Autobot Drift (1-Step) [RID 2015]
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Semi-metallic milky moderately light orange, charcoal black, and some moderately dark blue, light orange, dark red, and silver
Rating: 5.3

    Drift's vehicle mode is replicated fairly well for this one-step changer form, at least for the most part. The proportions are pretty spot-on, and all the major details are on the mold, such as the angular front hood, the "head crest" on the front, and the like. However, the back half or so-- particularly on the top-- is a bit TOO smooth, even for Drift, and even for a RID2015 toy. There's basically nothing there beyond a very shallow (unpainted) indentation for the rear window and a tiny little spoiler. From a straight-on side view, you can see a black block sticking out a bit from under the rear end, not quite fitting the sleek form of this mode, but this is a VERY minor extra at best-- it's really nothing from practically any "normal" angle. Drift's color scheme is his usual orange and black, though the black is a charcoal shade, and I feel a more "pure" version of the color would have looked better. The orange plastic is great, though, with a bit of glitter in it to make it look semi-metallic. It's also a bit milky, as well-- at least when it comes to the plastic. The paint is a shade or two lighter, but it's not super-noticeable. The color breakup is a bit off, though, with only the back section of the car doors being black and a weird patch-work of orange and black on the front hood. They should've made the color scheme look a bit more unified, there. Beyond simply the orange and black, there's also some nice dark red on the crest on the front hood, as well as some moderately dark blue on the headlights. Unfortunately there's no paint on the back end at all-- heck, there's almost no details on the back end period, with only the slightest hint of square taillights back there.
    Drift's transformation is identical to the initial one-step version of Bumblebee-- that is, you take the black pieces at each end of the car mode and push them together, and the rest of the toy transforms automatically. Unfortunately, this means the robot mode really has some weird proportions, with the entire bottom half of the toy being one huge "uni-leg"; an overly large chest (especially since Drift has a flat chest in the show); and arms that are a bit too small proportionally. There's also a flap of part of the hood sticking up behind the upper back, but compared to the other issues with this mode that's pretty minor, especially for a one-step changer. The major details of Drift's robot mode are all replicated fairly faithfully here on the legs and arms, although they can be a bit "squashed and stretched" because of the proportions. He's got the shoulder details (waaay undersized), "bump" details that look like his two Mini-Cons attached to his forearms, the "armor skirt" on the hips, somewhat curvy details on the lower legs-- there isn't really any actual feet, though, which is kinda weird. (Because of the large black blocks on the bottom, though, he's still stable.) His head is detailed a bit oddly as well, with the actual face a bit undersized compared to his headcrest and "armor". He does have a silver face, though, along with blue eyes, black lines down the sides of his head, and some black on the lower legs. Beyond those and the chest paint apps, though, everything else is orange, which really just looks cheap, especially on the arms where that detailing is just BEGGING for some paint (and to a lesser extent on the hips, as well). For articulation, Drift can only move back-and-forth at the shoulders-- he's not very poseable, but this is pretty standard for one-step changers.
    This first version of RID2015 Drift as a one-step changer is his worst toy, to be blunt. The vehicle mode is pretty decent, though under-detailed in the back, but this transformation scheme that he shares with Bumblebee just makes for an awful robot mode with horrible, overly chunky proportions. If you want a toy of him that has a simple transformation, go for ANY of the other simple toys-- the Legion class, the 3-step changer, the other one-step changer mold that came out in 2017... just not this version.
 

Review by Beastbot

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