Fansproject Down Force (Not Decepticon Stunticon Dragstrip) Review

As a fan of the 3rd party company Fansproject and their toys, several of their custom robots have ound their way into my collection.  When I saw that they were going to attempt a gestalt, I was giddy.  Yes, I said giddy.  The perfect combiner team was being formed in my imagination.  To say my expectations were high would be minimizing the master gestalt of my mind, so let's check out and see if this action figure met those grand expectations.

Down Force is an updated version of the Transformers Decepticon Dragstrip.  Most believe he is based off IDW's updated version of Menasor and his Stunticon team.

Vehicle Mode

Down Force is an off yellow race car.  The vehicle is a different stule of race car from his G1 predecessor.  Still close enough to visually make the connection, yet different.  As my wife told me the other day, "Hi Papi estaves moo rapi dough."  This speed demon, like me, is sleek and fast baby!  Well, it would be if the figure tabbed together correctly that is.  Downforce unfortunately suffers from  huge gap on his hood due to no product testing I guess.  Not everything can be perfect like me.  His panels do not snap together like they should which creates visually unappealing gaps, so I guess his hood has plumber's crack, and we all know crack kills.  This misalignment makes the car seem as if it would break apart while driving down the race track, which I was told by a professional wouldn't be a good thing. The car still rolls OK.  It went 1/3 the distance of my living room before stopping, so while the vehicle mode is visually appealing, the car over all suffers from this panel error, which is sad considering the price they charge for this figure.

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"Hey!  Close that gap in your hood!  

Are you TRYING to destroy your car?!?

Don't  you know Crack Kills!!!"

I'm Sexy and You Know It!

Hey Crack Kills!!

Someone stole my tire well panel!! Why!?!?

 Yes, G1 purists, the double front tires are clearly missing from this updated version.  Now I get it, change is good.  I just wish the tire wells would at least look complete.  There is an upgrade kit that will come out soon to fix this issue and add that extra wheel.  The fact that we need to pay extra to get the "right look" is pretty weak but hey, at least it's being attempted.  Heck it makes one wonder if Fansproject did this on purpose to make some extra cash on the back end.  One bit of warning; there are complaints that the clear blue cockpit tends to break in half or crack so be careful.

ROBOT Mode

Visually I can see the attempt to make this robotic figure look like its G1 counterpart.  It's similar, yet different.  The shoulder tidbits on this guy are odd and flimsy feeling.  I don't know if it's my sausage fingers or my Herculean strength but the shoulder bits felt like I was going to break them.  Hercules!  Hercules!

Hercules!! Hercules!!

Fansproject likes to give their products enough joints to make them great action figures to play with and pose.  This guy falls into that category easily.  The feet on this guy are a little small and flimsy though, so that hinders it a bit.  They feel like an afterthought honestly

 "Yes, we are done with another great figure!"

 "Uhhhh, Bob, where are his feet?"

"What?!?  DAMN IT!!!"

 The huge shoulder pads also hinder his arm articulation.

Crikey I'm missing the inside of my arm!!

Hey Fool you didn't say a thing about my gun. 

Yes I know it looks like a banana. Stop Laughing!! 

Me Want Banana Gun Too!!

Overall

Downforce is the typical expected figure from Fansproject. Nothing too spectacular or special mind you , just a good overall figure.  Let's be honest, that's a good thing.  A $65 deluxe-ish figure that makes you wish you had paid $35 instead but still overall, I'm happy with it.  Now I do have to say that the designer of this figure may have not actually played with the figure because if they had, they would have noticed the hood. My bro Dave has the same issue on the rear fender of his TF4 Crosshairs, and that's a figure from Hasbro so it happens, but honestly I can deal with that issue on a $15 figure. I would hate it but I can deal with it.  On a $65 figure it's not cool at all.  Maybe it's time to do some actual product testing instead of just sending samples to biased reviewers who will just toot Fansproject's horn with praise in the hopes of getting free toys.  Sometimes a little honesty on a product will lead to a good thing, just saying.  The add-on set is a good idea.  Usually I don't buy overpriced add-on parts but on this set I think I will spend the cash.  Now can I recommend this figure?  Yeah, if you can get it cheaper than retail, which might just happen because a lot of online retailers seem to have their stock of these guys just sitting there, which says a lot.