Toy Review - KICKBACK (Legacy)

KICKBACK
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Legacy
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - May 2022
Approximate Retail Price - $39.99
Approximate Size - 12.5cm to top of head, 13.5cm to antennae, 19cm max height to wing tips
Allegiance - Decepticon
Sub-group - Insecticon
Alt-mode - robotic grasshopper
Main Features/Gimmicks - pilot compartment
Main Colours - black with yellow and purple accents
Main Accessories - x1 electrothermic blast tube gun, x2 Energon blades

https://i.ibb.co/ZdF7nNv/legacy-kickback01.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/S3TzkDJ/legacy-kickback02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/c2wmP1L/legacy-kickback03.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/ncPvS2q/legacy-kickback06.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/98PWrZZ/legacy-kickback04.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/5xBMB3N/legacy-kickback05.jpg

A gorgeously cartoon-like Kickback toy, Generations continues to knock another one out of the park with a figure that feels like a Poor Man's Masterpiece (which I always mean as a compliment). :) The Energon blades are pretty lame and not nearly as fun as the gun-axe weapon on Legacy Skids. It fits rather loosely in the fists, on the arms or attached to the wings. But it doesn't really affect the toy and you can just set it aside. Even as someone who prefers toy-accuracy, I must say that the cartoon-like red visor does look better than G1-accurate black as it really does pop out against the black body. :) The head on mine is a bit wobbly. Kickback also has a panel that conceals his robot face in Insecticon mode, and this panel seamlessly tucks away in robot mode.

Now here's the weird thing about this toy: it has a pilot's compartment. The chest door has a hinge, and inside the chest is a compartment. However, chest door is fastened shut; you cannot open it unless you force it open with something like a hobby knife, and even then you'll probably damage the toy in the process. I've seen a photo of someone who opened his Legacy Kickback, and he did indeed scratch up his toy like a champion... so this is not recommended (I'm certainly not game to try!). But this does mean that this toy was designed to have a pilot's compartment in his chest. The hinge is still there! It seems that Hasbro must have decided to abort this feature at the last minute, having the door glued shut. It's so odd. Titans Return Kickback has a chest compartment that can hold a Titan/Prime Master pilot. I know that Titan Masters and Prime Masters aren't a thing anymore, but it seems strange that Hasbro would go to the effort to create a compartment on this toy only to nerf the feature. I'd be curious to know why.

https://i.ibb.co/X70x5Kx/jaam-yum.jpg

I can't wait to see what they'll do with Bombshell and Shrapnel, and if they're all at this level of quality, I'd like to see all three released in Diaclone colours as the Insecticlones. :)

Robot mode looks good. Bit daft on the alt mode, im a turn at the waist and lay down. Good ole G1 accuracy.

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Originally Posted by Autocon

Good ole G1 accuracy.

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:D I was gonna say :D

This toy isn't quite daft enough. I'd like the robot face to be exposed in Insecticon mode instead of concealed!
↑And this is why fans like me should never be in charge of designing toys :p

Insect mode looks about as good as Spike Witwicky's vehicle mode exo-suit... Would it have killed the design to have the grasshopper legs elongated and more angled???

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

Insect mode looks about as good as Spike Witwicky's vehicle mode exo-suit... Would it have killed the design to have the grasshopper legs elongated and more angled???

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While what you're saying makes anatomical sense, I think they were shooting for G1 accuracy (which they've nailed).

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Originally Posted by dirge

While what you're saying makes anatomical sense, I think they were shooting for G1 accuracy (which they've nailed).

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G1 accuracy could've been retained while improving the design. You could argue the bot mode achieves this. I don't get why people defend poor design... especially when the costs of figures keeps going up and up.

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

G1 accuracy could've been retained while improving the design. You could argue the bot mode achieves this. I don't get why people defend poor design... especially when the costs of figures keeps going up and up.

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Because cartoon likeness is what the majority of collectors demand. I much prefer toy-accuracy, but you can hardly blame Hasbro for giving fans what they want.
Ransack has a more realistically proportionate grasshopper* mode though, so hopefully Hasbro will make a CHUG Ransack. My dream is for every G1 toy to be made as CHUG. :) They could also give us a CHUG Beast Wars Scourge, which is even more accurately proportioned (and BW Scourge is in desperate need of an updated toy). CHUG BW seems to mostly stuck in the first gear though with most of its figures being drawn from the first year or two of BW. We have very post-Transmetal era BW CHUGs. :(

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*before someone tells me that Ransack is a locust, I will remind you that locusts are grasshoppers in their swarm phase.

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

G1 accuracy could've been retained while improving the design. You could argue the bot mode achieves this. I don't get why people defend poor design.

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I'm not defending it; just acknowledging that it's slavishly G1 accurate, rather than accurate to what the actual insect looks like. As Gok alluded to, it's what the fandom (generally) wants.

I dunno. Masterpiece is for super cartoon accuracy, Kingdom/ Earthrise/ Legacy seems somewhere in between. Some figures tick the 'slavish G1 toy accuracy' checkbox, most don't. It just doesn't seem like a there's any consistency, so I can't help what I see as flawed design... I guess I'm in the minority!

Sometimes it's just easier for Hasbro to oversize a G1 toy and add some articulation.
Kickback was probably a 4:58pm Friday afternoon special.

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

I dunno. Masterpiece is for super cartoon accuracy, Kingdom/ Earthrise/ Legacy seems somewhere in between. Some figures tick the 'slavish G1 toy accuracy' checkbox, most don't. It just doesn't seem like a there's any consistency, so I can't help what I see as flawed design... I guess I'm in the minority!

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I hear you.

I actually miss the aesthetics from earlier CHUG toys that dared to be more original. This is why I skipped Earthrise Grapple and Kingdom Inferno and just kept my Henkei and United figures instead. If I want slavish cartoon likeness, I have the MPs for that! :) But this is purely a personal preference thing, which isn't something that I factor in my reviews (where I try to remain more objective). We are definitely in the minority. If it were up to me, every CHUG Optimus Prime and Megatron toy would have yellow eyes, damn it!

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

I dunno. Masterpiece is for super cartoon accuracy, Kingdom/ Earthrise/ Legacy seems somewhere in between. Some figures tick the 'slavish G1 toy accuracy' checkbox, most don't. It just doesn't seem like a there's any consistency, so I can't help what I see as flawed design... I guess I'm in the minority!

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I agree with you. I'm as big a G1 fanboy as anyone but this one's just a really uninspiring and lazy release.

So it nails the simplicity of the old toy and animation mold - fine - but then it makes aesthetic choices that move it away from that, so I'm a little confused. Where are the silly little wheels in bug mode? What's up with the creepy 'wing membrane' look on his fairy wings? The altmode is begging for a way to lock the legs in better too - if those joints get too loose, the bug mode won't sit right. Plus, you can combine the weird lolly-plastic swords into a 'thorax' for the bug mode, but they left that out of the instructions.

It looks like this is similar to the SS Sharkticon, where the transformation is simplified for the sake of army builders.

Yeah, I don't like the way Kickback's legs flop around in insect mode either. Maybe they coulda used an accessory to lock the thighs in place and maybe give more of an insect shape, rather than the 'lying down man robot' look it actually is.

Again, we are in the minority of fans who aren't demanding slavish cartoonish designs on CHUG and MP toys. Yes, it does mean that CHUG and MPs are now crossing over in terms of design aesthetics... but it's what most fans want, so I can't really blame Hasbro for making these design decisions. At the end of the day, it's all about demand and supply. If you don't like how CHUG is making their toys so cartoony, then... to be blunt, just don't buy them.

There have been a LOT of recent CHUG figures that I've skipped for this reason, including: Earthrise Grapple, Kingdom Inferno, Kingdacy Blaster, Kingdom Tracks, Earthdom Wheeljack, Earthdom Arcee, Earthrise Ratchethide, all of the Seekers (except G2 Sandstorm and Coronation Screamer) etc. Because you're right, if I want a slavishly cartoony figure, MP scratches that itch for me. I don't need my CHUGs to scratch the same itch. Having said that, I'm happy to get Legacy Kickback and the other Insecticons in this design because:
a/ MP Insecticons don't exist
b/ my Legends Class CHUG Insecticons, which scratch that more original/less cartoony CHUG itch; I love how TR Kickback has a cockpit for Titan Masters!
c/ army building, baby!

NTSC (Never Twice Same Clone)
I actually prefer my army troops to be different moulds; this is why I'll get different CHUG Scourges/Sweeps and Wreck-Gar/Junkions. I don't like army-building with exact duplicates as it feels like "cheating" to me; and I like to think of the clones as individuals... similar to Clone Troopers in Star Wars (e.g. Fives, Tups, Rex, Wolffe, Cody, Oddball etc.).

e.g. My TFP Cliffjumper battling Vehicons
https://i.ibb.co/kB5W4gW/temp.jpg
None of these Vehicons are identical toys; they're all different figures or variants.

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Again, we are in the minority of fans who aren't demanding slavish cartoonish designs on CHUG and MP toys. Yes, it does mean that CHUG and MPs are now crossing over in terms of design aesthetics... but it's what most fans want, so I can't really blame Hasbro for making these design decisions. At the end of the day, it's all about demand and supply. If you don't like how CHUG is making their toys so cartoony, then... to be blunt, just don't buy them.

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I don't mind the cartoony look at all - Inferno and Grapple were superb! :)

But Kickback is just a lazy toy, even within the parameters of G1 accuracy, with weird design decisions that make him neither cartoon or toy accurate, but somewhere in between. He's not the worst toy in world or anything, but I think they could have done a lot better with him.

Hopefully Kickback is the exception, but he does stand out as one of the weaker designs; whether it's to please the majority of fans or not. Skids and even Legacy Arcee have at least nice looking bot and alt modes. Having said that, I still bought Legacy Kickback, but that's more because I don't have any other version.

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Originally Posted by Sutton

I don't mind the cartoony look at all - Inferno and Grapple were superb! :)

But Kickback is just a lazy toy, even within the parameters of G1 accuracy, with weird design decisions that make him neither cartoon or toy accurate, but somewhere in between. He's not the worst toy in world or anything, but I think they could have done a lot better with him.

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

whether it's to please the majority of fans or not. Skids and even Legacy Arcee have at least nice looking bot and alt modes.

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You may disagree with me, but those criticism you've laid against TL Kickback is how I also feel about KD Inferno, ER Grapple etc.

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

Having said that, I still bought Legacy Kickback, but that's more because I don't have any other version.

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The Little Toy Company has TR Kickback in stock; and at below RRP too - roughly half the price that Legacy Kickback is going for. :) Refer to the Titans Return Kickback review thread for my (and others') thoughts on that awesome little figure. :cool:

The TR Kickback.does look a lot nicer :) it actually has decent bot and alt modes! Might have to get one at some point (but not particularly wanting to dip into another series to collect, and definitely not from that store).

In the end, every release is gonna be subjective. It would be nice to have a consistent aesthetic or even level of quality, but that will be subjective too.

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

It would be nice to have a consistent aesthetic or even level of quality, but that will be subjective too.

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The small Insecticons from before were great, but the inconsistency is what let them down. Here's hoping that the inevitable Bombshell and Shrapnel are more coherent in colour and size this time around! I can definitely overlook my issues with Kickback if the 3 of them work well together.

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Originally Posted by Sutton

Plus, you can combine the weird lolly-plastic swords into a 'thorax' for the bug mode, but they left that out of the instructions.

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And now we know why... The abdomen configuration looks great on Ransack.

Yeah, I saw the pics of Ransack and the abdomen config looks much better; so I owe Kickback an apology! :)

https://i.ibb.co/TPkkRv7/IMG-20220531-123328.jpg

Connected the purple wing things together and Kickback suddenly is more insect-like...his legs still tend to flop about though. Now if only the transparent purple things were black...

https://i.ibb.co/PTDjLtF/IMG-20220601-164510.jpg

Legs in other configuration.

I prefer an involved transformation where you're left amazed about how it went from one form to the other. This toy is fun, but is not that toy. It's a very simple figure.

Interestingly, when I did a part count it came to 48 plastic parts, which is about average for a deluxe. The difference here is the excess parts go into articulation, accessories and a torso that has 2 additional parts that don't move (chest plate and upper shoulders). So fewer parts contribute to the actual transformation.