Toy Review - Legacy Iguanus

IGUANUS
Series - Legacy
Size/class - Core
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - May 2021
Approximate Retail Price - $19
Approximate Size - 9 cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Cybertronian Moped
Main Features/Gimmicks - Weapon is part of a combiner weapons system
Main Colours - Purple, Bronze, Fuchsia
Main Accessories - Hand held blaster (crossguard of combiner sword weapon)

SUMMARY

• Sadly not a pretender
• Beautifully sculpted and coloured. Serious kaiju vibes! Great poseability in (beast)bot mode.
• Motorcycle transformers are cool!

https://i.imgur.com/KXywlwEh.jpeg
Yeeeeessssss

https://i.imgur.com/WrD8gunh.jpeg
Check out my core

https://i.imgur.com/iBLDI7Wh.jpeg
Iguana go vroom

https://i.imgur.com/iayuN7Wh.jpeg
Face the two wheeled wrath of AIR COMMANDER STARSCREAM!

THICK

Core class Iguanus is a beautiful little figure with a fun transformation. The Iguanus beast-bot looks like he stepped straight out of a Toho kaiju picture, is amazingly articulated (the standard with this newish core class) and as such is able to pull off some mighty swaggy poses. If I had my years again I would stick these core class figures in a model city and film my own creature feature! Going back to the beauty of this figure. It truly is divine. The sculpting is incredibly detailed and a pleasure to behold plus I reckon I've seen less paint apps on some deluxes.

It's no secret that I am a sucker for the less common alt-modes such as Iguanus' motorcycle. The transformation is pretty typical of recent motorcycle offerings but I found it fun nonetheless. The wheels of the cycle are actually quite free wheeling, but unfortunately Iguanus' centre of mass is quite high which makes free-rolling an ultimately futile exercise. The weapon accessory on it's own is nothing to write home about, it looks kinda savage but it doesn't integrate terribly well with the alt mode. It will probably fare better once combined with the weapons of it's wave mates. The motorcycle scale is OK for cross compatibility, but core bots still look like they are riding a monkey bike.

Perhaps the only point of major disappointment is that this Iguanus is not a true homage to his pretender origins. I think it would have been genius marketing to make the core class figure the literal core-robot of the G1 Pretender and sell the Iguana-beastman Pretender shell as a deluxe or voyager. Perhaps the poor sales and fan backlash over the original G1 Pretenders still hurts Hasbro ~30 years later. One day, Hasbro, one day you will give me my Generations turbomasters and pretenders.


PROS

• It looks like a kaiju! And plays like one too!
• It's a bike!
• It's real pretty (like seriously)

CONS

• Not a pretender
• Perennial complaint, but core class RRP is damn high in this country.

A really neat little Core Class figure. As with most CHUG Pretenders, it has a robot mode based on the Pretender shell rather than the actual G1 bot, but the alt mode is obviously an homage to the original G1 figure. I would personally prefer for the toy to just resemble the core robot, as that's the true Transformer; the shell is just that... a shell. Imagine if they released a Grimlock toy who transforms from a human to dinosaur. :p But, I do understand why. The non-Classic Pretenders are more iconic as their shells than robots, plus the 1988 Pretenders have sucky looking robot modes; they all look like skinny robotic contortionists. :p The Pretender shells look more distinctive and have more of a visual 'personality'. Admittedly CHUG Thunderwing and Black Shadow would be more underwhelming if based on their tiny inner-robots instead of their imposing Mega Pretender/Crossformer shells. :) And these toys need to sell to kids who have no knowledge or emotional attachment to the original G1 bots; and a transforming Kaiju just looks cooler than a G1-accurate Iguanus robot (who, even by 1980s standards, was an underwhelming figure). Also, the name "Iguanus" would make little sense if he didn't resemble an iguana. :p

So yeah, G1-bias aside, this is a pretty cool figure. :) My main gripe is the lack of a kick-stand in the motorcycle mode. I improvised by mistransforming one of the feet as a makeshift kickstand (facing away from the camera :p) - but it would've been nice to have a proper stand. I have feelings about the Core Class RRP too, but that's probably worthy of a separate discussion in a different thread. :)

https://i.ibb.co/cQyHFkh/TL-iguanus.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/pdBjXwg/TL-iguanus02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/2qkm8tf/TL-iguanus03.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/SmfYmfK/TL-iguanus04.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/pyZRf4n/TL-iguanus05.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/RYzWcrp/TL-iguanus06.jpg

Pretty impressive little figure this. The transformation is clever and reminds me of G1 Wreck Gar. Both modes are noice too.

Definitely one of the better core class figs released thus far.

I picked this up on a whim (I'm not usually a Core class collector) and I'm really thankful. This is a really really fun little figure.

The combination of colour choice, head sculpt and poseability give the robot mode shedloads of character.

The transformation is fun. Not complicated but a few nice twists.

The bike mode is average. It's not absolutely terrible, but it's not great. It's functional.