Geek Review: KRE-O Microchangers Combiners Bruticus

I picked the KRE-O Bruticus on a whim one evening and despite having no prior knowledge on what to expect, I’m amazed how much value is packed into this small package.

I’ve always wanted a Transformer combiner since young but they were just too expensive back in the day and even more so now. I guess the KRE-O range is an awesome compromise that is of very high quality and comes in a very affordable price tag ($20 if you live in Singapore).

So, let’s put Bruticus together already!

Opening up the box, you get all the figures separated individually in their own bags and the fifth bag contains additional parts to combine them all together.

Unlike the classic version of Bruticus, the KRE-O version only has four robots – Vortex, Swindle, Onslaught and Brawl. Blast Off, who forms the right hand of the classic Bruticus, is omitted. Brawl takes on the section instead in the KRE-O version.

Here we have the leader, Onslaught, in vehicle and robot form. Nothing really much to shout about but as I started putting the figures together, I realized that in each mode, none of the forms made full use of every piece. There will always be a few bits left behind. To illustrate, the robot mode of Onslaught uses two wheels while his alternate mode ultilizes six. Keep those pieces close together!

Next up we have Brawl who is easily my favourite in this lot. Perhaps it has to do with the large cannon strapped to his back.

If you notice the picture above, that stray black portion would be attached to the feet of Brawl in vehicle mode.

Swindle has the most articulate expression of all the Combations.

And finally rounding it all up would be Vortex. His propeller spins! But his vehicle mode is the weakest transformation of them all. Basically, it is just of him lying face down.

Now, this is where the fun starts – putting them all together to form Bruticus!

Using the additional parts provided in the fifth bag, the Combaticons will all use the sum of each of their individual parts and tack it all together. From the full colour manual, you would build Bruticus starting with the legs comprising of Swindle and Brawl.

The chest section would be a combination of Onslaught and Vortex, with their legs forming the arms of Bruticus.

Here we are the final form with all the leftovers just begging for the owner to lose them.

Time to kick some Autobot butt!

As this was my first KRE-O Transformer ever, I had no idea that the figure would be so articulate. Being able to place the figure in a variety of poses would be no problem as the figure is able to swivel at the waist, shoulders, elbows, hip and knees.

Would I recommend this to anyone who loves Transformers? Most definitely! I will probably be heading out to pick up Devastator and Superion to complete the series.