Mudflap
(Gravity Bot)
As you'd expect from
a Gravity Bot, given that they're aimed at some of the youngest Transfans-to-be,
the vehicle mode is pretty curved and "kiddy"-looking, evne though the
Chevy Trax itself isn't exactly the most angular of cars. Still, given
that, it's not as much of a proportion-stretcher as with some other Gravity
Bots. In fact, overall Mudflap has a pretty solid vehicle mode for a Gravity
Bot. Most have the back upper end of their vehicle modes compromised by
somewhat obvious "feet" mold detailing, but Mudflap's feet detailing is
cleverly on the small spoiler coming out the back end, and if one didn't
know better they'd assume that it was just part of the normal spoiler detailing.
Other than that very small caveat, Mudflap's vehicle mode is pretty flawless
given the gimmick-- simplistic mold detailing, but it's there when needed,
and the front grill and headlights look particularly good-- I love the
"small teal circle" patterns used on the headlights in particular. The
orange/black/silver color scheme, while not the best, goes together fairly
well, particularly with the sparkly shade of orange used for the plastic.
Mudflap's back end has absolutely NO paint detailing on it, however, which
is kind of a big oversight given that there's clearly mold detailing for
a rear window, bumper, and taillights back there. (His license plate says
"TRAX", by the way.)
Like all Gravity Bots,
all you have to do to transform Mudflap is stand him up on his back end,
and everything flips and folds into place! The roof of the vehicle mode
rotates around to become the robot chest while the front half splits in
half and moves down to reveal the robot head and become shoulders. It's
a nice idea for little kids, even if a lot of sacrifices had to be made
to Mudflap's robot mode to get this to work. Unfortunately, just like all
the other Gravity Bots, Mudflap can't move at all in this mode-- anywhere.
However, his paint detailing and mold detailing is done fairly well, with
his robot head and legs sculpted and detailed quite well on the toy. The
faux-grill-chest is also fairly well-done in this mode too. (His head is
kinda... weird, and not in a good way, but that's not really the fault
of the Gravity Bot.) His shoulders are really large, being just halves
of his car mode, and his hands are barely visible-- they can be seen molded
on the sides of the panels that form said shoulder-arms in this mode. As
is the case with most Gravity Bots, he's very stable and sturdy.
Gravity Bot Mudflap
is one of the better-than-average toys in the line, mostly because of his
vehicle mode, which gives practically no hint of his robot mode, even in
the mold detailing. The sparkly orange plastic used on his is also a particularly
nice shade. His overly weird robot mode face and lack of paint on his back
end of vehicle mode are his only real downsides if you compare him with
other Gravity Bots. If you know a young fan who likes the character and
wants a toy of him, this is a nice choice, but unless you're a completist,
for an adult it probably isn't worth purchasing given the more "bonafide"
Transformers out there.
Review by Beastbot