I've wanted to do this one for a while...only that I am way too good at procrastinating. Also, schoolwork.
I've also decided to make my reviews out of 5, instead of 10. That way I can convey my opinion more accurately. So, 1 is rubbish, 5 is awesome, 3 is average, and 2 and 4 are below and above average respectively. Got that? Yes? On with the review.
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Initially, I was going to get Animated Blackarachnia, despite my arachnophobia. However, the Autobot forces in my room are severely understocked (the fact that one defected to Animated Starscream's brigade didn't help), and I liked Longarm's bio. So here we are.
ALT MODE
Longarm's alt mode is a realistic tow truck of no specific model. However, it is a reproduction of the truck which Mikaela and Bumblebee commandeered for the big fight at the end of the movie. Longarm also apparently appears in the games based on the film, though not in the DS version, as I haven't encountered him.
Anyway, this tow truck is mostly white, with a blue streaky pattern on the front of the vehicle. It has 'Orson's Towing' on the doors (a reference to Aaron Archer's screen-name, apparently), and two tiny Autobot insignias on the sides. The front and edges are black, and it has silver headlights. There are also orange lights above the cabin. On the back, it has a towing hook (slightly wonky on mine), and a nice metal texture on the bottom. The colours are really nice, not too extravagant (like any of the Movie TFs are), but are slightly ruined by the obvious seams at the doors, which occur because they hold together bits which don't hold together so well, so they don't. Hold together, that is.
Unlike many other car/truck TFs, Longarm has more play value than rolling him around (which, incidentally, is something he does really well, especially compared to other Movie TFS, who end up with one wheel of the ground most of the time). As is obvious, there is the towing hook, which can move quite a bit. It is not just for show, however-Longarm can tow other cars, including other TFs! I've done it with Movie Barricade, and it works quite well. Heck, it even works with Animated Ratchet! Oh, and the other feature of note here is the cannon stowed underneath the tow truck. By pressing a small white button on the back, a large orange missile is fired. Surprisingly, this gimmick works-there is a notch in the front of the truck which allows the missile to pass. I really like this. His doors can open up, but this is a side-effect of transformation, as real tow trucks don't have gullwing doors (yet, anyway).
Overall, a really good tow truck. My only complaints are the seams and the orange headlights (they aren't stuck in position, and so move about a lot), but those are relatively minor.
TRANSFORMATION
I really like Longarm's transformation. The back of the truck becomes his really big gun and upper torso, while the front forms the legs and feet (with black spurs to keep him standing). The edges of the back of the truck fold into shoulderpads. The bed of the truck forms arm guards. Finally, the whole crane hook structure, with the orange lights, becomes part of the gun. The orange lights are geared to fold at the same time, making them the most boring Automorph ever.
Transforming the legs back is HARD.
ROBOT MODE
While the blue-white-orange colour scheme is largely intact (with additional orange panels on the legs), there is the addition of grey in the robot torso, which keeps the metal texture from the truck's back-a nod to the junkpile aesthetic of the Movie. He has a primarily white head, with black around the back, a red Autobot insignia on the forehead, and amber-orange lightpiped eyes. I'd have preferred them to be blue. Incidentally, Longarm's head looks like a robotic Jason-although it is apparently a homage to G1 Hoist of 'Hoist Goes Hollywood' (in)fame.
Longarm has posebility. His legs, arms, head, hands, and upper body can all move to some degree (the hands are solid). However, the poses he can pull off are limited by the truck doors on his back and the shoulderpads, which get in the way of the arms moving. There's also the really big gun, which causes him to fall over a lot of the time.
Speaking of the really big gun (or the BFG as I'll refer to it), it is quite powerful. I set up a fight between Longarm and Brawl, and despite the latter being the most heavily armed Decepticon, he failed to knock Longarm down. Longarm, conversely, nailed him in one hit.
The gun is fixed to Longarm's right hand, but apparently can be unscrewed.
Overall, a good robot mode, which would have been better had the gun been detachable.
OVERALL
I like this guy. His two modes actually look good and don't sacrifice anything for looks, the gimmicks all work, and we don't have that many tow trucks anyway. His big gun is an issue, though, but it can apparently be rectified.
3/5
