Review: #727
Name: Kickback
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Legacy
Year of Release: 2022
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 1)
Mold Status: new
ALTERNATE MODE:
Heavily based upon his G1 incarnation, Kickback transforms into a robotic grasshopper.
It's accurate to the G1 toy to a fault, so this is basically the robot lying down with some insect legs flipped out, quite disappointing in the end.
In terms of size, he's okay, but since he has an insect mode, he's definitely not as substantial as something that transforms into a vehicle.
There's no meaningful articulation here, particularly since the two front pairs of legs are joined to the same limb. The wings can rotate up and down.
The robot weapons, which include the pair of swords, can peg onto his wings, while the guns peg to the underside.
If you haven't noticed, the insect head is the back of the robot mode, but it blends in quite well. It's an average alternate mode, it would be pleasing to fans of the original G1 toy but feels lazy compared to other recent Transformers.
TRANSFORMATION:
Kickback probably has one of the most simple transformation schemes in the Deluxe figures. He's mostly in robot mode already so you only need to flip the rear grasshopper legs up, the feet down, fold the front pair of grasshopper legs into the robot arms and flip out the fish. Then rotate him at the waist and flip down the panel to reveal his head.
ROBOT MODE:
Despite the simple transformation, at least the robot mode looks pretty decent. Although he has legs that seem proportionally too big for him.
He has the grasshopper wings point up from his back, which looks really good. If you're not a fan, you can also rotate them back down.
The head sculpt is quite nice, but there's a big flaw and you can probably tell from this particular figure. His antennae are made from soft rubbery plastic and despite his small stature, for some reason, he is packed in the box with not enough space for his antenna so they end up being permanently bent, and you'll need a hairdryer to soften the plastic and pull it straight again.
Articulation is solid, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
He has three weapons, a pair of big swords, and a gun.
He can hold the gun in either hand, and it looks pretty good.
When not in use, the gun can store on his back.
While ankle joints are always nice, Kickback's aren't super great as they're not his whole feet, but rather the inner portion, so it is harder to utilize.
For the swords, you can peg them onto the outside of each arm.
They look great, even if oversized. The translucent purple used is a good choice.
Alternatively, Kickback's able to hold the handle of the swords in the more traditional sense.
There's no real storage place for the swords if Kickback's not using them, but you can clip them back onto the wings if you want, but they look really awkward there. Another missed opportunity is the fact that the swords cannot combine into a bigger one, that would have been really easy to do.
This is a good looking robot mode, if a bit simple.
OVERALL:
Kickback is an average figure. He's very bland in the sense that he doesn't try anything new and has a super simple transformation that borders on being completely lazy. His weaponry helps save the figure, especially in robot mode but the alternate mode is very disappointing.
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