MakeToys is now officially certified in First-Aid!
Producer: MakeToys
Price: $60 USD
Release: Dec. 2015
Height: Approx. 3.5″ (Rear End)
WHERE TO BUY: TFSource
Even though Hi-Med technically released at the same time as Katana, it’s lower on the “letter” chain so we’ll say this is the third release in Maketoys’ Guardia (Defensor) combiner team. This homage to First-Aid definitely does the job and is really challenging Katana for being my favorite of the group so far.
MakeToys has done a masterful job of homaging the popular IDW Transformers comic version of Tailgate. The look and styling of it is just dead-on. At 3.5″ tall, it also gives that perfect sizing for your classics collection. The accessories are very simple having a “crying” alternate head and two, amputated legs (from his first comic appearance in MTME.) The poseability on it is fantastic. I really like the ball-jointed ab area because it gives him a lot of personality when giving him different standing poses.
Rear End features an extremely fast transformation and the alt. mode is just as dead-on as the robot mode is aesthetically. Four rolling wheels, and that’s about all that it needs in terms of any sort of gimmicks.
When it comes to Hurricane, I think that it’s a nice tie-in, but it would have been much better if they’d just made a new Cyclonus figure and upped the price to $100 or so. Maketoys has proven that their best work is definitely their figures designed ground-up, and this was a great opportunity to put out a great version of a popular character. The add-on kit doesn’t match any particular version of Classics Cyclonus in terms of color, so it looks off and very blatant as to what parts are from the kit when they should blend. Another downside to this being an upgrade kit is that you still have the limitations of the original toy such as lack of bicep swivel. That being said; I do like the improvements made for what they’re worth but would have been fine if this kit weren’t included at all. There isn’t much to say about the transformation or alt., because it remains the same with the pieces from the hip skirt showing (although moved to a more appropriate position on the jet.)
Overall Score: 7.0/10 – It’s not very often that MakeToys gets a character this dead-on in terms of likeness due to their particular aesthetic on products, but the stars have aligned and I believe Rear End make a very universally definitive Tailgate for both MakeToys and and Transformers general collectors. The reason this sin’t rated higher is because I just don’t feel that the Hurricane add-on shows nearly the amount of care as Rear End; it should have been left out.
Check out a few pictures of these in the gallery below and remember to order yours at TFSource if you like what you see!
