Guzzle is a "movieverse"-styled update of the G1 character of the same name, and shares a lot in common with his original namesake-- first of which is the alt mode, being a tank and all. He's very compact in this mode, and thus looks small even for a Commander class toy-- but rest assured, he does have about the same mass as the others in this assortment. His tank proportions are very spot-on and realistic, as is his color scheme-- dark military green is what you'd expect a tank to be decked out in, after all. There's a bit of silver and white to contrast with his dark green, though the light military green paint on his treads provides the most contrast in this mode-- which admittedly isn't much. He's also got a bit of a bluish black, which serves as a decent neutral color for his turret barrel and accessories. Guzzle's mold detailing is quite good in this mode, with all the necessary details there like vents, the opening hatch, and even little rivets on the side of the vehicle. Still, this isn't the most exciting of modes, particularly since due to his transformation, his turret can't rotate in this mode, nor can his main cannon move up and down. That said, his two little black "add-on" weapons on the sides of the turret can rotate in place around their peg holes, so at least there's that.
    Guzzle's transformation is very simple, consisting of just un-compressing his vehicle mode and flipping a few panels back. This gives him a very squat, wide-shouldered stance, something that was popularized for his G1 character in the IDW comic miniseries "Last Stand of the Wreckers" (which was also likely why this guy got "snuck" into the tail end of the DotM line). Complete with his large arms, stocky legs, and relatively small main body with a head barely sticking out above his chest, and this gives him a lot of personality, which generally the toy pulls off. That said, I'm not fan of just how wide his hips come out from his skinny waist-- this is definitely my main issue with this mode. His lower arms are also a bit TOO large to the point where's practically gorilla-like in his stance. That said, there's plenty of positives about this mode. For one, as good as his vehicle mode detailing was, here the level of detail is simply astounding. Tiny bone-like bits on his upper arms, lots vents and the like along his chest and upper legs-- this guy has so much detailing it almost borders on too much! (In fact, it IS a bit too much for his head, which Hasbro tried to "movie-ize" a bit too much, I think-- Guzzle's supposed to have a faceplate, but instead he has what looks like a weird, overly complex insect mouth that just doesn't fit him well, movieverse toy or no.) His color variety and paint detailing is also much more varied and widespread in this mode, with the light green on the treads much more prevalent, while his chest is a bright yellow, there's some tan on his head and upper legs, and a nice shade of light metallic blue on his face. The yellow contrasts particularly well with the various shades of green, as does the tan, and I like how the color makeup makes his modes look so different despite the simple transformation. There's also a bit of that blah light milky gray in this mode, but it's mostly out-of-the-way on his backside, so no biggie there. Guzzle has almost no vehicle mode extras in this mode, the only bits of note being little panels that hang off his lower and upper arms noticeably, but don't really get in the way of articulation much and are a minor eyesore at best. I suppose his turret barrel could also qualify as an extra, but having that hanging way back behind his head was sort of his "thing", and it's replicated here quite well-- not to mention that in this mode, it can rotate in place and move up-and-down, thank goodness! Regarding his other articulation points, Guzzle can move at the shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), hips, knees, and slightly forwards at the ankles. Most of these joints are ball joints, so you can get a pretty good range out of him for a toy of this size-- excepting his knees, which unfortunately can only move back-and-forth. Guzzle's two little guns from vehicle mode can be held in either of his hands in this mode, or you can combine them both to make a slightly larger gun that he can also hold here.
    DotM Guzzle is a pretty darned good update of the original toy, having a nice mix between the classic and movie aesthetics that don't go too far in either direction to alienate a fan of either style (with the exception of his overly-detailed head). He may be a bit dull in vehicle mode, but he's accurate, with only a few very minor kibble and robot mode proportional issues. Add in a lot of character, a good color scheme in robot mode, a good range of movement, and some cool little accessories, and you've got a pretty neat Commander-class figure, here. Recommended if you're into the character and don't mind the insect-like face detailing; otherwise, mildly recommended due to a few limitations in his vehicle mode.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Dark of the Moon Index