Review #80: Old & New - Prowl
(with a bonus look at Universe Bluestreak & Universe Smokescreen)
-- Ultra Prime Review Series #3 --
If you missed previous parts of this series of reviews, click here for Sunstreaker or click here for Mirage. If you are ready to proceed, then let us take a look today at Prowl, shall we? To the left in these photos, we shall have the 2008 Universe Deluxe figure, and to the right, the more recent Combiner Wars Deluxe figure.
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Comparing these two toys is a strange thing. Just based on vehicle mode, I would give it to the 2008 toy, as I like the aesthetics of it better for Prowl, except for one rather major issue... the paint that was used on the figure! The issue isn't quite as obvious in the above photos, but let us try to take a closer look, shall we?
The roof, doors, and front fenders are made of transclearant plastic, with the non-clear parts painted over. For some reason, the white paint used on these parts did not adhere to the plastic quite correctly, leading it to have a slightly sticky feeling, and allowing it to over time take on a smudged, dirty look. It is possible that this could have had the unintended side effect of giving Prowl a cool, weathered aesthetic... except, of course, that a good chunk of his vehicle mode is also unpainted white plastic, and thus has maintained a pristine white appearance. The contrast between the two make the painted portions look particularly ugly.
And do keep the following in mind: The dirty and worn paint is not the result of the fact that this toy is eight years old. That all happened rather quickly in my ownership of the toy, almost right off of the card. (If anything, years of age have made the paint feel more stable, as if after all this time it has finally set. It has just had the misfortune to set in a less then pristine state.) And this problem is not an isolated incident, and has apparently been widely reported by owners of this toy. This is not something Hasbro's QC people should have let slip by!
And do keep the following in mind: The dirty and worn paint is not the result of the fact that this toy is eight years old. That all happened rather quickly in my ownership of the toy, almost right off of the card. (If anything, years of age have made the paint feel more stable, as if after all this time it has finally set. It has just had the misfortune to set in a less then pristine state.) And this problem is not an isolated incident, and has apparently been widely reported by owners of this toy. This is not something Hasbro's QC people should have let slip by!
Universe Prowl can store his robot's gun in vehicle mode, completely hidden away. Combiner Wars Prowl, on the other hand, can also store his weapons, but in a much more blatantly obvious way. He has three 5mm peg holes, one on either side and the third on his roof. His main gun can peg into any of these, and his hand/foot gun thingy can peg into the one on his roof.
Before moving on, one little fun fact about the Universe mold: the light bar designed as a part of that mold was reused multiple times for other characters, even if they were from other molds. In fact, we saw it already recently as part of the Sunstreaker review, on Universe Sunstreaker's mold-mate Generations Red Alert. And we shall see it again, soon, in our next review... |
But let us not get ahead of ourselves. On to robot mode! And as we get to this mode, I feel even stranger comparing these two.
Ignoring the sticky paint issue, I feel like I want to like the Universe version better. It has more elements of what one thinks of as Prowl. He has his hood for his chest. He has door wings. He has missiles over his shoulders to emulate his G1 toy look. (Although these missiles can be hidden away if you prefer a G1 cartoon look.) The Combiner Wars toy, on the other hand, has none of those features. And yet, somehow, it still works. Not only that, in a lot of ways, it works better.
I think what works against the Universe one is that, while in theory it does the right things aesthetically, it just doesn't come together well as a figure. The head feels like it sits too high above the body, and is also sculpted in a way that it feels like it is always looking down slightly. The wheels on the backs of the shoulders always seem to want to occupy the same space as the door wings. Other little things which add up. |
The Universe figure has decent articulation. The head swivels. Normally that is fine for me, but in this case I really wish it had been on a ball joint to help alleviate that always-looking-down-slightly problem the figure has. Each shoulder has multiple joints -- no ball joint, but enough pivots and swivels that you can get any motion you want out of them. (Provided, of course, that the door wings don't get in the way too much. There are upper arm swivels, a 90 degree bend in the elbow, and wrist swivels. The waist swivels. The hips have ball joints, but are mostly only good for forward, backwards, and straight out to the side. Beyond that, there is only slight wiggle room. This would have been fine if there had also been an upper leg swivel, but alas there is not. There is a swivel in the lower leg, just below the knee, but I've always found a swivel there to be more of a tease towards useful articulation rather then being of any use itself. Speaking of the knees, of course those exist, and bend about 90 degrees themselves. There is a transformation joint a bit lower in the leg which can be used a bit to fake a deeper knee bend if you don't go crazy, otherwise you may end up with a pose which makes him look like he has a broken leg. Finally he has a few points of articulation in his ankles which allow them to bend slightly forwards, backwards, or inwards.
Combiner Wars Prowl's articulation is somewhat standard for what we've seen thus far in Combiner Wars / Unite Warriors figures. Ball jointed head. Ball jointed shoulders. Upper arm swivel. Bending elbows. Swiveling waist. Ball jointed hips. Upper leg swivel. Bending knees. Overall, not as many joints as the Universe figure, but it feels like they are implemented better. The Universe figure is fiddly to pose and a bit difficult to get to stand. The Combiner Wars figure is easy to pose and plop right down looking like he is ready for action.
Below, since it has become a somewhat standard part of this specific series of reviews, I shall now show off Combiner Wars Prowl compared with the Fansproject version of Dead End. Unlike all of the other limb-bots in this review series, Prowl isn't just a straight-up recolor, but has some extensive remolding, as well. So a Google image search result for the Combiner Wars version of Dead End will also be included for both modes. You can see how much was changed in the remolding process!
Combiner Wars Prowl's articulation is somewhat standard for what we've seen thus far in Combiner Wars / Unite Warriors figures. Ball jointed head. Ball jointed shoulders. Upper arm swivel. Bending elbows. Swiveling waist. Ball jointed hips. Upper leg swivel. Bending knees. Overall, not as many joints as the Universe figure, but it feels like they are implemented better. The Universe figure is fiddly to pose and a bit difficult to get to stand. The Combiner Wars figure is easy to pose and plop right down looking like he is ready for action.
Below, since it has become a somewhat standard part of this specific series of reviews, I shall now show off Combiner Wars Prowl compared with the Fansproject version of Dead End. Unlike all of the other limb-bots in this review series, Prowl isn't just a straight-up recolor, but has some extensive remolding, as well. So a Google image search result for the Combiner Wars version of Dead End will also be included for both modes. You can see how much was changed in the remolding process!
So, when it comes up to Prowl vs. Prowl, I think upon reflection it boils down to this: the Universe figure is, on paper, the better Prowl. His design looks more like Prowl. He's got more articulation. Better vehicle mode weapon storage. He should be the Prowl to be on your shelf! At least, as I said, on paper. But something didn't quite survive the execution, and he has always been a slightly unsatisfying figure.
Combiner Wars Prowl, on the other hand, is not even a toy that was designed to be Prowl! It was originally Stunticon Dead End. Yes, as we just saw, Prowl did get heavily remolded from Dead End. But even that remold was originally designed for another character...
Combiner Wars Prowl, on the other hand, is not even a toy that was designed to be Prowl! It was originally Stunticon Dead End. Yes, as we just saw, Prowl did get heavily remolded from Dead End. But even that remold was originally designed for another character...
...although saying more about that right now would be spoilers for another review I hope to get to in the not too distant future! Getting back to Prowl, though, the end result is that the Combiner Wars version, while not as good on paper, is far superior in execution. Honestly, I am even surprising myself with this opinion, but if you can only have one Prowl on your shelf, between the subtle flaws in execution and the major flaw in the paint, I'd have to say that the Universe version may not be the way to go!
That being said, I do have both and I am not about to throw one of them out. Even with its flaws, I think the Universe version shall remain on my "Classics style '84 Autobots" shelf. As for the Combiner Wars version... honestly, I love the toy, but for my own personal collection, I am not quite sure where to place him yet. I may be getting ahead of myself a bit, though. I'll have more thoughts on that subject probably in the last part of this series of reviews. (Well, second to last, as I will probably have a delayed final part specifically to show off the Reprolabels when I get them someday.)
That being said, I do have both and I am not about to throw one of them out. Even with its flaws, I think the Universe version shall remain on my "Classics style '84 Autobots" shelf. As for the Combiner Wars version... honestly, I love the toy, but for my own personal collection, I am not quite sure where to place him yet. I may be getting ahead of myself a bit, though. I'll have more thoughts on that subject probably in the last part of this series of reviews. (Well, second to last, as I will probably have a delayed final part specifically to show off the Reprolabels when I get them someday.)
Sunstreaker and Mirage shared their weapons with the Stunticons they came from. (As will the next figure, when we get to him.) I must say I am glad that being remolded allowed Prowl the chance to get a new one, as Dead End's weapon always struck me as incredibly stupid. It looks like a piece of piping that he uses as a bludgeoning weapon. You could also have him hold it as if it was a gun, but then you have the problem that the end curves sharply up. If Prowl had kept this, it would have been a toss up between him and Mirage as for who had the dumber weapon, and Prowl likely would have won. Unfortunately for poor Mirage, Prowl ended up with a pretty sweet looking triple barreled shotgun, instead.
There is one last thing to look at today. Or rather, two last things. Much like Sunstreaker's Universe toy, Universe Prowl has two other toys in my collection that share the same mold that I'd like to take a quick look at!
There is one last thing to look at today. Or rather, two last things. Much like Sunstreaker's Universe toy, Universe Prowl has two other toys in my collection that share the same mold that I'd like to take a quick look at!
On the left hand side of the photo, Prowl is joined by Bluestreak. Yes, I know, he is not blue. Probably why this character is sometimes known as Silverstreak, and indeed this toy, also from the Universe line in 2008, was in fact sold under that name. On Prowl's other side is Smokescreen, also hailing from the Universe toy line, but from a year later. These three toys are identical in molding, aside from the removal of the light bar from when it was used as Prowl. Only the colors have been changed. Bluestreak features Reprolabels. Smokescreen, like Prowl, is stock. (Prowl and Smokescreen do both have sets, but Smokescreen's didn't seem as essential to me, and Prowl's seemed pointless thanks to the underlying paint issues.)
In robot mode, aside from coloring, all three are identical. Putting away Prowl's missiles (for that more cartoon accurate look) at least lets there be one difference between him and the other two. But aside from that, the only differences there are to see are in the deco.
Strangely, without the paint flaw, even with the remaining other flaws these figures seem to feel much better as a part of my collection. Weather I truly feel that they are better figures without the paint issue, or am just more accepting of them because, unlike Prowl, I have no other options, it is a bit tricky to say. However, there is a Combiner Wars Smokescreen planned, so maybe someday I can give a more informed opinion on that matter. If I get that toy someday, I shall let you know.
Here is everybody looked at today along with a standard sized DVD case to provide a size reference:
So, let us try to sum things up, shall we?
The Universe Prowl? What should have been a great figure is marred by too many little flaws adding up to drag it down. I'll still keep him in my collection, but if you don't yet own a Prowl, and if you can live without things such as his door wings, honestly you should just get the more recent Combiner Wars figure. Even if you intend to use him as a stand alone figure and never combine him, he is just a better figure overall. And since (as of this writing) he would still be on store shelves, he'll be a heck of a lot easier to get your hands on, too!
As far as Universe Prowl's mold-mates... They suffer a lot of Prowl's same problems, but without the biggest problem of the sticky paint, the other issues become a lot more tolerable! I may have complained a lot about the mold, but it isn't entirely bad and can be a bit of fun. If you wish to own at least one version of this mold, go for one of these other two.
Anyway, that's about it for this review. Back soon with the last of the limb-bots!
Review added 22 January 2016 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!
The Universe Prowl? What should have been a great figure is marred by too many little flaws adding up to drag it down. I'll still keep him in my collection, but if you don't yet own a Prowl, and if you can live without things such as his door wings, honestly you should just get the more recent Combiner Wars figure. Even if you intend to use him as a stand alone figure and never combine him, he is just a better figure overall. And since (as of this writing) he would still be on store shelves, he'll be a heck of a lot easier to get your hands on, too!
As far as Universe Prowl's mold-mates... They suffer a lot of Prowl's same problems, but without the biggest problem of the sticky paint, the other issues become a lot more tolerable! I may have complained a lot about the mold, but it isn't entirely bad and can be a bit of fun. If you wish to own at least one version of this mold, go for one of these other two.
Anyway, that's about it for this review. Back soon with the last of the limb-bots!
Review added 22 January 2016 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!