Prowl
(Animated)
Prowl's vehicle mode
is a futuristic police motorcycle-- done in the exaggerated Animated proportions,
of course. The proportions of the mode are for the most part solid, and
I like how much the headlights look like "eyes". The different-colored
sirens on the rear end of the mode are a nice touch, as well. The bronze
stripes also add enough contrast to the black and gray color scheme to
keep things interesting. Still, there's one fairly major thing that bugs
me about this mode, and that's its stability-- or lack thereof. Prowl has
a kickstand, but it's rather weakly attached and doesn't hold him up that
well. The front wheel assembly is also supposed to fit in a tab on the
underside of the front of the vehicle, but it doesn't do so very well,
so you end up with a fairly unstable front wheel (though the back wheel
is fine). It's also fairly obvious where Prowl's feet and upper arms are
from an all-but-casual look at the vehicle mode, though they mesh with
the overall shape of the vehicle very well, so I don't know if I'd go so
far as to call them "extras". Prowl also comes with a traffic light extra
that can be used in robot mode to bludgeon things, but sadly it can't attach
to any part of his vehicle mode, and I really don't like weapons that can't
be stored in both modes.
Prowl's robot mode is
simply amazing. It's quite the engineering feat that they were able to
get a bot mode THIS good and with proportions THIS show-accurate with a
motorcycle mode. Given Animated's exaggerated proportions, Prowl's proportions
fit in perfectly with the line (the sole exception is the chin, which I
think is a bit ludicrous even by Animated standards-- though it is show-accurate).
He has a lithe form with a very small waist, but it works. All of the vehicle
parts fit into Prowl's robot mode perfectly, with the front of the motorcycle
forming a perfect chestplate and, in a particularly ingenious move, the
legs actually fold AROUND the wheels for the transformation, which is just
awesome. The only parts that could possibly qualify as "extras" are the
police sirens on the undersides of his arms (which are very small) and
the crests behind his shoulders, which I think actually help the look of
his mode, and in the show serve as a short-term jet pack. Prowl's color
scheme gains a bit more tan in this mode, which works as a very good contrast
color with the bronze against the black and gray-- it's a fairly good color
scheme, overall. Prowl has incredibly articulation-- except for the wrists
and sideways at the knees, he can move at pretty much any point you can
reasonably expect on a deluxe-sized toy. Because of his lack of any real
kibble, he's also incredibly stable, and can even take on a one-legged
"ninja ready" stance, which is something very few Transformers can boast.
Prowl can hold his traffic light weapon in this mode, though not as well
as you'd think-- the gray peg at the end of the rope doesn't actually fit
between his fingers, it's too wide-- you slide the rope in between his
fingers and the gray peg is supposed to stop the traffic light from falling
out of his hands. It does a serviceable enough job when he's just standing
there holding the traffic light, but if you try swinging it around it'll
more likely than not fall out his hands. Yeah, a pretty lame extra, there.
Thankfully, he does have a pair of cool weapons-- parts of his leg-wheel
spokes can detact and unfold to become ninja stars! A very cool idea, and
they fit in his hands perfectly. No problems there!
Animated Prowl has a
decent enough (though a bit unstable) vehicle mode, but his robot mode
is what is really incredible. It's practically perfect, with cool hidden
weapons, great posability and proportions, and a really innovative transformation.
The unstable part of the vehicle mode and rather lame traffic light extra
are the only things keeping him from getting a "must-buy" rating of 9.0+.
Review by Beastbot