Cybertron Brakedown

*Showing young whippersnappers how to race!*

Series: Cybertron
Year: 2005
Allegiance: Autobot
Class: Scout

An old racer on his last lap, Brakedown was the fastest around in his day. He knows every inch of track on the Speed Planet, and while his systems can't keep up with the supercharged speed of younger robots this old speed demon's still got one or two tricks up his sleeve. With his pipes rusting through and his suspension growing brittle with age, he's got to rely on Clocker, to whom he's passed his knowledge of the Great Race.

Prelude: One of the most popular archetypes in many stories is the old coot. The old guy who yells at kids (or ‘young whipper snappers` more likely) to get off his lawn and starts most of his sentences with “Well, in my day…” or “This reminds me of…”. In the Cybertron cartoon, that role was filled by Brakedown, veteran of the Speed Planet’s races. So start your engines and let’s say go!

Robot Mode: I wrote a review for Cybertron Brakedown GTS, Brakedown’s Kup-themed repaint, way back in 2006 when that figure was first released. Given that eighteen years have passed, I think we can take another full look at this figure.

Brakedown is a Scout-Class robot, meaning he’s about the size of a small Deluxe by today’s standards. His primary colors are grey and a very dark brown, with several yellow highlights, chief among them the big transparent wheels on his shoulders. The fact that he becomes some kind of car is easily apparent, both by the wheels and the fact that he has a six cylinder engine instead of sixpack abs. Brakedown’s face sports a beard (though no mustache), enhancing his look as an older bot.

Articulation is quite nice, Brakedown is ball-jointed throughout and even has articulated feet. He does carry a significant backpack, but has no balancing issues because of it. The backpack is as big as it is only due to his weapon, which he can remove and hold in hand. Slot in his Speed Planet Cyberkey, and his Racing Saber flips out, a transparent yellow blade. Not the most exciting Cyberkey gimmick, but it works just fine without taking anything away from the figure itself. With the blade folded in, the weapon can also function as a firearm if you want, and is sculpted to resemble an engine block.

Brakedown is a very nice Scout-Class robot with but one minor flaw. In vehicle mode (see below), his weapon is clipped inside the grey harness that becomes his backpack, but you need to take it out in order to transform him. Once in robot mode, the weapon can only be clipped to the outside of his backpack, making it significantly bigger than it is in vehicle mode. This, I think, could have been done a bit more elegantly. It’s just a minor thing, though.

Bottom line: a good Scout-Class robot mode.

Alternate Mode: Brakedown transforms into a futuristic dragster. The engine sits on the long front, there is a pilot seat in the middle, and a broader, slightly elevated rear with much bigger rear wheels. Having transparent wheels was a unifying standard for the racers of Velocitron, and even his tiny front wheels are made from transparent plastic.

The vehicle mode manages to look both sufficiently alien, while at the same time clearly being a racing vehicle, so thumbs up for that. The sculpting of both engines (the front one is the weapon, the one that is Brakedown’s belly in robot mode is now on the rear) is very nice and there are no visible robot bits unless you look at it from the bottom. Brakedown’s racing saber works in this mode, too, though you have to unclip the engine block first, because the Cyberkey slot is blocked by the cockpit otherwise.

Bottom line: a nice little race car mode. I like it.

Remarks: In the Cybertron cartoon, Brakedown, along with his young protégé Clocker, was one of the first Speed Planet natives encountered by the Autobots. He was of crucial aid to Hot Shot when it came to winning the Great Race and gaining the Velocitron Cyber Planet Key. While he did not join Team Prime on their later journeys, he was instrumental in locating the starship Ogygia, the original colonization ship that brought the Transformers to Velocitron, and he was part of the final battle against Galvatron as well.

When I wrote the review for Brakedown’s GTS repaint back in the day, I mostly considered him as my “Classics Kup”, if I’m honest, seeing as there weren’t really any alternatives to G1 Kup back then and Brakedown never sported that paintjob in the cartoon. This one here, though, is Brakedown as seen during the (very, very long) Great Race on Velocitron and I like him a lot. Recommended to fans of the Cybertron / Galaxy Force cartoon and toyline, as well as people who just enjoy a fun little dragster bot.

Rating: B+