TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Reflector's review of: Sledge

Name: Sledge
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: heave-ho?
Sub-Group: Constructicons

About a year ago, Hasbro made a statement that they would not be pursuing the idea of new five- or six-piece combining Transformers. Well, they lied! As the first wave of Energon combiners surface, so comes Sledge, whose name is an homage to the front half of the dump truck from the Decepticon Micromaster Constructor Squad. Yeah, you know the guy I'm talking about.

Vehicle Mode:
I imagine that a particular word popped into many of your happy minds at first sight of this thing: Scrapper. And yeah, the three-tone green and black color scheme on the payloader does resemble the old Constructicon leader in some ways, but I find Sledge so much cooler. There's a lot more detail (but not too much), from the slots on the inside of the shovel to the little ladders/steps on the sides of the cab. The translucent blue looks really nice there, and everything is complimented well by the hints of black and silver. The next thing you may notice, upon some careful inspection, is that everything is exaggerated - the entire thing looks tall, long, and narrow. This is accentuated by the thin, large-radius wheels, tall cab, and deep shovel. It carries a rather cartoony look that many Energon toys do, and it almost reminds me of Mr. Slam from Twisted Metal 2... Um, yeah. The Energon thing in this mode forms some sort of backhoe something. It's not too obtrusive, but I don't quite get it. (PS. The shovel has two points of articulation for real sandbox action! Why didn't they put that on the card?)

Robot Mode:
After what feels like but isn't a rehashed old transformation, you have what looks like but isn't a rehashed old robot. It must be the legs. Sledge looks pretty big for a basic, but I can't verify that as I'm writing this away from the rest of my collection. He sports all of the same colors here, but with the olive green dominating the hunter one this time. There are also spots of light orange and purple (on the 'Con logo, which is lacking from the rig mode. I appreciate this, as my 6-year-old imagination tells me that these guys are used for undercover ops in an army that's dominated by war vehicles. Yes, I suck.). He has a goony musclehead look to him, accented by his neat gauntlet fists, lack of neck, and giant wheels behind his shoulders. The hydraulic details on his shins match those on his forearms too and look almost like robot muscles/tendons. Sledge has a respectable ten points of articulation, six of which (including knees!) are on ball-joints. His slightly-transformable Energon weapon in this mode is some stupid club or rake or whatever. It's goofy, but the blunt simplicity suits his demeanor. Sporting a nice amount of detail and great proportions, I can only complain that Sledge's blue eye light piping is wasted because of the Incan pyramid mounted behind his head. Hasbro really needs to get over this light piping nonsense.

Transformation: 7 - It's clever and fun for a basic, but it leaves you feeling inexplicably cheated.
Durability: 8 - The ball joints might wear sometime, but he's solid otherwise.
Fun: 8 - Unless you were raised on Alternators and Gigatrons, there's no reason to dislike him.
Price: 9 - I swear this thing is bigger than regular basics. I consider that a deal.
Summary: 8 - There is nothing wrong with this toy, even as a stand-alone combiner limb, but nothing spectacular either. Cool.