Review: #942
Name: Brawl
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Age of the Primes
Year of Release: 2026
Size Class: Voyager (Wave 4)
Mold Status: new
TANK MODE:
Brawl, a new rendition of the G1 Combaticon, transforms into a tank.
This is a solid tank mode, not only looking solid, but feeling quite solid as well.
While sold as a Voyager, he doesn't quite reach that mass, or even complexity, which is slightly disappointing. He's very compact as you'd expect of a contemporary Transformer.
The turret cannot rotate, but it can lift up.
He has small plastic wheels at the bottom to allow him to roll on a flat surface.
Brawl is heavily armed, in addition to the cannon, he has three additional guns from robot mode that can attach for some extra firepower.
It's a tank, and it works well as tank, but it's also a bit bland and uninspiring.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is a slight step above Deluxes, so at least he justifies the higher price point a bit more. The sides detach and fold together to form the legs. While we have seen this type of transformation before, it's still fun and impressive here. The rest is not as interesting, with the front forming the torso, and parts of the sides the arms and shoulders.
ROBOT MODE:
Brawl's robot mode is like tank mode, in that it's functional and there aren't any flaws, but just uninspired and nothing really catches your eye or impresses you.
He has the turret on his back and it's basically the only kibble that he has.
The head sculpt is nice, and unmistakably brawl. The orange highlights are interesting though.
In robot mode, it's more obvious how much closer in size he is to a Deluxe. You can't help but feel that Hasbro overcharged, as while he is more complicated and well built compared to a Deluxe, he doesn't quite reach the Voyager level of expectations.
Articulation is as good as you'd expect of recent figures, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.
As mentioned, he comes with three additional guns, which is a lot of extra weaponry.
The smaller gun can be held in his arm, or attached to the 5mm port on his forearm.
While the two bigger cannons peg onto the turret on his back to act as shoulder cannons, which is a pretty sweet placement.
For storage, all the guns can attach onto his turret backpack.
Despite being a relatively simple toy, for some reason, the Combaticons are flawed. Due to his arms being folded halves of part of sides of the tank mode, they appear to be too thin and out of proportion.
It's not the end of the world, but doesn't quite complete the bulkier / buff look that you'd expect of the character.
Brawl has a decent, if uninspired, robot mode.
OVERALL:
As a standalone, it is tough to recommend Brawl unless you really like the design or character. As a part of the Combaticons, he is essential. It could have been a lot worse, and to be honest, the figure doesn't appear to be much compromised due to being part of a combiner, but at the same time, with all the advancements design over the years (almost ten years since the Combiner Wars version!), you would have expected something that's leaps and bounds better too.
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