Longarm's vehicle mode is special for two reasons-- first off, it's a fairly accurate replica of the tow truck used by Mikaela near the end of the Transformers Movie to tow Bumblebee. Secondly, it's also loosely based off of the Autobot version of the tow truck drone from the main console Transformers movie video game. Overall, this alternate mode is pretty nice-looking, though there's one thing that bugs me a bit about it-- namely, it looks way too wide at the front end proportionally. It's not too bad from a side view, but from a front view something definitely looks off. Another thing that irks' me is that Longarm's sirens don't sit flush with the top roof-- either you have to lean them forwards so that they look off, or you have to position them facing upwards like real sirens, but noticeably sitting above the roof of the truck. Other than that, however, there are no proportional oddities, and no robot extras to speak of (though the interior of the clear plastic windows isn't detailed like a real tow truck's). The mold detailing is a bit lacking on the top front of this mode, but the back end is detailed exceptionally well, especially the towing crane and the sides of the truck bed. The crane arm can move up and down at three different places-- at the spot where connects with the towtruck, the middle of the arm, and the end near the hook. If you try to move it at the base, though, due to the way Longarm is constructed, his missile launcher will also try to rotate outwards from the bottom unless you hold onto it rather firmly, which can get rather annoying. The overall color scheme of white, blue, and black looks quite good, with each color complementing the others very nicely. I particularly like the blue "water splash" paint apps on the front of this mode, though other than that and a few other paint apps on the front and sides Longarm is pretty barren of paint in this mode. The gray is a fairly good accent color, but the bits of transparent orange look especially good against the other colors, to the point where I wish Longarm had a bit more of that color on him. On the original release of this toy, instead of the movie-accurate "Mike's Towing" emblem on the side (which is on the "Movie Scene Battle Pack" release), an "Orson's Towing" emblem is on the side instead. This is a MAJORLY obscure fan nod-- basically, "Orson" was the online alternate name TF head toy designer Aaron Archer went by on the TFW2005 message boards, and he answered fan's questions there for a few years. Almost nobody's going to get that, so it was really cool that a nod like that was put on a mass-release toy.
    Longarm's robot mode is also really well-done, with quite a lot of robot mold and paint detailing. It also unveils considerably more blue than was visible in the other mode to change up the color scheme a little. I particularly like Longarm's head sculpt, which makes him look like a pretty no-nonsense Autobot. I will say this, however-- Longarm is probably the mainline movie toy that looks the least like he actually belongs in the movie. He doesn't fit in with the movie aesthetic all that well-- his face design isn't particularly complex or alien, and neither is the mold detailing on his robot parts, particularly his legs. His three-fingered hands are really his only "alien-esque" features on him. He feels like he'd be more at home with Cybertron or Classics toys than movie toys. His proportions are pretty good for the most part, with the exception of his lower legs and feet, which are very large-- particularly his feet, which are formed out of the entire front part of his vehicle mode. They look a little doofy, truth be told. Longarm's articulation is quite good-- he can move at the neck (at two points), shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists, hips, knees (at two points), and ankles (at two points). He can also look downwards a bit by having his chest compress against his stomach a little, so you can get this guy into a TON of great poses. His vehicle mode kibble on his arms does restrict movement there a little, though. The kibble, unfortunately, doesn't really complement the mode at all and just looks blatantly like kibble. Plus, his large spring-loaded gun made out of his crane arm, while cool-looking, is permanently bolted to his right hand, so there's no posing without his gun with this toy.
    Longarm is a very good toy, and looks great in both modes-- and that's ignoring his two homage origins and his awesomely obscure "Orson's Towing" fan nod. His arm kibble in robot mode and his rather squat look in vehicle mode are his only major downsides, and he has more than enough awesomeness to make up for that. Highly recommended.

Review by Beastbot

*Longarm was later released in a "Real Movie Scene" 2-pack with a damaged, leg-less Bumblebee toy (that can't transform, of course). The toy itself is slightly modified in this version, with "Mike's Towing" on the side instead of "Orson's Towing", and the top half of Mikaela permanently molded inside the drivers' seat. I don't think this particularly adds or subtracts from the figure enough to change its rating, however.

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