Pictorial Review: HftD Starscream's Assault Mudflap

Again, because I'm the one person in the world who actually bought him.

Part of the Wal-Mart exclusive Hunt for the Deceptions two-pack entitled "Starscream's Assault," Mudflap came packaged with a less impressive repaint of the ROTF voyager Starscream mold. This two-pack began appearing on Wal-Mart clearance shelves almost immediately after being released. Being a sucker for the abandoned, lost, or forgotten Transformers, I simply had to own this amusing repaint of the cursed and controversial Mudflap.

"I killed a fan at BotCon just to watch him die."

The ROTF deluxe class Mudflap mold is a bit infamous for being made out of 99% aneurism inducing panels. That last 1% is shellformer bits. The alt-mode is the Chevrolet concept Trax and it is compact, sleek, and boxy. The Trax isn't a great looking car, but it isn't terrible either. Gray areas at the front and back ends of the vehicle interrupt the aesthetic in a abrupt manner that isn't pleasing. There is also a bit of robot kibble visible at the front end.

Hit and Run Mudflap

The red paint apps, which suspiciously look like large splatters of blood from an unsuspected group of jaywalkers, are suppose to be remnants of Mudflap's rust-orange paint from the original deco. The sandblasted appearance suits the theme of the two-pack, but outside of that context he looks like he's murdered a large family, which is exactly why I had to own this version.  Hasbro did a lovely job of making sure the red paint apps are not uniform and the blast of white paint on the windshield makes him look like he is driving through a storm.

Revenge of the Illiterate

"You've got red on you."

The Doors - Open Up and Bleed

The gray areas of his alt-mode have some difficult to notice blue paint apps. This subtlety adds to the weathered appearance, but can go entirely unnoticed. They're even difficult for a camera to pick-up in any great detail.

Energon splatter?

On the backside of Mudflap there is an Autobot symbol and nothing else. I think a bit of the humor shown on Tuner Skids would have helped this redeco immensely, but I understand why they didn't go in that direction. 

"ILUVB0TS"

Robot mode is lovely, but the transformation is insanely frustrating. The figure is too heavily reliant on tabs. There is one loose tab in particular that holds the torso to the backpack and if it comes loose than a couple of transformation steps can be undone. This is a problem inherent to the mold and not a quality control issue.

Again, I'm a sucker for the robots that nobody knows about or that everyone hates without any real reason. Mudflap falls into the latter category. His deformed asymmetrical appearance just hits all the right spots for me. Like his brother, Skids, one of his hands is bigger than other, but Mudflap conceals a missile launcher instead of a punching gimmick. The missile he fires from his forearm is sculpted to look like smoke and can plug into the exhaust of his alt-mode. 

"Oversized missile launching hands at dawn! Or are you too yella?"

His arms also show off some welcome silver paint apps that reveal lovely mechanical detail sculpted into the mold. 

This is the arm he scoops ice cream with.

The color scheme isn't as varied as it should be. Mudflap is mostly one beige color with another slightly brighter beige. This seems to be a reoccurring problem for him. His brother has two deluxe figures with very vibrant colors while Mudflap has three figures that are either dull or too vibrant. The choice of beige as the dominant color would suggest that this Mudflap is meant to represent a sandblasted Tuner deco. His Autobot symbol is again questionably placed on his crotch just as it was on the original deco.

Patriot.

Mudflap's head sculpt is beautiful in it's detail. The paint apps on this deco are very well applied and the blue eyes helps break up the abundance of beige everywhere else on him.

Easy. Breezy. Beautiful. Covergirl.

Nothing has changed with this figure as it pertains to posability. He retains all of the issues inherent with the mold. Getting too creative with your poses can cause him to unravel as he is heavily reliant on a single loose tab to keep him in a coherent robot mode. He's also a bit top heavy because of his backpack.

Schools are giving our kids too much homework these days.

Pros:
The redeco looks like it came straight from a hit and run accident.
Wonderful asymmetrical look.
Improved head sculpt paint apps.
Superb molded detail.
Looks better than the original deco.

Cons:
Tabs. So. Many. Tabs.
Only comes in a store exclusive two-pack with a voyager class figure.
Robot kibble visible in alt-mode.
Transformation is an absolute chore.
Some transformation steps make you feel like you're going to snap the figure in half.
Color choices aren't superb. One beige color paired with another slightly different beige.
Backpack makes him top heavy.
MechAlive gimmick adds nothing.

Overall: 7 out of 10

This was an opportunity to do something humorous with the mold just as Hasbro did with Tuner Skids and while they may have accomplished that, it was unintentional. There is not enough offered here to change anyone's mind about the mold in a positive or negative way. This is just another repaint on the shelves, but if you have a twisted imagination, then you can make it a worthwhile purchase.