Review #25: Generations Drift and Blurr -- Mold Mates
Greetings, dear readers! Today we shall take a look at two figures that share a mold, both from the Generations toyline, Drift and Blurr. Blurr is a Classics style update of a G1 character first introduced in the 1986 film. Drift is a character original to the comics, who is here receiving his first ever toy representation.
So how do these two toys fare? How does Blurr work as an update of a classic character, and does the shared mold with Drift make sense? Does Drift's toy debut work for that character? Let us take a look at these two toys and find out. |
Drift was the first of these toys released with this mold and, to be honest, as someone who doesn't read the Transformers comics, I didn't have any preconcieved notions of what this guy was supposed to look like. But, well, I thought he was a cool looking toy, so I picked him up. His vehicle design definitely seems to fit his name, as he seems to be the sort of asian sports car popular to use in the motorsports technique known as "drifting."
Blurr... before he came out, but when he was first announced as a retool of the Drift mold... well, that thought took some getting used to. In the G1 days, he transformed into a sort of fantasy "sci-fi" sports car vehicle, so the thought of him receiving a realistic looking Earth vehicle was a little odd. But it isn't the first time, nor has it been the last, that this has been the case with a "classics" updating of a G1 character who's original toy's vehicle mode was a more fantastic design. So, I figured, what the heck? And once I put the prejudice against his vehicle mode out of my mind, especially once I had the toy in my hand, I came to like it.
Other then the obvious differences of colour, the one big difference between the two in vehicle mode is the spoiler on their back end. Drift has a bigger, racing car apropriate spoiler while Blurr has a much more subtle looking one as might be found on a regular car.
Blurr... before he came out, but when he was first announced as a retool of the Drift mold... well, that thought took some getting used to. In the G1 days, he transformed into a sort of fantasy "sci-fi" sports car vehicle, so the thought of him receiving a realistic looking Earth vehicle was a little odd. But it isn't the first time, nor has it been the last, that this has been the case with a "classics" updating of a G1 character who's original toy's vehicle mode was a more fantastic design. So, I figured, what the heck? And once I put the prejudice against his vehicle mode out of my mind, especially once I had the toy in my hand, I came to like it.
Other then the obvious differences of colour, the one big difference between the two in vehicle mode is the spoiler on their back end. Drift has a bigger, racing car apropriate spoiler while Blurr has a much more subtle looking one as might be found on a regular car.
They each have a rather distinctive deco. Drift is a white vehicle with striking red highlights. These include three wavy lines on each side with the kanji for "samurai" over the doors. The stock deco from Hasbro also had the two large red stripes on the sides of the hood. Reprolabels stepped in and gave him additional detailing, with the red all along the bottom of his vehicle mode and across his rear bumper, as well as the red highlights on his spoiler and down the center of his hood. Other details added to his vehicle mode from the stickers include his side mirrors, all of the colour on and around his rear exaust, the licence plate (two options were provided -- one saying, "Drift," and the one I used which reads, "Peerless") and sime black highlights inside various indentations on the vehicle. Also, his rear-most side windows were originally unpainted, but now are colour-matched with his rear window. The Autobot logo on his hood is also a Reprolabel, but is not from Drift's sticker set and is rather an extra one I happened to have lying around which I had put on him before Drift ever had his own sticker set.
Blurr has a deco that is a stricking variety of blues. He has Reprolabels as well. The pattern of the blues on his hood has been altered a bit, mainly adding to the usage of the darkest blue there. Also, the dark blue has been added to the front bumper. Like Drift, he receives stickers for his side mirrors, for around his tail pipes, his side rear windows, and a licence plate. (He had a plethora of plate options. Sadly, none that said, "Blurr." You had the following choices: 321GONE, FASTR N U, FASTEST, SPEEEEED, ZIPPY, and, the option I used, "TFTM86," which refrenced his debut in the 1986 film.) The Autobot logo on his roof is a sticker, covering a plain red painted on logo. Drift's set did have such a sticker on it, but I had already placed an extra logo sticker I had there prior to his sticker set's release, and saw no need to peel it off just to replace it with another. His spoiler has been changed to a darker shade of blue via stickers, and the striking splash of stripes across his sides comes via stickers. Finally, he received some stickers (that were certainly a bit tricky to apply) for his wheels, that were originally unpainted black plastic. Reprolabels provided two options, blue and silver, and here a combination of the two options has been used.
In vehicle mode, I do like both of these guys. Of course, as stated, I had no preconcieved notions about Drift, but his vehicle mode does seem to fit what little I did know or have since learned about his character. And Blurr, as stated, took a bit of getting used to, since he was no longer some kitchy 80's idea of a futuristic vehicle, but once I put that aside this vehicle quite suits him, as well.
Shall we look at robots, now?
Blurr has a deco that is a stricking variety of blues. He has Reprolabels as well. The pattern of the blues on his hood has been altered a bit, mainly adding to the usage of the darkest blue there. Also, the dark blue has been added to the front bumper. Like Drift, he receives stickers for his side mirrors, for around his tail pipes, his side rear windows, and a licence plate. (He had a plethora of plate options. Sadly, none that said, "Blurr." You had the following choices: 321GONE, FASTR N U, FASTEST, SPEEEEED, ZIPPY, and, the option I used, "TFTM86," which refrenced his debut in the 1986 film.) The Autobot logo on his roof is a sticker, covering a plain red painted on logo. Drift's set did have such a sticker on it, but I had already placed an extra logo sticker I had there prior to his sticker set's release, and saw no need to peel it off just to replace it with another. His spoiler has been changed to a darker shade of blue via stickers, and the striking splash of stripes across his sides comes via stickers. Finally, he received some stickers (that were certainly a bit tricky to apply) for his wheels, that were originally unpainted black plastic. Reprolabels provided two options, blue and silver, and here a combination of the two options has been used.
In vehicle mode, I do like both of these guys. Of course, as stated, I had no preconcieved notions about Drift, but his vehicle mode does seem to fit what little I did know or have since learned about his character. And Blurr, as stated, took a bit of getting used to, since he was no longer some kitchy 80's idea of a futuristic vehicle, but once I put that aside this vehicle quite suits him, as well.
Shall we look at robots, now?
From pictures I have seen, it is clear that the robot mode was designed with Drift in mind, and it certainly seems to be a good representation of his character. Although he doesn't quite come off as a unique design, the mold works well for Blurr as well. Each character does have a unique head, and also has unique weaponry with Drift having swords while Blurr sports some heavy firepower.
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They each have a trio of weaponry with two smaller weapons and one larger one. The larger one, when not in use, can store on the character's back. The smaller ones make use of what would otherwise be hip-mounted door kibble, turning the doors into sword sheaths or gun holsters accordingly. (This involves one final mold difference between the two, to make their receptive doors able to hold the weapons that come with each character.) The large sword used with this Drift is not the one he came with, which was a thicker blade made of softer, floppy plastic. The first release of Maketoys Battle Tanker trailer came with an extra bonus, a replacement for Drift's sword made of firmer plastic and with, in my opinion, a nicer overall asthetic to its design.
Reprolabels-added detail in this mode for Drift includes a bit of gold detailing on either side of his face, over his (for lack of a better term) collar bones, and above each hip; white stickers that go over his hands, and blue circles that go on his chest (under his windshield). Also, there are various options for adding detail to the blades of his swords, both the short ones and for the longer one if you are still using the one the toy came with.
Blurr has similar stickers on his collar and hips (with both blue and chrome options) and for the circles on his chest (with blue or red options) and the same stickers for his hands. He also has some G1 inspired stickers for the front of his legs.
Reprolabels-added detail in this mode for Drift includes a bit of gold detailing on either side of his face, over his (for lack of a better term) collar bones, and above each hip; white stickers that go over his hands, and blue circles that go on his chest (under his windshield). Also, there are various options for adding detail to the blades of his swords, both the short ones and for the longer one if you are still using the one the toy came with.
Blurr has similar stickers on his collar and hips (with both blue and chrome options) and for the circles on his chest (with blue or red options) and the same stickers for his hands. He also has some G1 inspired stickers for the front of his legs.
Articulation is identical between these two figures, and is pretty good for a deluxe class figure. The head can swivel, and can also look up. The shoulders, while hindered slightly by having to make sure that the kibble from the front of the car is out of the way, are very posable, with multiple joints (the main one of which is a ball joint) in them in part to facilitate transformation, but all of which can be useful in posing. There is a swivel between the shoulder and elbow, a double hinged elbow, and ball jointed wrists. No waist articulation. Ball jointed hips, a swivel between the hips and knees, and finally knees that can get a good bend to them.
Blurr's guns can be combined to give his sniper rifle a little stand near the muzzle. It is one of those things that potentially looks cool and is a nice touch, but it can be awkward in execution to find a pose in which you can utilize this. Also, here are some photos you may remember from Bludgeon's review showing him in a sword fight with a pre-Reprolabeled Drift.
Blurr's guns can be combined to give his sniper rifle a little stand near the muzzle. It is one of those things that potentially looks cool and is a nice touch, but it can be awkward in execution to find a pose in which you can utilize this. Also, here are some photos you may remember from Bludgeon's review showing him in a sword fight with a pre-Reprolabeled Drift.
Size comparison with a Sailor Moon DVD case!
A good mold with two good uses, both of which have some nice unique accessories. For G1 fans, Blurr is a nice addition to your Classics collections. Drift is nice, too, if you can fine him, but of course doesn't have quite the same nostalgic factors to him. Still, both are good toys and I would happily recomend either of them. Review added 11 May 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment! |