My very first Transformers purchase was a Autobot Mini Vehicle, Warpath. Subsequent purchases — Powerglide, Bumblebee, etc — were also from the same price point. This was partially due to affordability but it was mostly due to availability. It was months before I located a store that sold boxed Transformers.

The Mini Vehicles were rather poor Transformers even back then. The transformation took three or so steps. The articulation was usually limited to swivel joints at the shoulders. If it weren’t for the fact they were often memorable show characters, I would’ve passed on them.

Transformers have come a long way since then. These days, the Basic category often has the best action figures of the line since the cheapest figures are unlikely to be saddled with the embarassing gimmicks usually found in Transformers at higher price-points.

(“Hey, kids! Push a button and a light switches on! All the excitement of playing with your household lights!”)

Strongarm is a prime example of Basic excellence: a compact vehicle mode, a satisfying transformation and a very nice robot mode.

The robot mode would be outstanding if the hips weren’t impeded by vehicle mode seats.

It’s a striking figure in this mode but not a particularly fun action figure.

Articulation-wise, Prowl has all the usual joints: head (ball-jointed), shoulders (ball-jointed), elbows (ball-jointed), waist (swivel), hips (ball-jointed) and knees (hinged). The beast mode provides the robot mode with additional ball-joints in the lower legs as well as very limited ball joints for the ankles.

With all those joints, you’d think Prowl would be a terrific action figure. Unfortunately, the upper half of the robot mode has a few loose parts that don’t lock down. A few more pegs, tabs, slots and holes would’ve helped make this a more enjoyable figure to handle.

The bio for this figure is particularly notable. The references to G1 Prowl made it clear that, unlike a lot of Beast Wars bios, this one was the result of some creativity and research.