Legacy Leadfoot

Series: Legacy Wreck'n'Rule Collection
Allegiance: Autobot
Category: Deluxe
Year: 2022

Prelude: While generally regarded as an economic failure, the Generation 2 line of Transformers toys produced some interesting gimmicks and characters, many of whom fans still fondly remember today. Enter Leadfoot, a member of Generation 2’s Rotor-Force back in the day, who now returns as part of Amazon’s Wreck’n’Rule subline. So grab your rotor (if you have one) and let’s say wreck and rule!

Robot Mode: Let us start by saying that Leadfoot here is a retool of Kingdom Mirage, whom I have already written a review about. A rather negative one, too. Much of it was the lack of a port for the shoulder missile, the unnecessarily complicated transformation, and the unfinished look from the back. Well, as a retool Leadfoot naturally shares most of these things, but to be fair: The original G2 Leadfoot never had a shoulder missile, so there is that.

Now here I would have liked to give you a comparison picture with G2 Leadfoot, seeing as I own that figure, too, and have written a review about him, but I couldn’t find him for some reason. Went through all my boxes and shelves, he’s not there. Probably will turn up five minutes after I put this review online, isn’t that how these things always go?

Anyway, much like Mirage, Leadfoot’s robot mode works pretty well if you look at him from the front. The new head is a very good fit for the character he portrays. He also has that fake racing car front as his chest with the number 93 on it. 93 because the original G2 Leadfoot toy came out in nineteen-ninety-…eh…four. So… I guess 93 is just a general homage to the Generation 2 line then? Yeah, let’s go with that. Anyway, Leadfoot has great articulation as a robot and comes armed with the same weapons as Mirage, namely a (non-firing) missile launcher and a rifle.

And this takes us to my major gripe with this figure: where is the rotor? The whole thing about the G2 Rotor-Force, of which Leadfoot was a member, was that they fired spinning rotor blades at their enemies to slice them apart. So where is Leadfoot’s rotor? Well, he doesn’t have it. I guess the part count was eaten up by his package made Masterdominus? No idea. So we have a homage to a G2 Rotor-Force figure with no rotor. Take that however you want.

Still, I like this robot, both for the homage, the nice head sculpt, and the color scheme, too. Yeah, he’s got hollow legs with most of the car mode stuffed into them and an open-looking back, but he’s still a nice-looking robot. With no rotor.

Alternate Mode: Unsurprisingly Leadfoot transforms into the same F1-type race car as Mirage did, just with a different paint job. Another thing Leadfoot has over Mirage, though: unlike Mirage, Leadfoot actually has his number on both the fake vehicle front he uses as a robot chest and the real one. Sure, no Autobot symbol on the car, but he’s supposed to be in disguise here, people, so that works.

Nothing else that’s new here, though. Same somewhat unnecessarily complex transformation, same car, same weapons to be mounted on said car. Nothing else I can write here that I haven’t already written in Mirage’s review. So bottom line, a good car mode.

Remarks: Leadfoot scored a few appearances in the original G2 comics from Marvel and has since appeared in both IDW continuities, as well as IDW’s sequel to the Marvel comics, Regeneration One. In the latter he was a part of the Wreckers, so it does make sense that he was released as part of Amazon’s exclusive Wreckers subseries. Though why he shares a two-pack with Masterdominus is anyone’s guess.

At the end of the day Leadfoot is nothing more and nothing less than a retool of Mirage. If you liked that figure and/or enjoy the (sadly incomplete) Generation 2 homage here, than Leadfoot is worth a look, Me, I bought the two-pack at a discount because I liked the G2 homage, nothing more to it than that. A decent figure, but would really have needed something extra (like a rotor) to push him into “good” territory.

Rating: C+