Transformers Review: PE-11 Scouting Force a.k.a. G1 Reflector

Intro:

            Back in G1-era, one of the most difficult to get Transformers figures was undoubtedly Reflector. Unlike many other Transformers figures, Reflector wasn’t sold on the shelves; rather he was a mail-only product, where you would have to collect enough points by purchasing other Transformers figures, and cash in those points for good ol’ Reflector. So yeah, the classic original G1 Reflector is one of the most sought-after and difficult to get figures out there. Hence, it really does fetch quite a high price now. In order to get hold of a Reflector figure, price is obviously an issue, and so is the availability. There are not many people out there who have Reflector in the first place, and there are even fewer people out there who want to sell their very-own Reflectors. 

            Reflector was not a major character back in the 80’s, but did get himself involved in several story arcs, and that did not really dampen his popularity amongst the fans. The name itself has been dormant for 27-years, and hasn’t had any reincarnations or any related-figure releases from Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. Now however, for many fan-boys such as yours truly, our prayers have finally been answered by a Third-party company called PerfectEffect, who have decided to release the set called Scouting Force X, which clearly has the G1 Reflector set in mind. So, having somewhat achieved one of my Holy Grails in Transformers collecting, let us continue with the review and see whether it was worth the wait...

Robot Mode:

            This time around, we are going to do things a bit differently here, instead of reviewing the alternate mode first, we shall review the robot modes instead, as they do come packed that way, and also for smooth review sequences. There are obviously 3 robot modes here, each are named Edge, Shield and Bullet. 

 

 

            However, to honest with you, I would prefer to call them by their original names respectively: Viewfinder, Spyglass and Spectro. Two things I wanna mention first before we begin with the review, are that the three robots are basically similar in designs, except for Edge who has the camera lens on the chest, and also the set comes pack with a lot of accessories (and I do mean a lot), but all of ‘em are perfectly stored and used in both robot and alternate modes. 

The Beatles v2011

Edge (Viewfinder):

Since all three figures are basically the same, I will review the articulations only once. By the way, Edge is differentiated from the rest based on the green marking on his wrists. The head rotates 360°. It also rest on a flap that would allow an upward/downward motions. The shoulders, elbows, hips and knees are all on ball-joints, so yeah, they really provide a hell-lot of posing actions. There are no wrists movements, but they do have ankles articulations, which is just amazing. I am tremendously impressed with how they managed to include so many wonderful articulations into such small figures. If you are wondering how small they are – they are each 2.5-inches tall – which makes all the more impressive. Also, it is worth to note that each of these guys also has a dagger holster behind the hips where you can mount their personal daggers on.

            In robot mode, Edge also wields a pair of blasters as weapons. He also has a pair of arm-guard and shoulder pads.

Bullet (Spectro):

            In robot mode, Bullet has a huge backpack that also doubles-up as a jet pack. You may also angle the jets up to your preferred positions. Bullet also wields a huge Gatling gun – a huge play-value there.

Shield (Spyglass):

            In robot mode, Shield wields, well, a shield, and resembles an anti-riot officer. I have no why a Decepticon would want to an anti-riot officer, since usually they are the one who would start a riot in the first place. Shield has a pair of shoulder pads, formed from his camera-flash, and also wields a sniper-ish gun. My only problem with this mould would the handle of the shield, which detaches itself at the slightest of pressure.

Bonus Mode:

Super Sentai Cannon Mode

            The Bonus Modes are literally the various ways you can used the cannons as, either as a Super Sentai-ish Super Blaster or a humongous bazooka. Either way, they really do look good. 

Bazooka Mode

Alternate Mode:

            With excellent robot modes, we are further treated with a fantastic alternate mode – a camera. And the transformations sequences, the journey that we will take to get there, is a heckuva fun!!! 

 

 

            Anyways, once the transformation sequence is completed, you will eventually end up with one amazing alternate mode. Sure enough, the camera mode looks realistic, albeit a bit too small. I just wished that they could’ve made the robots into at least Legends-class size, and maybe, the camera mode could’ve been life-sized. The camera mode is very detailed, complete with tripod, flash and even focusing lens. It is virtually kibble-free, except for one of the robot’s head sticking out like a sore thumb on your right-hand side of the camera. Of course, you can also pass it as a trigger for the camera. 

 

 

            The colors really do complement one another, and I think the white-black-purple combo is really nice. There is also the word SFX written on top of the camera. I also like the idea of how all accessories would fit into various compartments for storage in order to avoid losing them, and that itself is a very cool concept/ idea. 

            There are no other gimmicks in this mode, but really, the uniqueness of the alternate mode is already enough to compensate for anything else.

Who's taking Who's Photo Now?

Overall:

            This is one heckuva figure, and I honestly felt that PerfectEffect have really outdone themselves by designing this awesome set. This would probably the closest thing we will ever get to a Reflector figure. For those of us who do not have the original Reflector figure, this is indeed a very good replacement piece.

Extremely recommended.

            Final verdict: 10/10.