Vault Review: Transformers
Reveal the Shield Lugnut

After countless weeks of continuous searching at my local ToysRUs, Target, and Wal-Marts, I finally found my Reveal the Shield Lugnut at TJ Maxx.  Not that I mind, since he was considerably cheaper than first-run retail.  I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long to get this fantastic figure.

My first exposure to Lugnut was in the Transformers Animated Series toyline.  I hadn’t seen the episode yet, but this behemoth of a figure really stood out to me in the toy aisle.  I was incredibly tempted to pick him up at the time, but I hadn’t really started buying Transformers again.  So for once I put my impulse urges to the side and went on my way.  All those urges came back in full when I saw that they were making a brand new Lugnut figure in the Reveal the Shield line.

Something I really love about this figure is how he looks like an updated version of a G1 toy without any of the Bayformer influences that tend to pop up these days.  I actually really like some Bayformer designs, like Lockdown.  But when it comes to a character like Lugnut, I definitely don’t want to see any of those spindly design elements.

Lugnut’s robot form is pure bulk.  He’s not the tallest Voyager Class figure, but his beefed up chest and arms are so enormous and heavy looking that you get the feeling he’s definitely the bouncer at Club Decepticon.  He’s got this extremely simple yet effective cyclopean head, which reminds me a bit of an EVA design from Evangelion in the mouth area.  Plus there’s some super light-piping going on, which illuminates his main eye, those side dots on his head, and even his mouth.  That translucent red piping also extends to his canopy in plane mode.

Even in vehicle mode Lugnut takes up a huge amount of space with his long body and massive wingspan.  I’m one of those Transformers collectors who focus more on a character’s robot mode, but I’m definitely a sucker for historical vehicle modes.  Instead of basing him off of a modern military transport plane, Lugnut’s vehicle design was loosely based on a B-17 Flying Fortress.  This was a fantastic choice by the developers.  It only makes me sad that there aren’t more WW1 and WW2 buddies for him to hang out with on my shelf.

For such a bulky figure, Lugnut has some really extensive articulation.  His head is on a ball joint, with a hinged mouth.  His shoulder engines are clicking swivels that attach to the arm with a swivel/hinge joint.  This allows him to move his arms up/down, forward/backward, and rotate.  His elbows and thumb are hinges, while his gigantic fingers are double hinged.  He’s got a swivel waist and thighs.  His knees are double hinged.  Lastly, his feet are a ball joint attached to the leg with a hinge, and his toes are also on hinges.  In vehicle mode, Lugnut also has two guns mounted on the sides of his cockpit which also swivel.  Continue to page 2…

36 thoughts on “Vault Review: Transformers
Reveal the Shield Lugnut

  1. In my hunt for PCC Grimstone I keep running into this guy (at TJ Maxx), but I skip him. He looks cool, especially his plane mode, but I’m trying to focus on G1 characters, as narrow-minded as that sounds. Although the price makes him quite the bargain!

  2. I’m the same way, 3B. But seeing Tomahawk at Ross was sure tempting. I love that matte black finish, and he’s a cool looking robot.

  3. Outstanding review, even better than the usual excellent fare. I never thought of Lugnut as a breakdancer, but now I can’t get the image out of my head. “PREPARE TO BE SERVED, AUTOBOTS! I WILL NOW POP, LOCK, AND BUST THE FRESHEST FOR THE GLORY OF MEGATRON!!!” Now, thanks to your reviews, I’ve got in my collection a body-popping Decepticon fanatic and a slimy green Evil Horde party-fiend who’s constantly going “WAZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAP?!!”

    As excellent as this toy is (and the Japanese dark blue-green & purple repaint is pretty slick, too), I wish they’d made him Leader Class scale, with an electronic P.O.K.E. sound effect, and in his TransFormers Animated colour scheme. That would be a big heaping bowl of awesome with bitchin’ sauce.

    I dunno about anyone else, but I find the head/chest/tail/nosecone transformation stage sticks and jams every so often, which is a bit disconcerting on such a cool item with what seems to be some delicate parts involved. Also, his missile launcher seems a bit hair-trigger. Still, when it all works, it’s a great toy!

    1. Lol. I really do like the Japanese colors also. A Leader Class version would definitely be epic.

      My transformation sticks sometimes, but I think it’s because I don’t do it in the correct order most of the time.

  4. This toy is about the best bang for your $10 out there. I love the geeky era crossover factor! He’s an Animated character in a movie spin-off line with a G1 style. Awesome.

    I also really love the non-traditional WWII style plane mode. I think my favorite part is the transformation where the wings become the arms. Decepticons have had countless airplanes since day one and this it’s unusual to see the wings end up anywhere besides hanging off of the robot’s back.

    1. It’s really odd that there aren’t more Transformers with wing arms. But at least it makes Lugnut stand out with his huge reach.

  5. If you need Lugnut to have a friend or rival i’d suggest Reveal the Shield Highbrow, who is based on the WWII P-38 Lightning. He’s pretty sweet.

      1. I’ve been trying to find a Highbrow for a few months now. I saw him at the store once, but didn’t have the money and never saw him again. Sad day. I’ll probably have to hit up ebay.

  6. OH wow its rare to see a robot mode transformer that doesnt look totally stupid its baout time they started making good looking transformers again!

  7. There was a time when I hunted like mad for Lugnut, checking every Ross store I came across. When I found him a few weeks ago for $10…I passed him up. A buddy of mine bought him as soon as I put him back on the shelf, but he hasn’t opened him yet; he’s waiting for me to change my mind and buy it off him, but so far it hasn’t happened.

    He looks great and I love the articulation, but it was one of those “want it until you find it” cases.

    1. I don’t think you’ll regret it if you do end up getting him. He’s pretty fun.

  8. Nice review. Glad you like him.

    Lugnut is quite possibly one of the greatest characters to come out of Transformers Animated. He’s a great figure with both a fun and interesting transformation. I remember being surprised amount of articulation once I got him out of cage (packaging). The alt mode is solid and well done. I hope they continue to use WWII vehicles as well. Who else would be interested in a WWII tank-former?

    1. Thanks Mose. He’d definitely fun to play with. And his transformation is a bit complicated, but not so much that it’s frustrating, which I like. Also, yes please to more WWII!

  9. The big Lug here is one of my favorite Transformer purchases in the past year – I panicked and bought him for full price off EE when the RTS distribution started to falter, and honestly don’t regret that I did. People getting him now for $10 are getting an enormous favor.

    I think cyclopean gorilla is a good description (good one, Vault), but he also gives of a steampunk powerhouse sort of vibe. The point is, that there are very few Transformers that look like him – which owes back to how cool the Animated design that inspired him was. And if that wasn’t enough, his articulation is so effective that he’s highly expressive as well as being aesthetically striking.

    If anyone had ANY urge to pick him up, do it now. At $10 bucks, it’s more worth it than a lot of other toys these days.

    1. Thanks Orion. I really did enjoy him more than I expected. Definitely worth ten bucks.

  10. Well there’s always gotta be one dissenting voice, and I guess it’s me. I agree on the alt-mode which is cool despite being a whole mess of different planes (B17ISH main body and wings, jet nacelles and an F4 Phantom tail) but despite the impressive heft of the Bot form I just don’t like it. I DO see too much Bay in it – the spindly upper-legs, the Blackout claw-feet and the claw fingers, the hunched shoulders etc and that just turns me off. Whirl would have been about the only G1 toy that is in anything like this sort of style, and even that isn’t particularly close.

    Plus there’s the fact that you guys can um and ah about whether he’s worth $10 but over here he is still an eye-watering full price and will sit on shelves for the next year at that same stupid no-one’s-gonna-buy-it price until Hasbro Uk ships it off to landfill.

    Great review though, keep the Formers coming.

    1. Don’t know why these things click AFTER you’ve made your post but this just did – the Plane is an almost note perfect copy of the GAU Bomber used by Zeon Forces in the orignal Gundam 79. It too was a mass of different influences all on one huge shape. I might have to totally contradict everything I just wrote above and get one just to stick over my RX78 diarama…….

    2. It’s one thing to dissent and quite another to continue to keep forwarding your own opinion like it’s truth. Many other Transformer fans on here don’t like the Bay redesign or movies, but none of them continually reassert that opinion as if Hasbro’s made a colossal mistake by riding a movie franchise that’s generated over ONE BILLION in box office revenue.

      At some point “fans” that are as entitled, selfish, narrow-minded and ignorant as you just wise up, get over themselves and accept the fact that the Transformers franchise as a whole is better off due to the Bay experiment but in your case I’m not holding my breath.

      1. WTF?

        Mistaking your right to lable someone/anyone as ignorant because they don’t agree that a billion dollars for a bunch of crummy movies that crap all over previous incarnations of a well-established and hugely beloved franchise isn’t to their taste as the deciding word on who can say what and when is ONLY thing I’ve read on here that’s truly ignorant.

        And I’m pretty certain recycling that stock phrase about being “selfish and entitled” doesn’t count as having a high IQ either….lot’s of REAL morons have used it recently, very few of them correctly about what is essentially anonymous posting on the Internet.

        Get over it, and yourself. It’s ok not to agree, feeling you are duty bound to defend what you like with insults isn’t.

        1. Oh wait, your comments in pretty much EVERY Transformer review on this site are strictly about your TASTE? You could’ve fooled me, since it’s been completely apparent that they’re about you whining that Hasbro as a company doesn’t bend itself to your whim.

          You take every opportunity to level the same tired and irrelevant argument that Transformers are too “Bay”-ish and that Hasbro is making a mistake in not producing Transformers to your liking…as if one or a couple wouldn’t have made the point, and as if everyone wanted to hear more.

          Hey, that’s you’re opinion, and you’re entitled to post it…just like I’m entitled to post mine. And mine is that if you have that opinion, you’re selfish, narrow-minded, ignorant and entitled.

          What could be more selfish than expecting Hasbro to turn down billions in revenue to only make toys that YOU approve of? What could be more narrow-minded than thinking that satisfying YOUR idea of the Transformers franchise is more important than marketing that franchise in order to grow the fanbase past you? What could be more ignorant than repetitively hating on a movie franchise that while maybe not to your tastes, ultimately enabled Hasbro to continue to serve quality G1-themed figures to judgmental, unappreciative “fans” like you? What could be more entitled than thinking your endless comments about how much the Bay franchise sucks mean more than the crap ton of dollars that the same franchise has generated through ticket, merchandise and toy sales?

          Look, I was never the biggest fan of Bay’s work either. In particular, I thought his film-making style was ultimately an injustice to character-creating as a whole. However, though I may have criticized the movie itself, I never thought Hasbro should be blamed for using it and ultimately assuring the survival of the franchise as a whole. I might have liked RTS Jazz more than any DOTM figure this year, but I recognize that a travesty of film-making like ROTF made RTS Jazz possible.

          Your opinion seems to be that the Bay franchise sucks and that nothing good came of it, but the unavoidable truth is that it enabled Transformers of all types to move forward. You’re welcome to keep that opinion, but recognize that it’s a hypocritical one every time you buy ANY Transformer that was created since the first Bay movie.

          1. Jeez louise…are you one one of those RTM Trolls come over here on holiday?

            Get some perspective to go with that chip on your shoulder. Are you really going to try to peddle to me a line that NO Transformers would get made now if it wasn’t for the Bay films? Really? You ACTUALLY think that?

            You think Takara would stop making toys if there hadn’t been a film? Seriously?

            Go away and think about it – if you can. Beacuse if you do believe it then no further comment is necessary.

            All that junk about selfishness and entitlement….well you can hardly claim credit for being the first to try that old line when someone dares step over your party-line. But it sure is annoying.

            My opinion is precisely that – mine. If I hate bay’s films – and surprise surprise I do – it’s my opinion, not yours. You like ’em…well good for you. Nothing to upset my day with. But keeping quiet about what I think on this site….? Noisy or Vault have that power but you sure as hell don’t.

            Go look for someone else to hissy-fit at.

            1. So let me get this straight.

              You’re the one that takes EVERY TRANSFORMERS REVIEW to bash the movie franchise and I’M the one with a chip on my shoulder? You keep making the same tired comments about Hasbro’s “failings” over and over and I’M recycling things?

              As for launching into the extreme that ABSOLUTELY NO Transformers would get made if the movies hadn’t happened, good luck with that misstatement of my argument. Prove to me that NOTHING positive for the Transformers franchise resulted from the live movies and you might make the first real point you’ve ever made on this site despite dozens of comments filled with petulant, inane babble.

              As for whether the comments about you being selfish and entitled are recycled or old, it just seems that way since you’ve probably been told you’re selfish, entitled and arrogant a hundred times before. When you keep shooting off the same kind of stupidity, you’re going to continue to be confronted with the same truth.

              Am I annoying you? Maybe now you know how I (and likely a lot of others) feel when one of your short-sighted comments pop up in here.

              1. You got nothing straight there Bunky.

                Ladies and Gents of Itsalltrue.net – I apologise for upsetting anyone else except this jerk with my belief that nothing good whatsoever came out of three terrible films and a pile of mostly poor toys. I’m pretty sure most of you on here are mature enough not to need the apology and can just ignore/skip over stuff you don’t care for but just in case….cos OnionPox here thinks he’s speaking for you all.

                As for you Onion – petulant , inane babble – do I really need to ask you to consider your own words here with an arched eyebrow….? Babble? Sheesh. And you’ve studied every post I ever made on this site and decided that I never had a point to make ever…? Where the heck do I even start with that?

                This site has a fairly small, but very clued in readership – none of whom I seem to be having a problem with except you. If you are neither big enough, nor smart enough to do exactly as I’ve stated above and ignore my posts if they offend (although Lord knows how you can summon up real outrage over a fupping opinion about Toys not being the same as yours) you then you are beyond reasoning and too used to looking through the wrong end of the telescope.

                You sir, despite the obvious benefits of some sort of education , the ability to type and an overinflated sense of self importance are a total and utter moron – and you can Fupp Off.

                At least you can now “whine” and cry yourself through a last word, and hey…it was only inane babble right?

                Good day to you.

                1. Well, you’re right about one thing – this site does have a great readership, brought in no doubt by the efforts of its dedicated authors. Both groups, I’ll admit, probably have done the smart thing by ignoring your delusional, self-important opinions thus far, and I should follow their example and do the same.

                  So maybe I will ignore you. Really, I’ll try my best, but it’s hard to turn down a good laugh at such hilarious hypocrisy and delusions.

                  1. Geez… go away for a few days to celebrate your anniversary and all hell breaks loose.

                    I’m going to chime in here and say those last two count as you each saying your peace. I’m sure we’ll have another Transformers review before too long. Until then, let’s cap this one here.

    3. Well, he’s WWII-ish, mate. What he’s really based on is a fictional 22nd Century bomber/transport with some historical influences, from a cartoon with ugly artwork but outstanding stories. He had those Baysplosions-style feet in the cartoon, and even his original TransFormers Animated toy had them, because Animated was based loosely on the 2007 movie, with Luggy filling the role of Blackout.

      Granted this iteration of Lugnut is spindlier than his original Animated version (which made for a ludicrously fat plane mode), and his arms transform a bit differently, but it’s still a whacking great attempt to bring one of my favourite Animated characters into the “realistic” fold. (Hasbro: Do Bulkhead next!) He remains just brutish and stocky enough, and doesn’t have all those angular fractal planes (or whatever those things are on the Baysplosions designs that makes them look like they’re composed of rock candy). The fact that his robot parts aren’t spiky and crinkled go a long way towards eliminating the Bayspolsions connection for me. Instead, he’s mostly blocky and mechanical in the old-school stlye, with a surprising lack of ridiculous “undercarriage junk.”

      But, to each his or her own. I’m pretty happy with my Lugnuts, even though I had to pay e-tailer mark-up prices for them.

      1. I would love a Generations Bulkhead too – I loved that design….like a TF version of the Hulk.

  11. these latest crop of transformers are, i have to believe, being designed by break dancers. there’s no other way to explain why the articulation is being so achieve such old skool flava posing options.

  12. I searched and searched and searched for Lugnut until I finally bought him from a board member on TFW.

    Of course, the same night, I found him at TJ Maxx and bought him anyway.

    Lugnut is one of my favorite transformers, great review of a great toy.

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