Breacher

Autobot Breacher makes his debut in the Hunt for the Decepticons toy line (i.e. not named after a character from a previous toy line or TV series). No information is available on him except for on the back of his packaging card:

“Teamed up with his friend SEA SPRAY, BREACHER comes crashing out of the surf to deliver a nasty shock to CRANKSTART. The DECEPTICON was foolish enough to think he could hide on a remote strand on the east African shore, but BREACHER is just as comfortable at sea as he is on land.”

Breacher’s included Coordinate Code number will unlock one game on the Hunt for the Decepticons website.

Vehicle Mode

Breacher’s vehicle mode is a generic amphibious-use military Armored Personnel Carrier. (The toy, however, should not be placed in water!)

The six ABS wheels turn, while the turret and cannon barrels both freely turn separately.

Robot Mode

Despite being on a ball joint, Breacher’s head is very resistant to turning, but will pop off easily! (Maybe it’s just mine?) Also, even though the waist is capable of turning side-to-side, because of the transformation it does not turn in a natural way, which makes it off-center and thus impractical.

The double-barrel rifle is not gripped in the hands by a handle, but rather is clipped onto a small bar on top of the knuckles. Additionally, it can be stored on his back in a similar manner.

This whole Coordinate Code-thing is a call back to what they did in 2006 with “Transformers: Cybertron” and their Planet Keys gimmick, which also had you inputting unique codes into a website to gain access to character-specific information (back-stories, concept art, color design, etc.), but with HftD, you only have four cheap Flash games!? How boring… I’d like to see more of that character-specific behind-the-scenes stuff again in the future, which I found engaging as a collector the first time around.

Because this toy comes from the Bayformers universe, like it or not, it’s gonna be chalked full of gutsy surface & mold detail. This applies in both vehicle and robot modes. ‘Nuff said. Having a turret that turns is always nice, but having barrels that pitch up-and-down as well? That’s always a treat! It is a bit of a hassle realigning those arm panels just as the vehicle mode is nearly complete, because they don’t twist the way you want them to, and the fists get in the way too.

The biggest impression here is that the rifle doesn’t get held on to in the regular fashion, but rather clips on, which I found satisfying. Kinda kills me the waist couldn’t turn properly, though. What was awesome was how the turret got integrated directly into the waist rather than sitting like good kibble on the back or chest like other ‘bots have in the past. Very nice touch there. The color scheme rocks too, in my opinion, even if it’s not proper military camouflage. Perhaps a repaint of this design will appear in the future? My only disappointments are that the arm kibble and knee guards don’t snap into position better (which makes it difficult to grip them when posing).

Though difficult to hold on to at times with my big adult hands and a slightly challenging transformation, Scout-class Autobot Breacher totally makes up for it in appearance and features. Highly recommended!
The website thing, though, is not worth anyone’s time, including to kids. For as crap-tacular as the line’s name is, I expected something more. What a disappointment.