Autobots

Railspike

Robot Mode Vehicle Mode Packaging Head Shot Motto: "Most kind of you to surrender."

STRENGTH
INTELLIGENCE
SPEED
ENDURANCE
RANK
COURAGE
FIREBLAST
SKILL

RAILSPIKE is the leader of the Bullet Train team. He is courteous, polite, and intelligent - but don't let his gentlemanly manners fool you into thinking he's not cut out for battle. He can lock, load and fire the rocket launchers on his shoulders like any true warrior. To bring down the enemy, he uses a sonic umbrella that emits ultrasonic waves as it rotates.
Toy Condition: Loose, Complete, Mint Condition, With flattened box.
Instructions: Currently Unavailable
Tech Spec Image: From My Collection
Toy Review:
Color Scheme:
In both robot and bullet train modes he is about half blue and half white. He has a big Autobot logo on one side, which is red, and his cockpit/cab window is transparent green, as is part of his weapon.
Robot Mode:
Sporting some of the biggest shoulder pads since Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia, Railspike also boasts a fairly robust chest. His relatively small arms don't help much, succeeding only in making the shoulder pads look bigger. To be fair, though, his legs are also badly proportioned. ;-) He is second only to Midnight Express in sheer dorkiness. If he weren't a bullet train, and a member of a combiner team, I'd probably leave him on the store shelf. Yech.
Vehicle Mode:
A bullet train! Ok, so there are two others on the team, but I love trains, particularly light rail designs like these. If I have one complaint it's that to be sold in the USA, Hasbro had to make his weapon's gun barrel longer, making it too long to fit in it's special storage place in vehicle mode without sticking way out. If a millimeter were shaved off the tip of it, the weapon unit would be able to fit flush against the back of the train, which would look immensely better. They also turned what were clear plastic windows on the Japanese versions of this toy to opaque plastic... cheapos.
Transformation:
Not too hard or tricky. The front end is split and manipulated into position, as is the back end, to become his arms and legs respectively. A little fiddling with the cab section to properly stay on his chest, rotate the head to face the right way, and he's done. I'm happy with the complexity of the transformation.
Gimmicks:
He has free rolling wheels that let him glide a ways on any smooth flat surface, which is cool. His weapon has a red LED that lights up fairly brightly when you press the small button on its side, which is supposed to illuminate the barrel of the weapon.
Pros/Cons:
Dorky robot mode, but he IS a bullet train, and he DOES combine with other team members to form a larger robot, so dorkiness can be forgiven.
Notes:
Merges with other Bullet Train Team members to form Rail Racer.

Visitor Reviews

Added by: darren mcdonald on July 11, 2002
Rated it:
Comments: i just bought this transformer today. i like his train mode and the robot mode isn't too bad either. i took me awhile to understand how to get him into robot mode though.sometimes the legs will come off if played with too hard but will easily snap back on. all in all,a good addition to my collection.i must get others to form Railracer sometime.

Added by: Austin on May 26, 2002
Rated it:
Comments: Railspike is the main reason why Rail Racer does not look as good as the show.

Added by: Xeokym on March 09, 2002
Rated it:
Comments: I don't think Railspike is quite as "dorky" as you make him out to be. He's not THAT bad. I mean, there have been worse-looking robots in the TF line, look at the old space shuttle/train guy, his robot mode was just as dorky if not more. Bad shoulder guards or not, he's still in proportion. P.S. I clipped the end of the gun off so it fit correctly against the back. >:0(

Added by: Bitstream on January 24, 2002
Rated it:
Comments: Just a note regarding the change to opaque plastic: With the entire thing done in transparent material, it allll had to be painted. Which means paint-op problems are 10 times more pronounced. So it's more of a lateral move than a cheap-out, in my opinion.

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