Review: #123
Name: Breakdown
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Prime
Year of Release: 2012
Size Class: Legion (Wave 2)
Variations: repainted into Fallback and a green redeco that came with Beast Hunters Apex Armor
VEHICLE:
Breakdown transforms into his distinctive blue armored car. Awesomely, all the windows are painted black.
There's a spare tire at the back, and generally, this is a very well formed vehicle. Apart from the two hinges on either side, it's a very accurate vehicle to the show.
All four wheels roll and this represents Breakdown's only play value. The sculpting is impressive.
Perhaps one of the greatest surprises is that the grill sculpting is pretty much identical to the larger version, with all the vehicular elements here. It's painted silver too (and this area represents the major paint application).
It's a very tiny vehicle, feeling far more smaller than you would think. Breakdown is supposed to be bulky and big in this mode, but he comes off as far too small when you hold him.
There are only two slots on the roof for his weapon to plug into, and at least it looks pretty good there. It's an excellent vehicle, if a bit small.
TRANSFORMATION:
Breakdown poses a very interesting transformation, which is better appreciated when you're transforming him from robot to vehicle. It's complex for a Legion classed toy, and you would have expected something simple if you had just based it off from the promotional pictures. The legs were interesting, as was the torso of the robot. The arms are the ones that is as simple as you'd expect. A satisfying transformation that's fun and intuitive.
ROBOT MODE:
The first things you'd notice about Breakdown's robot mode is that he's very wide, and also that his arms seems like the shell halves of the vehicle mode. In both cases, you would be right.
Since he unfolds so much to make such a compact car into a wide and bulky robot (illusion-wise), Breakdown can feel a bit fragile but he's actually very solid. For some odd reason or another, the hips tend to pop out too easily.
The head sculpt is amazing, possessing three different types of paint (I just love the red painted face). Sadly, it's tiny. So small, in fact, that my camera had a really hard time focusing upon it.
If you look carefully, you'll notice how brilliantly show accurate he is. In particular, the shoulder design and the knee caps. The designer have faithfully sculpted these details in, which is amazing at this size.
Furthermore, he has the three wheels in the right placement from the back, just like the show and his larger toy.
In order to achieve the illusion of big and bulky, Breakdown loses height in favor of width, and it shows here. He's shorter than a lot of current Legion toys (let alone past ones).
Breakdown has a transparent purple gun for his weapon. It reminds me of the triangular weapons the Vehicons wield. Breakdown can hold it on either hand, or he can plug it onto some slots on the sides of his arms (the same roof slots in vehicle mode).
I prefer that he hold the weapon in his hand since due to the angle of the arm panel, the gun is situated in an awkward angle.
Poseability wise, Breakdown's leg is static, with only the hips that can be moved (he does have large feet so he's stable in a lot of poses), while his shoulders are on ball joints and the elbows hinge inwards.
An excellent robot mode. It's really only held down by the weird shape of his arms and the tiny size.
OVERALL:
A great little fella. I highly recommend him if you're a fan of the character, or the Voyager class figure is too expensive (as good as that toy is). Breakdown possesses two wonderful modes linked together by an elegant and interesting transformation. He only loses in some play value due to the static nature of both modes.
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