BATTLESLASH
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Power of the Primes
Size/class - Legends
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 2
Released here - April 2018
Approximate Retail Price - $19
Approximate Size - 10cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - helicopter
Main Features/Gimmicks - combines with Roadtrap (sold separately)
Main Colours - Greyish white with black accents
Main Accessories - none
ROADTRAP
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Power of the Primes
Size/class - Legends
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 2
Released here - April 2018
Approximate Retail Price - $19
Approximate Size - 10cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - off-road vehicle
Main Features/Gimmicks - combines with Battleslash (sold separately)
Main Colours - blue with red, black, yellow and silver highlights throughout
Main Accessories - none
Overall Thoughts
The G1 fanboy in me kinda misses the Duocon gimmick which is completely gone from this new set of toys, but the gains that they've made in sacrificing the gimmick more than makes up for it. Let's face it, the G1 Duocons are slaves to their gimmicks and there's not a whole lot more to them outside of said gimmick. Battleslash and Roadtrap have given this up in favour of just having two solid transforming action figures who can combine.
As relatively small and inexpensive Legends Class figures who need to be able to combine with each other, I think that they've done a truly outstanding job. The transformation on each figure is surprisingly complex yet fun and intuitive. Both figures are reasonably well articulated, and the combined robot mode is also really poseable and quite stable too. The decos on both figures and the combined form are also really well done. The sculpting and detailing look really nice. Battleslash kinda has a "thunder thighs" feel to his upper legs, but when you see that it really bulks out the combined robot mode's upper arms then it's easily understandable.
I personally would've preferred the combined robot mode's face to be silver and maybe with a different coloured visor (e.g. red). It would've offset the blue helmet better than the Smurf blue that they went with for the face, but it's not a deal breaker. The official transformation for the combined robot mode has the helicopter rotors getting in the way of the legs, but it's easy enough just to reposition Battleslash's arms and get it out of the way. The toy doesn't come with any accessories but they all have 5mm post compatible fist holes. Although the combined robot's fists have the helicopter's rear landing strut sticking out which can make it tricky to attach some guns. They do kind of make it look like he's carrying a pair of knives.
Quite frankly the combined robot mode is a better 2-bot gestalt than any of the Transformers Energon Powerlinx 2-bot combiners. Sure, the top and bottom halves can't interchange, but who cares about that? Okay, Battleslash's helicopter does have an unsightly gap in the front and Roadtrap's thighs and waist do stick out from behind the vehicle mode, but considering everything that this toy has to do with its Legends Class budget and price point, it's easily forgivable. There are really no unforgivable drawbacks on this toy and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Oh, and if you're wondering why I keep saying "Combined Robot Mode" instead of Battletrap, it's because the combined robot mode doesn't officially have a name. Obviously every G1 fan is going to call it Battletrap but yeah... technically it's nameless. But hey, that didn't stop us from naming our new Constructicons or Autobot Rescue Force members back in 1992, so why stop now?
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