Prowl is part of a combiner team now. The classic G1 military strategist who has aways had a reputation for being cold and stoic is now part of a tight-knit group of Autobots who combine to form “Optimus Maximus.” This isn’t too out of left field, though, since there is some precedence in the IDW comics for Prowl being part of a combiner.
In the comics, Prowl was actually part of Devastator for a time (and it was so cool), but here he serves as an arm or a leg for “Optimus Maximus,” along with fellow Autobots Ironhide, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Hot Rod, and a white Optimus Prime (who, astonishingly, is actually Optimus Prime and not Ultra Magnus). But let’s not kid ourselves — we’re seeing this combiner team because it’s an easy repaint/retool of the Stunticon team, and it allows Hasbro to get more use out of this year’s deluxe class molds.
So is this Prowl little more than a shallow repaint, or is he worth owning on his own merits?
Let’s find out!
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The packaging for these Combiner Wars deluxe class figures continues to be awesome. It’s a standard blister pack with an issue of the IDW comic series serving as a backdrop. The artwork is awesome and I swear Prowl has never looked cooler. On the back we get another extremely brief bio that tethers the figure to his G1 characterization, so at least that hasn’t changed here.
Prowl is easily among the more beloved G1 Transformers characters, and his presence in the brand dates all the way back to the very first wave of Autobot cars to hit the shelves way back in 1984. Prowl was the first Autobot car I added to my collection in 1984, so I have a strong nostalgic attachment to the character. That being said, I love seeing this new take on Prowl on the pegs. I may be in the minority, but I’m a big fan of this redesign and love seeing it on my “IDW shelves” even more.
Gone are the “door wings” and the “hood chest” that have been defining traits of Prowl’s bot mode for decades. His shoulder missile launchers are also gone, and what’s left is a robot with a streamlined look with little evidence present that he turns into a police car. Sure, there’s the hood of the car that serves as a “backpack” here, but the original Prowl basically looked like a car that just, kinda, stood up. There were car bits hanging off him everywhere — that never made sense to me since these were supposed to be highly evolved technological beings. The original design was certainly a product of its time, which made it a bit clunky and inelegant, so I am loving what we’re seeing here. When looking at him straight on, there’s little evidence he turns into a car because those traits are well-integrated into his robot mode. No more chest that sticks out so far he can’t see his feet, no more useless wings, etc. I feel as though this is the Prowl I’ve been waiting decades for.
Prowl’s head is a new, unique sculpt, and it’s a definite throwback to his G1 visage. Think of it like this — Cyclops’ visor is the thing that makes him “Cyclops” regardless of how many changes his costume goes through, and that’s kind of what Prowl’s head is doing here. To me, that’s what this represents both here and in the IDW comics. Change is okay. It keeps characters fresh and it provides us with new toys to hunt down, and, honestly, I’m just really fond of this mold, so this figure is clicking with me in a big way. Now, this figure isn’t completely comic-accurate or anything, but it’s . . . close. Close enough that I can pose him with the likes of the new leader class Ultra Magnus and be pretty stoked about it.
The mold is a retool of the Stunticons Brake-Neck (Wildrider) and Dead End, but it’s actually a straight-up repaint of the Protectobot Streetwise. I’m not the biggest Protectobot fan, so I don’t own the figure, but it’s pretty much Prowl with a different head and a slightly different color scheme. And, again, Prowl looks great with the new IDW Ultra Magnus — all we need now is a new deluxe class Rodimus!
For accessories, Prowl comes with a white rifle. Again, this is a repaint from the Streetwise release, but at least it’s some kind of weapon. I’m not sure why they went with white, though. A basic black would be so much better, I think. Or even a silver like the Classic Prowl. He also comes with his combiner piece that can be a hand or a foot, depending on your preference. Or even a roof-top blaster for his alt mode.
This mold is well articulated, so it’s easy to get Prowl in all kinds of great action poses. That’s another reason I’m such a fan of this mold — for the first time ever, I feel like I can pick up Prowl and play around with him without his feeling like a piece of glass that I may break. Although, ironically, this is my second Prowl. My first one DID break — the hood of the car snapped off mid-transformation, but it appears that was an isolated incident because this Prowl feels good and sturdy.
Prowl’s alt mode is a futuristic-looking police car that works well for my purposes. I like that they moved away from clear-plastic windows and just painted them a metallic blue. It makes it look like more of a “toy,” but the interior of deluxe class alt modes are never taken into consideration, so they usually look pretty bad. This, however, looks awesome.
The transformation is on the simple side, but I’m all for that. I can pick up this guy and transform him in seconds, which bucks the recent trend of having to spend 30 minutes trying to figure out a transformation. That’s how it was back in the G1 days, and I appreciate the return to intuitive simplicity.
You can look at his alt mode from any angle and see little evidence that there’s a robot hidden in there — I’m grateful for that attention to alt mode authenticity. It helps the illusion immensely and makes the rather simple transformation feel more thorough.
As was the case with the Stunticons, the combiner forms can feel a little forced, but they seem to do the job well enough. I doubt I’ll ever use him as a combiner limb because he’s already taken his place next to Ultra Magnus on my shelves, but it’s cool and interesting that the option is there.
I’m a big fan of this figure and am stoked to have him on my shelf. I can appreciate that he’s not for everyone because the figure does abandon key G1 design traits, but I couldn’t be more comfortable with that. Now I’m interested in seeing if the other figures from his wave hold up as well as he does.
Prowl seems to be the more popular figure from this wave, so the good news is they’re all packed two-per-case. He’s popping up at Target, Amazon, and Big Bad Toy Store as we speak, so I recommend snagging one as soon as you can.
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