X-Transbots Arkose - Beachcomber

As a dune buggy, Arkose looks fantastic. He's covered in glossy blue paint with red, grey, and white for the seats, roll cage, and parts of the engine. There is metallic gold paint for the headlights. Parts of the roll cage are made of die-cast. The buggy rolls just fine on plastic tires. When mounted, his rifle can articulate up and down. Swiveling will cause the rifle to unpeg because the socket is only a half-circle.

Transformation was mostly straightforward, but I did get hung up on the backpack. I disassembled the roll cage to make it easier for myself to feed the engine through the bars, but it's not really necessary. I would caution to be gentle with the double jointed bar that attaches the engine to his back. In the end, every panel seems to fold securely into its place.

Arkose does not disappoint in robot mode. The head sculpt and chest detail are near perfect renditions of his animation model. The paint application looks very clean. The blue paint is really shiny and the other colors give nice detailing in various places. Despite the trouble I had with his backpack, I'm loving how it looks. The poles for heel spurs is going to take a little getting used to, but I can't deny their effectiveness in keeping him upright.

His head is on a swivel and hinge. His shoulders are also on a swivel and hinge. He has double jointed elbows and knees, none of which are ratcheted. He swivels at the waist, biceps, forearms, wrists, and thighs. His fingers are singled pinned and articulate as one unit. His hips are universal joints. He has toe tilts and ankle rockers.

His accessories include a rifle, an extra face, an extra right hand, and three colorful birds. His rifle slots into a semi-circle in his hand so stays secure even if his fist is open. The extra face doesn't have a mouth. His hands are attached by mushroom pegs so are easy to swap for the gold hand. Two of the birds have short tabs and fit well on the corresponding ports on either shoulder. The bird with the long tab fits well in the ports on his forearms.

Arkose will definitely go on my Masterpiece shelf. X-Transbots is doing very well at capturing that G1 aesthetic and providing a solid toy and display piece. I'm looking forward to their version of Windcharger. If the box cover is any indication of which minibots are coming next, Cliffjumper will be coming down the pike.