Transformers Prime Arms Micron War Breakdown & Jet Vehicon review

I remember back in 2012 when I heard the news that Breakdown would not show up in the Transformers Prime toyline...the fact that it happened along with the First Edition line being hard to find, then the Dark of the Moon stuff being canceled for its last wave, and then a prominent character in the show doesn't even get to have his toy appear on store shelves. It sucked in 2012, but now Hasbro fixed one of their sins by giving us the big blue brute in the Prime series. Not only that but we also got his Vehicon buddy! Well, maybe not buddy in a Knock Out sense, but you get what I mean. Let's take a look at these Arms Micron figures!

Here we have the entire set out of the package. You have both figures, the two sprue kits, and the sticker sheets that won't be applied given how low-quality Arms Micron stickers are.

Here are the Microns in-hand, which are Igu and Zamu. The former looks like an iguana while the latter is a mini rhino. They would honestly look better with the Microns, but I'd rather Reprolabels make better versions of what Takara made.

Igu is a very interesting shape given how part of me expected him to be a warthog or Anteater, but he's certainly an iguana, alright. His legs don't lie flat but they're supposed to be like that. Even with the feet stabilized on there, the peg still stays down. Transformation for the gun mode is cool, though it does look very bulky compared to the Hasbro one.

And this is Zamu! We already know what he looks like, but he's pretty cute despite missing the paint apps or stickers. Some hollow gaps are there within the rhino head despite the small size, but he's still charming nonetheless. His transformation into the hammer mode is obvious but it's cute nonetheless.

Here we have the Jet Vehicon in its vehicle mode. It's essentially the car mode of the original Vehicon but with wings replacing the wheels; that being said, those wings are not the only addition to the design. It's a very sleek and futuristic vehicle mode, that's for sure, what with the angular profile and the sharp points found from the fins, the front, and the wings of course. The vehicle mode also has plenty of Arms Micron ports that are present on the sides of the car as well as the wings. That being said, looking for a good spot for Igu is pretty hard since he's clunky as hell no matter what.

For a comparison with the ground Vehicon, you can see that the vehicle mode is more than just the wings slapped onto the toy. The front of the vehicle mode is new, the side panels are redesigned to give the vehicle mode a more aerodynamic-friendly look, and there are more Arms Micron ports while the Vehicon, despite having two 5mm ports on the back, is otherwise clean.

Transformation very unique for the character, as most figures use the same hood chest-door wing/roof chest and front foot design but the Vehicons have the sides of the vehicle, which are the rear portion of the car and the doors, become the arms. I also love the way the hood and roof fold away to become the legs of the robot mode. New to the Jet Vehicon are the wings that hinge to make room for the rest of the parts. The resulting robot mode is very striking in appearance, which almost has no obvious vehicle parts aside from the leg panels and the wings. This was a thing that worked well with the original Vehicon, and that is brought even further with the Jet Vehicon's lack of wheels. It manages to look very much like a troop-builder without looking too generic nor feeling too specific. The arms are weird as well as the legs, but it goes with this series blending the aesthetics between the movies and Animated. The wings do stick out more than I'd like, but I'll let it slide as this was 2012 HasTak doing what they can with their toys (honestly, their Prime toys turned out mostly better than the Fall of Cybertron toys).

Headsculpt is good for a genericon while still having a unique look to it with the angular design, the colors used, and the sweet purple visor. Despite having no personality, the Vehicons do have the occasional dialogue to prove some of them have a bit of sentience (though whether or not they were given these body types or were originally sparkless vessels like the Beast Machines Vehicons is up for debate). Articulation is what one would expect for a Deluxe at the time, with ball joints used at the head, shoulders, part of the elbows, and hips, hinges for another part of the elbows as well as the knees, and swivels used at the biceps and thighs. Igu can be his cannon, though given how Prime characters integrated their weapons within their arms, it looks outright out of place had it not been a hand-held one like in other worlds.

Let's compare him to his ground-troop counterpart. I like that both Vehicon types are unique from one another in terms of design traits, as the regular Vehicon is nice and sleek while the Jet Vehicon has wings and added spikes. Even the colors are different, with a more Decepticon purple for the regular guy and a lavender shade that surprisingly works for the Jet Vehicon. Also, the chest doesn't have the Decepticon emblem but I may add one unless Toyhax gives us proper labels. One minor issue with the Jet Vehicon is that his rear bumper doesn't hide as nicely as on the regular Vehicon

In terms of prior Vehicon uses. Aside from the required stickers, he's mostly the same in terms of appearance yet has a 5mm port that could look like a booster on the bumper. It's cool but comes at the cost of making the awesome car look a bit worse. His Arms Micron is Noji, who is similar to Igu. 

And this is the Botcon 2014 Pounce repaint from the Dead Pirate Crew. This is pretty much if G1 Pounce and a Vehicon had a love-child that can turn into a pirate. It was a neat repaint but is otherwise not necessary for the Vehicon army unless you wanted to have them be with Thundertron.

Now for Ground Vehicon General, who is basically a silver version of the Vehicon based on the General variant pictured below. While he's not from TFP, he is from the Adventure line, which is the Japanese version of Robots in Disguise. He has a random sticker on the hood that is pretty much what Robots in Disguise 2015 and Adventure toys had for their mobile app gimmicks.

Now for the Jet Vehicon reuses, this is the General variant, which was Starscream's welcome home gift courtesy of Megatron. While he still requires silver and may look a bit bland in vehicle mode thanks to the gray not looking as shiny as the silver, this is still a pretty wicked reuse of the mold.

One more reuse from this tooling, and it's Wingspan! He's pretty much got the same points that Pounce has, except he's a jet variant.

And now we have Breakdown! Finally happy to own the Decepticon bruiser of the show after years of not having a regular American release outside of D-16. This guy's vehicle mode looks badass, with the armored truck design flowing beautifully throughout the toy. What I like most about the vehicle mode is the feel of the size; those windows and doors look small, making Breakdown feel big! While the stickers are not applied to the toy, I will give HasTak credit for leaving the paint apps intact like the grille, mirrors, and bumper.

The sides do look a little bad, with the gaps from the robot mode sort of looking a bit ugly. While the 4mm ports on the rear look fine, the ones from the front and the doors look like they weren't properly tooled to integrate them. Also don't like the one on the hood unless it's supposed to look like that.

The weapon can be placed on the roof, and yes my copy's windshield has a small scratch.

Transformation is pretty involved for this guy, with a bit of a reverse in some steps from Bulkhead. The arms are made from the sides of the front as well as the doors while Bulkhead's are made from within the back of the SUV he was; the legs are made from the back and integrate the panels from the vehicle mode nicely while Bulkhead has faux wheels next to the proper wheels. Finally, the back of the vehicle mode is placed where you'd want it to be while Bulkhead's back is not as accurate. The resulting robot mode makes me ask this question: what makes him unfit for Hasbro's budget? He's on-par with the rest of the Prime: Robots in Disguise toys, and while he lacks the clear parts that the Powerizers have, he's got enough in common with those than they claim. As for the design, this is a great beefy Decepticon with the body making him look like a big boss of a Decepticon, especially compared to his wimpy G1 counterpart. The only real issue comes from how the arms look, but I can excuse that for how they transform. He's lacking some details that the show would have but as mentioned, Reprolabels should fix that.

Headsculpt is accurate to the show, which turns the G1 head from a blockhead with paranoia into a mean motherfucker with piercing yellow eyes and a red face (which looks more orangey when the Takara version is redder). It's small but makes sense for the proportions. Articulation is not too bad for a big boy! His head is on a ball joint, shoulders move front and back as well as in and out, biceps swivel, and the elbows bend. The waist swivels, the hips move front and back as well as in and out, the knees bend, and the feet hinge. You can flip the hands in their vehicle mode position so the hammer can mimic a more screen-accurate weapon deployment. It may not look pretty, but it does the job nonetheless.

In terms of prior Breakdown reuses, this is Swerve, a Takara-exclusive version of the character done up to show how cool Swerve thinks he looks compared to the actual Swerve. He's done up in the G1 colors and weirdly looks more like a knockoff palette swap of Breakdown. His head sculpt is similar to that of a canceled TFP Gears from the Ratchet mold. His Arms Micron is a buzzsaw dude named Sou.

And this is Cylas Breakdown! He is basically an undead version of Breakdown but with his spark replaced with the living corpse of Silas embedded within the chest. The coloring is not entirely accurate to the CGI model since Breakdown's colors are dirtier than they are Nemesis-esque in the cartoon, which was a thing that happened with Nemesis Prime. That being said, he looks cool and even has a new bumper as well as a new head to depict his damaged look. His Arms Micron, Magi, is a dual-bladed weapon that he never had in the show.

And this is C-81, included in a BotCon 2015 set named Cybertron's Most Wanted! This guy is actually a version of Movie Megatron who stumbled into the TransTech universe. He's accompanied with Arms Microns that are given proper names. He comes with the same AM that Cylas Breakdown had but is now white and is ROTF Scalpel. Boombox is the Arms Micron that is reused from the first Arms Micron Megatron and turns into his fusion cannon like with G1 Megatron. His third Arms Micron, Heavyweight, is a pink version of Bulkhead's partner and turns into a pink mace, not unlike G1 Megatron's.

And here he is with both his eternal nemesis and best friend forever, which are Bulkhead and Knock Out, respectively! These three are in good scale with one another, and as mentioned earlier, I don't get how Breakdown's budget doesn't align with the PRID line when he more-or-less has the same quality that the other Voyagers have. He's maybe a little shorter than Bulkhead but it's better than with the First Edition in terms of scale.

I gotta say that it feels so good to have Breakdown in my possession, especially when there was no comparable version of the character that could scale nicely with Bulkhead. Not even a Beast Hunters version was made! An overall great figure to have along with his rival!

And here are the TFP Decepticons that I own in one shot! It's kinda ironic that I own Skyquake, Breakdown, and a Jet Vehicon yet I don't have Soundwave. That being said, these figures look great even in spite of the team not being consistent in terms of who's present and who isn't (I mean Skyquake died right away, Starscream left the team at one point, and Airachnid's not always around). But this 2-pack is a great way to finally obtain a Breakdown figure and a Jet Vehicon at far more affordable prices than back in 2012! The best thing is that Breakdown is labeled as a Deluxe, and the two cost around $39.99! YES! Honestly, forget about paying that same price for repaints of Deluxe figures made in the WFC line, this has far more value for money when you consider how we never got these in the proper Prime line back in 2012!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Arms Micron Megatron Darkness review

TFP Megatron is a figure that'll be hard to nail right because of the different details or how variable the accuracy can be. I do have the original TFP version of Megatron from back in 2012, but I couldn't review it because of the bad sharpie paint I used on it. Before the Darkness version of Megatron, there was the Final Battle version that has the best colors yet has a right arm that should have been remolded or come with a regular right arm. This version of Megatron has the chrome and isn't inaccurate, but I wanted it because I think it'd look better than the one I have. Plus it finally lets me make use out of the line even more. He's even a Siege Netflix figure of his own thanks to the partners he has. Now let's take a look at what this version of the Dark Energon addict has to offer!

Here is the entire set out of the package. You have the core figure, three sprue kits for the Arms Microns, and three crystal pieces in different shapes. There were also stickers but I chose to not apply them to the figure. Maybe I'll give him the Autobot insignia, but when you look at the toy and see details that don't look all that good on the toy, like those tribal tattoos around the legs and forearms, it's best not to apply them on. I will apply the stickers on the Arms Microns, but we'll see.

Here are the two Arms Microns assembled. The process was a lot easier than I originally anticipated, as they're quite easy to follow as well as assemble. Also helps me get into stuff like the Flame Toys figures as well as any Super Sentai Mini-Plas (that is unless Hasbro wants to make better versions of them for Power Rangers). For those unaware, Arms Micron is the Japanese take on the Transformers Prime toyline that replaced most of the paint apps and weapons in favor of stickers and model kits for the weapons. As you can see, one is opaque while the other is translucent. 

This is Gora II, so named as he was a new, slightly bigger version of the original Gora that came with a Deluxe Megatron in the Arms Micron line. This guy is a robotic gorilla that somewhat resembles Animated Lugnut, which is a win in my book because of how cool Lugnut is. His only articulation is in the arms, and his transformation into the fusion cannon is pretty cool. Seeing the Arms go around what were the legs while the head hides itself to reveal the 5mm post is pretty sweet. Said fusion cannon may not be 100% screen-accurate, but it at least looks alright for what it is compared to the one that the Hasbro version came with. 

And this is Hades, who is a demon bat that looks so friggin' cool! He has a good amount of articulation for the head, wings, and even the legs, allowing him to either look perched or in flight (which works well when combined with Megatron). The only thing I don't like is the lack of a secure connection for the top part of the head, and the 5mm does look funny on the cranium. Beyond that, he's a nice little figure, and the scythe mode looks pretty cool despite looking more appropriate for a Unicron version of Megatron. Hasbro, where's our Unitron/Megacron?!

Here we have Megatron in his jet mode. Design-wise, it looks very accurate to the TV show as the figure is basically parts of the robot rearranged to make a spaceship. It does the job fine and looks refined as a toy. The exposed head is accurate and carried over from Movie Megatron since Prime was basically the Movies and Animated combined. That being said, the deco is not as incoherent; the chrome, dark gray, black, and purple all make for a rather inaccurate take on the vehicle mode's coloring. Had it just been the dark gray with small black bits here and there I'd be fine with it but it reminds me too much of the random chrome from Henkei and Age of Extinction. One other thing I wish the toy did better was to make what will become the inner part of the chest look less frail. 

The fusion cannon can be placed on the top and complete the look of the jet mode. Does look uninteresting on its own unless I give it some added details or nicer stickers. 

The two Microns combined make for a rather unaerodynamic jet mode addition but that's Arms Micron for you. Hades slightly doesn't match the same purple tint that Megatron's clear purple plastic has.

Transformation for this guy is actually pretty good. I like how the wings turn into the legs as well as how the front and back of the jets comes together in robot mode. The arms tab better than I remember with this copy but the back of the pelvis needs to be more secure. The robot mode look accurate to Megatron's CGI model in terms of design. From the elements of Movie Megatron with the spiky look and the gun handles on his legs with a bit of a CGI Animated influence to him, this is undeniably TFP Megs. The proportions match the show, and the backpack, despite having the face cover halves on the back, looks fine nonetheless (they were easy to remove on the Hasbro version but this one doesn't seem to budge. Once again, the colors don't match how they look to the cartoon; the dark gray looks perfect and would also compliment the purple arms had it not been for the unnecessary black or chrome. That being said, it looks better here than in the jet mode. Gora II's cannon mode looks bulkier than the real one from the cartoon but looks fine in hand.

Head sculpt looks accurate but has the details of the sculpt obscured somewhat by the chrome. Also annoying is that the back of the head doesn't have it. His articulation is good but somewhat hampered, with a head on a ball-joint that is limited due to the sculpt, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out on ball joints (the stems that hold the balls are at an angle btw), and the forearms weirdly swivel but not above where the elbow bends. Hips move front and back as well as in and out, swivel at the thigh, bend at the knee, and hinge at the ankles while the feet are slanted for a more naturalistic stance.

Since we covered Gora II, the other Arms Micron can be mounted on his arm...and weigh his arm down because it's not tight enough. Alternatively, it can turn into a pair of wings for him. Despite being non-existent in the show, I gotta admit it looks awesome!

In terms of other uses, this is the Hasbro one. He has a much more uniform look that better matches the show at the cost of having a dull light gray and a weird brown that looks awful. The fusion cannon is oversized and weighs his arm down. At least he had the blade but it doesn't lock-in. Had it gotten better weapons and gray, this would be the best version of the mold in terms of Hasbro's uses.

This is Dark Energon Megatron, who looks very slick and makes the weapon look decent. The colors are just as crazy as on the Takara version but at least he makes it work well with the Shadow-Blade homage. He came in a set of BigBadToyStore-exclusive Dark Energon figures that were given cool repaints.

This is Takara's Final Battle Megatron, who looks nearly perfect thanks to his deco as well as the hands and feet not having the crappy light brown plastic....except that he comes with a right forearm that is meant to mimic the Prime arm he used to hold the Dark Star Saber yet is not remolded to look like it. Had it been swappable for this mold or be a new piece that goes over the right arm, that'd be fine enough; hope you love painting over the arm! So close yet so far...

And finally, we have Sharkticon Megatron from Beast Hunters! He looks awesome with the Sharkticon homage and the heavy amount of retooling applied onto the toy. Things like the fins, jagged legs and shoulders, and Sharkticon chest make him wicked. Instead of the fusion cannon, he has another Mechtech-esque weapon that becomes a hand-held weapon (arm-mounting it looks goofy) and is able to turn into the Tartarex Warp Sword (or the less cool-sounding Sharktooth Spear). He may not be a Unicron-possessed Megatron but he looks awesome nonetheless!

For a comparison with a prior version of the mold and another figure in the same size range, here he is with Optimus Prime and my old TFP Megatron. The scale between both Prime and Megs is fine even though Megatron should be taller. As for the other Megatron, that is my old Hasbro Megatron who has been sharpied with a gray marker on the body and purple on the body...which was stupid on my part for not using a silver sharpie. Overall, this Arms Micron Megatron is a brilliant set that puts him on par with the current WFC Trilogy Voyagers as he has transforming weapon partners that are comparable to the Battlemasters. He may not be 100% accurate and require stickers, but as a Hasbro Pulse exclusive, he goes nicely for my collection and pops nicely. Definitely get him since he's $29.99 (10 dollars less than the WFC Voyagers!)

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers: War for Cybertron Dominus Criminal Pursuit review

This WFC thing has been getting a little tiring with going crazy over the repaints, right? Sure, they're pretty much optional, but it shows how fatiguing it is to have to get constant repaints with no real surprises. It was one thing with all the Bumblebee repaints, but it's even worse when you have to consider the constant push towards them. It's not surprising or special anymore, and I'd get more genuinely excited if it were something a little more special like Netflix's Bumblebee and Soundwave. Thankfully, this 2-pack makes up for it with not just a logical Barricade repaint, but also a Punch/Counterpunch worth taking advantage of, the latter being a figure originally seen in the POTP line. Now let's give this set some attention!

Here we have the two characters in their vehicle modes. I want to get their car comparison out of the way since we've already seen the Earthrise Smokescreen mold before and want to focus on (Counter)Punch in his vehicle mode. As you can see, the aesthetics between the two vehicle modes are different from one another, with Barricade having a somewhat realistic approach in his car mode thanks to his sculpted details while (Counter)Punch instead has minimal detailing for him; it makes the two figures feel less like they belong in the same line, yet the latter is here so as to give fans a second chance of getting a version of the mold.

Let's now get Barricade out of the way with a vehicle mode comparison; both the Earthrise and Siege counterparts have the same approach in detailing that they share: a dark gray on the hood with a Black Decepticon insignia on the front, white doors with POLICE writing (English on the Earthrise one, Cybertronix for the Siege one), and to get them out of the way, both of them have the options to use their shoulder cannons on the front (which makes them almost homage Movie Frenzy interrogating Sam Witwicky back in MV1). Some of the things that make the two toys different beyond the designs and profiles include the larger use of purple on the Siege toy; it kind of makes the toy look cooler and I wish Barricade has more purple on him beyond that wimpy lavender. At least he has a gold gun that the Siege one lacked.

And here are all of the uses for the Siege Prowl and Earthrise Smokescreen mold. We've got quite the display when it comes to having the bad cop and the good cop joined alongside with a robot who is not blue despite his name and a robot who was entirely different in Armada and Prime. And yeah, I had to get a Siege Smokescreen just for these comparison pics but at least I paid him for a cheap price!

The transformation is the same as with Smokescreen and co, and the tolerances on him feel very good overall. His robot mode also looks pretty solid, though I'm still not much of a big fan of the lavender shoulders and thighs; they make him look unfinished compared to the slick black. Also wish he has some more purple like with Siege Barricade. Side by side, you can tell how consistent they mostly are, though with the Earthrise one having the Earth look. That being said, I think the head on Siege Barricade looks better for him than the smoother detailing that is from the Earthrise one; it's the opposite thing where Smokescreen's Siege head didn't quite fit him but his Earthrise head works perfectly.

And here are the other uses together! Isn't it funny how Most of them were exclusives in some fashion? Siege Prowl and Barricade were available at general retail, Bluestreak was available at Walmart, and Smokescreen was a Selects repaint; In Earthrise, Smokescreen was the only one to be a retail-exclusive as Prowl was included in an Amazon-exclusive 2-pack with Ironhide, Bluestreak became a Walgreens exclusive, and Barricade became an online-exclusive. Also funny that while Prowl, Smokescreen, and now Barricade were given proper spotlight on a review, Bluestreak is the only one to not be covered beyond mold history mentions as well as in-hand comparisons.

Now let's go over the real star of this 2-pack! Here we have (Counter)Punch in his vehicle mode, certainly having a nice, sleek look to him. The design is very reminiscent of a Hot Wheels car when it comes to the overall appearance; the tires are massive, the grille looks small, and the windshield is thin. Almost impossible to sit in the car mode if it was real, and it's got that international car look that one would find from European vehicles. That being said, I don't like how easy it is to get the front of the car lined up in certain spots (such as the grille and the front quarters), and even with the shoulder fix that I made, the error is still present.

In terms of the coloring, the toy is much lighter than the original toy, which does help it stand out from the original POTP version but does make him look a little less cool than I'd hope. Also makes me wish that the toy would retain the red rims that make him stand out among all the other blue cars; it's weird how some WFC figures lack rim paint when others don't.

For weapon storage, you can either hide the gun underneath the vehicle mode so it won't be left on the roof unless that's what you want it to do. It's a rather small gun so be sure to keep it with the toy.

The transformation is very much reminiscent of the Combiner-Wars figures in terms of engineering. Most obvious is how the legs transform, in a fashion similar to Dead End did (also similarly done with Titans Return Chromedome). The front of the car splits in three parts: the shoulder pads made up of the front quarters and the middle part folding away inside the backpack. The resulting robot mode is quite the design when it comes to making the carformers feel original in design. The torso looks fine but does have a lot of yellow all around it with the panel in the center being the only thing breaking it up. The proportions are also very odd; his torso is fine but the head might be a little too small, his arms a tad too short, and his legs quite longer than the rest of him. The shoulders being swept back is a nice touch and at least tab in place, but the legs look kinda crappy from the front. Oh, and while you can flip down the panels on the front and back (to allow a POTP hand to be attached or hide his allegiance, respectively), the Prime Armor is not included with this set.

The headsculpt is small but painted nicely, with the cap being in a nice black as it contrasts the yellow cheekguards and the silver of the mouthplate and face. The eyes are puny but are painted blue. His articulation is good but a little limited. The head is on a ball joint, and the shoulders can move front and back okay yet are hindered by the shoulders when moving in and out. Biceps swivel, elbows bend, waist swivels, and the hips move on ball joints yet are loose out of the package (while the thigh swivels are tight as hell); the knees bend, but because of his transformation, he has no ankle pivot. You can give him his small pistol, but combining its size with the already short forearms makes for an unamusing combination.

And as for transforming him into Counterpunch, you basically flip the hands, reposition the shoulders so the wheels face the front, hinge the panels in place, and reveal the eyes of the Counterpunch face. It's not that complex of a transformation, but it makes the robot mode look pretty striking in terms of appearance. Firstly, the chest is the roof of the car mode. Second, the legs look much more like legs. Third; the shoulders don't restrict his movement. The articulation is still the same otherwise, as is the yellow pistol.

In terms of the prior version of the mold, this is the Power of the Primes version. He looks much nicer than the current one, with a richer shade of blue, more paint apps on the thighs, red rims, and the Prime Armor that includes the Prime Master Prima himself. While this is like how people saw the Takara toys from Henkei and United compared to the (Counter)Punch we have here, at least the Earthrise one we have here doesn't look like it's in completely wrong colors.

Here we have these two for one last shot. Stylistically, these two don't really belong in the same line. Barricade's proportions and articulation fit with the rest of the WFC line on top of having the 5mm holes to weaponize him. (Counter)Punch lacks those features, resulting in two figures that don't quite belong with each other. It's not as obvious as some of the Universe 2003 sets where we have, say, a repaint of Beast Machines Blackarachnia and a reuse of the Armada Sideswipe mold, but it's not as seamless as you'd think. That being said, Barricade is a great repaint of an already solid mold while the (Counter)Punch mold is a good way for people to get a hold of the figure if they can't get the POTP repaint, even if the colors are a little wrong in terms of shade.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐