Strongarm's police SUV
mode has been replicated fairly well for this 1-step changer-- certainly
in comparison to her 2015 1-step
changer mold. The proportions are largely spot-on to the show model, though
the back end is a bit weak. For one, the feet and toes are pretty clearly
sticking out slightly from the back end, which is a bit distracting from
a side-on or certainly back-end view. There's also a gap on the top of
the back end where you can see Strongarm's lower robot legs clearly inside
it. The latter choice is really bizarre-- I'm not sure why it was done,
as it kinda ruins the look back there. However, from that point forward
there's no extras at all and the proportions are great. The mold detailing
is sparse on most of the rear two-thirds or so of this mode-- as is the
case for many RID2015 toys-- but the front bumper is quite well-detailed
in terms of the mold, with lots of angular details used on the grill, front
bumper, and headlights. There's also some great notch details around the
tires and tire covers, and some basic door details on the sides. Unfortunately,
the paint doesn't at all match all the mold details in the front. All of
those great details aren't painted at all, and the show-accurate stripe
down the center of her front hood isn't here at all; just white parts used
for a hinge, with the rest of the front end all blue plastic. Her front
window is painted black, but ONLY her front window-- the side windows being
white just looks awful-- and the sirens are painted. Oddly, the back end
of the sides is painted a dark navy blue, which very obviously looks different
from the somewhat dark milky blue used for the rest of the blue plastic
on Strongarm. It's a bit disconcerting-- they easily could've found a paint
color that more closely matched the plastic. Other than these bits, there's
no paint in this mode, which is a real shame given how much white/blue
differentation Strongarm's supposed to have here. That said, the basic
color scheme of white, blue, and a bit of black still looks decent enough.
To transform Strongarm
to robot mode, you take the entire top section of the mode and rotate it
around the front end and clip it onto the robot rear, which auto-transforms
the rest of the toy except for the arms, which you have to rotate down
at the shoulders and then you're done. (Speaking of the shoulders, Strongarm
can move at the shoulders at two points, though that's it. But again, articulation
isn't the point of these simplified toys.) Most of the transformation is
essentially accomplished by replacing the top of the car mode with a new
"top" of the mode, which is the front details of the robot mode. The entire
top section of the car mode sticks out behind her main body and upper legs,
which is definitely a big piece of kibble-- though then again, it doesn't
interfere with articulation, and it's not as obnoxious as the kibble on
her original 1-step changer, so that's definitely progress. If you ignore
that big section on the back, though, this is a pretty solid mode-- her
proportions are accurate (more or less-- her body could stand to be a little
bulkier), and her mold detailing is quite accurate. She's got the chest
plates molded in, the "belt" detailed on her waist, the divots on her lower
legs, circular "shoe-like" feet, and the front wheels on the large shoulders
with her arms molded onto the inside of the side door pieces. Her headsculpt
is also spot-on to the show model, with her headcrest painted a nice shade
of yellow, her face silver, and her eyes a light blue. The color breakup
is noticeably better in this mode; although the arms really could've used
some more paint as they're all blue, the white legs have some black paint
on the kneecaps and feet; there's some black plastic for her waist and
abs, as well as some minor connector bits; and some white on her chest
plates.
The 2016 version of
1-step Strongarm-- while certainly not perfect-- is a huge step up from
the 2015 version. The police SUV mode has a fairly weak back end and could
use some more paint, but it's otherwise pretty proportional and well-sculpted.
In robot mode, there's again one big issue-- the entire roof clipped onto
her back-- but other than that, she looks quite good overall with accurate
proportions and good detailing. Out of her three different 1-step changer
molds, this is the best version, in my opinion.
Review by Beastbot