The Energon Pub

Just got it this morning. I'll review as I play with it...

ROBOT MODE

Pretty big, like the other leader class toys. About the same size as Megatron, but more bulky. Detailing is great all over (although nowhere near as good as that custom we have recently seen on Ebay - there's only so much Hasbro can do for that price!). Gimmick are pretty cool : slide a lever forward on the right forearm to extend the cannons. On the left forearm, slide back the black plate to move the claws forward. Pushing down on the upper chest assembly will trigger lights and sounds (shoulder cannons + main cannon). The shoulder cannons light up green, the main cannon red. You hear a sequence of 3 different sounds (various cannon sounds) with lights flashing. Pretty cool. You can also activate the lights and sounds by pushing on the main cannon (it activates sounds #1, similar to the one found on Armada Megatron). Poseability is pretty good : head, shoulders (full range), upper arms, bicep swivel, elbows, poseable claws (all 3 fingers), hips, knee swivel, knees, feet and toes to some extent. Nice use of click joints too. Lower back leg kibble gets a bit in the way during extreme poses, but I don't think it's that bad. You get him to take very dynamic poses.

TRANSFORMATION

Holy crap, that wasn't easy! It requires a lot of manipulation to get from robot mode to tank mode. Automorph gimmick hides the head as push down the upper chest assembly. Arms cannons end up being stored in the lower legs through hinges and tracks and sides of the tank are spring loaded (as are the 2 cow catchers). The most difficult part was to fit the arms flush against the body to close the sides of the tank. Took a bit of massaging, but I guess it'll become easier after a few transformations. Moving the main cannon into place is also a challenge : you have to hold a spring-loaded panel on the side of the turret while you open a second one and move it over the main cannon while you swing it into place. Hard to explain, you'll see when you get it.

TANK MODE

Pretty much the size of G2 Megatron. Big and heavy! Turrets move independantly, main cannon moves up and down (at last!). You can activate the sounds and lights by pushing on the main cannon or by rotating the upper turret (the left side triggers a different side than the right). The tank rolls on 5 little wheels. There's even another twin cannon located on top of the 2nd turret. Brawl is armed to the teeth! Again, a lot of mechanical detailing all over. Too bad it gets a bit lost in the green. Also, the plastic feels a bit soft. Thick but soft.

Overall, it's an awesome figure and it has everything I'm looking for in a quality Transformer : size, complexity, electronics, gimmicks. DLX Brawl can burn in hell, Leader Brawl is immensely better. Is this the best movie figure? I don't think so, but it's quite close.

Overview of the features :

-lights (green for auxiliairy guns, red for main gun)
-sounds (3 different ones)
-automorph : head/chest, arm cannons, upper turret (minor)
-spring loaded cow catchers
-spring loaded tank tracks (front portion only)
-spring loaded turret panel

He sounds like a very nice figure.

Sweet. Can't wait to get mine! How tall is he compared to Prime and Megs? He looks a little shorter in the photos, but wider, more bulky...

Noooo....not my deluxe brawl!!!

Was he mail order, or found in a brick and mortar store?

I got it from toy-wave.com. They had it in stock for a few hours the other day.

Head to head, he's shorter than Megatron, but the threads and turret on the back make him taller overall.

megatroptimus wrote:I got it from toy-wave.com. They had it in stock for a few hours the other day.

Head to head, he's shorter than Megatron, but the threads and turret on the back make him taller overall.

Whew! That means I don't have to come up with all of that money right away. Glad for that. Gotta catch up on the Deluxes first, and that's a good $50.00 right there...

Nice review. I will be getting him and the Desert Camo repaint which I prefer colour wise. Still want a Leader Blackout though.

Thanks for sharing the review. I posted it in the news.

Also forgot to mention that the plastic parts that appeared to be white in previous photos are actually grey. Also, strangely, the back of the head is made of clear plastic but there is no light-up feature for the eyes, they're painted red.

If I get this guy, I'll have to repaint him into Tankor! It's great that the turret can aim up, but those light and sound gimmicks sound like they'll get annoying fast, not to mention the transparent plastic doesn't look so good...

You could still paint the clear parts black and leave the front unpainted so you still get the light effects. Or remove the batteries, if you get tired of the sounds.

megatroptimus wrote:Also forgot to mention that the plastic parts that appeared to be white in previous photos are actually grey. Also, strangely, the back of the head is made of clear plastic but there is no light-up feature for the eyes, they're painted red.

Odd, I would have thought the eyes would have been clear red so the clear back would have been to let light through-give that glowing appearance. Thanks for the report.

Anyone heard about the desert camo repaint release date?

cool Im picken him up!

megatroptimus wrote:You could still paint the clear parts black and leave the front unpainted so you still get the light effects. Or remove the batteries, if you get tired of the sounds.

I'll probably do that for the desert camo version. That blue's got to go...

Defintaely going to replace my dlx brawl with this one.

So that one doesn't have bad shoulders like the deluxe one, right? Overall sounds like a good figure, probably the only leader class fig I'm considering to buy, I generally like deluxes and voyagers more.

Added a few pictures....

Deluxe Brawl= 'Tracks' (B and L's scout)
Leader Brawl= 'Brawl'
Leader Re-paint= 'Landslide'



Fine aditions to my decepticon army

Ghaax wrote:So that one doesn't have bad shoulders like the deluxe one, right? Overall sounds like a good figure, probably the only leader class fig I'm considering to buy, I generally like deluxes and voyagers more.

No bad shoulders, it's a completely different design.

Just found out that there are 2 buttons on the top turret to activate sound #2 and sound #3. So either you push the buttons or you turn the turret left or right. Clever.

Also, the top upper turret can be slightly tilted up and down a few degrees.

Yet another feature uncovered : the grey parts on the lower legs can be pivoted down, they're shin blades! Feel like getting kicked in the stomach now?

pretty cool, good stuff.

I do wish that there was a option that you can mount the tank barrel on the arm like the deluxe version.

sounds alright. i still dont know if i should get it.