Prowl is one of my favorite characters. My eight-year-old self was somewhat traumatized by his death in The Movie, but at least he had a rather awesome death scene. I'm not familiar with the IDW incarnations, but find GCreation's designs to be rather compelling. Rebel is a fun figure with and a great representation of that dearly departed Autobot (He may be alive in the comics. Don’t really know).
Vehicle mode looks pretty interesting. I really like the design of the Cybertronian police car. The metallic painted windshields is a design I wish were found on more figures. His hubcaps make a strangely hypnotic pattern while spinning. I don't like how several panels just sort of sit loosely in place and how his undercarriage makes no attempt to hide the robot. He rolls easily on rubber tires.
Transforming to robot mode is fairly easy because you're basically unfolding him. Transforming back to vehicle mode can be a bit of a hassle trying to line up the side panels to the tabs on his arms. His legs are a little confusing, but not too bad. Overall, it's nowhere near as hellish as Badcube War Dog or GCreation's own Ultra Maxmas.
Not surprisingly, this figure really shines in robot mode. There is plenty of line work that is highlighted by red, white, and blue paint applications. The head sculpt nails Prowl's iconic head crest. I wish his chest would lock more securely in place. It's always hinging upwards, covering his face. Reminds of the Star Trek guys having to constantly pull down on their pajama uniforms. His shoulder cannons also have a tendency to fall out. I think a little bit of putty will solve that issue.
His head is on a ball joint. He can look up but not down. His shoulders are on double swivels. He can only raise his arms out and up well shy of 90 degrees. He also has a very limited reverse butterfly joint. He swivels at his biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs. His double-jointed elbows can almost perform full curls. His thumbs are fixed. The rest of his fingers are single-pinned and articulate as a single unit. The cannons on his wrists are on swivels. He does have an ab crunch as a consequence of a transformation joint. His hips are on universal joints that allow him to perform full side splits. His backpack hinders his front splits. He has single-jointed knees that can curl 90 degrees if you move the exhaust ports on his calves out of the way. His toes are on ball joints and his heel spurs are on hinges.
His accessories include two rifles and two spikes. His rifles are two different designs, but both are grey plastic with interesting line work and some yellow paint applications. They sit securely in his hands. Unlike Fuuma and Ultra Maxmas, the rifle tabs into what would be the meaty part of his palms. I really wish that Masterpiece figures would use this option, or just about any other solution. The spikes are just grey plastic with a hinge at the top of the handle. They merely sit loosely, but securely, in his grasp. The rifles and his over-the-shoulder launchers can peg onto the back of the vehicle. I couldn't find a spot for his spikes.
My original intent was to mix and match Generation Toy and GCreation figures on an IDW shelf, but Rebel looks so different from J4zz, that I'll probably just start a new shelf. Too bad the GCreation Dinobots aren't scaled properly to be displayed here. As always, I look forward to more.
You weren't kidding about this guy. He's a lot of fun, very good in both modes. I haven't decided yet if he moves my MP Hasbro prowl aside or if he is a new character, or what. but he's fun to mess with. He'll hit my blog soon too.
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