Review: #610
Name: Doubledealer
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - War for Cybertron: Earthrise
Year of Release: 2020
Size Class: Leader (Wave 2)
Mold Status: new
VEHICLE MODE:
Doubledealer is based upon his G1 incarnation and is a triple-changer. His first mode is a missile carrier and at first glance, looks pretty good.
Naturally the gigantic missile on top is the first thing you'd notice. There are a lot of great sculpted details all round. The back also looks good but note that it cheats somewhat since it's a detachable panel.
The biggest negative here, and this is unforgivable for a Leader classed figure, is the massive gap from the front. A simple flipdown panel would have solved this but it is terrible.
Leader class has officially shrunk down to what used to be Ultra class, and even then, Doubledealer feels close to a Voyager figure. Granted, he is definitely bulkier than a normal Voyager but doesn't feel like it is by a lot, or at least enough to justify the higher pricepoint.
The missile is attached to a panel that can pivot up. All eight wheels roll as well.
There is a base mode of sorts, you can flip the back panel and the stabilizers down and then point the missile straight up. It actually looks decent for how simple it is.
This is a decent vehicle mode, although the hollow front is disappointing.
TRANSFORMATION (TO BIRD MODE):
The weakest part of the transformation scheme is the robot legs. The way they are designed is that there are several joints in the knee area that have different configurations for vehicle, bird and robot mode. It is annoying and frustrating to get it there because you have to move one joint without moving the other. The worse part is moving from robot to vehicle, while the bird mode isn't as bad. Going from vehicle to bird has you flipping the vehicle over, compacting the vehicle mode into a box, and then flip out the wings and the head.
BIRD MODE:
Bird mode is recognizable as a bird due to the wings and head. Otherwise, this is a block with legs, wings and head... Nevertheless, it looks okay.
The missile pegs onto a panel (that's molded like a tail) that pegs onto the back but is somewhat unstable since the connection is not secure.
Obviously this mode has Doubledealer being a lot more compact but also makes him feel more solid as a result. Apart from the missile, this mode has everything lock together fairly well.
The headsculpt is pretty good. The head can look up/down as well as rotate 360 degrees. The beak can open and close as well.
Poseability is limited though. You can play around with the wings but the legs are static and unmovable.
Alternatively, you can put the missile on the bottom and this configuration feels more solid.
For a third bonus mode, this isn't too bad.
TRANSFORMATION (TO ROBOT MODE):
Doubledealer has a bunch of accessories, mainly being weaponry that you need to detach for transformation. Getting him into robot mode is okay. You fold the wings up (somewhat inelegantly) and the front of the vehicle mode unfolds to form the legs. The arms unfold from the back and then you can fold up the chest piece.
ROBOT MODE:
Doubledealer's robot mode looks good at first glance and for the most part, he is pretty good. There are just one or two flaws that ruin the enjoyment.
He has a tiny bit of a backpack, which is the detaching panel that was at the back of the vehicle. It is now attached to his back and acts as a sort of jetpack. You can also see that bird's wings folded up here.
The headsculpt is nice. It captures the character nicely.
Ironically, despite having Decepticon insignia on his packaging, he comes packed in robot mode with the Autobot insignia.
The gimmick here is that you can flip the panel over to cover the Autobot insignia with Decepticon ones.
Just like in vehicle mode, Doubledealer is not as big as Leader class used to be, even from a year or two ago. Above is a comparison against SS Voyager Optimus and POTP Leader Prime. While Doubledealer is definitely bulkier and slightly taller than a Voyager figure, at the same time, he is quite hollow and lighter than the bulk would have implied.
Articulation is decent, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
The chunky look is great although the hollow legs moots that point somewhat. The huge amount of weaponry and places to peg them to adds quite a bit of play value.
The missile splits into two pieces, one as a shoulder cannon and another as a handheld cannon which he can hold in either arm.
The other big flaw here are the loose joints, which is not limited to certain figures, pretty much the whole production batch suffers from this. His elbows are weak to the point of struggling to keep the gun up. While his knees feels so loose and weak that you feel something must not have attached properly.
While Doubledealer looks good, there are some design and production issues that hinders the robot mode.
OVERALL:
Doubledealer is one of those figures that looks good but once in hand, will dampen your enjoyment due to flaws that should have been fixed. The robot knees are the biggest issues, not only being loose in robot mode but the transformation design into the other two modes make it feel fragile and frustrating to work with.
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