The year 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Seibertron.com will look back at a quarter-century of great Transformers toys, bringing back into the limelight some brilliant figures that have fallen through the cracks over the years. Once a week, a fan (be it a member of the staff or a user on the site) will have the opportunity to write about one of their favourite "hidden gems" of the Transformers Universe, and have their review posted on the site's front page.
We hope this feature will be a great success, and that many of you will be encouraged to look back at the last 25 years of Transformers and perhaps take a worthwhile second-look at some real unsung classics of the Transformers universe.
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Buried Treasure - Downshift (Cybertron series - 2006)by
Chuckdawg1999Thinking back to the period of time before Cybertron hit I remember being quite anxious. Having been generally disappointed by the lackluster Energon line and accompanying cartoon I was starting to believe that perhaps the newer lines of Transformers were best left to those younger than I. Thankfully I was wrong and the first prototype shots of the new figures assured me that I was in store for something worthwhile. At the time I was co-writing the Cybertronian Enquirer with “Professor” Mike Kaye, he and I were on different sides of the debate of streamlined vs. boxy robot design. While he liked what he saw of Cybertron he wasn’t as excited as I was. As the line progressed Cybertron became my favorite line of the Unicron Trilogy while the good professor lamented the lack of articulation. I would constantly recommend figures to Mike saying this one or that one was quite good or had a great Cyber-key gimmick, but it took a exceptionally special figure to bring the professor and I to a common ground. That figure was
Downshift.
Downshift’s vehicle mode looks like it was taken directly from a 60’s Steve McQueen movie. I can picture in my mind some hard-nosed PI flying over a hill on the streets of San Francisco his muscle car wearing the scars of hard use. I was slightly disappointed that
Downshift’s bio revealed that he wasn’t some sort of Cybertronian PI. Sure we have Nightbeat but besides Jim Rockford we had Thomas Magnum so a second TF PI would’ve been ok with me. While green and black are the predominant colors for
Downshift, and look quite nice I must say, there is some silver used for his bumpers, grill, and engine. Smoked orange plastic is used for the windows and headlights. This car just looks cool.
Downshift comes with two spring-loaded rocket launchers that can be mounted on the figure in a few ways; in vehicle mode they can be pegged into each door giving the car an armored vehicle look. Imagine driving through rush hour traffic with those babies by your side. I would’ve liked it if Hasbro found a way to incorporate the launchers into the design of the car giving it a more streamlined look but that’s small potatoes and doesn’t hurt the figure at all.
Thinking back if there was one universal complaint about the Cybertron figures it was that sometimes the slots for the cyber-keys didn’t blend in as well as one would’ve liked into the vehicle or robot mode.
Downshift is one of if not the only figure where that isn’t a problem. There is a small hatch that when closed is flush with the rear window. Once the key is inserted Downshift’s front grill springs open becoming some sort of capture claw. In this mode Downshift begins to remind me of a MASK era vehicle.
Transformation is intuitive and a joy for your hands. In robot mode you’ll notice that like his Energon counterpart Downshift’s head is a nod to
G1 Wheeljack. Another nod to the old ‘jack is the ability to attach the rocket launchers onto
Downshift’s shoulders as well as being able to hold them as traditional guns. I prefer the one on, one off look as it gives him a real rugged badass look.
While the professor thought
Downshift was going to be another brick-fest Transformer even he was pleasantly surprised by Downshift’s extensive articulation. While I don’t look to be able to put my figures in various yoga poses I do enjoy the occasional run-and-gun stance.
When first released
Downshift was a touch under the radar due to his brief appearance in the cartoon which is a shame since I feel his character, with the proper development, could’ve been a significant part of the series. While I can’t comment on any other use of the mold I can tell you that Cybertron
Downshift is a solid investment and a great figure to fool around with. Grab him now before the Cybertron figures really shoot up in value. Thanks for reading.
Links:Visit the Downshift gallery
by clicking here...Or find your own buried treasures by visiting all the toy galleries
here!
Previous Buried Treasure Reviews:
Cannonball by Skowl
Snapdragon by Jeep
