Huffer
(Combiner Wars)
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Generations Legends Optimus Prime. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations Legends Optimus Prime here.)
Huffer follows his G1
namesake in that he's an orange-and-dark-blue truck cab. The orange-- as
opposed to most of its uses on TFs-- actually isn't a particularly light
shade (nor is it a dull shade), and thus works very well as a basic color.
The dark blue is tinted purple, and contrasts excellently with said orange--
that is, when the two colors actually meet. Unfortunately, the way the
colors are distributed, there's almost no purplish blue visible whatsoever
in vehicle mode. (Except for the lower half of his side window pieces,
which looks... pretty weird.) Luckily there's quite a bit of silver paint
on Huffer to at least partially mitigate this-- the windows, headlights,
front grill, lower arms, details on the legs... actually, practically ALL
of Huffer's paint is silver. He's got some black for his wheels and gun,
sure, but making all his paint apps one color was a mistake, particularly
for a vehicle mode that's already too much of one color, making the result
too two-tone. In robot mode the colors break up a bit better, but again,
some more light metallic blue or something of the sort on his headlights
or windows would've really helped spice up the color scheme that extra
little bit. However, any issues I have with the lack of variety in the
color scheme are minor compared to how badly the mold itself fits Huffer.
Yes, it's a truck cab, but Huffer was known for being a squat little guy.
I don't need an EXACT replica of his G1 form with modern articulation,
but the truck and robot mode proportions are waaay too obviously Optimus
Prime's; they're too iconic to work on another unrelated character. Particularly
in robot mode, where Huffer has rather "heroic" proportions which completely
contrast with his character, does it not "fit".
Huffer does have a new
head mold, which is quite accurate to the G1 cartoon-- it's nice and rounded,
with some paint, including some nice light blue paint on the eyes. It looks
nice, but it still doesn't help the toy look enough like Huffer.
Combiner Wars Huffer
may be his first mass-release version that's meant to be a "direct update"
to his G1 version, but it ends up missing the ball. The color scheme really
could've used some more purplish blue or some other colors of paint to
make his vehicle mode look like more than just orange and silver, but the
larger issue is that the proportions just don't fit Huffer and are too
obviously Optimus Prime. Only recommended for fans who desperately want
a new Huffer at retail prices. (Almost a decade on, and I'm admittedly
surprised Botcon 2007 Huffer is still easily
the best modern version of him.)
Review by Beastbot