The second wave of Siege is hitting stores all over the states right now, but before you run out and start the hunt, let’s take a look at a pair of the Autobot deluxes.
Starting with another 1984 car-bot, Prowl is continuing the line’s wonderful trend of getting us cybertronian-but-very-recognizable classic Autbots to fill out the core of the G1 Pilot team. And Prowl is very much his classic self in robot mode, with the traditional black and white colors and a pretty old-school profile. Obviously Prowl is a character that doesn’t need a lot of introduction, and part of that is no doubt due to how well his aesthetic language tells the story. Whether this version of Prowl is no-nonsense security chief ready to take point, or a table-flipping control freak, the figure’s style can sell it for you.
Just like many a Prowl before him, he can lose a lot of detail in that stark white paint- in this case I took him into the shade to lose some of that whiteout- which might be the first time in the line I’m wondering why they skipped the battle-worn paint. But there really is some nice molded detail that does come through in this mode. It’s also where a lot of the black plastic comes through, and it does help break up the base colors.
The poseability is really nice here, with good range and tight joints. The vehicle doors are hinged as to get them out of the way, and his slim lower body makes it easy to get him into deep poses, even if he can’t stay in them unsupported all that well. Like I said, Prowl somehow emerged from the war without any scuffed paint, but he does have 4 ports on this mode available for adding weapons. And while you can see ports that coud serve to house some shoulder rockets, Prowl ends up light on the armament, issued just with his standard white blaster. I’m sure we’ll see more with Smokescreen and Bluestreak, but giving Prowl that extra visual and firepower punch could have been that extra “umph” to take him from pretty good to great.
Transformation between modes is really easy and very G1, and the resulting cybertronian squad car is a really sleek looking and pleasing one. The light bar is removeable and interchangeble with his rifle- this being the only port in this mode- but this tron-esque car mode is kind of a stand out for me. While mostly white plastic in this mode, the silver tech details under the plastic of the canopy still really pop, and the tinted wheels are a cool touch. Size wise, he is, like robot mode, a bit slimmer than the earlier deluxes, but comparable, and sizes well with the other “car” sized guys.
Moving on to a character without a G1 toy, but plenty of G1 pedigree all the same, we get what I think is the second version of Chromia. As a proper G1 character, Chromia finally fills out the “femme-bot” Cybertron squad, with some help from the Combiner Wars MoonRacer.
Chromia is really a good example of retooling done right, with really only the core and transformation owing to the original figure. The tooling is so thourough that Chromia even lost the combiner port, maybe to the chagrin of some collectors. She has a great facesculpt, even good lines, giving her a bit of female form, but like a lot of Combiner Wars figures, she essentially wears her alt-mode on her back. Add that to the front fenders that just can’t get out of the way, and she suffers from a form and function issue that most of her wave-mates avoid- put it another way, she’s still a lot more Combiner Wars than Siege. She’s still a good looking figure, but it’s just not as free and fun as the rest of the figures in the series.
The vehicle mode is actually a real improvement over the MoonRacer style, with some nice boxy and clear parts that actually look a lot like her G1 cartoon appearance. She has a little bit of silver wear on the front, and as an already pleasing color pallette, it’s a nice touch. In robot mode, she has a rifle that can break down into several components- a blaster, a barrell, and a few grenade-looking canisters. Honestly, it’s a little fiddly in bot mode, but in vehicle mode, it breaks down to add some exhaust stacks on the back of the mode, as well as a top-mount weapon. Really, other than the exposed robot chest on top, it’s a solid mode.
Ultimately, these two have the misfortune of being more runner-up than darlings of this wave, with one of the best deluxe Ironhides ever made and some sweet Decepticon voyagers. Prowl is probably the weakest of the 4 Autobot 1984 cars right now, not so much because of any failure on his part, but because the others are just soooo good. So I’d say he’s still worth a purchase. Chromia is a tougher recommend. I have to be honest, I sat out of most of Combiner Wars because I didn’t like the style. And even though she makes a valiant effort of salvaging a decent mold from that wave, the vehicle shell and bad balance /range make her maybe my first pass of this series. That means of course, if CW trilogy was good to to you, than Chromia is worth it just to finish that crew.
