Bot Reviews: Transformers: Age of the Primes Deluxe Junkion Jalopy

So, Jalopy is a complete nobody of a character. And I don’t mean “nobody” as in “a d-lister who was in the background of 2 frames of animation.” I mean “nobody” as in a brand new character that the Age of the Primes toyline made up. This would be cool, but unfortunately, bio notes seem to be a lost art, which means that Jalopy’s a complete blank slate in terms of any characterization, outside of being a Junkion, since it’s in their name. HasTak’s been making new Junkion characters since Legacy, though, so I guess you could always say that Jalopy’s another generic member of their jibbering TV-Talking ranks. But I’ve never been a big Junkion fan, and the reasons I wanted this figure are a lot more arcane.

Okay. So. I play a tabletop RPG with some friends, a game of the GM’s invention that we’re playtesting as we go. Instead of being the stock medieval fantasy, it’s a story set firmly in the present day, and features a gang of civilians who solve mysteries, then transform into Tokusatsu-esque armored superheroes to fight monsters. At a critical point in an early session, my character, in a panic, triggered his transformation inside his car, and the GM suggested this make the car change into some kind of Ghost Rider or Mad Max-type thing. I suggested Junkion Axelgrease’s car mode, but in my character’s colors, gold, red, silver, and wreathed in flames. Here’s Axlegrease, a figure released in the Legacy toyline:

And then, months later, Hasbto debuts an unexpected repaint of her, in nearly the exact colors I’d imagined:

So, yeah, I bought this because, somehow, my TTRPG character’s vehicle got a toy made out of it. This was a really unexpected repaint, too, because this is a tooling that’s been around the block a bunch, originally as another new Junkion, Scrapheap, then as Tow-Line, a character from the 2001 Robots in Disguise anime (which I own, and just haven’t reviewed), then as Lockdown the Bounty Hunter in the Star Raiders toyline, then as Axelgrease, and now this version, which apparently mixes and matches bits from each version. It really feels like they made it just for me, and the fact that it transforms is just a nice bonus. 

Robot Mode

Jalopy’s a decently tall Deluxe by modern standards, in this world of Minibots and Fugitive Wasps. Their big shoulder pylons certainly help. There’s some ambiguity about how exactly Jalopy should look in their robot mode, thanks to the big pile of accessories they come with, but pretty much every configuration has their silver exhaust pipes on their shoulders, at least, adding a little more height. And you’ll want some of their accessories on them, because Jalopy’s a bit of a generic robot without them.

There’s some suggestion of Mad Max spikiness on their legs, and an interestingly intricate bit of sculptwork on their chest, but yeah, at a glance, this is Just Some Guy. Not in a bad way, generics are interesting (paradoxically), but I feel like Jalopy wouldn’t stand out in a crowd without their gear. Their headsculpt is certainly a part of that, being just a mouthplate and visor with a big helmet over it, with a strange set of four circles on their forehead as the one bit of visual interest.

This headsculpt belonged to the Tow-Line retool, so it’s a slavish update of a tiny head from a basic flipchanger designed in the mid-90s, which explains it, a little. 

For colors, Jalopy’s pure Junkion, mostly different shades of rust. He’s chocolate brown, a lighter reddish brown, a bright orangey-red, and gray, with bits of silver and gold for the highlights. There’s some good paint-and-plastic matching on him, and he looks nicely complete, if still a bit generic. I think the problem is that these normal Junkion colors pale in comparison to Tow-Line and Axlegrease’s technicolor tones.

Mine’s also got a tiny bit of silver paint splashed on their face, but a) it’s a Junkion, they’re supposed to be a bit janky, and b) I’m more into this bot for the altmode. 

The build quality on Jalopy’s mostly pretty good, which is especially commendable when you consider that (spoiler alert) they’re a Weaponizer, meaning they’re meant to pull apart into chunks. But you mostly wouldn’t be able to tell by handling the figure, most of their joints are nice and sturdy. I say most, because for some reason, their elbows are loose. The elbows are on this teeny-tiny swivel, and while they can hold a pose, the elbows droop if you put anything too heavy in their hands. For example, they can hold one normal weapon, but if you give Jalopy something heavier, there’s going to be some droopage.

It’s a shame, and apparently every copy of this tooling has this problem, too, so it’s not mold decay. I’ll hit it with some floor polish when this review’s done and dusted, see if that fixes them up. On the positive side, Jalopy’s also got the biggest heel spurs knooown to man, so the figure stays standing just fine.

Despite those loose elbows, Jalopy actually has really good articulation, with most of their joints being universal, or a particular combination of swivels that approximate that.

Bottom to top, we’ve got universal ankles, knees and hips, swivels for the waist and neck, universal shoulders and elbows (loose as they may be), and even swivelling wrists. No bit of articulation was spared, though some of them (like the hips and shoulders) do rely on the 5-millimeter pegs that hold the figure together to act as swivels.

For accessories, there’s a surprisingly big pile of stuff here, a result of Jalopy being an amalgam of all the previous uses of this tooling. So, let’s run through them. First, you’ve got a pair of small pistols, in light brown, painted silver.

They combine into an engine block, and can be held as one big weapon, or two smaller ones, or stash on Jalopy’s shins.

Next, you’ve got a pair of big Movie Ironhide-esque cannons, in that same light brown, though they’re a bit hollow due to their two handles, and have odd little projections on the sides of them due to forming part of the car mode’s body. Aside from those two handles, each has 5-millimeter ports, both on top of them, and in their barrels.

Next, there’s a spiky, brutal-looking shield, in dark brown with red spikes.

Finally, the two silver-painted pipes that stash on the shoulders are removable, too, on 5-millimeter pegs, with additional 5-millimeter ports on them.

I count a whopping 14 5-Millimeter ports on Jalopy, so between that, and the amount of accessories, there’s a lot you can do to equip and combine this significant arsenal. 

The weirdest thing, though, is that the instructions don’t have any mention at all of Jalopy being a Weaponizer. You’d think that’d be important, it’s an entire selling point of the figure. Tow-Line’s instructions mention it, and even suggest some combinations with other figures. Documented or not, you can pull Jalopy’s body apart into five pieces: Lower legs, arms, and torso, with the torso foldable into a big cube, all now mountable on other figures.

Well, except for his torso, which is exclusively 5-millimeter port connections, instead of pegs, so you can’t really do much with it. Jalopy also suffer the same problem as Star Raider Road Pig, where this stuff doesn’t really resemble weapons, so equipping it to other figures tends to look less thrilling than sticking a bunch of guns onto them instead.

Still, that’s what the pile of accessories is for.

To also be fair, part of the intended play pattern is to get some of the other new Junkions (who are also Weaponizers), take them apart, and build combiners, but that’d require me to buy more Junkions, and also have a construction-minded brain.

Transformation

Another feature that Jalopy shares with Road Pig is being a Weaponizer with a transformation that doesn’t require you to take them apart at all. Even Bluebolts, the Haslab “we have infinite budget” Weaponizer, can’t manage that! Even if it comes at the cost of Jalopy’s Weaponization, it almost feels like a fair tradeoff for how straightforward this transformation is. It’s a little different from your usual carformer conversion, with a waist twist, and a backpack that becomes the hood, but still, it’s mostly moving big chunks around, until you get to the back of the car, where it gets tough.

You’ve got to fold the shoulders and arms together into a block, and awkwardly position the shoulder joints diagonally, but with enough clearance for the forearms to fit in and peg together.

If there’s a smooth way to do it, I haven’t figured it out yet, and it’s nigh-inevitable that one of his removable shoulders will pop out. But once you get it in, it’s in. There’s also the last step of “cover the car with all of the accessories to fill in the gaps and make it look complete.” 

Vehicle Mode

Ohhhhhh yeah. This is why I got the figure. To be clear, though, even if they didn’t literally re-create the vehicle from my TTRPG game, this would still be a really nice altmode.

What we’ve got here is a spiky, armored post-apocalyptic sports car, with a big engine block in front, pipes at the back, cannons as boosters, a shield for a rear tire, and all kinds of armor and spikes. It’s an amusing contrast to the fairly generic robot mode. I question how those cannon-boosters at the back are supposed to work with that spare tire blocking them, but it’s a good question to have to ask.

Like the robot mode, it’s of a decently meaty size for a deluxe, too. It’s got personality! It’s easy to imagine this care with Batman Flames at the back, racing along at improbably fast speeds. 

The colors certainly help. It’s the same chocolate brown and reddish-brown as robot mode, with most of the gray now hidden, save for its hubcaps, and a bit of black for its tires, and a few joints here and there. It’s got some nice silver paint for the windshields (and pipes), spikes in red, and most importantly, flames along the hood and sides, painted in gold, along with the headlights. It’s very complete-feeling, and just looks cool. Technically, they’re still Junkion colors, but they suggest fire more than they suggest rust in this form, to my eyes. 

I’m also pleased to report that, unlike the robot mode, there’s no loose bits here, the whole thing fits together really solidly. Even the accessories stay on good and tight!

For features, firstly, the vehicle rolls nicely. They did an interesting thing with the wheels, where only the tires rotate, and the hubcaps stay in place, for accessory mounting. 

If you leave all of his accessories on him in their designated places, Jalopy’s got 10 5-millimeter ports visible, great for Weaponizing. Of course, you can remove the entire stash of accessories, too, but they visually fill out the car mode, so it leaves it looking a little incomplete, though it does up the amount of ports to 13. 

And, of course, you can still rip the car into chunks, and Weaponize it with other vehicles, too.

Overall

Junkion Jalopy’s a perfectly cromulent Deluxe carformer, and that in and of itself’s a pretty big victory, when you consider that they’re also a Weaponizer. They don’t have to break apart to transform, and all their parts stay on, making this feel like the first Weaponizer tooling where both of those things have been the case. It’s weird that they don’t actually advertise the Weaponizing at all, but it’s neat that you could own the figure and hypothetically not realize it has that feature. If only it weren’t for those loose elbow joints! That’s the only thing that stops this from being flawlessly-executed.

Well, okay, the thing they’re near-flawlessly executing is “an extremely generic background Junkion,” which is maybe not the most thrilling premise for a figure, unless you’re way into Weaponizers, or Junkions, or you have weird, specific reasons for wanting the figure, like me. This is also a rare case where the altmode is where all the coolness is, and I’d be saying that even if it wasn’t a replica of something I made up for a tabletop game. 

So, if you’re into it (and that’s a big if), there’s a surprisingly solid figure under here. Just be ready to floor-polish those elbows.