REVIEW: WFC Earthrise Trailbreaker (part 1)

As someone who’s only recently dipped their toes in the Generations Transformers scene (other than the occasional Titan lad, which surely needs no explanation on account of their sheer size and desirability), I can honestly say that my experience with these toys can be divided into one of two camps: those that represent characters that we’ve already seen done in Masterpiece form, and those that we haven’t.

That might sound obvious in many ways, but I mean it sincerely when I say it makes for quite a different experience. Take Prowl and Ironhide, for example, who I also recently reviewed. Both have been given the MP treatment at one point or another, with those toys proving to be fairly definitive takes on the respective characters, so naturally it makes assessing any new toys of them a process of comparison.

In fact, if I’m being honest, I suspect it’ll be a long time to come before any other toy of either of those lads impresses me quite as much as their Masterpiece efforts, so perhaps it was always going to be a hard task for a Generations-level take to compete wholeheartedly, but that’s not really the point I’m making here.

No, it’s much more to do with how close some of the WFC toys fly to their MP brethren in terms of some of the basic elements of their design. Again, I feel like Prowl is an excellent example of this (far more than Ironhide, in this case), as that toy really does end up feeling like a Masterpiece-lite (Masterplite?) effort in many respects. The transformation is eerily familiar in concept (although not in complexity), and there are definitely visual elements which let you know that they clearly considered their higher-end figure when putting together the new release, without question.

Then there’s the trend that we’re seeing with a lot of mainline toys right now, which is reusing Masterpiece head sculpts on considerably simplified toys – again, just compare ER Prowl with MP-17 and you’ll note the similarities right off the bat. It’s an understandable strategy, to be fair; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, after all.

Anyway, all of that brings us to the likes of Trailbreaker, who, in case you hadn’t guessed it yet, falls into the second category. With no (official) Masterpiece design in sight, this Earthrise attempt feels all the fresher for it: a clean slate on which to tackle the character for the first time, perhaps.

And maybe that’s not such a concern for every collector, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it gave me a more palpable sense of excitement for this toy than many of his mainline brethren, in a lot of respects. How would HasTak handle such a seemingly-faithful take on this classic character? What cues might there be that would hint as to how an eventual Masterpiece-level toy might come to fruition?

I suppose it was always going to require a strong showing to not disappoint after such lofty musings, but I’m pleased to report that right out of the gate, Trailbreaker packs a whallop. An examination of that alternate form will show you what I mean, for starters.

It’s chunky and neatly-put together in a way that absolutely delights in-hand, and looks like a relatively faithful, if perhaps somewhat modernised rendition of his original Toyota vehicle mode.

It’s mostly bare black plastic on offer here, but honestly, I really don’t mind that one jot. If anything it means that there are none of the paint concerns I’ve encountered on some other Earthrise offerings, and besides, it’s made up for by some very crisp and eye-poppingly colourful highlights elsewhere.

Perhaps it’s the lack of paint again but I’ll also credit Trailbreaker with how everything tabs in so securely, with the alternate form cobbling together comparatively well versus many other toys in the line. Panels clip together securely and line-up as they should, leaving you with a very tidy form on the whole.

And yes, there is some kibble to be found on the underside, with both legs and arms being perhaps a bit too obvious, but again, I’m happy to make allowances for this considering both the price point this toy is aimed at but also how well it all clips together. I would definitely have preferred the hands to maybe fold away a little more, though.

It’s also a bit of a shame that the rear wheels don’t look as good as the front ones, with the large pegs seen on so many Earthrise toys present here again. It can’t help but look a little cheap and unfortunate, in my opinion.

Really though, there’s not too much to legitimately complain about here, as on the whole Trailbreaker is nothing shy of a stunner. It’s great to see the character done such justice in modern toy form!

One thing a theoretical Masterpiece attempt would surely do differently is accessories, as all we’re treated to here is the robot mode weapon being able to store atop the vehicle form (although there are a couple of third party kits that can add to this, mind).

Beyond that, it is interesting to speculate how a high-end version may differ from what we see here. I would imagine it would be a little more slavishly faithful to the character’s animation appearance, but still, I really like how HasTak have interpreted it for the Generations line too.

All of which leads me to say that I actually think this is one of the standout vehicle modes from that line-up that I’ve personally seen in hand so far. It’s so clean and so nicely put-together that I think it leaves at least a couple of other examples in the dust, quite frankly.

Naturally, part of the fun is in having all of the various characters lined up next to one another, but I can’t help but think that if they were all as satisfying as this guy then it would be really quite something to see!

It remains to be discovered, of course, whether that’s also true of his transformation and indeed the robot mode, so we’ll be sure to cover that off next time!

TTFN