Review – KFC Ghetto Blast (Not Blaster)

After yesterday’s look at Mugan Amputare (review here) I wanted to follow up quickly with a review of KFC’s Ghetto Blast*. This toy’s another retool of the Mugan Vox we looked at earlier this year (review here). Unfortunately, the retool didn’t solve the head problem of Mugan Vox and I’m now ready to state that this mold design suffers from a fatal flaw.

Packaging

The above photos shows the front and back of the Ghetto Blast* box. The design’s quite attractive, showing line art on the back and a digital image of the toy on the front and following the same box design KFC has used for all of the other uses of this basic mold. Each also includes a short bio on the back, but rather than tell you all about it I’ll suggest you click the picture for a much larger version. Read it yourself, peoples!!! 🙂

Tank Mode

After reviews of Mugan Vox (review here) and Mugan Amputare (review here) I think I’ve covered the mold’s tank mode enough for anyone. If you’ve not read those earlier reviews (why?) then this summary will tell you what’s most important about the tank mode:

This toy’s tank mode sorta sucks.

A Broken Head

When Mugan Vox (review here) first reached me earlier this year the toy’s head was broken. I contacted BBTS and they immediately handled the problem for me (see “Mugan Vox Defect and Great Customer Service”) and my Mugan Vox currently has his head intact and is undamaged. Hurray for great customer service!

Unfortunately, Ghetto Blast* suffered a break when I was first transforming the toy. The plastic platform that the head is attached to snapped, slipping off completely with the two pegs forever broken. Why did this happen? Because the design of this toy has a serious problem that needs fixed if KFC is to ever use this mold again.

When transforming Mugan Amputare (review here) I was worried about this exact same part because it’s simply too tight. To transform this mold the plate connected to the head rotates completely to hide the head in the chest compartment, but the tightness of the parts means you need to apply some force to get it to turn. Well, with Ghetto Blast* the amount of required force was so much that the part couldn’t handle the strain and it broke. A toy that breaks the first time you transform it is a flawed design.

So Tight the Toy Is Display-Ready

As further evidence that the broken part is way too tight for the location I can still display the toy with the head attached. All I had to do was wedge the broken part in place, allowing friction to hold it to the body where the pegs should be connected. If this is possible then the broken piece is too big for the intended location; KFC, fix this problem before selling this mold again! Seriously, the part is too tight and the world needs you to deal with this problem before taking more money from fans.

Closing Thoughts

As with the other toys that use this basic tooling I can report that Ghetto Blast* looks great in robot mode, kinda lame in tank mode, and the less we say about this version’s microscope mode the better. (Hint: That rifle is the “microscope” portion of the design.)

Add in the fact this mold has a history of breakage and I’m going to suggest that you skip Ghetto Blast* completely. If you really must own a third party Transformers Blaster today I recommend Unique Toys’ Soundmixer*. That toy’s fun to transform, the plastic is excellent, and the cassette that transforms into Soundmixer’s* rifle is a great touch.