Burn Out (BotCon 2015 Attendee-Only Exclusive)
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Diaclone
Size: Deluxe (comes in a 2-pack with Lift-Ticket)
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Black and some red, silver, transparent light pale purple, light milky glittery gray, white, pale metallic bronze, dark flat blue, metallic gold, and light yellow
Rating: 8.8

(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 Generations Skids. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations Skids here.)

    Burn Out is based off one of the many color variations of the G1 Skids mold that was used in Diaclone, one of the major predecessor lines to Transformers. Given that Diaclone robots weren't sentient but had pilots, Burn Out is paired with Dia who comes with Sgt. Hound, which makes Burn Out... female, I guess? As female as a piloted mech can be, I guess. Except for the face, it generally works-- the face is still too "Skids-y" for me. Regardless, the major color for Burn Out is definitely black, with a fair amount of red and light milky gray, along with several accent colors-- let's just say Burn Out is hardly a toy wanting for paint apps, as there's no large section on the toy that's too one-tone. The red is used on some small robot parts such as the toes and middle of the arms, as well as some other minor parts, and painted stripes on the sides of the car mode, along with red headlights and taillights. Although they're very much in the same style as the red stripes on Generations Skids-- which is certainly intentional, as the Diaclone toys of the mold (mostly) had the same stripes as G1 Skids-- the white outlines and bronze "tapering off" paint apps on the sides look quite nice and help make it pop more. That said, I wish the bronze was a bit more metallic, as it doesn't contrast with the red quite as much as I'd like. The light milky gray is mostly used on her weapons and upper robot legs-- it's a rather blah color, but at least it's spiced up a bit with a good amount of glitter in the plastic mix to make it... well, tolerable. Better-looking is the amount of silver paint on Burn Out-- from the wheel hubs to the windshield wiper details to the face and headcrest details to the shoulder guns, it all looks good and contrasts with the black quite nicely. The transparent plastic is an odd color that seems to tread the line between pale purple and pale blue-- regardless, it's too pale to really add much to the color scheme in either mode. As for "lesser" colors, I LOVE the metallic gold on the slide-out shoulder launchers, as it gives a little additional color "surprise!" to the feature. The yellow used for the eyes is okay, but isn't used elsewhere, when a couple of other yellow accents would've looked nice. There's also some easily-missible dark blue paint apps on the inside of the door-wings.
    No mold changes have been made to Burn Out.
    Burn Out is pretty well-done for what she is, with a good number of paint apps that also contrast well with all her black. That said, because it's homaging a toy that was basically Skids in black, this toy looks just too much like Skids in black in both modes. If you're a Diaclone fan this is most certainly worth a pick-up, but as far as something really unique and different there's certainly many other BotCon exclusives that fit that bill more.



Burn Out Bio:
FUNCTION: Munitions Expert
MOTTO: "Skill and experience lead to congruity."
Her whole life, Dia has known nothing but the Diaclone project. Born in 1982, the same year that the program began and the reason her parents named her as they did, every moment of Dia's upbringing was dedicated to one day enlisting and training to become a mech pilot. Her ambitions eventually became reality and she was partnered with the Burn Out mech.
Although trending towards the smaller side of the mech spectrum, Burn Out has an impressive array of weaponry in humanoid mode. When in full battle status, Burn Out bristles with armaments from pulse rifles to destructive concussion levelers. As with the other Diaclone mechs, targeting of these weapons while maintaining balance and maneuverability is coordinated through aid of an artificial intelligence equipped in the mech's central computer. The AI from Burn Out is a copy of Dia's own personality and every bit as determined and stoic as its pilot. It is also just as stubborn, often leading Dia to disable the voice command function lest she start arguing with something that is essentially herself. A woman of very few words, she finds the verbal exertion more exhausting than the strenuous physical activity needed to pilot the suit without computer assistance.
Strength: 6.0
Intelligence: 7.0
Speed: 7.0
Endurance: 8.0
Rank: 5.0
Courage: 8.0
Fireblast: 9.0
Skill: 7.0

Review by Beastbot

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