Autobot
Topspin (Activator; DotM)
Given the target audience,
it's no surprise that Activators Topspin's vehicle mode is a bit squashed
and rounded to fit the kiddy aesthetic. That aside, though, his proportions
are pretty good in vehicle mode, even if it's more "generi-car" than something
resembling a NASCAR Chevrolet Impala. There's no robot extras in this mode
at all, unless you count the big orange piece sticking out the back end.
It's required for the subline's gimmick, though, so I don't-- and it's
colored to look like exhaust flames, too, which was a nice color choice.
Although the mold detailing on Topspin's vehicle mode is rather sparse,
only having what's absolutely necessary on the toy, this is appropriate
given the subline's aim. Where Topspin really wins here is in the number
of paint apps-- given that he's a NASCAR, the major sponsors are all painted
on him, like Lowe's and Sprint, along with his "48" racing number. He also
has his signature white surrounded by dark blue with a dark red line separating
the two, which looks rather neat and is a little eye-catching. That said,
even with all these paint apps I'm disappointed that his windows aren't
painted (excluding the "mesh" over one of the windows)-- dark blue windows
really don't work on a dark blue car, so they stick out as blatantly unpainted
compared to everything else in this mode. Headlight paint apps also would've
been appreciated.
As with all Dark of
the Moon Activators, Topspin is simply transformed by pushing in on the
big button on the rear side of his vehicle mode and standing him up. The
front halves of his car mode separate out to become his shoulders and arms,
his head pushes up a bit, and part of the rear windshield folds back to
become mold detailing of his feet on the front of the "stump" you stand
him up on. It generally makes for a pretty underwhelming robot mode, but
he follows the overall look of the Activators-- Bumblebee
in particular, given that he emulates the latter's shoulders by having
parts of the shoulders formed by the front halves of the car, with the
actual sides being separate arm pieces that can pivot forwards and backwards.
This is definitely preferable to having the whole shoulder piece move forward
as one and, though it still looks a bit goofy, looks better than most Activators'
arms. (The arms moving at the shoulders are his only point of articulation,
by the way-- as is standard with this subline.) The mold detailng on Topspin's
robot parts is very well-done, with pistons, springs, and the like molded
in very intricately on his chest and back in particular, even emulating
the robot kibble that's there on the "mainline"
toy in most cases. His head, interestingly enough, isn't at all "chibi-fied"
like most other Transformer movie toys aimed at young kids, and looks more
or less like the head on any of his other toys. All this said, Topspin's
robot parts unfortunately have very few paint apps-- only a few on his
face, chest, and lower legs are there, and nearly all of these are silver,
making his robot mode a bit more boring-looking than his vehicle mode,
to be certain.
Activators Topspin is
one of the better Activators toys, with quite a few paint apps in vehicle
mode and the improved shoulder design that only he and the Bumblebee toys
in this subline share. His robot mode bits are really bereft of paint apps,
though, and in vehicle mode he doesn't pull off the "sports car" look quite
as well as Bumblebee pulls off being a Camaro, given the kiddie-fied proportions.
Mildly recommended if you have a young 'un who wants the character but
isn't good with transformations, but otherwise-- as with pretty much every
DotM Activator-- he's an easy skip.
Review by Beastbot