I’ve always thought Tracks was a very underrated character. Despite getting a couple of spotlight episodes in season 2 of the Generation One cartoon, he’s never really done a lot otherwise. Has never been a stand-out in any of the comics and, with the exception of a cameo in Animated, has never cropped up in any other Transformer universes. Very odd considering how interesting he is; a vain, posh speaking narcissist yet still a warrior who took has taken on the likes of Megatron and Starscream. Add to that he had a very sexy alt-mode that could also become a flying car! His toy was my absolute favorite out of the 84/85 cars and I still love it to this day.
Tracks being underrated has been reflected in the amount of figures he has gotten over the years – maybe because it’s hard to get more uses out of a figure that has a flying-automobile mode. We haven’t had a Generations version since Reveal the Shield many, many years ago so he was well overdue.
Well Tracks has finally gotten another figure, in the Kingdom toyline, so let’s look at Deluxe Tracks.
Robot Mode
Probably the most show accurate Tracks figure we have had outside of the Masterpiece version. He looks good with his signature red face & white helmet, backpack guns and slim form. He certainly looks an improvement over the RTS version, though comparing the two you can see how much Hasbro has shrunken the Deluxe Class over the last decade. He has decent articulation and overall is a good representation of the character.
Vehicle Mode
Very nice looking, though getting everything to stay tabbed together can be very irritating. I would have liked to see some yellow in his hood flame rather than simply red like the cartoon. He lacks that certain sexiness that the G1 and Masterpiece toys have and the flashiness of the RTS toy. His weapons can be mounted on the back or the sides of the vehicle.
Flying Car Mode
Here is where the toy stands out – looks really good! The little tailfins that pop up are a nice addition, though it would have been good to have them and the guns slightly different shades of white so they don’t blend together so much. Cerainly better than the awful RTS version and even the MP version to my mind, coming in 2nd only to the original G1 toy itself.
Transformation
What a friggin pain in the arse this is! There have been QC issues reported with his legs and it is very evident here. Whilst you can transform him without making the necessary fixes, its very annoying to do and takes all the fun out of the conversion process.
Worth Getting?
This is a good rendition of Tracks, but it is not a stand out. As yet, for me at any rate, they have not made a Tracks toy that is able to pull off all 3 modes as well as the original. Whilst some of his modes are better than others, the whole toy is pulled down by the fiddly and annoying transformation sequence. Recommended only if you are not happy with your current Tracks figures.
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