Beast Wars Neo Break

Robot Mode: Break is pretty much the ultimate shell former, meaning that his entire alternate mode is but a shell that splits apart and hangs off the robot mode as kibble, while the actual robot has no part in creating the alternate mode. Break’s beast mode splits into five segments that hang off his back, shoulders, and forearms and you can remove them all (though you need a screwdriver for the forearm pieces) and still have a functional robot left over. If you’re not a friend of the shell former concept, you can probably stop reading right here and give this figure a pass.

The actual robot is very nicely articulated thanks to ball joints and has a solid stance despite the massive amount of kibble hanging off him. His huge right forearm also contains his sole weapon, a huge missile launcher, as well as his Maximal spark crystal. The detailing on the robot looks nice; he has multiple ‘feathered’ parts and a nicely sculpted head as well. So unless you’re totally put off by the shell former thing, it’s a very nice robot. No complaints.

Beast Mode: Break transforms into an emperor penguin, the only one of his kind in Transformer history. He does this by curling into a ball, basically, and assembling his shell pieces around him. The resulting penguin looks pretty cool and is actually quite well articulated, as he has ball-jointed flippers and feet, as well as a head that can turn. Not sure how you can make a penguin figure more posable than this. Detailing is also quite good, so there is really nothing to complain about here. A pretty cool penguin (See what I did there? A cool penguin, because penguins live in cold places and... ah, forget it!)

Like all of the Maximal Basic figures from Beast Wars Neo, Break also has a third mode where he transforms into a weapon for the bigger Maximals to wield. Well, sort of. The weapon mode is basically the penguin mode, just with the shell piece forming the upper back opened up to unveil the missile launcher. A larger figure can then hold Break by his penguin flippers and fire the missile... if the whole thing doesn’t fall apart within seconds. So... yeah, he has a third mode, but it’s not really worth spending much time on.

Missing Pieces: I’m missing Break’s black missile for his right arm missile launcher.

Remarks: Break was one of the original Maximal team from Beast Wars Neo, a bunch of raw recruits given to the notorious loner Big Convoy for training. I haven’t seen much of Beast Wars Neo, to be honest, so I can’t say much of what Break was like. Anyway, he is the only penguin in Transformer history, so that alone gives him some bonus points.

Break made his way into my collection thanks to my buddy Caked-Up, who picked him up for me at some convention in the US. Given that I am a huge Beast Wars fan, he was definitely worth it for me. I must say, though, that I can only recommend him to people who are likewise huge Beast Wars fan and don’t mind the shell former concept. If both criteria fit you, then he is definitely worth a look. If not, best spend your money elsewhere.

Rating: B