TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Additional Image:

Box Art:

Seerus Nalaius' review of: Kicker and Highwire

Name: Kicker (human) and Highwire (Minicon)
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Energon Detector/Backup & Transport
Sub-Group: Humans/Minicons

Yay, they finally released a Kicker figure! Sadly this little deluxe set has a number of problems that really hurt its overall worth.

Kicker:
Kicker has no real gimmick at all. He's cool though, and about as articulated as an old GI Joe figure, but that's kinda sad when Hasbro could have made him so much better. He also lacks a lot of color on his body (mainly the red for his straps, and other spots on his body). He can't hold the Energon Sabre, so he doesn't do much other than stand there. Another thing that would have been fun is a removable helmet, but that probably wasn't considered. Oh, well. Kicker is still a nice, unexpected addition to the Energon line. On an odd note, he also has an Energon Star point on his back. It's weird, because he doesn't need it like the Autobots and Decepticons, but it's also fun because, when you have one attached, it looks as if he is running on an Energon battery. Heh heh heh....yeah...moving on.

Vehicle Mode:
Highwire is both a better and worse remold of his previous self. Let's start with the good things, shall we? He's much bigger, and as such he gets more detail on his torso and such, is big enough for Kicker to ride, and looks more like a BMX bike than both the Armada version and the first Energon Highwire. His colors in this mode are mainly blue, black, white, and just a little bit of red. The bad details aren't really present in this mode, though, so I'll move along into..

Robot Mode:
I'll point out the few good things of this mode before I go into my rant about the bad things. Okay, the good notes. As said before, he is bigger and he gets more detail in this mode. His head looks much better then the last version, and he can stand more stable than his previous version. Now, its time for the rant. While he keeps his colors in this mode, the white is far too prevalent and troubling in this mode. Just a little grey on his chest is it, then its all white the rest of the way. His head suffers from this, too. Just a little red for his visor, and that's all! His arms are also pathetic. The tail pipe becomes one, and the rest of the arm folds out from it. It looks extremely awkward and out of place. He still has his wheel arm as well, but it is even worse here. All you do is just rotate it 180 degrees and its his arm. Thats it?!? No real articulation other then rotating and lowering or raising the wheel. Oooo, ahhhh, lame! The first version at least tried to make it look and move like an arm, even if it had a big wheel for the hand. Now, the legs. Admittedly, he does stand easier than before, but it's not that much easier since he completely lacks feet. What happened there, Hasbro? Also, the handlebars from his bike mode stick out, and look terrible. They could've at least been able to fold in so they wouldn't look as bad. Another thing, he has an Energon Star point. Why? He's a Minicon. Its pointless and looks ugly. Sure, the whole idea may have looked good on paper, but that's where it ends.

Transformation: 3 - Highwire is easy to transform, but do you really want to transform him?
Durability: 5 - Highwire feels far too flimsy, and Kicker feels about as durable as an old GI Joe (which isn't that durable either).
Fun: 5 - Kicker is more fun than Highwire, and that's because he looks good standing next to Ironhide, surfing on the Energon Sabre, or riding Highwire, but that's about it, really.
Price: 8 - I'd guess about $10. I got it for Christmas so I'm not sure. It's a deluxe, so that should be the right price, though its unfair for what you get, really.
Summary: 5 - Unfortunately, this set really lacks much staying power, and is almost worth passing over. The only reason I'd say pick this up is just for Kicker, but even that isn't saying much.