Breakdown
(Combiner Wars)
Breakdown's G1 alternate mode is redone pretty faithfully here-- there's juuuust enough differences from an actual Lambourghini Diablo to escape licensing issues, I assume, but he's definitely that same kind of car, with proportions that are largely spot-on. The only real exception to this is that the roof/windows don't come up enough above the body of the car-- the roof could stand to be a bit taller over the front roof area, but this isn't a huge deal. There's also no robot mode extras whatsoever-- always a positive. The mold detailing in this mode is rather minimal, given the sleek nature of the sportscar, but the long three-per-side headlights detail is pretty cool-looking, and the vents on the top are also well-sculpted. The color scheme is classic Breakdown; he's mostly off-white plastic, but there's a fair amount of black (on the windows and tires), and he has dark blue along the bottom rim of this mode, along with the classic red paint app on the front hood. The silver headlights and wheel hubs are also a nice touch, though unfortunately the taillights and/or vents on the top aren't painted at all; without anything plugged into the top, this can make the top back half of this mode look rather plain. He also has "15RACING" painted rather annoyingly right across his windshield, which I assume can only stand for the year he was released (2015) and, of course, Racing. I do wish that paint app had been used for something else. As opposed to simply sticking into one of Breakdown's 5mm ports (there's one on the top and one on the back end of this mode), Breakdown's hand/foot/gun piece can attach via a couple of small tabs above his rear vents to form an external engine, with fairly intricate mold detailing-- it looks quite good, and the purple does add a bit more to Breakdown's color scheme to keep the back half from looking too white, but the purple paint on the front section of this accessory is a noticeably flatter color than the purple plastic used for the rear half of the accessory and Breakdown's combiner port. Breakdown also comes with a sword accessory, which can slot into the side of either of his car doors via a tab, or alternatively I guess you could plug it into the 5mm port on the back side-- either way, it sticks out pretty obviously. I wish there was a way to store it under the car or something.
Breakdown's transformation to robot mode is fairly straightforward, mostly consisting of folding the car front back and them simply segmenting up the car parts into Breakdown's feet and arms. A neat little twist is that Breakdown's head and chest fold down from his back over his combiner peg, making it almost entirely hidden in this mode (just a bit of the purple shows through on the abs). The legs also fold out in a C-shaped formation, as opposed to the usual fold-open leg extension often used with other CW deluxe molds. In robot mode, Breakdown looks... okay. His proportions aren't outright horrible, but his arms seem a little too square and odd since they make up the car doors, and his legs are a tad too short-- particularly when you compare the upper legs to the lower legs. Because of his aforementioned C-fold transformation in the legs, there's a HUGE hollow gap in the sides of his lower legs, which I really wish had been covered up with a panel or something (and I'm not someone who harps on every little gap in modern TFs, but come on). There's also the issue of the entire front third of the vehicle mode on his back, though this stays out of the way for the most part and is really only an issue if you look at him from a side view; otherwise it's a minimal eyesore at worst. On the positive end, the heels are made of the halves of his rear tailfins, which is a bit of a stroke of genius. The head is pretty well-detailed, though his expression is a bit TOO neutral for me; he's paranoid, show him with a nervous look in his eyes or something! The chest also has a good amount of mechanical detailing on it, and there's some interesting bits and bobs elsewhere on his form as well, such as what look like headlights on his knees and partially-revealed gear details on his shoulders. His color scheme is also more interesting in this mode, with dark blue making much more significant of an appearance here and separating up all that off-white quite effectively. The silver on the chest and the red face help break up the dark blue on his chest and head quite well, too. Breakdown's articulation is also pretty good; he can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows (at two points), rotation at the waist, and movement at the hips (at three points), knees, and slightly forward at the toes (though his heels can only move back, so the more you do this the less stable he becomes). Breakdown's sword is fitted so that he can hold it either as a sword or some kind of bayonet-gun; your choice. His hand/foot/gun can also either be held in one of his fist holes like normal or plugged into a peg hole on his back, to make the engine bits stick up behind his head-- mostly as a feature to be used for his retool later down the line, Sunstreaker, but there's nothing preventing you from using it here.
