Broadside (G1) [proofed]

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HotShot81
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Broadside (G1) [proofed]

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Name: Broadside
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Air and Sea Assault
Accessories: Plasma Pulse Gun, Vibro-Axe, 2 Missiles
Quote: "I like the sea far away, and my feet on the ground"
First US Cartoon Appearance: Thief in the Night
First US Comic Appearance: Totaled!

Before I get into this review, there is a short funny story to tell about Broadside. During the writing of this review, I lost mine… where was he? He was standing right in the middle of one of my other display shelves! Shows you he's mastered the whole art of being a Robot in Disguise.

Odds are you've rarely heard or seen Broadside in the world of The Transformers. You'd think with such a useful function as both air and sea assault that the Autobots would have some use for him, but he seems to be relegated to the background.

In the US G1 comic series, he was seen in one, yes one background panel when Grimlock and Blaster had a showdown on who would lead the Autobots. In the UK comic series, he's a member of the much vaunted Wreckers team, alongside Springer and Sandstorm - his fellow Autobot Triple-changers. While he doesn't play a vital role, he's never one to back down from a fight. For the record, because he was elsewhere in the UK comics when the US issue Totaled! was printed, he was airbrushed in as a generic bot.

In the cartoon, despite being a new toy, he was kept mainly to the background. He would help out Seaspray with sea operations, or transport his fellow Autobots to the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya. He'd get into a fight here and there, and despite his impressive abilities, he always lost.

This is his box biography "Doesn't like the transforming into carrier or jet ---gets seasick on water, has fears of height. Effective, valiant warrior, but other Autobots wish he wouldn't gripe so much. Expands to a 1200 ft. length as a carrier, capable of landing jets and carrying Autobots 15,000 mile range, 40 knots maximum speed. Projects 80,000 volt electric field around himself in jet mode. Has a high-energy plasma-pulse gun, and a shattering vibro-axe in robot mode."

Hmm, maybe this is why he didn't show up much in the comics or the show, he hated his lot in life, and the others conspired to keep him away?

Robot Mode

He reminds me a bit of a string bean in this mode. I mean he stands a little over 5 inches in height with a girth of 1 and 1/2 inches. Let's work him down, so to speak. He has nice detailing on the head; he can't move it, but hey, it looks pretty. As we go down we find his arms, once again nice detail work, but not that impressive since they can go up only 90 degrees, that's all. I hate to say it, but he has some of the hollow bot syndrome, something I hate in modern (2015) bots. Because of his alternative forms, his "legs" are implied because the plastic goes down a bit. His feet look like a pair of cubes.

I know fans love to see Transformers holding weapons with two hands, or swinging an axe from above his (or her) head, but Broadside can't do these things. Because of his limited range of motion, the best he can do is hold a weapon in his hands a la ‘Stick 'em up sucker’ on some Decepticon. He can't grapple with them, but rather just hold his arms up, and you can't tell if it’s lower or upper angle because of where the joint is.

Aircraft Carrier Mode

Very easy to transform him: place the arms down towards his feet, then push them towards the body. Flip the feet out, and turn him over so his robot body is facing down, then flip the other two ends out to complete it.

He looks like a generic air craft carrier. You'll see he has an island near the back where his feet were. You have a nice pair of strips running up the length of the carrier, which I assume is a runway. Then you have the nose where you can see the ship's number 86 and also the rubsign to confirm he is an Autobot.

There are no transformer toys that can use him with him as an aircraft carrier, you'd need them to be under 1/2 an inch long to fulfill the function. The hinges present at the top and bottom third of the carrier would kill the idea of one going up the runway and flying off into wild blue yonder.

Jet Mode

Once again, easy to transform. Around the hinge for the carrier's nose you'll find a pair of pins sticking out, pull on them and draw them towards the back. Next flip only the gray part of the carrier nose towards the deck, and then flip the back of the deck towards the carrier's deck. Heck, he's almost in robot mode again! Maybe Spheroid would be a good name for him? Rotate him 180 degrees where you'll flip the wings out from his feet and upper legs. To finish him off, plug the missiles into those pegs you pulled on earlier.

Now, I can't deduce what kind of jet he's suppose to be. Then again how many jets are red and gray with square engine exhausts? His canopy is midway down the jet's body, and has something inside of it, but it doesn't look like the insides of any cockpit I've ever seen. I mean, the whole design looks bad. Not just from a ‘Robot in Disguise’ stand point, but from a aeronautics stand point, I mean this bird might fly, but she wouldn't fly well in the real world.

Final Call


Transformation Design: 4/10
The more shapes or modes you give a Transformer, the harder it becomes to design them. Thing is I can see the potential Broadside had, problem is he needs to be brought up to 11-12 inches with a redesign to turn him from bad to great. Let him serve as an air craft carrier to say the Aerialbots, much as Metroplex serves the minibots as a city.

Durability: 11/10 I know it, you know it, 110% is technically impossible, but hear me out here for a few moments. I've seen this toy in fits of rage thrown though gyprock walls by kids, and he's still in one piece and works fine. I think that goes far above the normal testing standards toy companies use to test how durable their products are.

Fun: 7/10 As a triple changer Broadside has three forms of fun, and yes there is room for improvement on all three ends. His Aircraft Carrier mode could be bigger, his Jet mode could look more realistic, his Robot mode could offer more articulation, but the facts are I could see a child having fun with all three modes.

Aesthetics: 7/10 Given how even before the toy went into full scale production no one could agree on his shape/colors, I've got to cut this bot some slack on how he looks. He does an air craft carrier 10/10. Robot, while he has his problems, 8/10. Jet, 5/10 while he looks like one, he does so poorly given his odd design, and he's not going to fool anyone with it.

Articulation: 0/10 I know a score this score people aren't going to love, just hear me out here. Now his Transformers Wiki article describes the toy as a brick in all three modes. Yes you can slide him as an Aircraft Carrier. He rolls as a jet on his wheels, but as a robot only a small part of his arms move! No Transformer comes to mind that has less points of articulation than him.

Value: 8/10
I see him as a toy that a child could have fun with in all three modes on the go. That being said, I was shocked when I did some checking on his recent value (Spring, 2016), of $75+ USD.

Overall: 6/10 Before I give you my final thoughts on this toy, I think the base concept is sound here, Broadside just needs to be increased in size to fulfill his potential. He's as durable as a rock, and more fun that one. In all 3 forms he's fun to play with, his only real weak point is nothing on him moves.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

Tech Specs moved for ease of Upload:

Strength: 8
Speed: 9
Rank: 6
Firepower: 7
Intelligence: 8
Endurance: 8
Courage: 9
Skill: 7
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HotShot81
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Post by HotShot81 »

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