Thrilling 30 Trailcutter

Robot Mode: At his most basic Trailcutter is yet another car-hood-as-chest Transformer, we’ve seen hundreds of them before. He still manages to have his own unique look, though. Despite being nowhere near as tubby as G1 Trailbreaker, he does appear a pretty hefty, big guy. The big forearms and lower legs further enhance that powerful image. Behind his nicely sculpted head (which sports a pretty sour expression, nicely done) you see his trademark triple-barreled weapon / force field generator. The black paint job with the red and grey highlights isn’t completely G1 accurate, but you can easily tell that it’s supposed to be Trailbreaker.

Trailcutter’s car roof detaches and becomes a combination weapon and shield. He can store it on his back or put it on his forearms or in his hands in several variations. You can unfold it into a supposed shield, which also unveils a red handle to put into his fist, or leave it folded in half and put it on his forearm. Either works. Not really seeing a shield in any of those configurations, honestly, but it probably sounds better to the censors than “big double-barreled weapon of mass killing”.

Trailcutter’s articulation is up to modern standards, just about the only thing missing is twisting wrists. As for stability, everything holds together very well. The shoulders don’t fully tab into the torso, but it doesn’t make them loose or anything, either. So bottom line: a top notch robot mode without any flaws and lots of character. Two thumbs up.

Alternate Mode: Trailcutter transforms into what could probably be regarded as an innocent Earth vehicle – possible some kind of SUV type car – if not for the fact that it has two guns on top, as well as Trailcutter’s signature tri-barreled weapon. Neither can be folded down or hidden, by the way, so you’re stuck with them. I certainly don’t mind, as they look cool, but the perfect Earth disguise is slightly compromised. But seeing as this is supposed to be Trailcutter’s Cybertronian mode anyway (as seen in the IDW comics), it doesn’t really matter.

Not really that much to write about the car mode. Everything folds together very nicely, there are no visible robot bits unless you look from below, and the car can easily fit into the chest compartment of Metroplex (the new, big, yet to be reviewed by me one. Not the G1 one, that would be quite a feat). So to sum it up: a fully satisfying car mode with no fancy stuff. Very much in character for Trailcutter.

Remarks: Trailbreaker was among the original crew of the Ark in G1 and appeared in quite a few episodes of the G1 cartoon, but never really took center stage. He’s mostly known as the force field guy. IDW has decided to play on that in their Trailcutter Spotlight issue (included with this figure) and the ongoing More Than Meets the Eye series, portraying Trailbreaker (who renames himself Trailcutter on Whirl’s advice) as a guy who is frustrated that the only thing people see is his force field. Also, he likes to overindulge on Energon. I really like that portrayal of Trailbreaker/-cutter and don’t even mind the new name. And the way he faked out the Decepticons in his Spotlight issue was really cool, too.

As a toy Trailcutter is exactly as advertised: a very good representation of the Autobot we are currently seeing in the IDW comics. So while he’s not a hundred percent faithful homage to the original G1 Autobot, I can easily live with that. So the bottom line here is quite clear: buy this figure.

Rating: A-