Warpath

Height: 14cm

Articulation: 15 total points - Swivel neck; 4 points each arm: universal joint shoulder, pre-elbow swivel, hinge elbow; 3 points each leg: ball joint hip, mid-thigh swivel, hinge knee.

Colors: Molded Falu Red, light grey, dark grey, (very) smoky translucent; Painted silver, black, gold, Falu Red.

Accessories: Missile

Release Data: Released in early second quarter 2011 at a retail price of US$11.99.

Author: ExVee

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Wherever the fight is, that's where Warpath wants to be. His super heavy armor and powerful weapons means he doesn't have to worry about things like orders or tactics. He just heads straight for wherever the fighting is heaviest, pouring fire into the enemy, and hoping there's someone left standing to give him a good fight when he gets there.

And here we are once again, at the final new mold of a Classics cycle. For now, anyway. At the moment Generations is continuing with Dark of The Moon just as promised by Hasbro. If the Transformers: Prime toys hadn't been spun off into their own sub-branding, they would most likely have made up the next round of new mold product sometime after the major movie hype dies down. Hopefully if nothing else, Generations will still be able to occasionally turn out a wave of recolors for toys that don't have them in the US yet, and have a home for the intended Reflector, Senator Ratbat, Junkyard, and Swerve. Let's not let the lack of a solicited next wave of Generations dampen our optimism too much just yet. Just remain satisfied that it has a chance, and that we got one more new toy in the meantime.


Vehicle Mode

The "H-tank" really doesn't get a fair shake. There's been enough Megatrons over the years using some variations of themes inspired by an Abrams MBT, and they generally share a degree of similar problems for it. Ultimate Battle Megatron proves it CAN be done better, at least, but when you get down to it you're still hobbling the designers. Warpath especially doesn't deserve any criticism over this point, since the only thing remotely making it that classification is the front tracks extending a very short distance ahead of the main body. Fill that in and he'd look completely solid. Even as it stands, Warpath IS completely solid. The front tracks part of the forward body structure and don't even have the slightest give. The rear tracks can fold downward, but are locked in place against going up, clearly making absolutely no kind of problem for the integrity of the vehicle form.

The turret can rotate without limit, and the main cannon can elevate somewhere around 25 degrees, which while I can't find any data on elevation of real world tank cannons to compare this to, it at least looks like a realistic range of movement. Warpath also has secondary armament on either side of the turret. On the toy's right is a missile box, which serves as the toy's actual missile launcher. It has decent launching power, but helpfully it probably isn't enough to accidentally propel a missile into a cluttered oblivion. I await RAC proving that assessment wrong, however. On the toy's left is a grenade launcher block which doesn't actually launch anything in this case. Both of these parts can hinge up or down to your preference. For vehicle mode I typically leave them all the way out to the sides. Disappointingly, these parts were not made as clip-system accessories, even though it seems like a really obvious thing to do. Warpath can accept clip system parts, though. Each of the four track units has one rail oriented lengthwise with the vehicle. The rails are recessed slightly, so objects with the clips very close in to the body of the accessory may not be compatible. You might also want to watch out what you pick since some thing may be big enough to block the turret from moving, and/or you'll need to change position of the launchers to either side.


Transformation

The ways the limbs form from the drive units is generally pretty neat, but it's a little tricky to do the legs initially, since you have to pull a panel forward slightly in the wrong direction to free the feet to fold down. With the arms, it's more straightforward, but it's gonna be difficult to flip the fists out without a tool the first couple of times. The best part is the torso, though. Not only does it fold in such a way to exchange its vehicular length for robotic height, but the folded panels fill in any gaps that such a process might otherwise leave behind. Then you top it off with the dramatic head reveal by jamming the cannon back in to the torso... it all just works out really great and it's one of the more enjoyable transformation experiences I've had with a recent Transformer.


Robot Mode

Warpath seems to be mainly styled after the cartoon, though thankfully with some of the red exchanged for a dark grey. There's really three important attributes required for recognition as Warpath: Tread-skate feet, treads hanging from the forearms, and a suggestively placed gun sticking straight out of the torso. Beyond that it's all interpretation and exact details aren't terribly important.

Take the head, for instance. It's certainly inspired by the toy and various media designs, but doesn't match any of them. And actually some people have noted it bears a resemblance more to how Don Figuroa drew Razorbeast's head for IDW's Beast Wars comics. The head is a straight swivel, no tilt possible. The swivel joint is on the tight side, as well. The eyes are designed for light piping and even manage to retain their translucent plastic. Except said light piping is done in very dark smokey grey, and there's a bit of depth between the outer surface and the eyes, so no light at all transmits the whole way through. This effectively recreates the original toy's black eyes, but is otherwise entirely useless for the design intention. However if it bugs you that much, the head is very easily disassembled and the lightpiping piece removed for safe painting. Or if some enterprising fan might cast a replacement piece in some other clear color.

The torso doesn't really have any movement or any kind of features unique to robot mode. The missile launcher in a folded position sits above the shoulder, but that's about it. The folding transformation of the torso prevents a waist joint being added, and while the cannon is compressed it can't move either. Though I feel like that's a pretty good trade for how well the torso comes together in robot mode.

The arms are pretty standard. All the hinges and swivels are unimpeded within their intended range of movement, though you will have to work the forearm a little to get under the square edge of the upper arm for a full elbow bend. Elbows are only single hinges, but given the blocky design I don;t see a good way for a double elbow to have been worked in. The 3mm clip bars rest on the tops of the forearms in robot mode. Depending what kind of gear you have to clip on that could be pretty useful. My inclination would be toward having them along the outside of the forearms for maximum potential, but this is at least second best. Just remember missile launchers could be a problem since the tail of the missiles will probably need to occupy the same space as the upper arm, unless you go for a straight-arm pose. Warpath has regular old block fists with 5mm holes. No wrist swivel, and I wouldn't really try to qualify the transformation hinge as useful articulation. Having Warpath hold other weapons may be a challenge since there's a big block of forearm rising up a very short distance behind the fist holes, but plenty of 5mm weapons should still work. One thing I enjoy about the arms is in the sculpting, where there's a lot of subtle details thrown in. There are implied pistons between the shoulder and upper arm ("implied" because they only have that appearance from head-on), and a more plain piston detail in the elbows. The upper arms further are sculpted in such a way as to give the impression of layered construction, and the inside surfaces of the forearms have generic panel and mechanical detailing.

Warpath's legs are not stricken by any thoughtlessly placed edges or alternate mode elements, and enjoy the full range of articulation the jointing can offer. The channels on top of the hips are a little shallow, so Warpath's ability to move either leg to the side is limited to around 45 degrees, but it's nothing approaching problematic. The hip joints are additionally good and solid, so you're not likely to have to worry about the splits. The knees are only single hinged, and have almost exactly a 90-degree bend. There's a good bit of mechanical detailing again, this time on the back of the legs. Heavy pistons below the knees and a set of smaller ones just above either knee as well. Plus a series of vents to continue the impression of heavy machinery. The way the legs fold together during transformation also brings in some of the layered appearance seen in the arms. The feet of course are the tank track roller skates. They provide a very large platform for the figure to stand on, and while there's not a real ankle joint, that does serve to strengthen the stance, as there's no moving parts to weaken or fail and compromise the stability. Ordinarily the large solid foot like this should make the figure pretty handy for a kicking or other pose standing on one foot. But the tank tracks are slightly rounded at the edges, and the roller wheel under the heel prevent the toy from being able to balance on just one foot. It's not really any kind of loss, but it is an unusual thing for a Transformer with big stompy feet. Two of the clip system bars end up just above the ankles. I have yet to find an accessory that can clip in there and even pretend to be useful.



Closing Remarks

Warpath follows a similar pattern as Jazz did, where the toy is not even trying to do anything new or innovative, instead it's just being really good at being a normal modern Transformer. Jazz maybe does it a little bit better in general, but it's still not a bad goal to reach for. As a result, Warpath is one of what I come to realize is an increasingly reducing number of current Transformers that I don't mind repeatedly switching between modes. And being that these are "Transformers", it can be a little bit of a downer when there's some aspect involved where you don't really want to transform the toy if you can avoid it. There may be a couple of little things I'd see changed on the toy if I could, but nothing that would even begin to make me tell someone to pass on this toy. It should be telling of the overall satisfaction that I have with it that my biggest complaint is that the built-in remold head pegs this toy's recolor as Hardhead and not Treadshot. Now THAT would be my perfect toy.

As the last new Classics mold known to be in the works for the time being, we're going out on a high note. It could have and has been a lot worse. Warpath is Very Good, and nobody should hesitate to pick one up.

-ExVee