Thanks to the Amazon.com Christmas sale, I was able to snag some pretty nice Transformers at a REALLY nice price. The ones that impressed me the most at that time were the Cyberverse Commanders. These are smaller figures with limited paint applications and a lower entry price, but still retain a lot of play quality. After my first couple of purchases, I decided to get some more and found Huffer for a steal. Since it's been a while, I figured today was as good a day as any to take another look at a Transformer, so let's check out Huffer! (Also, just a reminder - most of the images I upload to my reviews are pretty massive.. feel free to click on an image if you want to see it larger and in more detail!)
Transformers are generally pretty easy to figure out. They have one character trait, and then everything else is based around that. In Generation 1, Huffer was cranky. If he was on screen, he was likely upset. It was just a given. That was the entire depth of his character. Need someone to complain? Bring in Huffer! According to the Beast Hunters bio, this particular Huffer has it all and nothing to complain about - I guess time's been good to the little guy!
It's nice having Huffer in this smaller line of Transformers. When he was first released in 1984, he was part of the Autobot Mini Vehicles, which were absolutely tiny and very simplified. They had personality, but that was about it. If he went from that to a larger Voyager size, we'd all have whiplash. Instead, this is a nice in-between. He transforms into a truck/SUV, which fits with the Huffer pedigree. His first release in 1984 transformed into an orange truck.
The vehicle mode is really nice. This is actually a repaint of a previous figure, Trailcutter, which was a retool of a previous figure, Ironhide. Not hard to figure out how I got this guy so cheap. Of course, I don't have Trailcutter or Ironhide, so the figure is new for me! The truck is very stable and fun to play with. The wheels turn freely and rest on the ground, the joints are pretty well hidden considering the size, and the yellow is bright but not enough to make your eyes bleed. I call that a win!
The transformation from truck to robot isn't too hard to figure out.. especially if you've played with Transformers before. It uses some familiar gimmicks, but they are all time tested and work very well. He is packaged with an instruction sheet for transforming, but to be perfectly honest, I'd rather read stereo instructions written in Korean. They just never help me much at all.
I absolutely love the robot mode, and is really my preferred means of display. He's a bit lanky, but considering Generation 1 robot had arms that were 3/4 of his entire body, I prefer to think of it as an homage. Besides, he's a robot. He can be lanky if he wants! Stop judging him!
Uhm, where was I? Oh, right. The head adds a lot of the overall personality to the figure, with a great sculpt and really well applied paint. The blue pairs with the yellow extremely well, and the windshield makes for a nice effect on the chest. The articulation is really nice as well, allowing for plenty of fun poses if that's your thing.
He comes packaged with one of those great Cyberverse Commander weapons that I praised before. They are only one color with no paint applications, but they are multi-functional and attach to the bot in both vehicle and robot mode! You can't ask for more than a gun/sword that won't be lost. It's a great touch and something I would more than welcome with the larger Transformers. Still, the rule with Transformers is that no matter how happy you make one fan, twelve others are going to complain. Sometimes, I really feel for Hasbro.
Guys, I love this figure and, at this point, I think it's pretty safe to say that I have a huge amount of respect for the Cyberverse Commanders line in general. The transformations aren't too complicated, the modes are fully realized, and there just seems to be a love applied to them that isn't necessarily in place with other figures. I have no doubt I'll be picking up more from this line in the future and really can't recommend it enough to others. It's child friendly, pocket friendly, and just a lot of fun to fiddle with. That, my friends, is a win all around!
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1 comments:
I quit buying many of the Cyberverse Prime toys, but I just couldn't pass up Huffer! I never bought Trailbreaker, but the mold already had me intrigued. Very fun toy to "play" with.
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