MakeToys Wrestle

The Beginning

MakeToys are on a roll recently. The seem to have captured the hearts and minds of Transformers fans with their RE:Master line of unofficial Transformers figures. Fans who are collecting Masterpiece figures are certainly being well served by this new line as it targets that scale of figure and provides characters that Takara Tomy and Hasbro will probably never get around to doing as they are seen as too niche or unpopular.

Their recently released Cupola and Gundog figures are being received especially well in the community so it is with high expectation that I order their online store exclusive version of the G1 character Grapple.

The Box

Not much to say other than it looks nice and in perfectly functional. The front shows the figure in both robot mode and vehicle mode.

MakeToys Wrestle

The back of the box shows more detail pictures of the figure as well as some of the additional faces that come with it.

MakeToys Wrestle

So without further ado, let's see what this figure looks like.

Robot Mode

Wrestle comes packaged in robot mode and is ready to pose out of the box. It feels a little light at first but you soon get used to the weight. Some figures do not lend themselves to play or posing but Wrestle seems like it wants to pose at every opportunity and the solid and wide feet make doing so rather easy.

MakeToys Wrestle

The figure comes with two hands which fold into the arms as part of the transformation. It also comes with Grapples' trademark missle which isn't spring loaded but instead attaches to a small protrusion on the rear of the hand once it is folded back.

Grapples' orange colour scheme is recreated faithfully here although you may notice a difference between the orange plastic and the painted orange die cast parts. They are not crazy different but there is a difference.

You may also notice the subtle nods to the G1 figure that they have included on Wrestle even though they have no function. For example, the black bar on the lower arm is the same as found on the G1 figure which was used to fire the spring loaded middle or fist from the arm.

Articulation

Wrestle features some amazing articulation for such a chunky figure.

The hands are on swivels and rotate at the wrist. Fingers are on a hinge and do not move individually whilst the thumb is separate and not articulated. Elbow's are double jointed and the shoulders rotate both forwards and outwards on ratcheted joints. The outwards ratchets on my copy are really quite tight, to the point where I thought I would break it trying to move it, so be careful when transforming it. There is a bicep swivel allowing the lower portion of the arm to rotate.

MakeToys Wrestle

The waist can swivel and the head is on a ball joint, which makes taking the head off to change the face straightforward. The legs are on ratchet joints at the hip providing forward and outward movement. Again, these ratchets are super tight so be careful. The legs can also rotate about the connection to the hip.

The knees are double jointed meaning you can get a good 90 degrees of movement. The feet and on ball joints and have ankle tilts for extreme A stance posing.

Assume the position

So all in all the figure is pretty posable. It doesn't look or feel like it is but once you get your head around the figure and how it moves, you will have it pulling great pose in no time. 

Run, fatboy, run

The Faces

Wrestle comes with a number of additional faces which can be swapped out by removing the head from the ball joint and sliding out the face to replace it with another one. The faces come on a sprue and require a little craftwork to remove. Alternatively you could just wiggle them until they come free, like I did. The eyes likewise come on a sprue and need some wiggle to remove.

Face off, then on, then off again?

So let's have a look at the faces individually.

Mr Worried

Mr Constipated

Mr Meh

Mr Shouty

Mr Weirdo

Mr Denture

They may not be the best face sculpts in the world but I like them and I like the fact that MakeToys went to the effort of providing them with the figure.

Vehicle Mode

When transforming the figure into vehicle mode you may find, like I did, that the included instructions are of absolutely no value whatsoever. They may as well be drawn in crayon for all the help they give you. If you are a seasoned Transformers fan and have some idea how these things work then you should be fine, if not then watch a video review or something because there are several place where things could go very wrong if you are not careful.

Things to watch out for are folding the crotch and legs up to form the underside of the crane. The crotch piece and waist section kind of collapse into themselves which is hard to explain and even harder to understand when reading the instructions but pay attention when you get to that part as it is tricky.

Also, the two flaps on the back of the torso are flappy and liable to be bent the wrong way accidentally if you are not careful.

Loose flaps

Finally when moving the shins into place at the back of the vehicle mode, keep an eye on them as they swing around a fair bit and are liable to get caught as you are moving parts around.

Once you have successfully completed the transformation, you can enjoy a rather sweet looking crane.

The End 

That's all folks.

In summary, Wrestle is a cracking figure that I can not only recommend but also demand that you get a copy and quickly. Being a MakeToys store exclusive may mean it has a much shorter shelf life than usual for third party figures, if that is possible, so don't delay if you want one.

The figure is not without problems, mainly tight joints and poor instructions, but these are not issues that should put you off of getting such a great figure. Go on, you know you want one. It'll look great with your Masterpiece Transformers.

I will certainly be picking up the Hellfire figure from MakeToys and would welcome other repaints if they decided to produce them.

Thanks for reading.