Finally, here's the last of my posts about Transformers triple-changers figures. Out of all such figures I own in that category, this is definitely my favorite.
Ever since I first saw Transformers: The Movie in the early 1990s I wanted an Astrotrain figure. He turns into a space shuttle AND a train! That's awesome! While I eventually picked up a reissue of the original figure, I was looking forward to this toy when the Transformers Classics line was announced.
Classics Astrotrain embodies what I was looking for in the line: an update of the original figures with acceptable levels of articulation, with little to no fiddling around with the details. It always aggravates me when Hasbro makes a new toy of an old figure, but totally change the appearance and transformation scheme for no good reason, usually to the detriment of the toy (witness the abomination that is Universe Cheetor clogging your local department store action figure aisles). Sure, Astrotrain converts into a bullet train instead of a locomotive, but that's acceptable as the new alternate mode allows for greater visual consistency in all three forms.
Unlike the original toy, this Astrotrain has tons of articulation. But perhaps more importantly, the figure's arms aren't tiny stubs on weak ball joints like the previous incarnation. I'm afraid to remove the gun from the original figure's fist for fear of breaking the arm off while attempting to do so. Classics Astrotrain's thighs are a bit short, but not too much. And I really like the shoulderpads, which make the figure look more substanstial as a villain.
I know a few reviewers online took exception to this toy because it didn't meet whatever their expectations were, but it meets mine, and I'm happy to have bought this as my first figure from the Classics line.
Astrotrain is soo cool!
ReplyDeleteI kind a like that new Cheetor. Probably will pass though, I like my repainted one from somewhere in the reissue line.
What I find amusing is that the original Beast Wars toys were pretty screen-accurate (with occasional exceptions like Dinobot) because the animators scanned the toys and based the animation models on them, so a Classics/Animated revamp is pretty pointless in my opinion. The original Cheetor is still one of my favorite action figures ever, so the fact that the new toys is so lackluster in robot mode is a big turn-off. That cheetah mode is pretty ace, though.
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