Review: #7
Name: Breacher
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Autobot Alliance
Year of Release: 2010
Size Class: Scout (Wave 2)
Variations: The Takara Tomy (i.e. Japanese) version uses a darker blue plastic and a repaint as Bodyblock has been seen
VEHICLE MODE:
Breacher transformers into a vehicle that is based off a Land Systems OMC Ratel IFV and it is a great vehicle mode, with a great paint scheme and perfect proportions. The gun on the turrets looks very natural and menacing.
Pretty much good to look at from all normal angles (obviously if you look at the bottom you'll see robot parts), there are no weird gaps anywhere, which is amazing considering he has a fairly complex transformation for a scout class figure. Even Windcharger, who has a simple transformation, has the rear of his vehicle not quite fully covering his back (the plastic used for his rear ends too high up, leaving a small gap, unlike a real car).
Nicely detailed all the way round, he has one little flaw, his side panels do not sit quite flush to the body. This isn't anything major but is a bit annoying, and it is not only on mine, a few people have complained about similar problems. What's great about Breacher is that all six of his wheels roll, I detest fixed molded wheels.
The number of panel lines visible might put off some people but the shade of blue they've used it dark enough such that it's not as noticeable. His gun utilises the clip joint system first introduced in ROTF Recon Ironhide, so it can be used by other figures that also has the bars (such as Sunspot). In addition to the clip joint in the turret, he has two bars on either side and two bars on top of the rear of the vehicle where you can attach more clip joint weapons.
If you're really looking closely, you notice that he doesn't have all that much paint on him, pretty much only the windows, headlights, and '28' and an Autobot logo tampographed on both sides and some rear red lights. That said, it does what it has to.
Aside from his rolling wheels as play value, his gun turret on top can rotate 360 degrees and also tilt up and down. He is also supposedly partnered to Seaspray much like Sunspot was to Mindwipe, in that Breacher fits perfectly onto Seaspray's hovercraft bed.
Overall, a great little vehicle mode that fits on the palm of your hand, great great fun but what's more... is this is his weaker mode.
TRANSFORMATION:
A complex transformation for it's size, although when compared to deluxe and voyager toys, it is not all that difficult. It is quite ingenious at how they had incorporated the rotating turret into his robot mode (as his waist, and it's now fixed). The first couple of times will be a bit frustrating and annoying, and it doesn't help that his joints, particularly the shoulder joints, are overly tight. When going back into vehicle mode, there are clips for everything, although some are not tight enough to hold the panels in place (such as the aforementioned side panels). It's a fun transformation, albeit not one you can do on a whim.
ROBOT MODE:
Breacher really shines in this robot mode, it's not based off any previous character so it's a purely new one. The proportions are GREAT on this guy, they have perfected the whole look, and few can resist the aesthetic, this is what made him so popular (and in fact, hard to find initially).
The placement of all the vehicle mode bits are good and adds to the awesome look, he doesn't look as great from the back but it is not a mess like some other toys. There's a few more touches of paint on this mode, but overall, still not what you would call as having a decent amount of painted details (he has enough sculpted details, just not the paint to bring them out).
His gun can be detached from the turret and clip onto either of his hands, but I find that it's a loose fit even though it was designed to do that. The clip is just a tad too small and so it wiggles, I find that just too annoying so I clip it onto the bars on the panels of his arms, which fits much more firmly and looks great there too.
In addition, the gun can stay attached to the turret, it's not even required to be removed for transformation.
Head sculpt is great, it's rare for me to love a head sculpt on first sight, but I really love Breacher's, looks suitably heroic for an Autobot and I can't explain it but it has that mecha look to it.
I love a lot of the little things that the designer has done but didn't need to, it really adds to the toy, an example would be the panels behind the legs. The designer didn't have to make it fold into his leg, it's not really required for transformation but they did, making Breacher look much better and more elegant from the side.
Breacher has great poseability, with only one major miss, and that's the lack of knee swivel, not that it's anything close to a clincher. He has practically everything else (bar a waist swivel as well I guess), ball jointed ankles, ball joints and swivel shoulders, ball jointed elbows, wrists and head, you can get a lot of good poses out of him. He looks great from many angles, his stature is really heroic and his big kneecaps is a great aesthetic touch.
OVERALL:
With a strong vehicle mode, involved transformation and a fantastic robot mode, there's not much you can dislike about Breacher, and since he's a small figure, price won't be dear too. This is one that I highly recommend, even at full price, everything about him screams the classical Transformers taste that every fan loves. A brilliant brilliant toy, this is one fine example of why I love Transformers, get him while you can!!!
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Credits: While a vast majority of the review is mine (including the photos), I've given links to a few other sites including Tfwiki.net and Wikipedia.
If you want more photos (I've only taken a limited number of photos in this review for your reference) take a look at Seibertron's gallery for this guy.
And finally, as always, the plug for my other Transformers reviews that I've done :P.