One of my favorite things about the Transformers comics in recent years has been IDW and Hasbro’s willingness to introduce new characters to the comics and toy lines, respectively. The IDW universe roughly builds on the G1 foundation, so I appreciate they treat G1 as a starting point rather than “the story.” It’s enriched the narrative so much and has made stars out of characters who were hardly a blip on the radar in the comics and cartoons from the ’80s, like Rewind, for example. One such new character is Offroad here, a new addition to the Stunticon combiner team. Offroad was brought in to replace Wildrider, who is no longer a part of the team, and it seems Offroad’s new teammates still don’t quite know what to make of him or if they can fully trust him. As his bio goes, he tends to put himself at great risk in order to impress the Stunticons and earn their trust, so evidently it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll make it as a permanent member of the team.
The figure Hasbro has released appears to be among the stronger offerings from the Stunticon combiner team, so let’s take a closer look and see if he’s worthy of his new position on the team!
Video:
Pics and text:
The packaging is the standard Combiner Wars deluxe-class fare. It includes a comic that features Offroad on the cover, but he had not been introduced yet in the series, so even the pack-in comic doesn’t offer any perspective as to his character, though his bio is flushed out a bit more on the back cover.
Offroad is a great-looking figure with solid proportions and a strong color palette. The sky blue and red set against the grey tones of his body really pop, and the green color of his face further adds visual flair to his ‘bot mod. When looking at his face sculpt, there isn’t much here that suggests “Decepticon” to me because his expression is almost… friendly? Maybe this is why the other Stunticons don’t really trust him. He doesn’t really look like a punk or a thug.
Initially I was a bit concerned about the hood of the truck sticking up from his back, but his face is colorful enough to distract from that bit of kibble. Plus, it almost makes him look a bit like Huffer, even though it doesn’t really function as a “hood.” Honestly, this mold would have served better for a base for a new Huffer than that Legends Optimus Prime did, but I guess maintaining his “minibot” status had to come first.
Offroad comes with an energon ax that looks cool enough. It’s another melee weapon to keep him consistent with his Stunticon teammates, but even that isn’t quite enough to “roughen him up” to make him look as though he fits. He just looks like a pleasant chap with an ax.
His articulation scheme is consistent with other recent deluxe-class figures, which means it’s pretty darn good. There’s a good range of motion in this shoulders and hips, his knees and elbows can achieve a full 90 degree bend, so all he’s really “missing” is wrist articulation and ankle articulation, but I really don’t find myself missing those aspects, to be honest. He can get in just about any pose I need him to with his current configuration.
Offroad transforms into a rather nice-looking 4×4 truck, which definitely sets him apart from the majority of his teammates, who are mostly sports cars and race cars. This does further diversify the group, so I guess that’s pretty cool, but something about it just doesn’t scream “Stunticon” to me. I guess I’m a bit stuck in my ways when I envision the team and immediately think fancier cars flanking Motormaster. It’s interesting that Offroad’s alt mode sort of resembles Wildrider’s in terms of color, right down to the red windows. I’m not really all that clear on their relationship, but this gets the conspiracy-theory gears turning just in terms of juicy narrative possibilities.
The truck mode looks good from most angles, but it could do with a panel on the underside to hide his head — that’s really the only chink in the armor. Simply turning his head around isn’t enough to convince us that there isn’t a robot hiding in there waiting to pounce.
Like his teammates, Offroad can be used to form either a leg or an arm for Menasor, but I think that, if I do end up using him instead of Wildrider, that he’s going to be a leg. I’ve got a look at both possibilities in the video review, so be sure to check there if you’re curious what Offroad as Menasor’s arm looks like.
I like this figure quite a bit even though I may not be too sure how well he fits on the Stunticon team. His ‘bot mode and alt mode are both solid and eye-catching, so I would certainly suggest snagging him if you see him on the pegs, even if you have no plans to use him to complete Menasor.
Thanks to Hasbro for sending along this sample for review. Check back tomorrow for our look at Drag Strip, the final deluxe-class member of the Stunticon team!
Offroad can be purchased here:
