Bot Reviews: Transformers: Studio Series Deluxe Brawn (Bumblebee Version)

We’ve finally arrived at the last of the current crop of Bee Prologue guys, with the only one I had to use the Internet to get, seemingly because he was so in demand: Brawn (I’m skipping Shockwave, it’s weird they made him as a tiny minifigure instead of a full-sized guy).

So, Brawn’s another classic character I haven’t talked about much on here. Yes, he got shot in the shoulder in the ‘86 movie and seemingly died from it, but there’s more to the character than that. He had a ton of presence on the original animated series as a two-fisted, wisecracking strongman brawler, plus a memorably turn in early issues of the Marvel UK comic, where a short-circuit turned him into a hostile menace (it helps that he was drawn more accurately to his G1 figure, which had real 50’s Alien Invader energy.)

Still, he’s just obscure enough to be probably the most surprising character pulled to show up in the Bumblebee Movie’s introductory battle, until you remember that he, once again, took a shot to the shoulder like in the ‘86 Movie, so he was basically just there for the reference.

At least he survived this one, and at least he had a fairly unique-looking design to show off, as well.

Robot Mode

And what a unique design it is! A stumpy little man with a sunken-in head, covered in armor that makes him almost hunchbacked, something about this version of Brawn is very unlike a Transformer, to me. He makes me think of something out of Warhammer 40K, or a Space Marine from…all the things those guys are in. The vibes are unusual, and immaculately preserved in plastic.

I love how he’s made up entirely of rounded pieces, almost in opposition to how his G1 design was mostly rectangles.

And that same phenomenon I mentioned when I looked at Wheeljack is here: In the movie, Brawn’s CGI model was a heavily-modified version of Bumblebees, and so while this figure doesn’t share any parts with Bee, he has the same general proportions, and also 100 percent has the same feet as Bumblebee. It’s always fun to see production quirks like that replicated.

Speaking of Bee, Brawn’s shorter than the yellow guy’s various Studio Series figures from this movie by about a head, not counting Brawn’s hoodie/hunch/really big collar. But between his thick, rounded limbs, and the general chunk of him, Brawn still feels substantial.

Another thing that’s substantial: The delicately-sculpted tech details inside and around his limbs. They really nailed the accuracy to the film’s CGI model, too, literally the only difference I can spot is they added wheels to his thighs for his altmode.

Brawn’s topped off by an odd-looking head, in a good way. He’s got a massive, rounded helmet that recalls the Juggernaut, with a thin face composed of metal shards peering out of the tiny gap in the front of it. He’s like some kind of beetle.

Brawn’s colors split the difference between the original toy and animation model’s greens, giving him a very military shade of the color, on top of the brownish-yellow, silver, and dark metallic gray. That gray in particular is used on all his technological innards, an effect that looks great and brings the sculpt out. His head is solid silver, with tiny blue eyes peering out, and he’s finished off with a white Autobrand on the chest.

It’s a unique-feeling colorscheme for a Transformer, and adds to his unusual, different-franchise-entirely vibes, in addition to looking unusually lush and detailed. I don’t know how they budgeted him versus Ratchet and Wheeljack, but he exists in that Soundwave zone where it looks like they managed to get every bit of color from his character model onto the figure, save maybe for mild metallic weathering, and he already looks like his own Premium Finish repaint. Even the little silver finishing touches are there!

Brawn’s, again, pleasantly chunky in hand, and feels nice to pose on his big, stable feet. He feels more solid and toy-ish in a good way than a lot of Studio Series figures, even his Beequel Bretheren.

For a man with such thick limbs, he’s very bendy. Brawn comes equipped with all the little articulation bonuses like ankles and wrists, and thanks to his transformation, even has flexible “toe” joints on his feet. This is one of those figures where the articulation lines up with the sculpt to give him a real sense of character. You instinctively move his arms so his fists are up, ready for a punch out. He’s got two low points, though: One is that his head’s a bit restricted inside its big collar (which, to be fair, that’s how he looks), and the other is he’s missing any kind of elbow or bicep swivel on his arms, meaning they can’t tilt inwards or outwards anywhere except the shoulder joining, so he can’t, say, smash his fists together. It’s a really odd omission, and is probably due to the double-elbows on his arms from his transformation.

I groused during Ratchet and Wheeljack’s reviews that I wished they came with some more characterful accessories than just their Big Guns, and Brawl shows why. Firstly, he does include another large gun.

This is, again, the same size as Ratchet and Wheeljack’s, and roughly the same shape (probably because their CGI models in the films just slapped new details onto Prime’s gun), but it’s yes another marginally-different new sculpt, and cast in gray this time.

He holds it well, and its size contrasts amusingly with his smallness.

But more importantly, he’s also got a knife!

Well, okay, it’s a drill. But in his hands it’s a nasty-looking, triple-bladed thing, with an oddly detailed, alien-looking sculpt.

And he looks menacing wielding it! It combines with his swiveling wrists nicely, and I like having him hold it underhanded.

There’s nothing specifically Brawn-y about it, but it immediately adds something to him.

For other features, you can clip his gun onto his back, like the rest of this specific range of figures, but this is the first time it didn’t work very well, and it’s the figure’s one real failing point. Basically, the problem is that it connects with a really tiny tab, that slots into a really tiny hole, and it doesn’t stay on very well, falling off with only a little jostling. You really need to make sure it goes on straight, and even then, it’s a bit of a flimsy connection. You can also mount the knife onto a peg top of it, but that makes it even less stable. It only sticks out because of how well-thought-out the unified weapon storage on the rest of the Prologuers.

On the upside, you can combine the drill and gun into a nasty-looking bayonet.

Seriously, it’s amazing how much better just one more accessory makes him.

Transformation

This is a clever one, and more importantly, is intuitive enough that I remembered it after one go. Basically, you rotate the waist, unfold his cockpit from his back, then fold him in half backwards at the waist, while fussing with his limbs. I think my favorite part of this is what happens to his feet and shins, they kinda go inside-out on themselves.

The only challenging bit is his final step, which involves simultaneously plugging his leg assembly into the sides of the front wheels and beneath his cockpit.

I haven’t yet figured out an elegant way to do this, it’s a lot of straining and fussing. At least it doesn’t feel like a fragile connection.

Vehicle Mode

Brawn changes into a small, adorable, rounded, bug-like rolling vehicle. Out of all the made-up Bee Movie Prologue vehicle modes, this is by far my favorite, and it’s an inventive use of the shapes they already had. I particularly appreciate the wheels they added to this mode, in that they’re sculpted to have visual continuity with Bumblebee’s Cybertron mode wheels, like the rest of the rolling vehicles in this line.

I’d say his only flaw is that his back end is clearly still a torso, and his head’s hiding out in a visible gap uptop, but it all blends in pretty well, all things considered.

What you’re really supposed to do is plug his drill into a port beneath the cockpit, and rotate it up, turning him into a drill tank, or mining vehicle.

The whole thing’s a clever homage to a scene in the original cartoon, where he popped a drill out of the front of his alternate mode, making for a very smart callback.

It also makes the whole alternate mode read almost like an insect to me, between the segmented, rounded body, and the drill resembling some kind of proboscis. Hey, between his “armored beetle” motif in his robot mode, and this, we have a visual theme here.

He’s got the same mix of colors in this mode, with the addition of a slightly tinted clear cockpit, plus his wheel rims that are painted green, something they didn’t have to do, but did!

For features, this drilling vehicle rolls impressively well. Like, better than the other vehicles in this line. His fellow Cybertronian cars sometimes have undercarriage that drags, or wheels that are on tightly enough that they don’t all spin, but this guy’s wheels are particularly loose (in a good way), and you can get some serious momentum off him from just a little push.

 Meanwhile, his gun can clip onto the top of his alternate mode, but it’s again, in something of a loose, awkward place. There’s a tiny peg behind the cockpit, and another tiny hole, a bit too far up the front of the weapon, leaving most of it dangling over the hole in his backside. It’s less stable even than his robot more storage configuration, and comes out at the slightest touch. But hey, if you leave it off, you can sort of tuck a Titan Master in the space it left behind.

Overall

If you can’t tell, I’m particularly enamored with this guy, and I’d call him the strongest release so far in this specific niche of Bumblebee Movie Studio Series Prologue People. See, Ratchet was competent, but plain. Wheeljack was a bit more interesting, if slightly rougher. This guy pushes it even more in that direction. He’s got a couple problems, like his weapon storage, and his oddly swivel-free arms, but he’s just so gushing with charm and personality, and generally good, chunky handfeel, that it makes up for them, and puts him above his wave-mates.

He’s fun to pose and play around with, has a well-executed, unique design, and a clever, interesting alternate mode. I think everyone should check this guy out, honestly, whether or not you’re into the Bee Prologue People. He’s just a Good Version of Brawn, and a Really Good Figure in general.

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