Toy Review - BREAKDOWN

[KELPIE]

Yeah the bonnet gets me here. Such attention to detail with the rest of this set.

Clearly ran out of budget and it's a shame. They did mention that the spoiler was a last minute addition that the design team squeezed in to give him more of the Lamo look in alt mode. even though it doesn't fit in anywhere else, I'm glad they did it.

But yeah... that bonnet... such a shame.

Still, he's not my favourite of the Stunticons so I guess I have to be happy that Drag Strip and Dead End came out on top here.

[Sutton]

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but...

This is peak short-sighted super-lazy Hasbro right here.

I don't think many of us would have begrudged Breakdown sharing engineering with Wildrider - it makes sense - but the lack of effort put in here is really astounding, especially when compared to the amount of effort that has gone in to other mold reuses in the same lines.

Would it have killed their margins that much to redo the front of the car, especially since it just sits on his back? Would it have destroyed the business' viability to split the spoiler in two?

What this means for me is that when they announce another redo of a combiner team in the near future, I'll be holding back on buying any of them until I can see that they're putting the full effort in to all 5/6 members.

It's a real shame to end an otherwise pretty solid team on such a weak effort.

[Tha_Phantom]

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but...

This is peak short-sighted super-lazy Hasbro right here.

I don't think many of us would have begrudged Breakdown sharing engineering with Wildrider - it makes sense - but the lack of effort put in here is really astounding, especially when compared to the amount of effort that has gone in to other mold reuses in the same lines.

Would it have killed their margins that much to redo the front of the car, especially since it just sits on his back? Would it have destroyed the business' viability to split the spoiler in two?

What this means for me is that when they announce another redo of a combiner team in the near future, I'll be holding back on buying any of them until I can see that they're putting the full effort in to all 5/6 members.

It's a real shame to end an otherwise pretty solid team on such a weak effort.

No, not too harsh at all. It is disappointing as they had otherwise done so fantastic with the alt modes of the other 4 which raised our expectations for the final member.
We also had a few instances of having that one team member done "wrong" in CW, only to get the "proper" one later (if you didn't just buy the Takara boxset from the beginning) and Hasbro still hasn't learned from this. Or perhaps they feel emboldened by what happened in CW knowing that many fans purchased both versions ultimately. So yes, totally fair on your part for skipping future teams until being able to see all the members.
I am hoping that we get a proper Breakdown retool in the G1 colours at some point, but at least do it for the G2 version - if that happens. I think a G2 recolour is more likely than a G1 redo, but I'll take both.

[Magnus]

Breakdown isn't a bad figure, and I don't even mind the fact that he looks so similar to Wildrider in robot mode, but as others have typed, the car mode suffers aesthetically from being too clearly derived from Wildrider. I've seen some people suggest that the car looks like a Lamborghini Jalpa, although this wasn't the intended effect, since the remoulded rear is definitely meant to evoke the Countach. I suppose it's better than the treatment given to Combiner Wars Break-neck, which was a straight re-deco of Dead End with a new head.

[Tha_Phantom]

I've seen some people suggest that the car looks like a Lamborghini Jalpa, although this wasn't the intended effect, since the remoulded rear is definitely meant to evoke the Countach.

Yeah, the Jalpa thing is nothing more than wishful thinking. The middle and front section are unchanged from Wildrider. It's a hybrid of two different vehicles which coincidentally resemble a Jalpa, although the first thing I saw was a Ford Mustang.
To be clear, I'm not saying it's actually a Ford Mustang. It's just a mess.

[Paulbot]

He's a good looking robot and I'm overall happy with him