MP-25 Tracks

So, I've had Masterpiece Tracks for a bit, but I haven't had a chance to snap any pictures of him due to several unforeseen circumstances.  Around Halloween, I was given the task of taking over a store temporarily in the fine town of Monroeville, Alabama, home of Harper Lee.  Harper Lee is the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, a book that I'm told everyone in Alabama had to read at some point in their life.  Since I'm not originally from here, I can say that I've never seen it, nor have I seen the movie.  At any rate, the town was a 2-hour drive from my house each way every day that I worked, and I worked about 6 days a week from the week of Halloween until two days before Thanksgiving, leaving me little time for anything other than work and sleep.  Then there was the heart attack that I suffered two days before Thanksgiving while at work; bad timing, I know, in the retail world, but my heart just felt the need to attack me.  It's a really interesting story that I'll tell one day when I feel like it.  At any rate, I'm feeling well enough to do a very late review of the newest Masterpiece figure before we're inundated  with more releases over the next few weeks.

I'll start with car mode, and what a car mode it is.  Takara has made a recent habit of making the side mirrors on their cars a separate deal where they have to be taken off a sprue and then attached to the car.  In a way, it evokes the sense that I'm putting the finishing touches on a very nice model kit, but I always hem and haw over actually putting them on.  The mirrors didn't go on until just before I took these pictures, meaning that Tracks was in my possession and out of the box for a few weeks incomplete, as it were.  I just really love the curves on Tracks in this mode and I'm not a fan of Corvettes.  The flames just jump out at me.  Seeing Tracks' head in the front seat is a little off putting, but I can live with it. 

A great feature that I instantly fell in love with is the opening hood, or bonnet if you're reading this in the UK.  This is supposed to be an reference to the episode "Make Tracks", but it really just brings to mind the fun feature that Binaltech figures sported a decade ago.  Has it really been a decade since Binaltech was a thing?  Now I'm nervous about Masterpiece figures suffering the same fate.  Crap, best not to think about it.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of Tracks for me is the flight mode.  I was never really enamored with the G1 version's flight mode.  It just always looked odd and out of sorts to me as a kid.  The huge missile launchers on top never did anything for me.  The Masterpiece version?  It's the bee's knees, man, the bee's knees.  The small tail fins are what really do it for me.  The front bumper gun also adds a nice touch and furthers the cartoon inspired design.

Here's a front shot showing off the blaster.  It just looks marvelous.

I've read many things online about Tracks' robot mode.  Most quibbles seem to be about his backpack, and I can sort of understand where the complaints are coming from, but I'm fine with it.  The loose ratchets at the knees don't seem to be a problem for me, either.  My knees appear to be perfectly tight.  I will say that the inability of the forearms to move up more at the elbows is a tad frustrating. 

Upon first seeing pictures of Tracks months before he was released, I wasn't exactly sure how I'd feel about the smaller, cartoon accurate pistol that would be included.  While I'm all for cartoon accuracy, I can't help but be a little biased towards the larger gun that the original toy came with.  Tracks also continues the Bumblebee tradition of having an insignia that flips around so it can be hidden.  It's a nice touch.

I really enjoy Tracks' head sculpt.  The lines coming down from the eyes took some getting used to, but the face looks great. 

I didn't have the energy to try a lot of poses with Tracks, so I can't really vouch for poseability.  I can say that the few poses I attempted were easily held by Tracks. 

Anyone else have trouble with the wings?  I can't decided on the best angle to display them in, and I can never be sure that the angles are exactly the same for both wings.  The missiles are a tad smaller than I would have envisioned, but they still look fairly decent.  Overall, this is a solid figure, and I can't wait until Road Rage releases later this month.  She looks fantastic.

Just...ugh

The above picture just turned out all sorts of wrong, but I'm including it anyway.  I couldn't figure out the right composition of the figures, and I couldn't get the focus solely on Tracks.  I will definitely work on this type of shot more, given time and energy.  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that this means that I can get back on a regular schedule again.