Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015.
Modes: Robot, Advanced Life Support
(ALS) vehicle, Arm, and Leg.
Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb,
Off Road style.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle,
combiner, 5mm weaponry, C Clip functionality, a pack-in comic in the
USA.
Points of Interest: A heavy retool of
Off Road from wave 2.
The Good
First Aid is actually a more through
reworking than initial impressions suggest, and shines in vehicle
mode. With all the vehicle bits replaced, First Aid makes for a
convincing ALS/paramedic vehicle, one that isn't afraid to drive in
the mud. This helps to separate him from the better known Ratchet,
(so far,) and similarities to Offroad are downplayed. While retaining
a roof tab to mount the combiner piece, C clip rungs are also present
in a most pleasant surprise, and are in a useful position for arm
mode. The robot mode ticks the right boxes too, the head being great,
with fourteen joints, and the "bonnet bonnet" evoking the
G1 original. And let us not forget, Offroad was a solid deluxe in the
first place, so the fundamentals are there.
The Bad
His most extensive areas of retooling
involve the arms and back legs, which seems to have exacerbated a problem
Off Road had with pegging those bits together, not to mention the
kibble around there. Getting things flush in vehicle or arm mode took practice, and there's an unsightly gap in his belt
buckle. He's also some lost some play value in the process, as he
no-longer has the 5mm arm ports. Quality control meanwhile is a bit
suspect, with some misapplied red paint splotches on the hands. The
back windows and hubcaps are regrettably unpainted too.
The Mediocre
These weapons are of course inherited
from Off Road, which while perfectly fine, don't necessarily suit the
character. Perhaps they could have done a pistol, or a legislator
cannon like from that infamous scene, but an axe and combiner piece
is okay.
The Alternatives
First Aid is one of the few CW toys not
to have multiple reuses so far, although Off Road has three. This
combined with his status as G1 character with a strong IDW comic
presence makes him a hard dude to replace without spoiling the
Protectobot theme. Technically, any CW deluxe can however, as can the
Japanese release.
The Verdict
While I'd like to pin the blame on the backend being annoying to assemble, rather than any real issue, First Aid is my least favourite Protectobot. There's
definitely been a lot of effort expended in making him as unique as
he can be from Off Road, but not all change is welcome. That said,
he's still got merit, and he certainly doesn't count as a negative to
the team overall.
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