One of the IDW-comic-continuity characters finally gets his own toy. This Decepticon-turned-Autobot has a sportscar mode, but it's a rather unique sportscar-- it's VERY long proportionally (but not so much so that it looks odd). It helps to give a bit more variety to the rather overused alt mode of an Autobot car, so I rather like it. The spoiler and Japanese characters on the sides, along with the red lines down most of the length of the vehicle, are meant to evoke that he's a Japanese drifting car (hence his name). The red helps to spice up the mode a little bit, though making them a little darker to evoke a bit more contrast would've looked a tad better. All of the necessary paint details are there-- the headlights, taillights, and both bumpers are painted, as well as the rims of each tire. His rear window is also painted, though the combination of transparent and painted windows on one figure has always seemed like a bad idea to me-- if you can't make all of them transparent and keep the robot parts from being seen I'm a proponent of painted windows, though I seem to be in the minority on this. His mold detailing is rather scarce though, even considering that he's a sleek sportscar-- most of the mold details are fairly basic by today's standards. Granted, this improves a bit in robot mode, but not as much as I'd like. There are no robot mode extras at all in this mode-- even through the clear windows (though there isn't a seat and steering wheel inside the car, either).
    In robot mode is where Drift really shines, in my opinion. Yeah, he's got some vehicle mode extras, but they all fit in remarkably well with his overall look in robot mode. The car halves help to bulk up his lower legs without doing so TOO much, the front car hood splits and folds up to look like nice shoulder armor, and his car doors become really nice sword scabbards-- a particularly inspired choice, there. The front windshield becomes his chest, and looks quite good doing so. His headsculpt is very well-done, with just the right amount of detailing on it, though the light piping doesn't work quite as well as I'd hoped. His paint detailing is a little more scarce in robot mode-- his chest, in particular, could've used a little more-- but his colors are varied enough where it's no biggie. The dark gray parts, which are more visible in this mode, contrast well enough with the white, though it's still not a particularly exciting color scheme. As mentioned earlier, he has two scabbards, out of which he can pull two sword swords. Or, if he's REALLY angry, there's a long katana on on his back that he can pull out! (It is made of bendy plastic, though, so it can "fall limp" slightly to one side or the other over time.) His articulation allows you to pose him with said swords quite well, too-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), wrists, hips (at two points), and knees. (Although the transformation technically would allow it, he doesn't have waist articulation so that he can store that long sword against his back.) The vehicle mode kibble gets in the way surprisingly little, as even the scabbards can be pushed out of the way a fair bit if you so desire. The lower leg articulation is the only part that's a little restricted.
    Drift is a really inspired design. Yes, he's another Autobot sportscar, but they really went out of their way to make him unique, with the multiple swords, the robot mode design, an fairly imaginative transformation, and his whole "Japanese drift car" bit in vehicle mode. I wish he had more mold detailing and his red was a bit darker, but that's about it. Highly recommended.

Review by Beastbot

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