(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 Legends Optimus Prime. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations Legends Optimus Prime here.)

    Pipes here certainly has "Pipes-ish" colors, with blue and silver/gray being his main two colors. The problem is-- in vehicle mode, blue is nearly ALL of the visible plastic. It's a nice shade of blue, but used this much, the toy just looks dull. There are some silver paint apps in vehicle mode-- most notable on the windows, front bumper and headlights, and on the back end that becomes his robot legs-- but this isn't nearly enough. This is particularly the case since-- with the exception of the black wheels and gun and just a touch of red on the back-- silver is the ONLY other paint app color readily visible in this mode. Given that this is the fourth mass-release version of this mold, Hasbro really should've spiced up this recolor with more... well... colors, G1-accurate or not. In robot mode Pipes' color scheme is slightly better, with silver now on his lower arms and a bit of red on his knees and face. His abs and upper legs are also gray, though unfortunately it's that really bland light milky gray plastic that-- though it does break up the blue some-- doesn't really improve Pipes' colors at all otherwise. Pipes' blue is broken up to an adequate extent in this mode, but he still needed another color or two-- blue and silver/gray by themselves do not an interesting color scheme make.
    Pipes has the same new headsculpt that Combiner Wars Huffer had. Although the new headsculpt fit Huffer, the body didn't really fit Huffer. For Pipes, this is even worse-- now not even the HEAD fits him. Even though G1 Pipes used the same base mold as G1 Huffer, he had a substantially different head with a single visor and a faceplate. In the IDW comics released around this time he had the same face as well, so it's not like the "Huffer head" was a recent development. The red face also just looks rather odd, and I've rarely been a fan of that color being used on faces. Pipes has no mold changes unique to this release.
    Combiner Wars Pipes is a pretty good mold design, but otherwise a complete disappointment. His color scheme is dull with not even interesting accent colors (particularly in vehicle mode), his robot mode proportions don't really fit the character, and Huffer's face doesn't fit the character. In short, other than being an Autobot truck cab, this toy doesn't really fit as Pipes at all. Only recommended for completists-- otherwise, get one of the other, more interesting versions of this mold.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Generations Index