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TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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Scout's Review: X-Brawn

X-Brawn
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: "Strong Armed Fighter"
Motto: "Strength Wins!"
First cartoon appearance: Battle Protocol

X-Brawn was originally part of the Japanese Car Robots line, and is also known as Wild Rider, with good reason! In the cartoon series, he is portrayed as having an American western cowboy-type of personality. Yee-haws and a fair amount of regional lingo spice up his dialect. He is also the oldest of the three car brothers, and shows a very protective big-brother attitude towards his siblings, especially Sideburn.

Box description
X-Brawn loves extremes and is at his best in disastrous situations and brutal climates, such as dry deserts or snowstorms. He doesn't waste time on long-winded speeches and can be counted on to say it all in just a few words. He's very reliable and has fearsome strength. He is a martial arts master with an especially powerful left arm. His "Southpaw Lariat" is invincible.

X-Brawn Powered-Up box description
X-Brawn is extremely tough and very strong. He can withstand the harshest elements and muscle his way through the worst situations. Lots of talking and speeches annoy him - he wants to know just the facts, so that he can get out there and punch out some Decepticon®. He's a martial arts master with a left arm that can do serious damage to anyone in his path.

Alternate mode
X-Brawn comes packaged in a bubble set to the right side of a long rectangular card. He's pictured prominently to the left of the bubble with a formidable sword style weapon. Unlike his brothers, X-Brawn has weapon holders that from their placement, add to and enhance his look in vehicle mode. His color scheme is quite pleasing, being primarily silvery grey, with faded airbrushing into teal at the rear and undercarriage of the vehicle. The vehicle is streamlined with black enhancements around the windows as well as black door runners; and his tires sport the brand name: Transformers™.

Robot Mode
This figure was such a pain to transform, that admittedly, I transformed him once into robot mode, and there he sat until this review came about. Here goes... gently open the driver side and passenger side doors to their full width. Pull up carefully on the vehicle canopy. X-Brawn's torso and pelvis should be viewable at this point. Pull open the two halves of the rear (boot) of the vehicle (the trunk area becomes his legs). With a finger, hold the ball joint of his hips solidly to the pelvis and slowly extend the rest of the leg. His knee should unfold. Extend the other leg by holding the hip and gently pulling. Now take the arm that is wrapped up behind the torso and swing it down and out to the side so the torso is free. Rotate the torso down and bring it into its vertical position. Pull gently on the hood area of the vehicle to separate it from the canopy. Rotate canopy into vertical position along X-Brawn's back. Bring his head up. Extend his left arm and rotate the hood (or bonnet) around to form the last of his arm. Then push the tire on his left front arm in to pop his hand out. Finally, pull up the two tire protection areas over the spare tire to become his toes.

Poseability

The ball and socket joints in these figures are a really fine feature. Because of the complexity, they do disconnect, but rarely break. They have incredible maneuverability and poseability as well for action shots. However, due to the enormous size of his left arm, X-Brawn is slightly more limited in his poseability, strictly because of the balance required to keep him standing with the extra weight. In vehicle mode, he’d fit right in with Trailbreaker.
Transformation:7 - The contortions required to bend and twist his arms into proper position for closing him make this a challenging figure.
Fun:6 If he had had two open hands, he would've been better for play value, but he's a stocky and durable figure.
Price: Approx. $10.00
Variations:A clear Japanese version, as well as a powered up X-Brawn.
Overall: 7 - great looking figure and nice action possibilities, good price for this detailed figure, but his transformation sequence is challenging and the canopy is still prone to breaking.
 
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