Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Brakedown

QUICK INFO:
Name: Brakedown
Line: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
Year: 2010
Price: $7.99

Bio: 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.

Strength: 4 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 8 Endurance: 4

Rank: 3 Courage: 7 Firepower: 2 Skill: 9

I'm not a big fan of the movie themed Transformers, but I have to give Hasbro & Takara Tomy credit with the scout class figures. Today we'll take a look at a fan favorite and how he compares to his Generation 1 (G1) homage.

Brakedown comes packaged in the standard Revenge of the Fallen style blister. Back of the card gives you his bio as well as his Tech Specs. I really miss the function and motto aspects of the old Tech Specs.

Brakedown is pretty good. My first impression right out of the package is that he is in line with other ROTF scouts, but not the best. The white plastic is very bright and the it helps make the blue used on the arms, legs and waist really stand out. The arms are rather long and at least to me it takes away from the overall look of the robot mode. There are slots on the inside part of the hands that allow him to wield Skystalker's hand weapons. Nice touch. Another thing about the arms I don't care for are the car doors/windows that literally hang off. Most of the car kibble is hidden so to speak on the back of the toy.

He has a good bit of articulation in robot mode. His head spins a full 360 degrees and can be positioned up and down a little bit. Shoulders rotate forward and back and 360 degrees. Waist piece doesn't rotate, but does let the upper half move back and forth. Legs are articulated at the waist connector and at the knees. The toes move enough to help support several different poses. The only Decepticon symbol viewable in robot mode is on his chest in the license plate area of the rear bumper. Like most of the movie toys it is a simple silver color and not the iconic Decepticon purple.

Brakedown's head only shares the same color scheme as his Generation One (G1) counterpart, Breakdown. Gone is the square shaped head. The head sculpt does a good job at making the Decepticon look evil though.

Rear view of Brakedown. As you can see there is a lot of car kibble in robot mode. Thankfully the kibble doesn't make too large of a back pack and blends in well with the rest of the figure. This view does give you a better idea of how the transformation occurs which in my opinion is one of the highlights of this toy.

Comparison time! Brakedown is much larger in robot mode then Breakdown is. The color scheme is spot on however. While some liberties were taken with Brakedown's robot mode there are enough similarities (outside the deco) where one not familiar with the Transformers history could see how these two are related.

I don't normally talk a lot about the transformation process in my toy reviews of Transformers, but I had to mention of this particular transformation. Usually the smaller class figures have a more simplified process, but Brakedown bucks that trend. Since he's packaged in robot mode we'll look at the steps to take him from robot mode to vehicle mode.

1) Straighten the arms so the car doors are in line with the sides of the shoulders. Flip his feet up and pull down the front part of the car behind his feet.

2) Flip the head back into the designated hole.

3) Rotate the legs inward.

4) Snap the two hood pieces together forming the front of the vehicle.

5) Pointing the vehicle down, flip the windshield portion up.

6) Take the sides of the vehicle and flip them up so the spoiler portion on the rear of the vehicle snaps together with the sides.

7) Take the portion of the car that is still hanging down and rotate the waist portion out just a smidge.

8) Flip the rest of the vehicle up so it is in line with rear and sides.

9) At this point the car should be coming together. The windshield should be pointing towards the rear spoiler now. Rotate it 180 degrees to the front and snap it into place.

10) Take each side now and fold it in and snap the sides into place.

Brakedown is a stylish sports car. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be any certain make or model. There is enough sculpting on the car to resemble a Lamborghini Countach which his G1 counterpart is, but there is also enough different about the design to make it not look like a Lamborghini. It's rather small and compact, but it's no smaller than any other scout class figure. The wheels are rather free wheeling which adds to the play value.

I have to say the designers did a good job hiding the robot bits on the underside of the vehicle. It's nice and compact and nothing really protrudes out.

Comparison time! I love the vehicle mode of both toys. In this mode you can really tell the difference in the shade of white. Breakdown is a more creamy off white while Brakedown is more of a bright snow white. Hasbro did a good job with the red portion on the hood of the vehicle. I noticed on mine however some rather heavy scratching on the hood just to the right of the red. I'm guess this is from how the parts move during transformation. I have no idea of others have had this problem or not, but it was a bit of a bummer to see it all nicked up since I just popped it out of the packaging today for this review.

In closing I have to say Hasbro did a good job with this figure. While the robot mode is lacking in a few areas the overall design and transformation make this a fun little toy. I've yet to run across a scout class figure in the Revenge of the Fallen line that I don't like. Brakedown wasn't as good as I was hoping he'd be, but he still is a solid addition to the line. The Generation One homages are great and it is always fun to see old characters re-envisioned using modern toy technology. I recommend this toy to all.