Transformers War for Cybertron - Kingdom: Huffer

 

My beloved whiny orange and blue semi truck minibot from Generation 1 is finally back and sporting a brand new look. Huffer has not had a decent new mold in quite some time so I was thrilled to hear that he would be getting the deluxe treatment as part of the Transformers War for Cybertron: Kingdom series.

Huffer comes packaged in the now standard WFC type blister box similar to the Siege and Earthrise. There is a small window on the front that allows you to see the figure inside while the rest of the box is covered in some absolutely gorgeous artwork. The back of the box has two images of the figure, one for robot mode and one for vehicle mode. It lets the consumer know that in just 14 steps you can transform the figure between either mode.

Inside the package Huffer is packaged with his easy to follow instructions, a gun and claw type weapon.

I'm an thrilled with the overall look of Huffer. The designers did a great job at capturing his likeness from the old animated Sunbow television series, while still giving him a modern updated look. The colors and sculpting are spot on, even the head sculpt is fantastic. I should note that you can pull out the cab on his back a little to give his head and shoulders a little more clearance if you will. Most of the photos I took were of Huffer straight out of his packaging.

In the old show Huffer was always whining and didn't seem like much of a warrior, but this version if Huffer means business! Back in G1 the majority of the minibot characters weren't packaged with weapons so its nice to see that Huffer is finally well armed. This gun is rather big for a hand gun, so I'm imagining it as a more of a shotgun. He also comes packaged with a claw/shield that attaches to the side of his arm via a 5mm peg. Personally, I don't care for this piece so I'm glad you are able to stow it on the back of the truck's cab in robot mode if you'd like.

At first glance I loved the way his vehicle mode looked, however after messing around with the figure for a bit there are some aspects of the design that I'm not wild about. Certainly though it's an upgrade from past molds/versions of the character.

Taking a look at the front of the truck, the designers nailed the look of the grill, headlights and bumper. The translucent blue windows looks fantastic against the light orange of the body and silver accents. When we get to the rear of the truck is when my excitement starts to wane a little. The smokestacks/robot arms has always been tough to pull off and while these look OK, I'm just not crazy about the fists being exposed. So much of the robot kibble has been successfully tucked away, but the fists are just there. It's not a deal breaker, but I wish the fists could have folded into the smokestacks and been better concealed.

I also found the clearance in the front to be an issue as the wheels were really close to a gray piece that forms part of the shoulders in robot mode. I was able to work this loose a little to where the front wheels had a better range of movement. The back tail end of the truck was great with the "metal" plate for the trailer connection to the molded tail lights that are painted red. The silver wheels also look good, though the tires are pretty slim.

Huffer's gun separates into two halves and can be attached to the rear sides of his truck mode. Snap on the claw/shield to the trailer connector to complete the look. I for one can appreciate all of the accessories being self contained, but with these pieces attached Huffer looks more like a dump truck (even a certain Autobot Throttlebot).

It's comparison time! What good would it be if we didn't look at "new" Huffer alongside "old" Huffer? As you can see there is a quite a size difference between the two, but I always envisioned Huffer as being bigger than some of the other minibots like Bumblebee, Cliffjumper or Beachcomber. The head is obviously modeled after his animation model and not his G1 toy (thank you!) and the colors on Kingdom Huffer a little more muted than on his G1 self. Again, I think this is to match the animation model.

Studio Series Jazz is a fantastic toy, but I'm so backlogged that I doubt I'll get around to giving him his own review. If we're judging the height of each robot by the top of their head, they Jazz is slightly taller...and should be. Scale is always just a controversial subject with Transformers toys - some fans will be OK with this comparison while others will probably say that Huffer is oversized.

I pulled out Earthrise Optimus and WFC Netflix Bumblebee next and I'm loving this scale. Huffer should rightfully be bigger than Bumblebee. He pulled Optimus' trailer at time or two so I think he's the perfect size when compared to Optimus.

Overall I'm thrilled with Huffer. It's hard to choose a favorite as many of the figures in the current War for Cybertron trilogy have been fantastic. Huffer has always been one of my favorite characters so I may be a little biased here, but this is a must buy. He looks great in both modes and has a fun and easy transformation. If you can find him at retail, buy him...you won't be disappointed.