Prelude: M.A.D.L.A.W. is not a figure issued by Hasbro or Takara-Tomy and thus not officially a Transformer. He hails from third party company Fansproject and is an updated version of G1 Sixchanger Quickswitch, but can’t be called by that name for legal reasons. Side Note: all of M.A.D.L.A.W.’s six modes have been given their own designation, the initials of which spell out his given name (Master V, Aqua Force, Dirt Driller, Laser Shot, Air Striker, Wood Runner). Robot Mode: In robot mode (which is called Master V, probably due to his connection to the Masterforce cartoon) M.A.D.L.A.W. is about Voyager-sized, standing a good deal taller than the G1 figure he is based on. Also, where the G1 figure was rather strangely shaped and looked like a tubby kid wearing a full diaper, M.A.D.L.A.W. is a lean, well-proportioned, and simply cool-looking robot. Articulation is nothing to sneeze at, as M.A.D.L.A.W. can bend with the best of them and assume all sorts of poses. No twisting wrists, but otherwise there is little to complain about here. The head turns with a bit of difficulty due to the design of the neck area, but that’s not a big thing. And speaking of the head, M.A.D.L.A.W. has a visor he can slide down over his eyes via a small lever on the back of his head. Personally I think he looks better with the visor down, but that is purely subjective, of course. Being a sixchanger, M.A.D.L.A.W. doesn’t have that many obvious alternate mode parts on his body. You can see the tank treads on his his arms and wings on his back, but that is pretty much it in terms of clearly recognizable parts. Speaking of the wings, the instructions say to just point them straight backwards from his upper back (somewhat reminiscent of the wings of the original G1 toy), but personally I like to fold the wing tips outward, giving him a bit of a winged look in robot mode. Again, personal preference and surely subjective. Finally, the weapons. M.A.D.L.A.W. comes with two pairs of guns, the smaller ones being the ones actually intended for all six of his modes. The red guns can clip into his hip for storage and both the barrels and the grip can fold in, making them relatively small when stored. M.A.D.L.A.W. also has two much bigger guns which are the spitting image of the guns wielded by G1 Quickswitch, just larger. They are only there for the homage factor, though, as they are not a necessary part for any mode. Bottom line: M.A.D.L.A.W. looks amazing in robot mode, no doubt about. Cool look, great articulation, nice weapons, there is nothing here to complain about. Whether you like the red, grey, and teal color scheme is entirely up to you, of course (a repaint in Sixknight’s colors is planned), but otherwise: two thumbs up for the robot mode. Alternate Modes: As a sixchanger M.A.D.L.A.W. has five alternate modes. I’ll be going through them in the same order as they are described in the instructions (and I really recommend you use them, at least the first time around) instead of the order of the initials in his name. Hope you can forgive me. M.A.D.L.A.W.’s first alternate mode is called Wood Runner, the counterpart to Quickswitch’s lynx mode. It’s a four-legged robotic animal with three claws on each foot, and... yeah, I really can’t be any more specific than that. It’s probably meant to be some kind of feline predator, but it’s rather indistinct. The forelegs are fully articulated and look very nice. The hind legs are a bit of a different story, as they have extremely big thighs and moving them around for poses is somewhat akward. M.A.D.L.A.W.’s guns go on the back and you can even mount one of the bigger guns between them if you like. Additionally the Wood Runner has quad-barreled cannons on his rear legs, which come into play only in this mode here, not in any of the others. So bottom line, not the worst beast mode ever, but far from my favorite of M.A.D.L.A.W.’s forms. The next mode is the Air Striker, M.A.D.L.A.W.’s flying form. Much like it was with Quickswitch’s jet mode, this is a strong contender for my favorite alternate mode for this sixchanger. Sure, the aerodynamics are suspect and sadly there is no landing gear of any kind, but the jet as such looks cool and you can attach M.A.D.L.A.W.’s guns on top. Certainly not a perfect jet mode, but fully okay considering that it shares space with five other modes. Next we have Laser Shot, M.A.D.L.A.W.’s laser gun mode. On this I can only say, it does look better than Quickswitch’s gun mode by a significant margin, but I really don’t see the point of a full-size Transformer turning into a gun, to be honest. Sure, Shockwave looks cool and Megatron was the original gun guy, but it never really did make much sense to me. Anyway, M.A.D.L.A.W. as a gun looks okay, no problem, and fits nicely into an adult-sized hand. You can also plug in the bigger guns on each side, making it look like a space cruiser, which I find far more appealing. Anyway. M.A.D.L.A.W. has got a gun mode. Let’s move on. Dirt Driller is next, M.A.D.L.A.W.’s drill tank mode. While it is a good-looking, very solid mode, it’s also the one where M.A.D.L.A.W.’s main flaw comes into play: his drill is attached to the rest of the figure by a ratchet joint that is very, very, very tight. So tight, in fact, that the mere act of moving it forward and backward three or four times (as needed for putting him through all six of his modes once) has already started to fray the plastic the ratchet is made from. So keep that in mind and don’t transform him back and forth too often. On the actual drill tank mode, though: looks great. Everything fits together very nicely here into a solid, intimidating vehicle. Very nice. My other contender for best alternate mode, actually. Finally there is Aqua Force, M.A.D.L.A.W.’s naval mode. While not looking like any seacraft I’ve ever seen, the shape of this mode looks like something that could presumably stay afloat. And... well, not really that much more I can say here. You can add one of the big guns on top, where it almost looks like sail for a little bit of extra nautical air. All in all not M.A.D.L.A.W.’s best mode, but far from his worst, either. Remarks: Nowhere near as well-known as his Decepticon counterpart (and possible father) Sixshot, Autobot Sixchanger Quickswitch has but a single short comic appearance to his name. His Japanese counterpart Sixknight at least managed to appear in a multiple episodes of the Japanese Masterforce series, but Quickswitch is pretty much a blank in terms of character and media presence. Lack of character or not, though, M.A.D.L.A.W. is a pretty terrific toy. The robot mode is superb and while I would not call any of his five alternate modes really great, the very fact that he has five of them is an impressive feat of engineering, especially as all of them manage to look more or less like what they’re supposed to be. Sure, you can easily tell all six modes are the same guy, but overall: very nicely done. The only real flaw is the too-tight ratchet joint for the drill, which I can see wearing out already. So finally, the recommendation part. Do I recommend M.A.D.L.A.W.? I absolutely do. Unreservedly? Well, not quite. Fans of the multi-changer concept, of great robot modes, and of the more obscure G1 characters will certainly be satisfied here, though. I certainly am, not least because I got this figure here as a present from my beloved wife. Even without that bonus, though: a great figure. Rating: B+ Source: Transformers-Universe.com
I'd give him a good solid C. The one I had (and sold) had hips that would let him stand, but his overall QC was iffy to say the best. His hips were looser then I've seen from FansProject, and other joints had QC issues, too.
just got one of these from a buddy. really dig it. very high quality. some of the modes are real good..some are just meh. Bot mode is seriously good though.
