Hasbro Transformers Combiner Wars Buzzsaw

With Combiner Wars coming to a close, Hasbro has decided to give us a sneak peek into what the next line, Titans Return, has in store. This sneak preview is actually in the form of one of the last Legends class figures in the line, Buzzsaw.

 

Buzzsaws alt mode is a smartphone, which is a major update from his cassette mode of old. I’m sure there are those of you who don’t even know what a cassette is, but to make it simple they were the precursor to CDs. In any case, this smartphone mode is just as much a brick as his G1 counterpart’s was. The front does have some nice decals on it to make up the screen, but unfortunately some are prone to fraying simple due to how Buzzsaw transforms. I still do appreciate the effort made on the decal art, it really does look nice.

 

Interestingly enough, Buzzsaw was also given a vehicle mode of sorts. This is more to go with the Titan Masters of the next line but it’s a little odd to see now. I’m not even sure what to call the thing, it’s just a little brick on wheels with prongs on the front. One could argue it’s just there so he can get around, but his beast/robot mode can do that better.

 

Speaking of which, Buzzsaw’s robot mode is a bird. Big surprise right. Honestly though I wouldn’t have it any other way. Buzzsaw has been a bird since his G1 days and it’s been his default robot mode. This iteration is done fairly well, but it’s also hard to mess up really. I like how there are flip out extensions to the wings to make them more wing like and how the tail tries to emulate the back cannons/thrusters, although those 5mm ports look like there were plans to give him actual cannons at some point in his design. Perhaps Shapeways can make that happen in the future. It’s also possible to fan mode a jet form for Buzzsaw by simply rotating the wings 180 degrees and closing them up. It looks decent and far more appealing than the official rolling brick mode.  Sadly, no articulation to speak of on this guy, all joints seem to be for transformation. In this case I’m not too bummed by that, but it’s worth noting.

 

Compared to previous versions of the character, there is an obvious departure from the original design, but there is still enough here that I can recognize him as that G1 character. I honestly would have loved to see Hasbro incorporate the Masterpiece transformation to this new alt mode because I think it could have worked so well.

 

All in all, Buzzsaw is an interesting and logical new take on the character and could fit well into a Classics shelf. His rolling brick mode is entirely forgettable, but not needed to enjoy the toy either, more of a bonus feature that didn’t work out. I think he would be worth picking up especially since the rest of the cassette team is coming later in the year or next year, but if they went coming, this toy would be easier to pass on.

Hasbro Transformers Combiner Wars Trailbreaker

The final wave of Combiner Wars is here and it’s another ’84 wave, for the most part. Three of the four deluxes are from the 1984 offerings of G1 with one from ’85. We are looking at one of the ’84 guys today in Trailbreaker.

Trailbreaker is a repaint/retool of Offroad giving him the flatbed truck vehicle mode similar to what he had in G1, minus the cover on the back. He has a great paintjob which gives him all the classic striping you’d want to see on a Classics representation of the character. The standard hand/foot gun can be placed as a makeshift cover, but still I’d love to see someone at Shapeways or some 3^rd party make a cover accessory for him.

 

Robot mode is a little more interesting. Not only is the head remolded but the arms are redone as well. While there have been more extensive retools done in this line in the past, this is still quite nice. The head is animation accurate to the G1 cartoon, with a really good face sculpt. The arms are blockier than the what Offroad or Ironhide had and the right arm even has a gun instead of a hand. For G1 fans, this is a big win as Trailbreaker had a gun hand in G1. The arms and legs are well painted but the chest is lacking. Aside from an Autobot badge, it’s completely unpainted. I wish the top of the chest was painted blue to match the vehicle mode windshield, furthering the G1 aesthetic the figure seems to be going for. Other than that he looks very nice.

 

Accessories are pretty run of the mill for the mold. He has the axe that came with the other figures to use this mold, as well as the engine styled hand/foot gun. The hand/foot gun however, has been somewhat retooled. The finger and thumb pieces have been redone to give the hand mode a more clawed look, complete with silver fingers. Quite an interesting touch. That claw can even fit into Trailbreakers gun arm to give him a very big hand. Sadly, the axe can’t plug into the gun arm. A shame since an axe arm would have been cool.

 

Given this is a Combiner Wars figure, we should get into the combined modes. The leg is as solid as the other versions of the mold. I’ve always liked how the hood of the truck becomes a knee guard. Arm mode still has some problems. I will give Hasbro some credit as the remolded arms stay attached to the tabs on the sides of the vehicle much better than Offroad or Ironhide’s, but the robot legs still come apart too easily when trying to pose the combined arm. This makes Trailbreaker more ideal as a leg, which makes the retooled Hand/foot gun rather pointless, unless you swap hand/foot guns with one of the arm bots.

 

Trailbreaker looks pretty good with the first wave of ’84 bots. I haven’t gotten any of the other figures in his wave, but things are looking good so far. When compared to the Thrilling 30 Trailcutter, it’s amazing how much more G1 accurate this new one is even without having the hood chest or flood lights in the back. I wish I had a G1 Trailbreaker to compare him to but looking at him next to Hoist, the influences are visible. I’m surprised at just how good this mold is for the character.

 

Somehow I feel that Hasbro was trying to make Combiner Wars an ideal starting point for new collectors trying to get a G1 cast together. How else do you explain getting 11 or the first 18 Autobots, Megatron, and the Seekers in one line. One could argue that Shockwave should be mentioned in that group, but he needs a voyager to count in my view.

Final waves are often cursed with being harder to find and shorter lived, making a finale of ’84 characters that never combined before an interesting way to end the Combiner Wars line. It offers comfort that a key group won’t be missed due to figure scarcity, although I do worry about the Voyager Skylinx that has yet to hit a store nearby me and may be afflicted by that curse.