It’s time for another look at an upcoming Transformers Prime toy from Deluxe Wave 3 – this time it is the turn of the Decepticon scientist / medic / narcissist, Knock Out!
KNOCK OUT is oily slick; the ultimate salesman. Everyone knows his weapons are dangerous and prone to malfunction, and his installation methods often leave DECEPTICONS scarred and crippled. But who can resist having quantum disintegration at his fingertips?Unlike Vehicon, who made a lot of good first impressions from the very first picture, Knock Out is one of those toys who got off to a bad start with a mistransformed initial picture, which is a pity because he is actually not a bad little toy at all. Decently poseable, clever and full of personality, check out our gallery by clicking the link below and read on for this writer’s thoughts on why Prime Knock Out is a worthy addition to your Transformers Prime Decepticon lineup.
Transformers Prime Knock Out Gallery So, Knock Out. He’s one of those toys who took a little flack early on for some bad initial promo photos, and yes, while he is not on the same level as some of the other Prime toys (such as his wavemate the Vehicon) he is actually far from being a terrible toy, and is quite fun to play about with.
Transformers Prime Knock Out Car
We’ll start in the logical spot with his car mode. The two-tone red and maroon look attracted some criticism based on the fact that it is a lot more pronounced than in the show, and while that may be true, it doesn’t actually ruin the look of the toy at all, and makes the car mode a lot more interesting than it would otherwise with solid red plastic.
Looking at the car mode on its own merits then, it is a very nice car, sleek and sporty (just how Knock Out likes his alt modes). The maroon breaks out the red plastic nicely, and the silver gradient on the door – while not the detail shown in the show or indeed even on the promotional images – is still a nice feature. There are two hardpoints at the rear of the car for 5mm posts, which Knock Out’s weapon can attach to, or any other 5mm weapon / accessory if you are so inclined.
Transformers Prime Knock Out Robot Mode – According to the Instructions…
Now, on to the robot mode. This is how the instructions tell you to put the robot mode. It’s a decent robot mode, if not particularly show accurate. The arms have a good range of mobility, although they look a bit weird with the elbow joints on the outside and all.
Good thing that the instructions were misprinted then, eh? They leave out a couple of steps which give you a much more accurate robot mode:
Transformers Prime Knock Out Robot Mode – Properly transformed
What the instructions miss out is the way that the chest panels can actually fold upwards and “hook” over the central section. There are grooves in them so they lock into place, meaning this was clearly the intention. The robot mode arms likewise can flip around for a more accurate look to the animation.
Transformed this way, you have a much more show accurate looking Decepticon. He’s still not perfect, but it is a big improvement to the look.
In this form, the arms do lose a little poseability, because the windows on the doors tend to catch on the arms. But you still have an excellent range of movement in the arms, exceptional poseability in the legs (the feet are very well articulated in their own right and help with holding a lot of wide stances and one-legged poses). There’s no waist articulation, because of the transformation, and the head – while ball jointed – is a bit limited because of the space it sits in. The shoulders also sometimes like to pop out of position.
Transformers Prime Knock Out Staff Weapon
Knock Out’s weapon is the awesome little staff he used in his first appearance. It makes a welcome appearance here on the toy, welcome as it is a break from the usual trend of guns and the occasional sword. He can hold it single handed or two handed, and generally looks excellent with it in hand. The staff can break down into two smaller “spike” weapons. One of them looks a little like the shield generator Knock Out used in Operation Bumblebee. The other looks more like a sai in this form. With a little ingenuity, you can tuck this into Knock Out’s arm and get a reasonably representation of the arm mounted drill he popped out in his first appearance. It doesn’t lock into anything, but it can stick in there fairly securely.
Transformers Prime Knock Out Drill Arm Fanmode
Overall, Knock Out is not as impressive as the Vehicon, nor does he quite hit the same heights as some of the other great toys in the Transformers Prime line. He is far from terrible though, and is quite fun to play about with. He’s got great poseability and decent accuracy to the character on the show, plus a good and unusual weapon. He’s worth picking up to bolster the ranks of your Transformers Prime Decepticons, and he’ll go great alongside the upcoming Breakdown. I personally like the little guy, he has a ton of personality, and goes great with the other Transformers Prime Decepticons.
Knock Out: “You know, as future leader of the Decepticons, you’ll need a reliable first lieutenant…”
Knock Out: “Get ’em”
Snake_eyes1975
Dribble some future in there!
HIT MEH!!!!
jametron
Mine are a nice tightness.
Sideways77
Are the balljoint on Knockout's feet loose on anyone's? My KO can't stand because his feet give out.
Knockout196
could you imagine his horror if he woke up like that?
urrutiap
Found this Knock Out figure at a Ben Franklin store last week. Price was a bit spendy at 11.99.
Plus the figure reminds me of the old G1 Transformer figures Runabout and another decepticon with the same colors
RedAlert Rescue
Buy Rumble and some paint the repro-labels are pretty similar to what he has as accurate deco anyway people are just blind to it – it seems.
Fallout
damn… this guy and spend a little extra for reprolabels or rumble? decisions, decisions…
RedAlert Rescue
I'm a teeny bit bored of the Vehicons now and a teeny bit bored of Rumble but I still play with Knockout all the time. along with Bumblebee he just seems to suit my play pattern I guess.
I like that Knockout (and Bumblebee) are plenty poseable and they stand well (mostly) Unlike say Kup who is a little top heavy.
Knockout does have lots of detail and he's not that inaccurate he's just poorly painted out of the box.
As for the Micron ports on the Japanese one they don't really get in the way and I don't personally mind them they don't look to bad in car mode (no where near as bad as Arms Micron Bumblebee's do anyway). and they are even kind of handy on the arms in robot mode.
strangeguy32000
Transformers Prime Robots In Disguise Deluxe Knockout.
Can't say I Like this guy as much as First Edition Cliffjumper or the Mainline Vehicons. Knockout presents himself as a bag of "Meh". his car mode, even though it is a Sleek Sportscar, is quite small. His "Weapon" or whatever the hell the staff thing he comes with seems to like to split in half of its own Volition. While his Back half is incredibly simple to transform, his front half has more hinged panels than a door factory. His articulation below the hips is the standard Balljointed Hips, Swivel Thighs, Hinged Knees deal with no real ankles save for the front of his feet. Everything above the waist… oy, where do I begin? His Door window Kibble prevents his arms from rotating when the elbows are bent, and his shoulders get in the way too, The way his head is mounted prevents alot of up and down movement and his ball-jointed wrists can only rotate. He's alright, I guess, but his Paint apps don't look right and his head sculpt is boring as all get out without any dark paint apps.
Knockout gets a 7/10
Not as bad as I've heard Airachnid is, but still not great.
Nefud
I don't think it would be difficult to do either of those things, as long as you're able to handle a little customization work to handle any residual scuffing when you remove the ports. I would caution that the AM version is virtually identical to the RID version (without stickers or the ports) in terms of coloring, articulation, etc. If you're considering buying the AM version because you want the scorpion weapon, then that's a whole other matter, and I think you'll be happy.
darksage78
Just out of curiosity for those who do have Arms Micron Knockout, how tight are the extra micron ports on him? Do you think they can be removable with say a hobby knife? Trying to decide whether to go for the AM or regular US release… Also are the wheels mounted on his back locked in, or can you pop them out and reverse them?
Chaos Muffin
Mine's bugging Terrordive to borrow his trident. He reminds me of Cybertron Override a bit.
What you see is what you get with this guy.
jametron
/\/\/\ exactly what I plan on doing… 3M blue painters tape is my bestest friend when painting!
Snake_eyes1975
Its cake dude.
Just place a long piece of wide masking tape, Place all the wheels in a row far apart, spend some time pushing all the tape down good. exacto out the round part using the molded rim part as a guide..either prime or pre white it and then paint.
Bountyan
Painting the wheels is gonna be a pain. Yellow and white are the two hardest colors to paint with.
jametron
Right on, makes sense… thanks!
closetrat
Vibrancy of color – the white will make the yellow brighter.
Thundershot
Crap. I already started on one before I realized I needed an extra fine tip to get the little bits inside…
jametron
What's the difference between using grey primer and yellow paint vs white paint then yellow paint?
RedAlert Rescue
Not sure why there's a desire to cover up clear windows with stickers.
And those very pale stickers look pretty pants too.
I strongly suggest to anyone painting his wheels to undercoat them white first before painting them yellow – I did the wheels on my Micron one light gold to match his metallic paint but the yellow looks better so I'd suggest that to anyone thinking of painting them.