Stealth & Burning Lockdown

Originally posted at slangards.i.ph on 05/12/09

There are some characters in cartoons that are iconic and only get released once a line. In the usual scheme of things, Optimus Prime is one of those. Once you’ve made an Optimus figure, you’re pretty much done. You can add battle damage, or paint him white, or on the rare occation, maybe paint him white and call him Ultra Magnus, but for the most part, toy manufacturers don’t get a whole lot of re-use from him

Then there are some characters in cartoons that just beg to have extra figures made of them. Take Snake Eyes from GI Joe. He is just one of those characters that Hasbro loves. They don’t have to hire some writer to create a whole ‘nother backstory for some character. They just have to take the old one and slap it on the back of a card. They don’t even need to hire anyone to re-design the toy. They can take the original color, and just paint on a camoflage design and just like that, they’ve filled another spot in the next case assortment.



Lockdown seems to be one of those characters for the Transformers Animated line. He’s a new character (to me anyway - I’ve got no idea if they had a “Lockdown” in the Cybertron/Robots in Disguise era), but he’s already got three iterations. I don’t really mind since the figure is a Deluxe Class figure that is relatively (I said RELATIVELY) inexpensive and has alot of playability. It’s got good posebility, a mean look, stature among the other toys in the line, and some nice accessories.
The first repaint was the “Stealth” Lockdown.

The figure is essentially the same as the original release, it’s just cast from translucent plastic this time around. To lay it out for you plain and simple, if you’ve already got the first one and you’re not a big fan of re-paints, don’t get this one. There really is no change from the plain and simple Lockdown.
That being said, the reason I went ahead and bought these two re-colors is because like the Transformers Classic Mirage, Lockdown is one of those toys that is just genius.

As you can see, he’s the same muscle car as the first release, just translucent. The plastic isn’t as clear as you see it on the prototype in the product pictures on the back of the box, but backlit by sunlight, it looks awesome. Without the light, it’s looks more like crystal than a see-thorugh ghost.

The “Burning” version isn’t really that much different in vehicle form than the first Lockdown. Instead of the green highlights, it has gold flames painted on the hood. The Electro-magnetic whachamacallit is also a more bronzed color, rather than the blah gray of the original. A little thing really, but he looks a hell of a lot more bad ass.

In robot mode, it’s more of the same. Whatever the first one has, these also have. You get the EM doohickey, you get the weird hands that don’t go all the way out, you get the almost the height of a Deluxe Class figure, and you get the hook. Well, on the Burning version, you get a chainsaw, which is welcome. It doesn’t flip out like the hook does so you need to be careful not to lose it. It also doesn’t fold away when he’s in vehicle mode, you need to take it off. Well, it’s something new.

I really like the Stealth version of Lockdown when in robot mode. While he doesn’t really look like he’s transparent enough to pass through security (which when you think about it would be a total waste of money - why buy a toy you can’t see?), he does take the fun factor to a whole new level. They gimick wins over the silly chainsaw.

The Burning Lockdown figure comes in the plain TFA blistercard pack, but Stealthy comes in a “Value-added” pack with two Legends class figures. I don’t know how much value is actually added, since a Deluxe is p700, and a Legends is p300. That makes the set worth p1300, which is about what it retails for. Go figure.

If you want the two Legends figures, I would recommend them. They’re a nice bonus with some good articulation, interesting transforming schemes, and alot of playability. I keep ‘em on my desk at work all the time since they really are fun to roll around. They’re also available separately, or in a 3-pack with a Legends Prowl, but he doesn’t really look that great compared to these two.

So bottom line? No, neither the Stealth nor the Burning Lockdown are worth the price if you already have the original and aren’t a fan of either the character or the new colors. p700 (or p1200 for the boxset) is a lot to pay for a character you already have. However, right now, TFA deluxe toys are marked down to p400, which is a steal if you ask me.

If I had to choose just 1 version, I’d pick the Burning Lockdown. The black and gold just screams I’m-gonna-catch-you-and-turn-you-in-for-a-hella-lotta-money.