Transbot90210's TB3PReeVee -X2 Toys Strengthen Equipment

[Transbot90210]

Greetings and salutations fellow Transfans,

This is the infamous Transbot90210 coming at you from his brand new corner of cyberspace. Some of you already know and love (or hate) me and with a little energon and a lot of luck I will get to the rest of you as well.

I would personally like to welcome you to the inaugural Transbot90210’s Third Party Review which I affectionately like to call THE TB3PReeVee. In this Wild West that we call the Third Party (3P) scene we, the fandom, are privy to three main types of offerings; Weapon sets, Upgrade sets and Full Figures. Today it is with great pleasure that I get to review for you the X2 Toys XT003:Strengthen Equipment; otherwise known as the Generations Trailcutter and Hoist upgrade set.

In 2013 Hasbro finally released the final member required for collectors to finish the 1984 cast of Autobots, Trailbreaker under the name Trailcutter. With Trailbreaker comes the obvious and much better looking Hoist remould. Both figures suffered from Hasbro’s newer smaller sizes and lack of paint applications. Add to this that both figures are missing some key character features and X2 Toys has come in to save our day. The X2 Toys XT003:Strengthen Equipment is packaged in a not so stellar box with some faded character art, images of how the parts interact with Trailbreaker and Hoist and finally the back and three sides have a rusted metal look to it with the X2 Toys logo on the back of the box. Well, like the ugly chick with the great personality, let us look past the box and see the real treasures contained inside.



Inside we find a plastic tray with four upgrade pieces neatly arranged within it. This set includes a laser hand and small gun for Trailbreaker (which has a couple of more uses that I will get to later), a laser hand for Hoist and, in my opinion, the highlight piece which is the orange backing/wings for Hoist. Also included is a sticker sheet and instructions.



The instructions contain a very easy to understand photo series that illustrates how to transform Hoist with his new backpack on. It also instructs on how to attach both the laser hands on to Trailbreaker and Hoist; both ways are completely different. The instructions also show you the three uses for the small gun that is meant for Trailbreaker (you will need to wait a little longer to see what they are). The final use for the instruction sheet is a guide on how to apply the stickers.

The stickers are printed on a metallic sticker sheet although the actual sticker images are high gloss and do not contain a metallic finish. These stickers do so much to add flair to both figures and the 8 little red square stickers do wonders for both vehicles’ back ends by adding lights thus breaking up the solid flat colour the figures originally came with. X2 Toys went the extra mile with the stickers by providing stickers for details that already exist on the figure. They did this because the paint on the figure is flat and would contrast with the high gloss finish of the sticker set. The stickers are cut to perfection and cover the original paint applications without fault so to create a beautiful unified look.







The actual upgrade parts are made of a very high quality plastic. All parts fits together flawlessly and the paint applications are unexpected, welcomed, and applied perfectly. Beginning with Hoist, the orange backpack attaches to him the same way his crane attaches to his vehicle mode. The backpack has joints so that you can fold it down when he is in robot mode and also swing with wings up exposing even more paint applications. Hoist’s laser hand consists of one solid piece that connects to his hand to add that unique feature missing from the official release.




Trailbreaker has a little less going on with his set but he also has one cool feature. Trailbreaker’s laser hand is actually completely different from Hoist’s and rather than connecting to his hand it actually connects to a port located on his forearm. Trailbreaker’s laser hand has a joint between the laser piece and the connection piece so that you can use it as his laser hand or as a hand held weapon. The set also comes with a little gun for Trailbreaker that also serves two other purposes. The second use for this little gun is to create a larger version of his laser hand. The piece connects to the underside of the laser hand to form a double barrel laser hand. The final use, which is my personal favorite, is as an adapter to attach his canopy to his back. The little gun pegs into a port located on Trailbreaker’s back and has a port that allows you to attach the canopy to the gun. The final outcome of this is two guns sticking out from Trailbreaker’s back giving him a look similar to his G1 counterpart.






Overall I am extremely impressed with this set. This set offers perfect fits in both robot and vehicle mode and is also self-contained with in each bot. There is a little parts forming involved for the hands but that is to be expected when you factor in that these are weapons. The diminished size issue with these figures is not addressed with this set but I think it would take a lot more than foot stilts to make these guys work as larger bots. I would also like to add that every 3P teaser we have seen for Trailbreaker hasn’t looked good and there have not been many seen. I foresee this set as a must have for any Classicverse collection and one that will be sought after by older fans and by newer fans that have yet to join us.

Transbot90210 gives this set a rating of “DON’T MISS IT!”

[Echotransformer]

Great review, so glad I preordered! Thanks for sharing.

[Transbot90210]

Originally Posted by Echotransformer

Great review, so glad I preordered! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for commenting and I can guarantee you will not be disappoint.

I am flattered that someone I am a fan of enjoyed my review. If you ever want to send me over a FOC bruticus upgrade to review I would be pleased and honoured to do so.

here are some extra pictures I had to remove to get in that 15 picture limit per post, enjoy ..........

THE BACK OF THE BOX


HOIST BEFORE AND AFTER






TRAILBREAKER BEFORE AND AFTER






HOW FOUR LITTLE RED STICKERS MADE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE





UPGRADED AND TOGETHER

[Supernova]

I had wondered why there looked to be replacement stickers for the stock paint apps. That clears it up!

Thanks for the review! I'm looking forward to getting my set (and Hoist, too, once I find him)!

[zuffyprime]

great review man, how much was the set?

[Transbot90210]

It was $36 through Slayback. Give him a pm I think he has a few more coming in soon. This set is a must have.

[DuG]

Thanks for the great review. This post actually makes me want to pick up these bots and this upgrade kit.