Wildrider
(Botcon 2011 Exclusive)
(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 Lockdown. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Animated deluxe Lockdown here.)
Like the other members
in this Botcon 2011 box set, Wildrider here is an Animated homage to the
G1 Stunticon of the same name. As such, he shares the same basic color
scheme of a dark (slightly bluish) gray, along with black and a bit of
silver, fuchsia, and red to round things off. The dark bluish gray would've
been fine as a neutral color used in moderate amounts, but I feel it's
used way too much on this toy, particularly in vehicle mode. Together with
the black, it just makes things look too dull in that mode. Thankfully,
the transparent red plastic and fuchsia help to provide at least a BIT
of color in that mode (and the rear windows of this mold are finally painted,
huzzah!). It all comes together considerably better in robot mode, though,
with the fuchsia considerably more prevalent, along with the silver, which
goes great with the black. Still, I'd be lying if I said he couldn't have
used another accent color or two, even if those colors weren't entirely
"G1 accurate".
In addition to having
the chainsaw attachment that Blazing Lockdown
has, Wildrider also has a new head mold, and it looks fantastic. It looks
a bit like an exaggerated version of a crazy Franken-monster that's a bit
unhinged (the odd facial expression that results in two differently-sized
eyes helps quite well with this). Considering that Wildrider is supposed
to essentially be a Transformer version of movie director Michael Bay,
it honestly fits even a bit more, knowing that. The toy still looks too
much like Lockdown in vehicle mode, but the headsculpt is different enough
in robot mode to make Wildrider look like a completely different character.
Botcon 2011 Wildrider
is an interesting homage to the G1 character with a REALLY nice and unique
headsculpt, but unfortunately his color scheme is a bit dull, G1-accurate
or not (particularly in vehicle mode). It really could've benefitted from
a few more accent colors. As it is, although it's still decent enough,
this is my least favorite color scheme of the toys in the set.
Review by Beastbot