Welcome to The Chosen Prime: Sunsurge

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Friday, January 8, 2016

Badcube Sunsurge - Sunstreaker

I was excited to get this figure in hand. He, Sideswipe, and Prowl are my three favorite characters form the cartoon.

Vehicle mode looks as good as Masterpiece Sideswipe. The proportions are very similar. Sunsurge is marginally not as wide. Except for the chrome engine block, you could almost mistake him for using the Masterpiece Lambo mold, until you look at the back. When I went and looked up cartoon images, I found that Badcube had made it look pretty accurate. He rolls just fine on rubber tires. The rifle can be roof mounted.

Transformation is not as bad as Wardog, but not as smooth as Brawny or the Insecticons. In typical Badcube fashion, there are quite a lot of moving parts and panels. There is a fun new chest collapsing mechanic, but I'm still having trouble pegging in the side panels. The least satisfying aspect is the feet. When transformed correctly, Sunsurge is shorter than Sideswipe. When mistransformed, he's a bit taller. Ultimately, I'm happy the transformation is not a retread of Masterpiece Sideswipe.

While the head sculpt hits the right notes, I don't like the aesthetic of how it sits on a flat rod over an open gap that's visible from the front and sides. It's very similar to Fall of Cybertron Jazz and Sideswipe. The chest is the result of a fake windscreen because the real one folds into his backpack I'm not a big fan of the feet, but it took me a while to get used to the Masterpiece Nissans' feet so maybe I'll grow to like them. Overall, I like the look, especially when placed next to Sideswipe.

His head is on a tilt and swivel. He also swivels at the biceps, waist, and thighs. His fingers are single pinned. His elbows, shoulders, knees, and ankles are double-jointed. There are ratchets in half of each shoulder, elbow, and ankle joint. He has ratchets in both parts of his knee joints.

His accessories include a rifle with two attachable missile pods, an articulated Chip Chase figure and his wheelchair, an alternate face, a set of metallic silver painted wheels and spoilers, some extra screws, and a screwdriver. The rifle fits sort of loosely in his hands via a Masterpiece style tab. The missile pods can be attached to the rifle or stored on his back. The Chip Chase figure is a little more detailed than those that come with official Masterpiece figures, but isn't all that special. The wheelchair does not roll. I'm perfectly happy with the chrome parts he's fitted with so won't be swapping them out.

Sunsurge is not a perfect figure, but does look pretty good and is fun to play with. It lives up to my expectations of Badcube releases. He'll stand on my Masterpiece shelf unless Omnigonix really surprises with their offering.