As promised, @markclonus is writing tickets for speeders with his report on the Legacy United Rescue Bot Chase Concept Design overview. There has been a lot of speculation about this figure and what the mold will be used for next. Read on to see Mark report on how this new dude from the Bots got here.
I worked on this stern fellow with the amazing legend Kunihiro san! The magic that the Takara designers perform is hard to capture in words.
So a ways back at one of the Botcon’s I had the opportunity to do some sketches for fans at the Hasbro booth. I was really surprised how many people requested Rescue Bot characters. It always sat in the back of my mind as a thing I would love to do. The show is for a certain age group but honestly, its quite entertaining for all. Imagine older versions or graduated bots that have moved up in the autobot ranks and get to actually receive orders from Optimus. I hope a few of you have had that vision and dream of these great characters moving up into the big boy toys! What other perfect time then the 40th anniversary to accomplish these cool things in Transformers land.
I thought it essential to give him his energon capture claw to really lean into the character persona, but I also didn’t want him to be left with no blasters just in case things got hairy. The ability to take off each of the claw hooks and use them as some daggers in some tight hand to hand combat I felt was also necessary. After all, we are trying protect and serve the Autobot cause here and lets face it, Decepticons like Bludgeon definitely don’t play fair.
Deco and colors for this guy was really hard to accomplish due to the amount of different tint colors on him, I really enjoy how the two tone lightbar came out in production
Don’t forget to break out the other rescue big boy bots, cause standing alongside Red Alert here really makes me want to dig into some more. I couldn’t find my Medix so maybe next time those two can hang out, maybe get a coffee and a 🍩! 😎
Let me know whose the next big want for another Rescue bot team member and don’t forget to watch the 10/27 event with the @bmacatron84 and me!!!
Just to keep things off of Prime CLIFFJUMPER more, this actually looks more like Prime WHEELJACK than it does CJ if we're all being honest. The transformation, the parts layout, the feet, the lower legs, the arms even the odd hand movement lol. If they played the retool right, the lightbar can even become the little wings on his back since they're smaller on Prime WJ than they are on G1 WJ. Hell, this could also oddly be a new Sunstreaker too. That same lightbar could be the air intakes instead which goes to the same area on the back.
Why do I bring up WJ and SS? When seen head on, the lightbar on the back of the figure looks like the sides of the head of WJ and SS. When lacking depth perception while looking at still photos, the lights look like they're coming out of the sides of the head instead. So it's something that popped into my mind while viewing the pics. I doubt it but it's just as likely as Prime CJ at this point...and we do know there's a listing for a Sunstreaker coming up.
Nah, that wouldn't work for a slavishly G1 Sunstreaker as the listing is for a SS86 SS and not a Legacy United SS...or could it?
The more I look at it, the more it does look like WJ and SS. It's the shoulders, feet, legs, arms and lower belly that makes it not look like CJ overall. That's a lot of things that DON'T look alike whereas there's nothing but similarities to Lockdown, WJ and SS. Or at the very least, would need less drastic retooling to work. Really it's just the roof and windshield chest (which still isn't accurate as there's no split) and the exhaust ports on the sides of the vehicle that makes people think CJ.
I know I might be seeming like a buzzkill but it's not going to be Prime Cliffjumper. There's far more things not alike and can't be retooled enough to work for this mold to work as him. I can even keep going with other options for this to be. Runabout and Runamuck, Tracks, G1 Chase, Searchlight, Freeway, Downshift. So another three to four overall molds if I'm being honest but still, that ends up being quite a few figures once we get to redecos. Bandit Lockdown, Blazing Lockdown, Stealth Lockdown, Botcon Breakdown, Axor, Circuit, Loudpedal, Road Rage, Spinout, Cordon, Slicer/Dark energon Wheeljack, Exhaust/Hyperspeed Wheeljack, Prime Dead End, Prime Wildrider, "Prime" Chromedome, Beast Hunters Wheeljack/Go! Hunter Wheeljack.
To anyone who's thinking it won't be Lockdown since Lockdown is meant to be different colors do to the different parts he uses; remember "Cyberverse" Shadow Striker? I mean, she just hit shelves so she should be fresh in our minds. She's meant to have a similar cobbled together design and her new toy doesn't have it. So Lockdown doesn't need it either. I do hope for an OTFCC Roulette and Shadow Striker two pack at some point.
I mean yeah, I can see the similarities. However we know pretty much every single toy coming out next year and Prime universe Cliffjumper is not one of them. However that would most likely be a mainline release to keep the CJ trademark going and to keep the character on shelves.
As for now though, this will be Lockdown. Specifically the "evergreen" design. We know we're getting Lockdown next year so it's easy. Yes there are similarities between Axlegrease and Lockdown but they don't need to use that base mold again. It's already on its third use and one of those shouldn't exist as it is.
To me it was a dead giveaway when I seen the weapons. The side arm ports as well as that oversized handcuffs thing. It reminded me of Lockdown immediately. Especially when I stopped focusing on that and looked at the figure as a whole.
The slots on the hood are also very out of place if something doesn't actually plug into them at some point.
I just went though a bit of the video. That transformation is painfully Lockdown. Those legs if retooled every so slightly will give Lockdown his odd legs from his RotF toy. This is a Lockdown toy repurposed for Chase instead of the other way around.
Entertainment News International (ENI) is the #1 popular culture network for adult fans all around the world.
Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!
Advertising | Submit News | Contact ENI | Privacy Policy
©Entertainment News International - All images, trademarks, logos, video, brands and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies and owners. All Rights Reserved. Data has been shared for news reporting purposes only. All content sourced by fans, online websites, and or other fan community sources. Entertainment News International is not responsible for reporting errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and or other liablities related to news shared here. We do our best to keep tabs on infringements. If some of your content was shared by accident. Contact us about any infringements right away - CLICK HERE