Hunt for the Decepticons Axor

 

My Review:

Prelude: First off, Axor here is a repaint of ROTF Lockdown, who has since been repurposed as G1 Lockdown, but was given a new head, weapon, and paintjob as a homage to G1 Actionmaster Axer.

Robot Mode: Axor is very tall for a Deluxe-class robot, due to the fact that he is very thin and uses the entire length of his car mode (see below) as legs. His upper legs and arms are especially spindly, but this hurts neither his look nor his balance. Big feet give him a solid stance and he is as agile as a contortionist, able to adopt all sorts of poses. Like many ROTF figures (and repaints based on them) he has chicken-leg knees, but again it doesn’t hurt the figure in the slightest.

Like Lockdown he has the engine of his car mode on one arm as a weapon. Unlike Lockdown his other arm does not end in a hook, but rather a double-bladed battle axe. Finally the new head just looks awesome, as Axor has a ton of detailing there, including very funky-looking facetted eyes. Nicely done. So bottom line: a very nice robot mode.

Alternate Mode: Axor naturally transforms into the same kind of heavily pimped-out and spike-dotted muscle car as Lockdown, just in grey. There is a lot of detailing here as well with the numerous spikes, the exposed engine, and headlights behind the transparent plastic up front. All in all a very nice car mode, no complaints at all.

Remarks: Revenge of the Fallen as a toy line had a very strong Voyager-class of figures, but a number of Deluxe figures also stood out as brilliant. Lockdown was among them, so it was inevitable that he’d get a repaint as well. The choice of using an old G1 Actionmaster as a basis is a bit strange, but the resulting toy looks very nifty. Bottom line: not a must if you already own Lockdown, but unless you’re completely opposed to the Movie-style of Transformers, one of these figures should grace your shelves.

Rating: B+

---

And for a second opinion, the review by Caked-Up:

Overview: Axor is a retool and repaint of the ROTF Lockdown mold I reviewed already, so you can look there for a full review. Axor retains all of Lockdown’s strengths and weaknesses (like arms popping off at random) as a toy, but his coloring and minor retooling really make him look like a new figure. I have taken some extra steps to differentiate Axor from Lockdown. I don’t bring the wheels back in place, I don’t rotate the right arm kibble, and I also don’t fully extend his head. His new head appears to be a dead ringer for the Action Master Axer, but there are some horns (with light piping) on top. I don’t know why those are there, but they add to the “vicious” image. One nifty point on his face though is that the eyes have a texture on them. He has a double bladed axe on his arm instead of Lockdown’s hook. It really works for me and the whirlwind blade master persona.

The car mode is just as sweet as the robot mode. The main color is obviously an unpainted grey, but it appears to have a shiny clear coat on it. Though it is lacking some paint on all of the exhaust pipes, the engine block and the rear windows are painted in this time. However, I swapped the EMP’s (not pictured) between the two because I feel the all grey one fits his overall color scheme better and vice versa. The grey does make the transformation seams stand out, which kind of drags him down.

Conclusion: The original Lockdown figure is my favorite Decepticon Deluxe figure to date. Axor makes for a great retool and repaint, but this mold seems to me to be specifically tailored only to Lockdown. The Frankenstein’s monster design doesn’t work for Axor the way it did for Lockdown. The story goes that at some point Axor was Lockdown’s student and that he later rebuilt himself in Lockdown’s image, but it really makes Axor a bit of a stalker so that lowers his grade just a notch. Nevertheless, buy him on sight, period.

Robot Grade: A-
Alt Mode Grade: A-
Overall Grade: A-