Review: #97
Name: Vehicon
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Prime - First Edition
Year of Release: 2011
Size Class: Deluxe (First Edition Wave 2)
Variations: none as of yet
VEHICLE MODE:
Vehicon transforms into a low riding sports car, the deep purple used suits this Decepticon drone. He features clear plastic for his windows, so you can see all the joints inside, which wrecks the streamlined look.
There's a lighter purple highlighting various areas of the car, most notably the rear. I feel it gives a bit of Tron feel to it.
As mentioned, he's a low riding car, to the point where it's not very easy to roll him freely. The fact is that there's very low clearance, and you have to transform and fit everything correctly before you can even attempt to roll him on a flat surface (that said, I don't think he can roll well on carpet).
It's been mentioned by a lot of people that it looks like the Batmobile, and I think it's because of the colour and the shape of the spoiler (which looks really nice by the way). There's a Decepticon symbol on the hood like a hood ornament.
Due to the way the shoulders are in robot mode, the sides of the back of the car are hollow, so when you view the rear at an angle, you can see the gap. A minor nitpick. There are not too many panel breaks, considering that there are a lot of pieces that moves for the transformation.
It is a very packed vehicle , and you can store the gun underneath (more securely than First Edition Bumblebee for sure). All pieces clip together, and the car holds together very well.
Being a First Edition toy, it's bigger than the Robots in Disguise line of Deluxes. However, Vehicon still feels somewhat smaller than Deluxes of the past.
If you would like the vehicle to have some attacking power, you can peg the gun onto one of the holes on the bonnet. It's looks decent enough, well, at least it's not ridiculous.
A very sleek car, and one that looks great on display. It's very show accurate too.
TRANSFORMATION:
If it wasn't for how the legs form, I would say the transformation was fairly unremarkable. That said, the legs unfold from the hood in a fairly interesting way. That said, there are a lot of panels that end up at the back of his legs and it gives the legs a somewhat odd looking shape from the side. Anyway, I don't like how the arms are on two long thin pieces of plastic, and that's it. It doesn't lock into the torso, and it feels like they're susceptible to snapping off. The transformation is a fun process and one that doesn't put you off from future conversions.
ROBOT MODE:
The robot mode looks great, and feels very solid. I love the look of his shoulders, and you can either leave the wheels on his shoulders or fold them down to behind the elbows. Not too sure why they added this joint as the show has them on his shoulders.
However, this figure is very kibbly. From the legs to his back. He has the top of the car folded into three panels onto his back. I wished it could have been compressed more, since the rear of the car knocks and rests behind his head.
The head sculpt looks nice, and it's painted completely in silver. Vehicle has clear lightpiping but the visor is painted red. The head is on a restricted ball joint, so it's range of motion isn't as great as you would have expected.
The dark and brooding colour scheme continues on here, but with the addition of dark purple paint. Vehicon looks like he has a waist joint, but he doesn't.
Vehicon has a bulky robot mode due to all the panels and kibble, but it's infinitely better than being skinny and lacking mass.
His torso has some very very nice sculpted elements. He has a Decepticon insignia on his chest, I would have preferred the bit underneath the clear plastic to be painted silver to contrast the figure more, as Vehicon has a dark enough colour scheme already.
Vehicon looks very cluttered from the side.
Let's focus on the weapon now shall we. He has the gun that he uses in the show. It contains a peg that you can use to peg into his hands/forearms.
There's two ways that you can attach the gun, and both require you to unfold the forearm (which kinda sucks). The first way is that you can plug it underneath the hand and it looks decent enough there.
However, the better way is to fold his hand back completely, which reveals a peg hole, so it looks like his hand has morphed into a gun.
The articulation is great, and even with all the kibble, the range of motion isn't too bad. The biggest thing you'd miss is the lack of an elbow swivel. He has a ball joint that's attached to the side of the arm instead, but it does not provide the same range of motion.
The shoulders also get into the way of the back kibble. His feet (although they look more like toes) is jointed on a hinge, so he can stand flat in a variety of poses.
The shoulder joints are stiff and since they're not locked into the torso, the pieces of plastic they're on bend and warp a bit as you try to move them.
A good robot mode, not as show accurate as the other First Edition toys (I think the Robot in Disguise version is better in that aspect.
OVERALL:
Just on the figure itself, it is a decent toy. Very often, an army-builder gets a lot of attention and sales even though the toy is bad... thankfully that's not the case here, although this particular version of Vehicon will be a very expensive toys to buy multiples over. Vehicon could have done with more lighter colours as highlights. Recommended.
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