Review: Human Alliance Leadfoot with Steeljaw and Sergeant Detour

Leadfoot, the protoform killing and beer-bellied mechanic, has just been released as a Target Exclusive in the Transformers Dark of the Moon line. He is paired with Steeljaw, his trusty cyber-dog; and Sergeant Detour, his human ally. Here is the review.

Leadfoot with Sergeant Detour



Alt Mode: Leadfoot's alt mode is a red Nascar Impala... that isn't all Wrecker-ized. Despite what the pictures show, the red is a nice candy red that is rare to come by with Transformers toys. The decals are crisp and make me hope a revision isn't necessary. The clear headlights are a nice touch. It seems like both Roadbuster and Leadfoot are Impalas, but they hardly look alike. I don't have any Alternators, next to me, to make comparisons but they seem to be very similar in size. The doors open so you can stick Sergeant Detour in... and that can be a bit of an annoyance. He can't even hold the steering wheel with both hands! Sergeant Detour is just a Target repaint of Sergeant Recon, the ally of Human Alliance Roadbuster. There really isn't much else to say about this, because it's just a standard car.



Robot Mode: I'd like to point out that the instructions are long, and a little hard to read. Though I own every Human Alliance Transformer, Leadfoot is the first that I've bothered to open. In robot mode, there are a few things wrong with Leadfoot. I first had issue with getting him to stand beyond a hunched over position. Thinking that this was a defect I almost threw the toy in the trash. I pulled down on the heel spurs with some more force and head it click into place... problem solved. The biggest problem with Leadfoot are his gimpy hands. They're stuck in an open palm situation, and only the thumb can swivel in an out. The wrist doesn't rotate either; it just bends in and out a bit. The elbow folds at a 120 degree angle, so don't expect much arm articulation. If you follow the instructions, Leadfoot looks mistransformed. The doors just look really weird with all that space around the shoulders. If you pull the torso forwards, more than you're supposed to, then it should make it look more like the box art. There also seems to be two ways to transform the spikes behind his neck. Leadfoot looks cooler with these pointing out, but then it just gets in the way of Steeljaw's missile launcher. The shins and shoulder pads are transformed differently from the box art, and the colors are off too. While Leadfoot is grey in the pictures, we end up getting something that looks like a Jungle-Attack version. There's a lever on the back of Leadfoot's head that drops down his shades; this is fun to do repeatedly. There is also a compartment to store Steeljaw's chain in Leadfoot's right arm. Compared to Human Alliance Roadbuster, Leadfoot is pretty short. I do, however, like how he looks compared to the Deluxe-class toys. Leadfoot's "Human Alliance" gimmick is pretty lame. His belly basically opens up to become a platform for Sergeant Detour to ride around on. Keep in mind that the articulation on the little guys prevent them from being able to hold the handles.



Steeljaw: This isn't your daddy's Steeljaw. Instead of Steeljaw being a yellow lion that turns into a mini-cassette; the Dark of the Moon iteration is a pit bull that transforms into a missile launcher... boring. He's got articulated head, feet and paws, which is much more than I can say for the Revenge of the Fallen Legends Ravage. In missile launcher mode, Steeljaw will attach to any Mechtech port.



Overall: Though it would have been nice if Leadfoot was designed to be weaponized like his on-screen version... the clean version isn't too bad. In fact, if you leave him in robot mode, you can hardly tell the difference anyway. The arms and shoulders are probably the worst part about this figure, but if you don't really play with your Human Alliance toys, it can be overlooked. The proper "Target" version of this toy will only be sold at Target, while I heard rumblings of a non-Target version being sold everywhere else. If you're going to get this guy, skip the alternative and get the real deal. Is it worth the thirty bucks? Meh.

Target Number = 087061666

For more pictures for this review, visit The Rabbit Haul

TheRabbitHaul * B/S/T * Feedback

That CAN'T be how he was meant to be transformed.

That's what I said. The first few pics (more on the site) are what resulted from step by step transformation from the instructions. The last set of pictures is me mistransforming it a bit to make it look better.

TheRabbitHaul * B/S/T * Feedback

i cant believe the dpci is 087061666, i even called one of the stores in cali that had this and swore they scanned the figure, and said it was the same as the others.

ARG.

Thanks for the pics, looks ok, but still not great, hes down there near sideswipe.

I cant wait to get this!!!!! Steeljaw's sooo, cute!!! lol

that's the transformation for when he carries the human in his chest. that's not the standard transformation at all.

This does not impress me. Peaugh's video review does. While I will definitely follow his example, this pic review shows me what to expect "out of the box" so to speak.

He looks a little... unfinished.

I think I'm disappointed as a whole for a few reasons. One reason is obvious: where is my weaponized Wrecker?! Other reasons include that plastic color, which I hope is just the lighting, and it really just doesn't look good. I'll most likely get it with all that being said because I enjoy the Wreckers characters, but damn I wish Hasbro gave us weaponized HA Wreackers.

Now I'm deeeeeeeefinitely not going to try and complete the Wreckers unless I can get them for HA Skids-like prices down the road.

Pass.

Sale/Trade/Want