TRANSFORMERS: Revisiting The Characters Of Generation 2 - BREAKDOWN

 TRANSFORMERS:  Revisiting the Characters of Generation 2

    "Keep your optical sensors to yourself." - Breakdown, 1986.

DECEPTICON

Name - BREAKDOWN

Function - Scout

Series Debut - 1994, Generation 2

Sub-Group - Stunticon

BACKGROUND...

    The Stunticon, Breakdown, operates as a scout for the Decepticon Army.  Unfortunately, his self-conscious thoughts keep him distracted and not focused on his job.  He is convinced that everyone and everything is staring at him - from a casual person walking down the road, to the light-poles lining the streets.  The thought of constantly being watched bothers him.  In all fairness, there may be people staring at him with his eye-catching car mode!  Breakdown secretly wishes he were human so he could blend in better.

    Breakdown transforms into a turquoise and purple Lamborghini sportscar.  Like his Stunticon brothers, his car mode is outfitted with a protective force-field barrier.  This allows him to smash into trees, buildings, and even other vehicles and take minimal damage.  In car mode he also uses a Plasma-Energy Blaster.  His engine can create vibrations that can cause various mechanical problems with other vehicles.  These vibrations have a tendency to cause his fuel pump to leak.

    As a robot, he is armed with a Concussion Rifle that fires a beam that has a similar effect as his motor and causes mechanical failures.  When the battle gets tough, Breakdown can merge with the other Stunticons and form Menasor!

MY THOUGHTS...

    Hey!  Look at that curveball with the Generation 2 Breakdown!!  Looking back at the G2 series... I wasn't on-board with it.  Of course the figures were cool, they were based on the original G1 molds!  The colors were more zany, and that was okay.  I just didn't get why they were starting over with the same thing they had before just with different colors.  It wasn't the colors that got Generation 1 cancelled.  It didn't make sense!  So I skipped this line.

    If memory serves correctly, the Stunticons were ready to go when the whole G2 line was cancelled.  So they never saw the light of day - except Breakdown.  A handful of carded G2 Breakdowns were offered to Botcon attendees in 1994.  This figure became very desirable very fast!  

    I almost went to this convention, so I was quite frustrated I missed this great collectable!  So when the updated character became available with the Legacy series, I definitely wanted it!  G2 Breakdown is very unique among my collection.  The figure looks great and has nice articulation.  The only flaw with this figure is that he is a repaint of Wildrider thus he is not a Lamborghini.  I'm fine with the zany paint scheme, but I really feel the car mode should be accurate.

MY THOUGHTS...

    Hey!  Look at that curveball with the Generation 2 Breakdown!!  Looking back at the G2 series... I wasn't on-board with it.  Of course the figures were cool, they were based on the original G1 molds!  The colors were more zany, and that was okay.  I just didn't get why they were starting over with the same thing they had before just with different colors.  It wasn't the colors that got Generation 1 cancelled.  It didn't make sense!  So I skipped this line.

    If memory serves correctly, the Stunticons were ready to go when the whole G2 line was cancelled.  So they never saw the light of day - except Breakdown.  A handful of carded G2 Breakdowns were offered to Botcon attendees in 1994.  This figure became very desirable very fast!  

    I almost went to this convention, so I was quite frustrated I missed this great collectable!  So when the updated character became available with the Legacy series, I definitely wanted it!  G2 Breakdown is very unique among my collection.  The figure looks great and has nice articulation.  The only flaw with this figure is that he is a repaint of Wildrider thus he is not a Lamborghini.  I'm fine with the zany paint scheme, but I really feel the car mode should be accurate.

    What were your thoughts on G2 and the wild color schemes?  Did you like it or detest it?  Did you happen to score the actual 1994 Breakdown way back when?

    (Information on the character's lore was taken from the Sunbow Transformers cartoon series, including the Movie and the figure's original Tech-Spec.)