RID 2001 Prowl (Deluxe)

Series: Robots in Disguise
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Deluxe
Year: 2001

You can run but you can't hide!
Prowl cruises the streets searching for enemy acitivity. His ultra-sensitive radars can detect the hum of a circuit from the other side of town. And once he locates them, they had better start running before he takes aim with his advanced weaponry. He can sabotage Decepticon plots with his electronic systems for jamming radios or hacking into systems.

Robot Mode: Prowl makes for a slightly strange looking robot. He is a so-called shell-former, meaning that most of his car mode parts are folded away in some way or other. He is a lean, almost spindly figure with a huge backpack and lots of kibble hanging off of him, such as the car doors on his hips and the rear of the car on his left arm.

The detailing on him is quite nice (such as the exhaust pipes on his chest becoming mobile cannons) and his posability is exceptional, even though the ball joints give him some stability problems, seeing as he is very top-heavy. All in all a mixed blessing in robot mode, but the good does outweigh the bad in my personal opinion.

Alternate Modes: Prowl transforms into a sleek Japanese police cruiser. The vehicle looks very realistic, has rubber tires, wing doors, and even some interior detailing with Prowl's robot feet becoming the seats. In order to enhance the car you can put Prowl's dual missile launchers on the rear spoiler, either facing forward as weapons or backward as booster units. The car mode is very nicely done and, after the lengthy 'Beast'-era of Transformers toys, signalled the return to true vehicle modes.

Remarks: In Transformers, whenever you have an Autobot that transforms into a police car, odds are it will be called Prowl. So, too, did the Japanese Car Robot Mach Alert receive the classic G1 name when it came to marketing him in Europe and America. In the cartoon series Prowl did little except constantly remind people what laws or regulations they have broken recently, but as one of the three Autobot Brothers he did see a lot of screentime.

As a toy Prowl is kind of a mixed blessing. His great posability and detailing is somewhat offset by his proportions and the huge amount of kibble. I guess it's a matter of personal taste whether you like this figure or not. Personally I do like him. He has no real weaknesses except purely asthetic ones and while I wouldn't go so far as to call him in any way exceptional, he's quite solid. I do recommend him to Prowl-fanatics and fans of car-Transformers, but make up your own mind on this one.

Rating: B