Scrapmetal
Scrapmetal's vehicle
mode is... um... something. It kinda looks like a crane-thing on four insect
legs. Regardless, it looks pretty darned cool, and is one of the most inventive,
original alt modes ever used for a Transformer. It's a nice "insectoid
vehicle" mix, though maybe two more legs would have helped the alt mode
a little more. The main body is fairly solid, if a bit more devoid of mold
detaling than I'd like and basically just a bunch of connecting hinges
pressed together. I also would've liked an actual seat and other detailing
molded inside the cockpit, though that's a small quibble-- I do like the
two small transparent connectors that look like fangs on the underside
of the cockpit, to symbolize Scrapmetal is an eating machine. The paint
detailing is also fairly sparse on this figure, and it's all either orange
or dull red. Even though the color scheme for this figure is by no means
bad and goes together fairly well, a bit more variety would've been appreciated.
The crane arm is normally a gun, but if you insert the Cyber Key into the
slot at the rear of the arm, a sword flips out in the gun nozzle's place.
It's a fairly cool, simple, and unobtrusive gimmick, though in all honesty
its practicality isn't really all that good-- how can a sword be considered
a "power-up" from a gun? Seems to me like it's be the other way around...
Still, the sword can detach from the crane arm and be put in the hand in
robot mode, which is pretty cool. The crane arm can swivel up, down, right,
and left, so it has a full range of motion, but this brings me to my only
big complaint with this figure-- only a small tab holds the crane arm and
its attached plastic pieces in place in this mode, and it's simply not
sturdy enough to keep the whole assembly in place when you move the crane
arm from right to left, so the entire middle assembly will almost always
come undone and swivel around too if you move the crane arm in such a manner.
Needless to say, it's rather annoying.
Although his vehicle
mode is still pretty good, Scrapmetal's robot mode is the better of the
two modes. His main body looks more like a main body now and not just a
bunch of hinges (though the vehicle cockpit as the chest certainly helps
eliminate this look a lot). I do wish that the cockpit on the chest had
some sort of back to it, so that the upper chest looked a little more solid.
The crane arm makes a nice over-the-shoulder weapon, and although the legs
are a tad too short, otherwise the proportions are great. The head sculpt
is especially interesting-- the large eyes and small circular mouth give
Scrapmetal a very insectoid look, which is certainly fitting given his
alternate mode. The transparent plastic used for the eyes also works extremely
well as light piping. Scrapmetal also has a very good amount of articulation--
he can move at the head, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and all but
the former are on ball joints, so Scrapmetal can do a ton of cool poses.
Another cool feature this mode has is that you can fit arm guards over
his fits to reveal pile drivers for shakin' up stuff! (Why is, no doubt,
why this mold was named "Rumble" in Japan.")
Scrapmetal is a great,
interesting, original addition to the Cybertron line. The fact that the
middle assembly in vehicle mode can come undone so easily is the only reason
he wasn't given the "must-buy" rating of 9.0 or above, but he's still a
very good toy, with great articulation, proportions, originality, and a
nice look to him. Recommended.
Review by Beastbot