Generations Combiner Wars Stunticons- Pictorial Review

Sorry for being late doing this review, these 3 months had been extremely busy with work. Not only that I'm currently in the middle of moving to a new house.

For the Combiner Wars releases, I'll be doing 2 parts of review for each team, the first as individuals and the second will be on the combined mode. Basically, this review will only focus on the team members of Decepticon's Stunticons.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

The Stunticons were Megatron way of breaking Autobots' dominion over the road/land, created from various stolen human vehicles and customized. The Stunticons were given life by Vector Sigma with Megatron special request, 'to fill them with hatred for the Autobots and everything they stand for'. But before they were granted life, Megatron brought them for a 'test drive' via remote control, forcing them to do all kind of 'stunts' from summersault, flip to bashing through forests. They are the arch enemy of the Aerialbots.

G1 Stunticons
Pic Credit : TFWiki

In this review, I'll do them part by part, starting with in-package image of all the members, then alt mode and finally robot mode. The combiner mode and the combiner itself, will be done in the next review.



In Package

1 - Breakdown

The Wave 2 deluxes are packed in different way compared to the first wave, with the inclusion of Hasbro Exclusive Cover IDW comic book, much like the previous Generations (IDW Generations, 2013/2014)

Back View

Even better, unlike the IDW Generations, Breakdown's packaging is collector-style packaging, like those used by Neca (if not mistaken). To take out the toy, you can just remove the tapes on the back without cutting anything (reminded me of Henkei's packaging)

Comic Book
Front Cover

I haven't been reading the IDW comic book recently but if I'm not mistaken, the comic book that comes with Breakdown is IDW The Transformers : Robot In Disguise #13, The Verge.

2 - Dead End

In Box - Front View

Back View

The Transformers : Robot In Disguise #16, Heavy Is The Head

3 - Dragstrip

Dragstip is a little bit different than the rest of the Deluxes. He was released in the first wave of Combiner Wars, together with 4 out of 5 Aerialbots, and comes in normal packaging WITHOUT the comic book. 

Back View

However, unlike the 2nd Wave Deluxes, Dragstrip comes with a collector card, just like Combiner Wars Voyagers and the rest of 1st Wave releases. If I'm not mistaken, the 1st Wave of Combiner Wars will be re-released and comes with the comic books.

4 - Offroad

Offroad is a new character that joined the Stunticons as replament for Wildrider, much like Aerialbot Alpha Brave for Slingshot.

The image at the back of the packaging shows Offroad painted black and red as opposed to the final product, grey and red.

The Transformers : Robot In Disguise #14, Before The Dawn

5 - Motormaster

The first repaint from the Combiner Wars toyline, Motormaster, the main body of Menasor.

Character's Bio

Alt Mode

1 - Breakdown

Breakdown transform into a car that looks a lot like Lamborghini Gallardo as opposed to his G1 iteration, a Lamborghini Countach. The off-white paint job is a homage to the original G1 toy so I'm not sure whether the Takara version will be the same or their trademark, pure white (see United Jazz and Drift).

The detailing is quite nice the rims are all painted, something you rarely see on Hasbro deluxe releases.

However, there are no detailing at the back of the car aside from the blue strip.

Clean Paint App

Breakdown's paint app really follow his G1 counterpart aside from the '15RACING' on the windscreen.

For those who didn't know, each of the Deluxe combiner team members comes with a weapon that convert into both the foot and the hand of the combiner. The weapon can be attached on top of the car, homaging G1 Breakdown.

The not-so-good part is Breakdown also comes with a Blaster/Sword that looks pretty off attached to the car.

2 - Dead End

Dead End's alt mode resembles a Ferrari 458 Italia as opposed to his G1 version which is based on Porsche 928. 

The paint app on Dead End is my favorite of all the Stunticons. The glossy maroon and the detailing are nicely done, a lot better than average Hasbro releases.

Generation Dead End still retain the dark orange strip from the hood to the back of the car, much like the G1 version.

Not sure how much more random things can get when the other weapon Dead End comes with is a smoke stack...

3 - Dragstrip

To be honest, I didn't care about Dragstrip when I first got him with the 4 Aerialbots. This is actually the first time that I really play with him.

There are 2 striking differences between him and his G1 version. The first would be G1 Dragstrip is all yellow. The more obvious would be Generation Dragstrip only has 4 wheels instead of 6. Maybe next time, Draggy.

The paint app is quite minimal on Dragstrip and the finishing is quite clean.

The peg on Dragstrip's sword is weirdly angled resulting the above picture.

4 - Offroad

Offroad transform into a 4x4 pickup truck, a weird choice for a member of the Stunticons. The shades of grey is lighter compared to G1 Wildrider but I think it's close enough.

Unlike Alpha Bravo, Off Road is not from the IDW comic book continuity but rather from the game, Transformers Legend.

In general the alt mode looks nice aside from the back where the robot's feet are CLEARLY visible.

5 - Motormaster

Heard a lot of people saying that Motormaster looks a lot like Age Of Extinction Galvatron. Well, I kinda agree with that. Motormaster is a repaint of Combiner Wars Optimus Prime that was released in the first wave.

The fact that Motormaster doesn't come with a trailer is not something that surprises me. However, the color scheme is really different from G1 Motormaster as the truck cab is supposed to be black, not gray (gray is the color of the trailer).

The paint app on him is quite minimal and the purple used is a bit too light making it hard to differentiate from the gray base. Also, the rims are unpainted...

The alt mode looks okay in general aside from Menasor's crotch plate which can be seen at the back

Weapon Storage

It was not obvious before but there are quite a few differences between Motormaster and Optimus Prime. A lot of parts were retooled like the front grill and the bumper, among others.

Group Shots

Can't believe that I would ever see official Stunticons, not just random repaint of other figures.

Robot Mode

1 - Breakdown

Let us start with my least favorite figure, Breakdown. Yup, it's quite surprising since Breakdown is supposed to be the more famous of all the Stunticons, having quite a lot of figures repainted into the character.

Side View

Back View

I don't really mind the back kibble but the short and boxy design really bothers me. One might say it's a homage to the G1 version but seeing that the rest are not like that, I can't really accept it.

The headsculpt is nice and clean but without light piping.

Despite the boxy design, Breakdown still have decent articulations.

Breakdown comes with ball jointed head (limited) and shoulders, soft ratchet on the elbows, waist swivel, ball jointed hips, hinges on the knees and feet.

The joints are fairly tight, making it quite easy to pose him.

Hasbro did good designing the combiner's hand/foot where it can also convert into blaster but whenever a figure uses it, it still look like a hand to me.

2 - Deadend

Dead End is my favorite Generation Stunticons! The detailing on the figure is nicely done especially in the chest area.

Side View

Back View

Despite the nice headsculpt, I am still not sure whether it is based on any version of Dead End or an updated design based on the G1 cartoon series.

The head is on a swivel joint, the shoulders are on ball joints and the elbows are on hinges. He also comes with waist swivel, ball-jointed hips and soft ratchet joints on the knees. 

Despite having a nice design, Dead End has the worst QC of all the Stunticons. The hips are quite loose and the flaps on the lower legs doesn't peg in properly.

I still don't understand why he is equipped with a smokestack...

3 - Dragstrip

Dragstrip is quite a decent figure, not the best of the bunch nor is he the worst. Despite how slim he is, he is quite heavy compared to the rest.

The paint scheme might not be homage to G1 Dragstrip but I really like it, as opposed to being all yellow.

Side View

Back View

I'm also not sure what Dragstrip's head sculpt was based on but the general paint apps is based on G1 Dragstrip especially the blue face and the red visor.

He is a lot of fun to play with, I give you that. The figure comes with ball jointed head and shoulders, ratchet joints on the elbows, waist swivel, ball jointed hips and hinges on the knees.

At least his melee weapon make sense

4 - Offroad

Unexpectedly, my favorite Stunticon. Aside from the gray and red that can be seen in alt mode, some parts are cyan, contrasting the overall color scheme.

Side View

Back View

I'm not really sure why but I really love the head sculpt which holds a lot of resemblance with Ruckus, a G1 Triggercon. And that's who he was supposed to be. Rumor has it that the reasons why he is a new character (and not Ruckus) are due to name unavailability and also Ruckus doesn't make sense as a Stunticon.

The combination of his paint scheme and the head sculpt gives him a sinister look, a personality that I think would make him the 'Swindle' of Stunticons.

Off Road is quite poseable except for the back kibble bumping into the panels on his shoulders. Off Road comes with a ball-jointed head and shoulders, hinges on the elbows, waist swivel and hinges on the knees.

Overall, he has tight joints, unlike Dead End. However, even if he doesn't, ball joints are quite easy to fix so no biggy.

5 - Motormaster

Last but not least, Motormaster! Despite being the second variant for the mold, I think Motormaster is the one the mold was designed for and Optimus Prime is the variant.

Side View

Back View

 

The head sculpt is nice and the finishing is quite clean. I'm not sure why but the color changed when I took this picture.

Side-by-side with Optimus Prime made me feel that Motormaster is the first variant after all as the aesthetic fits him more than it does Optimus.

Despite the blocky design, Motormaster is a fun toy to play with with wide range of articulations.

He comes with a ball-jointed head, double-jointed shoulders, ratchet joints on the elbows, waist swivels, ratcheting universal joints on the hips and soft ratchets on the knees.

The joints are quite tight and the figure is quite stable despite his size.

Motormaster comes with a blaster and a sword that can be combined to form Menasor's sword.

Group Shots

It's time we take over the road

A lot of people complain about Hasbro Stunticons so let us take it one step at a time. For now, let us put the combiner mode aside and see the individual bots.

I personally think Hasbro did a good job designing the Stunticons, they look and fit in the CHRUG lineup even more than Fansproject version with their size and homages. The quality is not really consistent between releases but overall I think it is acceptable. So yes, they are my CHRUG Stunticons

I'm sorry as the review took a long time to finish, am really quite busy right now. Hopefully I'll be able to finish Menasor's review in near time. Also on the list are Generation Aerialbots, Fansproject Madlaw, Unique Toys Fenrir, Xovergen God Armor and few others. Sorry for the wait