vibrant. I also love the details simulating the stickers near what will be the robot mode. Thankfully, it doesn't look too much like it is a Missing Link version, but upscaled since the windows are black and filled in.
For a retro comparison, here he is with the original toy. It's nice seeing this not come across too much like an oversized version of the old toy, which is a fear I had with a lot of mid-late 2010s CHUG toys for being too samey and failing to reinvent the wheel. However, the old one had rolling wheels while the new one doesn't.
And here we have him with the other Minibots from Season 2. Their altmode scales and synergy is nonexistent, but to be fair, that was how expectations could be for G1 when the main idea was to bring out as many toys as possible. Still, it is nice to get another stab at these characters in a consistent size class. Before the Prime Wars, Warpath was a Deluxe, Beachcomber and Cosmos were Legends, and Seaspray was a Voyager and not likely meant for G1. Meanwhile, Prime Wars made versions of all 4 characters, but Warpath was a retool of T30 Megatron, and Cosmos was a reissue from the same line Megs came from, but without a Micromaster. All we need now is Powerglide, and with fans now finally completing Windcharger for the Season 1 cast, that would be greatly appreciated.
Transformation is decently involved while still maintaining its cartoon accuracy priority. I like that the feet aren't just moon shoes, and they have some steps involved to make them less clunky; the same goes for the torso to make him properly proportionate, even if his back is flat, while his body looks a little barrel-chested from the side with a gut like that. His arms may look awkward to some because of how broken up they appear, but that is due to the way the forearms rotate 180 degrees. It's always appreciated when a few extra steps are added to make a robot mode better refined, and Seaspray is no exception. I'll admit that he looks a bit awkward with his proportions, with the almost beer gut from the sides and the forearms jutting out a bit from the front, though he doesn't feel as unbalanced as his Titans Return counterpart. I always liked that the fans of the alt mode are over his head, which gives him his visual identity, even if it is a bit Gobot-ish. The giant alt mode front boots have been done before with other Transformers, but they look specifically charming for him with how inflated they appear. Hollow parts are not an issue, but I will comment that there is no piece in the back of the right foot, due to it only being attached on a hinge for the left foot.
Head sculpt is very toy-accurate, from a more detailed mouthplate to a solid black visor instead of visible eyes. If you're bothered by this, then you may as well wait a year or two for a cartoon-accurate retool. Personally, I don't care about how specific Seaspray's head looks in either the show or other media, so I'll probably give him eyes and skip the retool. With his gun in his hand, his articulation consists of a ball-jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movements, rotation at the elbows, slight downward movement at the wrists, a waist swivel, universal hip joints, thigh swivels, hinged knees, and ankle pivots.
For a robot mode size comparison, here we have Seaspray along with the other characters in the Year 2 Minibot scale. It's crazy thinking how these have been popping up almost yearly; Warpath returned for the Kingdom line, then we have the hard-to-find Cosmos in 2022 for the Legacy Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection, before Beachcomber showed up a year later for the Legacy Evolution subline. I hope we can get Powerglide before I quit collecting, so I can finish this set and the Gobot repaints.
And here we have him alongside the old toy that inspired this specific release as well as the HFTD version. I know many are already going to say this is the best Seaspray figure after putting on some Reprolabels for the eye and calling it a day, and while it may apply for a G1 version of the character, I still prefer the 2010 figure a whole lot more. Sure, his colors are drab, but not only is it a badass take on the character, but the transformation is much more satisfying to work with, and the vehicle mode replaces that little toy boat with a more convincing military hovercraft; it looks more like it's ready to scout for any genuine Decepticon threats while still looking like a snorkel diver in bot mode. And hey, while some could find the HFTD toy too associated with the Movie aesthetic, it's not really the case, which led many fans to put him in their CHUG display for a good while, since he wasn't too alien. Still, I recommend Retro Seaspray if he is still available at retail. I know he's a Walmart exclusive, and it always sucks knowing how impossible it can be for some stores to NOT carry him, especially after the Sideways fiasco.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
