Transformers Legacy Evolution Leader
Item No.: No. F6956 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Sword, axe, Matrix of Orange Soda, container trailer with removable blaster Action Feature:Transforms from truck to robot Retail:$34.99 Availability: July 2023 Other: Based on an unreleased mid-2000s Universe concept
The most effective way to make a fan want something is to say "See this? Yeah? You can't have it." In 2023 we got G2 Universe Toxitron, a toy briefly shown to fans in 2005 and 2007. I first saw it when someone took pictures of the "Things you've never seen before (and will never get)" booth at BotCon - and it looked awesome. That original "Laser Optimus Prime" mold is probably the best pre-Beast Wars toy in the entire Transformers line, and the remake of it is typical of modern "collector" toys. All the play features are stripped out (no rockets, no discs, no light-up sword) but you get more articulation than you need. This new mold is overly complicated compared to the speedy change of the fun original toy, but the louder fans who want a "challenge" get heard. I'd still recommend the toy, because it's ugly and I like ugly.
I'm beyond delighted to have this figure, but I recognize that as a toy, it's not much of a plaything. The Optimus Prime repaint was labeled Generation 2 for its 2023 release despite being a prototype from around 2003. I guess that means with its orange toxic sludge on the trailer and ugly colors, it fits the platonic ideal of "G2" to most fans. It certainly feels like a 1990s concept, with bright green, weird purple, and a Nickelodeon-orange Matrix. It just reeks of 1990s kid toy lime marketing, so your average Joe would probably see this on shelf and just assume it's G2. The same is true of the entire capsule program - Grimlock, Jazz, Laser Cycle, Sideswipe, Dead End, and Cloudcover were all based on unreleased concepts. Also your average fan doesn't know the first thing about G2, so you could sneak something by most of them and they wouldn't know. (No offense to the less hardcore folks. OK, maybe some offense.)
The BotCon/Club people previously made Animated and Combiner Wars versions of Toxitron in the very low thousands, which means this is the first crack most fans will have at getting the character as a toy. If you can get over the lost toy features, it's a pretty neat toy. The robot has about 22 meaningful points of articulation, standing 7 1/2-inches tall at the shoulder pylons. He's not as big as some of the more impressive Leader-class toys thanks to the budget going to his trailer and accessories, and also a more complex robot mode with a little more than he needs to get by. The arms have a full range of joints on the shoulders, but the pylons can't move. Also flaps can be folded up so they swing forward, rather than having the shoulder pylons move with the actual arm. I don't love this - but at least the full range of motion of the legs works wonderfully and the rocker ankles help him stand in a variety of poses without a fight.
When I posted mine on social media, I got a few complaints that the yellowish green plastic wasn't as bright as it could have been. And that's true - it's a little more muted than I would prefer, but it still looks nice with a good purple complimenting it. His orange Matrix hides under a false windshield chest, and both of his hands can hold accessories nicely. You can even merge the axe, sword, and Matrix to make some sort of... I don't know what it is. Some sort of ping pong sword of leadership? It's fun to fuss with, but when fully merged it may weigh more than the elbow joint can support without sagging.
The toy's biggest accessory is the battle station that folds from his tanker trailer. You get a repair bay claw, a turret, and some other areas that seem rather useless without little buddies to use it as a battle station. There are lots of places to store his accessories, which is useful but not exactly fun. You can plug in other weapons in 5mm holes, but again, those would need to already be in your toybox. As it is, it's just sort of a big plastic chonk that, while technically a good representation of the original toy, doesn't do a heck of a lot. It starts to explain why Hasbro resisted making container trailers for Optimus for so long - if they're not building in action features, it's not much of a toy. At least Toxitron is a fun and goofy robot figure that wormed its way into a lot of fans' imaginations over the past couple of decades. The figure is a little too big to truly use his battle base, and that's unfortunate.
Transforming the figure is a bit of a hassle - there's a lot of folding and twisting on what was once an incredibly simple toy. The chest, in particular, has a lot of moving bits with a car cab backpack to get in place. The legs are a snap to transform, though, so kudos to that. I would love a simpler version of this toy down the road, if possible.
It's also the third iteration of the mold - you probably know what you were getting into before you even bought it. I sure did, but I'm a fan of the robot figure design so I spent too much money buying it three times.
The truck is a truck with few play features. You can connect the trailer, and that's about all. There are places to plug some stuff in, which is welcome, and rolling wheels. The decor on the tanker is pretty good - but they left off the fun "TOXITRON" lettering. At least we got to keep the orange slime drips. That's probably the more thematically important element. They did a good overall job giving you a smaller version of the original toy vehicle, but sadly the light-up headlights are no longer present. But Toxitron is, and that's why I went bananas when I found out this toy was being made. The previous iterations were good, but without the shoulders and sword it's not good enough.
It is not an exaggeration to say I am loving this sub-line and have experienced some weirdness while trying to find it. This toy isn't perfect, it isn't exactly the lost toy we've dreamed of, but it is as close as we'll probably get. At $55 this was a "shut up and take my money" purchase for me, but that's the power of making someone wait. I heard about this toy a long time ago and I wanted one - and here it is! (And I've got the Combiner Wars one from the Fan Club.) Now he's got a sword and a trailer and shoulder pylons, and I assume we'll never get a better one. I'd consider buying one based on the original G2 mold though, because this is a good-but-not-perfect thing. It's a great collector figure, but without that easy-to-transform 1990s mold there's always an opportunity to do a slightly better version. Until then? This is as good as it gets. It's a great honorary G2 figure.
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