Toy Review: DX9 Toys D08 Gewalt

DX9’s Gewalt is the latest on the table for review. This is the fourth mold in their series of Masterpiece-scaled figures and it does a lot well.

Producer: DX9 Toys

Price: $139.99

Release Date: July 2016

Item Height: Approx. 9.5″

Item Weight: Approx. 0.5 lbs

WHERE TO BUY: TFSource

Dx9 brings is Gewalt which I would say has definitely been their most polarizing Masterpiece-scaled figure in terms of public perception. In fact, this article is longer than most of my others because even I have a lot of mixed feelings on this piece. Below I’ll be taking a look at each mode and giving my thoughts. I’d love it if you all let me know what you think as well in the comments section.

Bot Mode: The first thing that stuck out to me in terms of Gewalt’s robot mode was the size. At 9.5 inches tall, it’s a pretty big bot. It also has a pretty imposing silhouette. The next thing that really stuck out to me is the colors. In my opinion, they picked the perfect tones for a Blitwing homage, and the use of colored plastic over paint is awesome. The third is definitely how sturdy it feels in hand. Good plastic quality and a weighty feel definitely give security that you didn’t buy something cheaply made. The poseability is also good, and the hands are easily the nicest default hands I’ve seen on a Transformers toy yet. They have a chunky look to the straight out of a comic, and the finger poseability is very smartly engineered in that they really do help grip the weapons. On the subject of it’s weapons; they’re good. The main two are a purple, standard blaster and a clear-purple sword. Both of them are well designed and look nice in his hands. To top it off, the turret that stores on his back (also used in Tank Mode) becomes a sniper rifle that can actually be held by both hands.

Where I feel like the bot mode lacks is the non-existant neck and general stylization which I’ll cover more in-depth at the end of this article.

Tank Mode: As I’d said in the video portion of the review, I don’t really have a “dog in the fight” when it comes to a lot of the gripes I’ve seen online. I feel that it serves its purpose in terms of looking like a tank. Things like the rolling wheels underneath the plastic treads and a turret that rotates and has up/down movement really make Gewalt’s tank mode about as functional as it needs to be for me. However, while it generally does a good job of keeping the kibble contained and “underneath” the figure, things like the robot head being visible from the front and the additional tail fins really not having a hiding spot at all on the backside really take away from the visual of it (and there’s some slack given for the tail fins coming later in the production process, but it’s still jarring.)

Jet Mode: Definitely my preferred out of the alt. modes, it measures 14.5 inches from the tip of the nose cone. It isn’t just large, but has a really cohesive look to the body while doing a great job of concealing kibble from the other modes. Even though it doesn’t do the legs in bot mode any favors, the tail fin additions definitely do this mode well. My biggest gripe about this mode would be the lack of locking mechanism for the front landing wheel once extended out. I don’t know if it’s universal, but mine seems to want to slide back into its hiding spot very easily.

Something also needs to be mentioned about Gewalt’s lack of general weapon storage. The sword can be stored by pegging into holes on the underside of the jet wings in all modes while the turret/sniper rifle can be stored on his back in bot mode, and is the tank turret in said mode with no storage in jet mode. The purple blaster has no storage at all in any mode. It’s pretty disappointing, particularly in jet mode where I feel that there’s a missed opportunity with a gun on the underside.

Overall Score: 7.5/10 – DX9’s Gewalt is a solid piece. Outside of the Issue with the front landing wheel not having a locking mechanism, everything locks together holds together and genuinely feels like a well-made piece. My biggest issues are with the general aesthetic; mainly in robot mode. And even with that, I don’t think that it’s “bad” but it’s hard for me to find a real fit for it among other Masterpiece items in terms of its stylization. As you’ll notice, even in the pictures next to DX9’s Tyrant (Galvatron) it comes off very boxy. The lack of actual neck also bugs me, moreseo for the lack of up and down head tilt than anything else. Overall, I give DX9 a lot of credit for being the first to five into this figure at this scale because Triple-Changers definitely don’t seem to be something easy in terms of engineering. even looking at the prototype of KFC’s Ditka and FT’s upcoming version, I think that this will still be a contender, but has some pretty glaring flaws aesthetically that will give these other companies ground just by making sure their products don’t share said issues.