I stand corrected, didn't notice that part of the force field part folded up. Just tested it out and if you do fold up the force field piece then you can tab the canopy shield in. My personally I prefer to have the G1 cartoon look going with the force field generator visible.

 

Those two tower over pretty much every single classics deluxe there is.

 

Looks like there's two tabs below the generator... I take it the backpack won't fit there then? Pity, was hoping to have the generator over his head and the two canons pointing upwards.

 

Ouch, that pick of him next to sideswipe. The design is still awesome though and I can't wait for him.

 

Is it just me, or does his head seem kind of tiny? I'm thinking a 3rd party replacement head might help with some of the scale issues with the other deluxe Classics. Although unfortunately its looking like he might not have space for it. I'm guessing the head's that size to accommodate the transformation?

 

You can kinda get that look with the guns...



Just make sure you display him so he's only visible from the front...



For what it's worth, I actually like this look..



It's also comic accurate if not G1 accurate..

 

Scooped this guy up at my local Target 2 nights ago. He was the only one of the 4 deluxes I really wanted (I'm collecting the season 1 Autobots from the Classics/RTS/Generations assortments). So yeah, my mindset is all about recapturing the feel of G1 for my shelf. I know people hate it when G1 enthusiasts speak their mind on what their expectations are, but we cant help it; Generation One was our imprint of the brand, and its not like characters such as Trailbreaker have had several incarnations where we can let things go. So I am apologizing in advance for my small criticisms, because as a whole, I like this figure.

Trailbreaker (oh, sorry. TrailCUTTER) was never one of my favorite Autobots. Never owned the original. The original toy looked like a hefty guy who may not be too mobile in a firefight. On the cartoon, he was always like the loser in the background making jokes to hide his own insecurities "I'm not built for speed, ya know! hardy har har!".

Generally, though, I think this update is a cool little figure. He's got the "Trailbreaker traits" with the exception of looking dumpy or physically taller than his shipmates. His color scheme is good, and I do like his shield/blaster thingy. It's almost appropriate for a guy who generates force fields to have a shield as well (whatta mook!) to hide behind. You have the option of storing it on his back, but the result makes him top-heavy, and his feet aren't well designed to anchor him down for different poses. So I generally post it in his hand (although there are several ways you can attach his shield to his arm). His face looks good, and he has his generator device a little too low behind his dome. Of particular note, his translucent visor is very bright when hit with light from behind, which looks great. His transformation is easy, but not copycat of anything else I've seen (notably the tire/ shoulder slide parts or the legs inverting to form the bed seemed creative and new.) The truck is a mixed bag. I cant figure out if its a futuristic SUV...a Cybertronian camper...or a total cop-out. If you thought the robot form is small, then wait til you get the vehicle in your palm. In this mode, his wheels are difficult to properly keep symetrical, as they all dont roll together. Granted, i've only changed him once, so it could have been my bad with lining things up.

That being said, the size is my biggest complaint about him. I always thought of Trailbreaker/Cutter as a large, low esteem, dumpy kind of guy. Almost like a southern drunk. Here, he's kind of fit with heroic proportions, and at the same height as Hound. Those of us who thought Wheeljack was a little on the squat side, will now feel better, as he's taller than poor old 'Cutter. His vehicle mode now resembles a RAV4 (the older models) instead of a real SUV. It's just bizarre.

I have him on my bookshelf with all the crew of the Ark that's been released thus far (between Voyager/deluxe/legends sizes). It feels good to have all the original deluxe sized Autobots finally. Now if they will hurry up and retool Swerve into Gears, make a good Huffer and Brawn, and finish the Dinobots, I can have some completion at last.

 

I'm liking this figure a lot so far. Does anyone else have problems with his central chest tabs not locking tight? His chest tends to pop up anytime I move his arms at the shoulders, but I think I might be able to fix this through loosening the shoulder joints a bit.

The grey shoulder assemblies tended to be a little further from their torso attachment points (the rear view mirrors) but I heated them up and bent them slightly so they engage better.

 

This guy needed to be a voyager. I sure hope that there's either a cool 3rd party trailbreaker/hoist down the road or an upsized KO

 

For more pics, click on the image above


Robot Mode: At his most basic Trailcutter is yet another car-hood-as-chest Transformer, we’ve seen hundreds of them before. He still manages to have his own unique look, though. Despite being nowhere near as tubby as G1 Trailbreaker, he does appear a pretty hefty, big guy. The big forearms and lower legs further enhance that powerful image. Behind his nicely sculpted head (which sports a pretty sour expression, nicely done) you see his trademark triple-barreled weapon / force field generator. The black paint job with the red and grey highlights isn’t completely G1 accurate, but you can easily tell that it’s supposed to be Trailbreaker.

Trailcutter’s car roof detaches and becomes a combination weapon and shield. He can store it on his back or put it on his forearms or in his hands in several variations. You can unfold it into a supposed shield, which also unveils a red handle to put into his fist, or leave it folded in half and put it on his forearm. Either works. Not really seeing a shield in any of those configurations, honestly, but it probably sounds better to the censors than “big double-barreled weapon of mass killing”.

Trailcutter’s articulation is up to modern standards, just about the only thing missing is twisting wrists. As for stability, everything holds together very well. The shoulders don’t fully tab into the torso, but it doesn’t make them loose or anything, either. So bottom line: a top notch robot mode without any flaws and lots of character. Two thumbs up.

Alternate Mode: Trailcutter transforms into what could probably be regarded as an innocent Earth vehicle – possible some kind of SUV type car – if not for the fact that it has two guns on top, as well as Trailcutter’s signature tri-barreled weapon. Neither can be folded down or hidden, by the way, so you’re stuck with them. I certainly don’t mind, as they look cool, but the perfect Earth disguise is slightly compromised. But seeing as this is supposed to be Trailcutter’s Cybertronian mode anyway (as seen in the IDW comics), it doesn’t really matter.

Not really that much to write about the car mode. Everything folds together very nicely, there are no visible robot bits unless you look from below, and the car can easily fit into the chest compartment of Metroplex (the new, big, yet to be reviewed by me one. Not the G1 one, that would be quite a feat). So to sum it up: a fully satisfying car mode with no fancy stuff. Very much in character for Trailcutter.

Remarks: Trailbreaker was among the original crew of the Ark in G1 and appeared in quite a few episodes of the G1 cartoon, but never really took center stage. He’s mostly known as the force field guy. IDW has decided to play on that in their Trailcutter Spotlight issue (included with this figure) and the ongoing More Than Meets the Eye series, portraying Trailbreaker (who renames himself Trailcutter on Whirl’s advice) as a guy who is frustrated that the only thing people see is his force field. Also, he likes to overindulge on Energon. I really like that portrayal of Trailbreaker/-cutter and don’t even mind the new name. And the way he faked out the Decepticons in his Spotlight issue was really cool, too.

As a toy Trailcutter is exactly as advertised: a very good representation of the Autobot we are currently seeing in the IDW comics. So while he’s not a hundred percent faithful homage to the original G1 Autobot, I can easily live with that. So the bottom line here is quite clear: buy this figure.

Rating: A-

 

Interesting note:
I was fidgeting with him this morning, and I didn't notice a tab slot on his grey abdomen where the Autobot symbol can peg into. Once I did that, his chest shifted from heroic pecks to slumped belly! Albiet, it hides his grey midsection, but it slots in fairly well. I actually prefer this over the "official" transformation.

 

What bothers me is that I see a modified Jazz head on Trailbreaker's body. I just can't unsee it.

 

Nice photos, dude.

 

 

I really have to see that, it might make me decide between this, or waiting for the headrobots one to eventually come out/getting the g1 hilux bot.

 

LOL. Sorry, posted out of excitement! I will try to get some up there later today if time permits me.

 

Here are the comparison shots:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-htl7dVR2lVa1diZVRnbWVmSnM/edit?usp=sharing

with Belly:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-htl7dVR2lVZ3BWb0JqZ2Z2bU0/edit?usp=sharing

With Pecks:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-htl7dVR2lVY29BUzYzUlFhQ2s/edit?usp=sharing

And finally to add some size to him, his back-pack shield:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-htl7dVR2lVRnlxSnhGYkdfTlE/edit?usp=sharing

I guess the tab was always intended to lock in, which was my error, but you can slightly slide it forward for that slumped look.

 

None of these pics are loading and gosh do I wanna see what he looks like...

 

Looks like he's linking to his own gmail account, which of course we can't access. Trying to click an image URL prompts me to log in.

 

Sorry guys...I heard that Google has some sort of image uploader? I changed the links above to be made public through Google Drive...try those...

 

It's still asking me for a login.

If you don't have a free image hosting account like photobucket or imageshack, you can attach files directly to the posts here and they get hosted on TFW's server. That's probably much simpler.