Transformers One Mans Obsession: Igear Bushwacker not Hasbro Transformers Outback review

The other day I got a surprise box in the mail and I have to say thanks to my brother from another mother Dave U. The following review figure was one of the surprises:

Up for review today is Igear's Bushwacker. Bushwacker is Igear's rendition of Hasbro's Autobot Outback. As a collector I was interested in these when I first saw them. Their price and upsized scale compared to their Huffer remake Rager kept stopping me from pulling the trigger on them. I must say I was very lucky that my bud decided to get them for me. Next time I see you fist bump bro I promise. Lets check this robot out shall we.

Vehicle Mode

Bushwacker is an off whitish and my wife says "Sand" colored Land Rover. This is a change from his G1 transformers character which inspired this remake. Outback was more of a khaki and brown figure.

Look Mom that car has a BIG Gun on him!!

SLAPPP What did I tell you about lying Bobby!

Now when I removed the figure out of his clamshell I had a slight issue.

I lost me wheel!!

Yep his tire decided to stay in the clam shell. Stubborn tires are always a pain. When I told my bro about the issue he stated that his tire did the exact same thing but to the opposite side of the vehicle on his toy. Don't know if this was an issue with all these figures but it does raise red flags.

I bet Optimus Prime never has to deal with stuff like this!

So after a failed attempt to get the vendor to replace the part I had to screw the tire into place. This in turn kinda sorta affected the rolling ability of the vehicle. But hey the other 3 wheels roll great.This little hero can spin in a circle so there is that. But in all seriousness it would probably be wise not to handle the wheels on this bot too much. The culprit I believe was a pin that wasn't pushed all the way in to support the whole tire and well cheap plastic. As for the rest of the vehicle it looks pretty good except for the empty area in the back and giant sized fuel tanks that only Hulk Hogan can lift. Well maybe the Undertaker and the Rock can lift them as well.

One More X and Kids couldn't look at me!

Robot Mode

Now this is where the figure really stands out. This Decepticon buster looks pretty darn good. The aesthetics really fit the character. He looks humanoid in nature and not like a Michael Bay bionicle movie character. Now mine did have a few issues like a scratched/ cracked face.

Yah Broke my Freaking Visor! Ya Idjit!!

But at least the face can be turned around so that I can see his "toy" version face

Don't talk to me Criminal !!

Now a few bits of advice here. When transforming this guy make sure you lift his doors first and be careful with his legs. The legs tend to pop off and the plastic is a bit cheap and tends to form stress marks pretty dang fast. Also a lot of the times I felt like grabbing one of the wheels for support while transforming him and well we all saw the tire issue above. So don't do it. Don't you do it! Ok now on to the figure:

Freeze Starscream! You stiletto heeled freak!

Say Hello to my Broken Gun!!

Most of his joints are ball joints so you can get some pretty good poses out of this guy. But while ball joints have their good points they also have the bad. The ball joints are already becoming loose. Which is odd considering I have transformed him only twice. His back pack also tends to get in the way for a lot of poses.

I've fallen and I can't get up!

Will someone please turn me to the side!!

Weapon

Bushwacker does come with a weapon that is similar to his G1 counterpart. BUT.... like the figure it also has issues. Mine keeps wanting to split open. I may try to superglue it closed later.

And at first it didn't fit into the slots made for the weapon to go on. I had to shave bit off the handle as can be seen here:

Overall

I have to say I like Igears attempt. All be it a failed attempt but an attempt none the less. This collectible would have been awesome if it wasn't for all it's issues and their decision to use lower quality plastic. The weak plastic and stress marks out of the package is inexcusable. The broken tire right out of the box and splitting weapon is something you expect from a cheap Ko not a $40 figure. At that price point I shouldn't have to be super gluing, reattaching or shaving anything off the figure. The company's decision to cheapen out and not have any quality control on this action figure really hurt this robot. Although it is labeled a toy this Cybertronian is not built to be played with. Like all eye candy it's pretty to look at but not much substance underneath. So if you can find them on sale sure pick them up. Full price? Uhhh no, Easy pass unfortunately.