Prowl
(Deluxe) [Universe 2.0]
Prowl's vehicle mode,
in keeping with the norm, is a sportscar-turned-police-car. The overall
look of the vehicle mode is very nice-- the porportions are fantastic,
and it's very close to some car models while retaining just enough differences
to avoid licensing issues. Prowl's classic white & black color scheme
is back, and his color layout in this mode is more or less the same it
was on his G1 toy. Really, the accuracy to the G1
toy is astounding, right down to the "Highway Patrol POLICE" tampos
on the sides of the doors. There's no robot extras whatsoever-- even the
transparent windows are tinted enough where you really can't see any of
the robot parts inside of them. I also like little touches like the transparent
headlights, tail-lights, and police siren. (The rear windows are not transparent,
however, due to the transformation-- they're just painted on.) The only
major problem I have with this mode is that Prowl's gun, which is supposed
to stay stucked in a little crevice on the underside in this mode, falls
out VERY easily. It's pretty annoying, and considering it's such a small
gun, it's not hard to imagine it getting lost. Some people have also reported
some paint issues with their Prowls, with the paint on the transparent
plastic being sticky and coming off, but thankfully mine doesn't have that
problem, so it's not universal.
Prowl's robot mode is
also fairly good, but it does run into some problems that keep the toy
from entering the "must buy" rating of 9.0 or above. For one, his arms
are a little stiff-looking, and honestly a bit wimpy proportionally. His
head also sits on a little platform above the rest of his chest, making
it look like he's got some sort of turtleneck on from many angles. The
transformation is, again, very close to his G1 toy, but obviously using
some engineering capabilties that weren't available back in the eighties,
such as giving him real legs this time and more articulation. (He can move
at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), wrists,
hips, knees (at three points), and ankles.) Despite the increased articulation
though, he still retains that stiff look for some reason. About the only
major difference in his transformation when compared to his G1 toy is that
this version has the sides of the front hood AS WELL AS the car doors swing
behind his back. (They fold against each other so it doesn't look like
it from a front angle.) It's ingenious in a way, as it folds more mass
out of the way, but it's honestly more frustrating than it's worth. For
one, it's almost impossible to transform Prowl without his car door/hood
panels getting in the way and popping off. Plus, taking away part of the
hood mass from the chest makes it look rather hollow and insubstantial
from most angles except a direct-on frontal view. I still do like the way
the door "wings" complement the look of this mode, and the only other real
vehicle mode extra-- the hood-- stays behind his back and out of the way.
Besides his aforementioned handheld gun he also has his shoulder-mounted
missile launchers, though they don't actually fire anything this time around.
However, they are permanently attached this time around-- no extras to
put aside for vehicle mode on this toy-- and the launchers seem a bit more
reasonably sized as opposed to the oversized missiles the old toy was required
to have for safety reasons. However, like many of his other white parts
in robot mode, Prowl is lacking paint on his missile launchers-- aproblem
that repeats itself on his arms and upper legs. Just a few more black or
red paint apps really wouldn't helped make him look more visually interesting.
Overall, Prowl is one
of the more slavish Universe 2.0 toys-- basically his G1 toy form with
today's engineering-- and has a great, realistic-looking vehicle mode and
a decent robot mode. He does suffer from some QA issues, as well as some
minor proportions and "stiffness" issues in robot mode that keeps me from
unconditionally recommending him, though.
Review by Beastbot