REVIEW: TransCraft TC MXG-01 Mohican (part 1)

Motorcycle Transformers toys are fun, aren’t they? You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get, as every single one of them seems to take a unique spin on what you would think might be a relatively straightforward process towards a two-wheeled vehicle mode.

Compare that to carformers. Now sure, there are numerous examples from over the years that break the habit, but how often do they still fall back on the familiar bonnet-as-chest approach (or something equally similar) in one form or another? More frequently than we’d care to admit, that’s for sure.

However, with bikes, there’s really no set template for how they convert, meaning it’s always a bit of a surprise to see what any individual toy brings to the table in terms of a solution. Even when they’re not so successful, well gosh, at least they try and do something a bit different, eh?

The latter half of that sentiment brings us nicely to TransCraft Mohican then, although of course, we’ll decide on the success element in due course. And yes, this is a Bayformer design, so look away now if that’s going to offend your eyeballs, although right off the bat, there’s plenty to enjoy for those of us who do appreciate such things!

This is third party newcomer, TransCraft’s take on Mohawk from The Last Knight, and whilst I personally found the film itself to be about as entertaining as having hot soup poured in my eyes, there’s little doubt that some of the character designs were looking pretty swish along the way!

A shame then, that this little lad had surprisingly sparse screentime, although he did make a memorable impression with what there was. As for the vehicle form in question, it’s the highly distinctive P-51 Combat Fighter from Confederate Motorcycles, now known as Combat Motors, which is constructed out of military-grade aluminium to make it not only very light-weight but also incredibly durable. Oh, and it’s an absolute beauty too!

For my money, TransCraft has done a great job at replicating all of that in tiny toy form here. The silver paint on show really sells the finish on the real-world equivalent vehicle and they’ve approximated the bike’s unusual shape to a tee. That unique triangular form is one you won’t soon forget, and I think it’s been quite faithfully brought to life on Mohican.

I also really like how well they’ve crammed in tons of moulded detail along the sides to give it that mechanical look and feel. There’s a lot going on in a very small space but it certainly makes this thing sing.

The front wheel can turn a little from side to side and there’s even a very handy kickstand that can be folded out for some much-needed stability.

Then you have a dab of weapons storage to the rear, with both handheld blades clipping in on the sides of the tyre. This might diminish the real-world accuracy a smidge but it does actually have the added benefit of hiding the robot mode hands, so in my book, it’s a good trade-off.

You then might notice the robot mode eye peeping through the circular section in the side, just under the seat, which is both quite freaky but also welcome in how it provides a small splash of colour. Otherwise, there are some attractive painted green highlights in a few places, most notably on the front wheel, which looks fab.

Overall, there’s a surprising amount to enjoy about this vehicle mode then. I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite sure how it would come off in toy form but for such a tiny little thing, it really does look great and feels very solid too.

And, whilst we’re not exactly being served with many other TLK characters in MPM-styled toy form thus far, it’s still fun to see Mohican versus any number of the other third party efforts we’ve seen for the other films. If anything, I’ve given up trying to separate these toys out into their various big-screen adventures as it’s much more fun to just line them all up together!

Mohican then also adds a welcome bit of a variation to the size of the toys in this part of my collection, being on the distinctly smaller end of the scale overall. I’ve always loved Transformers toys that differ greatly in terms of height, so this is fun to see!

A strong first outing for Mohican then, but let’s see how we get on next time when we’ll be transforming him up to robot mode!

TTFN