Allegiances: Autobot
Size: Legends 2-pack
 

Groundbuster

Difficulty of Transformations: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Light aquamarine, black, and some white, milky gray, silver, moderately dark dull blue, and moderately dark dull red
Individual Rating: 3.9

    Groundbuster's vehicle mode is a treaded... well, I initially thought it was some sort of remotely-operated bulldozer without a cockpit, but searching the web, it's actually apparently a bomb disposal skid loader. This actually fits with his bigger buddy Tailgate extremely well, given that Tailgate initially had "Bomb Disposal" written on one of his arms in the More Than Meets the Eye IDW comic series, on which the larger toy design in this 2-pack is based. But getting back to Groundbuster, The proportions for vehicle mode look pretty good, with no robot extras visible to boot. The color scheme-- though it fits with Tailgate-- is a bit odd for the vehicle, being mostly light aquamarine with a bit of black, gray, and white to provide some neutral contrast against a color that hasn't been common since the late '80s/early '90s on Transformers. These other colors do break up the aquamarine a fair bit, though, so despite there being little paint detailing on this mode beyond the dull blue on the treads, there isn't one large area that's only one color of plastic. The mold detailing is also quite impressive, with even little things like rivets, very intricate mold detailing on the treads, and little "comber" forks on the front looking quite nice.
    To transform Groundbuster to his weapon mode, you simply fold down the peg on the rear of his vehicle mode and then extend the front section out and forward, making Groundbuster a sort of long claw weapon. It certainly looks a bit odd-- and, scale-wise, is a bit long for the larger figures in these 2-packs-- but the gray "forks" on the front (now raised up) and the front shovel make for a fairly convincing claw. The gray forks can move up or down a bit, though they fall back down to their default position (seen in the pics below, w/ Tailgate's robot mode) pretty easily once you let go of them.
    Groundbuster's robot mode is literally his vehicle mode stood up on its back end. This is the poorest of his three modes, if you ask me; all of his robot mode bits are simply detailed on the underside of the vehicle, and almost none of those parts move forward out of the vehicle's "shadow". The sole exception to this rule are his arms, which are made from his treads and can move back-and-forth at the shoulders-- however, the tread-arms are a bit too oddly long and bulky at the ends, and the fists are merely molded into the tread pieces as well. Some of this is certainly understandable at such a small scale, but having better-proportioned arms and a head that isn't partially "covered up" by the front of the vehicle mode isn't too much to ask, I think. The dull red and silver bits on Groundbuster's main body and head add a bit more to his color scheme, and they contrast quite well against the aquamarine-- even though they aren't used much, I'm glad they're at least used some to add a little more variety.
    Groundbuster is the worst mold out of the smaller 'bots in these "Thrilling 30th" Legends 2-packs. His vehicle mode looks pretty good-- if oddly colored-- but his weapon is a bit of a stretch and overly long when used with the larger Legends figures. His robot mode is especially weak, being just molded onto the bottom of his vehicle mode and having oddly-proportioned arms. This guy's easily skippable unless you're a completist.

Autobot Tailgate

Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: White, light aquamarine, and some silver, black, and milky gray
Individual Rating: 6.7

    Tailgate keeps his G1 alternate mode of a sportscar, but for this version it's been "modernized" a bit, with more of a rear spoiler and a more streamlined look. The proportions are great, and there aren't any obvious robot extras in this mode at all; if you look at it from a rear view, behind the tailpipe piece (which is a bit large and sticks out oddly from the back end), you can juuust see Tailgate's upper robot legs, but that's a very minor issue at best. In this mode Tailgate's mold detailing is very sparse, in keeping with the "streamlined" look, but he's still got details where it matters, like his front bumpers, headlights, and taillights all molded with a good amount of detail. Tailgate is almost entirely white in this mode, with most of his paint apps being silver on his windows and wheels. These paint apps look okay, but they don't contrast with the white well enough and would keep Tailgate looking very bland in this mode-- were it not for the departure from G1 with the addition of blue flames on the front hood. This aquamarine really does go with the white marvelously, and the way the flames are tampoed on looks quite nice. I wish there was a bit MORE blue-- such as on the sides, perhaps, as Tailgate still looks rather plain near the rear part of this mode-- but it still helps immensely regardless. Tailgate has a 5mm port in front of his front window for Groundbuster or another "smaller Legend partner" to plug into in weapon mode if you want to give Tailgate some weaponry in this mode.
    Tailgate's transformation is pretty straightforward for the most part, with the number of flips and turns his legs go through being the only thing out-of-the-ordinary on a Legends toy. Tailgate's robot mode design is heavily based on his appearance in the More Than Meets the Eye IDW comic series, with his relatively small chest, big optics, and skinny legs. It says something about Tailgate's surge in popularity from that series that this toy came out first, as opposed to being used as Windcharger first, since Tailgate until recently was basically a nobody. Anyways, although I appreciate the effort, Hasbro isn't able to quite get Tailgate right in this mode, with some proportional and kibble maladies rearing their ugly heads here. For one, Tailgate's feet are way too tiny (though he's more stable than you'd think), and though the wheel bits on the sides of his upper legs help to add some bulk to his skinny legs, these car kibble pieces are generally unwieldly and can get in the way-- to say nothing of the vehicle mode section behind Tailgate's back, which sticks out blatantly behind his head and goes down too far. The large hinge piece on the crotch-- used for his transformation-- also doesn't look good, thogh at least it gives him tailpipes on his waist, which is a nice, unique design choice. Tailgate's shoulders are rather wide, but this is expected for the design-- what I'm not impressed with are his lower arms, which are simply molded into the inside of his car door pieces, with no paint on them at all and slightly restricted articulation at the elbow because of how both pieces are molded. Tailgate's headsculpt is wonderfully done and looks very close to his IDW appearance, but it sticks out just a tad too far back behind his chest, and due to the transformation he can't rotate said head. Tailgate's more emphasis on blue and the addition of milky gray in this mode gives his color scheme some needed variation, and in general his colors are well-spread-out in this mode, with the exception of his arms, which look pretty much all white in this mode. The mold detailing remains fairly sparse for a robot mode but again, this is largely in keeping with his IDW design. For articulation, Tailgate can move at the shoulders (at two points), elbows (again, a little restricted despite them being on a ball joint), and at the hips, knees, and ankles, with the hips being a little restricted because of all the kibble around them. As you'd expect, Tailgate can hold Groundbuster any other 5mm port-compatible weapon in either of his fist holes in this mode.
    Tailgate is the most awkward of the "Thrilling 30" larger Legends molds. His vehicle mode looks great (if a tad under-painted), but his robot mode has several big issues, particularly when it comes to unsightly kibble that interferes with articulation and some odd proportional issues like his head being a little too far behind his chest.

    The Generations Tailgate w/ Groundbuster Legends 2-pack is my least-recommended Legends 2-pack out of all the "Thrilling 30" releases, easily. Both Tailgate and his little buddy Groundbuster are the weakest molds of their respective sizes in this segment of the line, having pretty good vehicle modes but weak and/or awkward robot modes. If you're a huge fan of Tailgate, this may be worth a pickup, keeping the reservations about Tailgate's robot mode in mind. Otherwise, skip this set.

Reviews by Beastbot

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