Review: #687
Name: Lifeline
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - War for Cybertron: Earthrise
Year of Release: 2020
Size Class: Deluxe
Mold Status: repaint of Earthrise Arcee
VEHICLE MODE:
Lifeline, as a repaint of Earthrise Arcee, transforms into a futuristic vehicle.
From the front and side, the vehicle looks okay. The back has an unsightly gap though, which would have been an easy fix for the designer.
The biggest problem with this mode is how hollow it is. It makes the figure feel extremely light and cheap. It isn't helped by how much of a shellformer the figure is, so the whole vehicle is just a thin shell of plastic. The robot gun does store underneath
In terms of size, Lifeline is not only small but is also much lighter than a standard Deluxe, above is a comparison to TLK Bumblebee.
There are no gimmicks here, although she can roll on a flat surface as there are small plastic wheels.
Since she's a convertible, there are some detailing on the dashboard.
An okay vehicle mode, it's not as sleek as you would want since the back is wide. The biggest flaw is how cheap the figure feels.
TRANSFORMATION:
A massive shellformer, as you would expect. Most of the vehicle folds up into a backpack, with only the centre hood piece forming the torso. The back half actually detaches as part of transformation, which very much feels like its cheating. Everything else unfolds from the inside of the vehicle, which leads to a fairly unenjoyable transformation.
ROBOT MODE:
Lifeline's robot mode is okay, she's very slim. The green and white works well, especially with a medical motif.
Unfortunately, due to transformation, 90% of the vehicle is on her back, and it is a gigantic backpack.
She's a straight repaint of Arcee, so the head sculpt remains the same. There's quite a decent amount of paint on it too.
Height-wise, she's about standard for a Deluxe (above is a comparison against Siege Sideswipe), but she's slimmer than most.
In terms of articulation, she has joints for her head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.
Even though she has a huge backpack, as they are just big panels that aren't too heavy, it doesn't affect her balance too badly.
The rear half of the vehicle is actually separate piece. This can either attach to her back as a backpack (as shown above), or you have have it separately.
The reason you can have it separately is that it is officially a "hoverboard". It's an unmodified piece, so calling it a hoverboard feels extremely lazy, especially since it still looks like part of a car.
She comes with a weapon, a gun. Unfortunately, it is cast in clear plastic so it's not that easy to make out.
She can hold the gun in either hand, although it feels a tad too large for her hands.
If you don't want to use the gun, it can store behind her waist.
She has huge heelspurs, and coupled with the flexibility and range of her joints, she's great at posing.
This is an average robot mode. It just feels so bland and uninspired that you feel the designer could have done better.
OVERALL:
This is not the best mold in the War for Cybertron Trilogy line, it feels like the designer did the bare minimum and called it a day. This means that there are some flaws where it would have been very easy to fix. Coupled with the perceived lack of value due to the smallness of the figure, and the higher price of the exclusive double pack, and Lifeline is hard to recommend.
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