Ahh, one of my favorite B-listers. So, Beachcomber’s a second-year Generation One minibot, who changed into a little dune buggy. His original figure, at least in photos (I’ve never handled one) looks like an all-timer in terms of “a simple little thing that accomplishes the assignment.” It even wound up being fairly animation-accurate, save for missing a mouth.
Peak Performance. With a bunch of variants, too.
Speaking of animation, most of Beachcomber’s fame derives from his spotlight animated series episode, “The Golden Lagoon.” See, Beachcomber was a nature-loving non-warrior, who spoke like a hippy, and quietly disliked the whole conflict (though, he was so chill that “hate” feels like a bit of a strong word).
This says it all.
“Golden Lagoon” saw him trying to defend a hidden forest full of animals, that also happened to be the home of a miraculous substance that could make Transformers indestructible. It’s an unusually bleak, complicated episode for the usually stock 80’s cartoon, and more importantly, it’s one I had vivid memories of watching when it was rerun during Generation 2 in the 90’s.
This shot of him translating a bird’s chirps via a crazy sensor is something that stuck with me from childhood.
The original wasn’t a fairly complicated figure, so the few updates he’s gotten over the years also haven’t been terribly complicated, with the most recent one being this release, a part of 2018’s Power of the Primes line, the final chapter of the Prime Wars Trilogy. He was a small Legends-class figure, the scale that’s more-or-less on shelves now as Core-class, which seems just right for a textually little guy. There’s rumors there might be an update coming in Legacy, so I felt like having a look at how this previous effort holds up.
Robot Mode
Just a little guy.
Just the right size for this guy, Beachcomber’s a short, stocky fellow. He’s also extremely animation-accurate in a way that the Prime Wars Trilogy stuff typically wasn’t, making him feel ahead of his time, aesthetically. The pipes on the chest, hourglass on the navel, two circles on the pelvis, all of his little quirks are here. I feel like he was lankier in the cartoon than the fairly wide figure here, but the animation was loose, though I will say, his fists definitely feel a bit too big, this was not a punchy man.
A lover, not a fighter.
Still, it’s impressive for the scale. His head sculpt is really nice, too, it’s got the sculpted “sunglasses,” and a vaguely worried expression, which feels right for the character’s role in his spotlight episode.
“Forget the Great War, man! Let’s talk about the Great Peace!”
Beachcomber’s colors are similarly spot on, a mix of light gray and dark blue. He’s painted with bits of silver, a little bit of orange and blue at his navel, plus a tampo on his chest that replicates the G1 toy’s stickers. That last detail makes me think: If this was a War for Cybertron Trilogy or Legacy release, that detail would have been changed to the animation model’s Autobrand.
Beachcomber helps Soudnwave get over his mass-shifting accident.
But yes, nothing’s missing, and if anything he’s got extra color, with his fists getting some paint, and his legs not being plain blue (there’s a split, upside-down Autobrand there due to his altmode, which, to be fair, just kinda blinks out of existence when he transforms on the cartoon).
Doing what he does best.
The most important thing about this figure, to me, is that he feels good and solid in your hands, with no small parts, a nice and chunky construction. It’s a good vibe that’s hard to describe. He’s accurate, but he’s toyish. Oh, and he’s got heel spurs to keep him stable.
Communing with the universe.
“I’m telling you, man, I saw the face of God!”
A lot of Beachcomber’s articulation is on ball joints, like his shoulders, elbows and hips. Outside of those, he’s got swivelling knee and neck joints. It’s enough to give him plenty of expressiveness. A modern figure might give him a waist, maybe ankles or wrists, but as it stands, this is plenty, and he emotes and poses well with it.
Trying to walk off his bad trip.
Beachcomber comes with no real gimmicks or features, he’s a simple guy (and on the cartoon, he had hand-lasers, so he doesn’t feel under-armed). He can hold most modern Transformers accessories, though, if you really want, in his fists.
He doesn’t like it, either.
It’s easy to toss him something from the Centurion upgrade kit.
There, much better.
Transformation:
This is incredibly simple, like Legends Swerve was. It’s a pretty similar set of steps, too, though Beachcomber transforms “backwards,” comparatively. And looking at photos, it’s basically just the G1 Transformation again, only with the added first step of extending his torso upwards, instead of flipping the head away.
Threat display.
Then, you just stick his arms to his sides, flip his legs back, and you’re done (after clipping his roll cage together). I applaud them for not over-complicating it. It’s simple, it’s quick, it’s involved enough to be satisfying, and it does what it needs to do.
Vehicle Mode
Time to comb some beaches.
I’m pretty sure that torso extension was to facilitate the seat in the middle of this, and in this altmode, that same extension makes this dune buggy oddly long. It doesn’t look bad, though, and is only really noticeable when you directly compare it to the original. Other than that, it’s mad accurate to the original’s design, even including the two little sculpted circles in the back, in the engine block. It’s just a little rolling buggy vehicle, and it looks great, aside from, maybe, the hole at the back of him where his head turtles up.
Hopefully he kicks up too much dust for that bit to be visible.
This mode’s got the same colors, with that previously-split Autobrand out front. They found budget to paint his tire rims, too. Big gap at the back where his head goes in. His headlights are unpainted, but I’m just gonna call that “animation and toy accurate.”
~Running with the chee-tahhhh~
So, his gimmick in this mode is that, if you unclip and open the roll cage, there’s a seat in the middle of him that’s the right size to fit a Prime Master or Titan Master minifigure, a feature the other Legends in the line shared.
“Wanna go for a ride? Too bad, there’s only one seat.”
“Yeeeeah!”
It’s also the source of all the little compromises, and possibly the torso stretch (plus, he’d only got one seat now, the original design had two), but honestly, they’re barely compromises, and him having a little guy be able to ride around in him makes it worth it.
And he can bring the tunes along!
Oh, and he rolls fine, too. It looks at a glance like ground clearance is an issue, but in practice, not so.
Overall
An important part of any Season 2 Cartoon Cast.
This is why keeping it simple is good, it leads to mini-masterpieces like this guy. Beachcomber’s a near-perfect Transformer, a fun little desk guy who’s poseable, accurate, has personality, and is quick to transform. There’s basically no issues, he’s just a fun, chill figure to handle, and he’s honestly one of my favorites.
Only Tracks is better at off-roading, and he’s cheating via flight.
It’s hard to see how an update could improve on him, they basically got it right here. Like, maybe you could futz with his proportions, add a few more joints, make him a proper two-seater, pull some transformation wizardry to make the Autobrand vanish from his legs, maybe throw in some Golden Lagoon-themed stuff, but, like, that’s all minor stuff. That, and it would probably take away from his solid, chunky feel.
Peak performance.
This guy’s worth having as a desk companion, and depending on the aftermarket and how big a future one is, might be more worth the money than any modern update could be. Either way, he is what he is, and what he is is great.
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