From TFWiki, Springer :
Springer is the archetypical action hero : great in a fight, unselfconsciously brave, confident, and always ready with a dead-pan sarcastic quip to lighten the moment. Someone you can depend on to ride in, save the day and be smug about it.
Though his easy self-confidence is one of his most notable features, actually being responsible for others weighs heavily upon his otherwise jocular personality. Nonetheless, Springer ascended to lead the Wreckers. He has twice been named as Rodimus Prime's successor to take the Matrix of Leadership and lead the Autobots, though neither one actually came to pass.
Springer combines the thrusting power of his legs with his retro thrusters to move rapidly through the battlefield, leaping tall structures in a single bound. Although he is quite speedy, he is not faster than a speeding bullet.
I first caught a glimpse of the all new Voyager class Triple Changer Autobots Springer from pictures posted online by collectors who already have it in hand. First impression is that it is a very cool looking robot and I’m amazed Hasbro actually pulls out such a charmer. I thought it couldn’t be too difficult shelving out S$54.9 for a piece when it is available. Needless to say, it flies off the shelf as soon as it is put on. Only sometime later, I finally caught him on one. That awful bright yellow chest piece that shouted out “PLASTIC” in all angles turned me off immediately. Suddenly, it isn’t worth S$54.9 anymore. Drop the idea of buying it eventually.
Couple of months later on a casual stroll along a Toys R’Us aisle brought me face to face with a Springer again. This time, there are bucket loads of it on the shelves. Those who wanted one must have already got one. And then I realized the price is now marked down to S$39.9. I thought maybe I can do a yellow over paint on the chest piece and that could make Springer usable again. A couple more minutes of thoughts and one unit was promptly sent to the cashier… Ka CHING! Bought.
> Repaint on the chest piece (and sacrifice the Autobot Logo).
> Remove back piece, sand down the lemon gloss yellow and apply the same yellow paint on the chest piece.
> Add yellow paint details to “nuts” on the arms
> Add yellow to side hip “boxes”.
> Add yellow strip to knee-fins.
> Touch up with gloss green on forearm fins. The original coat was haphazard.
> Paint top portion of helmet with gloss green to simulate metal.
> Panel lined selective locations.
> Semi-gloss sealed the painted area/s.
All in all, 4 hrs spent over 2 weekdays night. Well spent? Well spent.
Springer looks refreshing and acceptable now. The additional detailing lifted Springer a grade up in my opinion. But now, it seems out of place with the rest of the TF crew I have. Springer will lined up well with a bunch of Gundams, with their sophisticate lines, or even the 3rd Party TF stuffs but seems odd with a group of blocky licensed Transformers. Get me rethinking of my TF collection’s path moving forward. I love the Masterpieces which are more G1 cartoon accurate. Nevertheless, Springer looks good on its own and together with its fellow wreckers, Sandstorm.
Score : 4/5
These are actually 2 things supposed to be discussed separately. But I want to put them together under 1 topic with 1 score. For once, the head was perched up in a longer neck ball joint and that gives a good range of head poseability. And with a wide head movement range, it gives very good “character” and “mood” to the figure while posing various position.
Both arms are on ball n socket joints but because of the big shoulder piece and the design of the torso (read : thick torso), there is only so much position the arms can be posed.
Waist can be rotated sideways and the crotches are on hinge joint forward, backward left (for left feet) and right (for right feet). Elbows and knees are on hinge. Wrists are rotatable and ankle are fixed.
Pretty darn good for articulations.
Poseability
Score : 3/5
With such splendid articulations, one might be forgiven to think that Springer can do anything and everything in this department. Quite the opposite…
Now the feet are design in such a way that both are angled when deployed. So that Springer can stand both legs slightly ajar but the feet will be flat on the surface. While it gives a good natural “macho” standing stance but that’s about all it can do.
It can’t do a running pose nor a kicking pose without the help of a support and with it looking quite unnatural on the feet portion. In real life, Springer would have almost certainly sprain the ankle doing those.
Therefore, Springer is limited to standing, crouching, sneaking and a few other pose that need both feet on the surface.
Sculpting & design
Score : 4/5
I’ve read quite a few reviews on this Springer and many seasoned TF collection proclaims that Voyager class Springer is one of the best mass produced TF ever, if not the best. It trumps Fansproject’s version. I tends to concur with their opinion (ie until Sandstorm comes around).
Springer is very proportional and is in an almost humanoid stature distribution ratio.
Details were crisp and clean other than the not so refine matching of 2 parts when assembled together – most notably the chest part. But that is within expectation of a mass release toy.
Design is good except for one functional “defect” (I called it defect) on the feet as discussed earlier.
Paintworks
Score : 3/5
Not much paintwork to talk about here. But when they do, you can see the half hearted work done on the arm fins. There is a feeling that the green paint was just apply on without much care for covering the whole fin to the edge. And there wasn’t much any other paintworks on the model except the gloss yellow on the back of which was pretty well done.
Accessories
Score : 2.5/5
Sword / Rotor is a fine accessory. Length is right and the shape is perfect. All except for the sword guard… to accommodate the rotor mounting (of the helicopter mode), the big green part is mounted in perpendicular to the blade edge instead of the usual parallel design. This made the sword looking awkward on the fist. Perhaps it is just me but the bright green just stood out like a sore thumb right above the blade edge.
Twin rocket blaster. The 2 rockets are designed to be fired one after another or in one swift push of the lever, you can fire both. However, one of the missile is stubborn enough to not eject fully let alone “flying” through the air. But I don’t really mind this functionality. However, the round headed missile looking kiddy and kill the launcher’s mean factor. It’s a children’s toys nevertheless I guess.
I’d prefer an old school BMFG without any functional firing mechanism but I’m left begging.
Size
Standing at about 6 inches, Springer is about right for a Voyager class bot’s size. And I belief because of it’s lanky stature, Springer gives the impression that it is taller than the others.
Score : 3.5/5
The good :
1. Humanoid proportionate design. Long legs and long arms almost made Springer looking sexy.
2. Head is perched on a longer neck post giving good range of head motion. It helps to depict mood and character during posing.
3. Additional paint work lifts the overall aesthetic of the robot to the next level. I’m contemplating do I want to add weathering.
The not so good :
1. With the wealth of articulation points, it is a shame that Springer can only make a few poses without external support.
2. Extremely poor choice of raw yellow plastic used for the center chest piece. It single handedly dissuade me to buy it first time round. The reduced price actually made me agree to pick it up eventually.
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