A Concise Review of ROTF Breakdown In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Scout, 2009.

Modes: Robot and Sportscar.

Transformation Style: Shelformer, bonnet becomes legs.

Play Patterns: Robot and car.

Points Of Interest: A bayverse tribute to the G1 character of the same name.

The Good
Breakdown's altmode is in the top tier for ROTF scouts, mainly on looks. Its a fictionalised but undeniably attractive supercar, with plenty of paint, and it suits the name. The robot brings Breakdown's blue to the table, and has a quite comprehensive nineteen joints. This is partially due to the transformation, which is somewhat involved for the size, but quite intuitive. It's also an interesting inverse on the classical carformer style.

The Bad
Applying G1 elements to bayformer design aesthetics is like adding oil to water at the best of times, and Breakdown suffers badly for this. Not only does he have gorilla arms, he's got some massive and unsightly vehicle panels hanging off him. The backpack is the worst area, sticking out further than the torso is tall, but the arms are in your face. Ground clearance is car mode is minimal due to a transformation assembly. Like a majority of the ROTF/TF10 scouts, he lacks accessories and a means to use them, so play value is fairly low. Finally, perhaps as a result of me having a less than pristine example, the pelvis does not peg in properly for robot mode.

The Mediocre
It might just be me, but the car mode proportions have a slightly cutesy feel. Maybe its just the size. He also looks monstrous in robot mode, which is a either a good or bad thing depending on preferences.

The Alternatives
Breakdown recently got a toy in Combiner Wars, and while not without issue, its better than this one, and there's a few other homage recolours knocking about. There's no shortage of bayformer cars either, including a recolour, but the Stunticon-in-name-only Dead End comes to mind.

The Verdict
While not without merit, I don't like this toy that much. Judged on its own terms, the toy is an unremarkable example of the vintage, a decent attempt at a bayformer with a nice altmode, a monstrous robot mode, but undermined by shellformer engineering. The homage however is a burden the toy can't live up to, so what might have been OK, ends up as a disappointment. There's not much here, and he's been bettered since. If you like little cars, maybe consider him, but G1 fans should look towards Combiner Wars.