Steeljaw's SUV with wolf-like details is replicated fairly well for his 1-step changer version-- for the most part. The rear spoiler is made considerably smaller to the point of being more of an angular back part of the vehicle. There also isn't really a back end to this mode, with just the rear wheels and a hinge in the center really being about all you'll get. To be fair, all of this IS necessary for Steeljaw's transformation, though. As for the rest of him, everything's more-or-less accurate-- maybe the car mode is just a TOUCH too wide, and juuust the bottom of the legs stick out of the bottom of this mode, but not to any extent where it looks really odd-- and all of the necessary mold details are there. The angular windows, the grill that looks like a wolf nose on the top and teeth on the bottom, 4WD tires, and lines molded on the sides to mimic car doors. Otherwise the mold is fairly sparse in terms of mold detailing, as is usual for the RID2015 line. What is rather disappointing is just how dull this mode is color-wise, though-- Steeljaw does have the same pale milky blue, metallic black paint, and black plastic that pretty much every other version of him has, but those two main colors are it as far as this mode is concerned. There's at least some black on the front bumper-- something the 3-step changer mold can't say-- but there's no painted headlights, taillights, wheel hubs, or anything of the like. On the plus side-- although it's just a side effect of the plastic mold breakup-- I do like the black lines on the side of the hood, as they make the front grill look a bit more like a "nose" than it otherwise would have.
    To transform Steeljaw to robot mode, you just take the whole piece that forms the top of his vehicle mode and rotate it back slowly and the rest of the robot mode unfolds from that one step. I say to rotate the piece slowly because it can get out of alignment rather easily and keep clicking in place, not affecting the rest of the transformation. Fortunately-- unlike with Underbite-- this is easily fixable, as you just move it back to its vehicle mode position to re-set it. It's still rather annoying, though, and should have been fixed particularly for a toy aimed at as young of an age group as the 1-step changers. Anyways, in robot mode Steeljaw looks pretty good-- from the front. Because they're only held on by a couple of hinges, his arms rather "hover" off the sides of his body. They're also merely molded onto the undersides of the side door pieces from the vehicle mode, but honestly for a 1-step changer you have to make sacrifices and this feels like an acceptable one for me, at least at this size. The body is rock-solid, with fairly accurate mold detailing, especially on the stomach, waist, and face (the "chest window" could stand to be a little smaller). The legs are actually the best out of ANY RID Steeljaw toy, with accurate "rear wolf leg" proportions and the double-knee look, while still being sturdy enough for Steeljaw to stand quite firmly on them. The toe claws are also molded quite well, which is another rarity for toys of this character. The wheels on the hips are rather large proportionally, though. The biggest issue for this mode by far-- BY FAR-- is that the large piece that forms the top of the vehicle mode just sticks behind the robot mode-- and quite a ways back, too. There's some mold detailing on it to make it look like his tail, but it's FAR too wide and long for that. Especially from a side view it just looks really unwieldy and ugly. As far as colors-- thankfully there's a little more variety in this mode, with white on the upper legs, abs, and part of the waist, and some nice yellow on the eyes. I wish a little more black was used on the arm or toe claws, but Steeljaw doesn't end up looking nearly as boring in this mode as he does in his alt mode. For articulation, Steeljaw can move back-and-forth at the shoulders, but that's it.
    The 1-step version of RID2015 Steeljaw would be a pretty good version of the character, given the size class and gimmick-- if it wasn't for that utterly humongous, unsightly tail/roof flap that sticks out waaaaaay behind his main body in robot mode. Sure, his articulation is very limited, his shoulders should be more solidly connected visually to his main body, and his alt mode could use a back end and a few more paint apps, but particularly for a 1-step changer all these latter things are fairly minor or to be expected on a 1-step changer. That huge flap, though-- and to a lesser extent the annoying-but-fixable way his gear gets stuck when transforming him-- are significant downsides and make him merely average overall for this size class/gimmick.
 

Review by Beastbot

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