Dark of the Moon Flak

 

Robot Mode: Let’s start with the main reason why I bought this toy. He’s Hardhead’s mini-me. This Legends/Legion figure here is almost a dead ringer for the Ultra-class Universe figure in both look and colour. He’s got one big advantage over Hardhead (at least pre-Headrobots-upgrade), though: he can lower the cannon on his back over his shoulder, so he’s able to actually shoot forward in robot mode.

Resemblance aside Flak is a pretty good-looking little guy. He’s as articulated as you can reasonably expect for a figure this size with his legs connecting to the hip via ball joints as well as both shoulder and elbow joints. Not quite enough for highly dynamic poses, but fully sufficient for his class. Same goes for the detailing. So bottom line: a very nice little robot.

Alternate Mode: The resemblance to Universe Hardhead continues in vehicle mode, as Flak transforms into a similar-looking APC. Okay, Flak doesn’t have twin barrels and more cameo patterns, but it’s basically the same alternate mode with a somewhat more realistic paint job.

Little more I can write here. No visible robot parts, pretty realistic looking, and the turret with the gun can turn a full 360 degrees (eat that, Guzzle!) with the gun itself being able to shoot upwards as well. Nicely done. A good, solid vehicle mode.

Remarks: Flak started out as a G1 Micromaster, had a brief growth spurt as a Voyager-sized Botcon exclusive, and now he’s back to being little in DOTM. There isn’t much in the way of character recognition value here, so for me the selling argument – considering that I’m not a big fan of either the DOTM line or the Legends/Legion class in general – was that he’s Hardhead’s mini-me. That’s really all there is to it. Still, he’s nice, he’s an original character instead of just a mini-version of a bigger DOTM toy, and he’s cheap, too. So let’s call him a mild recommendation for when you walk past the bargain bin and have a few bucks to spare.

Rating: B