Mudflap's alternate mode is a Chevrolet Trax concept, and overall it's a pretty darn solid mode. There's just a glimpse of robot parts peeking out from underneath the body of the mode if you look at it from a side view, but otherwise there's no robot extras-- well, unless you count the parts visible inside the windows. Luckily, the windows are tinted enough where they're not particularly noticeable. The color scheme of orange and gray isn't exactly vibrant or eye-catching, but it certainly fits the realistic tone of the movieverse deco jobs, and there really aren't enough orange Transformers anyways. And although all of the necessary details, like headlights and taillights, are painted, the sides and top of Mudflap in this mode are pretty much just completely unpainted orange. Breaking it up with at least a few paint details really would've helped him look better in this mode. (On a side note, if you got one of the earliest releases of Mudflap like mine, his license plate says "TRAX"; otherwise it says simply "MUDFLAP". Mudflap's robot mode missile stores in the gas pipe of this mode, which makes it look a bit like exhaust vapors-- a pretty neat touch, there.
    Unfortunately Mudflap's robot mode is a mess of panels and kibble clashing into each other, to an even greater extent than his "twin brother" Skids. Their designs are fairly similar, with various visual cues taken from each other-- their legs are a bit undersized and dopey-looking, one of their arms is much larger than the other (for Skids it's the right arm, whereas for Mudflap here it's the left). Their transformations are also pretty similar, with a few minor differences in the shoulders and legs. They also both have goofy, very atypical Transformer heads. I eventually got used to Skids with the "hair" and buck teeth, but Mudflap's just looks really odd and unfinished, with those uneven eyes and just lack of real substance to his face. I've never gotten used to it and still think it's an absolutely awful head design. Also like Skids, almost the entirety of Mudflap's car mode hands off his back, with the windshield and front part almost dangling down to his feet-- this just looks bad, and combined with the fact that not many pieces really lock firmly in place like the waist to the chest, you almost think you've transformed him wrong, but you haven't. And finally, like his twin brother Mudflap also has the "beat-boppin'" gimmick-- press in on his chest and his head will turn in a bit-- when released it'll go back to its normal position, and when done repeatedly it looks like he's bopping his head to some music. Which is actually pretty cool, if you ask me. Where Mudflap differs from Skids is that for one, his car doors aren't attached to his upper arms, but rather hang off in a very odd way behind his head and between his shoulders nad chest. You can't really get them splayed in a more "natural" position, though, so they look out of place. Also, small long sections of Mudflap's chest just sort of stick out and can get in the way of arm movement, not to mention it looks odd. He also has some ugly milky light gray plastic used for some of his joints, when a darker gray would've worked much better. However, on the positive side Mudflap can stand up far better than his brother, due to his larger feet, and the pieces of car kibble hanging off his lower legs, though noticeable, aren't as clunky as Skids'. His wheels also fold into his body and out of the way very well, and his robot mode mold detailing is very well-done, particularly in the limbs, with little cords and pumps everywhere. Also if you press on the gray trigger on his left arm, he'll fire a spring-loaded missile out of it. As far as overall articulation goes, he can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), at the wrist on his right arm, and at the hips, knees (at three places), and ankles (at two places). So he's for some pretty good articulation, but unfortunately, all his vehicle mode extras can really interfere with some poses, not to mention his hips are slightly limited.
    Deluxe Mudflap, like his twin brother, is an example of what happens when movie designs are made without much thought as to how they'll translate into transformable toys. Although Mudflap's vehicle mode is quite good, his robot mode is has vehicle mode kibble problems out the wazoo and just some bad/ugly design choices, like the head design. There's lots of RotF toys better than this guy.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Index