(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original Animated deluxe Prowl. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Animated deluxe Prowl here.)

    Prowl isn't so much a redeco as a significant remold. His actual color scheme has changed very little, and instead the silly traffic light accessory has been replaced with an awesome sidecar that forms armor for Prowl in robot mode! Let's tackle the vehicle mode first, though-- the sidecar looks great against the "main" part of Prowl, and the front windshield of the sidecar has the same "pointed bird-face" look that the main part does. It also connects to the main part of Prowl very solidly, and the proportions are very nice, as well. Unfortunately, if you look at it more closely you can see a few problems that stem from it becoming armor for the robot mode. For one, only the inside half of the wheel rotates, which just looks weird. Also, there is no real "bottom" to the seat, just some connector pieces and the samurai helmet. The main part of Prowl has also been "stripped down" a bit in features to accomodate all the extra play value and pieces of the sidecar armor (though honestly, I'm okay with this-- SOMETHING has to give when you're adding this complicated of an accessory). For one, the ninja stars formed from the inner part of the tires are gone-- stationary pieces are glued to the toy in their place. Also, some paint apps are gone, and the sirens on the back end are one color now. The transparent plastic has been changed to blue instead of a smoky transparent gray-- which looks much better, in my opinion, especially with the molded-in "circuitry" lines. There's also been some slight remolding done to some existing pieces-- the windshield piece has been elongated slighly at the nose, and a few tabs have been molded into the toy to allow it to connect to the armor in robot mode.
    Before talking about the armor (which doesn't necessarily HAVE to be attached to the robot mode at all times, by the by), a few details worth nothing about the core robot mode-- first, the head is new, and is tinier and more rounded to allow the helmet to fit earier on it. It looks kinda overly skinny without said helmet, however. Also, the hands are unpainted, and the side pieces on the upper legs are black now, not tan. Now, moving onto the armor-- surprisingly, it's almost one solid piece. The wheel and flip-out energy sword/shield combo is mounted on the back of either hand and looks great, though I wish the blade was slightly larger, The rest of the armor fits around Prowl's main body, though, with the main point of connection being tabs on his shoulder armor pieces. Many people have complained about the connection points here being too weak and Prowl not being able to wear his armor well, but thankfully mine doesn't have this problem so it's not universal. The samurai helmet that rests over Prowl's core head looks rather goofy-looking-- the design is alright, but it fits over the head far too losely and makes it look like he's wearing glasses and a helmet that're too big for his noggin. There's also some big unsightly connector pieces coming out of the back of it, and he's not all that steady on his feet with the added weight. Otherwise, though, the armor looks boss, with the samurai "skirt" pieces and extra shoulder armor helping to bulk up Prowl a bit, with the rest of the pieces up and out of the wave of movement.
    Samurai Prowl is a great update to an already good toy, giving you not only a solid core figure but some great armor and weapons as well! Just be careful about getting one that doesn't connect together all that well. Definitely recommended, as you get a ton of play value for just a deluxe-class price with this one.

Review by Beastbot

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