TOY REVIEW

Name: WILD RIDE
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Warrior Extraordinaire*
Vehicle Mode: Mercedes Benz ML320
Average Price: 1800 JPY

VEHICLE MODE

Length: about 13cm.
A fairly nice vehicle mode… actually a VERY nice one. It looks startlingly realistice and the amount of robot kibble is… well it’s zero. (Unless you count the fact that you can see robot parts through the window). The vehicle mode rolls INCREDIBLY smoothly, and has nice moulding features like side-mirrors, a bonnet that opens (to reveal his engine), doors which open (and the moulding on the inside of the door is realistic too), and even a sun roof (which doesn’t open).

Colour scheme is silver/grey, with a little bit of a green colour. Not much more to say about the vehicle mode. They did what they could, but it’s still just a car. If you love the G1 cars, you’ll love this toy. If you’re addicted to the ‘vehicles with personality’ from Beast Machines, you might be a bit disappointed.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove the exhaust pipes/missiles from the underneath of the car. Then open the car doors and pull the entire rear section down to form the robot legs. Pull them apart and fold out the robot’s feet. Now rotate the robot’s main body and pull the car bonnet away it to form one arm, while the other arm unfolds from behind him. Lift up the robot head and voilà; Wild Ride.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13cm
Let’s see. He’s got shoulder, neck, elbow and on one arm, wrist movement. His waist doesn’t swivel (because of his transformation) but he has four joints in each leg. On his ‘big arm’ he also has, in addition to wrist movement, a thumb that moves up and down! Woo!
With the articulation out of the way, let’s actually tell you what the toy is like. He’s rather nice.
He has two differently formed arms, one is a giant, bulky thing (But, surprisingly, this doesn’t much limit its articulation and poses). The other is a more normally sized arm, but is also strange; it ends in a missile launcher but still has a fist moulded/painted on one side, but not the other. It looks strange when his missile is lodged into place; it’s coming straight out of his knuckles (why does the word"Adamantium" spring into mind? - Goktimus).
His body is rather thin, but his legs are huge and bulky. Because of the way they’re constructed the legs restrict poses somewhat; their ‘toe’ joint is woefully inadequate when it comes to helping him balance. This, however, is the only complaint I have about this mode on the toy!

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this mode is all the different places you can put his missiles/exhaust pipes. It’s quite cool. He can launch them as missiles from his small arm, or hold them as sword-things on his big arm. He can also mount one on his small-arm shoulder, or both on the underside of his large arm. In addition to THAT he can put them on his back like swords! What’s more, all these different placements/uses are official and intended! Wow.
Oh, and before I forget, the bull/bumper bar of the car mode can be taken off and used like some sort of shield/axe thing. I personally don’t like it, but it might appeal to some people.

INSIGNIA LOCATION

On his big-whoppin’ arm.

OVERALL

A nice piece. I like the way he rolls, and his Transformation is not too bad. His robot mode is the best thing about him… but it’s not without flaws. I just wish it could stand in more diverse poses. Still, I would recommend this toy if you can get it.

This review was written by Andrew Sorohan

Email Back *(I'm going by M Sipher's interpretation. "Gouwansenshi" literally means something like "Strong Arm Warrior," but I wanted to find something that sounded better than that)