Review: #179
Name: Drift
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Age of Extinction Generations
Year of Release: 2014
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 2)
Variations: none as of this date
VEHICLE MODE:
Drift transforms into a blue 2013 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. Yes, Drift is a licensed vehicle.
This is a very nice vehicle with a lot of good details. The transformation joints aren't too bad and doesn't ruin the car mode. The plastic color looks good and there are enough paint details to highlight the good sculpting. A bit unfortunate in that the engine on the back isn't painted silver.
One of the best things about Drift is that there are no concessions made in the rear of the car. It replicates the real life vehicle instead of taking the lazy route of many other Transformers figures and leaving gaps there.
Apart from the hinge on the side of the car, Hasbro did a great job at matching the blue paint on the transparent pieces with the blue plastic used. Drift's only play value in this mode is rolling him along a table.
Size-wise, Drift feels a little bit small for a Deluxe sized car. Specifically, he is shorter than you would expect. Probably another reason why he is packaged in robot mode.
All of Drift's weapons (which we will get into in the next section) store here, with the two swords pegging onto the underside.
A brilliant vehicle mode that doesn't have any flaws at all. I'm actually very impressed with the sculpting and amount of detail this figure packs in this mode.
TRANSFORMATION:
As a side effect of the character model having barely any visible vehicle kibble, the designer was forced to make Drift a shellformer. Sure, while the chest piece is formed by part of the hood, it cheats and most of that piece is robot exclusive. Yet, Drift is cleverly designed in such a way that the shellforming aspect doesn't weigh him down. While folding in the shell of the car can be a little bit tricky in terms of the clearance, everything else is simple. Going back into car mode can be annoying when you try to figure out which parts goes in first for the shoulders and hood. In general, this is a decent transformation that isn't too hard but not too easy either to the point of boredom.
ROBOT MODE:
Like Bludgeon, Drift's robot mode takes on aspect of a samurai, right down to the thigh and shoulder guards, helmet and torso armor. This means that Drift is very organic looking and not very robotic like, he reminds me of a Pretender shell.
Drift wears most of the vehicle on his back: the hood, roof and rear. The folding of the car's side into the shoulder armor was a good implementation.
The kibble largely stays out of the way. The backpack doesn't jut out too far and the pieces that situate behind his shins can be rotated to your preference.
Drift's head sculpt is not his strongest point. Even the concept art is horrible, being too organic and similar to a human face. It doesn't translate well into this toy form with the lips looking especially bad. There's a lightpipe but it doesn't work very well.
It seems to be a theme with some of the AOE figures in that the robots carry more weapons than they can utilize at once. In Drift's case, he has two swords and two knives. They're made from this ugly gold color. Silver/grey would have been a much better choice.
Drift can store all four swords at once on his back. The knives actually store in a different area compared to the vehicle mode (since the original location is inaccessible being right behind his back).
It looks pretty nice in storage but the swords can occasionally fall out as you have to peg one on top of the other as they're attached at an angle.
Drift feels much better in robot mode, the blocky and solid look helps a lot.
Poseability is good, he's lacking a waist swivel which kinda sucks because it would be nice for sword poses.
Surprisingly, Drift has various ratchet joints: his elbows, shoulders and hips. This means posing can take a little bit more effort. The shoulder armor can also fold up but looks weird like that.
The range of motion is decent and you can pull off some good poses.
The sword's plastic feel flimsy and easy to warp. They're bendy to the point where you think they would snap easily if you're not careful.
For some odd reason, the weapon's hilt are rectangular in shape yet his hands molded perfectly to that shape. Drift ends up holding the swords at a slight angle and doesn't grip it tight enough, it'll be a little bit lose and jiggly. Seems like a design oversight.
Instead of wrist swivels (which would be much more useful and appreciated), Drift gets hinges. His wrists can hinge inward which is weird as they're not needed for transformation.
Drift's legs can also look awkward like they're forced to bend forwards. Anyway, the feet are also large enough to not need heelspurs. The transformation hinges for the ankles are extremely useful for action poses.
As mentioned earlier, most of the sculpting is robot exclusive. There's not much car pieces incorporated here. I feel like that they could have done more for the legs to make it function and look better.
Drift also needs more color to break up the solid blue in the arms and lower legs. A good thing is that the backpack actually pegs in so it doesn't rely on friction, which is a good thing.
The head is on a balljoint with a free range of motion. You can get Drift to hold his swords backhanded which is always cool.
A decent robot mode. The designer managed to make an unappealing organic looking character model into a passable figure that keeps the robotic aesthetic and personality. The multiple combinations of swords adds play value.
OVERALL:
A figure that turned out much better than I expected. I picked Drift up on a whim and I do not regret it. While he isn't a spectacular toy, he is a solid one. There aren't any decision-breaking flaws but there also isn't any unique things going for him. Either way, he has a fantastic vehicle mode and he's a samurai inspired swordbot, which is more than enough to be worth purchasing the figure. An extra bonus if he is in the film too.
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