Toy Review – Transformers – Crankcase

The Geek Bits

Name: Crankcase
Toyline: Transformers
Subline: Dark of the Moon
Size Class: Deluxe
Released: May 2011
Availability: General retailers (Target, Walmart, Toys R Us)
Price: $11.99
Includes: Crankcase, Mechtech weapon, instructions
Worth the price? Buy it half off, because only one of the modes is good

As an expert tracker and infiltrator, CRANKCASE serves MEGATRON from the shadows. Unseen and never recognized, he watches the AUTOBOTS and reports their movements back to his master. He rarely engages in combat, but when he does, it is swift, terrible, and final.

CRANKCASE is an all new character for the third movie, transforming from a Chevy Suburbun SUV to a robot that looks straight out of some movie dealing with alien hunters. You know the one.

Vehicle

Crankcase is an all black Suburban with grey, clear and red highlights. As with all movie toys that have an officially licensed mode, he looks extremely close to an official Suburban… if you ignore the robot parts peeking out from underneath. Oh, and that huge honking Mechtech weapon that can be stuck on top.

Not pictured is the ability to rotate his pincer claws out from underneath the hood, allowing him to have more of an attack mode.

I’ll have more to say about the vehicle mode below, unfortunately.

Robot
Wow. This is just an awesome looking toy. This guy looks like he’s a Transformer/Predator hybrid, complete with dreadlocks and mean disposition. With spikes on his hands, pincer claws over his head, this guy means business. And that business is bad news for Autobots.

The Good
First off, I love the look of Crankcase’s robot mode. I mean, you’ve got a Robot with freaking DREADLOCKS. How awesome is that? I know some people aren’t happy with the look of the live-action movie toys, but come on, I don’t think we’d get something this freaky looking in a non-movie line. Oh, sure, we’ve had some freaky toys, but nothing compares to Crankcase. It’s an awesome look.

Adding some extra cool to his dreadlocks are his pincher claws. They can deploy in vehicle mode, and when in robot mode, they can be positioned above his head or to the side – I personally like them to look like horns; it adds to the freaky look.

Plus, I know what some will say – he’s flipping you the bird! Hey, even if that were the case (and I don’t think it is), it would just mean he’s showing you some personality. In reality, these hands are supposed to have spikes on them, and your mileage may vary. Some original Crankcases had the spikes at full length; some had them clipped, and it appears that future versions will have remolded hands, just like the Japanese version. Still, while the spikes may ultimately be not in Hasbro’s vision for this guy, I’m glad that my version has them. It’s added personality.

His MechTech weapon is suitably cool – pull back the switch, and another claw springs forth. It suits the personality of the figure.

The Bad
Unfortunately, other than the look of Crankcase, there’s little else that I like about this toy. My sample, at least, seems to have issues standing in robot mode. It’s not that his joints are extremely loose, but you have to pose him juuuust right so his center of gravity doesn’t get too far forward or too far back.

The dreadlocks and spikes are made from a very soft, flexible plastic, meaning that they get bent pretty easily.

And the worst? Trying to transform him back to vehicle mode. Wow. What a pain this was. This is one of those toys where if you don’t get all the panels and pegs lined up perfectly, you won’t be able to get him transformed. The instructions are almost useless, and I finally got to the point where I was no longer frustrated that he wasn’t transformed correctly – I NO LONGER CARED. Look at the gallery. Is that vehicle mode correct? I have no idea. I don’t care. I’ll transform him back to robot mode, put him on display, and never try again. I’m that fed up with it.

There’s complex but clever transformations, and then there are complex transformations that are inherently flawed. No kid should have to deal with such a pain for a Deluxe scale toy. With a Leader toy, it’s somewhat more forgiveable, but not a Deluxe.

The Final Rewind
I’d love to be able to recommend Crankcase wholeheartedly based on looks alone. The dreadlocks, the claws, the spikes – all of these together would seem to be a recipe for awesomeness. But the somewhat sketchy stability combined with an overly-frustrating transformation make for a mediocre toy at best.

Sorry, Crankcase lovers. I wanted to love him, I really did.

The Gallery