This time around Captain
Rex gets the alt mode of a Freeco Speeder, and overall it's pretty accurate.
The proportions are pretty spot-on, and there aren't any mech mode extras
whatsoever, unless you count some of the detailing on the underside (which
I don't). All of the necessary paint detailing is on the toy, with the
various maroon decals helping to break up all that off-white some-- they
also did a great job on making the decals look "worn", with little bits
and pieces "taken out" of them. The only problem I have with this mode
is that the cockpit-- the big silver-painted bubble in the middle-- is
supposed to be transparent, and here it's clearly not. Granted, this was
no doubt done so that Captain Rex's mech mode didn't show through incredibly
obviously in this mode, but just plain silver doesn't make it look remotely
like a window. Perhaps a metallic light blue paint instead, of making those
pieces out of heavily-tinted transparent plastic? The rear portion of this
mode has a spring-loaded missile launcher that can be fired out of it,
and the missile works pretty well as "thrust" when it's plugged in, which
is a nice touch. There are also three rather lengthy landing gear that
fold out from the bottom of this mode, which can each move at three different
points. Unfortunately, they can't retract fully in this mode for design
reasons, which is kinda weird.
Captain Rex's mech mode
is a bit straightforward, but overall it's pretty decent, and above-average
for a toy of this line. There's one big piece of vehicle mode "kibble"
hanging off the back-- the near-the-rear part of his Freeco Speeer mode,
with the underside folding out to look like "wings" of some sort. Honestly,
I don't mind this kibble as much as on most SWTFs, since the wings at least
serve some aesthetic purpose. However, there isn't any place for this piece
to "lock in", which is kind of bothersome. Making the turbines into Rex's
arms was a nice idea, but the shoulder connections are overly skinny and
look out-of-place on the rest of the figure. As for his legs, they're blatantly
halves of the front part of the Speeder, and the landing gear looks odd
on the inside of Rex's right leg, but the serve their job well enough--
except for the bit where they connect to the waist, which are also ridiculously
skinny and a bit fragile-looking. The bit of blue on the mech mode parts
helps to break up the color scheme a bit more, though like most SWTFs,
it's hardly eye-catching. The mold detailing ,however, is weird-- it's
very, very intricate on some spots like the inside of Captain Rex's legs,
but they rather sparse and honestly a bit overly-cartoony on his chest
and head. Plus, the mold for his head is just off-center, not being entirely
asymmetrical, and just looks kinda doughy and unprofessional. When it comes
to Rex's articluation, it's pretty good-- he can move at the neck, shoulders
(at two points), elbows (at three points), wrists, waist, hips (at four
points), knees (at two points), and side-to-side at the ankles. Given all
this, you can get some pretty nice poses out of him, though his bit of
back-heavyness and slightly small feet limit this some. The rear part of
the vehicle mode detaches and can be held by Rex as a missile launcher
weapon in this mode, which is a cool little touch.
The Freeco Speeder Captain
Rex is the better of the two versions, with most of the extras in both
modes either tucked away or done so that they add aesthetically to the
overall figure. A couple of odd ideas like painting his cockpit a flat
silver, having rather odd hip and shoulder joints, and overly chunky, simple
mold detailing on parts are his only major drawbacks. Mildly recommended.
Review by Beastbot