Review: #120
Name: Bruticus
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Fall of Cybertron
Year of Release: 2012
Size Class: N/A (Combiner formed from five Deluxes)
Variations: SDCC and JP version in game accurate colors, retail version in Generations line, retooled into Ruination.
PACKAGING:
So, after looking into each of the five G2 Combaticons, we've finally gotten to the whole point of getting them... the combiner Bruticus. The packaging harkens back to the style of packaging used in G2, with a packaging art of Bruticus drawn in a similar way (which looks quite awesome by the way).
Personally, I think that a lot of space is wasted in the packaging and it could be smaller. Anyway, Bruticus is packaged in combiner mode, which isn't exactly the best looking selling point. I'm impressed by the packaging though and it looks great.
COMBATICONS:
We'll have a look at the Combaticons together first... As a team in vehicle mode, there's really nothing linking them together that suggests they are a team.
Still, what they have in common is similar camouflage and unusual colors that you won't see in real life.
They're not that much better in robot mode either as they don't really share any similar designs.
It's great to have them together as a group though and I think they look pretty awesome.
LIMBS:
Before we actually head into combiner mode, let's have a look at each separate limb transformation for each Combaticon. With exception of Onslaught, each Combaticon can form either arm or leg, similar to the "Scramble City" style of the original G1 toy. Onslaught can only form the torso however but it's a good looking one.
Blast Off usually form's the right arm. The transformation to get it there is very simple as you just extend the legs, flip the halves open, flip down the fists and thumb piece and connect them together to form the forearm. You can see that the robot hips form an inward elbow joint.
As a left arm, you just flip him over and then fold down a thumb piece on the other side (Blast Off has two thumb pieces that you can fold down depending on whether you need a left or right fist). Personally, I think Blast Off's arm mode is worse of the lot.
As a leg, Blast Off's even simpler, since you just flip the leg halves back and ta-da! It's fairly stable, he forms the third best leg.
Next up, Vortex. He usually forms the left arm. You do this by extending the helicopter mode, flipping out the hand from inside the cockpit, and rotate the cockpit around so its facing the right way. Something cool with Vortex is that he is the only one that has a forward facing elbow joint (which makes it useful when he's holding the gun).
To make a right arm, his thumb is flip-able (quite ingeniously really) to make a right hand. While he does have the forward facing elbow, it's situated too low to look natural.
I would have to say that Vortex makes the worse leg out of all four. Why? Because it's less stable, it relies on resting on the robot skirt, robot thighs and the two blue pieces on either side of the cockpit. While it works, it'll require more of your attention to make sure that it is standing properly and supports the combiner. The leg mode is similar to the arm mode but it's just that the hand is hidden and the "elbow" piece is used to the max, folding the cockpit as forward as possible.
Swindle forms the best leg since the footprint is huge and he's very stable (being both of the robot mode legs attached helps as well). It's very simple to form the leg, you detach the front vehicle panel and attach it to a lower slot (to allow the combiner port to flip out) and then flip up the robot feet.
As an arm, Swindle is more of a mess. Although we don't have official configurations, you apparently detach the front panel so you can extend the legs and use the robot hips as an inward facing elbow. What's wrong with this is that it causes the upper part (where the robot arms and front panel is) to be very unstable.
To form each hand, Swindle has separate left and right hands hidden in each side of his leg, so just flip down the necessary one. Personally, I think in terms of just looks, Swindle forms the second best arm (but in terms of stability, he's the worse).
Lastly, it's Brawl. He's normally the left leg, and I believe he forms the second best leg out of the lot. To form the leg, it's more complicated than the other Combaticons, but you flip the front treads back and then manipulate the turret, and it actually pegs in so the leg is very solid (but footprint is small). Looks very good too.
The arm is more of a mess since the actual arm is formed with only his legs and everything else is a bit chunk of kibble. The turret does peg together so it doesn't flop everywhere. Brawl forms the second worst arm in my opinion. The hips allow the arms to swing inward and slightly outwards (due to a waist joint).
To make the other arm, just flip Brawl over and flip down a thumb piece (he has two separate thumb pieces, which are his robot legs). Brawl remains the only Combaticon whose arm modes cannot hold the weapon (lacks a 5mm port).
COMBINER MODE (OFFICIAL):
We'll start off with the official configuration of Bruticus, this means that all limbs are in their official configuration, and Blast Off forms the right arm, Vortex left arm, Swindle right leg and Brawl left leg.
I left Onslaught's gun attached on his back because it does two things: it fills in the hollow torso and it gives him his signature dual cannon behind his head.
Surprisingly, Bruticus is very stable in this mode thanks to Onslaught's ratcheting hip joints. Each combiner port has a rotating ratchet but you have to be careful, since they're very stiff you might rotate the combiner port instead, which is not recommended (wear and tear will make them easier to break or come loose).
The head sculpt is very nice, and it's fully painted, you can tell where the designer focused on the paint applications. Bruticus can only turn left or right since it's attached by a pin swivel joint (and not a balljoint).
Bruticus is a huge hulking figure, obviously, since he's comprised of five Deluxe toys. He towers over even Leader classed figures (although in the photo above, it's a Voyager classed Optimus) but Bruticus is very spindly.
There are many many MANY different combinations you could to to form Bruticus' weapons. I just went ahead with the lazy way but there are so many pegs and holes that the number of combinations are endless.
You could probably tell by now but the proportions are off here. The arms are too long, the thighs too small, and the torso doesn't have enough mass. That's what you'd get when all five are made from Deluxes. If Onslaught was a Voyager sized figure and engineered differently to have the mass of the torso more evenly spread, then it would have been much better.
Poseability is good in theory, but since he's so big and a lot of mass is above his waist, you'll need to be careful of balancing him and keeping him upright when posing. It's not too much of a problem thanks to the ratchet in his knees and hips. I think they've done a decent job of a combiner with five transforming components (and interchangeable limbs), the compromises in each robot was worth it in the end.
COMBINER MODE (ALTERNATE):
Now off to the second configuration, where the arms become legs and vice versa. Bruticus doesn't actually look too bad, apart from the big chunk of kibble from Brawl's arm mode which looks like it's sagging to one side (it isn't). Like it was mentioned earlier, it was tougher to get Bruticus to balance due to Vortex's leg mode. Interestingly, this configuration allows Bruticus to have two knee spikes (if you like that sort of thing).
It's not a bad configuration but translates a lot of the bulkiness to the arms and the legs looks much skinnier. Poseability isn't affected too much.
COMBINER MODE (PREFERRED):
You can mix and match the limbs to have your preferred ones, and the picture above shows what I prefer. I just swapped Blast Off and Swindle around and kept Swindle in his vehicle mode because it's more solid and stable (and I don't need that elbow joint), and Vortex is shortened as well (in a fan mode that I'll later cover).
I like it like this because Bruticus is much more proportioned and he doesn't lose any stability.
COMBINER MODE (FAN):
With some tinkering you can make the arm modes of Blast Off and Vortex look much better. I've covering one such fan mode it his review, and the instructions are in this link. This mode shortens the arms and transfers more of the bulk into the upper torso/shoulders and the thighs are slightly thicker. The end result is a more proportionate robot.
I wouldn't recommended letting Blast Off stay in this arm configuration for too long as it does stress his hip joints/torso a lot, causing damage in the long run. You don't lose any poseability here and Bruticus looks much cooler.
OVERALL:
Sure, Bruticus may not be the best combiner ever and there's a lot of issues and flaws, but this is a good attempt. As a set, the Combaticons are fun to play and fiddle around with. There's a lot of play value here due to the versatile limb swapping. The colors are a mish mash but surprisingly, he isn't too bad when they come together (it's actually duller and less neon than the retail versions!). I'm actually quite impressed with the set and I had a lot of fun, I agree there are a lot of compromises and improvements can be made (as well as the plastic quality being bad), but it's just a fun toy no matter where you look at it.
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Thanks for looking and if you want to read more Transformers reviews by me, have a look at this page.