Transformers Power of the Primes Deluxe Class Punch/ Counterpunch: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but as a Transformer... why is it not being used more often?

Time for another delve into the late G1 reimaginings of old characters that even a lot of die-hard fans don't really care about. It's safe to say that at the tail end of G1, Hasbro was trying to make anything it could stick in order to keep the attention of its fanbase. Headmasters, Targetmasters, a six-changer, more cassettes, gimmick, after gimmick, after gimmick, each with what could be seen as less effort than the last. "What do we do with these characters?" "Give them two Targetmasters!" "These Pretenders aren't working well, what do we do?" "Make a combiner out of them!" (I think Monstructer was a Pretender combiner... or was it one of the Micromaster combiners...). Regardless, one of the ideas to come out of it was a double spy, a Transformer that has two robot modes, an Autobot one, and a Decepticon one. Though he had a minor appearance in the G1 cartoon, Punch (the Autobot mode) and Counterpunch (the Decepticon mode) have faded away into obscurity, left to wander around life, sustained only by exclusives when a mould can handle two robot modes, which as you can imagine, didn't happen often. Come 2018, and Hasbro decided to make a brand new mould for him, and releasing him as one of three limited edition toys that represent the three parts of the Prime Wars Trilogy, with the other two being a western, stand-alone release of Takara's Blast Off, and a retooling of Titans Return Twinferno (originally known as Doublecross, though I'll admit the new name is cooler) as the third and final Monsterbot, Repugnus. How well does it hold up though?

Unlike normal, I'll quickly go over the accessories because most of them are forced in. He comes with a small pistol, which unlike a lot of Transformers guns, has internal weapon storage, so you don't need to store it by shoving it into the port on the roof, keeping the car mode looking nice. You can, however, use that port for the Prime Armour that he comes with, but that he doesn't exactly need. Like with all the general retail release Power of the Primes Deluxes, Punch/ Counterpunch comes with a chunk of plastic that can become a combined mode hand, works exactly the same way as all the others, and is even the same mould as the one that comes with Jazz. The problem though is that there's no combined mode for him. He's the only Power of the Primes Deluxe Class figure that's not able to form the arm or the leg of a combiner. Why does he come with this? Because he does come with a Prime Master as well. He, Space Shuttle Blast Off and Repugnus come with special versions of three of the Prime Masters. Blast Off with Megatronus, Repugnus with Solus Prime (both of which you can find regular versions of in the line, and Punch/ Counterpunch with Prima Prime, the only one of the three not to have a general release. There is another way to get it though, and that's through the also limited edition Throne of the Primes (which is designed to better fit in with the general release Prime Masters). With the exception of the colours being reversed, and the blue plastic being replaced by light piping, she's the same as any other Prime Master and the one that comes with Throne of the Primes.

On to the main events car mode, and it's a nice looking car mode. The premium price point has allowed P/CP (the name was getting really annoying to write out) to get many premium features like extra paint, and even clear windscreen windows (that show Counterpunch is going to have a fake hood for the chest plate, might have been nice to go for a tint job). The car mode actually reminds me a lot of a Bugatti (but that might be because of that Lego Technic set). The only nitpick I really have with it is that it would have been nice if there was a way to hide the Autobot logo in car mode, especially since you need to fold the Decepticon panel down to help make the car hood fit into place. To those who are collecting Siege figures, the car mode still scales well with the Autobot cars, only a little longer then Prowl, though certainly taller than him. Still, though, he'll fit in with a current line Auto car squad reasonably well. Onward to the robot modes.

The thing about P/CP is that all you really need to do to flip between his two robot modes is move some panels, move some car chunks, turn him around and lift a helmet up, he's really easy to move between the two forms as a result. As Punch though, he comes off as rather boring. The orange helps break up the blue, but there aren't a lot of stand out parts about him detail wise to make him interesting. The head feels very generic for an Autobot, his arms (in both modes) look extremely lanky due to the transformation, with the car kibble needing to stay on his shoulders for the sake of the double spy gimmick. A minor quality control issue mine has are the two tabs needed to put the car chunks into place for Punch are a bit too big, so stress marks have formed around the slots. Thankfully the armatures the chunks are on are strong enough to hold them in place. Proportions continue to be the problem for both robot modes in the legs as well, with the shins being gigantic when compared to the thighs. They're also extremely hollow for the sake of the transformation, with no mechanism built in to try and hide the holes. When configured for Counterpunch, while the bombardment of blue is it's biggest problem, Counterpunch feels more unique when compared to other carformers. The chest is a standard roof chest, but the new position of the shoulder car chunks and the new head. There's also more detail now on the shins, they look more like robot feet now compared to Punch's, which is just the back of the car. Articulation is slightly better in Counterpunch mode due to the position of the shoulder pads, but the elbows and knees bend both ways to allow both modes the same articulation.

Though I don't have a working knowledge of all the original bios for the Generation 1 Transformers, P/CP's one is one I do recall the bio for. he's basically Transformers' Dr Jekyll, and I can't help but wonder why no one makes use of that? It fits a different role compared to one of the more recent characters with alliance changing abilities, Unicron Trilogy Sideways. Hopefully this guy sparks some interest in him in media because this toy, while flawed, is a good representation of him, and a nice update to the original toy (from what I've seen. Seriously, you think I have the money for a complete G1 P/CP or a complete G1 version of any character aside from odd Micromasters?). Next week I'm jumping back to Siege for a dual review of Sideswipe and Red Alert.