Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Wreck 'n Rule Collection

Diaclone Universe Twin Twist (redeco of Titans Return Twin Twist)
Autobot Springer (redeco of Siege Springer)
Prime Universe Bulkhead (redeco of Legacy Prime Universe Bulkhead)
Spindle (Paleotrex retool) and Comic Universe Impactor (retool of
Siege Impactor, another new head)
Masterdominus (Ractonite retool) and G2 Universe Leadfoot (retool
of Battle Across Time Mirage)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/WreckNRule

So, a big stack of redecos and retools, from the barely different to the
massively changed. In the spirit of Battle Across Time, the boxes form a
combined scene, but this time it's a pentatych around an Emirate Xaaron
statue: http://www.dvandom.com/images/WreckerTower.JPG
The base toys stretch back all the way from Titans Return to currenly
available Legacy toys. And keeping with the tradition set in Kingdom, the
Fossilizers are brand new characters rather than reusing old names.

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeR5 - Twin Twist
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/VSpringerS - Springer
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/VBulkhead - Bulkhead
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeK1 - Paleotrex
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeS4 - Impactor
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeK2 - Ractonite
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/BattleAcrossTime - Mirage

CAPSULES

Prices vary, getting the whole set cost...rather a lot even at regular
retail. Pretty much all of them cost more than regular versions, for
instance Bulkhead cost $34 compared to regular Bulkhead being $30.

Diaclone Universe Twin Twist: Original mold was Topspin, which was
strongly recommended. Twin Twist was a little less so, but still quite
good. I'm a bit confused as to why they didn't also include Topspin,
though, especially since at the time this was announced the previous Wreckers
announcements had been two-packs. Anyway, recommended.

Autobot Springer: Original version recommended, and I like the color
scheme on this one better (not just the lack of Siege Splatter).
Recommended.

Prime Universe Bulkhead: Original was mildly recommended, and to be
honest I only ordered this one because of the collectible packaging
gimmicks. I like the plastics better and having Breakdown's hammer is a nice
plus, but the camo pattern is lazy and inappropriate to the Cybertronian
backdrop. Mildly recommended, and that mostly if you're considering getting
the whole hammer.

Spindle and Comic Universe Impactor: Spindle's original mold was mildly
recommended, although at least this is more than a robot head swap, and it's
a completely new species of dinosaur. Impactor was strongly recommended the
first time, but we're only getting minor variations on the theme...I suppose
I can now do the Spiderverse "three Spider-Men pointing at each other"
variation on the meme now, though. I'm not really a fan of the original
comics look, but they did a good job of reproducing that with only three new
parts. Recommended, especially if you don't already have three of each mold
family.

Masterdominus and G2 Universe Leadfoot: Masterdominus's original mold
was at the high end of mildly recommended, but this is a pretty impressive
recycling. I liked the retool used as the basis of Leadfoot, and since he
*doesn't* need a shoulder launcher to look G2-accurate like Mirage did, this
is a promising reuse (and since we're also getting Crasher from this version
of the mold, hopefully it stays good). Masterdominus's only real problem is
poor tolerances in peg and socket, so pieces don't stay on very well. My
copy of Leadfoot didn't have any problems in that vein. Recommended.

RANTS

Packaging: Each box is sized differently, although there's a couple
pairs that are close in size. They all have Legacy-style vivid art on the
fronts with rainbow Kirby Krackle limning them, connecting into the pentatych
linked above. No windows of any kind, so no particular need to have the toys
inside in a good-looking arrangement. They have both factional side panels
(Decepticons on the left, Autobots on the right) rather than just the Autobot
one, the usual legalese on the bottom, the Legacy logo and simple white
lettering "Wreck 'N Rule Collection" on top, and the usual Legacy style
backs. All of the boxes are in landscape aspect.
Twin Twist gets the top spot, with art of him leaping down onto the
statue from a hovering Whirl (Whirl toy not included). 8.5" (21.5cm) wide,
5.5" (14cm) tall, 2.5" (6cm) deep.
Springer is on the left of the middle tier, with the art showing him
transforming from helicopter in the deep background to ill-advised mid-air
car, and then robot with gun blazing. 9" (23cm) wide, 6.25" (16cm) tall, a
little over 3" (8cm) deep.
Bulkhead is on the right middle, hunched over dramatically. His box is
almost the same size as Springer's, just a few millimeters smaller
horizontally. The two box fronts don't quite line up, Springer's side needs
to be lifted a few millimeters to get the halves to line up.
The left base has Spindle in dino mode behind and to the left of
Impactor, who is firing all guns to an unseen foe off to the left (and likely
above whoever Springer is shooting at). A little of Masterdominus's hind leg
is visible on the right edge. 11" (28cm) wide, 8.5" (21.5cm) tall, a little
under 2.5" (6cm) thick.
Finally, the Masterdominus and Leadfoot box has Masterdominus in mammoth
mode striding forwards and to the right, while to his right Leadfoot is
firing his missile at a steeply downward angle, suggesting that the statue is
on a tall pedestal. As with the middle tier, the sides don't quite line up,
but now the right side needs to be raised. There's some bit of background
mostly obscured by trade dress that's duplicated between the top edge of this
box and the bottom edge of Bulkhead's. This box is almost the same size as
the Spindle/Impactor one, but is a millimeter or two less deep.

Hammer: Yes, the Build A...Feature for this set is a papercraft Wrecker
hammer trophy sort of thing, reminiscent of the Teletraan-1 backdrops sold
across various Netflix figures a few years back. The instructions for each
set include a panel on how to assemble the hammer, which is more of a hammer
trophy, since it plugs into a base and otherwise lacks an endcap on the
handle.
As pure papercraft, it's a little unstable during construction. One
hammer face can be secured by bending the tabs under and doing some
adjustment from inside, but not the other (unless you can phase through
cardboard). If you want it to be more stable, I'd recommend cheating a bit
with tape on the inside surfaces of the hammer faces, and fold down and tape
the handle's tabs inside the hammer head and base before closing things up.
Still, even without the cheat, it holds together okay once it's all
assembled. It's built with the long axis of the hammer head perpendicular to
the long axis of the base.
The hammer itself is not quite Marvel's Mjolnir, but it's close, with
octagonal striking faces and no bit of handle sticking out on top. The deco
is a mix of pitted and scratched metal, and glowing yellow-orange channels
made to look like they're carved into the handle and into the shape of
Wreckers symbols on the non-striking sides. The Wreckers variant of the
Autobot symbol has a hammer replacing the nose and forehead, and a more
anvil-shaped top edge. The base has a glowing message in Cybertronian,
"EMIRATE XAARON" and then a smaller plaque near where the hammer connects
that reads, "CREATOR OF THE WRECKERS RESISTANCE". There are some blue glowy
lines and details around the sides of the base, a break from all the orange
and gray.
11" (28cm) tall on its base, with a hammer head 6.75" (17cm) long and
3.75" (9.5cm) tall and wide. The handle has a square cross-section about 3cm
on a side (a little under 1.25"). While it can be held as a weapon, the base
feels like a weird power tool battery pack. The base is 5.25" (13cm) wide,
6.5" (16.5cm) deep, and 1" (2.5cm) tall.

From the Amazon item pages:

WRECK 'N RULE COLLECTION: If a mission is a lost cause, the Autobots
call in their toughest task force: the Wreckers. This elite strike team is
prepared to rush in blasters-blazing and get the job done [sic]

Each product page has a short bio note as well, most of which are also
missing periods at the end. There's no bio notes on the boxes.

AUTOBOT: DIACLONE UNIVERSE TWIN TWIST
Assortment: Wreck N' Rule Collection
Altmode: Drill Tank
Transformation Difficulty: 18 steps
Previous Name Use: None with all those qualifiers
Previous Mold Use: Gen:TR

Nothing gives Twin Twist more joy than shredding his enemies into scrap
metal. He can be uncontrollable at times, but he's proven his worth as a
member of the Wreckers [sic]

Dave Van Domelen <dvandom@eyrie.org> wrote:
> Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Wreck 'n Rule Collection

> Prime Universe Bulkhead: Original was mildly recommended, and to be
> honest I only ordered this one because of the collectible packaging
> gimmicks. I like the plastics better and having Breakdown's hammer is a nice
> plus, but the camo pattern is lazy and inappropriate to the Cybertronian
> backdrop. Mildly recommended, and that mostly if you're considering getting
> the whole hammer.

The low recommendation for this surprises me, and I went and read the
original review, and that surprised me too. Not even a “looks nothing like
Prime Bulky” just a “meh, didn’t do anything to excite me”.

Not going to say you’re wrong, because clearly, they’re plastic toys and
opinions and “your feelings are valid” but I’m surprised.

He’s not a great toy that does anything new, novel or interesting, but I
think he’s like a solid B-, competent and not trying very hard, but dinged
a little bit for nuisance with the shoulder-blades getting the arms into
place.

All of my complaints are what a poor job he does of representing the
Animated/Prime Bulkhead character. Proportions are so very wrong.

(Still surprised we haven’t gotten a remold that drops the shield/tarp and
adds a big gun or missile battery that mounts in the back of the truck)

> Spindle and Comic Universe Impactor: Spindle's original mold was mildly
> recommended, although at least this is more than a robot head swap, and it's
> a completely new species of dinosaur. Impactor was strongly recommended the
> first time, but we're only getting minor variations on the theme...I suppose
> I can now do the Spiderverse "three Spider-Men pointing at each other"
> variation on the meme now, though. I'm not really a fan of the original
> comics look, but they did a good job of reproducing that with only three new
> parts. Recommended, especially if you don't already have three of each mold
> family.

Meanwhile, Spindle barely holds together. (I do love the matching colors
between him and Impactor, though)