Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Buzzworthy Tow-Line

Robots In Disguise 2000 Universe Tow-Line (Scraphook retool)

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

Just a one-off Buzzworthy Bumblebee release, rather than being part of
an assortment. I was tempted to include it in the Toxitron review because
the colors fit that theme pretty well.

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/Deluxe4 - Scraphook mold

CAPSULE

$25 at Target

RID2000 Universe Tow-Line: Original mold was recommended but with
caveats about QC. Still kinda a hassle to transform, but a bold deco and
some obscure nostalgia. Recommended if you have any idea who this character
is.

RANT

Packaging: Standard Buzzworthy trade dress merged with Legacy
Evolution. The call-out on back shows Armada Hot Shot wearing the armor. As
with all the store exclusives, there's no QR code, so no techspecs or bio
note or whatever. I'll make some stuff up or borrow from the RiD01.

Now, a bit of history, and some weird labeling issues. Tow-Line in
these colors was a redeco of the Hubcap/Hoist mold from Machine Wars, which
itself was a mold that was designed for G2 but abandoned in favor of Beast
Wars. So, Tow-Line does have a tiny connection to abandoned G2 ideas the way
Toxitron Capsule toys do. :) Now, Tow-Line was done for the original Robots
in Disguise series, which was a dub of the Japanese Car Robots series, which
itself was teased as "Transformers 2000" but never actually released under
that name. The 2015 Robots in Disguise series forced fans to refer to the
previous one in a different way, and RiD01 was settled on...because the first
Robots in Disguise actually came out in 2001 (and the episode where
Decepticons rampaged through NYC reputedly got pulled from the rerun schedule
because of 9/11).
So, of course Hasbro has decided that this universe's designation for
Legacy is...Robots in Disguise 2000. I guess that means we could get a
RiD2000 version of Skid-Z using the Mirage mold again, but the other RiD01
reuses of Machine Wars molds were Skyfire and Wind Sheer, neither of which
seems likely as Legacy toys, store exclusive or no.

AUTOBOT: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE 2000 UNIVERSE TOW-LINE
Assortment: F7017
Altmode: Tow Truck
Transformation Difficulty: 17 steps
Previous Name Use: None with all that stuff, RiD01 and Energon as just
Tow-Line
Previous Mold Use: Legacy
Function: Parking Enforcement
Special Unit: Parking Police
Origin Universe: Robots in Disguise 2000 (2001)
Signature Weapon: Tow Hook

STR 8 INT 6 SPD 5 FRB 7

(stats taken from RiD01)

Packaging: Four strings hold the robot with feet pointed down onto the
honeycomb pattern tray. The "accessories burrito" (as I've seen it called)
is taped behind the angled part of the tray.
The instructions also show how to attach the various bits to Armada Hot
Shot as armor.

Color Swaps: Burnt orange becomes light blue, brown becomes dark
purple. Some of the other plastic becomes dark purple: fists, wheels,
elbows, knees, ankles, and hook. Everything else becomes a slightly shiny
version of Constructicon Green, including the new head. This does lead to
the shield-wheel not being the same color as the regular wheels.

Paint Apps: Light blue paint with a pretty good match to the plastic is
used for the top of the head and the fenders. The faceplate, side pipes,
supercharger tops, wheel hubs, and the vehicle front end (grille and spiked
bumper) are painted silver. There's orange paint on the eye-band, the chest
vents and the window armor of vehicle mode. The strut for the tow hook is
dipped in dark purple paint except for the peg and socket. The center of the
chest is painted yellow-green (a bit darker than the plastic) with a printed
red Autobot symbol.

Mold Changes: The only mold change is a new head, which is a very good
update of the original Tow-Line/Hubcap/Hoist head.

Other Notes: Getting the front end apart to transform back to robot mode
was very difficult, and basically all the pegged limbs came off during my
attempts.
Given that he's still basically a Junkion mold, I have this mental image
of post-apocalyptic parking enforcement. RiD01 Tow-Line was certainly crazy
enough to do that.
Between this, the original, and Axlegrease, one freaky Junkion combiner
could be made. Or just swap parts to get three new bots with a riot of
colors.

Overall: It's in a weird nostalgia space, making me wonder how this was
even pitched to Target as a potential exclusive. Then again, they might just
be coming up with plans for every possible retool of every mold, and Target
picked this off a menu. Anyway, it visually goes well with the Toxitron
crew, so even if you have no RiD "2000" nostalgia it's a decent redeco to
pick up. Pun not intended.

Dave Van Domelen, now to set him on the shelf next to the Toxitron
bunch.