REVIEW: DX9 D14 Capone (part 1)

The whole 3PMP Stunticon saga has been a bit of a wild ride (pardon the pun), hasn’t it? I mean, it was only a couple of years ago that X-Transbots first unveiled plans to push ahead with their take on the motorised Decepticon thugs and now here we are, with three separate companies all vying for the spot on your shelf.

And look, if you’d have asked me at the beginning of the so-called “Stunticon wars”, I never would have pegged DX9 as being anything other than the outlier, with XTB themselves pumping out various versions of each character in quick succession (despite seemingly taking a sabbatical before the arrival of the much-needed trailer component!) and FansToys slowly but methodically working their way through the team to the usual fanfare welcoming each release.

DX9 though? They kicked off with Montana, which didn’t quite convince from pics but then proved to be even more underwhelming in hand, and then showcased what can only be described as the most bizarre take on Motormaster I think I could have imagined in Capone here. And yes, I’m talking about *that trailer*.

Step back and take that in, eh? To say this thing was a challenge to fit within the confines of my usual studio set-up is an understatement, such is the absolutely gargantuan length of it all. It just keeps going… and going… and going.

I mean, it’s not something I really want to dwell on, but at the same time it’s very hard not to! If anything, the sheer expanse of this chap dominates just about every part of the experience once you get him in hand, starting with the rather mammoth box itself. I simply couldn’t get over the presence of the whole thing during my Unboxing video, and in truth it all continues to make me chuckle to this day.

So yes, it is a bit ridiculous – there’s no getting around that. On the one hand, the idea of having the rear three quarters of Menasor’s trailer turning into the bulk of what will become the combined mode must have seemed like a very practical solution, but I’m amazed that the designers actually followed through with it once they saw just how elongated the vehicle mode was going to need to be! But here’s the thing… it still actually looks alright somehow.

Like, don’t get me wrong – it’s long. Very long. So, so, so long. Yet once you kind of accept that, there is actually some good stuff to work with here, and to their credit I like a lot of what DX9 have packed into this release.

Let’s start with the most obvious aspect in vehicle mode, which is the cab section. It’s really very good indeed! Far better than you might think if you just get hung up chuckling at how massive the trailer section is, anyhow.

For one thing, it looks brilliant, proportionally-speaking, and the design is very clean and generally does a great job at recalling to life the feel of Motormaster from the G1 cartoon.

There’s even some very attractive detailing going on, with all the little moulded touches given some well-applied paint, and there’s even a couple of decent semi-translucent windows to boot. It’s good stuff.

Oh hey, and then there’s a tiny splash of play value in that the cab doors can open up, which is neat even if it does reveal precisely not a lick of interior detail.

The cab can also turn against the trailer quite well, which might be welcome for collectors considering how to cram such a thing into a display!

So really as far as the front part of this thing goes, there’s not a whole lot to mark it down on. It feels very solid and well-put-together, presents nicely, has good colours and just all-round pops. I’m impressed.

I mean, of course it only accounts for a comparatively tiny part of the overall package, but hey!

Joking aside, the trailer section is actually well done, too. It feels surprisingly sturdy and solid considering the extended length, and all of the various panels tab in well and sit very flush. You can also sort of open the rear doors, though again there’s no interior to the trailer to speak of.

Perhaps the only elements that don’t work so well (other than the obvious!) are the all-too-obvious purple panels on the lower half of the trailer around the mid-point. They stick out not only for being purple, but also being quite a noticeably different purple to the main stripes on show. It’s a little unavoidable as these make up part of the combined mode feet, but still it is a bit of an apparent visual break.

Really though, I have to be honest and say that there are surprisingly few things to grumble about here, which I appreciate by itself sounds a little bit like I didn’t really expect too much from this release. I suppose in many ways, that is sort of true, so it’s perhaps only fair to also say that I have actually found myself enjoying him a fair amount in hand.

And look, that’s no small thing (and no, pun not intended). After all, this is the third 3PMP Motormaster I have reviewed for this blog *this year*. To say that I feel a slight sense of over-saturation is downplaying it a bit. Yet somehow, I find myself at least a little enamoured with Capone.

That’s not to say the vehicle mode isn’t inherently ridiculous – it is, very much so. It’s just that once you kind of get over that roadblock, there really is a lot to get to grips with and appreciate here too.

If I’m really honest the big draw for me with this set was that combined mode, but I ended up being quite surprisingly taken with this rather bizarre truck form along the way – peculiar proportions and all.

Of course that’s just part of the story, as that same vehicle form becomes not one, but two distinct robot modes… but we’ll get to that next time!

TTFN