Autobot
Topspin (Armor)
(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 DotM deluxe Autobot Topspin toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original DotM deluxe Autobot Topspin toy here.)
I guess the "Armor" on
this redeco of Topspin is meant to be all the light gray in his vehicle
mode. It's quite light, almost a white color-- but unfortunately, it's
of the same general "light milky gray" plastic shade that is on far too
many of the movie toys, and is exactly what this line needed LESS of, particularly
considering that the two other main plastic colors on Armor Topspin are
black and dark gray. (The linear black "angular line" paint apps near the
front add at least a bit of style to his alt mode, though.) He also has
some dark metallic gunmetal gray paint apps on his "engine" and a few other
minor areas, which look a lot like his darker gray plastic. Taken as a
whole, this lends to a pretty boring color scheme, as the only actual color
in the scheme that isn't merely an accent are his blue windows (which admittedly
look nice against the greyish-white). He's still got some of his "sponsor"
decals, like Lowe's and NASCAR, which helps to add a tad more variety in
car mode. In robot mode, a few bronze and light red paint apps make themselves
obvious on a few parts like his shoulders and chest. These help to add
some desperately-needed color and contrast, but unfortunately it's just
too little, overall. Topspin needs a considerably less monochromatic color
scheme to really appeal to me, and his "armored" version here isn't that.
No mold changes have
been made to Autobot Armor Topspin (his Mechtech weapon remains the same
as the original release's, as well).
Autobot Armor Topspin
is overall a pretty underwhelming, boring redeco of a pretty good mold.
Unfortunately, the movie line absolutely does NOT need more gray plastic,
and although he has some nice accent colors, he doesn't have enough of
them to overcome his generally monochromatic color scheme. It MAY be a
slight homage to Twin Twist-- Topspin's fellow Wrecker and "Jumpstarter"
in G1-- but unless you both can't get enough of this mold AND really want
a "movie Twin Twist", you're best off skipping this release and sticking
with Topspin's original color scheme.
Review by Beastbot