Toy Review - Beast Hunters Apex Hunter Armor w/ Breakdown

[griffin]

(Please post photos, comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details to get you started)

Series - Transformers Prime
Sub-line - Beast Hunters - Cyberverse
Size/class - Vehicle (w/ Legion class figure)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - Remoulded Bumblebee vehicle w/ redeco figure
Released here - not yet (released globally FEB 2013)
Approximate Retail Price - $35-45
Approximate Size - 25cm (Armor) 7cm (Breakdown)
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - tank?/exosuit (Armor) Off-road vehicle (Breakdown)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Launching missiles.
Main Colours - dark green, mid green, light green, light grey (Armor), green, light grey, yellow (Breakdown)
Main Accessories - missile launcher, (4?) missiles (Armor), weapon (Breakdown)

NOTE - the electronic/LED feature from the Bumblebee Suit may have been removed, as the light-up gimmick hasn't been carried over into Beast Hunters.

[Zommael]

ETA: The light-up gimmick has been removed. The use of light piping hasn't carried over to the commander class Beast Hunters toys, and the missile launcher no longer features the light piping. Personally I'm glad of this because there is no more wire waving around and getting in the way whilst not really adding much of value to the toy!

I got this yesterday and I think it's great. There are numerous significant changes made from the Bumblebee battle suit, so it isn't just your average cheap TF redeco. The claws add a new action feature and the new chest plate makes it look much more imposing for a Decepticon weapon. For me, the biggest improvement is the colour. I'm a fan of the olive green shade and it is much less bright and garish than the Bumblebee version. The white makes it stand out, and the only colour choice I'm not sold on is the lime green, but that is limited in its application.

The transformation is simplistic but this is to be expected of a Cyberverse vehicle. The purpose of these toys isn't so much to be Transformers as to add play value and fun factor to the smaller Cyberverse figures, and on this level it succeeds admirably. The automorph gimmick whereby the chest folds out and rear cannons rise up when the "wings" (I don't know what else to call them, the lime green parts) are pulled out is reasonably impressive. It feels like the automorph is doing more to contribute to transformation than it typically does. The vehicle mode doesn't particularly look like anything at all, but at least it has a vehicle mode - my other Cyberverse vehicle, the Energon Driller, is much more disappointing in this regard.

The weapon included is a honking great huge missile launcher with four launching missiles. The launcher has both 5mm and 3mm pegs at various points, so it can be attached to the armour, held by a deluxe or larger figure, or operated by Cyberverse figures - but good look getting a Cyberverse figure to hold it independently, it's bigger than they are! The launcher is the source of my only two real disappointments. The first is that the missiles are on a pressure launch system activated by turning a handle. Unfortunately this means the missiles don't have very much range and firing is a bit of a let down. On the other hand you can fire all four in quick succession. For the older fan who only really plays with their toys when first getting them out of the pack, this isn't too much of a problem. The other disappointment is that because of the way his arms are designed, Brakedown can't really hold the launcher two handed. This is a shame because it's designed to be held that way and pegs into the chest plate when the armour is in vehicle mode. A larger figure such as a Commander class Cyberverse figure would probably be better able to hold it, but I can't help feeling that Brakedown ought to be the one in charge of the suit he's sold with.

As for Brakedown, he's a redeco of his original Cyberverse release. I like the new colour scheme but I'm a fan of alternate costumes and colour schemes. He has a small weapon of his own that naturally can attach to the armour in various ways. His transformation is solid. Obviously he's no longer in show accurate colours but given that the Voyager won't be released by Hasbro this version or the original Cyberverse figure are the only ways to get Brakedown, and this is the only option that's vaguely Voyager scale so he can at least stand shoulder to shoulder with his Decepticon compatriots. Speaking of the show, the name "Apex Hunter Armour" might mislead you into thinking this is meant to look anything like the Apex Armour from the show; it isn't and it doesn't!

The smaller toy with the larger transforming armour reminds me a little of Armada Overload, another personal favourite. With that in mind it's also a shame that they couldn't find a way to integrate the vehicle mode of the pack-in toy with the vehicle mode of the armour, but none of the Cyberverse vehicles do this so I guess it's not really a goal of the designers.

Overall this is a great toy. It looks imposing in both modes, the colour scheme is really nice, and it has a ton of play value. I highly recommend it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, can't say this toy interests me... maybe if it looked more like the Apex Armour from the show, which it clearly doesn't. What's with the green and white colour scheme on Breakdown? Is there a meaning to it? Cos I know that the Smokescreen toy with Sky Claw is painted blue as a homage to Binaltech/Alternators Smokescreen (even with the Solberg/Mills "7"). So I'm wondering what the meaning of this colour scheme might be.

[The_Damned]

Yeah, can't say this toy interests me... maybe if it looked more like the Apex Armour from the show, which it clearly doesn't. What's with the green and white colour scheme on Breakdown? Is there a meaning to it? Cos I know that the Smokescreen toy with Sky Claw is painted blue as a homage to Binaltech/Alternators Smokescreen (even with the Solberg/Mills "7"). So I'm wondering what the meaning of this colour scheme might be.

cmon gok homage to the cybetron cumplezone???

[Zommael]

Yeah, can't say this toy interests me... maybe if it looked more like the Apex Armour from the show, which it clearly doesn't. What's with the green and white colour scheme on Breakdown? Is there a meaning to it? Cos I know that the Smokescreen toy with Sky Claw is painted blue as a homage to Binaltech/Alternators Smokescreen (even with the Solberg/Mills "7"). So I'm wondering what the meaning of this colour scheme might be.

I'm not sure of the provenance and don't think it's Crumplezone either, but the green and white reminds me of the deluxe scale Classics Megatron from the two pack.

What it isn't is the Apex Armour from the show, which is probably why they inserted the word "hunter". What it is is a cool, good looking, and fun toy.

[griffin]

A comparison with the Bumblebee Battlesuit...



A different weapon and different arms, and different chest plate.