Review: #8
Name: Turbo Tracks
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Reveal the Shield
Year of Release: 2010
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 1)
Variations: United Tracks has a more G1 inspired flame on his hood and metallic blue paint. Also retooled into Generations Wheeljack
VEHICLE MODE:
Tracks transforms into a blue car that doesn't seem to be based on any real life car to date. It's very angular, and I'm not really a fan of the shape of this car, but it's a plausible representation of Tracks. The missiles on the sides are really awful, and does a really bad job as pretending to be exhausts.
As much as I don't like the overall shape of the car, the back design is quite nice, and I can't fault it. It would be nice if the grill-like pattern at the back and the exhausts are painted, but it could have been worse. At least the hubcaps are painted silver, which is more than I can say with Reveal the Shield Jazz.
As much as I detest Transformers with both transparent and painted windows (I hate the inconsistency), it's pretty well done on Tracks. His front and side windows are transparent, while the back is painted black. Thankfully, the dark smoky transparent plastic and the black are a close enough match that it's not hideously obvious (it doesn't ruin the look).
Instead of the flaming decal he had in his G1 toy and also included in his Binaltech release, he has more of a tribal pattern on his hood now. Many fans have complained but it has grown on me, and I think that it does look quite nice, at least it makes Tracks unique.
Being in the Reveal the Shield promotion, Tracks features a rubsign instead of an Autobot insignia. In his case, the rubsign is found on top of his hood. Rubbing it will reveal the Autobot shield, I wouldn't recommend rubbing it too often or too hard, as the whole roof of the car is paint on transparent plastic and you risk eventually rubbing the paint off. Also, you will see by far the biggest panel line in the car is the whole back, even when pushed as far as it will go, and sitting flush, it is still very obvious.
The grill design is alright, I'm not a fan on how low it sits and how far the grill protrudes. He rolls well though.
A rarity nowadays, the underside of Tracks doesn't have much empty space, because of this I feel less 'cheated'. Only looking at the underside, you don't really see how Tracks transforms, which is great.
Comparing against Binaltech (BT) Tracks, I infinitely prefer BT Tracks more, it's sleeker and better proportioned, with a much nicer, richer, blue. Still, it is a nice vehicle mode, and is really subjective to the person's taste on whether they like it or not.
FLIGHT MODE:
Like the G1 toy and cartoon, Turbo Tracks features a flight mode, obtained by flipping a panel from the back, attaching the missiles, and pulling apart the doors and flipping out the wings. Very simple. Only looks good from the top down angle looking from the front (shown in the above pic).
From any other angle, and it really shows how much of an afterthought this mode is. The detaching of the doors leave an unsightly gap, and the car can't even sit flat on the table now.
One nice thing they did add specifically for this mode is a small panel at the back that you can flip over to attach the missiles. They didn't have to add it (and ruin the aesthetics in the process), so I'm glad they put in that extra attention.
The missiles takes some force to push into the slots, but holds very securely once attached, they rest too close to the car to look good though.
The flight mode can be improved by changing the configuration a bit, bear in mind that this is now a fan mode. Basically you're just pulling out the arms to cover the gap, and this makes a lot of difference.
It feels a lot more solid and displays a whole lot better as it's hiding the weird bits behind the doors. Plus, the back wheels fold up like on the original toy, there's still some problems like not being able to sit flat, but this is a third mode after all.
TRANSFORMATION:
One really nice aspect of his transformation is the way his gun is stored inside the back of the car, quite ingenious.
His gun, and two missiles detach for transformation, and uses the clip system. Track's transformation is very simple, yet quite elegant and fun, it does the trick, not too complicated, yet enough twists to be interesting. This is a toy that you can have fun going between the modes, sadly, the fun can be hampered by some loose joints like mine was. His automorph is well done, pushing up his chest will push out his shoulders, it's really fun when you activate it.
ROBOT MODE:
Robot mode is where Tracks shines the best, although there are still a few flaws. First of all, his chest, which is the hood of the car, is huge, and feels a bit too big for him. To be fair, it isn't as pronounced in real life and is fairly sleek. The cartoon model for Tracks and the original toy was really sleek, it's not replicated well here, and we see the liberties taken to ensure this mold works as Wheeljack. To be honest, I would rather prefer a smaller false hood like on BT Tracks than the huge thing on his chest here.
Don't look at him from the back! Looks very clunky and kibbly, particularly the legs (looks really weird with the whole hood of the car there, it's for the Wheeljack retool). Sadly, his wings isn't attached on his shoulders, but rather, on panels attached onto his back. They are adjustable, but just doesn't feel right and I feel cheated.
We see he has a huge protruding backpack, which is the whole back of the car. It only looks bad, as it's completely hollow, and it doesn't affect his balance. This backpack doesn't cause Tracks any liabilities.
His wings flip from behind his doors, they are a bit small, but from head on, they are in the right spot and looks pretty good, you don't notice that it's attached to some blue panels.
The head is well sculpted, but it just isn't to my tastes, it's too round, maybe if they didn't sculpt the side bits that makes him look chubby I'll like it better. He retains his red face and white head that seems out of place amongst the blue, his missiles hang overhead.
Speaking of the missiles, they clip onto some posts on a panel behind his head, which is slightly disappointing, I would rather they had incorporated it into the transformation and made it non-detachable. The missiles have shrunk in size, more than proportionally required, but at least this doesn't overwhelm the head. You can independently aim the missiles and point it to the air if you wish.
The biggest flaw by far is his feet, you can just see the major compromises they had made to be able to retool this into Wheeljack. The feet looks terrible, like flippers, or as others have suggested, duck feet or frog feet. It isn't helped that there is a hollow space in his shins. His feet look flimsy, and they are, you have to be careful when posing him as you'll find it easy for him to tip over due to the ball joint placement.
Being a comptemporary toy, Tracks is very poseable. I see people saying that the leg articulation is restricted, but I don't really see that. His chest piece can even lift up to allow a better range of motion. He has ball joints on both his feet/ankle and heelspurs, allowing him to stand flat on the table at whatever angle. One thing to note is that his gun fits tightly into his hands, you have to get the right angle and use some force to push it in, although it's a perfect fit, it won't leave any stress marks unlike Wreck-Gar...
Tracks not only looks short and stubby, he is shorter and stubbier than most deluxes! Comparing to the Henkei Alert (or Universe Sunstreaker) mold, it makes him look really really short, which is a big shame. I forgot to mention that the rubsign is now on his chest, and looks great there (that is, if yours is put on straight... mine is wonky).
Compared to BT Tracks, even though they're representing the same character, they really do not look anything alike aside from the white head and red face.
I must say I like the BT Tracks robot mode better, it's way more awesome in so many degrees.
Even though I mentioned all these bad things about RtS Tracks, I'm just being overly critical, and unfairly comparing him to BT Tracks, who is my most favourite Transformer figure ever. RtS Tracks' robot mode is decent, with many things done right, but his legs and feet really leave a lot to be desired.
OVERALL:
With a decent, if mediocre, vehicle mode, and a bland robot mode, there's really not much going for Reveal the Shield Tracks. Why get him, I hear you wonder? It's because he is Tracks! He has a kickass character model design, and I can see how the extremely kibbled BT Tracks will put some people off. RtS is a great low-kibble alternative to a representation of G1 Tracks, and is great, great fun to play with. I brought him initially just because I like the character (and he was on sale), but I'm glad I did, as he displays well and is a bundle of fun, I heartily recommend this toy.
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If you feel like seeing more pictures of this fabulous toy, check out seibertron.com's gallery.
Credits: I linked a few tfwiki.net and seibertron.com pages in the review, but all the photos and text is mine.
Last but not least, check out my other toy reviews in this page.