Universe prowl: Review and thoughts.

Potatoprime · 21-07-2008 3:06pm #1

Picked up the first three universe figures over the weekend. So ive decided to review them. So i'll start with Prowl.

He comes packaged in his car form and his colours are black and white same as his G1 self. He has smokey translucent windows which do a nice job of giving the illusion of being see through while hiding the robot parts.
The only other colours in this mode is red on the light bar and rear lights and clear headlights. The words HIGHWAY PATROL and POLICE are printed on the doors

Transformation to robot form is satisfyingly fiddly. A nice fusion of his alternator and G! selves

His robot mode is without question prowl. All the classic prowl elements are there. Front of the car becomes a chest ,doors on the shoulders and red wings on the head. The only colours added to this form is the silver on the face and blue eyes. He is armed with his rifle which folds away for vehicle mode altenator style and the shoulder rockets,which surprised me by being attached to the figure rather then seperate accessories.The fold away under the car roof if you wish Prowl to go without them like in the Cartoon.

While Prowl is a nice figure it feels as though something is missing. He feels very plain and could have used something to break up all the black and white. Perhaps the shield decals from the G1 toy would have helped.
Also his neck looks oddas it does not sit flush on the hood due to the post the head is attached to.

Some have said he is a short figure with Sunstreaker dwarfing him slightly
There is a missed step in the instructions. The blocks the feet attach to pull down to give him a millimeter or two and with then extended Prowl and streaker look eye to eye.
All in all not a bad figure definatly worth picking up if you see him.

MarkHall · 22-07-2008 3:22pm

Nice Review. I gotta agree with most of your opions here.
I don't think SS Dwarves him. He's got about half an inche on him. And looks Bulkier than Prowl because of the Chest plate.

he is a bit plain with the black and white but It's not too bad. the brown and red break it up somewhat. The missles and rifles are G1 all over.
His possability is what I would have loved from the Altenator Prowl. A lovely figure all over.
Get it if you 1. Like Prowl 2. Like possable Figures 3. Love Police cars.

Sunstreaker Is a little less impressive. That difficulty in starting his Transformation is annoying. YOu have to pop the doors out and they just don't want to come away easy. Once you get past that it's plain sailing. Till you get to the Arms. They are mounted on Ball joints on a Bar which IS wuite hard to pose. And in the wrong spot the arms just won't look right atall.The Rear of the car becoming his knees is a nice touch. Less Possable than prowl which is a shame as I figure him for a Camera whore.

Didn't pick up Tankor as I didn't see any.

Potatoprime · 22-07-2008 3:58pm

Good points one and all on Streaker. You'd think he has loads of possability due to all the extra joints he has to accomodate the sideswipe transformation.
Ill stick up a Tankorr (Octane) review later

Potatoprime · 22-07-2008 7:31pm

Tankor (Octane) review :

Ok the second of my universe DX reviews.
Tankor is the universe version of Octane and I'll be refering to him as Octane from here on out

.

Octane comes packed in his plane mode so ill start there.
Primary colours are a very light almost white grey.Black along the wings and vertical tail fin with a purple stripe. Two propellers on each wing molded in black plastic silver grey on the underside and navy blue on the back and cockpit windows.
Its a nice plane mode which suffers slightly from the triple changer aspect of the figure in that the truck cab is hanging off its backside.

Transformation from plane to truck is fun and mainly involves turning the plane inside out .

No new colours in this form.

This is the weakest of the three forms. I think its supposed to be an airfield tanker truck but in my opinion it doesnt really pull it off. If you look at it from the rear all you see is a lot of empty space.

His robot form is really nice. It retains a lot of elements from his G1 incarnation such as the blocky torso and angled wings. Octane has gained some gigantic shoulder pads. new colours in this form are red for the eyes and white on the sides of the torso. He is armed with two black double barrelled weapons in plane and truck modes (Though personally I like to use them as smokestacks in truck mode). For robot mode the guns combine into one weapon. Octane is also armed with a mellee weapon comb/rake thing. this is formed from the top of the tanker truck/underside of the plane

This figure is my favorite of the first three universe deluxes. In my opinion he pulls off being a triple changer better then Astrotrain managed. A worthy addition to the classics line up

Galvasean · 23-07-2008 1:07am

MarkHall wrote: »

The missles and rifles are G1 all over.
His possability is what I would have loved from the Altenator Prowl. A lovely figure all over.

Thats why I got rid of my Alt. Prowl as soon as this guy was announced. Sold him to some eijit at a... oh.

MarkHall · 24-07-2008 9:19am

He's still a fun Police car. Just this one is Slightly better.

Galvasean · 24-07-2008 1:25pm

Alt. prowl has a better neck... and a poleece nightstick of dread.

Hey Potatoprime, I noticed you left out Octane's secret fourth mode, the mighty combiner foot of doom!

Demonique · 28-07-2008 9:23pm

I've one tiny problem with Prowl, in vehicle mode his gun is supposed to fit into a spot between his two front wheels..... it doesn't stay there

MarkHall · 29-07-2008 9:37am

Have you stuck the Pionty bit on top into the hole. Cause it won't stay put if you don't hit that as well as the Groove at the Back.

Demonique · 05-08-2008 5:16pm

The Universe Packaging, I thought Prowl looked *"developmentally delayed"

Then I found out who was responsible for the artwork. Why, oh why is Pat 'the transman' Lee still getting work in the TF 'verse? Yay for 'dull suprise'!

*Basically I thought he looked retarded or suffered whatever the TF equivalent of a brain injury is

MarkHall · 05-08-2008 7:32pm

Mayhaps they just used some old stuff MR. Lee may have done(Or not as the case can be.)

Potatoprime · 05-08-2008 8:04pm

So that explains why all three of them have the exact same face.
I thought i was imagining it

Galvasean · 05-08-2008 8:35pm

Is it just me or is every Pat Lee Transformer sawing 'Gwah'?

Doctor DooM · 05-08-2008 9:00pm

Galvasean wrote: »

Is it just me or is every Pat Lee Transformer sawing 'Gwah'?

it's called dull suprise.

http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Dull_surprise

"Recently, the new Universe toy line has included packaging artwork of the characters that is chock full of dull surprise... the characters are simply standing with arms to the side, looking into the middle distance, their mouths slightly agape. The "guuuuuuh" expressions are made even more noticeable by the artwork's live-action-movie-inspired touches, mainly making their lower jaws a whole separate piece from the rest of the face. This is in stark contrast to the concurrent Transformers Animated packaging's lively, action-oriented artwork... which was probably the point, but it's still dull surprise"

Demonique · 06-08-2008 5:24am

Pat's got a DeviantArt account

I wonder how he'd react if someone went there are posted "Dull surprise, gwaaahhh" as a comment on every last one of his submissions?

Galvasean · 06-08-2008 4:57pm

When Energon was on the go Don Figueroa drew the pictures

Oh well he still gets to do comics. Fair trade off

MarkHall · 10-08-2008 8:46pm

I picked up Heavy load today. Was aiming for Onslaught but they had none of his type so I picked up the Cement mixer instead.
First off I love his Mini con. Drill bit is a lovely gaugdy colour(Lime Green) and is some form of Drill strangly enough. He also doubles as a Rear gun for Heavy load.
And can Man the big gun in HL vechile mode. Which is a nice Feature.The Gun is opened by a cyberkey insertion.

I have a Few issues with Heavy loads colours. They remind me a little of the Energon Figures. But the colours just don't seem right after getting Prowl,SS and Tankor. He seems out of place standing besides them.

His transformation is easy adn quick. With the arms simply folding out from where they are stored and the Legs being the Cab and spiltting for robot mode. The Cannon are (which is the Mixer part) just strikes me as too Big for the Robot Form. Maybe if it was the arm with the gun coming out I'd like it better.
So was it worth the €30 in vouchers. Possibly not But I do have a very nice Mini con and an Excellent weapons platform for him to use. I hope Onslaught is Better than this one.

constitutionus · 11-08-2008 5:27pm

i have to say im really starting to like the univers figures . i havent bought a TF since the re release of predaking but im sorely tempted to get sunstreaker and prowl.

i must say though there smaller than i thought they'd be but still the poseability is fairly nifty. i still think octane is too small though (which is kinda stupid as i think the original wasnt that big to begin with ! christ knows the astrotrain figure i got way back in the 80s is tiny compared to whats on offer now. gues ive just been spoiled

)

was down in smyths in tallaght and they have a much bigger selection of animated stuff in now. leader megs, bulkhead (with a buzzsaw i didnt know about) and prime. plus command roll out prime which is fecking massive !

im still not all that pushed on the animated asthetic but i give them props for the scale of their toys.

MarkHall · 25-08-2008 8:33am

No problems with things popping off. Popping the doors is just easier for the Transformation. Have had no paint wear that I can see yet and I let small kids play with them regulary.

the animated toys are quite sweet. the bulkhead with the buzzsaw. His extra stuff also turns into a deck chair with is Quite sweet.

MarkHall · 27-08-2008 3:08pm

Yeah it will.
On the Robot front this weekend Brought as Gifts from others.
Ainmated Ld Megs. He is so Very Very big and Mean. A good solid feel to him in both modes. I love his laugh. A great feature.

Also Got onslaught. Beefy, Solid Great sounds come from him as you transform him. Just love this Figure and after a bit of Playing about with it. If they are doing anther figure based on this Mold Please please let it be Hardhead.

Also Got two of the Sector 7 Vans(It;s name escapes me at the moment.) from the Movie lines. I may get two more as I love the Agent vibe they give off. And Think having Four of them around a Both Escorting him would look well.

Potatoprime · 06-09-2008 8:27pm

I picked up the big (or should i say little ?) G. He comes packaged in tank mode on a standard dull surprise backing card.
The tank modes primary colours are grey, grey,grey and some more grey.
The barrel is translucent orange and there is some silver on the top of the turret and the vents on the sides. The treads are painted black. On either side of the turret are the words GALV-25. This mold is chock full of detailing with rivets ,vents and hatchs all over it. Its very solid in this mode and mean looking as well. The turret rotates 360 degrees but cannot raise or lower the barrel.

The transformation is very complex with some interesting ideas used in it
Worth noting is that if you leave the right arm unlocked it gives u an increase in poseability with sacrificing much in the way of stability.

The robot mode is nice. New colours added are metalic purple on the Head, chest ,feet and right shoulders. Red is used on the abs. Eyes are the same orange plastic as the cannon. This mold just oozes g1 Galv in spite of being a complete different Alt mode
Figure has a decent range of poseability.

The mold has a few flaws. Notably the Right arm when locked in correctly it causes the arm to knock the back pack out of its peg. Not a huge issue though as ive previously stated the figure is better without the arm locked in anyway.

A great figure that could have been the perfet update if it had been a bigger size class

Galvasean · 06-09-2008 9:44pm

I picked up Universe Acid Storm yesterday.
Yes I know he's something of a pariah but trust me he is probably the best Classic seeker of the lot.
Vehicle mode sports a groovy jungle camo. before you decry, "Why does a plane need jungle camouflages if it is in the sky!???" let me explain. Camoflagues aint worth jack in an aerial dogfight thanks to modern targeting systems. However a jungle camo scheme could help prevent a plane being bombed while grounded (in the jungle).
The colours in his robot mode complement perfectly. With streaks of yellow breaking up the dark green nicely. Notably his face is metallicly painted, (unlike Starscream's) making it much easier to spot the facial sculpt detail. plus his eyes are ruby red and look very sinister.

Transformation and posibility is exactly the same as Starscream, (go figure) so I won't go in to detail. However it is worth noting that the quality of plastic has greatly improved since Starscream making Acid Storm a much more durable feeling and less flimsy figure.
The main problem is one shared with all the Classic Seeker figures, ie: in plane mode you can see a weird partial robot chest sticking out from below.

I originally bought this guy to repaint as Thundercracker, but I've grown attached and alas must buy another. Oh well, back to Modelmania I go...

4 star figure.

Universe prowl: Review and thoughts.

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