Review; Transformers Legacy Dragstrip

 Combiners have been a part of the Transformers brand that I have always awed over and just loved the idea of. Robots combining to form more powerful beings? Yes please! Huge Titans like Bruticus and Superion and even the most iconic of the Combiners, Devastator! I loved them all and loved the themes that they had as well. But unfortunately I have always missed out on them. I was born too late for the G1 combiners, I never had the Beast Wars pair, skipped RID2001, somehow didn't notice the combiners in Energon, and then fell out of transformers and didn't back into it until Netflix's War for Cybertron, just missing the Prime Wars Trilogy and all the combiners in it. So the announcement that Transformers Legacy will feature the Stunticons and their combined form, Menasor (parts sold seperately), I was excited to have the chance to own my first ever combiner. So today we have the first of the Stunticons to be released, Dragstrip!

I have made the realisation that this is the first and only toy I've gotten so far from the main Legacy line, Scourge, Burn-Out and Cosmos where from the Velocitron Speedia 500 Subline, Silverstreak was from Buzzworthy Bumblebee, Lift-Ticket was from the Generation Selects subline and I got the Kingdom Blaster and Hot Rod. So with Dragstrip, we have this amazing neon packaging with beautiful artwork and the usual product shots on the back. Being part of Hasbro's greener initiative, the box is window doesn't have a plastic screen or plastic ties, which once again, I'm all for.

Out of the box, this is a beautiful mould and I love the design. It's like he has jumped out of the 80's cartoon. The combination of colours really suit the design of the toy and really help it stand out amongst the Decepticon ranks, Especially my Decepticons, which are mostly shades of black or blue. The detailing on the toy is magnificent, the panelling details on the legs help break up what is sometimes a blocky design on other variations of this character, the chest engine block is brilliant and really helps break up the figure. I am really glad that HasTak apply the panel details to these moulds, for if they where to go for a fully animation accurate look, the toys wouldn't be much to look at.

Articulation is everything you expect. Head is on a peg so can only rotate, shoulders are on butterfly joints, so can raise to 90 degrees and rotate fully. Dragstrip here has bicep rotation and an elbow joint going slightly beyond 90 degrees but no wrist swivel. Dragstrip has waist rotation, and the hips allow for full splits as well as fully forwards and fully back kicking. Dragstrip also has thigh rotation as well as a fully achievable 90 degree knee joint, along with ankle rotation, and due to transformation, the feet can tilt back.

Transformation is a nice process and I quite enjoy it. Rotate the panels on the forearms so they stick out past the fists, then rotate the wheels on the shoulders to fill in the gap on the upper arm. The parts above the shoulders can be rotated, then the chest plate along with the head then unclips forward, which allows the shoulders to be brought up and clicked together in a big shrug, with the panels over the wrist clicking in above the hip. The chest piece then rotates round and the head can be flipped down into the gap. then using a double hinge, the chest piece is brought out over the engine block and clicks in above the hip, and the top half is transformed. For the legs, rotate the hips 180 degrees, the feet are flipped back fully, and the panels at the front of the legs can be opened. CLip the legs together, and using a double hinge, the shins fold over the thighs and the panels can be closed to conceal.

Et viola, we have this beautiful F1 race car styled vehicle, and I love it, I love the design of F1 cars and this is no exception. The design is beautifully aerodynamic and flat to ground, while still able to roll. We have the Decepticon logo nice and prominent at the front for everyone to see. The red striping really helps break up the yellow as well as giving  it the race car vibe, along with the use of a darker yellow to help break up the yellow as well. The rear engine block is nicely detailed and a nice surprise when transforming as the block in is in the chest in robot mode. I really like that the Robot head being hollowed out, possibly to save on plastic, has been utilised as the bucket seat of the car, a really nice detail.

The only accessories that Dragstip comes with are duel blasters in a really nice black and purple. Both blasters share the same mould, but they have little tabs on the one side that allow for the blasters to be combined and form a double barrelled blaster for Dragstrip to use. In robot mode the blasters can be stored on the holes on the back of the torso, or in vehicle mode, they can be mounted on either side of the rear engine block, or tabbed together and placed on one side of the block.

Overall this is a great toy, fun and simple to transform, highly artigulated, great detailing and effort put into it. Even if you aren't interested in getting the complete Menasor set (which with the price of Motormaster, I don't blame anyone), I highly recommend picking up Dragstrip, or the recently revealed repaint, Shadowstip, based on Drapstrip's cancelled G2 toy, which has a very nice paint deco and I haven't decided if I'll get it or not.

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