TFCC Runamuck

Taking a little break from the TF Prime figures to give you a look at this years Transformers Collector's Club free figure who happens to be....

Runamuck.

If you subscribed to the Transformers Collector's Club before March 16th, 2012, then you will be receiving this figure in the mail very soon if not already. Now Runamuck is the partner of Runabout aka Over-Run, and together they are known as the Battle Chargers. Runamuck and Runabout share the same mold but have contrasting paint jobs, so Ruamuck has all the strengths and weaknesses of his twin.

Being a free figure, Runamuck comes in a plain white mailer in a baggie, packed with his instructions and tech spec card. The good news is that if you purchased Over-run, that figures box has an opening that you can place Runamuck. This means that you can store them together with ease. This is ideal since where one Battle Charger is, the other is never far behind.

Now as I mentioned earlier, Runamuck is a repaint of Runabout, which you'll see a lot of since I couldn't resist posing these two together for most of the review. His paint job is a pearled white with gold and orange detailing and black forearms. Much like his partner he has a Decepticon symbol on the hood of his car mode as well as Decepticon rubsign on his chest. His accessories include two black shoulder mounted cannons and a black and gold blaster. Video reviewer Optibotimus has noted an alternate configuration for the Battlecharger's robot modes in his review of Runabout. This alternate configuration is pretty simple to do and gives the boys a more G1 look.

Runamuck has the same 16+ points of articulation as Runabout and mold doner Generations Wheeljack. His big feet help him balance quite a bit, but it still can be tricky to get some more dynamic poses to work. It is a lot of fun to put these guys in tag team poses. Actually makes me wish I collected wrestling figure so I could give them some title belts.

Vehicle mode is a beauty to look at. The white and gold blend together very nicely, and the sparkly shine the white plastic has is gorgeous. It's also very nice that they get details like the head and tail lights, and the hubcaps. It rolls very well, although it can be tricky to get the wheels to line up properly.

When you look at Runamuck with mold mates, Tracks and Wheeljack, its easier to spot the differences than the similarities. The paint job really makes him pop. It really shows what a paint job and a new head can do for a mold.

All in all, if you have Runabout, you need Runamuck and vice verse. These guys are a team and incomplete individually. Runamuck is an awesome looking figure and will look great in any Transformers Classics shelf. If you'd like more detail into the mold check out Runabout's review here. Anyway, hope you guys have enjoyed this look at Runamuck and I will see you again soon.

Transformers Prime RID Deluxe Cliffjumper

Hey guys, back again. Got a few non-Transformers robots on the way so if your getting tired of TF Prime reviews, some variety is on the way. In the mean time I got a few more from RID's first wave left, so lets get to it with...

Cliffjumper

When the First Edition TF Prime figures were being produced, Cliffjumper was one of the characters made for that line. Unfortunately, he wasn't planned for US release. Instead, we were given the RID version of the character. This new version of Cliff, while not as great as the FE version, is still a very fun toy and a fine rendition of the character. Best of all, he does not share the same mold as Bumblebee.

Cliffjumper come packaged in the standard RID packaging, with a clear view of Cliff in the front in vehicle mode. The back shows a short bio and pictures of the figure, and the tech specs are on the side. Not much I can say about the packaging that I haven't said before, but I do like it.

Cliffjumper's robot mode actually looks pretty good. He looks pretty close to that he does on the show. He also evokes a feel of G1 Cliffjumper, something that only a few of the figures in the RID line actually do. The only real flaw I can find with robot mode is in his arms, they are hollow, and at certain angles you can actually see in and through them. They also don't hold together as well as I would like them to. Other than that he is a very solid toy.  The one weapon he comes with is his battle hammer. He never used it in the show, but it does feel like a weapon he would use. It can be held either as the hammer or as a gun. I prefer the gun mode because I know Cliffjumper likes big guns that he can aim right between a con's optics.

Cliff has 18 points of articulation featuring a ball jointed head, ball jointed shoulders, double hinge jointed elbows, ball jointed wrists, waist swivel, ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, hinged knees, and ball jointed feet. His articulation is a bit hindered in his arms, but you can get a lot of cool battle poses out of this guy.

One of the best features of the TF Prime Cliffjumper figures is that they don't fall under the dreaded "Bumblejumper" curse. This basically means that for the first time since G1, Cliffjumper is an entirely different mold from Bumblebee, which is one of the most appealing traits about this guy. You can actually tell Bee and Cliff apart from each other very easily

Cliffjumper's vehicle mode is a red muscle car, very similar to a 70's Camaro. The car mode looks great. It's got a nice shade of red to it and it's well detailed. They even painted the rims on him, which is an unusual treat from Hasbro. There is a port on the right side and on the roof where you can plug in his weapon or any other 5mm peg. Sadly the gun looks kinda goofy on Cliff in this mode so it may be better to put it away if you display your bots like this. The biggest gripe I have about vehicle mode is that the windows are so clear you can see the robot parts underneath them. It would have gone better if they used a blue translucent plastic instead of the colorless plastic they went with.

Putting Cliffjumper next to his First Edition counterpart shows that while the FE version is a little taller and has his arm cannons, RID Cliff still looks pretty good. I like the First Edition better, but I still like the RID. Cliff also looks good with his partner Arcee and his killer Starscream, and in a group shot you can see he scales pretty well with the team. TF Prime has done the best job with scale that I have ever seen in a Transformers toy line. Looking at him with his past incarnations you can see how well he homages his past. Another interesting thing is that he is around the same size as Classics Bumblebee, which may open an opportunity to put him with your Classics figures. Since Classics Cliffjumper was a straight repaint of Bumblebee, RID Cliff may be a nice way to add variety to your Classics shelf.

All in all, RID Cliffjumper is a solid toy and worthy of a place on any TF collector's shelf. His fate may be sealed on the show, but we now have a toy of him that wont soon be forgotten. If you have to choose between RID and FE, go with the First Edition if you can afford it, otherwise you'll be very happy with RID Cliff. See you next time.