TF Source Review – Hercules Neckbreaker

If you have not yet started collecting the six separate robots to form Hercules (available at TFSource) then now’s the time to jump on the series . . . before they’re all gone and only available at much higher prices. After collecting the first three robots in the series I decided that this is an amazing line, and now that I own all six I’m happy to report that this is the Constructicon set that I have always wanted.

Today I am going to focus on one of the six robots in the Hercules series, Neckbreaker (available now at TFSource), but basically every single glowing thing I have to say about this toy applies to all of the others in the series. Yes, in my opinion this set is worth the $600 it will cost you to assemble the entire team.

Neckbreaker makes a great bulldozer and transforms easily between modes. The coolest feature, in my opinion, has to be the way that the blade of the bulldozer splits to form both his chest and his feet. Take a close look at the photos and you can see the seams where the blade separates into three separate pieces, all of which remain connected to the toy throughout the entire transformation process. It’s a nice design and works well.

Neckbreaker is equipped with small wheels under his treads and rolls well across tables and hard floors, making that familiar sound that we get with almost any small toy with hard plastic wheels. The hydraulics on the blade also extend as compress as you position the blade; one more excellent touch on a fantastic transforming robot toy.

About the best way to see how to transform Neckbreaker between his bulldozer and robot modes is to watch the TFSource video review at YouTube. The toy’s not complicated to transform, but I found the review helpful while transforming the arms into the engine/hood section of the vehicle. What I like most about the toy’s transformation is how it’s not overly-complicated; some Transformers are annoying to transform because there’s zero tolerance for positioning the parts during the transformation. Neckbreaker is not that fiddly or annoying.

In terms of articulation, Neckbreaker has quite a bit going on. Breaking it down joint by joint we get:

• Head – Swivel to look left and right and a hinge joint that folds the head back, allowing him to look up. The hinge isn’t actually all that useful for posing the robot.
  
• Arms – The shoulders swivel up and down, the elbows have swivels just about the elbow hinge, and the hands have a simple hinge that provides a little up and down motion.
  
• Legs – Ball-jointed hips on posts that shift down a little, hinged knees, swivel-cut thighs, and hinged blade ankles all work fairly well. Actually, the photos here do a decent job of showing you how much range you can get out of the legs.
  
• Torso – A simple waist joint allows you to twist the torso left-right.

Neckbreaker’s sharp, machined sculpt looks every bit as cool as the other toys in the Hercules series (available at TFSource) and this makes an excellent and modern attempt at the Constructicon, Bonecrusher. I wasn’t so sure about the legs when I saw the first shots online, but now that I’ve played with Neckbreaker a few times I can say that the sculpt looks good, even with the small plastic wheels visible when the toy is in robot mode.

A really nice sculpted detail on Neckbreaker (as well as other toys in the line) is the depressed area on the front of the chest that’s just begging me to add a Decepticon symbol to the toy. The shape and size is basically perfect and it shows that TFC Toys really did think through a lot of the details as they were designing this series of green and purple construction vehicles.

Mostly molded in green, black, purple, and red translucent plastic, Neckbreaker has just enough painted details that it’s worth taking a few moments to investigate each of the paint apps. Generally, the paint is as good as we can hope for from a $100 toy, with almost all of the paintwork crisp and smooth. As with the rest of the Hercules series (available at TFSource), what we get is strong work that, while not perfect, is excellent quality and not att all bad like we often see on mass-produced toys.

Awesomely fun is the best way I can think to describe Neckbreaker and the entire Hercules series (available at TFSource). On his own he’s a towering, well-crafted robot, while as a group the Hercules toys are hands down the best Constructicon-inspired toys — either official or unofficial — that I’ve ever owned. Of course I say that without owning the Make Toys Giant set (see TFSource), so it’s possible my opinion will change as I start to collect those toys.

But regardless of whether or not a new Devasator toy comes along that blows this away, TFC Toys did a remarkable job making these and they’re the most durable, absolutely coolest transforming robot toys I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve got no regrets at all that I decided to go all in and ordered all six of the robots in the series.

These are expensive, yes, but Hercules series (available at TFSource) is a must-own line of unofficial Transformers toys that’s perfect for any Generation One fan’s collection. They’re slightly taller than the official “Deluxe” class toys from Hasbro/Takara, but they’re also made of better quality plastics and each toy in the series can be transformed quickly and without need to reference the instructions a few times during the process.

Highly recommended! If I don’t buy any other Transformers toys this year I suspect I’ll have made the right choice in purchasing this entire team. I just can’t see how any other transforming robot toys can top these this year . . . but I am ready to be wrong because I am always happy to come across durable, fun, and attractive transforming robot toys.

I hope you guys enjoy the pics!

---

Philip Reed spends his days working away in the game industry and whatever spare time he can steal goes to the toy website, battlegrip.com, where he writes about a lot more than just Transformers.