Tap-Out
(Botcon 2002 Exclusive)
Vehicle mode is a kiddie-fied
car. (Tap-Out, by the way, is a repaint of the Cliffjumper Toy Keychain.)
And when I say kiddie-fied, I mean KIDDIE-FIED. The proportions are WAY
out of whack- in fact, the car is nearly as wide as it is long. Not really
a very intimidating toy, I see. The dark green/gray color scheme is pretty
cool, and better than the plain black and red of the Cliffjumper Keychain,
but this mold is really starting to show its age. There are NO paint applications
on this toy in this mode whatsoever- just two Autobot insignia stickers.
As a Botcon toy, this toy should have a few added paint apps to make it
seem newer. The rubber wheels, although great for traction, tend to stick
a bit if left in one spot for too long. The keychain itself is of moderate
quality- definitely not fragile enough to break if you look at it wrong,
but it probably won't stand up to a whole lot of stress.
Robot mode is a bit...
odd. The fists expecially, since they have those big wheels on the sides
of them. If you try to raise the fists up, they look odd, so it's better
to leave them down at his sides. Tap-Out's robot face (the only part of
the toy that actually has any paint detailing, by the way) is stuck on
a flat piece of plastic, and there's no "neck" to connect it to the chest,
making that part look a bit weird. The feet are nice enough in themselves,
but they don't hold up Tap-Out very well, as he's slightly back-heavy.
The legs can move up and down in one shot, and the feet can move in and
out, but that's it, and that articulation's not particularly useful anyways.
Other than that and the shoulder movement, Tap-Out has no articulation
in this mode, thus limiting his playability.
Tap-Out is definitely
an old toy, one that, in my opinion, should not have been reproduced nearly
20 years later as a "exclusive" toy. It's definitely showing its age, and
isn't much fun when compared to his larger exclusive friends. It's also
definitely similar to its fellow exclusive Glyph
in design as well, which also makes one kind of like, "Great... another
of the same toy..." when you get him. Still, the color scheme's pretty
nice. It's a nice little gift, but considering how much he's going for...
he's really not worth it.
Review by Beastbot
(NOTE: In addition to being a Botcon Exclusive, Tap-Out was only available to those attendants of Botcon who preregistered [although he was given away for free if you did]. As such, Tap-Out is even MORE sought after than the other Botcon Exclusives.)