Series: Generations Thrilling 30
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Voyager
Year: 2014
Ask this Autobot who his greatest enemy is and he won't name a Decepticon. He'll say it's boredom. To him, there's simply nothing more entertaining than turning a few Decepticons into a smoldering pile of scrap-and he never misses a chance to pursue his favorite pastime. Few Autobots are more eager to hurl themselves into combat, and fewer still have accomplished more on the field of battle.
Robot Mode: Generations Roadbuster is, of course, a homage to the original G1 Roadbuster toy, which was based on the Mugen Calibur from Takatoku Toys. The Generations update is largely faithful to the G1 original, displaying a similar shape, similar colors and similar amount of weapons. The head design is slightly different and I would have liked a closer resemblance to the original here, but it’s close enough to see the resemblance.
Look-wise I have little to complain about here, as I loved the look of the original Roadbuster and thus very much like this one here as well. He also comes with numerous weapons with standard 5mm pegs that he can mount on numerous places on his body. The weapons can also be combined. To somewhat replicate the look of the original robot, Roadbuster also comes with numerous stickers to enhance the detailing. If you want you can replace his red Autobot chest symbol with a blue Wreckers symbol, too. Very nicely done.
The only downside to this robot comes in terms of articulation. In theory Roadbuster is very nicely articulated, but in practice there are several limitations. The orange plates on his thighs hinder his leg movement. His forearm swivels are very, very tight. And his shoulder joints are... strange. They work, yes, but you somehow always get the impression they’re about to break. So bottom line: a great robot in terms of looks, but with some limitations on the engineering side.
Alternate Mode: Roadbuster transforms into a military-style off road vehicle. It’s not quite that giant open jeep the original figure became, but close enough. The vehicle looks very holistic, no visible robot parts, and all the weapons can be mounted here as well. There is tons of detailing to be found here, too. So bottom line: a very nice looking vehicle mode, no complaints at all.
Remarks: There has been a Roadbuster as far back as 1985 and in pretty much every G1-based comic book series he was a member of the Autobots’ elite special forces unit, the Wreckers. He has never gotten much characterization apart from “likes to fight”, but somehow that has sufficed to not only make him into a lasting character, but to also score him a new Voyager-class toy in the 2014 Generations series.
As a toy Roadbuster is a bit of a mixed blessing. Overall he is a nice figure and I don’t regret getting him. I just feel that some minor changes to the robot mode could have made him even better, especially in terms of articulation. Better shoulder joints and some modifications to those thigh plates would have worked wonders. Still, it’s Roadbuster. I like Roadbuster, so I got me a Roadbuster. Not a must-have, but a good figure.
Rating: B-
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