Me and Masterpiece Transformers sort of split ways some time ago. The last MP figure I bought and reviewed here was Ratchet and that was way back in 2018. And you’d have to go back two years before that for previous one, Ironhide. It’s crazy because I love each and every one of the MPs I own, but somewhere between the rising prices of the line and Hasbro getting much better at their own engineering, I just stopped buying them. I’m pretty sure it was Inferno clocking in at $150 that was the breaking point. I still love the look of that figure, but then Hasbro didn’t do too bad with their Kingdom release of Inferno and in the end I just couldn’t justify the cost. But fast forward to last week when a certain retailer was running a sale on MP Trailbreaker and I decided to get back on that cyber-horse one more time.

The packaging hasn’t changed much in the eight years since I’ve been away. Trailbreaker comes in a fully enclosed box that fits right in with all the other releases. The box is deceptively small, considering how big a figure this is, but that’s because he comes packaged in his vehicle mode and the transformation features some clever mass-shifting fakery. Like the past releases in the line, Trailbreaker’s alt mode is fully licensed, in this case from Toyota, and comes in a clear plastic tray with his accessories and a folded instruction sheet. Let’s start with the auto mode!

Trailbreaker’s auto mode is a Toyota N30 Hilux Pick-Up Truck with a camper-style cap on the bed, something that I did not know when I was a kid. I actually always thought he was a Suburban or something, but what do you want from me, I was just a dumb kid. It’s a nicely detailed little vehicle done in an all black body with a patch of colored diagonal strokes above the rear tires. You get a beautiful chromed out grill and wheels, plastic tires with sculpted treads, translucent red tail lights and translucent orange signal lights front and back. And I really dig having the Toyota brand sculpted across the tailgate. There are the unavoidable seams running through the body and I think Takara did a better job hiding these on some of the other Autobots. But, I will note that these pictures are after transforming him back into his truck mode, so some of mine may not have closed up quite as well as they did straight out of the box, as it was my first time.

You actually get two options for the front grill and bumper: The stock chromed one and the a matte gray version, which I assume is meant to look more like the cartoon. For me, it just looks out of place and it’s a shame to take off that beautiful chrome, so I won’t be getting any use out of the second grill and bumper.

The hood does open, showing off the engine compartment with some detailed components in there. It’s pretty impressive and reminds me of the Alternator toys.

And you also get an optional radar dish to clip onto the top. The dish is chrome and I could totally see myself displaying this on the vehicle most of the time. All in all, I think this is a great looking vehicle mode with some cool surprises and options. Getting the toy into this alt mode felt pretty intuitive, but it’s that very last step of getting everything packed in just right that felt a little trickier than normal for me, leaving a few gaps in the seams. I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.

And here are a few shots of the vehicle mode alongside Ironhide and Smokescreen. Overall, I think he scales pretty well and they look great parked side by side. Now, let’s move on to his robot mode…

I like to live on the edge and try to transform these guys without instructions, even on the first try. Sometimes it works and sometimes it ends in frustration. With Trailbreaker, it worked out pretty well. There was nothing here that felt all that scary or overly complicated and the resulting robot is pretty damn great, but worthy of a few nitpicks to call out as we go. Trailbreaker is a delightfully tall boy who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ironhide and Ratchet, but most of that height comes from his long legs, as his body is more or less the truck shell folded in half. You get the windshield making up his chest and the hood pointing down to form his lower torso. Meanwhile on the back, the canopy from the truck gives him a clean, squared off backpack. Yes, you can actually trim it down a bit more than I have it in the picture, but I kind of prefer the added bulk. Trailbreaker’s lower half proportions are kind of wonky with his pelvic region and legs looking a tad under-developed for that boxy bod, but it still works for me. Meanwhile, the deco is mostly black and gray, but the addition of the red knees and Autobot insignia do help to spice things up, as does the kisses of chrome on his shoulder mounted cannon and radar scanner as well as the blaster on his left arm.

So, the biggest nitpick I have here is in his sides, which are more than a tad unfinished and allow you peek in and see how the cyber sausage is made. Plus, if you line up your peek just right, you can see through to the other side. It’s not exactly cartoon accurate and makes that part of him look a bit unpolished. You need only look at MP Ironhide and Ratchet to see how much better the sides were handled on those figures. The engineering there is quite elegant the way the plates mesh to fill up the sides, and Trailbreaker here certainly lacks that. I can see the argument that it’s unacceptable for what is called a “Masterpiece” Transformer, but I just can’t get too upset about it.

You get three face plates to choose from, each of which is basically just the front half of the head that detaches. The faces include a neutral expression, a happy expression, and a shouty face. I find the sculpt around the mouth to be a bit soft on all three, but compensation comes in the visor, which has a gorgeous reflective blue paint that emulates light piping when under the right lights. Both the shoulder cannon and radar scanner are part of the transformation, rather than separate add-on pieces. Both look good, but I would have liked the scanner to be bigger, even if it meant adding it on after the fact. I will note here that I like the light frosted finish on the windshield that obscures the junk behind it.

The articulation here is right in line with what we saw on Ironhide and Ratchet. The joints are smooth and strong and the legs have no problems supporting his weight, even in wide stances. I love the range of motion you get in the lateral ankle rockers, which give him a stable platform, and his overall balance is excellent. On the downside, I would have liked it if the head could look up a bit more.

You get three options for his right arm attachments. You can go with the standard blaster, a fist, or a forcefield generator as seen in the original More Than Meets The Eye miniseries. The standard blaster has a gray plastic midsection which allows the barrel to compact itself for transformation. Getting it to lock into the extended mode can be a bit tricky and if it’s not locked in it can flop a bit. The hands are articulated at the base of the thumbs and index fingers, with the final three fingers hinged as one piece. I love having these options, but I will likely use the regular blaster as my default display.

And finally, you get a blast effect that works with either of the left arm attachments, as well as the shoulder cannon. Heck, you can even plug it into the radar scanner if you want to turn that into a weapon. This piece if cast in translucent yellow plastic and pegs into the hole on the attachments. I think it looks best on the regular blaster attachment, as the forcefield projector should really have three beams coming out of it.

It was a real treat coming back to a Masterpiece figure after all this time and with Trailbreaker on sale for $100 down from $150, it seemed like a great opportunity to pull that trigger. There are definitely some areas of improvement to be had here, and I won’t deny he feels like a step down from the Autobot Vans, especially considering how much more expensive he is, but I can still find plenty to love here and I’m happy to have him in my MP Autobot lineup. He definitely made me want to start collecting this line again, but with the prices still being what they are, I will likely wait for another sale before adding any more. Both Grapple and Inferno never sold out at any of the regular places I shop online, and they’ve been around for a long time, so maybe I’ll get lucky in that respect. To be honest, the only figure that I wish I had picked up when he was available was Hound, but I got scared away from him with many of the QC issues that were being reported.