Probably about the only Transformer to gain any sort of widespread recognition from about a minute's screentime, Bonecrusher was of course the "Hi then die" Decepticon who attacked Optimus Prime on a highway in the first live action film. Ahead of the film's release, the opening of the fight scene was posted on Michael Bay's blog, and convinced a fair few doubters, myself included.

In which case it's something of a shame that it's basically impossible to recreate with the toys - Bonecrusher was released as a Deluxe, half the size of the Leader Optimus Prime figures and still noticeably smaller than the (rather poor) Voyager Optimus Prime. Of course, Bonecrusher and Prime were both released close to in scale in the Legends range, but the Bonecrusher figure had tan wheels and the Prime figure was shit, and all either could really do was comedy-slap each other with their awful arms.

Bonecrusher's vehicle mode is a Buffalo MPV, and is smaller than most other Movie Deluxe alternate modes (by this I mean 'smaller than the other ones I have'). It makes up for it with a lot of raised detail, however - lots of little rivets and panels, which distract away from the join lines as a bonus.

The scheme is perhaps a little monochromatic, but then it's a desert-camouflaged armoured vehicle - it shouldn't have racing stripes or anything. The tyres, windows, a couple of olive parts and a (very cool) personalised unit insignia do help break it up a little, though. The vehicle mode is also very solid, which is good. The toy does have a fun feature in this mode, though, in its' mining fork. While not quite as huge and imposing as on screen, this still dominates the vehicle mode. With a bit of practice and the right surface (carpet works best) it is possible to scoop up small, light objects and flick them over Bonecrusher, which is neat - though an extra joint at the bottom of the fork (the ones present only work to split it for the robot mode) would have helped. Also, the thing can be completely removed if you just want a boring old armoured truck.

The figure is blessed with an excellent transformation. It's actually quite cinematic, as you can imagine Bonecrusher rolling forward onto his feet as he transforms. It also manages the fine balancing act of being complex without being complicated - there are a lot of moving parts, but they all fit into a logical sequence and aren't too fiddly. And Bonecrusher looks great when you get there, too. His arms have a bit too much kibble on them perhaps, though it also adds to the thuggish, simian look of the robot. Bonecrusher just looks mean.

There's much more olive on the robot mode - perhaps a shame as it cuts down on the accuracy of the figure, but then at the same time it does make it a little bit more interesting to look at. It's a great design on the whole, though the folding forearms are a bit much - extended they just look stupid, almost as bad as Barricade's spring-loaded fist. Thankfully, they're basically optional. The arms can be a bit of a problem in that Bonecrusher only really looks right lunging forwards to tackle something. He can't relax, bless him, no wonder he's so angry in the film. The fork is moved to his back, and can be split in half to form two small spikes. These have an Automoprh function - pushing a small lever on his back causes them to move together. I prefer to keep them as one big spike just peeking over his head, as in the film.

Bonecrusher is possibly the best of the Deluxe figures due to his decent range of features, fair articulation and excellent transformation (which, crucially, is just as well done either way). Which in a way makes his diminutive size all the more annoying - the design probably could have been directly scaled up to Voyager size without a huge number of changes. His price seems to have gone up a fair bit since the original release, but if you can find Bonecrusher at something comparable to the Deluxe class RRP he'll certainly give you your money's worth.

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