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Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Action Master
Year: 1990
Know your enemy and victory is yours!
Sprocket is programmed to take fast, forceful action and no prisoners. This fierce warrior doesn't withdraw from a battlefield until he's covered it with the smoking wreckage of Decepticons. He drives a rebuilt, all-terrain Attack Cruiser which has the standard supply of two photon rifles, metal-immobilizing magnetic rockets, and bumper energy shields. The Attack Cruiser converts into a vector-thrust hovercopter, armed with front-moounted plasma-pulse machine guns.
Robot Mode: Sprocket is an Actionmaster, so the actual Sprocket figure is a non-transformable robot. Elements of his body suggest that he was at one time meant to transform into a jet of some kind. He has a cockpit on his torso and his legs suggest engines. No transforming here, though, so Sprocket is just a robot. The orange, black and white color scheme does look pretty good on him, though, and I do like his overall look.
Posability is the same as it is for all Actionmasters. He can turn his head, move his arms at the shoulders, and his legs at the hips and knees. Not bad, but there are Transformers that can pose better than that AND transform, too, and I'm not just talking about today's figures (Perceptor or Snapdragon come to mind among others). Sprocket can use the two big missiles from his vehicle as oversized rifles. They look pretty good on him, but that's pretty much it in terms of what you can do with this robot figure.
Partner / Add-On: The appeal of this figure isn't necessarily the robot itself, but rather the vehicle that accompanies him. It's a green jeep that transforms into a helicopter. The whole thing reminds me more of a M.A.S.K. vehicle than a Transformer, but it's still pretty fun. While you'd never confuse either car or helicopter with the real thing, but are nicely detailed, fun-looking and decently designed. If the whole thing could turn into a robot, too... but that's neither here nor there. So overall I do like Sprocket's ride quite a bit, but like I said, it'd be more at home in the M.A.S.K. line than as a Transformer.
Remarks: The Actionmasters were Hasbro's last-ditch effort to revitalize the dying Transformers line in 1990, but like the Micromasters before them, they didn't really take with the fans. The Actionmaster concept was used during the final issues of the Marvel comics series, but quickly dropped afterwards and none of the original characters created for this subline (such as Sprocket) ever made an in-media appearance. Recently IDW has begun using some Actionmasters and Sprocket made a cameo as one of the guards of the Garrus-9 prison facility.
I've never been a big fan of the Actionmaster concept and Sprocket is in fact only the second Actionmaster I currently own. I bought him cheap as part of a larger lot on ebay, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. That said, though, I find myself somewhat liking him, more for his vehicle than the actual figure. It's probably M.A.S.K. nostalgia on my part. So if you're a fan of the Actionmasters (I've yet to meet one, but there is a first time for everything) or like myself a fan of M.A.S.K., Sprocket might just be worth a Euro or two on ebay. Otherwise, though, hands off.
Rating: C
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