Transformers: Legacy United Gears is Something That Exists

Right, its TFNation weekend... Have a Transformers review!

 

The 1984 Transformers Gears toy

 

As I’ve oft mentioned in the past, there's an awful lot of 80's characters that once ya check, haven't done much of note. Or indeed have a distinct personality. Gears is definitely one. His role is to be a bit grumpy, and at the risk of being unkind, we have Huffer too, and do we need both? And yet, somehow, this was the guy they selected to do the Spider-Man crossover. To attempt a young person's comparison: this is like pairing Taylor Swift with the least popular member of the K-Pop boyband SEVENTEEN (emphasis theirs). You know, the lads at Glastonbury? Its not like that crossover was actually bad, but there had be at least a dozen better choices. Gears has always been a guy whom has been around, he was almost in Kingdom, but he's been overshadowed by his mouldmates. He pales in comparison with Swerve, the Autobot barman, and this toy just got turned into a Gobot. So, much like Beachcomber, I got this chap basically because he was marked-down on a day when I fancied a new indulgence.

Now, as it turns out, Legacy United Gears is actually a low-key kind of good. Is he flawless? No. Is he doing anything markedly clever or interesting? Also no. Is he addressing the continuing value question raised by putting minibots in the deluxe slot? A further no, he's rather small and simple. But what the toy is doing is hand candy. A transformer with a fun/engaging actual transformation is usually on the right track. When that transformation adds to already good articulation, that's even better. And when the toy is generally well-presented too? Well, it becomes rather difficult to dislike. Even with the truck mode. That isn't great, objectively. Its fine from the front, that's nicely painted, but things come undone at the back. His chest plate is just there, as are his lower legs. His gun stores in one of six usefully placed ports, and there's paint on the wheels. Those are clip wheels though, and due to the transformation its easy for them to be misaligned. Initial stock photography got that wrong; I will admit to that colouring my perceptions of this toy. There's a feel of awkwardness to it, as there isn't a fixed wheelbase. Finally, there's a mild case of Visible Head Syndrome, so remember to turn his face around, lest he look disapprovingly at you. Its not Needlenose bad, or Skullgrin mould bad, but its not hard to find better truck mode. But it is vaguely adorable I suppose, so that counts for something.

Putting Gears into robot mode is, as mentioned above, hand candy. It does inherit some elements from the 80's toy, but otherwise it seems innovative. The wheelbase is independent of the limbs, so all four end up stowed in the chest. This is honestly kinda fun. As a happy side-effect, this conversion takes the toy a bit above the Legacy articulation standard. The shoulders have a butterfly joint so they move forwards and back, while both the elbows and knees are double jointed. His feet are simple ankle tilts, which is maybe disappointing in context, but its otherwise there, and that big head is on a balljoint. He poses just that little bit better than he needed to, certainly enough to use that modest blaster. Visually, its not bad either. The styling is obviously Sunbow based, but I honestly don't mind it this time. He's not got some accessories he only ever used once on screen, you just open up his chest to see some (sadly) unpainted gubbins referencing the episode Changing Gears. Contrasting with that however is a very toy-centric Easter Egg. There's an M sculpted on the back of his head, which honestly has far too much history for me to do the subject justice here. Look up the Mysterians, its a fascinating area of research. I do like his expression, it hints at grumpiness without overselling it, while his proportions give him what young people supposedly call "he's just a little guy energy". There is a backpack, but it doesn't do him any great harm. So generally, a good robot mode.

 

As it stands, Gears is the sixth mould of the modern deluxe minibots, and thats both a good thing and a bad thing. There's definitely an element of lessons learned here, he's not got the problems that Huffer had, but I feel they didn't try as hard to justify a deluxe pricetag. There's only the one accessory, a simple gun, a somewhat flawed altmode and nothing that I can immediately point to as where the budget went. maybe inflation? That said, I find myself charmed by this toy. The truck mode is charming mainly because of its flaws, rather than in spite of them, while the transformation and robot mode are conventionally good. I can't say with a straight face that Gears is a classic or anything, but I can certainly see him as an Honourable Mention when folk do their Best of 2024 lists.

He's just a little guy.