Review: #45
Brand: Transformers
Line: Revenge of the Fallen
Year of Release: 2010
Name: Mudflap
Allegiance: Autobot
Size Class: Human Alliance (Wave 5)
Variations: none as of this date
PACKAGING:
Maybe it's because Mudflap was so elusive to find that I found myself appreciating the packaging... These Human Alliance figures always came in such a big box, too big for the figure so there's a lot of 'empty air' inside, sucks when you have to pay for shipping if you got it online.
It's not noticeable but Mudflap is mistransformed in his stock photo at the back. Anyway, it's the standard affair I guess, he is annoying to get out of packaging due to all the twisty ties, tape and plastic.
VEHICLE MODE:
Mudflap transforms into a fully licensed concept Chevrolet Trax in a rust red colour. This shade is more pleasing to the eye than all the other versions of Mudflap in the ROTF line, and is more screen accurate to boot.
Being a Human Alliance figure, there is an abundance of detail, and in my opinion, a cleaner look than his twin, Skids, I like Mudflap's vehicle mode better. The tips of his feet poke from underneath the back, and the arms are visible on the underside from the sides, but other than this, a very kibble-free car.
The license plate reads "MUDFLAP", and a tiny "TRAX" is sculpted on the left side of the back. He uses a smoky translucent plastic for all his windows, a better choice since it hides the robot parts better (on Skids, they were clearly visible).
Most of the panel breaks occur at the front half of the vehicle but it's not so bad, the duller colours help hide all the seems. The silver side mirrors sticks out visibly somewhat, but that's just coz it's the same on the real vehicle.
In an added touch of realism, the two front doors open, but the two back doors don't, not that I would expect it to. Trying to get a grip to open the doors is a bit harder than on Skids.
Mudflap has rudimentary detailing inside the car, which includes two seats, a steering wheel and a very crude dashboard. You can see joints everywhere inside but at least it's stuffed full of robot parts.
You can fit a Human Alliance human figurine in there, Agent Simmons is provided in this set, it's a bit of a tight fit to be honest and Simmons is one of the smaller figures too.
While not Voyager size, he's clearly bigger than a Deluxe and also heftier to boot, you would expect that since he costs more than a Voyager does at RRP. I don't now, but I just feel the Trax design is better than the Beat, I've pretty much no complaints about this mode.
Of course, he looks great next to Skids, it's only when you put them side by side that Skids' green seems a bit too bright, if only it was more metallic in colour... Mudflap also rolls extremely well, it's a great vehicle mode overall.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is where Mudflap kinda falls flat on his face, he pretty much steals Skids' transformation. While it is plausible that they would have similar transformations being twins, it still feels like the engineer was lazy. This is more evident when you progress through the transformation stages, as some bits just don't feel have the right tolerance and clearance, it's like they rushed it and said, oh well, it should work. Some complaints I have is that it's very difficult to plug in the waist, I felt I was bending the 'spine' just to get it in (the stock photo on the back doesn't have it clipped it), and the panels on the feet just rest there, no dedicated peghole like on Skids, and the backpack is just atrocious. Since the front doors are smaller, then backpack is bigger and you either have to push it up in which case the doors get in the way or you push it down but then it'll severely restrict the legs (and doesn't look that great). I felt that they should have at least picked up these design flaws. The only difference in Mudflap's transformations is that the front wheels end up inside his torso (filling it, so it's not as empty as Skids). The two little pieces of plastic on his chest are really thin and feel like they will be easy to snap, overall, not a great transformation experience.
AGENT SIMMONS:
Now, just quickly over the human figurine for this set, Agent Simmons, I generally find these figurines to be disappointing, the plastic is too soft and rubbery, while the shoulder joints are weird. Simmons has the disadvantage of weird joints, the 'break' when you bend the knees is too unnatural.
Seriously, it seems that they cannot capture the look of the humans right, in Simmons' case, although the facial features are decent and vaguely similar to John Tuturro. What ruins it is that the eyes are pure black.
ROBOT MODE:
Probably the best Mudflap robot mode yet, he has good proportions. A lot of details and placement of parts are similar, if not identical to Skids (they are two completely different sculpts though). The major differences are the head, no wheels on Mudflap's shoulders, chest and the feet.
I love the silver paint used to highlight the details, and the grey plastic doesn't seem as dull as on Skids. However, Mudflap sports a bigger backpack, and honestly, it is one of the worse backpacks ever. The door wings and the backpack get in the way of each other, while it also gets in the way of the legs, it seems that the engineer had just carbon copied Skids transformation and didn't consider the other factors.
One improvement on Mudflap is that the front wheels are now in the torso, which means that Mudflap doesn't look as skinny or weird from the side, he's a bit more 'wholesome'. Not everything tucks in nicely for the backpac and you can see that it rests just behind the legs, if I tried to push it up, the door wings get in the way, just generally a bad design.
The head is very screen accurate, and although ugly, it could have been a lot worse (just take a look at the Deluxe version...). Mudflap features very similar gimmicks to Skids, including the one where you press a nub on top of the head and Mudflap's mouth movies. At least the head has a lot more freedom to move, nothing's getting in the way.
On the right hand, if you don't swivel the seat back, there are two barrels to emulate a gun, it does a decent job and looks good there.
On Mudflap's (oversized) left hand is a grappling hook. The thumb and the set of fingers are poseable.
With the grappling hook, it's not just for show, you can pull it out on it's cord, and there's a winch which you can use to reel it back up (there's a peg to hold it in place so it won't flop about once you've retracted it).
That's not all, you can flip open the seat, flip up some handles, and place Simmons there so it looks like he is using the hook, not as cool as Skids' cannon, but not that bad either.
The last gimmick is identical to Skids, there's a gatling cannon that you can flip over Mudflap's head and Simmons can be placed behind it, again, there's no solid platform for Simmons to stand on to.
Articulation is not too bad, just that you have to be careful to not tilt him back. The elbow joint that lets Mudflap bend his arms forward are too far up, but that's my only complaint.
With the design and engineering so similar, it's not wonder that he looks great next to Skids, I do think Skids is the better toy, Mudflap has many flaws plaguing his robot mode, but he's still solid.
OVERALL:
Honestly not worth the secondary prices on him due to the scarcity of his release, Skids is a much better toy, and easier to find. I tend to get the feeling that Mudflap is just Skids with a different vehicle shell, that's how lazy the engineering was. However, he does look great with Skids, they are twins after all. The plastic coloured used is perfect, and there's a lot of paint that brings out the details, so if you can get him at a decent price (and by decent I mean not much higher than RRP), then Mudflap is a good purchase.
Name: Chromia
Allegiance: Autobot
Size Class: Human Alliance (Wave 5)
Variations: none
VEHICLE MODE:
Chromia transforms into a blue bike, and the blue paint used is just brilliant, a very nice glossy shade of blue, and the silver complements this very well. Sad thing is that she's ruined by a kickstand that's too short, so she'll fall over (you can see I had to slot in a small piece of black plastic so she could stand upright).
The back is a big gappy and lacking, but it is still an excellent bike, especially for the size, she is only slightly bigger than a Legends classed figure.
A big negative is that you can clearly see the head from above, no way to hide it (or not that I could find anyway).
In terms of play value, both wheels roll (naturally), and you can let Simmons ride on the bike, however, he doesn't peg into place, he just rests there (I forgot to take a photo of this). Not a bad bike mode all things considered.
I like to think that the non-transforming bike from HA Jazz as the third sister, Elita-1 (rather than the repaint of Arcee), and they look good together, only negative with this is that you can't get all three in robot modes.
TRANSFORMATION:
Wow, one of the more annoying, complex, and frustrating transformations I have come across. Definitely the most complex for this size, I think although the concept may be okay, the execution was bad, the engineer didn't get the tolerances right. Why? Because Chromia has tight joints, but there are also a few ball joints that just loves to pop off when you're trying to pull the pieces into place. It a hell of an annoyance going back into bike mode when you're trying to force everything together, just very very frustrating. I definitely do not recommend doing this transformation more than once, just a huge pain.
ROBOT MODE:
Chromia's robot mode look good (or as good as this design can get), the design is based off Arcee, sad with all these weird naming issues. Anyway she looks a whole lot better than Arcee (who came with Skids), and is more poseable to boot. She has a waist joint, two joints on the right arm, but the whole left arm is molded as one and the front of the bike gets in the way anyway.
The two wheels form the feet, and there's a bit of plastic so Chromia can stand, precarious to balance in any pose other than the neutral position.
Once again, the paint does wonders for Chromia, and her head sculpt is good. Once you get her into a mode, she is miles ahead of Arcee.
OVERALL:
I'm hesitant to say this is a good figure, because it caused a whole lot of frustration when I transformed her, sure, I knew which parts to go where, but it's the tolerance issue that gets you. Other than that, I like her, and the paint applications are great, and makes Chromia shine.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
Despite all the criticisms, this is still a very worthwhile and solid set. Mudflap is a good figure, as well as Chromia (and Simmons is okay), but you can't help but feel it could have been a whole lot better, especially since all the flaws are minor and could easily have been corrected in the design or prototype stage. As it is, I can't recommend this set at the over-inflated prices he is commanding (I was lucky and got him relatively cheap), unless you really like Mudflap (which I doubt).
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Galleries of Mudflap, Chromia and Simmons from another side.
Credits: everything is mine, except for some links I've chucked in to other sites.
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