Dave's TF: Car Robots Rant Speed Breaker Mach Alert Well, one of the usual Japanese Stuff dealers at Origins today had a bunch of Car Robots stuff, and with the Car Brothers at $20 each (barely a markup from retail in Japan), I decided to get the two I lacked. (Ultra Jetstorm came in the mail today, but I figured I'd want a little more play time with that before reviewing it...and my JRX should arrive any day now.) CAPSULES Speed Breaker: Very nice vehicle mode, annoying transformation to robot mode (bits keep falling off), exceedingly annoying transformation back to vehicle mode, kibble-coated and spindly robot mode. Neutral. Mach Alert: Good vehicle mode, decent transformation, kibble is somewhat of a problem appearance-wise, but it doesn't really get in the way that much. Weapons look weird attached to vehicle mode. Pretty good robot mode, if also a bit spindly. Recommended. RANTS CYBERTRON: Speed Breaker Altmode: Dodge Viper, supercharged STR 7 INT 8 SPD 10 END 7 RNK 8 COUR 8 FRP 7 SKL 9 Avg 8 Car Mode: A 5" (12cm) long sparkly blue Dodge Viper with a supercharged engine block, translucent yellow windows and lights, and blue-and-white flame patterns. The stuff visible through the windows is just robot kibble. The car is pretty stable and rolls nicely. The doors can open, but this reduces the structural integrity. Speed Breaker's missile masquerades as part of the exhaust pipe, and can be fired out of the back bumper of the car mode. He also has a gun/sword weapon that can be stored in the car, but only if you partially transform it first (it's wedged inside pretty deep, and doesn't hold onto its peg very well). Transformation: Okay, there's about a half dozen panels that can pop off during this, and a couple that you'll be hard pressed to avoid popping off, like the front bumper. The robot is basically all folded up inside the car, and almost every square inch of autobody turns into kibble (although the roof turns into a shield, so I suppose it's not really kibble). What's really a royal pain in the reactor linkage is trying to transform him BACK to car mode. Because everything is so tightly crammed in there in car mode, you need to get a dozen or so parts into exact alignment at the same time or they all pop apart in your hands. It's even harder if you're trying to store the swordgun inside the car. I advise looking VERY carefully at the position of everything in the car before you transform it to robot mode...I spent a very frustrating fifteen minutes just trying to get the legs transformed back. Granted, the instructions are very complete and would have helped a little, but most of the problem was trying to move two things while keeping three others from moving, that sort of thing. I'm not sure I'm ever going to bother transforming this one again. Robot Mode: Not terribly impressive, covered in kibble and spindly-legged. I'd give a measurement, but that would mean I have to transform it to robot mode again, and frankly I don't want to. His rear bumper becomes a crossbow-like weapon, while his front bumper becomes something you need to chase across the floor every time you try to pose the toy. The fact that the limbs are mostly unpainted pale whitish plastic doesn't help the look of this toy. Overall: Unless you're a rabid completist or a rabid Dodge Viper fan, give this one a pass. Even if it gets re-released in the US, it's not worth the bother. CYBERTRON: Mach Alert Altmode: Lamborghini Diablo, Police Variant (and yes, they do use Lambos for police cars in Japan and Hong Kong, IIRC) STR 6 INT 10 SPD 9 END 7 RNK 8 COUR 7 FRP 8 SKL 7 Avg 7.75 Car Mode: A 5" (12cm) long Lamborghini police cruiser (black and white) with add-on thrusters/launchers. They look kinda out of place on the car mode, although they're not as bad if you move the hinges of the bits they attach to so that the thrusters are against the sides of the car. You can also mount the thrusters on the "flashers" atop the roof of the car, although that looks REALLY stupid (those mounts are for robot mode). The car rolls well and is very stable, except for the launchers which can pop off pretty easily. Still, they're optional extras. The launchers are Cyberjet-style ball-pop missiles, with a pretty limited range. One really neat thing about the robot stuff seen inside the windows is that the feet are molded to look like bucket seats inside the car. Transformation: While kibble is something of a problem here, once you figure out the correct order of transformation (or look at the directions), it really doesn't get in the way of transformation at all. The roof and hood fold up nicely on the back, and the doors become Rhinox-like armor skirts. The trunk becomes a shield, and the rear fender/wheel areas become shoulderpads with some rather nifty detail molded onto the fronts. The exhaust pipes fold up as decorations or can point outward as chest-mounted guns, a nice effect. Mach Alert's Autobot symbol is in red metallic foil on a transparent light grey chest, a rather nice effect. Oh, and he stands a little over 5" (13cm) tall. His legs are a little slender, but their ball joints (hips, knees and ankles) are stiff enough to keep him standing. From the side he looks kinda gappy, though. Unlike Wild Ride, Mach Alert's proportions are pretty good, aside from the usual pinhead most TFs have. His missile launchers can be placed in three different positions in robot mode. First, they can be left on his spoiler/shield. Second, there's a pair of oblong pegs on his right forearm for holding the two together. One of them has a somewhat loose fit on mine, though. Finally, if you place them on the flashers of the roof of the cop car, they become a jetpack. Overall: While suffering from some KibbleMaster tendencies, this is a much better toy than I initially gave it credit for being, easily as good as Wild Ride. I don't know if it's worth the $25 or more plus shipping most places seem to want for it, but if it comes out recolored in the U.S., snap it up. Dave Van Domelen, just packed away lots of toys for his move last weekend, now his desk is filling right back up....