Toy Review - Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks

[griffin]

Toy Review - Turbo Tracks

Series - Reveal the Shield
Sub-line - N/A
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - expected here Jan 2011 (released globally Nov 2010)
Approximate Retail Price - $25-30
Approximate Size -
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Sports car
Main Features/Gimmicks - (flip out wings and weapons)
Main Colours - Blue, grey, dark grey.
Main Accessories - 2 shoulder cannons

[Sutton]

A small review for our arrogant blue friend...

Tracks is quite nice overall. It's a good likeness to the G1 original, and the fact they've made the mold suit Wheeljack as well is pretty impressive. Leg articulation is a little limited and the wings get in the way of the arms slightly, but he can still get into some decent poses. The blue plastic used is very deep and consistent and doesn't have the 'milkiness' of a lot of recent hasbro stuff. There's a nifty bit of automorph in the chest that reveals the head and spreads the shoulders. Playability from a kid's perspective is really good, it's a very stable robot mode with good balance, a nice large footprint and no arms or legs prone to falling off too easily. The legs look a little hollow, in the front shin area, this is mainly due to the dual Wheeljack transformation. It's not as flimsy looking as the Straxus ankles, but still robs the figure of some much needed bulk. Similarly, the arms are a little weedy looking - good thing he's brought three guns to the party. Strangely, all three appear to be missile launchers of some sort, which logically could create some problems for him in a tight corridor battle. Tracks probably wouldn't let himself get into that situation in the first place given his personality. The backpack locks into place in a very satisfying way, unlike Perceptor's crappy loose arrangement. It's a shame the shoulder weapons have to be unclipped from the vehicle mode and reattached for robot mode, but again this is a concession made for the Wheeljack repaint more than anything. His face retains the bright-red high blood pressure look of the original, although the overall look of the face is more in keeping with the initial Classics figures, in that the face is very robotic and blank - more recent figures tend to have a lot more personality to the face, Wreckgar, Jazz and Perceptor being a great example. There's a nice dab of yellow/green paint on the inner shoulder that helps to break up the figure's profile too.

Vehicle mode is a mixed bag. Again it's a good representation of the G1 original, while being different enough to avoid any legal issues. The colour in this mode looks really nice, but it's let down by the ridiculous paintwork on the bonnet - to be fair, I always thought the flame on the original was a bit lame too, but it did work in a 1980's context. I can't see anyone spending that much money on a muscle car and then ruining it by painting on a bunch of fluro tribal flame patterns. Actually, I can, but it'd be a massively bogan thing to do which is at odds with Track's personality. Either way, I'll be looking at ways to get it removed - Alternator Tracks looked fantastic without it and I'm guessing the same will be true here. The huge gap in the back of the car is also a big let down, and seems like a massive design flaw. A little more design work could have seen this avoided. It's also disappointing that the car's undercarriage profile is wrecked if the missiles aren't attached. On the positive side, the whole thing locks together quite well and rolls along ok, which again is nice for the kiddies, and he does have brake lights which is more than can be said for Jazz.

The flight mode is a bit of a joke. I can't believe Hasbro went to the trouble of including additional molding to support it, although it could also be used as a weapon-mode of the car if they decide to further repaint the mold as one of the Omnibots. It makes me think of Cybertron Megatron's flying car mode, or Cybertron Prime's flying fire truck, except it's less well thought out than those were. At least they haven't tried to pass him off as a BS triple-changer like they did with Straxus and ROTF Mixmaster. Still, it's a nice reference to the G1 original toy and show regardless.

Another nice feature with all recent figures is double-sided instructions for transforming in both directions, this is a really good move by Hasbro rather than the old cop-out 'reverse order of instructions' spiel, becuase sometimes the way back isn't enitrely the same as the way forward.

Overall I would consider this guy an essential purchase for G1 completists, although if forced to choose between Tracks or Wheeljack, I would probably say that early pictures show Wheeljack to use the mold a little more effectively than Tracks.

[Lint]

In vehicle mode this is a thing of beauty! Super glossy 'metallic' blue paintjob, his authentic metallic gold n red firebird flames and tampo'd Autobot symbols put him way above the RTS version not just in a G-oneness way but in general aesthetically.

Robot mode he is solid. I was gonna complain that he was squat (whereas Tracks the character has always been made to seem tall) but after looking at some pics I realised I had simply mistransformed him and he has an acceptable stature. In this mode I'd say he's on par or greater with the RtS version.

My only complain is the 'official' legs. They aren't well designed and he looks like he has flippers for feet. I agree with everyone else in saying that he looks way better with wheeljack configured legs. Well I lied I have another complaint. The head. I understand that it is very faithful to the G1 toy but its proportions are way too chubby for my liking. It's a very minor and very personal gripe though

His hip joints are also quite loose which I find quite uncharacteristic for a Takara toy. On that topic I think Takara are learning all the wrong lessons from Hasbro as the United line still retains the dreaded twisty ties AND an increasingly Hasbro-esque packaging style (maximum air, increasing number of taped points)

Overall: Import this toy if you can afford it!

[Oilspill]

Overall: Import this toy if you can afford it!

Agreed. I have the United version too and I'd say he has by far the nicest looking alt mode in my classics collection. Love the flames and the red autobot symbols look very nice. Nice detailing for the mags, grill, head lights tail lights & exhaust too.

Only downside to me is I can't get the back half to sit 100% flush in alt mode. It always seems to be out by about 1.5 mm. Didn't think it was like that when I got him out of the pack, but can't recall for sure.

Nice bot mode, love the head. So G1 Tracks!

[The Scream Man]

Im in the same boat as you guys I think. He's not BAD, he just isnt all that great. My biggest issue is he feels kind of fat and stumpy. Longer legs would have added a lot to him for me personally, and it's a shame that tears him down as much as it does. The Alt mode is cool, but the missles under the sides are to obvious.

In the end He's not to bad, but I suspect wheeljack will use the mold better.

[Sutton]

Only downside to me is I can't get the back half to sit 100% flush in alt mode. It always seems to be out by about 1.5 mm. Didn't think it was like that when I got him out of the pack, but can't recall for sure.

The back half doesn't sit flush and does ruin the smooth lines somewhat. But there's also a trick to getting his forearms into the back part of the car - they need to plug into it at a right angle first before flipping it shut.

[Lint]

Only downside to me is I can't get the back half to sit 100% flush in alt mode. It always seems to be out by about 1.5 mm. Didn't think it was like that when I got him out of the pack, but can't recall for sure.

Now that I've examined mine I can see that it doesnt sit perfectly flush either, but not by 1.5mm . Mine is out by 1mm tops. The roof part is near perfectly smooth but the seam between the car door and rear on one side of the car is slightly gappy. It's almost negligible.

I think the trick is getting the arms to fold up properly. I had to do what Sutton just mentioned above.

[1AZRAEL1]

I like him, big thanks to Easy D for the figure. My only gripe is the damn instructions don't actually show that the whole wing assembly can pivot upwards and not just the doors. As soon as I figured that out, I got less frustrated and finished him transforming. That, and his feet are really flimsy, and I am worried he will want to fall over all the time.

[SkyWarp91]

Bought him a couple of weeks ago but only got the chance to open him up today - I must say: sexiest car mode EVER.

[5FDP]

I would probably say that early pictures show Wheeljack to use the mold a little more effectively than Tracks.

I 100% agree with you!