G1 Brawn card art

Bio:

To Brawn, Earth is essentially a hostile environment – and he loves it. Strong, rugged, agile – the most macho of all Autobots. Delights in challenges. Sorry for those not as tough as himself. Second strongest Autobot – can lift 190,000 pounds and knock down a small building with one punch. High resistance to artillery fire. Vulnerable to attack by electromagnetic waves.

Introduction:

Another mini-bot to add to the collection! Man I love these mini-bots. They’re so small, yet pack a serious punch. Never has that been more fitting than with Brawn: the second strongest Autobot! The character Brawn is known for being one of those little guys that doesn’t take crap from nobody and uses his strength to make up for his small stature; Brawn was literally meant to be the “muscle” of the Autobot team – Budiansky’s Transformers Bible. Being a guy who’s barely 5 feet 7 inches myself, I can definitely relate a little bit to Brawn. I mean, just read his awesome Tech Spec bio and you’ll understand Brawn’s personality – he was created as a BADASS! I was hoping the G1 Brawn figure would give me a good taste of that personality …

*** As a reminder, please click on the images to view their full size ***

Ready to roll out!

Alt Mode:

Brawn’s alt mode is a Toyota Land Cruiser altered slightly with some bells and whistles. Although Brawn lacks the rubber tires that some other mini-bots have, there are other very nice touches of detail to this mini-bot’s alt mode. My favorite feature about Brawn is the spare tire loaded on the roof of his vehicle. Just eye balling it, it seems to be the same size as Brawn’s rear tires; how much I wish you had the ability to detach the spare and replace one of the tires!

Another feature of interest is the gas tank on the backside. It’s got that classic off-road look to it with a big “X” right through the middle of the tank. Very small, but intricate details are added to Brawn’s alt mode that really makes this figure fun. Other details worth mentioning: the chromed grill, molded detail on the hood/engine block, and decent headlights/swamp lights on the hood and roof of Brawn. All and all, this mini-bot has all of the little things going for him in his alt mode.

Toyota Land Cruiser

Great details bring out the alt mode.

Robot Mode:

Brawn’s transformation to alt mode was the first G1 transformation I didn’t really enjoy. It’s very fidgety. I think my figure suffers a bit due to age (I can hear something squeaking inside there). Regardless, in true mini-bot fashion, a few flips of the legs and arms and you have the robot mode.

The first thing I took notice from Brawn’s robot mode is his stature. For a character who is associated with being small his toy sure is tall compared to other mini-bots. Brawn’s stubby t-Rex arms and disproportionally long legs are also hard to miss … how is he suppose to be so strong with those arms?!

Brawn’s robot mode in my opinion is the weaker of the two modes. Regardless, the color scheme and comic book style face do work in the figure’s favor. I really enjoy cartoon accuracy, but I also think comic book accuracy is just as cool and little bit more fun because it’s less known. Although I can never expect too much from G1 proportions, I can’t help but feel like Brawn’s proportions are just a little too off. In this case, Brawn’s alt mode is the better of the two, but I still think the comic book look of Brawn makes up for a lot of downfalls.

Proportions are a little off, but OK.

T-rex arms.

Comic book accurate face.

Evolution:

When independent group iGear released Hench, I knew a review of G1 Brawn was coming for The G1 Journey. I never actually considered iGear’s take on Brawn as “Classics” though. As you’ll see from the pictures below, Hench is literally the G1 figure with articulation – it’s a “Masterpiece-esque” figure for the Brawn character, minus the supreme quality of a Takara product though. My “Classics” Brawn is the Henkei Legends mold. Besides the God awful color choice of a crap looking green, it’s a simple update to the G1 figure, not an articulated duplicate. Regardless, Brawn’s figures make me want to research the character more. I hated his death in the G1 animated movie, so having updated figures of Brawn help me create new and very different versions of that iconic death scene …

Alt Mode Comparison:

The alt mode evolution.

iGear matches the G1 details almost stroke for stroke … all we need is some die-cast!

Incredible similarities.

Now with two gas tanks.

Almost looks like these two are the same figure.

Side by side: robot and alt mode.

Henkei Brawn is a much better “Classics” figure … it’s actually an update. Except for that green color …

Where’s the gas tank?

Robot Mode Comparison:

The Evolution: 2/3 comic book accurate.

Plus 1 point for iGear Hench: two heads for both cartoon and comic book accuracy.

Cartoon accurate.

Comic accurate.

Robot mode evolution.

A G1 toy is taller. Doesn’t happen often.

Overall: 7/10

Brawn is an average figure. I really dislike the fidgety transformation, but at the same time I love a lot of features about the figure as a whole. The alt mode is just packed with small details that you really have to look for in order to appreciate them all. The robot mode, although being the weaker of the two modes, is still good for its comic book appearance and for just being friggen Brawn. If you want a Classics version of this character, get the Legends figure. However, if you want some articulated G1 awesomeness and don’t mind cheapening the hobby a little bit … iGear Hench is the way to go.

7/10

Until next time, 

Matty (StayingInTheBox)