Animated Legends - Universe - Figures


The latest batch of Legend class figures is curious. All three are from the currently running Animated lineup, yet they are appearing on the Universe platform. A theory could be that they don't want these figures necessarily competing against the gimmicky Activators figures. However, do these less expensive versions stack up, or even surpass the Activators figures which are almost twice the price?

Bumblebee

Specs


Strength     
Intelligence
Speed
Endurance
Rank
Courage
Fireblast
Skill

Robot Mode

Bumblebee never seems to keep a consistent look between his class changes. For Legends, he is perhaps the least show accurate. The legs are completely reverse of the show's setup, with the windshield forming his feet. He also wears his roof as a backpack, meaning his chest is a faux.

The head sculpt is done pretty well, albeit a bit dark in the face. Articulation is also decent, with pinned hinges for full knee bending, and ball joints on both hips and shoulders. There is no elbow articulation. You can make out hands in the door panels, just like the Activator unit. To transform, pull down the hips, spin the arms so they face up, rotate the chest so the arms face down, fold the arms in and back to form the rear end, fold the hips back down then fold the legs so the slots on the doors slide into the guides inside the legs.

Alt Mode

Although simplistic, I prefer this alt mode to the Activator one. It looks less busy. Some might complain about the twin slots that the front end have due to the knee joints, but a Legend class will always have some flaw.

One QC problem that cropped up was with the left front wheel. It was riveted on too tight and can barely spin. Other than that, the figure is pretty solid and contains some nice, unpainted details such as the doors.

Score

Robot Mode: - Some inaccuracies but still has a good look to it
Robot Mode: - Gaping holes on front end are only real detraction.
Overall: - Perhaps the best version of Bumblebee yet when considering cost to function ratio.

Click here for more Bumblebee images via the Universe Database!

Optimus Prime

Specs

Strength     
Intelligence
Speed
Endurance
Rank
Courage
Fireblast
Skill

Robot Mode

Seems we just can't get enough Prime, as he has now been featured in every class size except Leader. Like most of the others, the face of this Prime is shown in battle mode with the faceplate up. It's easy to lose the head sculpt, though, as it's pretty small.

Prime trades knee joints for elbow joints. He has fully functional hip and shoulder joints a'la ball joints, but the knees are locked straight. You also have a bit of kibble behind the abdomen to deal with. The wheels for the front of the truck also hang off his forearms. To transform, fold the head down to the roof, rotate the chest 180 degrees, bend the elbows all the way up, fold back the shoulders, fold the forearms in to fit the cab bumper, fold the legs back and push the feet down.

Alt Mode

In alt mode, this Prime easily trumps the Activators model. The look is so much cleaner. You can still see the ball joints for the shoulders, but it flows much better. on this figure. You can also spy an Autobot symbol between the lightbars.

Details are far and few between for Prime. The clearance lights and headlights are molded in, but unpainted. There's also a gaping screw in the middle of the grille. This figure may not be perfect, but it's so much easier on the eyes than the next size class up.

Score

Robot Mode: - Smallish head sculpt, no knees hurt.
Robot Mode: - Easily outdoes the more expensive Activators figure
Overall: - If you want a small figure for the desk, this is the one. However, like most Legends it's not perfect.

Click here for more Optimus images via the Universe Database!

Prowl

Specs


Strength     
Intelligence
Speed
Endurance
Rank
Courage
Fireblast
Skill

Alt Mode

If you like Prowl, turn away. I won't be kind here. On the surface, it looks like Prowl translated relatively well from Deluxe to Legend. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Starting with the legs, the wheels don't lock into place with the shins right. The right leg especially has no catch so it can be hard to keep the wheel in place. On the plus side, pinned knees and ball jointed hips make for nice poseability.... if you can keep the waist on. The ball jointed waist likes to come loose and pop off constantly.

This figure benefits from both elbow AND knee joints, with the elbows being ball jointed. Where it suffers is the shoulders, which are hinged to only go up and down. They did a good job on the head sculpt, though. To transform, fold up the shoulders over Prowl's head, pull down the waist and twist the legs 90 degrees to the left, position the legs so the feet face uop and the legs are linear to each other, fold the feet into the legs, pull down the bike body and position the wheels./p>

Robot Mode

Words cannot express my disappointment with the alt mode. Although it looks good from the front, the side profile is off on multiple levels. The wheels especially look tacky.

The cockpit for the bike is too kibbled. Dare I say the bike looks almost Tron'ish in proportions. Worst of all, the bike can't even stand on it's own.

Score

Alt Mode: - Decent articulation marred by a very loose waist and virtually no shoulder poseability.
Robot Mode: - Awful
Overall: - If you must have this one, do yourself a favor and leave it in Robot mode

Click here for more Prowl images via the Universe Database!

Thoughts

For $5 each, the figures are decent. With Optimus and Bumblebee, they are very good (and less expensive) alternates to the Activators counterparts. However, you're best doing without Prowl. It's a terrible conversion to a Legend class figure.




ReviewerBlitzwing  
DateNovember 4th 2008  
Score 6 stars (6 out of 10)  
Reads10052


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