G1 Throttlebots

Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Throttlebot
Year: 1987

 

I've decided to somewhat change my usual review format for this special case here. The Throttlebots consist of six different robots, but they are very similar, so doing six different reviews for them would be somewhat superfluous. At the same time each does deserve his own name in capital letters somewhere, so there'll be no huge imagemap here, just a list of the six members of this team and pictures plus some words for each of them.

The Throttlebots as a group take their name from the fact that each features a wind-up engine. Just pull the car (or robot) back on the floor and let it rip. They're also infamous for being possibly the least-posable Transformers ever. They can't pose. At all. They're bricks. All six of them. Well, they can move their arms a bit, sort of a flapping motion where they pull their shoulders back and forward, but that's just the transformation, nothing else. So no posability. None at all. That's bad even for a G1 toy.

Just for the record: I only got this group here as part of a larger Generation 1 lot, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. The Throttlebots came out in 1987 and did actually appear in both the original cartoon's season 3 finale "The Return of Optimus Prime" and the Japanese Headmaster series. The toys were reissued in 1991 as part of Europe's "Classic Heroes" series, though God alone knows why. Now for the individual Throttlebots. Here we go in alphabetical order:

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CHASE

Allegiance: Autobots
Toyline: Generation 1
Subline: Throttlebots
Year: 1987

Chase transforms into a red sports car. I'm not a hundred percent sure whether that Ferrari sticker whose sorry remains grace the hood was meant to be there or just applied by the previous owner. Chase certainly doesn't look like a Ferrari. In robot mode (if it can be called that) Chase has a very nicely sculpted head and the blue and gold colors nicely add to the otherwise red-and-black color scheme, but that's pretty much it in terms of positive aspects. Chase might actually be my favorite Throttlebot, but that isn't saying all that much, mind you.

Rating: D

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FREEWAY

Allegiance: Autobots
Toyline: Generation 1
Subline: Throttlebots
Year: 1987

Freeway transforms into pretty much the same car Chase does, only the windows are painted a bit differently and he's blue instead of red. Unlike Chase, though, his head isn't nearly as nicely sculpted and is mostly grey, which adds nothing to his boring blue-grey paint job. Freeway is pretty close to the bottom of the list when it comes to ranking the Throttlebots. He's not the worst, but he's far from the best, either.

Rating: F+

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GOLDBUG

Allegiance: Autobots
Toyline: Generation 1
Subline: Throttlebots
Year: 1987

Goldbug is the only Throttlebot even remotely interesting as a character, seeing as (in most continuities) he's an upgraded version of Bumblebee. So depending on which continuity you favor, Bumblebee was destroyed by Superion/G.I.Joe/Death's Head and then rebuilt by a Quintesson/G.I.Joe/Wreck-Gar in this new form. He's still a VW Beetle in vehicle mode (or something somewhat resembling that vehicle), but he's even less posable than the G1 Bumblebee toy was. Still, he's got a nicely sculpted head and, as I said, some character appeal, so he shares the top spot among the Throttlebots with Chase.

Rating: D

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ROLLBAR

Allegiance: Autobots
Toyline: Generation 1
Subline: Throttlebots
Year: 1987

Rollbar transforms into a brown/olive green jeep, which means he at least has a somewhat singular vehicle mode among his fellow Throttlebots. He looks like a mixture between Hound and Brawn, at least superficially. Of course he's the same kind of immobile brick as the rest of the guys, but one has to drag the few slightly positive things out into the light here, otherwise I could have just written "They suck!" under the Throttlebot heading and been done. So Rollbar at least manages the Top 3 in his team.

Rating: D-

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SEARCHLIGHT

Allegiance: Autobots
Toyline: Generation 1
Subline: Throttlebots
Year: 1987

Searchlight is the third sports car in this sextett, but at least he features some sculpted details on his car mode such as a rear spoiler and additional headlights. Not that you'd notice at first glance, because his uniform white paint job pretty much swallows up most of his details. His dark blue head somewhat breaks up the monotony in robot mode, but not by much. So Searchlight doesn't earn much in the way of bonus points here, putting him near the bottom of the pile. But not at the bottom, that place is reserved for our sixth and final Throttlebot.

Rating: F+

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WIDELOAD

Allegiance: Autobots
Toyline: Generation 1
Subline: Throttlebots
Year: 1987

Wideload earns the dubious distinction of being the worst member of the worst gimmick team in the history of Generation 1, maybe the Transformers franchise as a whole. His alternate mode is a dumb truck and that manages to at least more or less look like what it's supposed to. But whereas the other Throttlebots at least manage to look somewhat humanoid in shape when transforming into robot mode, Wideload... well, he's pretty much an orange square with a head on top. His legs and arms are barely recognisable as such. If not for the head on top you'd never even guess that this is supposed to be a robot mode. So if you should own Wideload, put him at the very bottom of your 'unwanted' box or sell him for a penny at the nearest flea market. You'll get nothing for him on ebay.

Rating: F