Review – Transformers Encore Edition Trailbreaker

“A truly noble Autobot, Trailbreaker always has an uplifting word to boost morale, and his unfailing good humor can raise the spirits of his most depressed comrades. The problem is that despite his amusing practical jokes and significant tactical abilities, Trailbreaker considers himself a liability to our forces. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
— from More Than Meets the Eye Volume 2, The Transformers Official Guidebook

In 1984 and 1985 I didn’t own many Transformers toys. I wanted them, but there were so many out there — and so many knockoffs and “inspired by” transforming robot toys — that I actually had a very small number of the Transformers that I actually wanted. I had Marchon Roadbots, like Loadorr (one of the first toys I reviewed here at battlegrip.com), as well as actual Transformers like Kickback and Windcharger (I wrote about Windcharger, my very first Transformer, last year in my Livejournal), but the Autobot cars eluded me. They were just too expensive for me to have more than a handful.

Well, I’m an adult now and the Transformers Encore Edition is helping me solve my lack of Autobot cars. My first purchase? Trailbreaker, who was picked up during last month’s trip to the New York Toy Fair. Let’s take a look at him.

Packaging

Trailbreaker comes in a beautiful, sturdy box that’s quite similar in design to the G1 packaging from 1984, even going so far as to use the original box art. The designers at Takara did an excellent job in designing the box, even going so far as to use some of the old box art on the back (though not the original art but, instead, the artwork from the second wave of Transformers toys that were released in 1985). It’s a great box and one that collectors will want to keep (I know that I plan to keep my box in the closet with a few other select boxes — like the various Impossible Toys boxes — that I don’t feel up to throwing away.

But it’s a box, so let’s move on.

Vehicle Mode

As with all of the first release Generation One Transformers cars, Trailbreaker looks and feels great. With diecast metal parts — something that you really don’t see in new toys these days — and an awesome transformation, Trailbreaker is solid and really as much of a great toy car as it is a great toy robot. That’s something that — on most Transformers toys these days — isn’t actually all that common. The Transformers Animated and 25th Anniversary series are improving that, but there still not quite as good as the old toys. But that’s probably just nostalgia talking.

Another excellent touch, beyond the diecast metal pieces and solid design, are the rubber tires. And these aren’t just rubber tires that are glued to the wheel . . . no, these tires actually pull off and give you a chance to setup scenarios in which Trailbreaker is suffering from a blown tire. Maybe Hoist or Ratchet will come along and make repairs. It’s a minor detail, but it’s a nice touch and one that really shows how far Takara was willing to go to make this series completely awesome.

Robot Mode

Transforming Trailbreaker from vehicle mode to robot mode is pretty simple, especially if you played with the original when you were a kid. His legs pop out from the underside, his arms fold out from the sides, and then the camper shell folds back to reveal his head (actually, snapping the head into place is the one difficult point where making the change almost feels like it’s going to break the toy; it’s not terrible but it is a little nerve-wracking the first two times that you do it). Snap on the fists, missiles, and head-mounted projector and he’s ready to go into battle.

In robot mode Trailbreaker has pretty limited articulation, with only his arms really moving — moving his legs or feet topples him over while the head is a solid, unmovable object. This was a common problem with many if the Generation One Transformers, and in the eighties I didn’t really notice that it was a problem, but poor articulation doesn’t really harm Trailbreaker’s play value since he can still raise his arm and fire a missile or fist. Yep, Takara kept Trailbreaker’s launching fist and it works great, firing a missile, fist, or blaster half of the way across the living room. Hurray for no child safety testing on this bad boy!

A Problem with Trailbreaker

Overall, this is an excellent toy that’s every bit as good as I remember the original. Unfortunately, the stickers that come with Trailbreaker are subpar and don’t actually stick all that well. Within an hour of opening the box one of the stickers had fallen off and become forever lost. Plus, even hours after all of the stickers were applied some of the smaller ones continued to slip off whenever Trailbreaker was transformed from one mode to the other. Come on, Takara. Give us decent stickers!

I may be forced to buy a replacement sheet from www.reprolabels.com just so that Trailbreaker’s damned stickers can stay clean and in place.

Closing Thoughts

Trailbreaker, other than the sticker issue, is perfect and everything I could have ever wanted out of a classic Generation One Transformer reissue. A beautiful box, excellent construction, and great price (Trailbreaker cost me $40 when a MIB 1984 version would have cost much, much more) combine to make this a toy that leaves me wanting more of the Encore Edition pieces. Maybe I’ll have to break down and get one of the really big toys — like Metroplex or Omega Supreme — to give the toy display something huge and impressive.

For a lot more photos of Trailbreaker (as well as Hoist) visit www.tformers.com.

For another opinion on Trailbreaker and Hoist (Hoist gets a close look in the second video) check out these two YouTube videos. Notice how the reviewer emphasizes how bad the stickers are. He’s not lying.

Philip Reed never owned Trailbreaker when he was a kid but he did draw him, often from memory and often wrong. Maybe now that he owns his own Trailbreaker it’s time to get out the paper and pencil and take a crack at doing the job right. It has been over twenty years since he last took a shot at drawing a Transformers character.