Originally written July 2019.
Beachcomber’s an odd little favorite Transformers character of mine. Introduced in the second year of both the show and the original toy line, he changes into a four-wheeled offroad buggy, and is characterized as a nature-loving pacifist, a bit of a hippy who doesn’t like the conflict. He had his day in the limelight in a Season 2 episode of the original cartoon, The Golden Lagoon, which I have fond memories of watching in the early 90’s when it was rerun as part of Generation 2, which I’ll come back to in a second.
Beachcomber’s gotten an excellent Generations Legends figure in the recent Power of the Primes line, but he’s not really high-profile enough to get an official Masterpiece toy, so X-Transbots created their take on one a few years ago with Arkose. But that’s not the version I’ve got. Coming back to Generation 2, if you’ve followed these blogs, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of the 90’s iteration of the Transformers franchise, with its gaudy colors, giant missile launchers, and X-Treem attitude. Like many classic toys, the original Beachcomber figure was re-released in Generation 2, with his colors changed to a metallic chrome green, neon orange and grey.
Not one to pass up an obvious repaint, X-Transbots recently released a special version of Arkose in those colors, which I absolutely had to own, and who can join the ranks of official G2 Masterpieces like Bumblebee and Sideswipe, and unofficial ones like Maketoys Maestro and G2 Screamer. I picked Arkose up at TFCon for $110 Canadian, which is a bit costly for a smaller MP-scale figure. Let’s see if he’s worth it.
One note: If you’re interested in a regular, non-G2 Arkose, this toy was originally released back in 2015 or so, with a few design flaws. Apparently, he just got re-released, with this G2 alternate version being based off of the revised tooling that fixes a few of the old version’s problems. So, beware if you’re picking up a used one.
Robot Mode
Arkose is about the size of Masterpiece Bumblebee, and so clocks in at roughly the height of a modern Deluxe, fitting the cartoon scale of the rest of the Masterpiece line. And let me just say that these colors are amazing, and perfectly replicate the loud, early-90s look of the original. The G2 figure’s green chrome is replicated via shiny metallic paint on his arms, head and lower legs, so it won’t chip or peel, and looks and feels excellent. Contrasting it is bright, traffic-cone orange on his thighs and wheels. Outside of that, he’s colored with grey plastic, and bits of silver, yellow, black and red paint. He’s got two different faces, a cartoon-accurate one with a mouth, and a toy-accurate, mouthless one, that I prefer on this version. Either way, the sculpt is nicely cartoon accurate, and gets across his fundamentally friendly, non-threatening personality.
In-hand, his plastic and general build quality seems very official, meaning this could mostly pass for Takara in terms of quality. He does have a couple issues, namely in the small panels next to his shoulders, which are meant to peg down, but flip up and come undone really easily if you move his arms. They’re easy enough to put back into place, but it’s still an obvious oversight. Additionally, his backpack, made out of his vehicle mode’s engine block, is kind of large and ungainly, and his vehicle mode’s roll cage, which fits around it, doesn’t really lock down or anything, just kind of hangs there. Still, he’s got good enough heel spurs that he isn’t in danger of falling over, and can hold a pose.
Speaking of that, Arkose has got excellent Masterpiece-level poseability, particularly in his arms, which have an unusually high level of wrist and forearm swivels, thanks to the transformation, on top of his grabby, articulated hands. Oddly, he doesn’t have ankle tilts, something that belies the fact that he was made in 2015, I suppose, when that feature’s pretty standard these days. Still, he can hold a pose well, and manages to look either non-threatening, or dynamic, depending on what you feel like pulling off.
In terms of gimmicks and accessories, I already mentioned his two swappable faces. What I didn’t mention was how easily you can pop them out and switch them, which is really appreciated when many other Third Party companies get this wrong (like most human beings, I don’t immediately have a screwdriver handy to remove a toy’s face, like so many companies think I do). Arkose also comes with a gun he holds pretty well, cast in a pale metallic green. It fits the attitude of the Generation 2 era, though it seems a bit off for the character himself. What feels right for him is the rest of his accessories, which specifically replicate moments from The Golden Lagoon. After Makestoys Maestro, AKA Masterpiece G2 Jazz removed a bunch of his show-based accessories because they weren’t toy-accurate, I rather like that they kept them with this guy.
Firstly, he’s got an alternate right hand, cast in solid gold, based on when he dipped it in Electrum, the liquid metal armor that served as the episode’s plot device. Popping his hand off at the wrist to swap it out was really hard the first time, but it gets easier as you go.
His second accessory is much more eclectic: Three tiny birds, all intricately detailed and painted, to replicate another specific scene. They come with clear plastic stands, and can peg into small holes on his arms and shoulders. It’s an incredibly neat little detail for them to have put so much work into.
Transformation
Arkose’s transformation is not difficult per se, but it feels like it shouldn’t be this complicated. Maybe I’m spoiled by the Power of the Primes toy, which only has a few steps, but looks good in both modes. At least his instructions are really easy to follow, and even include “before” and “after” photos for each step, something more transforming toys need to include.
The tricky bits mostly involve his legs, which have a whole sequence of folding panels that come out and unfurl in a very specific way for whatever reason. Also, the instructions tell you to do a bunch of complicated stuff to his roll cage, which pops off really easily, and honestly, it’s easier just to take it off and then put it back on when you’re done. Overall, it’s not difficult, just weirdly involved. I do appreciate that once everything’s in place, the whole vehicle mode pegs together securely, even if the roll cage still likes to come off.
Vehicle Mode
Beachcomber, and Arkose by extension, doesn’t really change into a dune buggy like most people think. Instead, it’s a military offroad vehicle, kind of a funny choice for a pacifist, but replicated faithfully here.
It’s less cartoonish and more realistic than I feel like an official Masterpiece would look, and feels a bit large compared to his MP companions, but it still looks great, and more importantly, still has those loud, lively G2 colors, including black wheels that pop with orange-painted rims.
In terms of stability, he holds together well, but suffers from the fact that his roll cage, which just pegs in, rather than being held down by glue or screws or anything, pops off really easily, though I think this was done to avoid breakage.
You also need to make sure everything on him is lined up correctly post transformation, otherwise he won’t be able to roll in vehicle mode due to undercarriage. Initially, I thought it was a design flaw, but it turns out a few things were just a few millimeters off.
For gimmicks, he’s got a pair of tiny seats inside of him that can fit Masterpiece-style mini-figures. In a neat detail, those seats have got tiny red cross logos on them, and a detailed interior around them. Finally, you can mount his gun on his passenger side cockpit, but it’s a difficult connection to keep stable, and pops out easily, when you’re not popping the roll cage out again.
Overall
I’m a sucker for a good Neo-G2 repaint, and this hooked me. These are some gorgeous 90s colors, and if that appeals to you like I do, you’ll immediately love it. Quality-wise, it’s also a pretty good rendition of the character, too, if a bit flawed. He’s got good build quality, and feels like a HasTak product, even if he’s got some issues. I wish his shoulder pads stayed attached, he’s got a weirdly complex transformation, and his vehicle mode’s got mild issues. Still, he’s got a wonderful robot mode, a nice set of characterful accessories, and gorgeous colors.
If you want the really specific niche thing that this represents (a G2 Masterpiece), then get it, as (from what I can tell) he’s the only one on the market, and is a pretty good figure. If you want a regular-colors version, it may be a good mold. However, there’s a Fanstoys one coming up, too, called Dunerider, so you may want to wait and compare the two, to see if that fixes the issues. But as a neo-G2 toy, he does exactly what I want.
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