Fansproject Function XV M.A.D.L.A.W (Master V) - Pictorial Review

Continuing from where we left off, here's a review of another Sixchanger, by another company that's not Mastermind Creations, but the old-timer, Fansproject, with their take on G1 Quickswitch, Function XV M.A.D.L.A.W (Master V).

Pic Credit : TFWiki

What do we know about him? Well, aside from his appearance in Marvel The Transformers comic #240 Out To Lunch! and his own commercial (where he was declared to be Sixshot's son, adamant to make up for his father's mistakes), Quickswitch was only in G1:Season 5 (which consist of  more than 10 episodes from previous seasons and The Transformers: The Movie), at the end segment of Five Faces of Darkness Part 2. 

All the end segments featured stop-motion puppet of Powermaster Optimus Prime and a [real] boy, Tommy Kennedy (some information can be obtained here).

PuppetMaster Optimus Prime
Pic Credit : TFWiki

So, is that it? Yes, technically. It's because Quickswitch is actually the Hasbro version of Sixknight, a character that appeared in Masterforce series. Both versions was released simultaneously in 1988.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

I will explain about Sixknight if I do a review of toy version of the character in the future (a repaint is coming, from what I heard).

G1 Quickswitch
Pic Credit : TFWiki

Three out of six Quickswitch's alt modes are basically the same as Sixshot which are robot mode, Cybertronic Jet, laser pistol while the rest are a drill tank (while Sixshot is a tank), a hovercraft (Sixshot's off-road vehicle) and a flying puma (Sixshot's winged wolf).

In Package

Madlaw comes in a box with the same design as previous Function-X releases with the box colored green. However, the box is bigger than the box of his predecessors.

Accessory-wise, Madlaw is quite basic as he only comes with an instruction booklet and 2 pairs of guns with the bigger pair homaging G1 Quickswitch. Unlike MMC Hexatron, Madlaw doesn't have an initialization point and the instruction show his transformation from one mode to another in sequence, not from, let's say, robot mode to all the other 5 modes.

Wood Runner Mode

Not something you want to hear at the very beginning but Madlaw's wood runner mode (flying puma) is really bad...

The proportion is out and downright weird while the hind legs are not articulation aside from the paws.

Not only that, the wood runner looks like he have a big butt and worse, a gap between the left and right cheek (you can attached the big guns but wouldn't help much).

Still, he may still look decent if you can find the right angle. There is now range of movement on his head and neck aside from hinge on the jaws. The front legs have sufficient range of movement with hinges on the shoulders, knees and also paws.

Hexatron's winged wolf mode is roughly the same length as Madlaw's wood runner but the former is much bulkier.

Air Strike Mode

Even though the air-strike mode doesn't have much similarities (well....almost none), the alt mode is nice and the transformation is quite easy.

My only complaint is that the drill parts sticking out at the back is really a poor design. And the wood-runner head that splits in half, sitting on the wings is not an issue...until you notice them and can't be unseen..

Laser Shot Mode

The laser shot mode is a lot better than the previous two, personally. Following the official configuration, the guns attached at the front seems quite underwhelming compared to the overall size of the figure.

Considering you might be holding him with your hand for this alt mode, the wood-runner head that formed the handle doesn't look too bad.

Despite being smaller, Madlaw seems to have a more plausible gun mode compared to Hexatron.

Dirt Driller Mode

The dirt driller is a good alt mode and again, the transformation is quite easy. The overall alt mode looks a bit round-ish compared to the G1 version

Officially, the small guns are attached to the side of the dirt driller but the big guns can also be attached. Other significant different is the drill is white as opposed to red drill on G1 Quickswitch.

Comparison with Hexatron's tank mode

Aqua Force Mode

The aqua force mode is quite different from his G1 alt mode with the most recognizable as a boat is the bow (to me).

Overall, I don't mind the alt mode being different from G1 Quickswitch's hovercraft mode as I welcomed updated design for newer characters...

.... aside from the driller at the back.

Robot Mode

After the multiple alt modes, here's the best part.

Madlaw comes packaged in robot mode and the transforming sequence starts from that (following the above sequence). The plastic quality is more or less the same as recent Fansproject releases (aside from their Lost Exo Realm line) with no die-cast parts.

The wings on his back is a nice homage to the original aside from the red detailing as the wings on Quickswitch are all green and smaller. Madlaw feet doesn't have heels making it hard standing him straight.

Back View

His design is clean even at the back, it's surprising considering that he's a sixchanger.

The detailing and the sculpt of the head is nicely done and clean. However, there's something wrong with the shade of yellow used...something I can't put my finger on.

You can either have Madlaw with eyes, just like G1 Quickswitch and Sixknight toys are or push the mechanism at the back of his head so that the visor comes down, giving the same design as Sixknight in the Masterforce series.

Madlaw comes with a ball-jointed head, a hinge and swivel on the shoulders, double jointed elbows, waist swivels, hinge on the knees and ball-jointed feet. My least favorite is the fact that he uses ball joint on the hips.

His shoulders are a bit limited, a problem for any figure with tall shoulders. However, aside from that, his articulations is really good making him a figure that's fun to play with.

I personally prefer the smaller guns as they don't look out of proportion compared to the figure.

However, for those who prefer more homage to G1 Quickswitch, you can used the other set of larger guns.

I personally really like his ability to do a lot of dynamic poses, something that I wish all figures to have, especially when I'm taking their pictures.

The lack of heels does bother me a little but you can find a lot of ways to not make that into a big issue as you can almost pose him in any way you like.

Compared to Hexatron, Madlaw is just at his chest level which is good enough considering G1 Quickswitch is just at crotch level of G1 Sixshot.

I really need to stop using Fansproject's Assaulter as benchmark for their new releases. I have to admit that the quality of Fansproject releases aren't what they used to be. However, Madlaw is a sturdy and solid figure as I don't see any parts breaking in any time soon.

When I fiddled around with him, I found that all 5 alt modes felt a bit underwhelming and I was not as excited as when I first played with Mastermind Creations Hexatron.

BUT, please understand, G1 Sixshot's toy is already a great blueprint that just lack the modern days articulations and flexibility. What MMC did was improving what it lacked (while adding their own personal touch). That's not the case with Madlaw. G1 Quickswitch's robot mode had a weak design and for Fansproject to basically re-design the character from scratch is a good effort and the outcome is not a mediocre figure.