Dave's RotF Rant: Fast Action Battlers Wave 3 Grapple Grip Mudflap (Chevy Trax) Sideswipe (Stingray concept, not reviewed) Ironhide (red redeco, not reviewed) Starscream (tattooed redeco, not reviewed) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/RotF/FAB3 Heh, I continue picking one figure to represent the wave. I almost got Sideswipe, but then I noticed Mudflap's action feature and had to get it. Ironhide is similar to the Enforcer Ironhide colors of the Legends redeco, and Starscream adds his tattoos. Unfortunately, while transforming the toy before letting some liquid bandage dry completely, I found that liquid bandage will remove paint. Ick. http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Movie/FAB1 - Ironhide and Starscream original decos http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Movie/FAB3 - Ironhide redeco CAPSULES Grapple Grip Mudflap: Pretty mediocre in all respects, but the gimmick has a juvenile-humor charm. Mildly recommended in general, recommended if you find the idea of using his middle finger as a weapon amusing. $12.99 at Target. Sideswipe: Not reviewed. $12.99 at Target. Ironhide: Not reviewed, guest reviewer mildly recommended the original mold, but I said to avoid the redeco. $12.99 at Target. Starscream: Not reviewed, original was mildly recommended. $12.99 at Target. RANTS Packaging: Same as wave 1, but with the correct co-sells on the bottom. AUTOBOT: GRAPPLE GRIP MUDFLAP Altmode: Chevy Trax Concept Licensor: GM Package call-out: "Retractable grappling hook!" MUDFLAP idolizes heroes like BUMBLEBEE and OPTIMUS PRIME. His excitement about being on Earth fighting alongside such famous AUTOBOTS can sometimes get the better of him. Even though he gets distracted, he does his best in the battle against the DECEPTICONS. STR 4 INT 5 SPD 7 END 5 RNK 2 COUR 9 FRB 4 SKL 3 Avg 4.875 Packaging: 4 twist-ties on the robot, one on the hook, one on the string from hand to hook. Two rubber bands hold a shield over the chest, and a blsiter piece sits inside the torso to keep it from collapsing. Robot Mode: Okay, I really need to lead off with this. His gimmick is a grappling hook, it doesn't launch but rather has one of those weird camshafted retraction things where if you pull back 10cm of string it retracts 20cm of string...and the hook is his middle finger. The package art even shows him firing his middle finger. Mudflap's gimmick is giving someone the finger, literally. 5.5" (14cm) tall, mostly metalflake copper-orange and a medium gray. The head is part of the same piece as the roof, and it's only held on by a peg-hinge sort of deal that pops out without too much effort. The right arm, left upper arm, left outside of forearm, left arm gearing, collar area and a bar inside the torso (that keeps the head from swinging too far either way during transformation) are medium gray plastic. The rest is orange-copper plastic with gold metalflake. The thumb side of the left forearm and the left middle finger are included in the orange. Oddly, the thighs are orange plastic but then painted almost entirely gray (a decent but not perfect match). In addition to the thighs, gray paint is used on the chest and boots (to form the lower part of the vehicle body). The windows, the lower halves of the headlights, the foglamps and the eyes are metallic light blue. Silver is used on the ears, headlight and taillight borders, front bumper middle and some details on the left forearm. The outer left forearm is painted metalflake orange-copper, but it's noticeably darker than the plastic next to it. The top bits of the headlights, all of the taillights and a bit in the middle of the silver part of the left forearm are painted red. The Chevy symbol on the front is painted gold. No head articulation, nor waist, but the transformation joint between chest and abdomen lets the figure look up and down. The shoulders and hips are ball joints. The left elbow bends at 90 degrees to the usual elbow direction, mainly so it can fold away in transformation. The hinged flaps that the shoulders connect to also allow a bit more range of motion before it starts to look bad. The knees are hinges with about 90 degrees range in the correct direction and maybe 30 degrees backwards. While it's pegged into place, the left middle finger can fold back on some pegs to more effectively flip you the bird. The string is 8" (20cm) long, and the finger has an acutely angled hook back at the end. When you pull back on the tab at the back end, the string rolls up on a pulley and the string you pull back is 4" (10cm) long. The tab pegs onto the upper arm for storage. Transformation: There's a fair amount of forcing to get the rear panels (robot legs) around the arms...step 4 in the official instructions offers no help in getting the shell around things. Going to robot mode from vehicle mode, though, is pretty easy. Vehicle Mode: The Trax is a 5-door compact, and its general lines are such that the chibification often experienced by FAB toys is minimal, as it's already a fairly chunky little thing. The robot feet kinda grow out of the rear, but there's no other robot kibble and the hinges aren't too obvious. It has the usual pair of triangles on the roof molded to show where to start transforming it to robot mode. At 5" (12.5cm) long, it's only a little longer than the Deluxe version, although it's noticeably wider. Other than the wheels, all the visible parts in this mode are metalflake orange-copper plastic. There's no new paint visible in this mode. It rolls pretty well, but some shin details reduce the ground clearance to about a millimeter. No gimmicks or articulation in this mode. Overall: In most respects, it's pretty unremarkable. Fairly standard articulation, slightly tricky transformation, decent vehicle mode. What makes this worth getting is purely the amusement value of using the middle finger as a grappling hook. :) Dave Van Domelen, turned 39 today.