Brawl, however, was one that I owned the Leader class toy from the original movie's toyline, and had been sufficiently pleased with it that the Voyager class Studio Series toy was surplus to my requirements. However, when the improved oversized KOs came out, I reconsidered and sold the Leader class toy to make space in my collection for a more accurate replacement (or tried to, at least: the courier lost it en route to its new owner, so I had to refund the buyer and then neither of us had the toy!). It was never an urgent purchase, though, particularly while I was only working intermittently as a freelancer, and the more I looked at the SS mold, and its oversized KOs, the more shortcomings I saw. In the end, it wasn't till last year - having started a new job - that I decided to shell out for the Masterpiece instead... and, even then, I only bought it because it had been discounted by about a third of the original UK RRP.
Given the lacklustre presentation of MPM Bonecrusher, my expectations for this figure were somewhat lower than they could have been for a Masterpiece figure. So, let's find out how this compares to the existing Masterpieces in my collection.
The packaging across contemporary Masterpiece figures, and particularly those from the movie branch, has been fairly consistent in terms of style and quality for some years now, so there's not much new to report on this one. It does occur to me now, though, that the use of the umbrella branding - the red TransFormers logotype - seems rather ill-fitting for Masterpiece figures of movie characters. The movie's branding style would have been a better fit... It's present - used on the front and back of the box below the product shots, but it's small to the point of being almost invisible given the prominence of the red branding. I understand Hasbro's thinking - 'The Unification of World Brands' and all that - but Masterpiece should have been an exception, since it's more overtly oriented toward adult, Capital-C 'Collectors'.
Nevertheless, the depiction of the figure on the front of the box, in both robot and vehicle modes, is well-presented - appearing to be photographic, with perhaps a few embellishments. The product detail images on the back are clear and informative, and the box itself is nice and sturdy. The instructions are the typical two-colour, rough paper that you'd find in a Generations release, but it's been that way for quite some time... and I'm pretty sure it's been true of the entire MPM line.
Vehicle Mode:
One would think, by now, after more than forty years of the TransFormers toyline, that the world would be bored of tank TransFormers... but, no. They're as popular - or as common, at least - as they have ever been - Autobot and Decepticon, both as reboots and unique characters. In fact, movie Brawl turned out to be so well-received that fans soon forgot the sense of betrayal they'd felt over the fact that he wasn't one of the Combaticons, making his appearance (and death) in the very first live action movie either a wasted opportunity or a massive and unnecessary tease. The only combiners we got in the series were a contentious interpretation of Devastator, and two wholly made-up gestalts in The Last Knight: Dragonstorm and Infernocus... But I digress.
There's really not much to say about this model that I haven't already said when discussing the Leader class toy from 2007, but the details are rather more refined and, unsurprisingly, there are rather more transformation seams. This is particularly apparent on the main turret which, on the older toy, was mostly a solid brick housing the electronics for its lights and sounds. Comparing the two vehicle modes directly (or as directly as possible considering I now have to refer to photos I took fifteen plus years ago) the proportions of the turret versus the main body of the tank seem much better, as does the overall shape of both. The detailing on the armour is nicely done and, while there are robot parts visible from the back, some aspects are handled better and aren't overly obvious - the parts that make up the robot's feet, for example, are far more successfully disguised here than on the Leader class figure. On the flipside, the robot's head is just as visible here as it was on the 2007 toy, despite some significant differences in how it's revealed during transformation.
In terms of overall appearance, this figure compares very favourably to Bonecrusher despite its mostly khaki plastic and fairly simple bluish-grey camouflage paint applications, but it's in the details that Brawl really shines. Perhaps not so much in vehicle mode but, even here, just a handful of smaller touches make a significant difference. Not only are the teeth on the mine ploughs nicely steel-coloured, but there are weathering applications on their mountings. The missile tips and the frame holding the tubes in place are each painted - yellow for the former, dark gunmetal for the latter - the barrels on the back of the tank are painted grey, and even some of the tank's lights have spots of paint to highlight them - silver on the front, red at the rear. There also seems to be a weathering application on the treads. All it's really missing is weathering on the gun barrels, all of which are conspicuously clean. The choice of the flat green/khaki plastic works in this figure's favour simply by being darker than Bonecrusher's pale beige, so the fact that he barely has more weathering applied isn't quite so obvious: the bear plastic looks weathered in and of itself.
Like Bonecrusher, he's packaged with unpainted 'blast effect' pieces cast in translucent orange rubber, which always strike me as a waste of time. Unlike Bonecrusher, most of these parts can attach just as well to vehicle mode as robot mode, since all but one are geared toward his built-in weapons rather than his body. There are two different sizes of blast effect for his secondary turret and then the 'spares' can be used for the main cannon (which could be good for making stop-motion animation). Alongside this, the missile launch piece plugs on top of either missile rack and presents as two missiles in flight, with what should probably be smoke rather than an explosion covering the muzzles of the launch tubes. This part is actually made up of three separate pieces - the two missiles and their trails of fire plug into the base 'muzzle flash' piece, which then wraps around either launcher. Since the alignment of the launchers only has second order rotational symmetry, the fact that either missile trail can be removed marginally increases the limited options for display (or stop-motion photography), though more consistent pegs and sockets would have been preferable. On which subject, it's interesting to note that the missile racks themselves are on 5mm pegs rather than being attached by ball joints or mushroom pegs. Possibly a nod to those who want to recreate the movie scene where Ratchet somersaults over Brawl, sawing one of the racks off in the process.
His robot mode weapon accessories can also be attached in to him in this mode, via slots on the secondary turret. They look more than a little ridiculous, to be frank, but I guess it's a bonus for those folks who insist on weapon storage in vehicle mode. I'd have thought at least one of them should have been able to stash on the underside, between the robot's legs, but apparently not. It's also a little odd that one of the weapons looks like it should be transformed out of one of the missile pods, given it's a group of four miniature cannons with a similar design, but the missile pods are part of his robot mode, so they're something of a mystery.
Naturally, the treads aren't functional, and MPM Brawl follows the usual trick of rolling on tiny wheels embedded in the treads. Given that the treads are used in several different parts of transformation, this feels like a prudent compromise, and the wheels - while entirely fake and static - are well sculpted compared to many other iterations of Brawl. They look a bit too pristine, though, and could have done with some weathering paint, considering the treads themselves have a brownish metallic paint over them.
Robot Mode:
Looking back at my photos of the old Leader class toy, it seems amazing now that I was so impressed by it. Compared to this, it was inaccurate in almost every way, with terrible proportions, a clumsy, blocky appearance and undersized feet coupled with less than optimal articulation in the legs... but, back in 2007, it was a genuinely mindblowing TransFormers toy, particularly considering much of the original movie's toyline had been made without reference to the movie's finished CGI. In some respects, I'm still tempted to reacquire the toy, purely because of its electronic gimmicks and integrated weapons... but I don't think I can justify it, given the current prices (even of the KOs) on the secondary market. While I believe the vehicle mode is much the same size as the old Leader class toy, the MPM figure's robot mode is discernibly shorter - I don't even need to have the older figure on hand, as all Leader class toys tended to be about 12"/30cm tall in robot mode, while this is shorter than that even if you take the cannons on his back into account. To the top of his head, he's only about 8.5"/22cm tall! One rather negative holdover from the Leader class toy's design is that the construction of the legs leaves Brawl looking rather bow-legged: the knee joint seems to sit too far inward versus the rounded peak of the shin, and this is exacerbated by how far outward the shins flare at the top, even with the truncated gold spike. Comparing the figure to the CGI, it could simply be that some of the bulk at the bottom of the thigh had to be sacrificed to make the transformation work.
Still, what we have here is a far slimmer Brawl, with a much less intrusive backpack, less blocky arms, sleeker, more accurate lower legs, and far less tank panelling stowing away on his legs. A good chunk of the tank's panels end up either folded into the torso or wrapped around the arms. The position and angle of the visible sections of treads on his shoulders is far more accurate to the CGI, so they don't reduce his field of vision, especially with the head placed further forward, as it is here. The chest is flatter, yet still quite bulky, and the mine ploughs are mounted on ball joints to allow for more precise adjustments to their position. It's from the waist down that the improvements in accuracy really take shape, though, with a far more refined pelvis, both in terms of sculpted detail and paintwork, and vastly more intricate sculpting of the thighs, even down to the inclusion of the spikes at the back, here molded separately in rubber and able to swivel on its connection to avoid potential breakage as the legs move. The lower legs are proportionally shorter than those of the old Leader class toy, as well as being much more accurate in shape and detail, without being overly encumbered by sections of the vehicle mode's shell hanging off the back. Not to say those panels are entirely absent, just more intricately arranged and more carefully incorporated, with the bulkiest section sitting not-quite-flush on the inner side of each calf. The feet, meanwhile, are proportionally much larger than those of the Leader class toy, giving him a much firmer base to stand on. They also feature the hinged spikes which were made part of the older figure's shins due to it being based on either concept art or incomplete CGI. Sculpted detail everywhere is finer and more extensive than on the 2007 toy, but one can say that about Studio Series these days... Even the back of this figure is fairly impressive, since the main turret shell mostly ends up on Brawl's arms, and the secondary turret - unencumbered with electronics - does a little bit of transforming to reduce its size and reveal some unique robot detailing. Good as all that is, though, where this truly becomes a Masterpiece is in the paintwork.
And it's quite fantastic to see, considering my main gripe with MPM Bonecrusher was the apparent dearth of paint. It featured loads of sculpted detail, but most of it was in unpainted beige plastic. There were spots of weathering, but a lot of it was in a very slightly darker beige paint that barely registers unless you're actively looking for it. There were exposed cables and things that didn't even get highlighted with a dark wash, let alone specific paint applications. MPM Brawl is leagues better in every way. For starters, that camouflage paint job isn't only for vehicle mode. It's right there on his thighs and chest, with vehicle panels adding some to his lower legs, and there are even touches of pale blue along with the darker, greyish blue. He has paint on his pelvis, hips, shins and arms, in colours ranging from dark gunmetal to what looks like white gold. Exposed cables on his inner thighs are picked out in a dull orange paint, which is a small detail, but really helps bring Brawl to life. There are weathering applications on his chest and shoulders, including munitions impacts (sadly just tampographs, no supporting sculpted detail)... And that's just on the main robot. The smaller touches of paint on the chest and pelvis, along with the dark gunmetal on his hip joints, all helps to sell that there's a robotic skeleton beneath all the heavy-duty armour. Sure, there are parts where it's lacking - smaller details on his arms got overlooked, and there are areas where some black paint would have helped give the impression of empty space where plastic had to fill in for the sake of sound structure but, at the end of the day, this thing comes across as what a Masterpiece figure should always be, where Bonecrusher, for all his size and intricacy, fell far short. One shortfall I've noticed in the paintwork as I write this up is on his shoulders, where a patch of the dark gunmetal paint cuts off on a straight line, ignoring parts of the sculpted detail it's supposed to be applied to.
Like MPM Jazz, he comes with a part representing his battle damage from the movie, which is the kind of thing that, as a general rule, I tend to consider little better than blast effects. As mentioned above, the missile pods can be removed from their 5mm sockets easily and don't really need 'battle damage' effects in and of themselves, but Brawl also ended up getting half an arm blown off and so, like Jazz and his exposed, torn spine, the ruin of his forearm is actually quite a fun addition... at least as far as photography is concerned. I can't imagine anyone choosing to long-term display this version of Brawl with one arm missing. That said, the accessory itself is probably the best looking of the set, simply because it actually features some paintwork. The blast effects, even those for the missile launchers, are entirely without paint and look pretty terrible as a result. Some of them would have been better molded in translucent grey or white, with a few details painted red/orange/yellow. Possibly the most frustrating blast effect is the one that's designed to sit on his chest: it only fits in one orientation, via a small peg sculpted on the left robo-pectoral, and by wrapping over the protrusion in front of his treads... but it's not a great fit, and so loves to fall off all the time. The replacement arm piece is largely molded in the same soft translucent orange plastic, but features gunmetal paint towards the elbow joint, as well as a separate frame molded in a rigid gunmetal plastic to give it some structure. It fits securely, but I have to say I'm a little surprised they only made the left arm replaceable.
In terms of weapons, I'm honestly inclined to describe this as a step backward from the 2007 Leader class toy, because the MPM figure's weapons are separate accessories rather than parts that are fully integrated into either mode. Granted, that allows this version's weapons to be more accurate, more detailed and generally better looking, but Brawl was never seen without these weapons while in robot mode, so separating them for convenience is also disingenuous, not to say outright lazy. On the upside, just for once, Hasbro didn't skimp on paint for the weapons. OK, granted, his honking great Predator claw is unpainted dark grey plastic, as is the mounted Gatling on the top... but the armour panels have additional camo paint. The guns for the other arm are not only intricately sculpted - the cables aren't just raised detail on a solid chunk, they are entirely separate except for where they connect at either end - they have a decent amount of khaki paint for the rear two-thirds of each barrel, and those aforementioned cables are painted just like the ones on his thighs. The four gun barrels are each compatible with the included blast effects, but only four are supplied, leaving one the unenviable choice of whether to add them all to the arm-mounted guns or to keep a couple back for his back-mounted cannons. None of the included attachments are compatible with the Gatling, sadly. Obviously the missile launcher attachment works just as well here as it did in vehicle mode, but I found the launchers themselves had a habit of sagging under its weight... at least until I figured out that the stalks will actually click into place when properly deployed. One frustrating feature of this 'Masterpiece' is that the hollow undersides of the secondary turret guns are fully on show in robot mode. While the stalks that the missile launchers are on are similarly 'waffled', they're mostly concealed by his upper body bulk... but those two cannons look pretty crappy. It's a shame they're each a single piece, since all it would take to remedy it is rotating the barrels 180° so the hollow side is at the back.
I had no complaints about the head sculpt on the 2007 toy, but I can clearly see this version is better - it's more finely detailed, the overall shape is more refined, and the absence of a light-up feature means the four red eyes look properly sunken behind their 'eyelids' and appropriately beady. The odd shape of the head is less insectoid than Bonecrusher's but still very alien, with the wide crown and thick, angular brow giving the impression of a squashed-down version of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster wearing some kind of metallic fetish mask. Like Barricade, Brawl's mouth can open, but the chunks on either side of his chin still look like mandibles. I guess there's also a similarity to a bald Predator, now I think of it. What I particularly like about this head versus the original is that the face isn't as flat, with the face angling forward to the chin, while the combination of sharply sculpted detail, gold, silver and gunmetal paint and coloured plastic emphasises the layered nature of the design. The one complaint I have is that, like the chest, the impact damage on his left brow panel is a tampograph with no supporting sculpted detail, which looks rather silly.
I gather this figure's transformation has a lot in common with the Studio Series toy but, having never handled that, I can't say how much. This one certainly does a lot more with the tank turret panels on the arms, with some ending up folded up behind the shoulder and other parts bulking out the forearm without becoming overly intrusive. Presumably the improvements have come through the increased price point and parts count offered by the Masterpiece grade. It's actually quite fascinating how different it is from the old Leader class toy, though. Almost every single component of the tank mode does a lot more transforming here, with less ending up on the robot's back. Particularly impressive is how the rigid plastic treads have been split up such that they wrap around the torso on either side and fold into the calves, so only the parts that are meant to be seen in robot mode are clearly visible. Also, while I liked the way the main cannon ended up wrapping around the Leader class toy's torso, Armada Megatron-style, that wasn't accurate to the CGI, and the way it folds up into the backpack here, virtually disappearing in robot mode, is pretty clever, even though adding joints to a long, thin part like a tank's main cannon is not the most structurally sound approach. The weakest parts of his transformation are that the flared shin armour pieces really don't like to stay attached, emphasising an already awkward seam on the robot's lower legs, and the armour panels on the opposite face look as if they should be able to fold in more, as there are ugly gaps on the front and at the top, just below the knee joints... but they can't, as the tank shell butts up against a raised section inside the top of the shin. Other than that, the panels that fold up onto his forearm can be a little stubborn and there are a few points in the transformation that have very little clearance, but everything seems to tab together securely in both modes. The breakup of parts - the arms making up much of the main turret, wholly separate from the secondary turret, while the vehicle base splits up into the legs and chest - is far more intricate and elegant than the original toy, all while improving its articulation.
On which subject, it's far easier to pose MPM Brawl dramatically, not least because of the larger feet. There's also rather more sideways ankle tilt, meaning he's more stable in a wider stance. Curiously, there's no forward or backward tilt at the ankle, but the feet can rotate. The knees get a good, solid 90° with a rotation joint just above in lieu of traditional hip rotation, since the hips already have two separate joints - the actual hip joint swings out to the sides only, but manages the full 90°, while the inner pelvis joint handles the forward and backward swing, which gets 90° forward, but is limited by the remnants of the main turret clashing with the kibble on the his calves. The waist joint is significantly hindered by the rotation joint at the base of the turrets, but it's not as if a full 360° would have been worthwhile, and I think the range he has is mostly adequate. The arms are surprisingly impressive, though not without their limitations. The shoulders can rotate a full 360° in theory, but are hindered by the missile pods and their stalks, while also being able to lift out 90° to the sides. It looks like more, since they can raise beyond the horizontal, but they can't fold down to be perfectly vertical due to the bulk of the arms and torso. There's no bicep rotation, per se, but the joint above the elbow features mostly unimpeded rotation, and there's an additional tilt joint embedded in the upper arm. The elbows don't bend a full 90°, but it's close enough, and then the hands are really impressive. The wrists offer both tilt and rotation, though both are fairly limited, while the thumb is pinned at the base, and his long, sharp-clawed fingers have two pinned joints, with the index finger separate from the other two. The head is on a ball joint, but its range is fairly limited in all but rotation... though he can manage a decent quizzical tilt, for gazing at his ruined arm.
My experience of Masterpiece Movie figures has been largely very positive, with Bonecrusher being the disappointing outlier purely due to its mediocre paintwork. While this figure was discounted when I bought it, it was still significantly more costly than Bonecrusher... but it also looks significantly more like what I expect from something bearing the legend 'Masterpiece'... and so it went some way toward restoring my faith in the brand. It seems that Takara Tomy are still taking the lead on Masterpiece, which can only be for the better given the absolute travesty that is Hasbro under Chris Cocks.
I will note, however, that I learned of an oversized KO of this figure soon after I bought it... and, while the improvements are relatively minor, the increased size makes it rather tempting, as I feel it would scale better with the other MPM figures in my collection. It also appears to have richer, deeper plastic colours, and the LED eyes are rather cool. None of which makes MPM Brawl a bad figure by a long shot - and certainly LED features are not something even Takara Tomy would tend to bother with these days - but it's certainly food for thought if you're in the market for a figure based on Brawl from the 2007 movie.
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