Appropriately enough,
Ghost Rider makes his Transformer Crossover debut as a motorcycle-from-hell.
It's reminiscent of Ghost Rider's bike in quite a few circumstances, and
probably fits the character better than any other Marvel TF Crossover.
The black and gray with yellow, orange, and red used as highlights is the
perfect color scheme for Ghost Rider, and they're blended together perfectly
here-- no large part of him is without paint apps. I particularly like
the yellow paint fade on top of his transparent orange plastic to simulate
flames. The gray plastic is also a bit of a glossy metallic shade, so it
looks pretty decent as a secondary color. The mold detailing on him in
most places is admittedly a bit simplistic for the size-- I would've preferred
a bit more "metal plating and bolts" on him-- but that's not to say it's
bad by any measure. There are some additional bits to help Ghost Rider
stand out in this mode, like the nice long chain wraparound that connects
from the spoke of his front wheel to near the windshield-- certainly appropriate,
given Ghost Rider's signature weapon. The motorcycle seat also looks like
the padding on the inside of a coffin, a downright awesome design choice--
though putting spikes right where in front of it is questionable... (Most
of the spikes look pretty cool, though.) The skull-like windshield with
"glowing eyes" is also a nice touch. My main complaint with this mode--
and with the toy itself-- is just how obvious so many of his mech mode
parts are in this mode. The worst offender is definitely his head, which
is just THERE sticking up behind the shield. The face is techncially covered,
but it's still blatantly obvious it's there. Given how the parts connect,
it's also obvious the upper part of the rear section of the vehicle becomes
one of his arms, and his feet stick out the back end of this mode. I also
don't like how apparent it is that the middle of the motorcycle forms his
mech mode chest-- the second set of eyes NOT on the windshield, but on
his mech mode chest, look pretty odd-- I wish there was some way to slide
a cover over them or something.
Ghost Rider's mech mode
is definitely the mode the toy was built around-- in this mode he's pretty
awesome all around, for the most part. His proportions are pretty much
perfect, with one exception-- his feet are way too large, made mostly from
his "flame exhaust" pieces on the back end of his vehicle mode. Thery're
at a bit of an odd angle, too-- you pretty much have to bend his legs backward
at the knee a little to get him to stand up straight. However, there's
tons of details on this guy that are cool, from the glowing-red skull kneecaps
to the spikes on the waist and elbows to his head sculpt, which is really
well-done and looks like a fleshless Terminator on fire. (Tell me THAT
ain't cool.) Unfortunately, his eyes are painted over, so no glowy eye
light-piping here. His left arm ends in his front wheel, which would normally
be odd, but little spikes can come out of the wheel to make it look more
like a fiery chainsaw, which certainly ups the cool factor a lot there.
Using the windshield as armor for his left shoulder was also a nice touch,
and really helps his delightfully asymmetrical appearance. His right "normal"
arm can hold his chain weapon from vehicle mode. Ghost Rider's articluation
is also quite good-- he can move at the head (at two points), the shoulders
(at two points on the right arm, three on the left), the elbows (at two
points on the right arm, one on the left), the right wrist, the waist,
hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and ankles. Unfortunately,
his knees are on a ratcheting joint that only allows you to pose them front-to-back
in one of three positions, which is an odd design choice.
The Ghost Rider TF Crossover
has a lot of cool, unique features about him, from the nice paint apps
and mold details to the great articulation, weapons, and proportions of
mech mode. The vehicle mode choice also fits the character perfectly. However,
the vehicle mode is also a bit mis-proportioned here and there and has
some INCREDIBLY obvious mech mode details, which take away a fair number
of points. Still, if you can overlook that big negative, and his overly
simplistic transformation, he's otherwise a cool figure.
Review by Beastbot