Tailgate's alternate mode is a sportscar, and is fairly basic all-around-- not bad, just basic and not really one to stand out in a lineup of TFs. He's a fairly smooth-topped sportscar that's a bit too skinny from the sides proportionally, especially in comparison to his big wheels. (This was an issue with a lot of the first Minibot molds IMO-- they were a bit *too* toy-like.) Due to the transformation, the chrome knees are a bit obvious on the back end, with square holes for them in said back end, but other than that there aren't any robot mode extras in this mode. The mold details are VERY sparse, even by G1 standards. There's some angular details on the middle of the front grill and hood, but other than that the absolutely bare minimum of details iareused on the rest of the car mode. Granted, the sunroof and several windows help break up the midsection a bit, but still, some details like car door lines/handles and some headlights/taillights would've been appreciated. There's only one sticker in this mode-- the rub allegiance symbol in the center of the front hood-- and no paint apps. The black plastic used for the windows and wheels helps breakup the white a fair amount, and the grill is a nice chrome, but some more stickers/paint on the hood and sides would've helped vary up the very basic color scheme a bit more.
    To transform Tailgate into robot mode, just slide the sides out to become his arms, and then fold the back ends out and down to become his legs; you're done. The end result is a nice "early prototype" for a lot of later small car Transformers, and it's easy to see why this general transformation caught on; the proportions are above-average for the size. The arms are rather skinny with only tiny fist details on the very ends of them, which is one aspect of this transformation that they definitely improved over time. The arms also connect to the body closer to the elbows than the shoulders, which is weird. Still, the legs are very good, with the car back end serving as nice lower legs and the upper legs not being TOO small in comparison to them. The main body and head are basically one large piece, with no real slimming between the chest and head, though the car hood on the back of the butt means he widens out a bit around the waist. It's a bit odd, but at least the silver head noticeably sticks out from its surrounding parts, with an angular forehead with large chin guards, a light blue visor, and a rather squarish faceplate with some indentations on it. There's also some stickers-- an Autobot symbol on the waist and some basic dial and vent details on the chest-- but there's no other paint apps in this mode beyond the face. Still, with the addition of a very dark dull teal to help add some color to the toy on the body (as well as on the back of the lower legs) and more chrome silver on the upper legs, his colors are more broken up in this mode and visually interesting. For articulation, Tailgate can move back and forth at the elbow-shoulders, as well as back at the knees (though given the transformation, if his lower legs aren't pointing straight down, they're loose).
    The G1 toy of Tailgate certainly has some oddities about it-- namely, the long body-head piece in robot mode, as well as the very skinny arms-- but overall it's a solid toy for the time, and it's rather interesting as a "precursor" for other small car TFs to come. One of the best Minibot reissue molds out there, overall.

Review by Beastbot

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