Nightbeat
(Generations; Deluxe)
(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 Generations deluxe "IDW" Bumblebee. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations deluxe "IDW" Bumblebee here.)
G1 Nightbeat finally
gets a new "modern" toy of his own, even if it's "just" a remold. This
redeco stays quite faithful to Nightbeat's original colors with light blue,
yellow, and black being the main triad of colors on this release. The light
blue plastic is quite an eye-catching shade, having a milky look to it
that fits the color well. (The light blue paint is a bit more plain-looking
of a shade, though thankfully this paint is only really used on Nightbeat's
lower arms and guns.) The blue contrasts excellently with both the yellow
and the black, and in general this is a pretty nice, pretty unique color
scheme. On the other hand, Nightbeat's yellow paint (not the plastic) is
a bit too thin, and you can "see" the blue behind it a bit, as it bleeds
through the yellow. It's particularly bad on Nightbeat's "chest stripe",
where the ridges on the plastic make the blue bleed through the yellow
even more obviously. Hasbro really should've either piled it on thicker
or chosen a darker shade. Nightbeat's signature red-and-white "flame" decos
on the sides are intact on this redeco, and both look fantastic-- as you'd
expect, it contrasts excellently with the blue, and helps to add a bit
more color variety to the vehicle mode, where the black is far less prominent.
There's also a bit of dark red for his taillights and visor, and some silver
on his tires and headlights-- both of which are nice colors I have no quibbles
with and serve as nice accents. The transparent light blue windows and
light metallic blue paint used for his rear windows are nice shades in
and of themselves, but they're a bit TOO close to the light blue plastic--
there's neither complementarity nor contrast there, particularly with the
paint. They should have made those shades a bit darker or lighter for more
visual interest.
Nightbeat does have
one mold change, and that's a new head, very reminiscent of his more modern
look in the IDW comics. It's a very crisp, proportional headsculpt with
a good deal of paint that I have no issues with whatsoever, and gives a
fitting serious look to Nightbeat's face.
Generations "Thrilling
30th" Nightbeat is an excellent deco of a pretty decent mold-- part of
me is glad that he's not a redeco of Special Ops
Jazz as he apparently was originally going to be judging by the packaging
art, as this mold fits his G1 design better. The colors all mesh together
quite well, though some of his blues could have been differentiated a tad
more and his yellow paint is a little thin. Mildly recommended if you're
fan of the character and don't care about the removal of the Headmaster
gimmick from the character-- I don't, as it hasn't been part of his modern
characterization anyways. In terms of the mold itself, I still think Goldfire's
colors win out as the best, though.
Review by Beastbot