Machine Wars Prowl
In my efforts to buy all previous Prowl toys (so far the only ones I don't already own or
have on the way are the Actionmaster and the Magnaboss component), I grabbed a Machine Wars
Prowl for $6 on eBay. $10 after shipping, which is a decent price considering BBTS wants $85 for
the lot of eight basics ($10.63 each, plus the $5 shipping for the set) and most eBay auctions
ask around $10 (what few there are). Anyways, for those of you who don't know, Machine Wars was a
brief line, exclusive to KB toys, that was released around the beginning of Beast Wars. The entire
line comprised of G2 holdovers and molds previously only used in Europe. I personally haven't
played with any of them until I got Prowl, but the RID versus packs and Dirge and Thrust from
Beast Wars use the basic molds, though I can't think of any off hand that use the larger molds.
Anywho, if you have Skid-Z from the RID line, then you have Prowl, only better. Perhaps if I hadn't
owned Skid-Z before I would like Prowl more, but, as it stands, Prowl sucks compared to Skid-Z. Of course,
if I had owned Prowl first, I suppose Skid-Z would have gotten a higher score. Then again, RID did a pretty
good job of taking bad toys and making them a lot better (Cybershark into Sky Byte for instance).
Prowl's vehicle mode is primarily a pearly white. In fact, it's all that color. The only thing
breaking up all the white are the stickers. He has an eight ball on the nose cone, and a variety of
what appears to be advertising on the sides, including one that says 'BW'. Hmm. Also on his spoiler
is a sticker with his name in a funky font. Vehicle mode is pretty cool, though I'd like some
chrome on the wheel hubs, but, that's being picky I suppose. Without the chrome it does look
sorta bootlegish, though the plastic quality is very high (more so than Skid-Z).
Transformation. Yeah, right. It's soooo hard.
Robot mode, um, well, it looks like a prototype. It's completely pearl white, like the vehicle
mode, but his head is an odd pea color. Plus his eyes, which are supposed to have the glowing
gimmick, have been filled in with an ugly grayish opaque plastic. If his head was a different color,
I might like it, but the very plain color scheme (and supreme lack of paint, as in, there is none) makes
robot mode very blah. The whole toy in fact is rather blah.
So, is he worth it? Eh. If you really like the mold, or you want an obscure toy with a
popular name (since Prime and Starscream will set you back a bit more) then it's a decent buy for
under $10, but I wouldn't pay any more than that. As he is now, that is, pegged to the wall on his card (I slit the
top of the bubble so I could slip the insert back in), he's pretty good looking, but for a better
look, you'll probably want Skid-Z. Of course, given the scarcity of Skid-Z and the high prices that
come with him, maybe you'll want a Prowl to repaint. He's pretty much a blank slate. Literally.
