Maketoys Battle Tanker review
This is a tough review, because my feelings on the Battle Tanker are generally positive, but a little mixed.
PROS
+ QA is top notch
+ Paint, details, and accessories are superior to Hasbro
+ Design is innovative
+ Transformation is intuitive (once you get it)
CONS
- Expensive
- 'Disc launcher' isn't functional
- Clippy arm guards are nerve-wracking
- Instructions are confusing and then some.
I had a devil of a time when I opened Battle Tanker. It comes with a different Optimus head (you don't need to use it, but it's superior to RtS G2 Prime's head), so there was time dealing with that. There's a replacement for G2 Prime's torso, which you also don't need to use, but the new codpiece attaches to it, so if you want to use that, you have to unscrew and replace the torso front. Mine did not want to sit exactly flush and the screw did not want to go in all the way, but it did work. Then all the parts. Then the confusing instructions.
It was a long time before I had him in one mode, and even longer getting him to the other. The instructions have a couple of spots where it was completely unclear to me how to go from one step to the next. Thankfully, once you get it and understand what you have to do, it's relatively easy and fast.
The set becomes a trailer (an homage to G2 Laser Prime) or augmented armor for G2 Prime's robot mode. There are extensions to the legs, new hands, new arm guards, a new codpiece, and the bulk of the trailer straps on as a half mech/half rocket launcher backpack.
There are also accessories, including a light up sword, guns, a regular sword for Prime, and an extra sword for Drift. You certainly get a lot.
Starting with the trailer, it's quite impressive. It's smaller than G2 Laser Prime, but the base figure on that was bigger. It's scaled perfectly for RtS G2 Prime and the details are terrific. Plastic colors match, paint details are nice, and it works brilliantly. Also, everything stores in or on the trailer. It looks great and does not look like an assemblage of robot parts.
Robot mode is more of a mixed bag. The feet snap on securely, though the blue shinguards don't always seem to want to stay put. The codpiece goes on well but you have to attach it firmly. The fists work great. The arm guards bother me -- they use a clip (like on recent figures like Darkmount, Warpath, and Breacher) to attach. It's a substantial clip, but you have to use force to get it on and I worry about breakage because every time you transform him, you have to either force them on or pull them off. I am impressed by the design, but kind of wish they had designed arm guards that just slipped over the existing arms.
By itself, without the rest of the tanker, it's...okay. It's more impressive certainly, but it's not the difference between Prime and Powermaster Prime. Prime is taller and bulkier, but doesn't seem all that different. I got out Protector to compare, and that's a real transformation. Put Rodimus and Protector next to each other and they are like different figures entirely. Prime with the extra armor is taller and more imposing, but it feels like the same figure with some added bits.
Then comes the backpack. I was somewhat down on this, as I found it hard to pose. Then I figured out I had it mistransformed (see confusing instructions) and it worked much better when I did an extra step to rotate the parts connected to the rocket launchers. Poseability is still not amazingly easy, but you can get lots of dramatic poses (although it's still not exactly easy to have Optimus point all his guns right in front of him).
I've heard that some people needed to apply superglue to the leg ball joints because Prime couldn't support the weight. Mine doesn't need it (yet), but I can see why as there's a lot to support. Mine will stand in many poses, but not all of them because the weight is too much for the ball joints. I'll probably apply superglue or Future at some point.
There are a lot of neat things. Each half of the trailer has a rocket launcher, and handles that swing down or up so that Prime can hold them in his new fists. This works really well and is very well designed. There are guns that can swing out or be hidden, and even though it's a truck strapped to Prime's back, it doesn't really look like it.
The light up sword is nice. I've read some comments that it doesn't function very well, but I think it does. In low light you can see all the ridges of the sword light up. This is certainly better than
Laser Prime ever accomplished. Sure, it's mostly just the jewel and the base. But it does work, and I think it's a nice touch that it works better than the original. I'm glad they included it.
I hate to list it as a downside, but it's actually a complement in a way. Maketoys was so thorough in including seemingly everything that it made me miss the disc launcher. (The two raised areas on the top of the trailer launched plastic discs on G2 Laser Prime). I actually think disc launchers are a little silly and I'm kind of beyond the bother of them, but they were so scrupulous to detail that it's kind of hard to not look at it and think "if only...". As it stands, there's a fold down targeting screen, but because there are no discs, it looks a little...weird. Silly is too strong, but it's a bit much for a targeting screen. You can put it behind Prime, but you can't totally fold it out of the way. Had it actually launched discs, it would have been kind of neat. Most of the time it just looks awkward.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT:
Tough question. Were it not for the expense, I'd say sure. I'm not bowled over by it, but the trailer is very nifty and (for some) worth the price of admission alone. Trailers are not cheap, and most of the third party trailers do nothing or next to nothing and cost as much.
The extensions to G2 Prime are good, but I find myself in the position that the armor itself is okay but underwhelming. The change here is not as dramatic as City Commander or Protector, and I wasn't bowled over by Protector, either. The addition of the backpack is good but not great. It's almost too much -- too bulky, too difficult to easily pose, and a little over the top. It works, and it's badass. It's just not the epitome of cool while being badass.
I have to draw some comparisons to Ultimate Optimus Prime. Price point is comparable (though Ultimate Optimus was available for some steep discounts) and delivers a similar experience -- a trailer that augments the figure, only that one comes with the figure, too.
I had low expectations for Ultimate Optimus -- I was expecting a brick and it pretty much is. But Ultimate Optimus has his charms, and it's more poseable than Powermaster Prime, for instance. There's a lot to like about Ultimate Optimus and it was well worth the $45 I ended up paying for it.
I had higher expectations for Maketoys Battle Tanker, so I'm a little let down. It is by no means bad, but it is also not the kind of amazing experience that FansProject delivers with its best. It definitely improves G2 Prime, and you are not getting skimped on contents. That said, the cost is not cheap for a very good trailer that doubles as okay armor and a big, bulky backpack that works pretty well.
In terms of figures, I think Battle Tanker is better than Ultimate Optimus. Battle Tanker is far more poseable and less bricky, which means you can get poses that really bring out some personality. Also, Battle Tanker's implementation of "Optimus with big guns" is so much better -- the rocket launchers work so much better than the big MechTech brick. You do get a big toy out of Ultimate Optimus, though.
I feel it's about on par with Protector, so if you liked that, you should like this. Protector did a better job of upgrading Rodimus, but Battle Tanker does a better job of using the whole trailer. But it's not Bruticus or City Commander level of "oh my gosh, this is so amazing you must have it". Bonus points if you like lots of accessories, have a thing for G2 Prime, or like your Primes with oversized weapons.
