Monday, August 24, 2015

GoBots vs. Transformers Match #2: Treads vs. Warpath

Time for another GoBots vs. Transformer match-up. Two bots enter, only one leaves under its own power. Today's battle: the Renegade Treads versus the Autobot Warpath...

Round 1: Both of these bots turn into tanks and what kid doesn't love a tank? I'm not sure what model tanks are represented (and can't be bothered to look) so I can't speak as to the accuracy of the sculpts. Both have solid plastic treads with little plastic wheels underneath. Treads sticks to the expected with his green color scheme albeit with garish yellow stickers (that red lightning triangle thing is the Renegade GoBot logo in case you were wondering). Warpath, on the other hand, is representing the Autobots by rolling out in red. Like Treads, Warpath also declares his allegiance with a sticker but of the rubsign variety. I've never seen a real tank that was red so I'm arbitrarily declaring Warpath to be the less realistic of the two. I could take a second to Google and look for red tanks but then I'd have to know why they were painted red and that could lead to one of those never-ending Wikipedia binges that I just don't want to get into right now so... In terms of color scheme, Treads is the more realistic.
Round 1 goes to: Treads
Round 2: The turret of each of the tanks is free to rotate 180 degrees (and I'm just now realizing there is no degree symbol on my iPad keyboard). This is a nice feature that you'd expect from a toy tank but don't always get (for example, Transformers movie Legends-Class Brawl) so I'm glad for it. However, if this were a ground war, Warpath would NOT want to take the high ground. Unlike Obi-Wan, Warpath would not have the advantage. Warpath's gun barrel is fixed while Treads can raise and lower the barrel of his gun. This adds some extra playability to Treads.
Round 2 goes to: Treads
Round 3: While Treads has the advantage weapon-wise in tank mode, he loses it when he transforms as his glorious turret ends up on his back. While this looks nice, it renders it much less useful. Warpath's turret retains its functionality in robot mode because his torso IS the turret. He could just as easily shoot you in the chest as shake your hand (actually, probably easier, but we'll get to that in a moment). There's no doubt that this guy turns into a tank as the business end of said tank is still very apparent and quite literally in your face (assuming you're a touch shorter than he is). Have gun - will travel. Have gun torso - will travel with everyone being very polite to you.
Round 3 goes to: Warpath
Round 4: Let's say Warpath loves cookies. Let's say he just adores energon-chip cookies baked by his beloved grandmabot. Let's say there's a whole jar of fresh-baked, energon-chip cookies on a shelf in front of him. Well... Warpath ain't gettin' a cookie. Why? Look at his arms. They're practically useless. They can't reach beyond his gun torso. He could swivel his entire gun torso around and then blindly grope for the cookie jar, but only if his feet, which stick out just as far as his arms, don't then get in the way. Meanwhile, Treads comes in and grabs the whole jar because his arms are much longer and have a MUCH better range of movement. At least Warpath can easily blast someone or something in his cookieless frustration with that sweet gun torso of his.
Round 4 goes to: Treads
Round 5: Chrome and die-cast metal, two things the small GoBots did very well. Treads has a Destro-esque chromed head and feels very substantial in your hand due to his die-cast metal parts. Warpath lacks both chrome and any real metal parts (assembly screws don't count). Though I'm not sure I want to point out these shortcoming to Warpath while he's in a cookieless funk...
Round 5 goes to: Treads
Round 6: Speaking of Treads' head, it's sad. It's a very sad looking head for someone capable of grabbing all the cookie jars he could ever want. He's got a "it's a robot head just because it's chromed" sad blocky head that completely lacks personality. And it doesn't say "evil robot" at all. Warpath has a much cooler, much more robot-y looking head. It would even work for an "evil robot." It's a much more impressive than Treads'. Interestingly, both figures can hide their heads away in bot mode. While this makes Treads look silly and cowardly, it turns Warpath's gun torso into a GUN HEAD. Which reminds me of the Renegade Super GoBot Destroyer who also has sad little "I can't get any cookies" arms (although they are still longer and better articulated than Warpath's arms). Anyway, cool head and GUN HEAD.
Round 6 goes to: Warpath
Round 7: Two-in-one leg syndrome is an issue with many transforming robot toys. Many figures take a shortcut and give us essentially one leg with some gaps here and there and/or some sculpted lines that say: "There are two legs here. Really, there are. Just don't look too close. Seriously, look away. There's nothing to see here but two legs. Why are you still looking?" Both Treads and Warpath suffer from the two-in-one syndrome, though Warpath fares a bit better in terms of perceived separation. Both also have similar giant vehicle-chunk unifeet.
Round 7 goes to: Draw/Tie

While Warpath has put on a good show, especially for what I consider to be the weakest of the Autobot mini "cars", I'm calling this match of GoBots vs. Transformers over...

WINNER: Treads

SCORE: GoBots: 2; Transformers: 0

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