Review: #358
Name: Brainstorm
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Legends
Year of Release: 2016
Size Class: Deluxe with Vehicle
Mold Status: remold of Titans Return Blurr
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Part of the Legends line, Brainstorm comes in a fancy box with a nice piece of unique artwork in the front.
The back shows off the robot and vehicle mode, as well as the mini-vehicle accessory. It is an attractive package.
The front of the instructions sheet has a large piece of the artwork which is nice.
Lastly, there are two pages of comics showcasing the character, although it looks to be fairly silly and lighthearted.
CANA:
The Headmaster is Cana and the baby blue with white torso color scheme works amazingly well, considering that the only paint is on his face.
The back shows off the larger robot's head as per normal. Articulation is limited to balljointed shoulders and head.
The headsculpt is average but considering how small it is, the paint applications are fairly detailed.
SYNAPSE:
The mini-vehicle is Synapse, which is a repaint of Titans Return Brawn's vehicle but in a matching color scheme to Brainstorm. Cana is folded up and snapped into place to fill the gap in the middle which doesn't look too bad.
A treaded jeep, not sure how useful that is going to be. The back is definitely weaker in terms of sculpting than the front. At least the vehicle is easily recognizable.
Cana can sit in the driver's seat and looks really good there.
Synapse is smaller than your typical Legion figure which is slightly disappointing (above is RiD Legion Bumbleblee).
With that being said, this is one of the better repaints of vehicles since the color scheme doesn't look too forced.
The jeep mode is probably the best mode of Synapse.
Flipping Synapse upside down and then unfolding the sides will create a type of hoverbike.
It doesn't look like much to be honest since the sculpting is weak.
However, placing Cana on top to ride it and it instantly looks more like a bike.
It's longer in this mode but the empty middle makes it seem lacking in substance.
It scales well with Brainstorm though.
Considering what these vehicles have to do, Synapse is one of the better molds out there.
VEHICLE MODE:
Brainstorm transforms into a spaceship that has elements of a vehicle because he is a retool of Titans Return Blurr.
The rear of the vehicle mode is where it falls down a bit in terms of a flying spaceship since it looks too much like a ground-based vehicle instead.
That being said, Brainstorm is an extensive retool and the remolded and added wings helps a lot in distinguishing the mold.
In terms of size, Brainstorm is a Deluxe and he is somewhat on par with other Deluxe figures (above is Reveal the Shield Jazz).
Brainstorm has wheels underneath such that he can roll. The cockpit also opens up to reveal a seat for Cana to sit in.
Furthermore, if you really wanted to, you can detach the front of the vehicle to create a sled-gun-emplacement thing for Cana.
The color scheme is the biggest difference compared to the Hasbro version and it works well in this mode. The baby blue is really nice although the black can seem out of place, it's great in hand.
TRANSFORMATION:
Brainstorm's transformation remains exactly the same as Blurr. It is simple but effective and a lot of fun to convert between the two modes. The only slight issue is the cockpit folds down a bit further to form the torso but unless you have fingernails, it is annoying to flip it back up.
ROBOT MODE:
Brainstorm's robot mode is excellent although the lankiness of the limbs kind of clashes with his shoulder wings which tries to bulk him up.
There is no useless kibble which is impressive. It is a very clean and sleek robot mode.
The headsculpt is the other big difference compared to the Hasbro version since he now has a mouth. Unless you've watched the Headmasters cartoon, this looks weird for Brainstorm.
While Brainstorm has the height of a Deluxe, he is lanky so is not as bulky as others.
The differences between him and Blurr in robot mode is less pronounced. The only visible difference (apart from the color scheme) is the shoulder wings. Note that there are secondary molded ones which is pretty cool.
Poseability is Brainstorm's strongest aspect. He has so much articulation and thanks to the design of his feet and heelspurs, he is super stable too.
The color scheme takes some more getting used to here with more black showing and a lot more white than expected. The baby blue takes a backseat.
The wings on his shoulders can also fold back if you prefer.
His weapons is a gun and a shield-gun created from the front of his vehicle.
He can wield the gun in either hand. Unfortunately, the gun is in its casted plastic color so looks dull in comparison. If it was coated in silver, it would work a lot better.
The shield can be pegged onto either arm since both has ports to accommodate for it.
The shield looks amazing and is a better weapon thanks to the gun-barrels than Blurr's was.
If you don't want to use the shield, you can leave it on his back (the spot it would be in if you didn't remove it for transformation).
Brainstorm can seem a bit bland in robot mode since there aren't many additional paint applications.
His last weapon is Synapse's weapon mode, which is one of the best weapon modes of the mini-vehicles.
It actually looks like a gun instead of a vehicle with a handle.
A fantastic robot mode although the color scheme is either love or hate.
OVERALL:
Brainstorm is a neat figure. He comes with one of the better mini-vehicles and the amount of remolding is extensive. He doesn't seem half-baked and the transformation is fun and intuitive. Brainstorm is worthwhile to get as a figure although it really depends whether you like the color scheme or not.
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