Bot Reviews: Transformers: Legacy Evolution Deluxe Beachcomber and Paradise Parakeet

Something I’ve talked about a few times over the years in my reviews is how I’ve tried to avoid the trap of constantly re-buying Transformers characters I already have, because they’ve done a new version that’s incrementally better. Case and point, most of the Generation 1 Minibots got a solid series of updates in the mid-2010s, as Legends-scale minifigures released during the Prime Wars Trilogy. But over the last few years, HasTak decided to do updates of the Minibots all over again, as Deluxes, with a little more articulation, a little more budget, actual accessories, things like that. And to be fair, a lot of them have been really good, like Gears, Cosmos, Netflix Bumblebee, and so forth. But there’s also been ones like Studio Series 86 Brawn, where I’ve found myself going “this sure exists to check a box off.” Either way, chasing the dragon of perpetual updates has been something I’ve started to actively avoid. So, why’d I get a new Beachcomber?

If you go way, way back through my archives, you’ll find an old review I did of the Power of the Primes Legends Beachcomber (pictured above), where I talked about what a great, near-perfect figure it is. And this newer Legacy Evolution version looked to just be that guy, but bigger. Honestly, I got the new one because he’s incredibly rare, and I happened to find it. See, the Legacy Evolution wave that this new Beachcomber was in (which included him, Devcon, and a new Junkion character called Axelgrease) seems to have fallen off a boat, and basically didn’t make it to market anywhere, to the point where even the Transformers Wiki notes its bizarre rarity.

But somehow, for some reason, about a year and a half after his extremely limited release, I happened to find a mint-in-sealed-box one on sale in a used bookshop in Toronto, called BMV (no, this isn’t sponsored, it’s just a cool place.) BMV also sell action figures, so them having Transformers in general isn’t odd, even if them having this one was.

No idea how he got there, but they were also letting him go for really cheap, so I thought, oh, what the heck, let’s have a look at the boy. Luckily, though, a couple weeks after I bought him, Hasbro announced a new production run of them for preorder, so this review now has a purpose beyond “look at this rare guy I got.”

It also helps that I just like Beachcomber as a character. This little pacifist nature-loving dune buggy’s always been a fun, unusual idea for a Transformer, and his spotlight episode on the G1 cartoon, The Golden Lagoon, is one of the more interesting, memorable ones, where he tries to protect a forest of animals from being destroyed by the war, but he fails thanks to a mineral that makes Transformers indestructible being found in the middle of it. Lately, he’s also been given a big, central role in Skybound’s Transformers comics, where he has a really interesting backstory, and gets a lot of story material out of what happens when a pacifist has to choose between not fighting, or protecting life.

Anyway, let’s have a look at this new version of the most chill Autobot ever. And inevitably, I’m going to compare him to the Power of the Primes version a lot, since he’s supposed to replace him.

Robot Mode 

These new Minibots are always on the small side for the Deluxe-class, but Beachcomber’s surprisingly big and bulky compared to his Neo-Minibot brethren.

At least until you compare him to a normal Deluxe, and realize, no, he’s still pretty short.

To be fair, he is taller than most Minibot updates. I think it’s the fact that he’s got one of those G1 designs where it looks like he’s made out of boxes that gives him the illusion of bulk.

A lot of those boxes have flared angles, or diagonal lines, so he manages to still look pretty dynamic, even when he’s got very retro design touches like huge bell-bottomed boots. He’s also extremely animation-accurate to his Sunbow design, including little flourishes like that odd pipe pattern on his chest. I think the only thing that isn’t accurate is his vehicle-mode headlights on his knees, which firmly falls under “they had to go somewhere” in my books.

The sculpt also fixes one of the few issues I had with the Power of the Primes version: His proportions are less squashed and chibified, and more lanky and person-shaped.

One little design flourish I’m particularly fond of is how they managed to get his roll cage to collapse into his back, making him extremely clean in terms of altmode parts, aside from the four wheels on him, which to be fair, are on his animation model, too.

Uptop, his headsculpt’s also very accurate to the cartoon, with its boxy helmet, huge mirrored shades, and tiny little mouth and nose, which sometimes seem to vanish into the sculpt, making him look like his G1 toy, until you notice them again.

For colors, he’s mostly two tones: Dark blue, and light gray, with a bit of black for his wheels. It’s funny how a characterful colorscheme communicates his chilled-out countenance. He’s also got plenty of deco on him, including silver for his glasses, among other details. There’s an Autobrand on his chest, and a funky little yellow, red and blue tampo on his bellybutton, again, representing a specific animation model detail. Speaking of that, the specific color choices on him do make him more toon-accurate than the Power of the Primes version, between changing up where the hits of color are, and making his blue darker. 

His build quality is one area where he excels. All of his joints are really tight, he’s got heel spurs that keep him very stable, and the fact that he’s composed of boxes, with few altmode parts, means he feels really solid in your hands. 

As for his articulation, this was the one area where there were obvious ways to improve on the older Power of the Primes version, and, unsurprisingly, they did them. This means he now has ankle tilts, a waist joint, and wrist swivels, all things the older one lacked.

Beyond that, he’s got all the same joints as the smaller version, all the proper bends and swivels, just with his elbows and shoulders switching out ball joints for universal joints, a more durable choice. That being said, he does have some odd limitations. The wheels on his shoulders love to bump against his body, and limit his arm articulation a bit.

Similarly, for some reason, his head articulation is limited, with his head only being able to turn to about a 45 degree angle either direction, before it locks up, both issues that the older version didn’t have. Still, he’s overall got a good suite of joints, and it’s easy to pose him meditating, or relaxing, or, if you must, fighting. 

Speaking of that, an important addition to this new guy is some actual accessories. First of all, he’s got a laser pistol, cast in gray and painted black, with kind of a funky shape to it, since it becomes his altmode bumper.

This feels instinctively wrong for Beachcomber, but I guess you’ve got to protect those animals somehow.

He can hold it well, and it’s got a 5-millimeter tab on the side of it, letting it clip onto ports on his back nice and easily. Plus, it’s the right size to use blast effects with. 

It’s his other accessory that’s the most interesting: Paradise Parakeet, a character so important, that they get billed on the packaging, right next to Beachcomber.

It’s a little green parrot, specifically the one Beachcomber tried to talk to near the beginning of The Golden Lagoon.

This bird’s tiny, smaller than a Titan Master, smaller than a World’s Smallest Transformer.

The only thing Paradise Parakeet’s bigger than are those rice-sized minifigures meant to go with Haslab Unicron, and, just like those, I’m afraid of losing this guy forever if he takes a tumble off my desk, or if I, like, sneeze too hard. Still, it’s a very well-sculpted, detailed bird for the size, and they even managed to paint on tiny little yellow and black eyes, with pupils. It’s on a black 5-millimeter base, too, so the bird can perch pretty much anywhere. 

Now, the odd thing is what Paradise Parakeet is made out of. Instead of solid plastic, it’s a very soft material that feels like rubber. You can squeeze him in your hand, and he literally feels like a gummy bear you could bite in half. This wouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that it actually makes it hard for him to interact with Beachcomber. Hypothetically, that 5-millimeter base means you can pop him into one of the six ports on Beachcomber’s body, or in his hand, but his soft, gummy texture means that it actually takes a ton of effort to squeeze him into one of those ports, since he just crumples when you try to push him in. You can do it, though, it’s just way too tough. Luckily, Paradise Parakeet also includes a smaller hole in the bottom of the base, so you can stick him onto tiny nubs on either of Beachcomber’s shoulders, pirate-style, or on his gun. 

You can also arm up those 6 ports on Beachcomber with different weapons, if you want, but, like, that’s so totally inappropriate for Beachcomber, man.

Transformation

So, the funny thing about Beachcomber’s transformation is that it’s a near-exact copy of the Power of the Primes one’s transformation. To be fair, it’s pretty close to just being the G1 toy’s transformation, but they both specifically include a new step where you telescope his torso upwards to hide his robot head, and give his altmode some greater length.

That being said, the Legacy version’s got some new wrinkles to it. There’s now some panels at the backs of his legs that need to be opened and shut, but more critically, his arms now need to do a complicated thing where you have to tab them into his sides, and also tab them into the folded-up bottoms of his feet at the same time. It’s a tricky move to pull off in a way that doesn’t leave either his arms, or the front of his vehicle mode askew.

I often have to undo his vehicle mode front, and try again, and make little micro-adjustments to try to make the buggy’s front end, and his arms, stay straight and flush. It’s not the worst problem, it’s just a bit of a learning curve, but, for comparison, the Power of the Primes version had a transformation you can do in 30 seconds or less, without these little issues busying it up. 

Vehicle Mode

I’ll say this, Beachcomber transforms into a big, wide slab of a dune buggy. He’s still small by Deluxe standards, but he’s way bigger than most of his minobot brethren, and the shape of him just communicates beef.

It’s funny, because the Power of the Primes version was extra-long, while this one is extra-wide.

Honestly, neither of them perfectly imitate the shape of his animation mode, if you care about that. Inside the roll cage, he’s got two driver’s seats, and if you look carefully, a fully-sculpted dashboard in front of them.  

For colors, he’s a lot more blue now, but we’re still operating in the same territory as the robot mode. He’s got seats that are painted silver, and interestingly, a section of his hood painted silver. He’s supposed to have an Autobrand there, but on the cartoon, it just blinks out of existence when he transforms, so he can have solid blue legs in robot mode. The Power of the Primes one gives him the Autobrand, and lets it show up on his robot legs, but this version opted to split the difference with the hit of silver. I think it’s a good solution, better than making his transformation even more complicated for the sake of disappearing the symbol. 

At the sides of him, Beachcomber’s wheels have nice, fully painted silver rims, and do this interesting trick where the middle chunk of each rim is a large flathead screw keeping the wheel in place, so if you pick him up by the wheels, you get a bit of that cold, metallic die-cast construction handfeel that old G1 toys had. While we’re talking about materials and handfeel, they also sprung for rubberized tires, which, by the way, means he rolls excellently when he’s in this solidly-built altmode. 

For other features, his gun is typically pegged into the front of this mode to serve as his bumper, but you can pop it off, and do something really interesting: Clip it onto any part of the roll cage around his driver’s seats, via a little C-clip between the handle and stock.

It’s interesting to me, because this  specific feature, where you could clip a weapon onto a bar on the figure, was a whole little gimmick ecosystem back in the old 2010’s era Transformers Generations toyline, so it’s kind of nostalgic seeing it make a tiny little return. I don’t think he’s compatible with the old C-clips, though, since they were smaller. 

Next up, he’s still got four useable 5-millimeter ports across his altmode, if you still feel a strange desire to cover him with guns, or, more appropriately, give Paradise Parakeet a place to ride.

The two ports next to his rear wheels also must be slightly bigger than the rest, or something, because I don’t have trouble squeezing the bird into them, like I do with the others.

Lastly, it’s not *really* a problem, but it does kind of bug me that you basically can’t sit any kind of figure in his driver’s seats.

The seats are just an awkward size, so there’s just not space for anything I’ve got to go in there, whereas the Power of the Primes one could have a Titan Master ride in it. It’s not a big deal, but maaaaan. 

Overall

Okay, so, here’s the deal with this figure. He’s really really good, and I’ve got no major complaints about him, except that his pet bird’s a bit too gummy, and his transformation’s a bit more fiddly than I’d like. Overall, it’s an excellent Beachcomber. However, he really is just the older Power of the Primes one, but bigger, and with more joints and accessories added. It’s not like Legacy Cosmos, where the design and engineering of the new figure was totally different from the old one. Beachcomber almost feels like an oversized knockof of the older one, only, like, actually good, like how for a while, unofficial Third-Party companies were knocking off Masterpiece figures, and giving them extra engineering bells and whistles. This is basically that, but official.

So, I’ll say, if you don’t have the older Power of the Primes Beachcomber, this is absolutely worth a pickup, especially now that he’s up for order again for normal prices, and not a strangely rare, expensive ghost of a figure. But if you do have the older one, well, I don’t really think there’s a great reason to get the new one, especially since the older one had a slightly faster, more fun transformation, and could actually have little guys ride around in him. Well, okay, you don’t need the new one unless you a) really value ankle tilts, wrist swivels, and a waist joint, b) wish he were a little bit larger, or c) really want that tiny little parrot , which, to be fair, is a fun little add-on. So, I guess it depends on what you value. Me, I value that I found him on sale, and I like getting to own another take on this breezy blue buggy-bot.

For over 200 Bot, Non-Bot, and Retro Bot Reviews, click here to view my archive.