Before the first live-action Transformer movie came out the trailers made it look fantastic, which is the job of the trailer. One of the stand out moments in the trailer was a mean-looking robot rollerblading down a highway, into a bus and then launching himself at Optimus Prime. That robot was revealed to be Bonecrusher, and what you saw in the trailer was pretty much all he did. Well other than demonstrate that the movie-verse Optimus Prime was a face obsessed psychopath. What little personality we got of Bonecrusher was revealed in his bio and it became a short-lived meme. He hates things. Everything. Being alive. Being killed. The bands that you like. EVERYTHING.
Basically, what we have here is Grouchy Smurf as a Transformer.
The original movie Bonecrusher toy was one of the more successful Decepticons. I mean, that’s damning it with faint praise as pretty much every single 2007 movie toy was various degrees of crap, but it seemed to work even if it was way too small. But this guy knocks it out of the water. While he’s roughly the same height but has more mass and looks far closer to the movie character model. Honestly, I know a lot of his schtick is that he hates what he looks like, but he has a unique look among the Cons.
In bot mode he’s got a good amount of articulation. Leg swivel, ankle tilts, full 360 at the hips and good spread. He doesn’t have any wrist swivel, but he does rotate at the elbow, which helps him avoid the dreaded gorilla curl, and due to transformation, he can even get an inward curl at his shoulders. Hell, even his fork is pretty well articulated able to stretch over his head. Pretty handy when cleaning.
There are only really two bits in bot mode I’m not fond of. The first being the head articulation. Due to his design, Bonercrusher’s bonce is sunk into his chest, and his “neck” is just pinned on and barely moves left or right. As shown in these pics his head can tilt so he’s still expressive, but I feel a ball joint there would have done the same thing and allowed a bit more movement? Then again I’m not a toy designer.
The other part is the obvious vehicle kibble that means I have no idea if I should keep his arms pegged into, or disconnect it as in most of the pics, I think I like the latter, but it does make him feel a little less solid.
Speaking of awkward segues, his alt-mode is very solid.
Bonecrusher transforms into a buffalo mine clearing vehicle. A vehicle about 99% of people didn’t know existed until the movie. They’re designed to be able to withstand land mines and IEDs and the tall, yet solid build is carried over to Bonecrusher here. It’s a fairly accurate representation too, though the arm is about three times longer than the real vehicle. It is also very beige. The transformation itself seems a bit more complicated than it is at first but overall is fun to do back and forth
The only real articulation here is the Form, which has all the same range of motion as the bot-mode.
Overall I like Bonecrusher. Some problem’s sure but nothing major and he looks great. The only really annoying thing is that he doesn’t come with any Con symbols in bot mode. Repro-labels to the rescue again.
ROBOT REVOLT 