Saturday, May 9, 2015

ToyWorld TW-D02: Muddy - Part 2 (Final)

A place for everything

Mentioned in Part 1, this post will be about the articulation of Muddy in dino mode and how he looks like in robot mode. We will start with the head. His head is on both a ball joint and hinge which allows the head to be able to move up and down and turn right and left. 
 
Top view showing Muddy's head hinge


 Muddy's head bending up and down
 

Muddy turning his head left and right
 
It's a shame that he is not able to bend the neck. I guess they have to do it this way in order to store the sword at the bottom of the neck. There is a hinge at the bottom of his jaw for Muddy to open and close his mouth.
 
Muddy with his closed mouth
 
Muddy with his open mouth
 
There is one thing which I cannot accept from this figure is the loose joints at the front feet. This makes it hard to pose him in dino mode. The legs will spread open like he is standing on a slippery surface. Not sure if this is a design issue or it is just bad luck.
 
Muddy showing how to stabilise himself on a slippery surface
 
The tail is able to bend but only at the tip. The tip of the tail has a ball joint which allows it have a wide range of movements.
 

Muddy wagging his tail
 
The last part for articulations are the feet. Both the front and back feet can be rotated forward and backward. That is the extent of movements for the back feet. The front leg has an additional movement. It bend the lower part of the leg forward and backward as well. The front leg will be the hands of Muddy in robot mode so this extra range of movement is expected.
 
Lower front leg moving back
 
Lower front leg moving front
 
The last part for the articulation for the legs are the toes. Each individual toes are on ball joints which allows them to have the 360° movements.
 
Muddy's toes can be moved in all direction
 
With the looks and articulation in dino mode done, now for the transformation. I'm not going to show a step-by-step guide on how this figure transforms. If you are interested in seeing the video, here is a video done by peaugh.
 
 Video is from Youtube. Click here if the video is unable to load
 
 This is how Muddy looks like after the first page of the transformation sheet.
 

Side view
 
Front and back view

Bottom view
 
Following the instructions in page 2 to complete the transformation, you will get the robot mode of Muddy in no time. Just be careful during the transformation process because some of the steps are not clear and you will have to take a guess. Just remember to be patient and take it easy. If you are lost, do refer to the above video for guidance.
 
After the transformation, this is how Muddy looks like in robot mode.
 
Front and back view
 
Left and right view
 
All I can say is how happy I was when Muddy looks like the G1 counterpart. Transforming this fella reminds me of the time when I first got the Masterpiece Prime. All the parts are cleverly engineered so that there are no parts removal or parts swapping like the older toys. All you need is engineered into the figure itself.
 
Articulation on this kit is just like other Transformer figures. The arms are able to rotate 360°. The elbow can be bent from 180° to about 90°. The front leg of the Dino at the back of Muddy can be positioned from 45° to 90° on the back. Head has a 360° rotation and the feet can be opened for Muddy to do splits. The leg has the rickety joints which makes the joints tighter. I do apologise that there are no photos to show the articulation in robot mode.
 
Shown in Part 1 that Muddy comes with 2 weapons. The rifle and a sword. I've seen some images that the rifle can be stored at the bottom of the dino mode but when I tried to do that, the rifle can't be placed in the peg. I might be doing something wrong.
 
Weapons for Muddy
 
Just to note, the sword is foldable. There are no indication in the instruction on where to store the sword in Dino mode. You will have to figure it out because as mentioned above, this is like a Masterpiece toy where all weapons can be stored on the figure. The sword is stored at the base of the neck in dino mode but the sword has to be folded first.
 


Unfolding process of the sword
 
Equipping Muddy with the weapons are easy. Just slot the pegs into the hands and you are done. First up is Muddy with the rifle:
 

 
The rifle does look good with Muddy. The size is just nice. It is a minor issue but if I were to complain about the rifle, it is the front end is slight bent downwards.
 
Next up is Muddy with the sword:
 

 
I have to say, the sword is disappointing. It is more of a knife than a sword considering that half of the sword consist of the handle. I would love for them to make the sword part longer but then again, this is another minor issue which can be ignored.
 
Finally here is Muddy holding both the rifle and the sword:
 
Front and side view of Muddy with weapons
 
To end this review, here is a list the pros and cons and the conclusion of what I think about this figure according to my personal experience:
 
Pros:
- Chromed parts
- G1 design of Sludge
- Good articulation
- Good details

Cons:
- Loose front legs joints (could be just mine)
- Manual not clear on some transformation steps
- Fingerprints on chromed parts
- Small sword
- Front of the rifle is bent downwards

Conclusion:
This is a nice figure if you are into dinobots. Also if you grew up watching the G1 Transformers, you will appreciate this figure as the colors and outlook resembles the G1 counterpart. There are a few cons but those are not major issues. Just be patient and look through the net when transforming for the first time. You just have to be more hardworking to wipe off fingerprints on the chrome parts. You will need to pick up this kit if you want to have a completed combined dinobots. If you are looking to only add this to your collection, I would go for it.

Previous review on Muddy:
Part 1 - New kit on the blog

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