Nightstrike's Reviews: Legacy Evolution Crashbar

Oh boy, it's been too long since I've written one of these! Let's get things out of the way, shall we?

Hailing from the current Legacy: Evolution line within the Generations tag, Crashbar is a Deluxe Class figure with a few tricks up his sleeve. While Legacy had canned the gimmick as per Mark Maher's words, instead replacing the "Energon Monsters" with Skullgrin, Iguanus, and Bombburst, Legacy's second year, dubbed Evolution, would embrace the Weaponizer feature once more.

With Siege, we saw Cog, Sixgun, and Brunt in the mainline, as well as then Powerdashers and a Centurion Drone for exclusives as our Weaponizers, whose primary purpose was to serve as weapon loadouts.

By Earthrise, we got the full lineup of Micromaster Stations, (including a clever redeco pair) as well as Fasttrack, all split up among the mainline and exclusives as our Modulators, an expansion on the previous gimmick now with base-building compatibility.

Once Kingdom came around, we saw a further evolution of the gimmick. Inheriting the Weaponizer style was Slammer, while the new Fossilizers, skeletal prehistoric beasts, were composed of Paleotrex, Ractonite, Wingfinger, Dracodon, and Vertebreak. For exclusives, we received Skelivore, Transmutate, and Tricranius, as well as Black Roritchi.

Then we finally reach Legacy. While the Energon Monsters were dropped, the gimmick lived on via exclusive releases. Fossilizers Spindle and Masterdominus joined the Wreckers, while other exclusives included Exo-Suit, a nifty European double homage, and Red Cog, a Netflix-themed deco.

Fast forward to 2023, and Legacy's second year, Evolution, is marked by the return of that fun gimmick in the form of Junkions. Now no longer needing to be reassembled to transform, this assortment can mostly transform without the relocation of parts, save for the accessories. Additionally, most of these now fall under a more common visual theme, with the current exceptions of the Buzzworthy subline's Towline, and wave 3's Axlegrease. But we'll get to why they're all color-coordinated shortly!

Robot Mode

Crashbar, like many Weaponizers, does feel somewhat smaller in hand, but that feeling goes away when one compares his heft to that of a standard deluxe-- much of his assembly is more compact, perhaps due to the number of moving pieces throughout his build.

With his circus muscleman face, and his stout build, Brawn comes to mind, particularly when you consider the initial descriptor of his one-off character: strength.

In terms of accessories, he comes with two blasters, and two exhaust pipe clubs, as well as a wheel shield as is standard of most Junkions.

Vehicle Mode

A unique motorcycle amongst the more modern-looking styles of cycles in Legacy, Crashbar reminds me strongly of my first figure, 07 Tailpipe, in that it genuinely feels like every piece has a place to go, a purpose to serve. The exhaust pipes latch the arms in, and everything tabs together nicely, with the saddle bags holding the rear wheel in place, made out of the twin blasters.

Accessory Loadout

While Crashbar is a Weaponizer by nature, his loadout is a bit different, largely due to the intent of the design. For starters, he functions more like armor than weapons, unlike some of the prior incarnations of the gimmick. As such, his pieces are mostly aesthetic rather than function.

Additionally, when disassembling him, the torso block lacks a 5mm post, so you may have to use one of the exhaust pipes or saddle bags to integrate that piece. With that in mind, it still is a decent load-out, good for armoring up whoever you feel needs it.

Overall

Crashbar is a mixed bag, but not in a bad sense! His connections are pretty sturdy on my copy, with the exception of the tabs at the front being a very tight fit. Regardless, he's almost perfect with the only drawback being the torso chunk that gets left aside.

Final Rating: 4.5/5