No interest in warfare; prefers long, lone trips into deserts and along coasts... only places he feels he can escape to and relax. Cool-headed, low-key, personable -- what Earthlings call "laid-back". Fights when called upon despite anti-war feelings. Range of 800 miles... can go over very rugged terrain. Sensors can determine chemical composition of land and find needed resources. Susceptible to mental stress.
First/Last Comic Appearance (UK) - Issue 103, March 7th 1987 / Issue 235, 16th September 1989
First/Last Cartoon Appearance - Episode 29 (Season 2 #13), October 9th 1985 / Episode 70 (Season 3 #5), September 19th 1986
Figure Details
AKA 'Duneraker'
Manufacturer - iGear
Toyline - Mini Warriors
Additions/Mods:
- Added an Autobot symbol to the chest
- Added Autobot symbols to the sides
Review
Poor Beachcomber has been under-represented so far, ignored by Hasbro in favour of other, less pacifistic Autobots. He did receive a legends-class update which was pretty nice, but suffers the usual lack of articulation which plagues that size class. Then there was the awful Movie-verse figure, who had a terrible head and was later repainted as Sandstorm - thankfully Hasbro amended that particular error. But this doesn't help poor old Beachcomber, who still awaits a decent Hasbro representation. So there were muted cries of cautious optimism when it was announced that
iGear would be homaging this popular counter-culture icon. The first renders surfaced and the figure looked decent! So there was no way iGear could stuff
this up, right?
Appearance (Robot Mode) 6/10
The Oxford dictionary definition of 'meh' should come with a picture of this figure. Sure, he has a headsculpt and overall design which really evokes the character, but this figure is very simplistic and was definitely upscaled from a more palatable
Seaspray size. It is
crying out for reprolabels. There are
three paint apps on the entire figure - the wheels, the visor, and a pathetic bit of yellow on the midriff. Also the blue is way wrong, and conspires with the cheap and dull grey plastic to look distinctly amateurish. The provided gun is a lot better than the other Mini Warriors have been 'rewarded' with, with the droopy flower (which is thankfully removable) being a nice nod to the sensibilities of the character. I might give the gun to
Perceptor.
Appearance (Alternate Mode) 6/10
Criminally, the hands can easily be seen from the side of the vehicle mode because they do not stow properly which is just shoddy design. It's a shame because otherwise the proportions and detailing on the mould are pretty nice, but then the dull plastic and lack of paint apps really conspire to make this vehicle look so plain. This is a beach buggy - it should be exciting and interesting to look at. It just isn't.
Transformation 7/10
This is a pretty simplistic affair but I quite like it. Sometimes it's nice to have a 3rd-party figure which does not require a 3-volume manual and an engineering degree to
transform. The lower arms fold into the shoulders and loosely tab in place, the head rotates at the neck and neatly slots into the engine block, and the legs fold back in on themselves, once the useful heel supports are folded away. You can literally transform this guy in a few seconds.
Poseability 8/10
It's hard to fault this figure in this area, but I will do my best. Some of the ball-joints are a wee bit tight, with others being slightly loose. This is not as bad as the issues on the
Brawn/
Cosmos moulds however. Articulation wise, he has a ball-jointed neck and waist swivel. He also has ball joints in the hips, shoulders and elbows, with an additional joint half way up his bicep, which is only really useful for transformation purposes. He also has jointed knees but no ankle or wrist articulation. I was really worried that this figure would be forever falling over, as he doesn't really have any heel to speak of. Thankfully though there are additional supports which swivel out from the front of the feet, and this figure balances very well.
Quality 7/10
I don't really have any complaints in this area. The plastic may be pretty dull to look at but it is resilient too. One slight worry is the front bumper which needs to be moved up before unfolding the legs for transformation. If you're not careful you could put undue stress on the part.
Overall - 34/50
If iGear were willing to go the extra mile, then this could have been a really nice figure. As it is, it suffers from being not only the wrong colour but also from a very spartan paintjob. It feels like the design phase happened at a decent pace and then they rushed the production phase, cutting corners to get this figure to market. You never get the sense with other 3rd parties such as
FansProject that they rush - they may release figures late, but they are quality when they arrive. iGear seem to release their figures late, and unfinished to boot.
