RID 2015 Springload

Prelude: There are Transformers that convert into frogs. Not many, but they exist. And still we have never had a Transformers X Muppet Show collab. Why is that? Anyway, one of the aforementioned amphibians appeared in the 2015 Robots in Disguise series under the name Springload. So let’s hop to it and say go!

Alternate Mode: While I usually start with the robot mode in most of my reviews, I’ll break tradition here and start with the car mode. Now in the cartoon Springload transformed into a green pickup truck, so you’d expect this toy to be a green pickup truck, right? Yeah, no, it’s not. It’s a kind of low-riding muscle car with big wheels. It’s green, though, so I guess that must suffice.

Now there is nothing wrong with this car apart from it not really resembling the car mode from the cartoon. You can sort of see the frog mode’s red eyes peeking out from the hood, but otherwise there is no trace of the other mode to be seen unless you look at the bottom. The wheels turn, the car rolls, and the detailing is actually pretty good for a 1-Step Changer. So no complaints here apart from the lack of resemblance to the cartoon car.

Robot Mode: Like most of the Decepticons from the RID 2015 series, Springload has an animal-themed robot mode. The animal in question being a frog. Now I’d like to mention that, in this mode, Springload does somewhat resemble the character from the cartoon, but only in the sense that he is green and frog-like. Now one could argue that the cartoon design was never meant to be a toy, but that argument is defeated by the Legion-Class Springload toy, who manages to almost perfectly resemble the cartoon character. But we’re talking about the 1-Step Changer today.

In order to transform the car into frog mode, one needs only to pull apart the rear fenders of the car, which triggers the auto-transformation and causes the car’s hood and front wheels to flip back, revealing the frog head and freeing the front legs. The front legs dangle if you lift up the toy, but they look pretty good if the frog is on a solid surface. The frog as such looks … well, frog-like, but in a monstrous Pokemon-kind of way, I’d say.

Articulation is pretty much nonexistent. The legs do move, but only in terms of flipping in and out for the transformation. The frog’s mouth can close, but that causes the car hood to flip forward again. Not even a hint of the long tongue Springload used as a weapon the cartoon. A strip of red paint inside the mouth would have been a start, at least, but no game.

So bottom line for the robot mode: yeah, it’s kind of a robotic frog, sure. Apart from that, though? Not much to see here.

Remarks: Springload was one of the many prisoners who escaped the Autobot prison ship Alchemor after it crashed on Earth. Technically a Decepticon, he was imprisoned because he trashed several museums in his frantic search for the mythical city of Doradus (no relation to El Dorado, I’m sure). He was quite powerful with his poison tongue and acidic skin, but his single-minded focus on his search vastly reduced his threat level.

If you want a good toy representing this fun cartoon character, I fully recommend getting the Legion Class figure. The 1-Step Changer is fun as far as 1-Step Changers go, but doesn’t really resemble the character much and offers very little play value apart from the novelty of a robotic frog that transforms into a car, nothing else. 

Rating: D+