RID 2015 Underbite

Robot Mode: Underbite, portraying the biggest and arguably most powerful Decepticon from the Robots in Disguise series, is… just adorable. Sorry, I had to say that. Look at him, he’s so tiny and cute! Who’s a big, bad Chompazoid? Yes, you are!

Apart from its inherent cuteness, there is not a whole lot you can do here, though. The back of the head features the lever for his spring-powered jaw, there is some very limited leg articulation, and... yeah, that’s pretty much it. Important note: Underbite’s beast/robot mode is not the “default mode” of this toy, as it needs a tensed spring to remain locked in. Transforming it a couple of times back and forth can lead to wearing out the little piece of plastic that locks the beast mode into place.

So bottom line: cute to look at, but little more than that, I fear.

Alternate Mode: Underbite folds down into a non-Earth vehicle mode, somewhat resembling a futuristic tank. It’s from here you can trigger the 1-Step automatic transformation of the figure by pressing the back legs together. The vehicle itself is nothing special, resembling the vehicle mode Underbite used in the cartoon, and that’s pretty much all I can write here. Sufficient for this figure, but no more than that.

Remarks: Underbite was the very first bad guy Team Bumblebee fought in the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon and he was a tough one. As a so-called Chompazoid he gets stronger the more metal he eats, he allegedly consumed an entire city on Cybertron, and it took assistance from Optimus Prime’s ghost to take him down. He was later freed to join Steeljaw’s gang, imprisoned again, and then freed again.

As far as the toy goes, Underbite seems to share the fate of his direct predecessor, Prime Breakdown, as being the largest of the Decepticons in the cartoon, but not getting a toy anywhere near that scale (at least Breakdown got one from Takara). Apart from this 1-Step Changer here all he has gotten so far is a Legion-class mold, nothing else. So instead of towering over everybody, he appears more like a doggy among the Warrior-class figures from RID. Too bad. Apart from the scale issue the figure isn’t bad. It’s a toy to play with for kids and it does that job pretty well, so no complaints. I just wish we’d gotten a bigger one for those of us in the double digit age range, too.

Rating: C+