Strongarm (1-step; 2016 version) [RID 2015]
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: White, moderately dark milky blue, black, and some yellow, light blue, dark navy blue, silver, and red
Rating: 6.7

    Strongarm's police SUV mode has been replicated fairly well for this 1-step changer-- certainly in comparison to her 2015 1-step changer mold. The proportions are largely spot-on to the show model, though the back end is a bit weak. For one, the feet and toes are pretty clearly sticking out slightly from the back end, which is a bit distracting from a side-on or certainly back-end view. There's also a gap on the top of the back end where you can see Strongarm's lower robot legs clearly inside it. The latter choice is really bizarre-- I'm not sure why it was done, as it kinda ruins the look back there. However, from that point forward there's no extras at all and the proportions are great. The mold detailing is sparse on most of the rear two-thirds or so of this mode-- as is the case for many RID2015 toys-- but the front bumper is quite well-detailed in terms of the mold, with lots of angular details used on the grill, front bumper, and headlights. There's also some great notch details around the tires and tire covers, and some basic door details on the sides. Unfortunately, the paint doesn't at all match all the mold details in the front. All of those great details aren't painted at all, and the show-accurate stripe down the center of her front hood isn't here at all; just white parts used for a hinge, with the rest of the front end all blue plastic. Her front window is painted black, but ONLY her front window-- the side windows being white just looks awful-- and the sirens are painted. Oddly, the back end of the sides is painted a dark navy blue, which very obviously looks different from the somewhat dark milky blue used for the rest of the blue plastic on Strongarm. It's a bit disconcerting-- they easily could've found a paint color that more closely matched the plastic. Other than these bits, there's no paint in this mode, which is a real shame given how much white/blue differentation Strongarm's supposed to have here. That said, the basic color scheme of white, blue, and a bit of black still looks decent enough.
    To transform Strongarm to robot mode, you take the entire top section of the mode and rotate it around the front end and clip it onto the robot rear, which auto-transforms the rest of the toy except for the arms, which you have to rotate down at the shoulders and then you're done. (Speaking of the shoulders, Strongarm can move at the shoulders at two points, though that's it. But again, articulation isn't the point of these simplified toys.) Most of the transformation is essentially accomplished by replacing the top of the car mode with a new "top" of the mode, which is the front details of the robot mode. The entire top section of the car mode sticks out behind her main body and upper legs, which is definitely a big piece of kibble-- though then again, it doesn't interfere with articulation, and it's not as obnoxious as the kibble on her original 1-step changer, so that's definitely progress. If you ignore that big section on the back, though, this is a pretty solid mode-- her proportions are accurate (more or less-- her body could stand to be a little bulkier), and her mold detailing is quite accurate. She's got the chest plates molded in, the "belt" detailed on her waist, the divots on her lower legs, circular "shoe-like" feet, and the front wheels on the large shoulders with her arms molded onto the inside of the side door pieces. Her headsculpt is also spot-on to the show model, with her headcrest painted a nice shade of yellow, her face silver, and her eyes a light blue. The color breakup is noticeably better in this mode; although the arms really could've used some more paint as they're all blue, the white legs have some black paint on the kneecaps and feet; there's some black plastic for her waist and abs, as well as some minor connector bits; and some white on her chest plates.
    The 2016 version of 1-step Strongarm-- while certainly not perfect-- is a huge step up from the 2015 version. The police SUV mode has a fairly weak back end and could use some more paint, but it's otherwise pretty proportional and well-sculpted. In robot mode, there's again one big issue-- the entire roof clipped onto her back-- but other than that, she looks quite good overall with accurate proportions and good detailing. Out of her three different 1-step changer molds, this is the best version, in my opinion.
 

Review by Beastbot

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