Toy Review - Studio Series Dropkick (Car Type)

[GoktimusPrime]

DROPKICK
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Studio Series
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 7
Released here - August 2019
Approximate Retail Price - $23
Approximate Size - 13cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - 1973 AMC Javelin muscle car
Main Features/Gimmicks - annoying panelforming^N/A
Main Colours - metallic blue
Main Accessories - gun

https://i.ibb.co/xzfH1T6/studioseries-dropkick-car01.jpg

PROS
A really gorgeous looking toy in both robot and vehicle modes. The metallic blue looks so nice and works well with the glossy black.
Quite solid in both robot and car modes.
Nothing easily falls off during transformation
The way that he holds his gun by folding in his fist and clipping it onto the wrist is different and reminiscent of the Japanese Targetmasters from the Headmasters anime series. And the toy still has 5mm compatible fist holes (even if it doesn't come with any 5mm weapons himself).
The gun also attaches to the spoiler without the spoiler needing any special moulding to accommodate this (e.g. slot etc.)
$23.40 at Big W atm is a pretty good price for a Deluxe

https://i.ibb.co/f9vkzym/studioseries-dropkick-car02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/VMmGhDd/studioseries-dropkick-car03.jpg

CONS
Getting it transform exactly into car mode is a pain in the sparse. I found that getting the side panels and doors to sit in exactly flush was quite a chore and required quite a lot of panel massaging to get into place. Shatter Car Type (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php/26447-Toy-Review-Studio-Series-Shatter-(car-type)) is actually easier and more intuitive to transform by comparison. Sure, she has bits that fall off, but they pop back on just as easily. By contrast Dropkick Car Type has a less intuitive and more unforgiving transformation; there's just no margin for error here. A transformation which requires rocket science level precision kinda saps away the fun from playing with the damn toy in the first place
The hinge on the rear panel may be fragile. I know someone who broke the hinge on his toy and being on clear plastic it just sheared right off. Again, Shatter is better in this regard because I'd rather have parts that pop off and on than parts that break. After witnessing someone else break this hinge I've been really careful with mine. My advice for when transforming this toy to robot mode is to swing the legs out sideways rather than attempting to stretch out the rear section to create a gap to swing the legs down. Hopefully this will place less pressure on that hinge, but yeah, just be careful with that.

https://i.ibb.co/1mB3r4b/studioseries-dropkick-car04.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/C2qJ17F/studioseries-dropkick-car05.jpg

OVERALL
Disappointing. This toy looks great but isn't great to play with. The tedious transformation and needing to be super cautious to avoid breaking the rear panel hinge just saps away a lot of potential fun in playing with this toy. A toy isn't all that fun when the transformation becomes a chore and you have to tread on eggshells to avoid breaking parts. Despite her flaws and not looking as nice as Dropkick, I still find Shatter to be the better figure between the two. Dropkick may be the nicer looking display piece but Shatter is the better toy.

https://i.ibb.co/kmgFJbd/studioseries-dropkick-car06.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/nCxzYSV/studioseries-dropkick-car07.jpg

Now some people might jump on board and mention that this toy is better than Dropkick Helicopter Type (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php/25991-Toy-Review-Studio-Series-Dropkick), and while this may be visually (or aesthetically) true, overall I still rate the Chopper Type as the better toy. Chopper Dropkick is still better than both Car Shatter and Car Dropkick; his transformation is intuitive and fun, he doesn't require laborious panel massaging, nor does he fall apart. As for looks, yes, Car Dropkick does look nicer, but in all fairness it's because this is based on Dropkick's first appearance on Earth when he's scanned his car mode but he has yet to scan his helicopter mode. At this moment he's a regular Double Changer, not a Triple Changer. This means that his robot mode does not need to carry any faux helicopter parts. Here's a comparison;
https://i.ibb.co/0Gf6NnT/studioseries-dropkick.jpg
...as you can see Car Type Dropkick in the film only has car mode kibble whereas Helicopter Type Dropkick has both helicopter and car mode parts in his robot mode. And we all know that aircraft are harder to make into robots, so Helicopter Type Dropkick was always going to be a harder toy to make, especially as a Deluxe. So all things considered, I still consider Chopper Dropkick to be superior.

https://i.ibb.co/Jrct6xb/studioseries-dropkick-car08.jpg

Only recommended if you're trying to complete the Bumblebee Studio Series toys... in which case you didn't need to read this review as your mind is already made up. :p So really not recommended. I was really looking forward to this toy but have found it to be quite disappointing.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/th_jaam_shoulders.gif

[GoktimusPrime]

Had another fiddle with this toy today and took more photos under better lighting conditions.
https://i.ibb.co/JBNjQ62/studioseries-dropkick-car09.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/3v5qTzq/studioseries-dropkick-car10.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4fdZJkc/studioseries-dropkick-car11.jpg

The transformation is still too needlessly laborious for my liking, but I must admit that it is one damn nice looking figure.

[SMHFConvoy]

I found the bulk of the conversion intuitive, it's when you get to locking the door panels and the rear fenders that it becomes from fiddly. Big thumbs up for me.

Now I just need to get a cheap SS Shatter.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, it's predominantly the doors that are a massive pain in the rectum to make sit flush. I've worked out this trick now where I yank the rear side panels backwards and then try to squeeze the doors into place. But then that has a tendency to dislodge the arms and then I have to try to squeeze the arms back into place. *sigh* It's like a panel-tabbing game of Whack-A-Mole. :(

Anyway, here a few more piccies...
https://i.ibb.co/3M6R5Wq/studioseries-dropkick-car12.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/SV6t23Y/studioseries-dropkick-car13.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/RDhcWYK/studioseries-dropkick-car13a.jpg

I really wish that more Studio Series toys would include faction logos. Yeah, I know that it's not necessarily screen-accurate, but I don't care. I like my bots to be proud of their allegiances!
https://i.ibb.co/9HLLcXB/studioseries-dropkick-car15.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/S5R8p4b/studioseries-dropkick-car16.jpg

[SMHFConvoy]

Yeah, it's predominantly the doors that are a massive pain in the rectum to make sit flush. I've worked out this trick now where I yank the rear side panels backwards and then try to squeeze the doors into place. But then that has a tendency to dislodge the arms and then I have to try to squeeze the arms back into place. *sigh* It's like a panel-tabbing game of Whack-A-Mole

I just slide the rear fenders in and close the door at the same time, but hastak utilises a similar thing with Bumblebee Movie SS Bumblebee, in that instance I cut the door tabs off of Bumblebee and may have to do this with Dropkick.

[GoktimusPrime]

I just slide the rear fenders in and close the door at the same time
That's what I've come to do, only that I often find that the arms and/or feet tend to dislodge when I do it. :( It's doable when I'm just fiddling with this toy but it's going to become more problematic during live play sessions.

[Tha_Phantom]

Sadly I had to vote no on this poll after looking so forward to getting this toy. Sure, he looks great in both modes but the transformation is too fiddly and I've now broken two Dropkick's sadly. With my first one I snapped the rear bumper trying to compact everything together, so I exchanged it. The second one I snapped one of the neck joints, which doesn't ruin the figure, as it has two neck joints, but I won't be transforming it again after this. Mine is effectively a statue now. Sure, we all joked about Shatter falling apart but at least she pops back together and I'd take her any day of the week over Dropkick.
By the way, I like to think I'm pretty careful with my Transformers. I've transformed MP-36 and MP-43 numerous times successfully, so perhaps I've just had some bad luck. :( I hope he's not a let down for the rest of you, but sadly this is my experience with him.

[hYpNoS]

Looks wise in all modes amazing as already stated, transformation works just fine (I always transform without instructions for more fun) but those panels are the kinda thing I hate on past movie tf's, so I'll be leaving mine mostly in robot mode and if he must go in car form he'll be up the back because I ain't gonna clip him tight, if I do good chance I'll shatter him out of frustration

[Jellico]

Well I finally opened the box...

Got to say that I like him. That whole series of hinges along his spine that you stretch out has me nervous but it works well enough. The whole roof section is asking to be broken off. I wouldn't give him to a kid, but the transformation is interesting enough.
I like how the rear wheels are moved onto the arms. That is different to what we normally see.
I really like the tabs around the rear wheels when going into vehicle mode.
Keep them in mind and it gets things in the right place for less massaging compared to say Barricade. Getting the doors tucked into the rear fenders is tricky. I find it takes a bit of pre-planning when tabbing the legs and arms in place.
I also like the way the rear fenders are keyed. Again it gets them in the right position when going to alt mode. It is better than the floating approach taken with Bumblebee's fenders.

Ultimately I think there are lot of nice little features that could be passed onto future designs, let down by some weak points like the spine which are prone to breakage.

[SharkyMcShark]

Well I finally opened the box...

Got to say that I like him. That whole series of hinges along his spine that you stretch out has me nervous but it works well enough. The whole roof section is asking to be broken off. I wouldn't give him to a kid, but the transformation is interesting enough.
I like how the rear wheels are moved onto the arms. That is different to what we normally see.
I really like the tabs around the rear wheels when going into vehicle mode.
Keep them in mind and it gets things in the right place for less massaging compared to say Barricade. Getting the doors tucked into the rear fenders is tricky. I find it takes a bit of pre-planning when tabbing the legs and arms in place.
I also like the way the rear fenders are keyed. Again it gets them in the right position when going to alt mode. It is better than the floating approach taken with Bumblebee's fenders.

Ultimately I think there are lot of nice little features that could be passed onto future designs, let down by some weak points like the spine which are prone to breakage.

This is one of the more endearing things about this figure.

A lot of the Studio Series deluxe class car figures basically transform by folding the car shell into a massive backpack and unfurling some limbs. This and Stinger (and Shatter to an extent, I suppose) are the only ones that really escape that paradigm, by doing something else with the kibble.

[Dimi194]

I really like this guy-but mine has 2 right hands, thankfully doesn't impact transformation so I guess he'll always wield the gun in the left lol!

Transformation was really nice-I liked how different it was but still didn't seem too painful to get it all together (I prefer this to the massaging on BB for example)!

[GoktimusPrime]

I guess he'll always wield the gun in the left lol!
Dude, just bring the toy back with the receipt and get an exchange. This toy seems to be shelfwarming so there doesn't appear to be a shortage of them (Drift on the other hand seems to be the strongest seller in this assortment)

[Dimi194]

It's from Uncle Pete's, so I can't be bother to go through the hassle of sending him back etc etc-especially because last time something like this happened they covered the cost of me sending pack and reposting, which was like $25...
Honestly doesn't bother me that much hahaha!
If it was from somewhere I could drive I would for sure.

[Paulbot]

I opened up mine at last - and after a break from Studio Series for a while I've been reminded of why I'm not keen on so many of the deluxe figures from this line.

In theory this toy has a brilliant transformation. The spinning head/bonnet, the way the wheel parts swap around, the unfolding fenders, the panels wrap around the legs, it's all really good.

But Studio Series deluxe toys are just a bit too small for this complexity and the car modes feel like they are constantly fighting to constrain everything into place which makes it much less fun and more frustrating.

I also find it extremely hard to reconcile that this robot and the helicopter called Dropkick are supposed to be the same robot with different alt modes. It just doesn't work. I think the helicopter needed to be more blue at least!