Animated Universe Motormaster BotCon Exclusive For the Masses
Transformers Legacy Evolution Voyager
Item No.: Asst. F2991 No. F8547 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Axe with telescoping handle, lightbar Action Feature:Transforms from robot to fire truck Retail:$34.99 Availability: September 2024 Other: A Stunticon Job Well Done
Another "I can't believe they did it" item, the Animated Universe Motormaster is amazing for multiple reasons, none of which will matter to a non-collector. A black repaint with a new head is in and of itself nothing special. But this one comes specifically off of a hard-to-find BotCon 2011 exclusive made in lower four digits, which was made in more or less the same way - Optimus Prime, with a new head. The colors are similar, but not identical, as this is a different mold, with a similar head, and the unique Stunticon insignia was replaced with a standard Decepticon one. That's one of the most disappointing things about this toy - dark purple on black isn't exactly what I call "visible."
But it is a cool thing that is sort of an implied promise for more - I hope the team is giving us a Drag Strip from Arcee, a Wild Rider from Lockdown, a Breakdown from Hot Rod, and a Dead End from Jazz. One of the great things about Transformers are "teams" - doing a non-combining reimagining of this group turned out pretty well, especially when the likes of Motormaster became The Motor Master, and his design seems to be inspired by the likes of Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Lemmy from Motörhead. It's also notable that it feels there were fewer concessions to "G1iffication," as there's no nose here. This one feels much more cartoony!
On my sample, the QC seems better than on Animated Optimus Prime [FOTD #2,843], itself a strong design with joints that (at least on mine) wrenched themselves loose during transformation. Motormaster seems to be better - but as always, your mileage may vary. The figure is effortlessly charming and I feel may even work better as the Decepticon, especially since we have a lot of Optimus Primes. The figure retains the box-shaped helmet and pours a face inside with a massive chin and a Lemmy-style mustache that make this figure stand out with a unique personality. Assuming, of course, you missed the BotCon exclusive toy.
The dark black finish has a few nice flourishes, with bright green elements that really pop as well as sime light lavender and black bits. Articulation is among the best at this size, with double-jointed elbows and a great range of motion on the knees. A little bit of kibble hangs over the back, but on the whole the articulation is functionally similar to a Marvel Legends (or similar) figure. He struggles to double-grip the axe, but he can do it. The ankles tilt, the thighs swivel, and it's one of those figures you pick up and realize why it's a $35 Voyager and not a $25 Deluxe toy. As much as I would like a slightly better deco hit for the Decepticon symbol, the telescoping handled axe does have some silver on it and that's a better use of the pennies. If you see this one in stores, you should buy it. If you don't, you should order it online. In a year with many good figures, this is one of my (increasingly many) favorites.
Changing Motormaster is not bad, but you may need to massage a few parts in place. Getting the cab panels aligned right is not a lot of fun, but the legs unfold nicely and most of it is, at least, logical.
The truck is fine, but it doesn't do much. You don't get any fun or weird play features other than being able to mount the axe on it, but that's par for the course for collector Transformers. Armada and Cybertron were kings when it came to the best vehicle mode action features, and I miss it - but Motormaster has a perfectly nice truck form with wheels that can roll. Just not very well. Given what Hasbro had to work with from the Optimus mold, plus keeping the spirit of the BotCon toy, I can't fault it. This is what it should be.
I got this guy during a sudden surge of new toys - in the same two weeks I found most of Walmart's Star Raiders, and got Studio Series 86 Optimus Prime from work. Lining up Motormaster with Ferak and Optimus Prime, they're all roughly the same size and Motormaster is a hair shorter than the $90 Optimus. This isn't to say Optimus doesn't make use of the budget - he has a lot of moving parts, and it's very much exactly the toy a figure that must be this size, and has $90 to spend on tooling, should be. But for $35, you're probably going to get back for your buck out of Motormaster. It's worth noting the character never got in the cartoon and was only part of a BotCon thing. Isn't it cool that he escaped to the main line rather than remained an expensive low-run curiosity? Go get one while you can.
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