 Turbo Tracks
Best known for his accent
Transformers Reveal the Shield Deluxe-Class Toy
Item No.: Asst. 98447 No. 25960
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Includes: C-clamp shoulder missiles, blaster
Action Feature: Transforms into sportscar
Retail: $12.99
Availability: November 2010
Other: Remolded as Wheeljack
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Naming conventions and trademarks meet up in Turbo Tracks. After years of Tec-Shield Batmans and TD Tossin' Leos, Hasbro incorporated an extra word in Tracks' name to get around the traditional "Autobot" prefix used when Hasbro needs to strengthen a name for trademark reasons. Apparently they can't get just "Tracks." Don't worry about this, though, because the toy is good enough that you should get one and call it whatever you want.
Adding to Hasbro's proud line of $10ish cars, this one has rolling wheels and a few other features. The most obvious is the heat-sensitive rubsign on the roof of the car, but there are a couple of other features too. One is a winged car mode, based on the original Tracks toy. The doors swing down and out, and the end result is... well, it's certainly nice they tried. An area over the trunk of the car also flips over, allowing you to mount guns on it. Other than those, it's a pretty straightforward update of the original blue car in terms of sculpting. Some fans have expressed dissatisfaction with the pinstriping on the hood taking the place of the traditional flames, but there are other options. Reprolabels.com has a flame sticker, and the Japanese release will also sport flames instead of pinstriping. Frankly, I think it's nice they tried to do something different, and I'm too cheap to drop another ten or twenty bones to change up the hood on a car mode when I plan on keeping this guy out as a robot.
While he doesn't have a Harvard lockjaw speaking voice in his robot mode, he is loaded with articulation. Wrists, ankles, albows, and more have so much movement you'll be mad you bothered to track down the Alternators toy a few years ago. The toy does a great job blending the cartoon design with the old toy, plus a few other minor tweaks just because. The transformation is fairly simple, although it's tricky to get him back into robot mode.
He has 3 c-clamp accessories. The two white rockets over his shoulders are removable, and snap into place nicely. His hand-held gun folds down for storage under the car mode, and there's also a c-clamp on the back of it so you can mount it over his shoulders or to an appropriately sized bar on another toy. Everything fits together nicely, and Hasbro found a clever way to retain the let's-remove-some-parts transformation of those old toys on this one. While not an identical update of the original toy, it's good enough to the point where you should find it more than acceptable. I think it's more fun to play with than the new Special Ops Jazz toy, so if you can get one, do so. Heck, it's even worth paying a slight premium for-- it's just that nicely done!
--Adam Pawlus
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