Review: #217
Name: Hightower
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Robots in Disguise
Year of Release: 2001
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 3)
Variations: repainted in yellow as part of Universe line and as part of the Constructicons with the same name Hightower
TRUCK MODE:
Hightower transforms into a red crane truck, he's very blocky in this mode and is almost a perfect square.
This is a good mode overall with a lot of sculpted details and more than his fair share of paint applications. Then again, you can easily see his black feet at the back of the vehicle.
The cabin opens up and this is where you would normally store the small gun Hightower comes with, unfortunately my Hightower is missing his gun and I did not realize it until now, five months later, which is annoying to say the least.
The crane is adjustable on the Y axis (i.e. lifts up and down). The cab is fixed though even though it can detach, when you peg it in, a piece of plastic stops it from rotating.
Hightower feels very heavy for its size, there are no empty gaps anywhere in this truck mode.
If you wish, you can also flip out the crane gun.
A good truck mode if a bit blocky and square.
TRANSFORMATION:
Hightower shares an extremely similar transformation with Heavy Load, the difference here being that you detach the cab... which also houses his head. Hightower is a partsformer, one of the last ones actually. It's a shame that they couldn't integrate the head into the core body and this is the only reason which makes Hightower second to Heavy Load in terms of awesomeness. Otherwise, the transformation is simple with arms flipping out and legs extending.
ROBOT MODE:
Hightower's robot mode is equally blocky, the thing that catches your eye would be the huge shoulders housing the wheels, and the relatively weedy arms.
Hightower wears the cab on his back as kibble, it doesn't integrate into the robot that well.
The head sculpt is nice, bearing a black visor. He can only turn his head from side to side though.
Hightower has a lot of bulk but doesn't sacrifice height either.
Poseability is decent. You would have expected his shoulders to be extremely limited thanks to the way it transformation but it is attached on a balljoint in such a way that you can swing it forward and can also fold back. It's not as good as the shoulders of other Transformers but it's not too horrible.
I've also transformed the feet a little bit differently. I utilized the second joint to make Hightower a little bit taller, otherwise he would have had super long feet which looks weird.
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The gun is a bit long, proportionally, for Hightower though.
Another option that you can have is leave the crane on his back and unfold his gun into an overhead weapon. It doesn't look that great though.
Obviously, if I had the small hand gun then Hightower could have hold it in his other hand for some dual wielding poses.
A good robot mode which has a nice color scheme.
OVERALL:
Hightower is a nice figure that stands his own against other Transformers even if you don't factor in his combining ability with the other members of the Build Team. The only flaw of him is the fact that he is a partsformer and he has a really small handgun which is easily lost or misplaced.
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