Breakdown (Classics) [TFCC 2013 Subscription Service Exclusive]
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Dirty off-white, dark glittery periwinkle, and some charcoal black, silver, dark red, and black
Rating: 9.4

(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 Universe 2.0 Sunstreaker. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Universe 2.0 Sunstreaker here.)

    Botcon knows its history with Breakdowns and embraces it (the original G2 version of the character was the first Botcon's exclusive, and he's had multiple exclusives via Botcon and/or the Transformers Club since)-- thus, the remolding of this toy that was initially done for Botcon 2010's "G2 Redux" Breakdown has now been painted up in his original G1 color scheme. "Classics" Breakdown here doesn't reinvent the wheel, as he keeps his original colors pretty much exactly where they were on his G1 toy. An off-white and dark perwinkle make up his main colors, and go together quite well with themselves and the secondary black color; the perwinkle is a particularly attractive shade, having a bit of glitter mixed in with the plastic. A bit of silver and dark red help to round out Breakdown's overall color scheme, though they're both only applied as accent colors. As you'd expect, Breakdown has the red stripe down the front of his hood, and his Decepticon allegiance symbol is painted asymmetrically on it, just like the G1 toy. His hubs, wheels, rear bumper, taillights, and face are also all painted quite liberally. I'm particularly appreciative of the perwinkle blue added to the sides of the car mode, as it's JUST enough to keep Breakdown's rear section of the mode from being too overly white. (That said, a bit of paint down behind the roof wouldn't have hurt-- this is a high-end collectors' item, after all, so go nuts, I say.) Breakdown has a G1-style allegiance rub symbol on the roof of his vehicle mode.
    Breakdown has no mold changes unique to this release, but he DOES have the same remolded head as his Botcon 2010 "G2 Redux" version-- it's a decent enough head sculpt but the details can get a tad muddled underneath all the paint on his face. Also, this mold is showing some slight signs of degradation considering how many times it's been used now-- the "crank" on mine that's attached to the hood that rotates the head up into place for robot mode is a bit loose and sometimes doesn't stay completely flush with the toy, popping off a little easily. Nothing that ruins the toy, but still worth noting.
    TFSS "Classics" Breakdown may not be the most creative of the TF Collectors' Club's offerings, but it's one a lot of people have been requesting (and that even showed up in IDW's comics), so it's nice to finally have this great mold as this character in these colors. Recommended if you're a fan of Breakdown and/or this mold and can spare the cash for it.



Breakdown Bio:
FUNCTION: Scout
MOTTO: "If I'm so paranoid, then how come everyone really IS watching me?"
Breakdown may be a twitchy bundle of neurotic programming impulses, but he comes by it honestly. When the Autobots and Decepticons of his universe combined forces to wage a titanic struggle against the techno-organic Destructons, Breakdown was assigned to locate their foes' Maelstrom Fracture Obelisk. Before he could report this ancient structure's location back to Galvatron, he was attacked by Psychokhan. A Psychospear strike pierced his side and the combination of its mental assault and the obelisk's Disentanglement Field sent him careening through cracks in the multiverse. It wasn't until many stellar cycles later that his energy signature was identified and caught by the Transtechs' trans-universal tracers, landing him on the multiversal transit pad within Axiom Nexus. Now he attempts to fit into an unfamiliar world, wearing an identification bolt and under constant surveillance. His concussion cannon and modular vibro-projection engine give him a little comfort, at least.
Strength: 6.0
Intelligence: 7.0
Speed: 8.0
Endurance: 5.0
Rank: 4.0
Courage: 8.0
Fireblast: 8.0
Skill: 7.0

Review by Beastbot

Back to Botcon/OTFCC Exclusives Index