TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Ravimus' review of: TM2 Prowl (black version)

Name: Prowl
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Military Strategist
"Logic is the ultimate weapon."

Prowl strives to find logic and reason in everything. A listener, not a talker. Has most sophisticated logic center of the Maximals. Able to analyze and advise on complex combat situations almost instantaneously. Fires highly corrosive acid pellets. Cybernetic eye and frontal lobe interact with wing-mounted ion orbs, supplying limited telekinetic power. Afflicted with ironic, dry sense of humor. Believes himself to have been a great military strategist in a former life.


This is the second Prowl in the Beast Wars line. The first was released as a combiner along with Ironhide and Silverbolt in 1997.
This one however is a reborn Generation 1 Prowl! He came in two colour variants: Black and grey. This review will cover the black one, which is dubbed "Smokescreen" by some fans, because the original Smokescreen was a recolour of Prowl. Unlike the grey one, the black one has no homages to the original, sadly. But I shall go on...

Beast Mode:

Prowl is an owl in beast mode (adding a bit of rhyme to the mix, thanks Hasbro). But no ordinary barn owl: a Transmetal 2 owl. The main colours are black, silver, red and blue. Prowl has a nice balance of organic and mechanical parts. There is feather sculpting on his wings, head and legs. He also has one organic foot and one organic eye. His chest has lovely mechanical detailing, and a blue fade paint scheme. He has two jet thrusters at either side of his legs. And to balance it out, he has one mechanical eye (which looks like an eye patch) and one mechanical foot. His tail is black, and has mechanical and organic detailing. His head has a red globe on top that has technical detail inside. I think you get the idea that he's choc full of detail...

You can press a button on his back to move his head. You can keep pressing it until it rotates 360 degrees. This is very cool, and true to life. His wings are highly poseable. They can be tucked to his sides or spread out to create a flying pose. His legs can be moved forward to make it look like he's "capturing prey". This is easily one of the best beast modes ever. Ever.

Robot Mode:
And now we move to the equally great robot mode. His head is pretty weird. His face is owl-like. He has a kind of a beak instead of a mouth. One eye is even squinting. He has some white detailing on top of his head. It's not a great head sculpt in my opinion. His beast head is on his chest, and this is a cool chest piece, as the red globe is facing forward and by flipping it, you can reveal Prowl's spark crystal. Pretty as always. His wings are positioned on his shoulders, and his tail feathers are behind his legs, which are also his beast mode legs. The jet thrusters are behind his arms.

Prowl's articulation is brilliant. You can put him in all manner of poses. One cool feature he has is that one of his hands has a blade attached at the knuckles. But sadly, Prowl has no weapons to speak of other than that blade on his knuckles. But, as he has a lot of translucent red parts, you can shine a light behind him and you'll get a "glowing" effect. Still not as cool as a gun though.

Transformation: 7. A bit difficult at the start, but it gets easier over time. A pretty well thought out transformation though.
Durability: 10. I've had mine about 5 years and not a scratch. I can't find any signs of wearing.
Fun: 9. A killer beast mode, and a highly poseable robot mode. It would have been nice to have some better weapons though.
Price: 8. The black variant is more rare than the grey version. You'll get it for under $20 MoC, but don't wait too long.
Overall: 9.6. I don't have the grey version (it wasn't released in Ireland), but I think it looks a lot nicer. The mould is pretty excellent. So it comes down to personal taste. The decision is yours.