General Information:
Release Date: January 2010
Price Point: $7.99 (varies depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: None
Text from Hasbrotoyshop.com:
DECEPTICON scout BRAKEDOWN avoids contact with the enemy at all costs. His job is to observe and report, not fight. That’s why he’s geared for speed, not battle. Unfortunately for him, MUDFLAP has other ideas, and now he finds himself racing for his life away from the determined AUTOBOT warrior.
Add another warrior to your action-packed robot battles with this sinister BRAKEDOWN figure. Start the excitement in robot mode and then convert him into sports car vehicle so he can tear down the street in pursuit of his enemies! Ages 5 and up.
The Scout Class of figures has always been the line that allowed the cast of the Movie toy line to expand beyond those characters seen in the film. The first Movie's "Real Gear Robots" series did this and the Scout Class figures of "Revenge of the Fallen" have now arisen to fill that niche. In this case, we have a figure that is a homage to a G1 character. In G1, Breakdown (note the spelling) was a member of the fearsome five known as the Stunticons. Along with his fellow team members, he could combine into a giant robot known as Menasor. While this Scout Class figure doesn't have that capability, it does pay homage to the original Breakdown in its design. The spelling change in the name took place years ago as part of a trademark issue with the original spelling "Breakdown". Instead, the character is now named "Brakedown".
Robot Mode:
In general terms, Brakedown's design shares many of those found on G1 Breakdown. He has a rectangular shaped head with a crest in the center flanked by two thin panels on the top. His arms are formed from the sides of his vehicle mode with wheels appearing on his shoulders. His feet are formed from part of the vehicle as well with the wheels attached to the lower legs (though here they are on the back while G1 Breakdown had them on the sides).
All that said, there is no doubt that this figure is designed to fit into the Movie universe. Several design elements point to this including:
- The helmet portion of the robot head is G1 inspired with its central crest and flat panels on the sides, but his face is not traditional with a regular nose and mouth. Instead he has eyes set in an evil squint and a flat mouthplate in place of a regular mouth.
- The arms are very long in porportion to the rest of the body. If you position them straight down the sides, his fingers reach below knee level, a design that is reminiscent of Barricade from the first movie.
- The robot legs are very angular in design and his lower legs angle back slightly in another design element that is seen in many different movie figures such as Sideswipe.
Despite the above mentioned design elements it should be noted that this is one of the most "G1-esque" robot forms in the movie line. There aren't a lot of "panel on machinery" bits that are so common in movie designs. Instead many of Brakedown's parts are solid such as his chest (formed from the back of the car), the arms and the panels on his back. This type of compromise between two different aesthetics looks really cool and he is instantly recognizable as a "Breakdown" from another universe than we're used to seeing.
Brakedown does not only pay homage to his G1 counterpart in design, but also in color scheme. His main plastic colors are dark blue, black and white. The white makes up most of the parts that form vehicle mode sections such as the door panels. Dark blue is found on many of the robot parts including the head, arms and legs. Black is used for smaller parts including a hinge piece on his mid-section, his hands and on the ankle area of his legs. Red, gunmetal and gold paint are used to paint details on the figure. The eyes are gold while his face is red. The chest has a red line on it with gunmetal in the center. Below that is a small Decepticon symbol also painted in gunmetal. More of this color is found on the top of his shoulders. Interestingly, it looks like Brakedown was originally intended to have light piping on the back of his head but it was abandoned in favor of painted eyes.
Brakedown's color scheme is largley influenced by G1 Breakdown. Breakdown was mostly an off-white color with dark blue parts. Keep in mind he came from the uuage of die cast metal Transformers, so his chest was mostly die-cast and set in a gunmetal-like color. Brakedown's white is a homage to the off-white color while the other colors call back to the G1 predecessor. The most striking color difference between the two is the white. Whereas G1 Breakdown had a very off-white color, Brakedown's white is just that, pure white. It's very striking against the black and dark blue and looks great!
There are twenty one points of articulation in this mode including an unusual seven points in each arm and five in each leg. There is no waist articulation due to the way he transforms. There are no action features to speak of, basically Brakedown is highly articulated for a Scout Class figure. I really dig this color scheme as it not only uses similar paint decos as the original, but also takes the die cast metal color into account as well.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Push each robot foot up.
- Swing each forearm section up against the upper arm, making sure to connect the panels of the vehicle mode door.
- Rotate the lower legs so his feet face each other, then connect the two sections together.
- Swing the blue piece connected to the black hinged section in the middle of the body up.
- Swing the robot head back.
- Swing the panel on his back forward on top of the section where the head was.
- Rotate the windshield panel so it faces forward and push it down in the middle.
- Swing the hip/waist section so the legs point forward, bringing the front section of the car up.
- Rotate the robot arms up and then swing the panels forward, locking them into place using the clips towards the front.
Vehicle Mode:
Brakedown's vehicle mode is a rather sleek looking exotic style car, similar to G1 Breakdown who transformed into a Lamborghini. Indeed, the two characters share a few design elements in this mode just as they did in robot mode. The front end of the car has an indentation on the hood's center section that widens out at angles on either side. Towards the back the middle is an indented section with layered panels sculpted inside the indentation and behind that is a sleek looking spoiler. All three of these features are found on G1 Breakdown and they're so prominant that any G1 fan who sees this vehicle mode would instantly know who it is based on.
There are details on this vehicle mode that do not come from a Lamborghini, but do harkenback to the designs of other exotic cars. There are three raised details on the sides that sweep back into a thin line. Mclaren F1 super cars are known to have similar designs on their sides. The round rear lights remind me of those on a Corvette and the angled headlights are reminscent of those on a Koenigsegg CCR (though I'm sure its inspiration could come from many other vehicles with similar headlights). Overall, it's a very cool blend of design elements that instantly scream "exotic sports car"!
The primary color in this mode is white, with black for the tires. The windows are painted black and the rear layers of panels are gunmetal. The spokes on his wheels are silver, as are the headlights and the Decepticon symbol on the hood. The middle of the hood is painted red, , a bit of a callback to a similar detail on G1 Breakdown that was colored orange. The Decepticon symbol is also off to the right side, a detail Brakedown shares with his G1 counterpart. The rear lights are painted red, with another Decepticon symbol where the license plate would be. The color scheme is simple, and it manages to pay homage to its G1 predecessor very well.
Final Thoughts:
Brakedown is definitely a fun figure. He is a fantastic reimagining of G1 Breakdown while retaining enough elements of both the G1 and Movie universes to serve as a happy medium between the two. He's a fun figure in his own right, with a fun transformation and good articulation. Add to that fantastic sculpting and you've got yourself one highly recommended figure!
