Roadbuster
(FoC)
(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 FoC Swindle. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations FoC Swindle here.)
The "Fall of Cybertron"
version of Roadbuster takes his G1 color scheme of orange and green, but
inverts the amount of each color-- this time around, green is by far the
primary color, with the orange now simply accents. The main plastic color
of green is quite nice-looking, being a bit of a "foresty" shade and not
really as dark as the military-esque green on Roadbuster usually is. There's
also a fair bit of gray on Roadbuster, both of the light and dark variety.
The dark brownish gray is on the other FoC Wreckers as well, and here is
used mainly on his interior components and his guns, not making much of
an appearance on his visible body parts itself. It's an okay color given
the green and all, but a straight black would've looked better, in my opinion,
to better do the dual-homage to the RiD Ruination member Rollbar.
For the light gray, it's REALLY light, with a semi-pearlescent shade to
it. This makes it slightly more interesting than the bland light milky
gray plastic found often on other TFs, but it's still a bit dull for me--
fortunately, it's not used quite enough for me to consider it a big detractor
from the color scheme. What really makes Roadbuster's colors interesting,
though, are his accents. The silver and gunmetal paint already looks good
enough against the green, but the orange-- used in the relatively small
amounts that it is-- really pops, particularly on the vehicle front/robot
chest piece. There's also a bit of blue on the wheels, optic visor, headlights,
and some vents, which is a very eye-catching color and goes well with all
the other colors, but particularly the light gray.
Roadbuster has a new
headsculpt, which is very crisp and well-done-- very much inspired by his
G1 design, but updated and rounded a bit more at the top to make it fit
in with the rest of the body when it's face-down in vehicle mode. Like
the other FoC Wreckers, he comes with a fairly large new weapon-- this
one based upon the "Energon Harvester" weapon in the video game. In its
"default" position, it looks like a bulky weapon with a small gun in the
center, but pull the gun forward (or the handle backwards, your choice)
and the three bits around the barrel slide back and outwards, ready to
shoot in a wide spread just like in the game. It's a pretty neat feature,
and is pretty unique-looking for a gun. (And yes, it can stay "locked"
in either mode-- a big plus, given how many other weapons released with
TF toys around this time could not.) I will say, however, that with both
this and the regular gun plugged into the hole atop Roadbuster's vehicle
mode, it all looks too bulky, tall, and quite out-of-place.
FoC Roadbuster takes
an okay mold and gives it a dynamite, eye-catching color scheme, partially
homaging both G1 Roadbuster and RiD Rollbar while still being rather original,
with a good number of different paint apps that really make it pop visually.
Plus, he comes with a nifty new weapon. Recommended the most out of any
of the releases of this mold.
Review by Beastbot