Toy Review - ANIMATED UNIVERSE PROWL (Legacy Evolution)

Animated Universe Prowl
Series - Legacy Evolution
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 2
Released here - I dunno 2023
Approximate Retail Price - $35
Approximate Size - 11 cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Black Police Superbike
Main Features/Gimmicks - 'áutomorph' ninja stars
Main Colours - Black, Gold/tan
Main Accessories - aforementioned ninja stars

SUMMARY

• Can be considered a low effort copy of the original Animated Prowl
• Bot mode is superior to the original, Bike inferior.
• All in all a great toy, but doesn't deliver much joy to older collectors.

https://i.imgur.com/IAvmeKYl.jpg
Not Superb(ike)

https://imgur.com/tLEInLLl.jpg
Stars on 45

https://i.imgur.com/4TdSGbxl.jpg
Groovy baby



THICK

Legacy Evolution Animated Universe Prowl (whew what a mouthful) improves on the original Animated Prowl, especially in the bot mode's articulation, decos and balance. The bot mode is brilliant and definitely one of the best in the Legacy line in my opinion. The paint job is superb, colours really pop, he's not top heavy and the joints are tight, in contrast to the original floppy as heck toy (a symptom of the ball joint design of the times). I can't stress enough how much I like the bot mode, even though many would argue that the head sculpt and loss of Animated aesthetics in general ruins everything. With the head design it's clear the designers were either drawing inspiration from, or at least opening the door for a re-release of this mould as an iteration of G1 Groove. A slavish interpretation of the Animated head would have impacted the bike design or resulted in 'tiny head syndrome' which we have seen in the past. Despite all my concessions with regard to aesthetics I do which they went with a face expression that suited the Animated character better.

Transformation is near identical to the original and while it is a fantastic transformation scheme in earnest, this iternation feels less clean, likely due to all the concessions they had to make to pull off the superior bot mod. The rear half with the police lights doesn't really click in tight. It's 2024, I thought we were well past these sorts of issues. The paint job on this guy in this mode is still really great though.

Where Legacy Prowl really falls over is in the alt mode. I love motocycle modes in general and whilst this is not bad per se it's simply not as clean as the original. It's very gappy and doesn't look as stylish in proportions though one can argue the proportions overall are more realistic (like we care in this case). My other petty criticism is that the kick stand is tiny, often requires some work to balance. What I do like is that the back of Prowl's robot head as the sprint of the motorcycle's speedo and tachometer. It's a delightful touch. Also similarly the rear of his tucked away hands has a vent printed on it. Makes zero sense mechanically but is a nice aesthetic touch nonetheless.

Where they also did not improve is in the hubcap accessories. Some have good cause to argue that they are a de-provement (yeh it's not a word deal with it) over the original as this deluxe has a hard time holding them properly. They copied over the automorphing of the blade deployment and retraction but honestly this gimmick doesn't really add much to the experience and doesn't really function pleasurably given that you have to un-sync the gears anyway to lock the blades open so Prowl can hold them without them flopping everywhere. I really would have rather they invested the parts and plastic for this gimmick into improving Prowl elsewhere.

Overall Legacy Evolution Animated Universe Prowl is not a bad toy. However it won't deliver much to the older fans of the original Animated show and toyline given how close it is in design (and hence the constant comparison) and the aforementioned shortfalls.

PROS

• The bot mode is a massive improvement over the original.
• The gold paint really pops, paint job superb overall

CONS

• Nothing new in the transformation front. Some quibbles make it unsmooth and unfun.
• The bike mode is just not as good.
• Does not stack up as an overall improvement on the original toy.