Main
Features
 FOTD
 Toy Fair 2023
 SDCC 2023
 Toy Fair 2020
 NYCC 2019
 SDCC 2019
 Toy Fair 2019
 SDCC 2018
 Toy Fair 2018
 HasCon 2017
 SDCC 2017
 Toy Fair 2017
 SDCC 2016
 Toy Fair 2016
 SDCC 2015
 Toy Fair 2015
 SDCC 2014
 C2E2 2014
 Toy Fair 2014
 SDCC 2013
 C2E2 2013
 Toy Fair 2013
 SDCC 2012
 C2E2 2012
 Toy Fair 2012
 NYCC 2011
 SDCC 2011
 Toy Fair 2011
Archives
 Books
 DVD
 Music
 Statues
 Prop Replicas
 Toys
 Video Games
Credits
Contact


This site is part of Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Entertainment Earth affiliate programs. We may earn a commission when you click one of their links.


Related Links:
16bit Tumblr
16bit Twitter
16bit Instagram
ASWN
EE Podcast
Galactic Hunter
Glyos News
OSM News

Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Hasbro, 2012
Day #661: May 16, 2013
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action FigureKickback
Series 01 #009

Transformers Generations Deluxe
Item No.:
Asst. 37986 No. A1424
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Includes: Sword and Blaster
Action Feature: Transforms from Cybertronian Insect to robot
Retail: $15.99
Availability: December 2012
Other: 01 Series #009

  PREVIOUS RSS NEXT  

Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action FigureWhen Kickback was announced for this line, I probably couldn't have been less excited. This isn't because the toy itself is bad - it's actually pretty good, it's just that I have no real nostalgic connection to the Insecticons. In the era of increasingly expensive deluxe toys I grumble more, but so far Generations has been largely good particularly because some of the toys are feeling a little meatier. Kickback feels like a refugee from Transformers Prime with his head resembling a Vehicon, but his accessories feel like they came from a different line entirely. Two small purple "wing" weapons look like leftovers from Transformers Energon, and a disc launcher is a real surprise in a line targeted at least a little bit at older customers. The important thing here is that it looks good and is fun.

It looks and feels a lot like a toy, and while insects were more than a little played out during Beast Wars there have been precious few in the last several generations of Transformers. This time, the grasshopper is colored to look like a mix of the original Insecticons and a smidgen of Blackarachnia from over the years. I'm scratching my head trying to think of who saw release since Animated's top-notch Blackarachnia and also .shtmlinator figures.

Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure

Like many beast figures, the creature mode isn't exactly brimming with play features. Once you fidget everything into place, it's sort of a brick. You can mount his weapons to his buggy body, with the front legs being nearly immobile while the giant black legs just sort of sit there. You can see they're robot legs, but you pretend they're bug legs because there are little spines, flourishes, and other details plus a really swell grasshopper head with the antenna on there and everything. Getting the launcher to lock in place takes a few seconds to figure out, but it's a largely good design. It's just that the bug doesn't have a lot to do, other than being a bug, which was good enough in the 1980s anyway.

Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure

Like most of this line, the toy is best in robot mode. There's a ton of articulation all over, plus big claw-like hands, a couple of bonus claw arms on his back, lots of grooves and fans and vents, and the aforementioned launcher. It shoots really nicely, and seems out of place in Transformers because (let's face it) the vast majority of projectile weapons have been garbage, with weak ball shooters and few strong spring-loaded mechanisms. This one squeezes the disc out at a high speed, and it works well enough that it feels satisfying and fun to fidget with. Shooting it while the figure continues to hold it is sort of tricky, although this seems to be increasingly the norm with Hasbro's toys (see also: almost any G.I. Joe movie-based toy.)

The toy itself fits together nicely and feels fairly solid, with a nice, thick, glossy plastic rather than the slightly more airy (and in spots, hollow) material used on larger toys. It's a strange evolution, as the Deluxe price point seems to be getting more and more solid, while the higher Voyager-class price points are getting to feel more and more, well, like cheaper toys. Neither is really superior right now, but Kickback does make for a great toy for the older collectors. Unfortunately, it also comes one per case to stores, and to date only appears in one assortment. As such, buy it if you see it and think you want one. Were it $10, this would be an amazing item. At $16, it still feels pretty good, although a little something extra on bug mode would have made a world of difference. I'd still say get it at retail price if you have the means.

--Adam Pawlus

Additional Images

Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure
Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure Hasbro Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron Kickback Action Figure

Click here to see more Hasbro figures in Figure of the Day.

Click here to see more Transformers figures in Figure of the Day.

Want to buy this figure? Check Transformers availability at our sponsors:
Entertainment Earth

HTML Comment Box is loading comments...

Featured Toy Video

Click Here for 2012
Figure of the
Day 2013
January 2013
12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031
February 2013
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
2425262728
March 2013
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31
April 2013
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930
May 2013
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031
June 2013
1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30
July 2013
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031
August 2013
123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
September 2013
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930
October 2013
12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031
November 2013
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
December 2013
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031
Click Here for 2014

16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal.
We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.