Now with 100% more sculpted detail.
Man, y’know what I like? Animated-original characters getting toys in other lines! You may remember that I was super in love with Revenge of the Fallen Lockdown and his Animated-inspired rivalry with live-action Ratchet. I also adore that Bulkhead is one of the main Autobots in Transformers: Prime. And, hey now, look, it’s Reveal the Shield Lugnut, everyone’s favorite five-eyed sycophant, in Generation 1 style!
Did you know that Lugnut was in the 1986 animated Transformers film? Well, he was. Sort of. According to the comic book that comes with the Rodimus/Cyclonus “Battle in Space” set, which retroactively places him at the Battle of Autobot City, anyway. That’s the kind of stuff I like, the new additions that are presented as if they’d been there all along.
So wide it was hard to fit into my lighting studio.
Frankly, after getting your hands on this guy, you’d be happy for him to be in every continuity possible. Out of the huge box of swag I got on Friday, I’d rank his toy as the winner in all respects. There’s just so much going on with him. Let’s work our way through them.
Where the sun don't shine.
First of all, I am super digging his alternate mode. It’s a giant war bomber. Folks tend to describe it as a “WWII bomber,” but I can’t really agree so long as he has jet engines instead of propellers. The second best thing about this mode is the amazing wingspan. Usually, Transformer plane wings are stubby so that they fit into the packaging in vehicle mode or a conservation of plastic mass is attained. But Lugnut gets around that by being packaged in robot mode and by having his wings transform into his arms. Often wings just get thrown onto the back of a robot mode as kibble, but Lugnut uses the wings to add to his robot mode mass. The FIRST best thing about his vehicle mode is the missile that launches out of the back of the tail, which calls back to those World War II-era bombers. You flip up the little gunpod at the very tip of the tail, and underneath is the missile launcher. In robot mode, this launcher can point over the shoulder. …Or up under the crotch, if you’re crude.
Go go Gadget arms!
How Lugnut gets massive arms out of his wings is inspiring. His hands transform out of the jet intakes(?) on the wings, the wingtips fold over onto the backs of the hands, and then the wings articulate like arms. Each hand has two articulated fingers and a thumb. (He can go grabby grabby.) It’s a feat of engineering we haven’t seen before. Animated Lugnut had a “Punch Of Kill Everything” attack where he’d punch the ground and create a massive crater, and this version of Lugnut tries to borrow that as well. Both of his fists have spring-loaded punch gimmicks. You could use this to make his wings even longer, but I don’t think it’s necessary, and it leaves a few gaps.
(Oh, and his mouth can open and close.)
Missiles and speakers and wrenches and axes and machine guns and grenade launchers and...
In my reviews for the past several toys, I’ve talked about the new, shared “C joint” gimmick, where toys come with clip-on weapons and a number of rungs for those weapons to attach. Well, Lugnut is the holy mother of this. He doesn’t come with any weapons, but he has rungs hidden all over his body that can accommodate 15 clip-ons. There’s one on the missile launcher. There’s four spread across his shoulder jet engines. There’s two on each of his shins. There’s two each more on the backs of his wrists, hidden under the wingtips. And there’s one more on both of his wingtips. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found even more later, but at that point I’d be put out, ‘cuz I’m out of weapons to attach to him. (I think the next time I get more is whenever Wheeljack comes out.)
To sum up, you have to get this guy. He’s an amazing toy that can do buttloads of stuff and he’s an appealing character with a memorable visual design. Any toy with giant articulated fingers is already going to be near the top of my list, but Lugnut gives me that and so much more. If you see him, snatch him up.
I second this – BUY THIS TOY.
Not just saying that because I’m a huge Lugnut fan.
I really really hope though that some third party makes a boatload of missile pods to attach to all those C-joint hardpoints though.
Not that it matters, but the plane is probably a reference to the A-10 Warthog, among the most awesome planes ever made.
Nah, I don’t believe so. The A-10 is one of the most-mimicked jet modes for Transformers toys, and they never look like this. http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Popular_Earth_vehicle_alternate_modes#A-10_Thunderbolt_II
If they were going for an A-10, I think it’d be way more obvious. Lugnut is the approximation of some other vehicle or vehicles.
Crap, you’re totally right. The engines would be in a different spot. It’s a really cool plane mode, tho.
Seems to be more like the Provider jet conversion from Die Hard 2, only outfitted as a gunship ala the AC-130 “Spectre”.
The plane I’m talking about:
http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/f3a15d4ea12bd12ca85b7cd5ad72c9573fb280b.jpg
http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/871353264203ab4528cedf392a9bbc5bc24e1c6.jpg
Hmm… I don’t see his missile launcher so I’m gonna guess you don’t have hunt for the Decepticon Tomahawk?
Get him! He’s awesome! And I,m not saying that just because I love copter Transformers the same way you love orange ones, he really is cool…plus is head remind me of Leader-1.
Anyway Lugnuts looks pretty awesome… I got a raise (and more headache inducing responsability) recently so I mght indulge more in the future… I’ll keep an eye out for that guy.
He is awesome. I’m just waiting for him to show up as a character/deco I want.
I’d probably buy him again :p best helicopter ever. Heck I’m considering getting an extra one to mess around with his paint… its just that black plastic is a pain to paint.
You missed a few clip points. : P
Care to point them out? That would be helpful.
Aside from the turrets on the cockpit (I believe they work with the clip system), there’s also one in each of his biceps. But i’m pretty sure you have to transform his arms to wing mode to use them.
He’s got more of a 50s aesthetic to him, somehow. Like a proto-B-52. And I’d call his hand-bits JATO units.
Want. Oh, so much. Him, Kup, Wreck Gar…
While Lugnut showing up in the movie is a neat idea, it opens a major plothole: do you really think he’s going to let Starscream throw his Glorious Leader out into space?
Obviously, Lugnut became Cyclonus!
I think you just doubled the size of the armada!
Actually, that could be awesome. Its not Soundwave that picks up Megatron, it’s Lugnut. And then Soundwave is the one who disables Lugnut on board Astrotrain, leaving the way clear for Starscream to have Megatron thrown out of the airlock.
I NEED this toy. For he is GLOOOOOOORIOUS!
They should just combine Lugnut and Blackout and be done with it. The designs are similar, the characters are basically both G1 Soundwave (fanatically loyal to Megatron), and the robot modes even look similar, with the split fuselage mounted over the shoulders.
Also, Lugnut would be awesome as a Helicopter.
G1 Soundwave was loyal to Megatron, but he wasn’t “fanatical”. A fanatical follower wouldn’t have stood by while Starscream threw Megs into space (as pointed out earlier up).
Cartoon G1 was loyal, but didn’t seem overly eager to stick his neck out. And comic Soundwave was loyal to whoever was in charge, while also being careful to not stand out too much while still putting himself in a position to take over if the opportunity arose. Neither of those personalities is anything like Lugnut, who is more like BW Inferno without the psychotic edge.
Just as a pointless update, Lugnut has *nineteen* C-clip points, though six of them are a little problematic to access in robot mode. (You have to flip down the wingtips on the backs of his hands, and flip up the flaps on his upper arms)